Is it really okay…?
Amos thought with a blank expression.
Actually, it didn’t feel all that okay.
This was his just-raised youngster. Yes, still just a youngster.
To immortals, who had such long lifespans, a decade or so of age was still so young, like a moment that could pass in a daze.
Completely a kid who’d just grown up.
Even if it was just a hint right now, for a parent, it was still far too sudden.
What? You say that, from the immortal’s perspective, that Chao Huangmu kid is also just newly grown?
A moment later, with Frey’s reminder, Amos finally loosened his poor little device.
In the end, he calmed himself—alright, fine.
The old father thought to himself.
He certainly respected his kid’s every decision. These two also grew up together, and as for Chao Huangmu, Amos actually had a decent impression, pretty capable in every way.
But at this moment, all those good qualities seemed a little lacking in Amos’s eyes.
He still needed more trials.
—Best if he could be “trained” into retreat.
Though, as immortals, their way of seeking mates, their liking and love, wasn’t quite like ordinary people’s. It was more a gradually developed attraction through the clash of psionic power, making for deeper bonds.
But not unbreakable—
Amos had never thought of finding a mate, and had no interest in such things. Besides battle, now the only thing he cared about was raising his own kid, but he’d also never thought of stopping his own kid—so then…
Sent back to the medical bay, still smiling and chatting with the med team and asking when he could move around without being watched, Chao Huangmu suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
He instinctively turned around to look behind him, then scratched his head.
*
Meanwhile, on a starship beside the flagship—
“The drugs are working, increase the dose—”
“Leader, the toxin analysis couldn’t be fully completed, we can only neutralize part of it.”
“Partial’s enough. As long as it’s relieved, he won’t die from toxin reaction next.”
“Psionic analysis is out, we’re intervening, weakening the energy trying to devour him. The effect’s good, just a few more treatments. His psionics will decline to ordinary human level, but it won’t eat away at his body anymore.”
What was that sound? Experiment… injection?
Was he still in the lab?
A pair of dull eyes slowly opened.
Then, without warning, those eyes met the serious gaze of a Holy Cas med team member.
A moment later—that serious gaze looked a bit confused.
Instantly, the people around cried out in alarm.
“How did he wake up? Whose watch? Put him back under! Waking now could be fatal! Does he have a drug resistance? Increase dosage, quick, there’s a lot not done yet!!!”
Only then did Xi come to with a start—oh, not a lab.
This seemed to be somewhere in Holy Cas…
Xi didn’t remember much about all this. After being dragged out of that space by Chu Zao and Amos, he’d all but lost the ability to act or the slightest consciousness, right up to now.
But before Xi could get his head around it, his vision went black again, and he lost consciousness.
Roughly two days later.
Xi was leaning against the bed, black hair falling flat, eyelids drooping, the sharp edge in his presence yielding to a kind of pure bewilderment.
The wounds on his hands and feet were slowly healing. But the limbs devoured by psionic energy would never grow back—he’d lost a hand and a leg, but his life was preserved.
Xi was hearing this.
“The toxin has been cleared,” said a Holy Cas med team member, “though not entirely. We found relevant data from the Hymn Organization, but at least now it won’t affect your daily life, though you might occasionally feel short of breath or chest pain. You should rest when that happens.”
The toxin was cleared…?
Xi looked up almost blankly at the person’s moving mouth.
In his not very long life, this was probably the hardest road block.
It was over now?
“Of course, there’s hope for a total cure with more Hymn documents, but that’s unlikely—they’re burning all their data now, and any remaining bases probably don’t have it either. Rather than pinning your hopes on a Hymn cure, you might as well count on Holy Cas pharmacology to improve soon.”
The person closed the floating hologram and, at this point, looked rather proud.
“Holy Cas’s tech is way ahead of Hymn’s. They think of nothing but harming others, but we have a lot more to do.”
Xi had looked up, staring at the other.
“I…”
He hadn’t spoken in ages, his voice hoarse, the taste of blood in his throat making every word ache.
“Oh, right, about your limbs—don’t worry. Holy Cas prosthetics are the best in the galaxy. The Little Highness already asked on your behalf, and your replacements are basically ready—come test them later. Oh, and they’re customizable. You want mech-style or normal skin? Just a check-up every few years—there’s already a schedule in Holy Cas’s top AI, and the nearest base able to service you will ping when the time comes.”
He grinned, patted Xi’s shoulder, and gave a thumbs-up.
“Pretty cool, huh.”
That new confusion rising in Xi was interrupted, instantly changing to wry, helpless disbelief.
Xi: …
“All right.”
The med team member said.
