Amos had already carried Little Chu Zao into the starship’s interior.
For the Holy Cas Empire, this was now the deepest zone of corruption.
Without the little cub escorting them, the Crown Clan didn’t dare leave the starship easily.
Inside, even their psychic coronets were somewhat affected.
Almost all of the Crown Clan who had set out on this mission were present.
Except for Frey, who had “volunteered” to stay and manage the outer situation—in truth, all the Crown Clan had been far too excited, charging off faster than anyone else when news of Zao Zao’s disappearance broke, so the usually steady Frey had been left behind to clean up, resignedly handling the aftermath.
At the moment, each Crown Clan member stood at their stations, but their eyes kept darting to the entrance. When Amos entered, all eyes instantly went to the small bundle wrapped in his military coat.
“You’re back?”
“Mm,” Amos replied.
“Why’d you suddenly drop off the radar? Where did you go? Don’t tell me you really went into the Angel Realm?”
Meilun poked his head over to peek at Little Chu Zao in Amos’s arms.
The parents who had been on edge finally relaxed a little.
“The angels in the Angel Realm were replaced. It’s another dimension within the stars.”
Amos spoke calmly as he settled his cub.
“You really went in?”
At his words, all the Crown Clan looked over.
“Heavens, you went alone and didn’t call us?”
“Second brother, I’m seriously beginning to think you believe nothing in the Angel Realm is a match for you, so you never even thought to bring us along.”
Amos couldn’t be bothered to explain more, simply giving a brief outline: the general situation, the “deity” behind it all, likely the one Hymn Organization worshiped, that had destroyed their homeworld and kept their kin’s spirits from resting.
Of course, when he mentioned the little one growing more wings and being essentially born from his own psychic strength, all the Crown Clan couldn’t help but look toward the homeworld planet.
“So what you’re saying is, every time you bottled things up until you couldn’t any longer, you went to release it all at the homeworld, and that’s how Zao Zao came about?”
“No, if such good things are possible, you should’ve said so earlier—”
They wouldn’t mind being Zao Zao’s parents too!
Is it still possible now, maybe if they bombard the homeworld planet with their own psychic power?
“The Angel Spring Source Stone has already been brought back by Zao Zao,” Amos said, glancing at this bunch.
So don’t think about messing with the homeworld planet—there really, truly shouldn’t be any more cubs if things stay as they are.
Little Chu Zao in Amos’s arms shifted to get comfortable.
Amos looked down.
“I’ll explain more when I get back.”
He planned to tuck the cub in for a nap first.
The little one wasn’t injured, but had exhausted far too much energy.
Amos carried the little one to the resting chamber, someone silently trailing behind.
Once they left the command room, it grew quiet again. The corridor from command to the rest area was long; Amos walked quietly in front, while someone followed wordlessly behind.
Only after Amos had laid the little one down, covered him with a blanket, and tucked the ghostly bear into his arms, did he lower his gaze, then gently turn to look at the one behind him.
Feiman stood quietly at the door, her blood-red eyes utterly calm, her combat suit dusty from long hours. Her profile was cold and sharp as she looked at Amos.
Finally she spoke, “Second brother, did you see Mom?”
Amos straightened and left.
But he didn’t linger near Feiman, just brushed past her as the starship door began to close.
He was heading back to the command room.
Feiman couldn’t help but follow a couple of steps.
“And Grandpa—”
Amos finally stopped.
It was as if he’d known all along what Feiman wanted to say.
Having seen Solan, did he also know whether their grandfather, Ebinino, once leader of Holy Cas’s First Legion, had also returned—at least in consciousness—to the homeworld’s embrace?
It was Feiman’s obsession.
Since adulthood, it had never faded.
“Listen, Feiman.”
Amos just stood there, head a little turned. In Feiman’s memory, he was still the occasionally ill-tempered, but endlessly reliable and strong second brother, his blood-red eyes calm on her. Amos could withstand nearly any pressure, while the eldest brother handled swaths of paperwork, letting the younger siblings live a bit easier.
