When a person realizes they may be in danger and about to die, their mind often goes blank, numb, and wooden. Many basic responses, reflexes drilled a thousand times, become impossible to perform.
But the arrow that flew from behind and the sudden blaze of fire snapped Teng Kelin out of his stupor.
He jerked backward, braced a hand on the ground, and rolled away from Black Spring’s position.
His teammates quickly responded as well, moving in fast to cover him.
Teng Kelin stared at the twisting, burning arrow in midair—
“What is that?”
He spoke in disbelief.
It was as if the local environment suddenly erupted. The black-flame arrows swirled and twisted. Barely humanoid and more like slime, with black, hollow eyes and mouth—a figure even creepier than most horror villains in interstellar fiction.
A terrible howl rang out, while the arrows kept flying.
The black-flame arrows seemed to tear through everything, savagely pouncing and ripping the body to pieces.
Black Spring howled again, eyes fixed on Little Chu Zao. Seeing the blazing crown above the cub’s head, for a moment, it felt fear.
But very soon after, pain made it furious.
It couldn’t care about anything else; it sensed Chu Zao wasn’t as strong as the monsters in the pollution’s depths, nor as fierce as Feiman.
Still less like that Crown Clan who, with a single sword, destroyed countless avatars and continued to destroy its power right now from the starry sky, who was so terrifying.
All he needed was flesh, just some flesh.
Black Spring felt overwhelming pressure, fear driving it to irrationality—it thought only of getting away as fast as possible.
Eat flesh, then escape this dangerous place at once.
Since the really scary folks hadn’t followed, there was still a chance—
There was definitely still a chance.
“Is it a beast?”
“Never seen it.”
There were only two squads at this gathering point.
Chao Huangmu had already drawn his weapon, thigh muscles tensed; Peng Liang was analyzing; Yun Songquan had his gun trained.
They all stood behind Little Chu Zao, awash in the black-flame glow.
“Get up—”
Little Chu Zao looked at Teng Kelin’s squad, who scrambled over, and reached out to Teng Kelin.
Teng Kelin, dazed, looked up and met Chu Zao’s eyes.
Those honey-colored eyes, which used to seem polite and innocent, were now very calm.
Maybe it was some special Crown Clan gene.
The more urgent the moment, the cooler their thinking, better at making optimal decisions.
Teng Kelin realized only then that he had time to think.
Really, not even a minute had passed.
From facing danger, to arriving in front of Chu Zao.
He, sluggish, instinctively held out his hand. The next second, that warm little hand gripped his battered one—the cub strongly pulled him up.
“It’s a beast.”
Chu Zao said. The small one couldn’t help glancing into the distance—that was where Ayala had just left.
“Brother Mu.”
“Here,” Chao Huangmu replied, always by the cub’s side and focused—especially after noticing the beast was different, tense and alert next to Chu Zao.
“He can split his strength—cover the left, Brother Yun and Brother Peng, you guys pin him head-on.”
“Got it.”
The moment Black Spring moved, Chao Huangmu obeyed and flashed forward; Yun Songquan and Peng Liang followed.
Little Chu Zao quickly finished briefing, then looked at Teng Kelin who had just stood up.
“You guys can lock down the other side, right?”
“We can.” Teng Kelin gathered himself and nodded.
“All right—leaving it to you.”
Little Chu Zao said.
Still a totally childish voice, but too convincing.
Just like the many commands given by Crown Clan on the battlefield, which prompted every Holy Cas soldier to unwitting excitement.
For an instant, Teng Kelin felt like he’d snapped out of numbness and confusion.
He was shaking—yes, shaking with excitement.
That hard to describe, fiercely intense emotion—at the end of the day, it still came from the Crown Clan majesties and highnesses.
Brother Ling.
Teng Kelin thought.
Sorry, you’re not back yet, we haven’t met and haven’t decided what comes next—should we keep pushing hard, or become humble and low-key, not trying to stand out to avoid future trouble.