“Go try them out? Then someone’s waiting in the guest room for you.”
“You guys…” Xi finally spoke, a rough laugh, as if not really understanding, “Aren’t you being a bit too saintly? I was only doing what I wanted—it’s got nothing to do with you.”
But Holy Cas was still inscrutable to him—vigorous, full of vitality, a trustful, even obsessed pursuit of the Crown Clan, and under their leadership, a spirit totally different to any other nation or region.
“Oh, don’t mind that,” the person continued, opening another virtual screen, “Your full records are here, plus your Hymn tasks and so on. Just so you know, whatever your motives, as a hero in ending the pollution, we pay our respects.”
Xi looked at him.
At the honest smile on his face. He paused, then lowered his head again.
Really strange… Holy Cas—
Later that day.
Xi had the prosthetics installed, got used to them, and went to the guest room, where he saw Shenghua.
Shenghua was dressed neatly, holding a cup, frowning slightly. When she saw him come in, she stopped short.
Then quirked her lips and smiled: “You’re really cyberpunk.”
It was still a Holy Cas starship where military uniform the norm. Xi wore standard Holy Cas training clothes, messy dark hair over his forehead, eyes usually dead or crazy but now calm, the leg that was lost looking fine, but for the arm, he didn’t choose normal skin but a more mechanical finish.
Holy Cas soldiers were generally tough, calm, and unyielding, not at all like him—careless and decadent and yet eye-catching, totally out of place.
Shenghua hadn’t expected—Xi was adapting well.
With no more false pretense, when Shenghua looked at Xi now, she was calm, even with a bit of anger.
“Ah…”
Xi lazily answered, sitting across from Shenghua and peering at her.
“Any problem? Although you’re alive too.”
Shenghua smiled tightly: “Thanks to you.”
Xi shrugged: “Yeah, thanks to me.”
“Well, since you helped me in the end, I figured I should check on you, even if it’s a bit fake. After all, we’ve worked together so many years.”
Shenghua quirked her mouth again, but without much mirth. She’d survived, but was clearly still resentful for being played by Xi at the last moment.
“How does it feel—this Holy Cas you look down on?”
“Just so-so.”
Xi ignored her bad temper, answering indifferently.
“Arrogant, conceited—about what I expected for Holy Cas, and that excessive, useless loyalty to the Crown Clan—”
He spoke nastily, but before Shenghua could fly into a rage, he changed the tune.
“But it’s not as unpleasant as I thought, not without merit—”
Shenghua actually snorted a laugh.
“Holy Cas verified things quickly. Hymn, the pollution—none of it will touch us, or the ones I saved.”
“Oh,” Xi answered carelessly, then asked, “So what now? Joining Holy Cas?”
Joining Holy Cas…?
Shenghua was briefly confused.
Truth was, she’d never imagined living through all this. She hadn’t thought about the far future at all.
“Maybe? I might hand in an application, but I also met our old Chair’s child, the last of the Spirit Eye people in fact; the Boel Alliance is not without its merits either. I can’t say for sure about the future—maybe I just want to be an unambitious star candy factory boss. If I can make candies the young highness likes, that’d be nice.”
Shenghua had started the candy factory for this reason, and as her followers multiplied, she needed the front.
Sounds pretty good.
After all, Shenghua had used Hymn resources to win many over; she was a master at gaining people’s hearts, and could probably build a mini-country if she wished.
Xi mused idly.
“What about you?”
Shenghua looked at Xi.
“You have your freedom now, right? What now?”
“They said the treatment’s done, I can do whatever, go anywhere, even my starship’s ready,” Xi looked up at the ceiling, “Holy Cas—does sound kinda good.”
“You want to join Holy Cas?”
“No,” Xi looked up, “At least not now—the pollution’s waned, but there’s a lot left to do, right? Aberrant Beasts, those organizations—I’m not one to idle around.”
Xi lifted his bionic arm and flexed it. No strange feeling at all.
“Though they said my psionics will gradually lose the soul clan traits and drop to near normal, it’s still higher than most. ” In the interstellar, helping with all this, maybe after more contributions—
Only then would he have more right to reconsider Holy Cas.
“Oh, is that so?”
Shenghua stood up, checked the time.
“Time’s about up—I’m leaving.”
“Me too.”
Xi also stood.
“Just wanted to see if you were missing limbs as well.”
Shenghua rolled her eyes at him.
“Honestly, I never thought there’d be a day I could talk to you calmly—”
She punched Xi hard on the shoulder.
“But in the end—thanks.”
Xi seemed to curve his lips in a faint grin, a flash of white teeth at the corners, then turned and walked out.
Would they ever meet again?
