Chapter 68: I Caught You!

“Strange, he’s not replying to my messages anymore.”

After the meeting ended, Yulian glanced at the light brain again. The messages were still stuck at five hours ago, right when he had sincerely suggested that Li You neuter the cat or find it a companion.

He pondered for a moment, then held the light brain in one hand while the other was tucked in his pocket. He pressed the voice input key. “Why aren’t you replying? My suggestion was great.”

The voice message sent successfully, but with no reply in sight, Yulian didn’t wait around. He slipped the light brain onto his wrist, grabbed his files, and was the last to leave the conference room. As he pushed the door open, he spotted Li Ze standing outside with his hands on his hips.

Yulian paused, then clicked his tongue in disgust. “Your dark circles are so heavy you could cosplay as a giant panda from ancient Earth. Ugly as hell.”

“You think you look any better? Take a look in the mirror! Your eye bags are so thick they could trip someone!” Li Ze snapped irritably. “What’s the new task from the research institute? Why didn’t I get the notice?”

“Are you here to gloat, you bastard? If it’s none of your business, just be happy about it! You have no idea how much work this is! You’d harbor even more resentment than me!” Yulian sidestepped Li Ze and kept walking. “If you’re so bored, come join our group for overtime.”

“Can you talk normally for once? I’m just asking!” Li Ze hurried after him. “Is it about Kailenoa? Does it involve Youyou? Have you contacted Youyou? How is he? Where the hell did he go? He didn’t really go find Li Ye, did he? Damn it, how can you all be so careless? Why didn’t you stop him? If I’d known he was going to that guy Li Ye, I definitely would have…”

Li Ze’s barrage of questions was cut off when Yulian stopped abruptly. His face slammed right into the back of Yulian’s head. It hurt so much that he grimaced, staggered back a few steps, and clutched his nose. “Why’d you stop like that?!”

Yulian kept his head down, staring at the two messages Li You had finally replied with on the light brain.

One was a voice message under three seconds long, and the other was a super long… garbled mess.

He tapped the voice message. It was a brief burst of static, like the rustle of fabric rubbing together. It was too short to make out anything clearly.

Then he looked at the garbled text. It looked exactly like something typed out by shaky hands.

“What the hell is this guy doing?” Yulian frowned and sent a question mark. As expected, no reply came. He shoved Li Ze away in disgust—the guy had leaned in to peek at his screen—exited the chat with Li You, found Li Ye’s contact, and sent a message.

Yulian: 【Is Youyou with you? Why’d he send me garbled nonsense?】

The shoved-aside Li Ze leaned in again, saw the content, and exploded in shock and fury. “Fine! Youyou really did go to Li Ye! You’re all in on it, aren’t you! Do you even care about Youyou? If you can’t take care of him, give him to me, damn it!!”

“Get lost, you’re too noisy!” Yulian was about fed up. He stared at the screen and waited. Finally, Li Ye replied.

Li Ye: 【He’s with me.】

Just that short message, nothing more. Yulian had a huge question mark hovering over his head, but he didn’t ask further.

If he was with Li Ye, then he was safe. As for the garbled reply, he’d probably bumped the light brain screen by accident.

“Claims I’m his number one in the world, but can’t even reply to a message properly.” Yulian grumbled as he turned off the light brain. He side-eyed Li Ze, who stood nearby with a sour expression, arms crossed, and one shoe tapping irritably against the floor.

“Dr. Yulian, I think we need to have a proper talk.” Li Ze glared at him. “I’m a Your Highness at least. Can’t you give me even a shred of respect?”

“…” Yulian fell silent, then nodded expressionlessly. “Yeah, yeah, got it. I need to go work overtime now. See yourself out.”

“You bastard!”

Their argument echoed down the research institute’s corridor. Kris and Qi Yu, passing by, glanced toward the source of the noise. Kris sighed. “Those two doctors still get along so poorly.”

Qi Yu smiled. “I think they get along just fine.”

“Really?” Kris blinked, shrugged, and checked the time. “Peisengke still hasn’t replied, the files I sent to Your Highness Li Ye got no response, and even Youyou, who always enthusiastically replies to me, is ignoring me. Is everyone just busy, or is the signal really that bad?”

