Chapter 40: Little Pig Cat Part 2

Just then, the officer delivering the chair announced the meeting was ready. Everyone straightened up. Li You stood too. “I’ll go as well.”

Li Ye ruffled his hair and handed him a brand-new work notebook and Old Pen. “Use mine for now.”

“Okay.” Li You hugged the notebook to his chest, then remembered something. “Bro, are you still using the Old Pen I gave you?”

“Mm.” Li Ye acknowledged.

“It’s been ten years. The style’s so outdated.” Li You thought for a moment. “After work, Youyou’ll take you to buy a new one!”

Li Ye glanced at the youth proudly lifting his head, a faint smile in his eyes. “Good.”

The three officers behind showed varied expressions. Kris couldn’t suppress her lip curl and had to cover it with her hand to maintain composure.

The middle one, Peisengke, looked down at the pin on his chest and turned to Qi Yu.

Qi Yu smiled straight ahead. “What?”

“My pin’s an old style too.”

Qi Yu turned his face to him and patted his shoulder. “Then change it.”

“…” Peisengke gritted his teeth. “You’re pretending not to get it, right?!”

Qi Yu: “Yes.”

“…”

They arrived at the long conference room. In the all-white space, the other attending executive officers stood and saluted in unison.

Li Ye led Li You to the front of the long table. Normally, only one chair sat there, but this time another with a soft cushion waited beside it.

Li You following paused. His brother had already pulled out the chair for him and patted the back to beckon him over.

Li You sat, looked at Li Ye beside him, and very formally placed his notebook on the conference table. He laid the Old Pen neatly atop it.

The two generals and one lieutenant general sat down on either side respectively, followed by the other officers who had stood up behind them also taking their seats.

Li You felt that many gazes were directed at him.

He sat upright and proper, blinked once, and suddenly regretted not wearing his sunglasses.

If he had worn sunglasses, he could at least be the cool Your Highness Youyou.

While Li You pondered this, one of the officers behind him stood up and got straight to the main topic of the meeting.

“According to the laboratory’s analysis results on Garna’s remains, the previous conclusion that he was ‘infected by both Abyss Pollutant and Crystal Stones’ has been overturned. Garna was an Abyss aggregate, classified as an uncontrollable super-dangerous species. It has now been confirmed that there are no vital signs, and the danger has been eliminated.” The officer switched the data on the Light Brain screen. “We collected fragments of the massive rocks that attacked Anjiel Planet and compared them with fragments of the ‘Mutant Mirror,’ as well as cross-referencing with Garna’s analysis results. These three substances share identical components. It can be inferred that this was a planned and premeditated attack, with the primary target preliminarily identified as Your Highness Li Ye.”

Li You was stunned for a moment, somewhat shocked.

【Garna isn’t human…】

Li Ye glanced at Li You beside him and lightly tapped the conference table twice with his fingers. “What about Bryce Jason and Andre Lude?”

Then another officer took over the report.

“They have currently been placed in separate confinement for interrogation, and we have also conducted in-depth investigations on both. No anomalies have been found with Bryce Jason so far. During his tenure at the Anjiel Orphanage, Andre Lude was also responsible for receiving abandoned orphans. In his records of those taken in, the entry for Garna included information on the person who delivered him to the orphanage—a male named Zuo Qing.”

“Imperial citizen records show a total of 1.25 million males named Zuo Qing. The investigation is currently stuck here.”

“Over a million people—how long will it take to check them all? And there’s no way to confirm if that guy is really named that. It could be made up, or maybe Lude fabricated it.” Kris frowned and asked, “What about the interrogation results for Andre Lude?”

That officer shook his head. “Progress is difficult; his mouth is very tight.”

“Damn it, that guy definitely has issues!” Peisengke snorted coldly. “Leaving such a major danger like Garna at the orphanage—even if he didn’t know at first, after all this time, I don’t believe an experienced person like him didn’t notice anything at all!”

Qi Yu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up. “There must be more ways to reach Kailenoa than just the ‘Mutant Mirror.’ There are definitely other channels.”

At this moment, Li You raised his head. “Actually…”

Everyone looked toward him.

Li You paused for a moment, then continued. “I know of a direct Starship route, but over ten years ago, the pollution sources were too rampant, so we couldn’t land. We didn’t actually reach it back then. I can only point out the general direction now, but the conditions for going there should be much better than before.”

The others’ expressions showed slight surprise.

Li You asked, “Do you have a map?”

Li Ye switched the report materials on the Light Brain screen to the full imperial map and handed the laser pointer to Li You.

Li You stood up, drew a circle in the southwest direction of Anjiel, went straight down, then curved southeast. “Head this way straight ahead, and you’ll see a wormhole. Avoid it and continue straight. Using an imperial warship, it would probably take four or five days.”

Li Ye sent the marked map down. “Investigate at this location. If you encounter danger, don’t force it—turn back immediately. Prioritize sample collection along the route.”

The officers in charge of the investigation stood up immediately, received their orders, and left the conference room to carry them out.

Li You looked at his brother. “You guys really believe me?”

“You are Your Highness Youyou, after all.” Over there, Kris propped her chin on her hand and smiled at him. “We’re willing to live and die for you—how could we not believe you?”

