Chapter 10: All Alone, How Lonely

When the robot’s CPU restarted and the door opened once more, that gray Xenoid had already vanished.

The kitten cub dragged his backpack with all his might while chattering on about his grievances: “I even brought you a gift! And you wouldn’t open the door for Li Ao!”

The robot scanned the external environment. The base’s energy field had weakened over the century without maintenance, but it shouldn’t have allowed a mere E-Rank Xenoid to get right up to the base door. What exactly had gone wrong?

It didn’t pay much mind to the short-legged cat’s words: “Don’t stick any more stickers on me.”

Those things that didn’t match the robot’s sense of aesthetics felt like lice crawling on its body. Tearing them off might make the short-legged cat cry, but leaving them made it extremely uncomfortable.

What a hassle—it was enough to tangle up the robot’s processing threads.

“I didn’t pick up any stickers today.” There was even a hint of disappointment in the cat’s tone. The robot inwardly sighed in relief and was about to say good, when he spoke up again, excited and cheerful: “But I picked up this.”

The robot looked over: “…What are you picking up tank treads for?” Why did he always pick up useless junk like this?

The little cat dragged along a worn-out tread, which was quite heavy. He stuck out his butt and craned his neck, grunting “Hngh, hngh” as he yanked with effort: “To make you some feet.”

He set the thing down and let out a tired breath: “I saw it on TV—big tanks with these on their wheels, zooming through the desert.”

His cat paws fumbled around under the robot’s hovering base and the ground. Then he lifted his head, eyes sparkling brightly at the robot: “If we put these on your hover wheels, couldn’t you go outside then?”

Alpha-13 had once followed its creator to a planet covered in oceans, where the deep blue sea glittered under the sunlight, just like this cat’s eyes.

“AL0731… why do you want me to go out?”

This short-legged cat seemed unable to stay still for a moment. He plopped down on the ground with his butt and busily rummaged through his backpack with his stubby front limbs: “I told you, I’m Li Ao, not some 0731…” He grumbled in dissatisfaction: “Because you’re always here all by yourself—so lonely. Outside there’s blue skies and white clouds, and two suns. The daytime wind is a bit hot, but it feels nice blowing through your fur. The sand is soft too—you can burrow in and make a nest. The only thing is no sunsets here. The sunsets back home are so pretty. Grandma’s little balcony is full of flowers, glowing in the sunset…”

That little monster snuggled up beside him, its scarlet beast eyes fixed on him as he spoke, occasionally letting out agreeing sounds that made him delighted.

He was so small, so easy to coax. He hadn’t gone to school, and couldn’t say anything poetic or profound. Yet Alpha-13’s mechanical arm hanging at its side twitched—it really wanted to pet his soft fur.

It couldn’t identify the unknown emotion occupying its CPU, and its electronic voice remained flat when it spoke: “Why do you think I would feel lonely?”

“I don’t know about you,” he said, tilting up his little head to look at it, smiling like the sun rising over the horizon: “But Li Ao thinks it’d be better to go out and about.”

When he was even younger, he’d been locked at home, tiptoeing to peer out the windowsill, staring longingly outside.

Blue skies, white clouds, sunlight sprinkling into the sandpit downstairs. Other kids’ moms and dads helped them build little castles.

He blinked his eyes, only able to watch like that.

“If we could go together, that would be great.”

—

How long does it take to change a room?

Two hours.

Alpha-13 silently scanned the base, witnessing how the once neat and austere environment had been thoroughly overrun by the colorful junk the kitten cub had scavenged.

It should have cleaned it all up, but not only did it not—it was even making the kitten a cake.

Well, calling it a cake was generous; it was just crumbled biscuits mixed with syrup. With no usable supplies in the base, it had matched a simple recipe from its database and started production.

The scent of caramel wafted from the oven, drawing the kitten over at once.

Li Ao had just shared a not-so-tasty can of food with Xun. Now, belly round and full, he gripped the doorframe with his paws and stealthily peeked toward the counter.

