Feeney was much taller than the cub.
In Holy Cas, he was rarely assigned the delicate task of cheering up the youngster.
Most of the time, Feeney was leading little Chu Zao into mischief, bouncing and scrambling everywhere.
Looking at the now deeply pensive, cool and detached little Chu Zao—
Usually, the little guy loved to smile and was easygoing, so it was hard to detect. But once he stopped smiling, coldness suppressed his expression and seeped into his gaze… Truly Amos’s own cub.
At first glance, his bearing was much like Amos’s—enough to make Feeney’s skin tighten for a moment.
In a way, little Chu Zao was not someone to be trifled with either.
It was just that he had guardians standing before him, so it was hard to sense at a glance.
Now, in this unfamiliar star sector, the little one had gotten a taste in advance of what it meant to be a ruler, and what responsibilities and considerations came with that…
So, just like Amos…
Too daunting.
What kind of delusion was this?!
Feeney raised his hand, his cherubic face unusually stern, and pinched Chu Zao’s cheeks, rubbing them back and forth.
Chu Zao, whose face was now quivering from the rubbing: ?
“Zao Zao has grown up and is doing great.”
Feeney’s hands kept working.
“Now everyone’s been found, we just need to wait for Second Brother. Cheer up—”
Grown up?
This was rare praise coming from Feeney.
He’d always had an unreliable personality, and once the Dwight family had a cub, this was the guy who loved to get them into mischief the most.
Even after growing up, he often dragged Chu Zao into things that gave Amos a headache.
So, in the beginning, Amos was quite right to resist putting Feeney in charge.
Chu Zao blinked. His soft cheeks were being kneaded by his third uncle as if he were dough.
Chu Zao tried valiantly to rescue his face from Feeney’s hands.
“So I did pretty well?”
Little Chu Zao cocked his head, waiting for Feeney’s nod.
But before he could respond, Chu Zao said: “Then you all have ten minutes—praise me.”
The little guy’s mood came and went quickly; maybe he’d already tucked his emotions away. This moment, chest out, head held high, he looked at Feeney with a smile.
Feeney: …
Feeney reflected—had he taught the cub badly?
Beside them, Chao Huangmu was quick to respond.
“Today, too, Zao Zao is invincibly handsome and adorable, has powerful leadership, and keeps getting stronger!”
He was always ready.
Feeney: …Uh, wait, you…
Chu Zao had simply wanted to change the subject, but after hearing that, he actually paused and burst out laughing.
“Hear that? Third Uncle.”
Chu Zao mumbled, clearly cheered up.
He’d always loved being praised. Whenever he was complimented, his little wings would flutter reflexively in happiness.
Though he’d restrained this as he grew, his tone was noticeably livelier.
He even pulled out a candy from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.
Earlier, Chao Huangmu had offered him several packs of candies, which were now all packed into little Chu Zao’s pockets.
Watching Chu Zao crunch his sweets was almost a Crown Clan instinct by now.
“Didn’t Amos limit your candy? Haven’t you had enough today?”
“After coming of age, candy should be unlimited.”
Chu Zao answered with his mouth full, words slightly muffled.
Feeney poked his cheek.
“You haven’t done your coming of age yet, you’re still a cub—there should be a cap on candy.”
If there wasn’t and Amos found out, he’d never hear the end of it.
Chu Zao blinked big eyes at him.
Feeney: “Don’t look at me like that… no, Zao Zao, speak properly, and don’t pull out your notebook.”
Then Feeney hesitated, taking two steps back, in near perfect sync with Chao Huangmu.
“And don’t take out your Cupid’s Bow either.”
Seriously, in this small space—who are you planning to shoot with love and peace, little one?!
*
Preparations for ore collection in the Holy Sanctuary were still underway.
And the sky above had turned completely dark.
Dots of starlight scattered across the sky.
The afternoon clouds seemed not to matter here. At night, visibility was still excellent with the stars very bright, as if the sector hadn’t really been harmed by pollution at all.
Chu Zao was still waiting for their signal, and used the time to take a stroll around the Sanctuary.
Cas people were still Cas people, but after drifting for a thousand years, they were clearly less confident and more uneasy.
Finally, Chu Zao leapt onto the highest point of a starship, sitting there and looking up at the sky.
