Once again fuzzed by a fever from his rapidly increasing power, Chu Zao walked forward.
His fluffy wings, after a look, had been folded behind him, so he just walked along, wings puffed up, cheerful and happy.
“Zao…Zao Zao?”
Halfway there.
Chao Huangmu, looking as if he was about to head out on mission, hurried over from the side and nearly collided head-on with the muddled little Chu Zao.
He seemed eager to see Zao Zao before the mission began.
The young man was tall, but compared to Chu Zao, not slim; fine lines of muscle undulated beneath his clothing. Lost in his thoughts as he walked with his head down, his eyes lit up suddenly upon seeing Chu Zao.
“You’re awake? It’s been two days.”
Chu Zao was muttering quietly, eat eat eat, when he heard Chao Huangmu’s voice and looked up.
“Brother Mu?”
Little Chu Zao had already been cleaned up, his slightly wavy hair messy and sticking out at random, white wings clustered and fluffed up behind him, soft and puffy.
His honey-colored eyes shimmered, and though he already looked sixteen or seventeen, after being spoiled by the entire Crown Clan since age five, he was usually calm and steady, but when confused, his cub-like traits were plainly visible.
Especially as he was genuinely good-looking, unlike Amos’s chiseled, perfect looks—little Chu Zao was more slender, his facial lines softer, just absurdly pretty and cute. Now, with his wavy hair and fluffy wings, he looked even more adorable—it had been a long time since Chao Huangmu had seen this less image-conscious side of Chu Zao.
For a moment, with no one around, Chao Huangmu’s usual faint smile froze, his gaze glued to little Chu Zao.
His eyes nearly popped out.
“Are you…really awake?”
Chao Huangmu called again, unsure; he leaned down, dropping to Chu Zao’s eye level, a touch of confusion in his clear puppy eyes reflecting Chu Zao’s blushing face.
Chu Zao, slow to react, gave an “ah” after a while.
“Brother Peng and Brother Yun didn’t come?”
“I asked the advance team—they said this batch is the elite of the Ninth and Tenth Army Groups. Peng Liang and Yun Songquan aren’t here yet, probably not for a few more batches.”
Chao Huangmu explained, raising his hand, somewhat hesitant.
“Are you still feverish?”
Chao Huangmu’s hand pressed to little Chu Zao’s forehead.
Here, everywhere was covered by Amos’s psionic power.
So there was truly no danger.
After Chu Zao dashed out, the medical team reported to Amos, who told them the little highness was just ahead and not to worry, so the medical staff didn’t follow.
Chao Huangmu was unaware of any of this, and little Chu Zao hadn’t heard either.
Feeling the temperature in his palm, Chao Huangmu imperceptibly frowned.
“Burning up, Zao Zao. Let’s go back to the medical bay? Do you still recognize me?”
Chao Huangmu had been through several of Chu Zao’s previous fevers; he knew when it was psionic-induced, Chu Zao was confused, and the symptoms were different from a regular illness.
Worried, he was about to take Chu Zao back.
Back to the medical bay?
But he needed to find Baba.
Chu Zao’s eyelids drooped, looking at Chao Huangmu’s face so close to his own.
Chu Zao hesitated for less than a second.
He smacked a kiss on Chao Huangmu’s cheek.
Forgive Chu Zao’s muddled logic; all he could think was—anyone Zao Zao kisses like this would freeze! And then he could go find Baba.
Chao Huangmu did freeze, in fact—stunned.
Soft, warm feathers brushed his fingertips as Chu Zao slipped away.
“Brother Mu, I’m going!”
Chao Huangmu’s hand was still to his cheek, staring blankly ahead.
His body was utterly rigid.
Until his exploring team, unable to reach him, came searching.
And found him, statue-still.
Chao Huangmu’s teammate: ?
Chao Huangmu was quite well known in the forces.
He did, after all, have half immortal blood and strong psionics.
At their age, serving in the forces for training was normal, but the little highness had no direct unit yet, so the ones growing up with Chu Zao weren’t formally posted.
All were standouts at military school, with Chao Huangmu considered the best; Army Groups Nine and Ten, being Amos’s personal troops, often included the trio on missions, and was familiar with Chao Huangmu—sometimes marveling with Peng Liang and Yun Songquan that he was practically a beast, relentlessly excellent.
But now—what was he even doing?
“Hey.”
The teammate tapped Chao Huangmu on the shoulder.
Unexpectedly, with that touch, Chao Huangmu staggered.
Chao Huangmu snapped back so fast that during his daze, he instantly spun and pinned his teammate without a thought after sensing an unfamiliar presence.
A crisp, decisive move, brimming with killing intent.
Gone was the smile, his eyes void of expression, now hollow and unnerving.