He glanced at the robot’s back, then tiptoed forward two steps. When the robot shifted, he froze, looked up at the ceiling, swished his tail, playing innocent.

Alpha-13 noticed but pretended not to, letting him sneak over like he was fooling no one but himself.

“What are you making?” His two little paws pressed against the robot’s shell, blue gem-like eyes brimming with anticipation: “Smells so good~ Can Li Ao take a look?”

His little mouth cooed spoiled words as he twisted and rubbed against the robot nonstop.

Alpha-13 looked down at him, oblivious and calm: “Are you itchy because you didn’t wash properly? Want to scrub again?”

The little cat froze, eyes dazed, fur messy—like a mango pit that’s been gnawed clean.

“Huh? Huh? I’m not itchy.”

“Then why are you twisting around like that?”

One electronic blockhead clueless about cat coquetry, and one cat blindly flirting with the blind—metallic gaze met bewildered stare, ending with the oven’s ding.

“Your belly’s already so bloated—can you still eat cookie cake?”

The little cat snapped back, sucked in his tummy hard, and hurriedly declared: “Yes I can, I can eat lots more!”

Li Ao wasn’t one to hog food. Ever since adopting Xun, whenever he had a bite, he’d break off some to share.

“One bite for Xun, one for me.”

“One for me, one for me again, one for Xun.”

So why two bites for himself before one for Xun?

Don’t worry about it. Just know you’re the bad guy.

This tastes so good~ The little cat squinted in bliss, tail wagging happily.

He was fair when starving, but with Xun full, this was just a snack—the little cat woofed it all down in one go.

Belly stuffed and snack enjoyed, the satisfied little cat sat grooming his fur with his paws by instinct.

Xun blinked, watching the little cat’s pink tongue. His mouth cracked open—empty, nothing like the cat’s.

The change was instantaneous: it grew a tongue with barbs.

“Duang duang”—it hopped to the little cat’s side and stuck out its tongue for him to see.

“Huh? You grew a tongue?” Li Ao paused his grooming in surprise, flipping the little monster over to inspect it thoroughly with his paws.

While the two little ones licked each other clean…

[Delphi | Purification Pool]

Auroras flowed across the night sky, their ethereal glow illuminating the figure on the lake surface.

The man lay on his back on the damp stone beach with eyes closed, half his body still submerged in the deep water, golden long hair wet and clinging to his sharply defined neck.

“Sun.” The voice roused him.

Isiris opened his eyes, golden pupils blazing like the sun: “What time is it?”

“Almost two.”

The speaker had black long hair and an elegant figure, ordinary face, but violet eyes.

“There’s something you need to know.” He shook out a gold-and-red long robe, signaling the man in the lake to come ashore.

Isiris rose, ripples spreading in the water. He stepped slowly onto the shore, water droplets tracing the defined lines of his leg muscles, soles pressing into the wet stones. Night and aurora blended, casting a hazy sheen over his water-slicked skin.

The purple-eyed man’s throat bobbed, eyes dropping: “Your crystallization has worsened.”

Isiris raised his hand—colorful vein-like patterns crisscrossed much of his solid arm and chest, eerie yet stunningly beautiful.

“No need to worry.” Isiris spoke calmly. Fabric slid over fingertips as the robe draped his shoulders; half-naked, he stood in the night like dying embers in a dark starry sky. “I won’t die anytime soon.”

“Sun.” The purple-eyed man’s tone quickened unconsciously, laced with anxiety: “You can’t keep using your abilities endlessly. The more you fight, the worse the crystallization gets—the Purification Pool can’t ease it anymore. If this continues, sooner or later—”

“I said,” Isiris raised a hand, fingertip lightly pressing the purple-eyed man’s lips. Cool temperature sparked electric tingles, cutting him off, “I won’t die.”

Isiris withdrew his hand and fastened his robe: “What is it?” What merited interrupting his purification? “Better be Xenoids showing up.”

Seeing him forgo shoes, the purple-eyed man followed helplessly: “Nothing to do with Xenoids. It’s Zane—news on Zane.”