“You’re not a minor anymore. Don’t take on guilt that doesn’t belong to you.”
Those endless nightmares.
“Zao Zao once asked me why Auntie’s eyes are especially blood-red.”
That wasn’t just psychic torment, but nightmare after nightmare from then till now.
Feiman finally grew quiet and fell in step behind Amos.
Amos finished and turned, without looking back, but a moment later—
He sighed.
“Didn’t see Grandpa, but you shouldn’t dwell on it, Feiman.”
Feiman looked up at her brother.
Amos didn’t look her way, head a full head taller, only reaching out to gently pat hers.
The command room door opened.
The Crown Clan inside looked over.
When they saw Amos with Feiman coming in, both of them calm and focused on the command screen, the already solemn mood grew even heavier.
No matter if sibling or elder cousin, all lowered their eyes, quietly saluting: “Your Majesty.”
The clan paid their respects to their mighty leader.
“Report on the barrier situation,” Amos said at the console, his voice steady.
Like a pillar of stability, he let the entire Holy Cas fleet, nervous from the deep corruption, calm down.
“This is a region we never could’ve reached before. If it weren’t for Zao Zao’s help, there’s no way we could leave the starship for long, but monitoring and analysis of that strange barrier has gone smoothly—”
Anya spoke, pulling up the display.
It showed a not-very-clear barrier, indeed resembling Crown Clan psychic power, yet not quite the same.
It seemed to mix in many other things.
On the other side, there was even denser corruption.
For the interstellar, this was the worst sight possible—countless exotic beasts trying to squeeze through broken rifts in the barrier, each twisted like a scene from hell.
“These beasts are far stronger than those we’ve handled before. We’re having to engage further, but the situation isn’t reassuring. Looks like this barrier has blocked a lot of the corruption for us.”
Anya spoke again.
What he left unsaid was known by all.
The Crown Clan is strong, nearly impossible to kill, and if one’s psychic power is utterly destroyed, the resultant explosion is terrifying.
But even the Crown Clan isn’t invincible.
Too few people, fighting on too wide a front spells trouble.
And they can’t simply go without food, sleep, and rest, or keep facing off against endless waves of beasts.
Not to mention, before Zao Zao, their natural weakness to corruption meant even with progress on resistance, the fall of the homeworld and breaking of the coronets meant they rarely risked approaching, for fear of hastening their own end.
So, for hundreds and thousands of years, research moved forward, but deeper study was limited—until now, a sudden breakthrough.
But it seemed, without this barrier, endless waves of beasts from the even-worse side would overwhelm them, and they may not have lasted until Zao Zao arrived.
The barrier—was protecting them.
“Let Zao Zao rest, then we’ll explore further,” Amos decided, glancing around at the clan.
Holy Cas’s troops dared not act lightly; even though their psychic power didn’t collapse outright at contact with corruption like the Crown Clan, such levels of power were still too much for most. Very few Holy Cas soldiers had made it this far.
“Yes!”
“And judging by the pollution on the far side of the barrier, there could really be another realm like our own. Likely with other planetary civilizations and empires, but seeing how fierce the beasts are, we shouldn’t be too optimistic—the other side may have evolved beasts that coordinate whole armies.”
Kaman’s gaze darkened as he sat beside Meilun.
“But maybe we’ll find more clues. The Hymn Organization on this side—there might be something similar there? Maybe we’ll find the very monster His Majesty Amos mentioned—”
Meilun smiled.
“Compared to a year ago, this is already an immense step forward.”
A year ago, he’d been slipping, lured by voices in the void, into despair.
The room calmed. Everyone busied themselves with their work, waiting for the cub to wake.
Only Feeney, leaning against the wall, was dissatisfied. He was still mad at himself for getting lost, failing to keep up with Amos and not making it into the Angel Realm, unable to vent his anger.
He was still thinking about the Angel Realm.
