Little Chu Zao lay curled in Amos’s arms, sobbing, his six furry little wings trembling back and forth.
This was a very dangerous corrupted zone.
Amos’s psychic power circled around them—aside from exotic beasts, there were no signs of normal life here, everything ruined and awash in shades of black, gray, and white.
If not for the little cub in his arms, Amos would never have come to such a place.
Moreover, this was not even the place where they had entered the Angel Realm; Amos was trying to find their way.
Though in a state of lost contact, Amos showed no sign of panic, gently patting his cub’s little back.
Watching the little one sob in his arms, Amos recalled how awkward he had been raising this cub at first—but by now, he was well practiced in all these things.
“Really?”
He coaxed along with the cub’s words. Crimson eyes half-closed, lashes hanging low—the ruler who had always killed decisively, who had slain countless beasts, now looked a touch gentle.
“So what did Grandma tell Zao Zao?”
“Grandma said Zao Zao’s name, it—it was given by the homeworld planet—Grandma also said—She’s been with Zao Zao since a long, long time ago—Grandma said Baba had me by accident, out of sheer luck, and Grandma also said Grandpa is a dummy—Zao Zao’s never met Grandpa, Zao Zao doesn’t know,” the cub whimpered, struggling to recall the lullaby just softly hummed, wanting to draw out a bit of memory from his first moments, “Grandma said Zao Zao is a good baby, woo—Baba—woo, Grandma’s so tired, needs to rest now. Wants Zao Zao to grow up well, to grow up and kill that monster, or else Grandma and the other clansfolk won’t be able to rest—Grandma’s gone.”
The little sobbing cub lifted his head: “Zao Zao wants Grandma to rest—but, but—”
Almost seven now, the little one had once insisted he wouldn’t cry so easily again. But now he couldn’t hold it in, crying just as when he first came here.
“But—Zao Zao, Zao Zao wants Grandma. Zao Zao doesn’t want Grandma to go. Zao Zao’s never really—met Grandma, woo—”
That lullaby was not even in his memory, he’d only truly heard it twice.
“And the angels… woo—Baba, they’re all bad guys—Archangel, and that monster—why won’t they let Grandma rest—why didn’t Zao Zao ever get to meet Grandma—”
When a formerly abstract title suddenly took concrete meaning for a small cub, all those feelings found a place to rest, bursting forth without warning.
The more the cub spoke, the sadder he got.
His coronet glowed even brighter than before; he ought to have drifted to sleep, but his emotional turbulence made the coronet’s light flash, and the cub himself was restless.
“Mm.”
Amos soothed the shaking little one in his arms,
Echoing Chu Zao’s words.
“They’re all bad guys.”
Amos’s wings unfurled behind him, quietly flying toward a certain region.
He simply waited for his cub to wear himself out with crying.
Then he glanced down at the little one, who stubbornly refused to rest, raising those watery eyes.
“Baba.”
He spoke softly and sweetly, arms around Amos’s neck, still a hint of sob in his voice.
“Will everything get better in the future? Why did Grandma say the future is bad, is it because Zao Zao turns out really awful?”
For an instant, glimpses of possible futures appeared before Amos’s eyes.
“No.”
Amos looked down at the small cub.
“No matter what kind of Zao Zao, he’s always amazing.”
On another timeline, Feeney didn’t know what kind of days Little Chu Zao had endured—suppression, rejection, forced conformity, surveillance, inducement, and the slow destruction of his soul.
Yet even so, grown Chu Zao still came to Holy Cas, and at a time when he should’ve been timid, weak, and too scared to do anything, he arrived alone at Holy Cas.
Amos grew pained just thinking of it—he’d only been a little too late that time.
The cub hadn’t seen those images; he simply leaned on Amos, trusting and dependent, wiping fat tears from his big honey-colored eyes, which now seemed even darker, glimmering wetly.
“What else did Grandma say?”
Amos lowered his voice, asking. Within this silent, deserted corruption zone, inside his own psychic barrier, as if lulling a child to sleep.
“Did she repeat over and over, that once you beat the bad guys you have to finish them off, best to chop them up real fine?”
Little Chu Zao: ?
“Oh, and, did Grandma tell Zao Zao—”
Amos eyed the six fluffy little wings frizzed by tears behind the cub, His Majesty Amos letting out an almost imperceptible breath.
“That you’ll grow more little wings in the future?”
The cub was still the cub, only his workload had tripled.
Little Chu Zao: Huh?
Immersed in sadness, the cub was completely diverted by this, turning his head, dazedly checking his ruffled wings—
One, two, three, four… five, six—?
One, two, three, four, five, six?!
“Baba, Zao Zao grew more wings?”
Little Chu Zao couldn’t believe it, counting twice, then turned to Amos in shock.
Amos said nothing, only reaching out to tidy him a bit.
Forget it—he’d sort this out once they got home.
The little one was also tired out. His attention shifted, the agitation and sorrow subsided bit by bit. Though tears still lingered, his eyes could barely stay open.
