Chapter 32: 032 Ming Ruan is No Outworlder Part 1

Beside him, a black-and-white striped tiger paw braced itself right next to his ear.

It was White Tiger!

Ming Ruan blinked, meeting White Tiger’s gaze.

This Clarence Family… castle, for all its seeming lack of walls, was actually teeming with invisible patrol Mecha and every kind of high-tech defense imaginable.

How had it sneaked in?

Su Yuyun braced himself above Ming Ruan, meticulously scrutinizing him from his ‘lofty perch’, only secretly feeling reassured upon seeing his good spirits and pleasant mood.

Su Yuyun lifted his tiger paw, preparing to move off Ming Ruan.

But his face was suddenly cupped and squeezed!

Ming Ruan used both hands to cup White Tiger’s huge head, acquiring a massive handful of soft, fluffy fur.

Seeing White Tiger’s golden eyes shrink slightly in surprise, Ming Ruan felt inexplicably cheerful. “Baby, how did you get here?”

If his Boss was White Tiger’s master, then White Tiger showing up here—did that mean his Boss was nearby?

Ming Ruan released his grip on White Tiger’s cheeks, then seamlessly and naturally pulled the tiger’s head into his arms to hug.

If he was nearby, why hadn’t he come to see him? What exactly was his Boss thinking?

White Tiger’s head was large, thick, plush, and soft, and smelled only of the fresh, cool scent of the night breeze. Hugging it tightly and ruffling it freely, those feelings blocking his heart seemed to instantly dissipate.

Almost as if he could guess Ming Ruan’s thoughts, Su Yuyun abandoned his move to pull away and simply allowed Ming Ruan to hold him.

After Ming Ruan was reported as an Outworlder, Su Yuyun had voluntarily applied to vouch for him, which initially kept Ming Ruan’s danger classification low, thereby sparing him from more extreme coercive measures.

But the price was: before Ming Ruan’s examination report came out, Su Yuyun had to submit to supervision.

Thus, for the past two days, he’d been confined to an isolation room, unable to use his Light Brain or contact Ming Ruan through any means.

Until today.

The core parts of Ming Ruan’s examination report had finally been confirmed.

Only then did he, within the permissible bounds of the rules, employ a small privilege or two to check on Ming Ruan’s situation.

Su Yuyun had long known of Clarence’s little schemes.

But if they kept Ming Ruan in good spirits… then these petty tricks could be tolerated.

After all, Su Yuyun had infiltrated the place; he could only stay for a brief look, not linger long.

Ming Ruan sensed White Tiger’s impulse to leave and released his arms.

“You’re leaving already?” Ming Ruan hadn’t noticed how soft and aggrieved his own voice sounded.

White Tiger, who had just placed a paw on the windowsill, paused. He looked back, held Ming Ruan’s gaze for a moment, then suddenly came back.

Ming Ruan was sitting on the bed; White Tiger stood beside it. Their heights were roughly level.

White Tiger leaned forward slightly, cocking his head so his forehead gently touched Ming Ruan’s. The touch was fleeting, and then White Tiger, without further hesitation, leaped out the window just as he had come.

Don’t worry, everything will be settled soon.

Ming Ruan remained seated on the edge of the bed, blankly touching the spot on his forehead where White Tiger had pressed. He felt an inexplicable residual warmth there.

He dashed to the window and looked down. Outside, beneath the building, it was already empty.

Just as a sense of loss began to creep in, in a secluded, skillfully hidden corner—yet perfectly within Ming Ruan’s line of sight—a flash of silver glinted again.

Ming Ruan looked over and met White Tiger’s eyes directly.

Beneath the moon, after firmly catching Ming Ruan’s gaze, White Tiger melted back into the moonlight and vanished entirely.

The night breeze continued to drift silently through the Clarence household.

White Tiger’s appearance in the first half of the night felt like a dream delivered by moonlight.

Suddenly, the door behind him was knocked upon.

‘Thud, thud, thud’

“Coming!” Ming Ruan, feeling a twinge of inexplicable guilt, quickly shut the window and trotted to pull the door open.

Standing outside was a Lion.

Before Ming Ruan could guiltily speak, he noticed the person behind the Lion step forward.

The Old Butler held a tray with one hand. On it sat something that looked like a glass of warm milk.

The Butler said, “The Main Star’s temperature was adjusted downward tonight. Seeing that you still hadn’t extinguished your lights, Sir, someone entrusted me to bring you this.”

Someone?

“Thank you very much!” Ming Ruan carefully picked up the warm milk.

“Seeing you still not retired for the night, have you encountered some trouble?” the Butler inquired with concern.

Ah, well.

Ming Ruan’s entire body stiffened, his lips even stumbling over themselves.

“N-No, it’s just, I was having too much fun this evening and couldn’t fall asleep.” Ming Ruan ducked his head as if embarrassed.

But just happened to meet the Lion’s eyes.

“You came too!” Ming Ruan was about to reach out and pet the Lion to cover his discomfort, he paused as he extended his hand.

Could his body be carrying traces of White Tiger’s scent? Would an Interstellar Lion be able to smell it?

He immediately withdrew his hand.