Truly no idea.
The galaxy was so big, and with the pollution gone, the birds were free again.
But—
“Hey—” Shenghua followed him out and closed the door, calling out as Xi reached the corridor’s end, drawing out her words, “If you ever hit rock bottom, my candy factory can barely offer you a GM job—”
Shenghua had thought Xi wouldn’t reply. But just as he reached the corner, he glanced back, lifted a hand in that usual lazy, careless way—a boy halfway grown under soul clan psychics, even now.
Finally, he said—
“Yeah, save it for me—I’m off.”
Shenghua burst out laughing.
“This bastard never loses.”
She shook her head and walked a few steps away. She heard crying.
It came from the adjacent medical room.
Shenghua glanced over.
“I may be blind, but immortals losing their sight doesn’t mean ‘blind’—psionics can do a lot more than you think, you understand? Can’t you calm down?”
Barney sat on his bed, looking down at a wailing 7-8 year old human child he’d picked up in past years. Before the final battle, he’d entrusted the child to friends on a drifter planet, but now had the kid back.
Trying to explain, exasperated.
“But—but you’re Spirit Eye! Without eyes, you’re useless—waaah—”
The kid couldn’t say it well, so it sounded all the more annoying.
“What do you mean I’m useless? Go copy your interstellar language textbook for me!”
“Waaaa—you’re not only useless, you’re mean—”
“Hey now, don’t push your luck—”
Barney scratched his head, then sensed Shenghua’s presence at the door.
Even after learning the truth about his father, Barney still had mixed feelings seeing Shenghua, but the Boel Alliance was gone now.
At last, Barney just nodded lightly at Shenghua as greeting, then looked away.
Shenghua didn’t react much either, shifting her gaze and moving on.
Further down the corridor, voices drifted—
“Prof. Zhong, this crop’s growing great; we found some life in once-polluted areas that survived, further improvements are possible. The Holy Chalice Clan also sent news—”
“Mm, noted.”
Zhong Zhiyi looked at the data, then looked up at Shenghua.
She hesitated, nodded, and smiled.
“Shenghua, right?”
Shenghua paused, surprised.
“Hello, I’m Prof. Zhong Zhiyi from the Holy Cas Agriculture Ministry and quite familiar with the drifter planets—I heard a lot about you. Frankly, your skills at winning people over are impressive; but since the Hymn Organization fell, you may lack new resources. By chance, the Agriculture Ministry can help, and while Holy Cas isn’t expanding boldly, it still wants greater regional influence.” Zhong Zhiyi extended her hand. “On my superiors’ orders, we can discuss cooperation.”
Shenghua hesitated, then reached out and shook her hand. “Alright.”
Zhong Zhiyi smiled: “I hear you started several candy factories, right?”
She murmured quietly: “As long as you like the little highness, we’re friends.”
Then, straightening, Zhong Zhiyi said: “Come this way to talk in detail.”
At that moment, a small starship detached from the Holy Cas fleet, flying away like a freed bird into the distant stars.
Xi took one last look at the Holy Cas fleet behind, and at the medical pod the Holy Cas insisted on fitting to the ship.
He’d never lived carefully, only finding this all unnecessary…
But—alright, then.
Xi sighed.
—So, goodbye for now—Crown Clan little highness.
*
About two weeks later.
The pollution was receding rapidly, but hadn’t yet stabilized.
Holy Cas First Army was re-formed; the old refugees had returned, warmly welcomed to the Holy Cas Empire.
As for that whole fallen sector, under Holy Cas’s influence, it was now heading back to normality and had become a large Holy Cas colony, the people busily shifting from living on starships to building solid, lasting homes.
As for other places scoured by pollution, being too remote and unexplored even before the pollution, no focus was put on them now either.
Back on Holy Cas Prime, Chu Zao noticed Holy Cas people were even crazier these days.
The galactic net was full of images and videos from when the Holy Cas army returned.
And the news of Chu Zao’s disappearance still got out, so a big crowd only started feeling sorry for him after he came back.
Not to mention the military academy now.
It had always been wild enough, but now it was beyond words—Chu Zao hardly went to First Military Academy anymore.
Meanwhile, the Crown Clan’s habitat was recovering well; in a few decades it should be back to its peak, and there would be new little Crown Clan—decades might sound long, but for them, now it was the blink of an eye.
After waiting a thousand years, a bit more leisure in victory was nothing.
Desmond and the others were recovering nicely too, even got in a fight with Ebinino after regaining their flesh.
Because they couldn’t beat Amos—Desmond and his group, even alive, suffered irreversible damage, and Ebinino had lost his sight. The two, both fond of combat and exercise, agreed at once to spar as “half-disabled rivals.” Dark humor, indeed.