“Kailenoa District’s signal is indeed hard to connect to, but I think everyone’s just busy.” Qi Yu said. “Give it a bit more time. They should reply soon.”

“Alright.” Kris shrugged helplessly, then recalled something. “You’ve been in Kailenoa District before, so you know more than me. You’re probably right.”

Qi Yu smiled. “Besides, if Your Highness Youyou knew you messaged him, he’d definitely reply. After all, Little Highness is that gentle.”

“You’re right.” Kris perked up. “Let’s get back to work. Maybe by the time we’re done, I’ll see Little Highness’s message.”

The signal between Prime Star and Kailenoa District was indeed spotty, but the channel stayed open enough that messages could get through. Li You had seen Kris’s message and Yulian’s too. He wanted to reply, but he hadn’t had the chance.

In Li You’s mind, not replying for so long was rude.

He tried to crawl toward the light brain that had fallen onto the starship’s cabin floor, but he’d barely moved forward—hadn’t even stretched out his hand—when he was dragged back. His brother’s tail tentacle wrapped around him, pinning him down even tighter. There was no way he could reach the light brain.

“W-Wait… wait…”

Li You’s hands trembled nonstop. His reddened fingertips weakly pressed against the tail tentacle coiled around his thigh. He patted it feebly a few times, his voice shaky and breathless. “I can’t… no more, no more. My stomach feels like it’s breaking…”

Li Ye remained unmoved and didn’t let go of Li You. His hand pressed against Li You’s slightly soft belly and rubbed it gently, just like when they were kids and he’d rub Li You’s stomach after he’d eaten too much. Only this time, it wasn’t from overeating.

“It’s not broken.” Li Ye pinched Li You’s lower abdomen, rested his chin on Li You’s shoulder, and with a gentle tug of his arm, flipped the youth over…

…

The warship they were on was far from the crystal stones area, near the ruins of the research institute. Outside, the massive black wolf lay curled around the starship, encircling it with its body.

Over these past few hours, the enormous black wolf had stayed obediently in place. Sometimes it excitedly pawed at the sandy ground with its claws; other times it bounced back and forth in place. It had dug several sand pits around the starship, and its tail whipped around like a propeller, showing just how thrilled it was.

The next day, after reporting to Li Ye, Peisengke prepared to lead three warships in transporting the crystal stones back to Prime Star. Before departure, he looked around. “Your Highness, where’d your cat and Your Highness Youyou go?”

Li Ye didn’t look up, his eyes still on the task files displayed on the light brain screen. “What do you need?”

“Just asking.” Peisengke said. “I haven’t seen him in days. I’m really worried about Little Highness, and that little guy too. You can’t forget—it was me who brought that little guy back to Prime Star and delivered him to you. I care about it just as much.”

Li Ye glanced up at Peisengke, then looked away. “He’s fine. He’s resting.”

“That’s good.” Peisengke grinned and asked again, “Were you talking about Your Highness Youyou or the cat?”

“…” Li Ye paused for a moment, then said, “Him and the cat.”

“Looks like Little Highness and the little guy get along great.” Peisengke was delighted. “Alright then, I’ll head out. See you, Your Highness.”

General Peisengke left in a rush. Li Ye, in the warship’s conference room, finished processing the files from Prime Star, then stood and headed to the room deeper inside.

The room was dark. He entered, sat on the edge of the bed, and reached out to touch Li You’s cheek. It was warm, and his breathing was soft and steady.

Li You was still asleep. When his face was touched, he instinctively nuzzled into Li Ye’s palm.

Li Ye’s gaze shifted. He stared at Li You for a long time, losing track of time. In a daze, he poked Li You’s cheek with a finger and murmured softly, “Such a heavy sleeper. Are you a little pig?”

“I heard that.” Li You opened his eyes. A pair of bright, beautiful eyes stared at Li Ye. His hand emerged from under the covers, grabbed Li Ye’s finger, and he grinned slyly. “Heh heh! I caught you!”