Chapter 35: Leaky Little Cat

“What are those two Crex doing?”

The buzz-cut soldier in imperial military uniform peered through binoculars from the observation port toward the outside of the base.

Mantis Monster No. 2’s six legs danced as it stepped through the gaps in the grass blades, dropping a small bucket into the water. Without the little cat by its side, the mutated plants sensed a living creature approaching and bared their sharp teeth to bite.

It pulled the bucket up from the grass blades’ assault. The low-level Xenoid looked up toward the warship parked in the distance, letting out a longing cry, “Nee… ao…”

Mantis Monster No. 1 met up with him, and the two Xenoids carried the bucket toward the tomato patch.

[Little cat planted, water them]

Seeming to detect the residual Spiritual Power in the water, the snarling tomato leaves surprisingly didn’t attack these two Xenoids.

In the distance, Zolax lowered its head, its massive horns repeatedly plowing the sandy ground that the little cat had planned out. The golden sand was dug up, exposing the barren, dry soil beneath. It then turned the soil over as well, plowing repeatedly to loosen it up.

[Little cat, farming]

They diligently did the things the little cat wanted done, occasionally looking up toward the warship before lowering their heads to continue working.

“I can actually see a hint of grievance on their weird faces…” The buzz-cut soldier ruffled his hair. “That’s really scary.”

His empathy was clearly very strong. “They’re missing His Highness the Little Cat, right? Feeling aggrieved that they can’t go to His Highness the Little Cat’s side.”

“How is that possible?” The long-haired soldier smacked the back of the buzz-cut soldier’s head. “They’re Xenoids, wild beasts. How could they have emotions like that?”

The buzz-cut soldier wasn’t convinced and was about to retort when he saw the medical corps leader hurrying past with an anxious expression.

Once the man was far away, the buzz-cut soldier lowered his salute and his tone carried worry. “His Little Highness still hasn’t woken up?”

Li Ao had been in a coma for three days, a round little ball lying on the small bed, his two little paws sticking straight up by his head like a human baby’s arms when sleeping.

Isiris gently poked his soft paw pads, speaking lightly as if afraid to wake him. “Pink ones.”

As the eldest son, he had taken care of his younger siblings for a few days after they were born. Little lions’ paw pads were all black and rough, nothing like the little cat’s paws.

“Sun, that little coal ball is ramming the door again.” Shen Que looked at the little cat snoring away on the bed with no sign of waking and quietly reported to the Monarch sitting by the bedside.

“He’s pretty persistent.” The gold in Isiris’s eyes was very deep. “Let him in.”

Silver Wing’s consciousness shifted back into the nanny robot. It stood beside the little monster, watching him stubbornly slamming into the cabin door.

It wanted to tell him to go back, but it couldn’t bring itself to say it. Because it wanted to stay by the little cat’s side too. Why? Why keep them locked out?

If it had known it would end like this, it shouldn’t have let the little cat recognize him… No, it couldn’t think that way. Only by gaining Delphi’s protection could the little cat be safe, could he return to Grandma’s side.

The robot couldn’t identify the chaotic emotions churning in its program; it only felt very unhappy, the same kind of unhappiness as when it had mistakenly thought it was abandoned by its mother.

Another leap and slam, and the specially reinforced sturdy door suddenly burst open with a boom.

Due to inertia, Xun rolled a few times on the ground and bumped into someone’s leg.

“Why do you want to get close to the little cat?” Isiris looked down at him. “Because there’s profit in it for you?”

At the beginning, that had been the case, but now, hearing those words, Xun angrily spread his tentacles. “Li Ao is Xun’s little cat!”

An unknown Xenoid Variant had gained human body temperature, could speak human words, and even possessed human emotions.

Isiris only asked, “Does he have your loyalty? Will you protect him until death ends you?”

Xun nodded without hesitation.

Isiris stepped aside. “Go in and keep him company.”

Xun’s tentacles retracted, turning back into a round little black coal ball. He bounced to the little cat’s side and expertly scooped him into his arms.

“What’s your name?” Isiris looked toward the nanny robot still guarding the door outside.

“Silver Wing.”

“Did he give you that name?”

“Yes.”

“A pretty good name. That little illiterate cat must have racked his brains for a long time to come up with it?” Isiris’s voice remained cold and calm throughout, but his words surprised the robot. “The reason I didn’t let you see him was just to verify some hypotheses, not to deliberately keep you apart. Since you’re a friend he acknowledges, you can go keep him company too.”

Shen Que had never seen Isiris patiently explain his actions like this to anyone. With him, you just needed to obey absolutely; there was no need to understand.

Because they were the little cat’s companions, they received the emperor’s favor.