As for now—
Teng Kelin couldn’t help glancing at the drawn longbow, the black-flame string now hosting three arrows, as if Chu Zao held pure fire in his hands.
Teng Kelin came to, following Chu Zao’s orders.
Brother Ling.
—He switched sides!
“Yes!”
All the Crown Clan parents were watching.
Amos, being most powerful and sensitive, had already dealt with most of Black Spring’s avatars.
He stood in the starry sky, distant but watching the place where his cub’s psychic power burst forth.
With sword in hand, Amos looked down keenly.
Inside the starship, Frey and Anya had returned first.
“So Zao Zao met that thing?”
“Probably. Seems not fully evolved, maybe above beast squadron leader level.”
“Like last time? Also crawled out from deep in the pollution.”
Anya checked the coordinates.
“Get ready. Feeney’s closing in fast; tell Second Brother, later we’ll block the Hymn Organization fleet if that’s what it is.”
“Right, and there’s still much about Hymn we don’t understand. Tell Feeney to let them breathe for now, don’t drive them into a corner before he even arrives.”
“True. But looking at this, Zao Zao’s growth really is too fast.”
Meilun sighed.
He still remembered when Amos had just brought this little guy home and what he had been like.
Timid, shy, overcautious about everything.
Now, he handled even shifts of power with ease.
If he exploded suddenly, even adult Crown Clan who hadn’t figured out his limits could lose badly.
But—
Meilun smiled again.
“Haha, is Zao Zao still looking for Ayala?”
“Should be. He looked several times in the direction Ayala left, probably confused why he isn’t here to help, haha.”
“If the beast was at full power, it’d be tough, but it was clearly weakened by Second Brother. Ayala’s likely giving Zao Zao a chance to practice, so he hasn’t acted,” Anya raised his hand, a silver-black chain appearing between his fingers. It clanged when gripped, and he laughed. “No problem, let Zao Zao hold a grudge, let him dislike Ayala.”
Failures of your own always hurt, but seeing others fail more was extra comforting.
The Crown Clan could see Ayala was nearby; if anything went wrong, he could act instantly.
Anyway, this beast just had special abilities, but lacked powerful offense. Under Chu Zao’s command, it was suppressed, though the cub hadn’t yet found Black Spring’s weak point, getting locked in a standoff.
The Crown Clan all watched intently, but not really worried.
Not with Amos also watching nearby.
“Beasts in the pollution are stirring,” Frey noted.
“Let Ayala know and finish it quickly.”
“No need.”
This voice was Amos’s—calm, coming through the communicator.
He was flying toward Chu Zao’s position, eyes down on his cub moving step by step.
“Zao Zao can handle it.”
What?
With all attention on him, Black Spring’s strength was continually cut down; every time an avatar emerged, Chao Huangmu finished it off. Every other path was blocked: no escape, no hiding, the black-flame arrows his nemesis, shattering his power.
His special abilities didn’t work at all.
Locked in, Black Spring gave a furious, low growl—
Damn, damn, damn—
It had to break out, to get away—
It’d rip these bastards apart, tear up that hateful crown!
But—
Right then, Little Chu Zao’s wings suddenly opened just as he was shifting for a better angle; his speed shot up, and as Black Spring failed to react, a black-flame arrow had already hit the part that made it stiffen in terror.
Excruciating pain.
Black Spring howled, trying to summon every beast in the area for a last attack.
But the number of beasts was already very low from repeated purges.
Amid black flames and its dissolving body, Black Spring, in a daze, faced the burning crown up close, the tiny cub still poised with a bow, his honey eyes glowing faintly.
In that instant, he looked—just a bit—like the most terrifying Crown Clan seen by his dying avatars.
At this moment, Black Spring felt the same terror.
“Anger only exposes your weakness.”
It heard Little Chu Zao say. And as if hearing unspoken words—And I can see it perfectly.