Meanwhile, something shiny clattered out of his pocket.
His teammate: ……
Startled by that terrifying look, but as Chao Huangmu blinked twice, apparently brought back by the clatter, he let out a sheepish grin—“Ah…”
Furious teammate: “Ah what, you brat?! What are you doing?!”
Suddenly awake, Chao Huangmu: ……
Chao Huangmu swiftly picked up the glimmering pieces and stuffed them into his pocket, rubbing his head with a sunny grin.
“Sorry, sorry, just blanked out for a second, really sorry.”
He beamed, white tiger teeth showing, still hot at the spot where Zao Zao kissed him.
“Forgive me—also, that factory your team found, not bad, any other intel?”
“We just found a new sugar factory, and you’ve already tried it? Can you not give people a break? What else? Nothing! Forgive you? No way! Hurry up, the whole starship’s waiting on you.”
Seeing that familiar grin, the teammate grumbled.
“Come on, bro, don’t be like that. A soldier should always be ready,” Chao Huangmu said, pulling out something shiny from his pocket. “I checked it over, ruby for luck, here for you—”
The teammate was helpless.
Chao Huangmu was so likeable, getting along with even the most demanding generals. Sometimes he felt weirdly off, but you couldn’t fault his work—always flawless.
And persistent too—he never gave up until he got what he wanted. Strangely, people wound up happy with it, too, making him a hard guy to handle.
“Really?”
“Really. Didn’t you all swear those charms work?”
Chao Huangmu handed over a ruby.
The black obsidian stud on his earlobe glinted.
The teammate, taking the ruby, noticed the earring.
“Oh, your lucky stone today is obsidian? Never seen that one.”
“Oh—”
Chao Huangmu touched it, smiling.
Of course you haven’t. Zao Zao gave it to me recently.
Zao Zao—
Zao Zao————
Zao Zao had just kissed his face—
So excited, so excited, so excited—indescribably excited! He felt like tearing up a few aberrant beasts to vent—
Though he didn’t really know what he was riled up about.
“All right, all right, enough now. I’ll send you info if I have any. Hey, why’s your face so red? Fever?—Wait, why are you walking all stiff? What are you thinking about??”
……
*
Meanwhile, having slipped away from Chao Huangmu, muddled and following Amos’s psionic thread straight to his goal, little Chu Zao was already close.
Hungry and craving psionic energy, Chu Zao kept reciting it in his mind as he walked, unconsciously hiding his presence like when he was little, ready to pounce at the right moment—
Only when he was fuzzy did he have such unsteady ideas.
At this moment, the command room door was ajar—apparently left open for Chu Zao.
Inside were only Feeney and Amos. Feiman wasn’t there.
In fact, ever since finding Great-grandpa, the kissy little maniac had fewer chances.
Chu Zao thought to himself—Aunt Feiman must be with great-grandpa.
Oh, right, besides getting fed, Zao Zao needed to see great-grandpa too.
“Frey’s arrived?”
That was Feeney’s voice.
“Already linked up with some at the Sanctuary and had started exploring the surroundings.”
Amos’s voice was steady, unreadable.
“They made good time, just two or three days—”
Feeney muttered, holding a small blanket that had been on the sofa, as if comparing it; once Chu Zao arrived, after all the fuss, the little guy running a fever would surely nap here. Feeney, staring at the blanket, caught himself.
“Oh, right, we traveled here by direct spatial transfer, but you had a route—they just had to follow it. The later arrivals have it much easier, and all the gear should be getting set up? I hear others across the stars want to come in too, looking for new resources? Did you warn them it’s at their own risk? Holy Cas won’t offer help here.”
“But really, I kind of admire myself,” Feeney said, “not just freak luck, but I’ll say anything—”
He cut off mid-sentence.
Amos hummed in reply.
He wasn’t wearing his military coat, only the white inner shirt with gold buttons and noble royal patterns—lacking the cold and deadly military air, Amos seemed the image of an elegant young lord, his gaze occasionally revealing flashes of menace and daunting presence.
Now he flexed his wrist.
“You reminded me; things are mostly settled for now.”
Amos looked at Feeney: “Right?”
Feeney: …
Don’t use that tone with me!!
It’s terrifying!
Feeney clutched the blanket, breaking into a cold sweat—waitwaitwait, after nearly three days Feeney’s guard had dropped, the dread of a beating unwound bit by bit, until he blurted that out.
“So you admit you lost Zao Zao because of your constitution? Also—you mean—”
Amos thought a moment, then grinned—a truly menacing, joyless smile.
“So you’re still proud of what you said that day?”
Heavens above, may all bear witness!
How did he dare?!
Without hesitation, Feeney turned to run.