All his patience was reserved for that little cat.

Isiris said to the herald following at his side, “Pass the order: anyone who wants to see the little cat is permitted, including those low-level Xenoids.”

“Your Majesty?!” The herald was shocked. “How can that be? They’re Xenoids, our sworn enemies!”

Isiris’s gaze turned profoundly cold. “Are you questioning my decision?”

Shen Que breathed a sigh of relief. That’s more like it—the Delphi Monarch who says what goes, not someone possessed.

The blond emperor, unaware of what his loyal dog was imagining, spotted the medical corps leader. “Results?”

The medical corps leader nodded and was about to speak when Isiris glanced at the corner and said, “Summon all the accompanying ministers to the conference room. Don’t crowd here and disturb the little cat’s rest.”

Caleb and a few ministers who had been sneaking around the corner to eavesdrop exchanged awkward glances. “Aiya, Your Majesty, we wanna see His Highness the Little Cat too~”

“Add them to the access blacklist.”

“Oh, my cruel Majesty.” Caleb dramatically clutched his chest and shed tears. “You’d let Xenoids see the cat but not us.”

“You’ve broken my minister’s heart.”

Isiris had already strode off with the medical corps leader.

The conference room was brightly lit as the medical corps leader reported, “His Highness the Little Cat fell into a coma due to Spiritual Power depletion.”

“As expected.” A minister said, “Releasing such powerful energy caused his body to deplete.”

Isiris asked, “Any impact on his body? How long until he wakes?”

The medical corps leader pursed his lips and shook his head. “His Highness’s vitals are all normal, but we don’t know how long it will take for him to wake. Three or four days, a month or two, years… all possible.”

“No treatment options?” Isiris’s brows furrowed slightly, his handsome face instantly turning icy.

If there were treatments, the medical corps leader wouldn’t be this anxious. “Forgive my incompetence…” He dropped to one knee. “For now, we can only rush back to Delphi as soon as possible. Perhaps my teacher will have a way.”

“No, the best option right now is to stay put.” A researcher objected. “Sudden exposure to an unfamiliar environment could cause unknown effects. I suggest letting His Highness the Little Cat rest quietly at the planetary base.”

In other words, let the little cat sleep it off.

“I suggest you don’t make blind suggestions.”

“You quack with no medical skills, shut up.”

“You lab rat know shit!” The medical corps leader instantly rolled up his sleeves to fight. The researcher was being choked till his eyes rolled back and grabbed his hair in retaliation.

The comb passed through the soft white fluffy cat belly. While combing, the robot said, “Only when he’s asleep is he this quiet.”

As soon as he opens his eyes, he’ll chatter on and on about this and that.

Xun rubbed his cheek against the little cat’s, trying to wake him up. Normally, a few rubs would have the little cat humming and moving his paws, smacking his lips, and opening his sapphire-blue eyes.

But Xun had rubbed hundreds of times, and he still hadn’t woken.

“Stop rubbing already…” The robot blocked the little monster with the comb. “You’re gonna rub his fur bald.”

“Li Ao.” The little monster ignored it, stubbornly scooping the little cat into his arms, licking his fur and rubbing nonstop.

“…” The robot felt that this little monster had probably been infected by the short-legged cat and was starting to get stubborn.

Perhaps Xun’s rubbing really worked. The little cat, comatose for three days, suddenly hummed and opened his sapphire eyes. “Xun, no more licking.”

The puffed-up little cat had been licked into a soggy wet one and looked like he’d lost a whole circle of weight.

The little cat smelled entirely of the little monster’s saliva… The robot wanted to pick him up for a bath, but the moment it did, it got zapped.

“…” It set the cat down—normal. Picked him up again—zapped.

Pick up, set down, pick up, set down. The robot’s face was expressionless as its electronic voice calmly told the two little ones, “Stay here. I’ll go call someone.”

The robot couldn’t handle it anymore; let the humans deal with it.

The researcher and medical corps leader were both quite old, practically Isiris’s elders. They’d been scrapping their whole lives, so the blond emperor didn’t intervene. He just propped his cheek and watched them yank each other’s hair.

Caleb was watching eagerly and wanted to pass melon seeds to Isiris but was scared back to his seat by the emperor’s cold glare.

“Your Majesty, you’re so mean~” Just as Caleb was pinching his throat to act cute, he heard a soldier report, “Your Majesty, His Highness the Little Cat’s nanny robot requests an audience.”

Isiris nodded to let it in and asked the entering robot, “What is it?”

“The little cat is awake.” As soon as the robot finished speaking, the two who had been brawling stopped fighting. They scrambled to their feet and rushed outside. “But he’s leaking electricity.”

