The little cub lay in Amos’s arms, still a bit skeptical.
“So Zao Zao—needs to improve again?”
Yes, you need to improve again.
Amos breathed a sigh of relief.
He held the little one and walked further inside.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re talking about the new National Day coming up, Zao Zao’s going to have another birthday!”
The little cub clung to Amos’s neck, eyes shining brightly.
“In a while, we’ll be able to plant new potatoes again. Zao Zao succeeded in growing something edible for the first time. Baba, we always save some seeds for later, so when Great-grandpa comes back, we’ll let him taste it too.”
“Alright, but the seeds must be inspected carefully by the Ministry of Agriculture.”
Amos continued, holding the cub—and the new hope he had finally found—as he walked into the house.
As for Little Chu Zao saving potato seeds generation after generation, Zhong Zhiyi from the Ministry of Agriculture had also checked carefully and done some special treatment, and there were basically no problems.
She didn’t stay long on Holy Cas Empire. In the following years, she still ran all over the interstellar to find new plant breeding research.
Meanwhile, the unrest and turmoil among interstellar nations gradually subsided during this time.
Mainly, everyone realized that apart from Holy Cas’s ever-increasing presence, nothing else seemed to affect them much. There were even rumors in the stars that if one could penetrate the pollution protection barrier, they might discover something over there that could change everything.
True or not, countless nations and planets started to act, seizing upon the clue of pollution to research it specially.
After much fuss—and because of the various technological breakthroughs in Holy Cas Empire—for helping deal with the exotic beasts near the pollution, Holy Cas Empire actually showed a cooperative attitude.
After all, the entire barrier line was just too vast.
Holy Cas expanded its forces countless times. Although everything still ran efficiently, it was very hard to cover every place perfectly.
When Little Chu Zao was ten years old.
At last, the crown-like halo of Ebinino above his head was condensed by the little one into a tiny fragment.
Ebinino as a whole looked much more stable than his previous frenzied state. Though he still didn’t recognize people, he seemed vaguely able to distinguish between them.
He lived long-term on a certain planet, resisting waves after wave of pollution power.
The frequency of these pollution surges was still quite high, and when the pollution grew serious, it would even warp and distort the space around.
After all, pollution was also a kind of power, which could affect the most mysterious spatial forces in the entire stars.
It was unclear whether it was because Ebinino had always guarded here.
The exotic beasts didn’t come here as often as before, and they rarely reached Storm’s level of power. Perhaps they’d suffered here and were reluctant to come to the deepest part.
However, because the barrier appeared less stable year after year, the exotic beasts that came to Holy Cas space were much stronger than what the Crown Clan had previously encountered.
At this moment, ten-year-old Zao Zao was standing in front of the barrier, the Crown Clan not far behind him, while Ebinino was flapping his wings near the barrier, his withered eyes, as if only lit by spiritual power, always glued to him every time the little one came.
The little one had gone from being terrified at first to gradually getting used to it.
Standing by his side were Chao Huangmu, Yun Songquan, and Peng Liang, and because a new war was looming, they trained much harder than before.
They had just finished training. Little Chu Zao retracted his hand, and the small golden crown on his head shone, dimming a little only when he withdrew his hand.
He stared at the mark on Ebinino’s head.
His big eyes blinked—quite satisfied with his work, his little chest puffed out with pride.
Possibly because he was born in the Angel Spring and not well-nurtured in childhood, the little cub grew quickly, but compared to the Crown Clan, he was still tiny, and it was estimated that even at seventeen, when the Crown Clan could have their coming-of-age ceremony, he’d still look slimmer, more delicate, and cute than the others.
But this did not mean Little Chu Zao was weak—on the contrary, the growth rate of his spiritual power was astonishing.
Especially the power he showed, even unconsciously, in guiding and controlling others’ emotions, which even the Crown Clan could barely resist.
The little one’s small wings fluttered behind him as he introduced his teammates to Ebinino.
“Great-grandpa, Zao Zao is here to see you again.”