Too nervous, and with the kid hiding his aura, Feeney only realized he’d run into Chu Zao at the last second, dodging instinctively—the blanket in his hands, flung forward by the sudden stop, landed smack over Chu Zao’s head—
Chu Zao: ?
It’s dark?
Who turned off Zao Zao’s lights?
Amos: …
Feeney: …
This is bad!
Amos grabbed Feeney single-handedly while pulling the blanket off Chu Zao.
He looked at his own fluffy cub—Chu Zao’s feverish, his muddled face blank with confusion, staring at the blanket with wings fluttering behind.
Amos glanced over Chu Zao’s wings—they were fluffed up again?
Was it because—of Feeney…?
Chu Zao, still thinking about eating and recovering energy, was now completely stalled by the sudden covering.
His mind was blank—Who am I? Where am I? What was I doing?
Then, just as his third uncle hastily said, “Nothing to do with me!”
Chu Zao looked at him.
Feeney kept signaling with his eyes—Please, please don’t pull out that notebook!
Oh! Right!
Chu Zao’s thoughts lurched onto a weird channel—
From eating and psionic energy, he went straight for his notebook.
“Baba, the notebook.”
The boy said, flipping it open, trying to recite—
But so muddled, even the words looked tedious, so he found the simplest lines—
And then—
“First day here, Third Uncle was mean to me…Third Uncle…”
Feeney: …
Feeney leapt up and clamped a hand over Chu Zao’s mouth.
Then snatched his hand away: “Second Brother, your cub’s burning up!”
Amos listened, took the notebook, and felt Chu Zao’s forehead.
Chu Zao rarely got sick.
Only during power surges did he get fevers, which usually lasted a while.
It really was hot.
Amos ordered fever patches and food.
Even though nutrient needs had been met in the medical pod, Chu Zao would still be hungry; Amos handed him little biscuits, watching him nibble away.
Amos then notified Feeney, who was hoping to escape unscathed.
“I booked the training room for tonight.”
Feeney: …
“You’ve slipped a bit lately.”
Amos started flipping the notebook again.
“Letting Zao Zao handle everything?”
Feeney: “…those who can, do more—”
Amos nodded approvingly.
“But you need to train more.”
Feeney: …He’s rebelling!
In anger, he seized the blanket and started folding furiously.
But now Chu Zao, distracted and with the biscuits curbing the worst hunger, had already been stuck with the fever patch on his forehead.
Chu Zao looked at Amos—
“Baba, where’s great-grandpa? I want to see great-grandpa.”
“Outside the starship, you still have a fever.”
“I’m fine.”
He mumbled stubbornly.
Even tried to climb out the starship window to look—
In the end, Amos took little Chu Zao to Ebinino’s recovery place.
It was a vast open ground.
Ebinino, still in his true form, lay on the ground.
His rotting flesh had been removed, some damaged organs and tissues slowly repairing under his psionic flow.
Feiman was sitting cross-legged before him, looking up at her grandfather.
Ebinino smiled—though still half-conscious most of the time, he was much improved.
And Ebinino had missed so much in Holy Cas—he was desperate to know it all—
“Is that so? Solan left so early, then…”
His child, his cub, that tiny one he’d held from the nest, who’d giggle at him—gone.
“Clansis left soon after Solan—so after that, Amos handled Holy Cas? Sure is tough, Clansis was really useless… When grandpa handed your mother to him, wasn’t happy about it at all, but young Solan fancied that guy.”
Ebinino’s voice was low and weary, coming out as a growl to outsiders, though only the Crown Clan understood.
Ranting about his beautiful treasure getting stolen—even after a thousand years, Ebinino couldn’t help grumbling, finding fault everywhere with Emperor Clansis.
“Grandpa—”
Feiman looked at Ebinino, torn between laughter and tears.
“Haha, finally laughing again? You, little one, weren’t you a happy kid when grandpa left? Why now like Clansis, always cramped up? He’s been a bad influence,” Ebinino muttered. “All right, all right, grandpa knows, Clansis and my Solan truly loved each other, but every father thinks no one in the world is good enough for his treasure, isn’t that right, Amos?”
The recovering giant slowly lifted his head.
His once tattered pelt now gradually soft and fluffy, fresh blood oozing from where decay had been cut out, daubed with ointment—such marks were everywhere on him.
Ebinino’s eyes had still not recovered—he’d lost them entirely.
Twin ghostly red flames flickered in his hollow sockets as he looked to Amos with Chu Zao.
“Oh, little cub, come here, let great-grandpa have a look—”
Ebinino still couldn’t move, but watching the little one filled him with wonder.
“Didn’t think, Amos, you could have such a pretty cub—mutation, right?”
Amos looked at Ebinino impassively.