But as he brooded, Feeney also recalled what Amos said—
Zao Zao was born from Amos’s psychic power at the homeworld, but since it had lost the ability to bear cubs, and had been dragging the Crown Clan down, they sent the little one to the Angel Realm to be born.
Born from the Angel Spring in the Angel Realm.
Feeney, distracted, could not help but ask Amos—
“Second brother, was Zao Zao born with the Angel Spring?”
For a moment, every Crown Clan member looked Feeney’s way.
So did Amos.
—He’d already been annoyed lately with this little brother.
Feeney flashed a sheepish, baby-faced grin.
Okay, okay, I’ll shut up.
*
On the other side of the barrier.
That enormous dark shape seemed to sense something, and began to approach from the most corrupted area.
A terrifying force started to tear through and devour the surrounding beasts—he had lost all clear consciousness, his body covered in bloody wounds, moving by sheer instinct and pain. Not an inch of his flesh was unscathed; even his skull was visible in places, his eye sockets shriveled, glowing with the fire of psychic power, a ghostly specter wandering in the corruption, howling in agony as his broken wings propelled him slowly toward the barrier.
Further away, in a region where the corruption was fading.
A mad hunt was ongoing.
Human-shaped beasts and certain others reveled together.
On the most remote little planet.
A band of people hid desperately in a cave.
Above, something like a mechanical drone whirred by, with beasts circling in the sky.
They clung together.
All ragged and wild-eyed, staring outside.
“—Take care of them.”
“Yes, we have to find a way.”
A group of frantic adults shielded their cubs in the middle.
The older children trembled—some from fear, some from rage and excitement.
“Will we win?”
At last, a thin voice asked quietly, careful.
“Of course. Ever since we lived here, we’ve always been oppressed and beaten, but we’ve never really lost.”
The others looked to him, then in a certain direction.
“We have to survive, wait, and figure out the truth of this place.”
“Yes, elders always said so—but why?”
“We exist here because we were protected, in a far-off place, deep in the corruption, separated by a barrier we cannot yet cross. Many tales have faded, but what we do know is: beyond the barrier lies our ancestors’ faith, our never-seen homeland—”
Ancestors’ faith?
Never-seen homeland?
What are those, truly?
Is it something they must defend with their lives?
The adolescent children looked at the direction the adults pointed—homeland.
*
On this side of the barrier.
A whole day had passed.
Little Chu Zao had just woken up, still clutching the fascinating Angel Spring source stone, when Amos carried him to the command room.
The cub got to work “assembly-line style.”
Sitting in Amos’s lap, he reached out to reinforce the psychic coronets of the clan, while Amos frowned behind him, combing the cub’s feathers smooth.
Four wings fluffed up was already enough drama.
Now, with six, Amos could hardly imagine the number of feathers.
Little Chu Zao was as fluffy as a puffball.
Even the usually cool-headed, patient Amos was finding it hard to keep up.
He meticulously straightened each feather.
“All done—”
Zao Zao finished with Grandpa Meilun’s coronet—then Grandpa Kaman—then Little Uncle, Third Uncle, and Auntie—
Then Grandpa Lien, hiding in the corner…
The cub had woken sad, still mourning Grandma’s departure, but the clan kept him cheered up.
Each time his wings were praised, he couldn’t help flapping them, then Baba would give his back a gentle pat to remind him to sit still.
So he sat up straight again, properly.
On his knees rested Amos’s psychic longsword.
But now it wasn’t just Amos’s sword—Feiman’s lance, Anya’s chain, Kaman’s javelin… one after another were piled around Little Chu Zao, waiting for him to “taste.”
Thus, while Baba combed his wings, Zao Zao reinforced the Crown Clan’s coronets, occasionally ducking down for a little bite.
Crunch, crisp, sending tingles up everyone’s scalps.
But even while shivering, the Crown Clan couldn’t stop watching, eyes glued to the little one biting away.
Then they stared at the tiny bite marks on their weapons, oddly gratified.
After a busy round, Chu Zao counted again, pausing in confusion.