In this moment, Ming Ruan suddenly felt a strong sense of déjà vu! The scene before him felt exactly like he’d just had some secret midnight rendezvous and been caught red-handed!

Heaven knew, Earth knew, he! Just! Petted a tiger, that was all!

Damn it.

Fortunately, the Butler didn’t press further.

The Lion watched Ming Ruan for a moment, then withdrew his gaze, turning to depart first.

As the Lion walked away, the Butler also gracefully bid Ming Ruan goodnight.

“May tonight’s moonlight not disturb your sweet dreams, Sir. Good night.”

“Alright, good night…”

Inside the door, Ming Ruan held the glass of milk. Only after the man and the Lion had both gone did he let out that breath of relief.

An odd sense of thrill.

What Ming Ruan hadn’t expected was that this thrill would continue on and off for another two or three days!

He really hadn’t anticipated seeing White Tiger again the very next day.

And on that day, the Lion had accompanied him right up to his doorstep, even bumping faces before leaving.

Just seconds later, White Tiger leaped in through the window.

Ming Ruan: “…”

His first reaction was actually to cover the side of his face that had just touched the Lion.

Then, under White Tiger’s puzzled gaze, he feigned nonchalance and happily started petting him.

No, how had things come to this?

……

Just when Ming Ruan could barely stand this strange feeling anymore, a different day finally arrived.

The Clarence household was very quiet today. Ming Ruan hadn’t seen the Butler or the Lion all morning. Even the servants and patrol Mecha coming and going seemed much fewer.

But those little animals were still there!

So Ming Ruan just let himself sink into the world of fluff, shelving those wandering thoughts for the time being.

However, it wasn’t just the Clarence Family that was quiet today. In fact, the entire Alpha Galaxy seemed hushed. The buzz on StarNet was very low, as if everyone was waiting for something.

And right now, within the Central Council Hall of the Main Star, a report meeting was in session.

It was about the Outworlder Ming Ruan’s examination report.

The vast Council Hall was filled to capacity. Camera Drones of all sizes floated in the air. In the aisles and rear of the hall stood many vetted and approved media personnel from StarNet.

In the front row closest to the podium sat Su Yuyun, Xie Gewen, Shi Huai, the Ming Parents, Ming Ji, the Vice President of the Beastman Research Institute… and other relevant individuals.

On the second level, illuminated only by a single spotlight above the main floor, the Third Prince sat propping his chin on his hand, the sole figure upon the single exquisitely upholstered, soft red chair, looking down and awaiting the start of the report.

The rapporteur from the Outsider Control Center stepped onto the podium.

His first sentence was: “Testing has confirmed that the original Alpha Galaxy citizen, Ming Ruan, experienced autonomous consciousness dissolution prior to the Outworlder’s arrival.”

Autonomous dissolution was similar to the old term brain death—one of many possible ‘accidents.’

The large screen promptly displayed the supporting arguments, along with the deduced time of dissolution, cause, and other specific details.

Following this, a minute of silence was observed in the Council Hall.

Seated in the front row, Madam Ming lowered her head, finally letting out a small, trembling sigh. Her husband and son, one on each side, patted the back of her hand to comfort her.

Even though past mentions of the original Ming Ruan were rarely associated with anything good, this moment of silence was the assembly’s respect and farewell, a citizen’s tribute to a fellow Alpha Galaxy being.

It was the boundary separating the past from the future.

After this segment, the rapporteur gave a detailed account of the Outworlder Ming Ruan’s situation: Name: Ming Ruan. Involuntary intrusion. Did not cause the death of a native citizen. No divisive infectivity. Baseline harmless… It largely matched everyone’s guesses. But no one present was impatient.

They were still waiting.

Just what was it that had caused the Outsider Control Center to delay this report meeting for over ten days?

Indeed, after the basic report, the Chief Administrator of the Outsider Control Center took the podium. The surrounding screens went dark, and then, pulsing in time with the assembled crowd’s breathing, a blue-and-green planet appeared on the screen.

The planet slowly turned in the darkness of space. Almost the instant it appeared, everyone sat bolt upright!

Could it be, could it be!

“As we all know, this was humanity’s first stop in the Alpha Galaxy within this Universe.”

Here it came.

The crowd virtually held their breath, their minds racing, struggling to suppress their own conjectures, yet they couldn’t help but clench their fists, trembling. Even the chairs seemed to vibrate along with them.

The Chief Administrator stated plainly: “We deduce that he might originate from here. This planet, the birthplace in the ancient history of human spacefaring. This—our ancestral home, sung from antiquity until now, the homeland in the epic of humanity that the entire Universe listens to.”

When such an excessively lyrical and uncharacteristically unrigorous sentence was uttered at this report meeting, the crowd felt as if a colossal weight in their hearts had finally landed, yet simultaneously, as if gravity had released them, they floated high. Some unconsciously gasped, mouths agape.

The screen meticulously displayed Ming Ruan’s most original and complete examination data, including every Researcher’s opinion and disagreement from the Control Center.

Most of those present couldn’t understand it, but they still read every symbol, line by line, meticulously.

The Chief Administrator also spoke at length about Interstellar humanity’s tracing and restoration of their ancestral civilization. No one found this irrelevant or redundant; everyone listened and recalled with the utmost gravity.