You could just about recognize the features of his childhood—his growing face turning more striking. In fact, his looks were on the cold side, taking after Amos, but as he grew, he became adept at guiding and managing others’ emotions, so most of the time his smile made him seem warm and gentle.
Someone landed lightly beside him.
“Zao Zao.”
Chao Huangmu had kept an appropriate distance after Chu Zao went out to walk.
Feeney could probably do this too, but as an adult Crown Clan, his psionic power was so strong that Chu Zao often wouldn’t notice him. Chao Huangmu, certain he’d get caught, just tagged along openly.
There wasn’t much light above—just some floating illumination equipment, brighter than moonlight.
A pale, cool layer of light fell over Chu Zao.
Chao Huangmu looked up at him.
Most of Chao Huangmu’s emotions were a mask.
That’s why he wasn’t always thorough in his thinking—for instance, though Chu Zao’s mood obviously seemed better just now, now he still appeared unhappy.
Chao Huangmu couldn’t figure it out.
Chu Zao looked over at Chao Huangmu, noticing the questioning in his eyes.
Chu Zao hugged his knees, gazing at the night: “Brother Mu, I really miss Baba. There are so many issues—”
He really hadn’t been apart from Amos this long before. Since being taken back by Amos, from past practical training until now, it’d been nearly half a month without seeing Amos.
And now, still immature and growing, the cub had suddenly been handed the troubled and deprived Holy Sanctuary in an unfamiliar sector he barely understood.
There were many things he couldn’t decide. He always wanted to ask Baba or uncle, but neither were there.
Only a third uncle who wasn’t great with responsibility.
Though, it wasn’t really Third Uncle’s fault.
Chu Zao gently exhaled, resting his chin on his arms so his pretty face looked rounder, cuter, losing some of its chill.
Chao Huangmu had no parents.
Strictly, he’d never met them—those memories were lost.
Most holidays he’d spent alone at the military academy, or with Chu Zao, Yun Songquan, and Peng Liang. He couldn’t really relate to little Chu Zao’s feelings.
But the part about lots of problems—
Dressed in black military uniform, he looked up, Chu Zao’s image mirrored in his dark eyes, his messy black hair and gentle, approachable smile. Muscles went taut beneath his uniform as he crouched next to little Chu Zao, like a coiled black dragon—
“When you hit problems, just solve them. Isn’t that how we’ve always done it? Zao Zao needs to trust himself, trust in Lord Hel’s teaching, trust in Emperor Amos’s guidance—there won’t be problems. But if there are—”
Chao Huangmu lowered his eyes, still crouched beside Chu Zao, and reached out, taking Chu Zao’s hand and gently pulling it out—an ancient, but perfectly proper, knight’s salute.
Chu Zao was stunned, hand out, turning to look at Chao Huangmu.
Then Chao Huangmu went on.
“If there are—then I will be the sharpest blade for Your Highness, clearing every obstacle.”
This also meant he would always stand by Chu Zao’s side.
Like a greedy dragon-dog, pawing eagerly at his most gorgeous treasure.
The breeze stirred Chu Zao’s hair; he looked at Chao Huangmu, who had perfectly executed the knight’s gesture he must have learned somewhere. Chu Zao blinked his big eyes.
“Uh-oh, Brother Mu, that was kind of dashing just now.”
Chu Zao’s eyes curved up.
Chao Huangmu visibly froze.
Next moment, he let go, eyes darting awkwardly, his ears flashing red.
“R-really?”
Zao Zao liked that?
Did that make him…dashing?
What counted as dashing?
Chao Huangmu was already analyzing hard, drafting a dissertation on Chu Zao’s definition of dashing.
“It’s true.”
Chu Zao grinned.
Just then, the communicator given to him by Lai Qing lit up.
It read—Your Highness, everything is ready.
Time to go.
And a chance to check out the surroundings.
Chu Zao stood, held out a hand to help Chao Huangmu up, and looked down.
“Third Uncle.”
Feeney was quietly leaning against the starship below—at this angle, he was just a tiny dot.
But the Crown Clan’s eyesight and hearing were superlative.
Chu Zao heard his uncle respond—and then add,
“What’s there to worry about? Third Uncle is pretty reliable, right? Any problems, Third Uncle will smash them for you.”