After all, Baba had told him how many Crown Clan were on board.
He kept counting on his fingers, but no matter how he tried, it always felt like one was missing.
Stumped, the cub counted again.
Feiman took the chance to kiss his cheek twice before reminding him.
“Seems you missed Ayala?”
Indeed.
Ayala was also on the ship, but he always kept to himself, never joining group activities, and even now avoided close contact—so, to this moment, Ayala hadn’t appeared.
“He probably thinks he’s fine,” Anya offered.
“Just leave him alone. He’ll come back if he can’t take it.”
“But Ayala’s coronet is in real danger, wasn’t it obvious back on Holy Cas Prime?”
Meilun added.
“He must be feeling awful—stubborn as ever.”
Hearing this, the cub looked around, then at Amos.
After a long while, Amos finally finished arranging his baby’s feathers.
His Majesty Amos looked satisfied.
He and the cub made eye contact.
The little one thought a moment, then softly asked Amos.
“Baba, should we go look for that…uncle?”
Amos answered in affirmation.
“Eh? Zao Zao wants to go to Ayala?” Feeney poked in with a grin, his psychic coronet flickering.
That baby face, looking in high spirits, leaned right in front of the cub.
“How about coming with Third Uncle instead?”
It’d definitely be more fun.
Feeney seemed eager.
Amos reached out and palmed Feeney’s face out of the way.
Then picked up the little one.
Ready to search for Ayala.
In the deep corruption, Ayala’s coronet really did need attention.
Amos thought, then, expressionless, stepped on Feeney’s foot as he passed.
Feeney: …
Feeney paused, looking at his shoe.
For the Crown Clan, things like this were nothing.
But Feeney was always unpredictable—eccentric and melodramatic among the clan. He glanced at Little Chu Zao perched on Amos’s shoulder, hesitated, then promptly “wailed”.
“Zao Zao, Third Uncle is in soooo much pain—Third Uncle’s been—”
He was just saying this—
At that moment, Little Chu Zao was looking around at the clan.
Seeming to realize something belatedly.
His curly hair bobbed; bleary from sleep, he looked a little dazed.
Held by Amos, he asked: “Baba, something’s been strange—why is everyone here? Wasn’t I supposed to be with Uncle?”
Blinking those big eyes, he looked round at the whole Crown Clan, puzzled.
Logically, they shouldn’t all be here, so neatly gathered.
At last, he realized what was off.
These family members were meant to be at their own assignments, or on the imperial capital, right?
Why were they here, just like Baba?
The room went silent.
Everyone stared at the little cub.
All stunned, brains whirring.
In truth, they had all followed the little one here out of worry.
Looking at that innocent, curious, harmless little cub asking why, all at once—
Er, well—
He’d really stumped them.
“Ha ha, Zao Zao, Grandpa is very busy, so I’ll head off first—”
“Wait up for me!”
“Me too, gotta go.”
Anya piped up, seizing any excuse to slip away—
He wasn’t about to become the one the little one disliked.
He’d learned from experience!
Feeney, mid-“wail,” choked and shut up—he was nothing if not flexible.
“Third Uncle’s busy, gotta go too—”
Only Feiman remained.
“Auntie came with Zao Zao.”
Feiman admitted openly, her reliable, cold face serious.
“Auntie just likes Zao Zao too much, and can’t help worrying.”
Saying so, she kissed his cheek again.
Little Chu Zao blushed and squirmed, eyes wide, burrowing back into Amos’s chest.
So Feiman, completely shameless, followed behind Amos.
Ayala had already left the ship.
Amos, holding the little one, shielded him with psychic power, wings outspread—
“He runs fast, vanished before anyone could see him,” Feiman said, checking her communicator.
“Zao Zao, can you see Ayala’s psychic thread?”
Little Chu Zao tilted his little head, eyes shining. He watched for a bit, then shook his head.
“No, but—”
But it seemed there was a strange psychic thread inching closer—a half-transparent, almost invisible thread, flickering once, then vanishing.