His face pressed to Amos’s chest.
Held one-armed by Amos, his curls quivered gently with each movement.
Just after crying, soft and damp, clearly about to drift off.
Having soothed the cub, Amos’s face in the shadows, hidden from the little one, turned cold and grim.
He thought of that scarlet eye in the rift, of its mocking pose, the evil that first sowed corruption, the root of his people’s tragedy—
Even after destroying the Angel Realm, Amos did not feel satisfied—
After learning what stood behind those so-called angels, Amos’s anger shifted—to that monster behind it all.
He seemed calm outwardly, but the psychic power around him subtly distorted the space; his unleashed presence was formidable, wiping out every lesser beast born here without a trace.
Calm—but enraged.
Until the cub nestled in his arms spoke, half in a daze.
“Baba—”
“Mm?”
Amos’s communicator was starting to pick up weak signals.
He glanced down and responded to Chu Zao.
“Does Baba miss his own Mama and Papa?”
The tiny cub asked softly, thinking a bit, then getting more specific.
“Does Baba miss Grandma?”
The cub struggled to open his big eyes, arms open.
Zao Zao had finished crying.
“There’s no one around right now, Baba.”
You can come cry with Zao Zao.
Amos froze, looking down at Little Chu Zao.
He paused.
“Baba will always remember Grandma, and—Grandma already said goodbye to Baba.”
Saying: you lucky rascal, be sure to protect Zao Zao, after killing all the beasts and monsters, don’t forget to finish the job—and also take care of yourself. Having said her piece, she’d gone.
That ever-nagging Lady Solan—
Amos thought—he really did miss being nagged by Solan, but by now…he just couldn’t hear her anymore.
The little one curled in Amos’s arms, as if answering. Half asleep, he seemed to glimpse strange psychic filaments above his head, like invisible fishing lines flicking past—as if something was slowly approaching.
Drowsiness crashed over his mind, and he couldn’t truly think. At last, he shut his eyes, but still murmured to Amos what he’d always wanted to say—
“Grandma must be as strong and reliable as Baba—Grandma and Baba’s psychic energy both smell like strawberries.”
The little darling finally slept, after listening to the lullaby.
—So, just when did you sneak a taste? And really, there’s no need to emphasize the strawberry.
That restless emotion gradually eased. Amos looked wordlessly at the fluffy cub in his arms.
He tucked the little one in securely, and even as Holy Cas Empire’s detailed info started coming in, though they were still in a high-pollution zone, it looked like everyone else had broken through to here as well. In an instant, Amos’s communicator began to ding repeatedly, nonstop.
He frowned and switched it off, ignoring certain Crown Clan members’ excessive concern for his cub.
*
Meanwhile, because of Holy Cas Empire, this new disaster didn’t cause much harm.
Exotic beast legions near the edge of corruption had already been cleared by the Crown Clan, and after that divine gift stone-like explosion, Holy Cas further shored up the defenses, keeping the damage minimal—not to mention the concentration of Crown Clan near the corrupted edge now.
Problems they couldn’t solve, nobody else in the stars would be able to, either.
Elsewhere in the stars, the base of the Hymn Organization was almost empty.
Of the Seven Virtues, only three remained. In a short span, they had lost so much top-level strength and a considerable number of divine gift stones, yet failed to achieve their goal. The mood was heavy.
“What even are these barriers? Psychic power? Some other force? Why, it obviously shook so violently, it should’ve rocked the whole barrier, should’ve let the corrupted divine envoys wear out the Crown Clan—why did things turn out like this?!”
“Ever since that little Crown Clan appeared, our plans have kept failing. Sir, this is unacceptable, and we’ve already missed the best chance to deal with him—”
Yes, from the very beginning, when they found the little Crown Clan, the traumatized and numb Crown Clan hadn’t yet protected him so fiercely. If they’d stopped at nothing to deal with him then, everything would now be very different.
Chastity, in the main seat and using a holographic image, sat in silence watching the screen, staring at fools on the starnet expressing faith in the Crown Clan, at Holy Cas citizens rallying in unprecedented morale.
At last, he just gave a cold laugh.
“Is it true the experiment survived?”
“Experiment—? Oh, sir, you mean Xi?”
A higher-up responded, full of pent-up resentment.
“Yeah, surprisingly he’s still alive, brought back by that believer named Shenghua.”
“We should begin cultivating new believers. Our holy trials have been delayed by the Crown Clan. I read Shenghua’s report and the starship’s damage assessment. Since she didn’t know the truth, it was pure faith that drove her there and brought high-ranking members back—sir, she should be closely examined.”
Another chimed in.
“This time, for ‘God’—”
The words weren’t finished.
The divine gift stones they wore suddenly flared, an oppressive sense as if from another dimension pouring out.
Never had such a thing happened in the history of the Hymn Organization.
It was as though countless voices spoke in their ears—men, women, children, aged—screaming in despair. Mysterious and complex, for an instant it was like ancient gods whispering, a cacophony in their ears.