“I’d say Feeney inherited all your genes, grandpa.”
Feeney, dreading his fate: …?
It’s not me, seriously, don’t spread rumors.
“So many wounds—”
Chu Zao, still fuzzy, glanced around, cheeks a bit sad.
And the poor light made it hard to see—so Chu Zao’s wings flapped once, lifting him into the air for a full view of Ebinino’s injuries.
“Small wounds, it’s nothing,” Ebinino boasted. “No missing arms or legs, just lost an eye, more scary-looking than serious; but for a cub, this is a bit much. Better wait until I’m better to visit. I’ll try not to miss you so often.”
Amos watched his little cub take flight, and at Ebinino’s words, glanced at him.
His expression was odd: “Zao Zao is sixteen this year, nearly seventeen.”
“So what?”
Ebinino retorted.
“Wasn’t it you, grandpa, who said at this age more training was needed, and tossed me and big brother among clusters of beast legions.”
Never mind not seeing blood; missing arms and legs was always possible—for Holy Cas, healing was possible, and their recovery speed was amazing.
Amos stated this calmly.
He’d left home when he was very young; but his memories were lucid—he still recalled having to beat both an unstable Frey and beasts at the same time.
Ebinino used to sit by and enjoy the show, always laughing.
It had really left a mark.
Ebinino: …
Why did this brat remember everything for so long?
“Can Zao Zao compare to you? Don’t worry, good cub, we’ll ignore your dad’s nagging—great-grandpa’s ill, so right now, your dad has to listen to me.”
Or else he’d show Amos what for—would Amos be scared?
Even the emperor slipped, letting out a small sigh among family.
“Why not wait for Frey to come back and tease Frey instead.”
“Frey’s the least fun,” Ebinino muttered. “He went exploring and isn’t back yet?”
“He’s gone deeper, probably toward the Gesen Empire—ah, the Gesen Empire is supposed to be the strongest here, I think.”
Amos recalled from previous information, unconcerned.
And this was true—Frey and company, still pushing ahead, had already encountered the Gesen Empire.
Meanwhile, airborne, Chu Zao stared at the crown above Ebinino’s head.
Find grandpa—find grandpa—find grandpa—
Oh, wasn’t he also after a meal and psionic energy earlier?
After the “system crash,” Chu Zao’s odd thought process reconnected.
Suspended midair, he pressed his hand to his head—so uncomfortable.
What was he about to do?
Chu Zao was much more restrained during fevers compared to his infancy, but he was still a cub—after several seconds’ thought, his brain settled on—find grandpa, eat, and get psionic energy.
For eating and psionics…
He eyed the floating crown.
Chu Zao slowly landed and sluggishly crawled onto Ebinino’s crown. With a rare serious look, a bit like Amos’s demeanor, except—
Chu Zao leaned down, sniffing the crown—this was a scent Zao Zao hadn’t encountered, just a bit strange, a little like fruit but still pretty fragrant.
He looked down, licked his lips, and cocked his head, considering—
This was the last chance to stop him.
But Ebinino froze, then regained composure, trying to demonstrate his experience—as long as one had been through it, one wouldn’t panic at being gripped by the crown. No problem—this little one was special, he was prepared, so he could understand anything.
In fact, Ebinino tried to comfort the little guy.
“It’s fine, Zao Zao, great-grandpa’s okay, rest assured. It’s fixed, tested, it shouldn’t—ow!!”
The red flames in Ebinino’s sockets suddenly flickered, trying to look up.
He was in disbelief.
Because he felt something subtle and sharp atop his crown—
For a Crown Clan, the crown was a sensitive spot.
Ebinino still refused to believe—
No way—
Finally, he saw Chu Zao gnawing at his crown.
At this age, Chu Zao was already a small teenager, though small beside Crown Clan giants, he’s not that different from normal human teens. But lying on the crown of Ebinino’s giant form, he looked like a tiny “parasitic bug,” pressing his small fangs into the just-repaired corona, scraping away as if trying to nibble a piece off.
Ebinino: …his heart, so long suspended, finally gave up.
He dared not open his eyes, fearing it was a hallucination—
“What’s happening? What’s happening?! Wait, wait—”
The giant beast trembled violently, eyeless but showing shock and utter confusion through the two flames.
Yes, he was experienced—probably the oldest still-living Crown Clan; he should show calm composure before the young.
But this—never heard of and never seen.
What was happening?!
Why could this little one not only touch his crown, but also gnaw at it?!
Amos, Feiman, and Feeney were all caught off guard, completely stunned.
Watching the “unflappable” Ebinino lose his mind, his eyes screaming—Help me help me help me.
Your cub—he’s—
He’s eating my “brain”!!!