Ten-year-old Zao Zao’s eyes sparkled, obviously well raised by Amos and the others, still the obedient, soft, smiling little cutie.
“These are Zao Zao’s teammates—Dad and the others are behind, Auntie has switched shifts, and later Zao Zao will tell Auntie about your current condition, Great-grandpa, she will definitely be very happy.”
The little one chattered on, while his escorts were a little uneasy.
This was their first time encountering Ebinino.
The Crown Clan prince whose name had been trending constantly on the star-net lately.
The Crown Clan not far away watched everything.
“It looks like the effect is obvious.”
Feeney watched from afar, turning to glance at Amos.
Members of the Crown Clan continued to mature after the coming-of-age ceremony until they reached full bloom, their appearance fixed until their power went out of control and their crowns shattered, bringing changes.
At this point, the Dwight family’s Crown Clan were still at their peak; after several years, they’d hardly changed at all.
But clearly, their presence was much gentler than before.
No longer the coldest, most despairing generation of the Crown Clan.
“Yeah, it took years to condense, such a long process. I wonder if Zao Zao will be able to finish piecing Great-grandpa together before his own coming-of-age.”
Anya also watched, then smiled.
The Crown Clan were calm in spirit and firmly believed that Ebinino could still be saved—after all, the crown was being pieced together, and due to the First Legion’s spiritual power, Ebinino also had no problem with his spiritual power at this time.
“If he can’t, Great-grandpa won’t be able to attend Zao Zao’s coming-of-age ceremony.”
“Amos, you’re planning to crown Zao Zao at the coming-of-age? Isn’t it too early?”
At that time, Zao Zao would only be sixteen or seventeen, which, for a long-lived Crown Clan, still counted as a youngster—other than being too big to hold, he’d always be a cub to them.
A cub they needed to protect closely—of course, much of that was because the sixteen or seventeen-year-old cub was Zao Zao.
If it had been Feeney, His Majesty Clansis would have tossed these troublesome guys out to train much earlier.
At last, Amos glanced over.
“Too early?”
The black-uniformed emperor turned his head again and watched his little one slowly, bit by bit, growing up.
For now, the little one’s ability could not surpass his, but perhaps in a few decades or a century, at his peak, Little Chu Zao’s power might outstrip his.
Amos looked forward to this, but also felt a little regret—the cub was growing too fast. The day he suddenly called Amos “Dad” in a clear voice, and started growing so tall that even picking him up made him feel shy—
“If I could, even earlier, I’d want to give him all I have.”
Give it to his little cub, give it to his only baby.
Anya and Feeney both looked over.
Frey also glanced this way.
They said nothing more.
Though they often said Amos protected Little Chu Zao too much.
In reality, none of these Crown Clan members truly felt at ease.
In fact, because Amos protected the little one so much, it made them feel marginally reassured enough to advise Amos to let Zao Zao grow up with more freedom.
“Hymn Organization made a move recently and lost quite a few members. Their target is still Zao Zao, but now it’s much harder than before. Patrols were strengthened for months, and now they seem to have gone into hiding again. There’s no movement.”
Frey reported.
“Mm.”
Amos replied.
“And that so-called God of theirs—still no clues?”
Feeney had a lot to say on this topic.
“Ah—I visited many Hymn Organization bases and labs, destroyed a bunch, but as for their ‘God,’ to those believers it seems like some kind of fanatic faith, with no messages coming down from the top of Hymn Organization.”
“You call that visiting? You just got lost and stumbled into them.”
Anya said dryly on the side.
“What a strange constitution you have—wasn’t this intentional? It’s been years like this.”
If he didn’t blunder into an exotic beast horde, he stumbled into an organization’s experimental field. The most outrageous was once, Feeney and his fleet blundered into a random spacetime jump and crashed right onto a Hymn Organization base.
He almost didn’t make it back from being lost.
Feeney had stopped insisting on keeping his long beard. Now a baby face, he turned to glare at Anya.
“You try doing it intentionally.”