“What does that mean?” Isiris lowered the hand propping up his cheek. “What do you mean by leaking electricity?”

It meant leaking electricity in the literal sense.

The researcher bowed to the little cat. “Your Highness, do you resist getting in the water?”

Water? Like taking a bath? The little cat blankly shook his head. In fact, thanks to his past experiences scavenging trash, he actually loved baths. “Mii thinks baths are pretty great.” After a bath, the big kids wouldn’t chase him around yelling that he stank.

“Then this humble servant must offend.” The researcher donned insulated gloves and scooped up the cat. Before anyone could react, he plunged the cat into the medical corps chief’s tropical fish tank.

The cat plunged into the tank with a dazed look on his face. In that instant, all the little fish swimming freely inside flipped belly-up, electrocuted numb.

“Exactly. His Highness the Little Cat is leaking electricity,” the researcher said gravely.

“…” The medical corps chief snapped out of it and flew into a rage. “You damn old coot, you zapped your father’s fish on purpose!”

There were countless safe and healthy ways to test it, but he’d chosen this method!

The two started brawling again. Isiris’s face turned cold. “Enough.” He fished the little dazed cat, who was clinging to the edge of the tank, out of the water—and unsurprisingly, got zapped himself.

His golden hair lifted in a slight arc from the static. Isiris said coolly, “…You’re pretty impressive.”

The drenched little cat blinked his eyes innocently in confusion. Daddy carried him off for a bath.

After being washed and blow-dried, the little cat was urgently suited up in an insulated outfit. Now a round, puffy ball, he sprawled on Isiris’s lap, finally eating that piece of candy he’d missed out on a few days ago.

“Your Majesty.” The now-serious medical corps chief reported, “His Little Highness isn’t leaking electricity—his Spiritual Power is dissipating.”

Isiris had guessed as much. “Does it affect his health?”

The researcher, whose hair had been yanked into a mess, replied, “In fact, this method of dissipation is His Little Highness’s subconscious self-protection. His Spiritual Power is far too vast, while his body is too frail. It’s like trying to contain an ocean in a glass cup—if no proper restraint is found, the cup will eventually shatter from the pressure.”

Isiris frowned. “He just went through such a massive energy release that he even passed out from it. How could there still be energy left to dissipate?”

“His Little Highness didn’t pass out from exhaustion. A tiny gap leaked in the vast energy within his body. That gap was too narrow, causing the energy to build up. It was like a dam bursting—the surging energy was too overwhelming for his fragile body to bear. And that energy is still leaking out nonstop, even infusing his body with intense electrical current.”

In other words, the energy that had blocked a meteor was merely a tiny stream from the little cat’s Spiritual Power.

“Is there a way to fully release the energy?” Shen Que asked.

“No. Even if it overflows, it can’t be fully released. He can’t control the flow rate, and his frail body couldn’t withstand it.”

His body belonged to a mortal, but his Spiritual Power had long surpassed what that body could endure.

Without a release vent, things stayed stable for now. But once even a tiny gap appeared, the surging ocean of Spiritual Power could no longer be contained.

“The priority now is to find a way to stabilize the energy dissipation and let him grow gradually. As his body develops, he’ll eventually be able to freely control that energy.”

Li Ao had no idea about the problem he faced. He was waving at Xun, wanting to share candy with his little dog.

The black-furred chestnut ball glanced at the golden-haired human, then at the little cat on his lap, and blinked.

Isiris allowed the little cat to lounge on him, but he wouldn’t permit anyone else to do the same.

“Shen Que.” He only said the name, and the purple-eyed man understood. He sat down beside the emperor and picked up the little coal ball, placing him on his own lap.

The two little ones sprawled on different laps. Their short paws high-fived in the air, passing contraband: a piece of chocolate.

Isiris said, “Then seal it.”

The so-called seal was an ancient ritual passed down through the Regalis bloodline. It imposed a restriction on newborn cubs, forcibly suppressing their use of overly vast Spiritual Power. Once activated, they could no longer rely on Spiritual Power for large-scale combat and had to hone themselves through constant training, fully exploiting and utilizing that limited energy.

This seal had only been used by two Regalis in history.

The first was the Valkyrie Aliya Regalis from a millennium ago. The second was the current Delphi Monarch, Isiris Regalis.

And now, it would gain its third subject.

“Now that he’s returned under my wing, the cub doesn’t need to fight. He can just happily spend his childhood.”

The golden-haired emperor spoke words that left his ministers in disbelief.

Your Majesty, you weren’t like this with your younger siblings.

“Regalis are born to fight until death claims them. Stupid little lions, pick up your weapons and charge into battle to slay the bugs for me.”

Those were your own words!