Anyway, brute force had always been Feeney’s forte.
And—
Feeney murmured again,
“What’s that guy up to? Never mind…not important. Don’t worry, Zao Zao, nothing’s going to happen.”
Feeney straightened, stepped forward, and turned, extending his hand to little Chu Zao.
“Let’s go, little ancestor, time to head out.”
“Okay.”
Chu Zao replied quickly, looking at Feeney—thinking, in moments like this, Third Uncle really was reliable.
But—
If all goes well, something’s about to go wrong.
A few hours later, on the Sanctuary’s starship.
“Course deviation—eh? Looks like the pollution tide is affecting navigation, we’ve gone off course.”
Lai Qing and the other councilors broke out in cold sweat.
“Calculating position, please Your Highness and Young Highness wait—we’re sure we’ll get back on course soon—”
Chu Zao watched as the route on the command platform vanished. In such a polluted place, with powerful aberrant beasts everywhere, getting lost in space was terrifying.
But for Chu Zao, it wasn’t so scary.
And Feeney was calm—unnervingly calm.
Wasn’t he always like this!
Chu Zao stared at Feeney, unspoken: —Uncle, just where have you led us this time???
Isn’t this some kind of special constitution? Has to be, right?
Feeney: …
“Don’t look at me, I have no idea.”
But when Feeney glanced at the now-panicked Sanctuary members, he was struck by memories of his first deployment with the Third Army.
Now the Third Army was used to it, always weird, best at adapting—because accidents happened too often.
Though he doubted it was his fault, Feeney couldn’t help that slight guilty awkwardness.
He spoke, trying to reassure.
“No need to panic. From my many years of experience, it might not be a good thing, but it’s probably not too bad either.”
For example, previously he’d crashed into aberrant beast-controlled zones, barged into Hymn Organization strongholds—labs, combined troops, whatever.
Feeney was used to it.
It hardly ever ended in disaster.
Just then, he heard Lai Qing speak up again, nerves high-strung.
“We’ve entered heavy pollution—completely off course, correcting now—our instruments seem to have malfunctioned, we’ve never encountered… No, this was our oversight, we sincerely apologize.”
Chu Zao: “…No need to apologize.”
Feeney: …
Ah…it really does sound serious this time? High-level pollution?
Pollution was already a problem for Feeney—now a high-level region?
“Break away quickly—”
“Strange, why aren’t there aberrant beasts in such a severely polluted area?”
“Exactly—so at first we didn’t realize we’d entered a zone like this. Lucky all our ships are top-of-the-line for pollution resistance. If not for the alarm, we’d have stayed on a bad course for even longer.”
There weren’t many spatial landmarks out there—usually, you just followed the navigation. But Feeney’s navigation was an accident magnet.
He stood in place, then awkwardly scratched his head.
Little Chu Zao circled him a couple times, still not sure what Feeney’s constitution was—why was it that whenever Third Uncle seemed truly reliable, he had to be reminded that he wasn’t all that reliable—
But then, Chu Zao suddenly paused, turning back at the direction they’d just come.
So odd. He could have sworn he glimpsed a glint of something reflecting light, then it vanished instantly, too quickly for him to be sure. All he saw was the ship’s lights and—
Chu Zao thought, “Uncle, did you hear anything just now?”
“Nope.”
Feeney looked at Chu Zao.
And pinched Chu Zao’s ear, puzzled, “Hearing things?”
Chu Zao dodged, eyeing the eerily beastless depths of pollution, mystified—
Was there something out there?
But Chu Zao couldn’t be sure.
After all, the Crown Clan’s senses were excellent—Feeney, in his prime, was even more perceptive. But clearly, Feeney hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
Chu Zao found it odd but turned his attention back, waiting for the Sanctuary’s starship to get them out of the high-pressure, polluted zone.
When the starship finally burst free, the command screen flashed, alarm resounded again—“Now completely off course.”
Looks like the navigation system was back online.
The relieved Sanctuary council members could finally breathe easy, their tension dissipating.
“But Chairman, with this deviation, we can’t reach our target planet before the medical supplies run out.”
Inside the starship, someone reported again.
Lai Qing paused, searching for nearby viable planets.
“This area’s close to the Gesen Empire, and we could run into their mechas. It’s all close to heavily polluted zones—mostly uninhabitable, abandoned public systems.”