“That’s just it—you couldn’t come up with that much variety intentionally—”
After all, imagination is limited, but Feeney’s possibilities are infinite.
Amos didn’t say more, listening to his brothers bicker.
Feiman had gone off shift to rest; it was now Anya and Feeney’s turn.
The other Crown Clan members were scattered across the stars again. Few remained stationed on Holy Cas Empire.
Amos made a rough estimation, looking at Ebinino’s crown, then at the spiritual growth of the little one—most likely only after Little Chu Zao’s coming-of-age would Ebinino’s crown barely form a solid base.
And at this moment.
He heard the little one chattering noisily, looking a bit more steady, but still a beautiful, soft small figure leaning against the barrier.
“Oh right, Great-grandpa, after years of refinement, Zao Zao thinks Zao Zao’s song is really good now! Zao Zao will sing it for you guys.”
After all, everyone said Zao Zao sang well.
Especially Chao Huangmu.
Now, an awkward Chao Huangmu, hearing Little Chu Zao’s voice, looked at the cub again. His face lit up with a beaming smile, and he reached out, hands ready to applaud at any moment.
Peng Liang was not to be outdone, Yun Songquan hesitated, then also raised his hands. Although the cool guy seemed cold, he even nudged Peng Liang beside him, trying to grab a better spot.
Everyone rushed to heap praise.
Amos: ……
Feeney: ……
Anya: ……
Frey: ……
The guardians all fell silent.
But the self-confident Zao Zao cleared his throat and started to sing.
Moments later.
There was a flickering fire in Ebinino’s eyes.
He couldn’t recognize people and had no consciousness. His crown on the brink of collapse was being held back bit by bit, so all his actions were instinctual.
When Little Chu Zao came, he would rise up from the star where he rested, and now flapping his wings, retreated a bit—then turned and left.
Zao Zao: …?
Little Chu Zao stopped, blinking: “Great-grandpa?”
Why did he leave?
Did he not hear?
“Great-grandpa, Great-grandpa, Great-grandpa—”
The little one even grabbed at the semi-transparent spiritual thread from Ebinino, trying to ask for a review—
But whether it was just Chu Zao’s illusion or not.
After his call, Ebinino didn’t look back, seeming to flee even faster.
Little Chu Zao hung his head in defeat.
Then Chao Huangmu’s applause started nearby.
In the back, Amos and the others couldn’t hold back their laughter.
“Hahaha, after all these years, still that off-key?”
Feeney laughed so hard he bent over, shoulders shaking.
“Still cute.”
Frey commented.
Anya’s shoulders trembled, looking at Amos’s helpless face.
“It won’t change at its core—just like you can coax him with candy now. But Second Brother, after he turns ten, you really should start to let go, let Zao Zao train more—”
Instead of—
Every time Little Chu Zao went out to train, a crowd of guardians trailed behind. Any Crown Clan member who had time would show up.
After destroying Angel Realm, although there was still a mysterious ‘God’ to deal with, at last, as Little Chu Zao grew up, Amos—apparently out of his highly stressed state—responded.
He raised his hand, a spiritual longsword in his palm. He looked down at the little bite marks on it—
And still said, “No rush, there’s still a few years—waiting until his coming-of-age isn’t too late.”
The other Crown Clan found Amos’s situation amusing.
After all, a stressed-out Amos was exponentially more dangerous—if you weren’t careful, he’d drag you off to the training room.
In the next few years, Little Chu Zao persisted. Every time he recovered his spiritual power, he rushed to the barrier to help repair Ebinino’s crown. By the time Chu Zao was sixteen, Ebinino’s crown had the basic prototype.
It was still in fragments, not yet joined. His situation was still delicate; With consciousness not clear and without past memory, but he seemed gradually aware that these people around him were his family.
The barrier itself also became less repellent to them.
But since Ebinino’s mind was unclear, they still couldn’t go in easily. Over the years, enough gaps had appeared in the barrier to pass through, but the pollution and exotic beast attacks also grew fiercer.
This was a new field training for Holy Cas First Military Academy.