Of course, Chu Zao suspected Ebinino also just wanted to fight Desmond, since Solan had been lured away by Clansis of Desmond’s family, and now with Desmond’s weakened mind, what an opportunity!
Chu Zao never dared ask who actually won in the end.
But fully recovered now, after visiting Desmond and the others a few times during their convalescence, Chu Zao was finally able to visit for real.
He walked down the Holy Cas royal court’s corridor.
At this hour, all Holy Cas was busy—
Amos and others working through piles of paperwork, and in about a week, Chu Zao’s make-up coming-of-age ceremony would be held.
As well as the monument in the plaza for those lost in the pollution, and the angel memorial statue under construction.
Looking at it all—so many things had happened.
Chu Zao sighed.
The only thing, though—Amos, besides tormenting Feeney, seemed to have a new hobby of tormenting Chao Huangmu.
But as the last soul clan, having overcome his legacy psychic troubles, Chao Huangmu’s psionic strength was now audaciously growing.
Although Amos still looked at Chao Huangmu with a bit of dislike, he acknowledged his abilities.
It was just that—with no one quite experienced at this, and not daring to break the thin barrier, Chao Huangmu acted a bit cautious and tense around Chu Zao lately, as if he wanted to hug but held back, turning into a little black dragon to cautiously cuddle—making Chu Zao speechless before the sight.
“Great-grandpa!”
Chu Zao flung open the door and looked inside.
Desmond had spent the last few days getting familiar with present-day Holy Cas.
He found this Holy Cas remarkable.
When he’d founded the Holy Cas Empire, the people had been more reserved. How on earth had they gotten so wild now?
They were all still recovering.
Chatting via comms, Ebinino happily joined in. Only, whether Desmond or Ebinino, both still showed swollen, unhealed bruises.
“Zao Zao—”
Desmond, usually so unruly, was saying something to an old friend, but turned at Chu Zao’s voice. His face broke into a beaming smile, youthful features softening into actual kindness.
“It’s Zao Zao!”
“Zao Zao’s here to see great-grandpa—”
“Nope, great-great-grandpa hasn’t even had the turn yet.”
Chu Zao looked in, honey-colored eyes narrowing a bit, the boy smiling: “I’ll visit everyone, one by one.”
One by one—Zao Zao kept things fair.
No need to rush.
Desmond smiled too.
He waved at the screen.
“Off you go, all of you.”
Desmond looked at Chu Zao, always fond of him, always wanting to steal the kid for his own. Now he just couldn’t love him more.
Whose kid is this?
Oh—he’s mine!
Desmond laughed, chatting with the little one and showing off his recovery.
“Don’t worry, never felt better.”
“That’s good.”
Chu Zao craned for a look.
“Is Amos still busy?”
“Mm, says there’s a ton left to do. Same for me—but since third uncle lost a bet with me, and thought to dump his work on me, now I’ve got his help with mine.”
Brother Mu knew he couldn’t resist the little black dragon, but come on, not every hug needs to be a black dragon—try something different now and then.
Chu Zao smiled with innocent mischief, describing this tragic reality for Feeney.
“Serves him right.”
Ebinino roared with laughter over the comm.
“But also, I need some time to think things over.”
Chu Zao considered—go slow, natural, or push forward more aggressively?
Ah—Brother Peng said Brother Mu’s lucky stone lately was pink, not easy to wear, so he kept it hidden as a belt charm.
Chu Zao was really curious—he wanted to take a look.
Okay, really, he wanted to pull it out and check.
And lately, after researching certain things with Feeney—he was really, really curious.
Of course, if third uncle got dragged into it, well, just push him out to take the hit—he was used to it. Chu Zao’s little crown wobbled on his head.
“Thinking about what?”
Desmond looked over, puzzled.
“Just do what you want—who can predict the future?”
Desmond lightly patted his head.
He smiled.
If you asked him, during that last journey, he’d never imagined he might make it back.
Chu Zao looked up at his great-grandpa, apparently inspired.
“Got it.”
Desmond nodded: Good.
“I’ll catch Brother Mu before he turns into a little black dragon and see that belt charm!” Chu Zao’s eyes shone, fist clenched.
Suddenly the world felt wide open.
Desmond: …
Desmond: …???
Desmond’s eyes widened: What?
Wait, wait, what is it you understand?
Desmond’s face visibly collapsed—Great-grandpa hadn’t said a word, he hadn’t said anything!
[Author’s Note]
Desmond: It’s over, it’s over, it’s over—my mind is broken, friends!