As they operated the ship, they couldn’t help glancing at Chu Zao and Feeney.
Already nervous, they were even more frustrated—ready to show their best, but here they were, making mistakes.
Until one crew member casually scanned a nearby planet.
Feeney scratched his head—maybe they’d have to take the patched-up small starship to the target world, importing the route map first.
But the next second, a Sanctuary crewman reported quickly: “Chairman, scan shows the adjacent planet has the ore we need, it’s public domain, we can collect—shall we land?”
They knew little of these planets near the Gesen Empire.
Lai Qing said at once: “Land and collect.”
Chu Zao shifted his focus from Feeney.
Feeney let out a small sigh of relief.
Then Lai Qing looked to Chu Zao: “Little Highness, weren’t you curious how we collect resources? We have specialized collection robots you can pilot. Would you like to try?”
“Sure, let me see—”
*
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
“The pollution here is much stronger than we expected.”
It was Feiman speaking.
Because of the proximity, she had accompanied Amos to find the missing Zao Zao and his friends, and also to bring Third Brother back.
“Mm, slower than planned.”
Amos stood at the command station, his voice cold as he surveyed the situation.
Feiman exhaled and acknowledged.
“Yeah, but Zao Zao and Third Brother’s side seems fine, the crown’s signal is normal.”
This was reassuring.
More than that, Zao Zao’s tracker sometimes blinked, showing he was still on the move.
Amos said nothing.
He just quietly watched ahead.
As little Chu Zao said, it had been nearly half a month since they’d seen each other. It was the same for Amos—so long without seeing his own cub.
The Holy Cas ships pressed forward, heading straight for the places where Chu Zao’s signal occasionally appeared.
Not far off, Ebinino was flapping his wings.
Ebinino’s crown was not fully repaired, and though his bodily wounds weren’t worsening, it was still alarming.
He still had no real consciousness, but he sensed the little cub who used to sing for him was gone.
His wings beat anxiously as he flew ahead, looking fretfully back at the Cas ships.
His psionic shield was still up, but the farther he got from it, the weaker he became.
Feiman had tried to get him to go back, but clearly failed.
Ebinino was just desperate now.
Finally he gave a roar—
Flapping his battered wings mightily and lunging forward a few meters.
Amos: …
Feiman: …
“Grandpa, try to save your strength—”
He used a lot of energy, but didn’t get far.
“Ebinino, settle down.”
The emperor of Holy Cas spoke.
Clearly, Amos, now fretful over his lost cub, did not want to be distracted.
His gentle, adorable, needing-protection cub had never been gone from him this long.
And especially not together with the unreliable Feeney.
Meanwhile, that very cub was holding a mining robot controller, eyes shining as he operated it to collect minerals.
Just like playing a mining game.
“Right, pressing this button collects the ore.”
Someone from the Sanctuary coached him, pouring on the positive feedback.
“Little Highness is awesome—”
“This ore vein is super rich, Little Highness really has a good eye—”
Chao Huangmu, unable to squeeze in: …
Feeney watched from the doorway in the distance.
And out in the distance, several mechas were slowly approaching.
“Exploring here today?”
“That’s our mission.”
“Well, survival match is coming. This year’s target is the Holy Sanctuary, I heard?”
“Yeah? But it doesn’t seem to be going smoothly.”
“What’s there to be difficult? Just a backwater, nothing to it—hey, what’s that over there? Starship? Robots?”
Meanwhile—
The Sanctuary starship sounded an alarm—“Alert—unknown mechas rapidly approaching—”
Lai Qing and company looked up at once, warning: “This is Holy Cas Sanctuary, please keep a safe distance.”
“Repeat, this is Holy Cas Sanctuary, please keep a safe distance!”
Holding the ‘game’ controller, Chu Zao was still awkwardly operating his little robot, not paying much attention to those people.
But, as if provoked by the warning, the mechas became even bolder. One mecha quickly accelerated, charging straight for his little robot.
Then, through the crackling comm channel, came a sneering, arrogant voice—in their eyes, the Sanctuary was just a decayed remnant to be cleared away.
“Holy Cas? What the hell is that? This is Gesen Empire territory. You Sanctuary trash should be the ones leaving—”