The so-called trial was just a way for the little cat to understand justice, to reassure that soft little heart of his.
A person’s moral flaws didn’t mean he had broken the law. Besides, there were so many laws in the world. If you scrutinized every one, who could come out unscathed?
When facing such people, should you save them or not?
For society as a whole, or even for adults, this wasn’t an easy black-and-white issue—it involved stances, ethics, worldviews, and even public opinion.
But Isiris didn’t care about these outsiders. He only cared about his child. He wanted him to be happy and bask in the sunlight.
Silver Wing received Isiris’s instructions and began verifying each person’s past records and background information one by one, announcing on the spot whether they qualified to purchase the tomatoes.
Li Ao tucked his four paws neatly under him and crouched on his daddy’s lap, craning his neck to listen intently.
When he heard that one “not-bad” person after another had been granted purchase eligibility, and the tomatoes truly weren’t being sold to the bad guys, the little guy’s eyes lit up noticeably. His previously droopy ears perked right up.
He was just so straightforward.
Isiris pinched those two ears between two fingers and pressed them together.
Li Ao didn’t get it, oblivious to the fact that his cat ears had been squished into bunny ears. He just grinned dopily at his daddy.
It wasn’t until that group of Wave Walkers. They were all fugitives wanted by various factions, every one with blood on their hands. But whose blood? Sometimes innocents, sometimes invaders, raiders, or abusers.
No matter who they were or who they had killed, that wasn’t for the little cat to hear or worry about. He was so young, without a mature sense of right and wrong. What was the point of him knowing?
If these matters required a cub to fret over, then these adults really needed to reflect.
“Approved.” Silver Wing omitted the dark realities and calmly announced the result. “Eligible to purchase tomatoes.”
“…” Qin Yi quietly looked at the little cat. When Li Ao heard she could buy tomatoes, his big tail swished happily several times.
“Li Ao didn’t judge wrong?” He turned to ask the guardian.
After receiving approval from the golden-haired Monarch, he asked again, “Then why, uh, did that person say she was bad?”
“Because they have a conflict,” Isiris said. “So they accuse each other.”
“Oh!” The little cat smacked his left paw into his right palm, looking enlightened. “Like how the people who fight Dong Xixi over things call Dong Xixi bad!”
“Yes.” Under the emperor’s domineering gaze, no one dared refute his words, even if they had grievances.
“Feeling relieved now?” Isiris’s arm crossed the little cat’s belly, scooping him up as he said, “Alright, let’s head back.”
He was the complete master of the scene—what he said went.
But the little cat still looked around worriedly left and right until he heard his daddy say again, “Someone will continue verifying the buyers’ information. The items won’t be sold to the unworthy. This matter will be handled by—” Isiris looked at the descending starship. “Bai Yunjun.”
Bai Yunjun, who had just rushed back from business talks with The Federation, bowed. “Yes, Sun.”
One hammer to settle it. From then on, the people of Delphi had learned their lesson and would never let such filthy matters appear before the little cat again.
Silver Wing’s plan when heading out that morning had been to let the short-legged cat relax and have fun.
The process hadn’t gone as expected, but the result was clearly not bad.
After all, the little cat’s daddy was back. No entertainment could make a cub happier than that.
Li Ao hooked his left paw on Isiris’s pant leg and pointed at his own room with his right paw, leading the way inside.
The golden-haired Monarch cooperated fully. After the little cat’s short legs scrabbled a few times, he lifted his foot to follow. Once inside the room, Li Ao pointed at the numbers on the calendar for him. “You said you’d come back at this point, right?”
July had just begun. The first day on the calendar board was clawed to shreds, and the last day was circled in red crayon.
“There were still so many days left. How did Xixi come back before the agreed time?”
Isiris said flatly, “Because I missed you so much, I came back as soon as the business was done.”
Just one sentence like that left the cat beside himself.
Li Ao froze for a moment, then his tail flicked sharply. He scurried to the man’s leg and nuzzled hard against his ankle.
Left, right, rolling onto his back to rub his belly on the man’s foot, purring like a motor that wouldn’t stop. It made Silver Wing wonder if someone had parked a helicopter inside.
“Is he itchy somewhere?” The iron-hearted robot looked down at the not-so-happy little monster by its feet.
Xun looked up at it in shock.
“…” The robot wanted to zap him coldly. “What’s with that look?”
Li Ao had no idea what his little buddy was thinking. He was so excited that even at bedtime after dinner, he refused to get into bed.
“Li Ao, what are you doing?” The robot finally asked after scrubbing the cat clean.
Li Ao stuck his round butt in the air, head buried in the cat nest, rummaging for something.
When the robot walked over, it saw he had moved most of his belongings into the nest. Then he pushed the nest toward the door with both paws.
“Where are you going?…” Like a snail moving house.
“Li Ao and Xixi agreed! Today, Li Ao’s sleeping with Xixi!” Fierce Cat said as he pushed. His two feet strained against the floor. When he couldn’t budge it, he wiped sweat from his brow and looked for his little dog to help.
But he saw Xun looking aggrieved.
Li Ao paused, then walked over and hugged Xun with both paws, stroking along the fur. “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you happy?”
Of course Xun wasn’t happy.
He only liked the little cat, and the little cat should only like him. But now, the little cat had plunged headfirst into that golden-haired man’s arms and was even moving his entire cat nest over!
He didn’t understand—why did the little cat like that person? He was the one who played with him every day, slept with him, and talked with him.
Xun’s heart felt sour and swollen, his wings even dragging on the ground.
The two little ones communicated via encrypted channel. The robot could only see the dazed expression on the short-legged cat’s face. About two seconds later, the short-legged cat pulled the little monster’s hand to his belly and said, “I’m not leaving you out! Of course we’re sleeping together. Let’s go!”