Arrow after arrow stabbed his incompletely evolved, previously well-guarded core; the core cracked, then shattered. Black Spring had no time to do anything more—his consciousness vanished completely.
The cub landed, little wings fluttering and Cupid’s Bow vanishing. He looked around: “Everyone okay?”
“We’re fine.”
The others responded quickly.
Only Chao Huangmu, who could fully keep up with Chu Zao and execute instantly, stood behind the cub, eyes almost popping out, staring at the twin wings.
What was this?
What *was* this?!
Furry! Double the furriness!!!
Little Chu Zao puffed out his cheeks, hands on chubby hips, full of suspicion.
“Why did no one come help?”
Zao Zao was exhausted.
Ayala, about to leave after watching from afar, stiffened slightly when he heard the little cub say that.
For a moment, he considered turning to explain, but in the end, Ayala stubbornly kept walking without a word.
But including Ayala, the Crown Clan parents realized for the first time just how much their cub had grown.
Not even seven years old but already showing command and confidence.
Refined calm from past pain; steadfastness from struggle; in steady practice, he found his own strengths. Even using the beast’s own emotions, he made himself infallibly dependable at such a young age.
“Beasts are moving,” Ayala said to a nearby officer. “Muster a team, clear them out.”
“Yes!”
Holy Cas First Military’s starship picked up the pace of collecting students.
Teng Kelin’s team had some minor injuries and was sent for recovery.
Chao Huangmu, as energetic as ever, hearing beasts were stirring and instructors staying behind, was fired up for more battle—which Yun Songquan and Peng Liang, worn out, called out as pure beast-like behavior.
Everyone was resting; the cub, still dusty, waited quietly on the side for further instructions.
He’d come with hopes of seeing his aunt after all.
The little one thought as he waited for her to pick him up.
*
Meanwhile, near the Holy Cas admin zone, Xi had reached the target coordinates.
He hadn’t gone further, only loitering at the edge.
He was searching for anywhere not under full Holy Cas military defense after the First Military finished evacuation. His ship held special bombs imbued with God’s Gifted Stone power.
He clutched the detonation trigger as he followed Hymn’s orders.
He’d already planted the devices deep in the pollution—meant to stir up chaos from beasts to unchecked pollution and to break the barrier for good.
Xi was extremely weak now; his eyes glinted bizarrely. Propped on his seat, he stared at the screen, pained and irritable, barely able to control his mood.
Plus—
Those people were useless.
Xi thought, even here they ran into the Crown Clan—leaving him to handle final backup.
Nice talk, but it was just sending him to die.
Xi thought coldly.
He got ready to land.
He also prepared to detonate on schedule.
Of course, Xi had no idea just how high the local concentration of Crown Clan really was.
As Feeney and the Third Army neared his coordinates,
The relaxed Crown Clan, discussing their next steps, all stood up.
“I’ll cover this side.”
“I’ll take this area.”
“Second brother’s still covering another, isn’t he?”
“He’s picking up Zao Zao. He said if anyone spots a Hymn leader, report to him at once.”
“Fine. Let’s get at least one and call it an unexpected harvest.”
“Uncle Meilun, Uncle Kaman, stop bickering. You two team up. You’re not even fully recovered but still followed us here—be careful or Zao Zao will complain.”
“Fine, fine—you keep up, don’t drop the ball again.”
“Who’s the one dropping the ball? Wasn’t it you?”
“Oh~ some little Kaka was crying for mom…”
“…Meilun!!”
Frey finished arranging everything, ignoring the squabbles behind him.
The Crown Clan had gotten much livelier these past few months, and in truth, this task was simple—because there were just so many Crown Clan here.
With trouble divided up, each handled it with ease.
The Crown Clan all headed out on their tasks.
At the end, Anya asked,
“Eh? By the way, second brother’s picking up Zao Zao—does Zao Zao know?”