Li You felt a bit embarrassed by her words. His hands on his knees fidgeted twice, and he simply opened his notebook to start recording the meeting content.

The meeting lasted for two hours. Afterward, Li You wrote several pages of notes, added the date and the recorder’s name at the end, then followed his brother as they stood up and left.

The morning meeting revolved around the Kailenoa incident. For the rest of the time, Li You stayed in the office accompanying Li Ye at work. Near noon, they went to the Imperial Military cafeteria to eat together.

As usual, he hung his sunglasses on his nose bridge, looking cool, but when many people looked over, his heart still drummed.

Li You had never liked being stared at by so many people before, and he still didn’t now.

Fortunately, his brother took him to a private room. He let out a sigh of relief, ordered a few favorite dishes, and spaced out while waiting. Li Ye, who had been watching him from across the table, lightly flicked his forehead, snapping him back. He clutched his head. “What was that for?”

“Unhappy?” Li Ye asked him.

“…” Li You curled his fingers and nodded. “A little.”

After a quiet few seconds, he added, “Actually, I’m just a bit unaccustomed to it.”

“You know, bro,” Li You said softly, “actually, right after I came back to life, I was thinking that living as a free and easy cat for this lifetime would be pretty good. I originally wanted to keep living in Sunrise Village; it made me feel very comfortable there.”

He lowered his eyes. “But I also felt like I should come back to the Empire to see. Even if I don’t live in Sunrise Village or Sunlight Palace, coming back to be with you would make me happy, but…”

Li You pursed his lips. “Today, seeing big brother and second brother made me unhappy. Being stared at by so many gazes also made me uncomfortable. I don’t hate big brother or second brother, nor do I dislike those people looking at me. I just…”

Li You couldn’t find the words to explain this feeling. He felt like he was being a bit pretentious, but he didn’t want to suppress it either. He looked at Li Ye and suddenly said, “Bro, I want to hug you.”

Li Ye opened his arms. “Come here.”

Li You got up from his seat, shuffled over hesitantly, sat down beside Li Ye, leaned sideways, wrapped his arms around the other’s waist, buried his face in Li Ye’s neck hollow, released all the tension in his body, sprawled on him, and breathed gently, inhaling the faint fragrance from his brother’s body.

It was the scent of the shower gel—the same one he had used that morning as the one on his brother.

Li You closed his eyes, tightened his arms, and said softly, “Brother, I’m a bit sleepy.”

Li Ye wrapped one arm around Li You’s waist while slowly patting his back with the other hand. “Eat first. After eating, go to the rest room behind the office to sleep.”

“Mm…” Li You’s head rubbed against Li Ye’s shoulder like a little cat acting spoiled. With his eyes closed, only in Li Ye’s warm and broad embrace could he completely cast aside today’s discomfort.

Li Ye felt the warmth in his arms, the warm, moist breaths on his shoulder and side of his neck. He rested his chin on Li You’s head, his patting motions growing even gentler. A moment later, he asked softly, “Youyou, do you want to go back to Sunlight Palace to live?”

Li You mumbled a hazy “mm” and buried his face in Li Ye’s chest, murmuring indistinctly, “No… Youyou wants to stay with brother…”

Li Ye was stunned for a moment, and in that instant, the little teenager in his arms shrank down with a whoosh, turning back into a cat.

The cat was buried under the fallen clothes, curled into a ball on Li Ye’s lap.

Li Ye pushed aside the clothes, fished out the cat, and held the lazy cat who was already snoring steadily. He felt somewhat helpless but completely indulgent. He packed up Li You’s clothes and pants, got the food to go as well, tucked the cat into his arms, and returned to the office.

As soon as he pushed open the door, Peisengke, who was eating boxed lunch, let out an earth-shaking roar. “Yo ho, Your Highness, you brought me food?”

No sooner had he said it than Qi Yu slapped him down. He turned his head and saw the other making a silencing gesture toward him.

General Peisengke was stunned for an instant. Looking back, he saw Li Ye holding a lazy cat snoring away in his arms. He immediately grinned and lowered his voice. “Has the little guy gotten fatter again?”

Qi Yu handed him the food he had brought. “Eat your own.”

Over there, Kris, cheeks puffed with food, glanced at the cat and asked puzzledly, “Eh? Where’s Your Highness Youyou?”

Qi Yu smiled but said nothing.

In the room, Li Ye placed the cat on the bed in the rest room. As soon as he let go, the cat started meowing restlessly. This happened several times in a row, so Li Ye simply held the cat in his arms, lay down himself, took out his Light Brain, and messaged the group to have the three send him their work files.

Outside, the three exchanged glances. Kris swallowed a mouthful of rice. “Your Highness is going to stay up late handling files again?”

Peisengke just sent over the pile of files and gave her a sidelong glance. “We’d drop dead from staying up late, but Your Highness won’t. Mind your own business—just send them.”

Kris shrugged. “Fine.”

Inside the room, Li Ye set his Light Brain to silent. He watched the Ragdoll Cat sleeping with eyes squinted, dazedly kneading milk. His finger rubbed the cat’s little pink nose.

“Little Pig Cat.”