“Really?” The little monster leaned weakly against the little cat’s chest. “Then Li Ao, swear you’ll take Xun everywhere with you.”
The little cat puffed out his chest reliably, without hesitation. “I swear!”
A wave of speechless black lines rippled through the robot’s program. Before it could step forward and pry apart the sticky duo, the two dragged the cat nest and bolted out.
“…” For some reason, the robot had the feeling that humanity’s future was about to elope with a Xenoid.
This world was done for.
Li Ao dragged the cat nest to the small door. He could squeeze through, but not the nest. So he climbed onto the door, stretched his tone, and started calling, “Xixi~ Xixi, open the door~ Open the door for Li Ao~”
His voice was so cutesy it was lethal. At least, the hidden guards had never heard the royal lion cubs mewl like that.
One clutched his heart, wishing he could jump down and open the door himself.
After two or three wails, there was movement inside. Li Ao pulled his little dog to squat obediently and lifted his big face expectantly.
As soon as Isiris opened the door, he saw him dragging his cat nest into the room.
The man bent down, picked up the cat nest in one hand and the cat in the other, with a pitch-black little coal ball following behind. He was truly moving house onto his bed.
Without exaggeration, this was the first time since Isiris had come of age that a living creature had climbed onto his bed.
Li Ao circled the big bed several times, then pushed his cat nest into the corner by the hanging gauze curtains.
“Xun, come up.” He lay on the bed’s edge, stretching both paws down with all his might, ready to haul the little monster up.
Isiris stood by the bed, his gaze lowering briefly to meet the little monster’s scarlet eyes.
The air grew thick with suffocating tension.
But in the end, he said nothing, not slapping the little cat’s face. He just shifted his body slightly, making way for the little coal ball.
What a huge face.
Ever since Isiris could wield a sword, no living Xenoid had survived within his sight. And now, one was boldly sleeping in the corner of his bed.
Not that boldly… Xun snuggled against the little cat’s warm, reliable chest.
The oppressive pressure from that man was too strong, instinctively making him feel threatened. This realization of being suppressed filled Xun with displeasure.
Both harbored their own thoughts, but only the short-legged cat could be so carefree in this atmosphere, belly up and drooling in his sleep.
After Li Ao fell asleep, Isiris got up and sat at the desk. The room was quiet, save for the little cat’s purring and the soft rustle of the man turning book pages.
Xun lay with eyes open, staring fixedly at the gauze canopy above, vigilantly watching Isiris’s every move.
Suddenly, he sensed movement.
The man was getting up.
Xun’s heart tightened. He turned his head slightly and peeked over quietly.
Isiris’s face showed no emotion. The man turned his palm inward and beckoned to the xenoid, then strode straight out toward the outdoors.
Xun froze for a moment. He carefully shifted the little cat pillowed against his head aside and set it down properly, then tucked its little belly in, before spreading his wings and chasing after him silently.
The man walked ahead, with Xun flapping his wings to follow behind. The two traversed the castle’s back mountain one after the other under the night sky, arriving at a solemn and quiet mausoleum.
The relief carvings on the stone walls faintly glowed white under the moonlight. All was silent, save for the chirps of summer insects.
Isiris turned around.
Without the little cat by his side, the man was no longer gentle. All warmth was concealed within his sharp eyes as he coldly turned back, his gaze slanting like a knife edge at the xenoid. He asked, “Your name?”
“Xun.” The xenoid answered without the slightest hesitation.
“What does this name mean to you?”
Crimson beast pupils held a serious conviction: “The meaning of existence.”
Golden eyes locked onto him, scrutinizing: “Are you loyal to Li Ao?”
“Of course!” Xun replied almost immediately. “I will always stay by his side.”
The Sun God Sword slowly lit up in the darkness, its scorching glow tearing through like the dawn.
Isiris pointed the sword at the xenoid in judgment: “Are you… loyal to humanity?”
Xun was stunned.
In that moment, he didn’t answer right away.
Why be loyal to humanity? He was a superior xenoid—how could he possibly be loyal to humans?
Xun’s pupils contracted as he spoke clearly:
“I am not loyal to humanity, nor to anything besides Li Ao.”
“Xun is Li Ao’s little dog, and Li Ao is Xun’s little cat. That’s what we agreed on from the day we met.”
The air grew heavy in an instant.
The Sun God Sword trembled faintly, its light spreading inch by inch through the darkness. The cold blade was mere steps from Xun—one more step forward, and it would pierce him through.
Yet Xun remained utterly still.
Isiris watched him, his voice betraying no emotion: “Why not release your domain? The blade is about to wound you.”
Xun lifted his gaze, his pupils still in their slender, beastly form, filled with unshakable resolve.
He gritted his teeth and said, “Because you’re his dad.”
As he spoke, his wings were tightly folded against his sides—in endurance, and restraint against his attacking instincts.
“Because you’re important to the little cat.” The blade had already sliced his skin. “Because if you get hurt, the little cat will be really sad.”
This fact had once filled Xun with jealousy fierce enough to devour everything, but he couldn’t—not when it meant hurting anything the little cat loved.
Isiris fell silent for several seconds before slowly withdrawing the blade. His gaze fell upon the xenoid like snow. “Very well,” he said. “Remember what you said today.”
“Not loyal to humanity—loyal only to Li Ao. Should you ever break this oath, I will cut you down with this sword myself.”
The bright moon hung overhead as blood slowly trickled from the xenoid’s wound left by the blade.
Moonlight softened the chill in those golden eyes somewhat. Isiris said, “Come, then. As affirmation of your display, I will reward you with the power to remain by his side.”
Xenoids were beasts that knew only slaughter, humanity’s eternal foes.
But the one before him was merely a little monster, willingly collared and leashed by the little cat.