After previous experiences, all military academies in Holy Cas Empire began to follow First Military Academy’s example, organizing field exercises and trainings near the pollution.
Because of the Empire’s routine patrols around the barrier and the addition of the Holy Chalice Clan, Holy Cas Empire’s pollution research advanced, with the capability to organize field exercises near the barrier.
Only students with strong spiritual power could participate.
Usually dealing with exotic beasts.
But these beasts, kept at bay by the Holy Cas military, were many times stronger than those outside the pollution.
At this moment, on a certain planet.
“Mm, I know the coordinates—”
Peng Liang piloted a small starship, speeding by, frowning at his surroundings and speaking into the comms.
“Yun Songquan, have you reached the designated spot?”
“Mm.”
The comm replied with a single cool word.
Peng Liang muttered a curse.
Would it kill him to say one more word?
The older he got, the more taciturn Yun Songquan became, almost ignoring people completely.
He had no idea what to do with him.
But there was still—
“A-huang, how’s it on your side?”
“We’ve found the leak point.”
Chao Huangmu’s voice remained sunny and casual.
“Reporting coordinates—”
Because of species differences, he usually acted with Chu Zao in such operations.
They were close by.
Chao Huangmu also left his temporary mech, looked at the swarm of exotic beasts ahead, reported the coordinates, and, energy cannon in hand, attacked further.
Those beasts, smelling blood, advanced greedily. One among them had already gained independent awareness. This kind had octopus-like arms that looked more like branches. When they were first discovered, Zao Zao casually named them “branch monsters,” and due to Cas’s unconditional support for the Crown Clan, and the guardians’ pampering, the name just stuck.
This is the new world—devour everything here and grow stronger—no one, no one can stop them—
The beast let out a roar that echoed across the starfield.
On another planet—
“Great-grandpa seems to recognize Auntie now? Really? I’ll go check—mm, Dad, I’m training—who? Third Uncle is following? I didn’t see him—”
Clad in a black military suit with bright gold trim, the sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy had honey-colored, clear eyes, handsome features, soft curls quivering in the wind. Above his head floated a golden crown. Chu Zao looked up, glancing left and right by instinct.
The wings on his back folded. When he received the coordinates, that irksome roar sounded.
Not truly adult, the young Crown Clan suddenly looked in a direction, brows knitting; he took a deep breath, his beautiful eyes blinking once.
So noisy.
Didn’t they hear he was speaking?
“My teacher said it’s wrong to interrupt others when they talk.”
He blinked and smiled.
He spoke into the comms: “Coordinates confirmed again—please evacuate.”
Getting confirmation back.
The young boy straightened. He raised his hand and a flicker of fire burst from his palm, reflected in those beautiful eyes. His soft curls danced in the wind. He drew his hand, and a golden bow ignited with fire, the flame shifting from gold to fierce black—he drew the bowstring.
“I’m in a hurry. Would you kindly hurry up and die?”
Zao Zao was polite—
The beautiful young Crown Clan’s wings spread slightly, instinctively flapping, his tone harmless: “Thank you.”
In the distance, Chao Huangmu had already fallen back, and above his head, a long black-flame arrow’s tail bloomed in the eyes of those beasts—
The branch monster, aware of danger, stared dumbly at the arrow above. It tried to shrink back into the barrier.
But in the next second—the arrow was even faster. In the air, it split, scattering countless rays of light. In the still, vast pollution, it was like a new doomsday.
Then the arrow rain fell, detonating the area.
What was that—what was that terrifying power?
The retreating exotic beast, still fast, was caught in the rain of arrows, howling in panic, then instantly falling silent—tearing off a couple of its own limbs as it scrambled back through the barrier in a panic.
With spiritual power already grown strong enough to easily face such beasts, the young Crown Clan’s uniform fluttered in the wind, the glow in his hands fading, bathing him in soft light as it ebbed. His honey-colored eyes glimmered in the shadows, and behind him, the outlines of countless warships—this was the pressure exerted by the future king of Holy Cas, still growing.