Frey looked over too.
Seemed like…he didn’t?
Clearly the cub had no idea a whole ship of parents had sneaked along.
*
The Hymn Organization, hounded desperately by Feeney and the Third Army, was now nearly at their target.
“Any word from Xi?”
The Hymn leader under the hood sounded tense, gripping the God’s Gifted Stone, its edges biting into flesh, greedily sucking blood like a beast, squirming to burrow deeper.
“No, sir—the other side has gone silent. This is all Holy Cas territory; things look bad for us.”
“Still being chased?”
“Yes.”
“Damn!”
The hooded man stood up, furious.
“Holy Cas… Holy Cas—disgusting people. I want to see if you can still laugh after losing that Crown brat. All speed ahead for the target—I will crush that Crown brat myself—”
Just then, alarms flared through the ship.
“What’s wrong?!”
“Report—the Thirty-fourth starship encountered a Crown Clan!”
“What? Ayala?”
“No, not him!”
“Report—Seventh starship ran into a Crown! Data says he’s wielding psychic chains and has every move blocked. Might be Crown Clan Anya, but now he’s lost, MIA.”
Anya??
“Wasn’t Anya supposed to be on Holy Cas Empire’s capital?”
“Report—”
Report after report, lost signals piled up; in an instant, the two Hymn leaders were struck by terror.
There was no way to deal with that Crown brat.
Impossible—
They thought in unison: their sacrifice would have no effect.
With their belief shattered, only panic remained.
They were fortunate not to have met a Crown Clan intercept yet.
They ordered immediately.
“Try to withdraw—if not, punch through into the pollution zone!!”
All over this sector, Crown Clan already in position looked coldly at the incoming starships.
Psychic weapons of all sorts flashed across the stars.
As if to say to all the ships stumbling into this high-Crown-concentration region: Hello!
*
Little Chu Zao didn’t really know what was happening now.
He’d been hyped all night, chasing points and not resting properly. Now dusty, filthy, exhausted and hungry, after taking down Black Spring (even weakened, still tough for the cub), it was a huge drain on his strength.
Tired and peckish, waiting for his aunt, he cupped both hands around a biscuit, crunching away.
Chao Huangmu had tried a few more times to touch Chu Zao’s wings before an instructor finally dragged him off, saying if he had so much energy, he could help clean up the battlefield.
The others had collapsed from exhaustion, sent to the starship; around the cub were Holy Cas soldiers, the same regimental commander from last time.
Chu Zao munched a while, looked at the sky, and thought—
Why hasn’t Auntie come to get Zao Zao yet?
Until a shadow fell from the sky.
The soldiers beside him saluted.
“Your Majesty.”
Little Chu Zao blinked, looked up—
Just in time to see Amos land, wings folding behind him.
“Baba?”
The cub froze a moment, eyes lighting up, then hopped up and tried to run over.
“Baba!”
Amos looked at his dusty little “frosted” cub, bouncing straight to him. Having not seen his parent for two days, Chu Zao missed Amos dearly; his little wings flapped as if demanding a hug. Amos hesitated just a moment.
He reached out, pressing a hand on the cub’s head, taking in his messy little one.
His Majesty Amos started fishing out a handkerchief—
Yes, ever since raising the cub, His Majesty Amos often carried things he’d never have before.
At least to wipe the little face.
The cub, stopped in his tracks, wings still fluttering, reached out, innocent and pure—only just now remembering to ask Amos,
“Eh? Why is Baba here?”
The dusty cub tilted his little head as he stared at the father who wasn’t supposed to be present.
“Weren’t we supposed to agree Zao Zao would come alone this time…”
His Majesty Amos, who had secretly followed along without telling the cub: …
Amos just paused for a moment, then calmly withdrew his hand and opened his arms.
Looking as reliable, composed, and unflappable as ever.
Alright, don’t think about it anymore.
Come here, let Baba hug you.