The three executives all bent over at once, as if something had invaded them.
They could only grasp faint senses from this wave.
—O my followers, breach the barrier, release all my envoys, let the entire stars descend into chaos, birthing ever more cries of despair.
—It expects, delights in the despair and death of all these ants.
In hoarse whispers, the executives saw fleeting visions.
Scarlet eyes watched the deaths of immortals, watched races fall one by one, wearing a smile of pleasure—and a painfully familiar planet—that must be the Crown Clan homeworld.
That once-brilliant world was being drained, turned gray and dry, countless proud Crown Clan crumbling in death, returning to their homeworld still in despair.
At last—they saw the Angel Realm for the first time, watched as It, eyes lowered, controlled all believers, toying with the little Crown Clan—driven out and suppressed.
As if everything just suited Its whim—What game should I play today? How about issuing an oracle so that the little Crown Clan takes off his own coronet? That must be funny to watch.
So, it didn’t matter; to It, all are ants.
Whether follower or foe, all are just unimportant amusements in Its advancing, consuming path.
But as Its followers, they earned favor.
Places like the Angel Realm still existed—
You could be the next Angel Clan.
With a beautiful environment, abundant resources, a leisurely existence—
Because you are Its followers.
—Yes, I now have expectations for you.
It was a rare gaze from ‘God’.
All of the Hymn higher-ups trembled, still dazed even after the force withdrew—
That was the power of ‘God’.
“Such a place—does it really exist?”
One exec lifted his head, fanaticism in his eyes.
“‘God’ will redistribute everything. It’s our salvation, our reward for the holy trial—”
“…Yes—”
Chastity slowly stood, sweat-damped hair slipping from his hood before vanishing again, his voice shaking, twisted with zeal.
He looked again at the far screen, feeling the energy burning in his body; the divine gift stone was scorching their skin, but they barely noticed, keeping their eyes fixed on the screen—on scenes that had depressed them just moments before.
Those emotions were gone.
“No need to worry at all—you see,” Chastity smiled, “let Hymn keep growing, investigate new members. In the end, they’ll learn how foolish all their actions were. That supreme god—It could toy with even the Crown Clan at will—once the holy trial is offered and It descends—”
Listen well to the cries of despair from the Crown Clan’s homeworld.
Look at the little one who was played with almost to destruction by ‘God’.
Doesn’t all this just make one more resolute? To ‘God’, the Crown Clan is nothing to fear.
*
Right now, Amos was carrying his cub onto a Holy Cas’s starship.
Feeney stood inside, clearly unhappy, and looked up at Amos.
“Where were you two? Second brother, why’d you disappear with Zao Zao? You went to the Angel Realm? What’s going on there, huh? I’m still burning up, nowhere to vent my anger! Did you smash the place? Did you wreck it good? Can we go in and smash it again?”
He had just run into more exotic beasts along the way, obliging him to plow through them and slow his progress, finally only joining the other Crown Clan at the last minute.
His baby face was lost in shadow, full of resentment.
Amos glanced at Feeney.
“Keep your voice down.”
Feeney instinctively shut up, peeking into Amos’s arms.
Amos had removed his uniform jacket, wrapping the little cub tight in black fabric.
The little one’s halo atop his head flickered softly, brighter than when they’d left, and he was tucked quietly in Amos’s arms, sound asleep.
“Asleep?”
Feeney lowered his voice.
“So what’s the deal? Oh, by the way, we’ve found something new here, second brother—this corrupted region is one we’ve never been in before. We detected a kind of barrier force, keeping beasts from the other side out, and it’s a bit like our Crown Clan’s psychic power, but not quite—now almost all the Crown Clan are on the ship, researching what this force really is—”
He couldn’t help but complain as he spoke.
“You must’ve heard your comms the whole way back, right? Why didn’t you answer? If you’re too lazy, have Zao Zao do it—oh, right, I forgot, Zao Zao’s been working nonstop for two, three days. The little guy must be exhausted, yeah, he really does need his rest.”
Amos headed for the ship’s interior, Feeney naturally falling in behind, still full of questions but holding them in, softly giving his report.
But even so, Chu Zao still picked up on it.
The little cub shifted a bit in Amos’s arms, feeling a little uncomfortable, giving his wings a slight shake.
At that moment, Amos’s jacket slipped down a bit.
Feeney was still talking, then suddenly stopped, staring at Chu Zao’s back—one, two, three, four, five, six…?
He hesitated, rubbing his eyes, unsure.
He looked at Amos, then back at the cub, now burrowing into a comfy position.
At last he reached out, pointing in confusion at Chu Zao’s little wings.
“Second brother?! Did your genes mutate?? Do you grow a new pair of wings every so often?! How many would fit on Zao Zao’s back?!”
Amos’s steps paused slightly; he glanced at Feeney.
At last he couldn’t help but kick Feeney, whom he found deeply annoying just now.
Amos calmly stabbed him again:
“The Dwight family having you is the real genetic mutation.”