Xun’s mimicked form was even taller than Isiris himself.
His calves were slender and fair, smooth and flawless, with a nearly translucent cold tone. The little kitten excitedly sharpened his claws for a good while, yet he couldn’t leave even a single mark.
[I don’t like it. I want Li Ao’s marks on my body.]
Xun tilted his head in thought for a moment, recalling a scene he’d seen before. Unknowingly, faint red marks appeared on the spots scratched by the cat’s claws, like a touch of rouge on white snow. The fine red lines spread along the skin’s texture, both pale and fragile.
The clueless little kitten guiltily stopped his paws, his ears drooping slightly. His round eyes glanced at those red marks, and his body shrank back a little. His paw pads stepped on his tail. “Li Ao didn’t mean to scratch you.”
Silly little kitten—he actually thought his paws could break Xenoid skin.
“It’s fine.” The corners of Xun’s lips slowly curved up. His crimson pupils reflected the kitten’s adorable form, deep and dark like a trap waiting to devour the cat.
He crouched down, his gaze falling on his own pale legs. His fingertips slowly brushed over those faint red marks, reluctant to let them fade too quickly. His finger pads gently rubbed the traces, applying a bit of pressure, allowing the redness to become even clearer.
“These are marks left by Li Ao.” Xun lowered his eyes, his tone soft and filled with delighted indulgence. “The little kitten left his mark on Xun’s body… Xun loves it so much.”
Li Ao’s tail twitched, his ears quietly flattening against his head. He stared blankly at him, wondering why… something felt off?
“Ah—Machine—” Spotting the robot’s figure, the little kitten was just about to raise his paw in greeting when Xun suddenly stiffened all over, like he’d been struck by lightning. His entire body jolted violently, even his hair standing on end.
Then—
“Pop!”
With a swirl of black mist, the slender figure collapsed inward with a whoosh. In the next second, all that remained on the ground was a shirt and a singed black furball chestnut.
The little kitten gasped, his tail exploding into a dandelion puff. He pounced over, pressing down with both paws, instinctively starting CPR. “Xun? Xun! What’s wrong with you?”
“He’s doing just fine.” The robot expressionlessly stowed the stun gun, stating calmly without a ripple, “He just has a fever.”
“A fever?!” The little kitten pressed his head against Xun’s, testing the temperature. “It’s not hot…” His tail swayed in confusion—it was still cool!
“Don’t mind him.” The robot spoke up. In the next second, Li Ao felt a tight grip on the back of his neck, and the entire cat was hoisted up—
“Hey!” The little kitten flailed with all four paws in midair.
“Why are you calling me?” the robot asked.
The little kitten suddenly remembered the main point and, forgetting to struggle, excitedly announced in midair, “Mantis Monster No. 1 is pregnant!”
“How can a Xenoid lay eggs outside the Abyss?” Shelby rushed over upon hearing the news. “Where is that Xenoid?”
An old man said, “The little kitten took it under the sand dune.”
Shelby was stunned, his eyes widening. “Uncle Lu, why are you here?”
The former director of the Imperial Research Institute, the old man known as Uncle Lu, gave him a glare. “Who are you calling uncle? I’m only ten years older than you!”
“But the seniority is there…” The sixty-something-year-old was scolded like a grandson. He pointed twice toward the sand dune with two fingers, signaling the accompanying soldiers. “You two, go catch that Xenoid and take it for examination.”
“Lord Shelby!” Brenna in her black-and-white maid outfit smiled sweetly, interrupting him. “This is His Highness’s little pet. You can’t dispose of it arbitrarily.”
Shelby clicked his tongue. “I’m just taking it for a check-up, not dismembering it.”
“That still needs to wait until His Highness returns.” Brenna slightly bowed her head, then abruptly looked up, spreading her arms to guide the old soldiers who had come to plow the fields. “Come on, retired warriors of the Empire! Please enjoy the lunch bestowed upon you by the Child of Destiny!”
“This little lady… quite passionate…” But it was indeed hot. The scruffy old man took off his jacket, revealing an old man’s undershirt, and shrugged indifferently. “What’s so good about it?”
After being served their rice bowls… “How can this tomato taste so good?” The scruffy old man slurped with his chopsticks. “How does it taste so much like tomato?”
Brenna dabbed her tears with a handkerchief, deeply moved as she imitated the bucktoothed little kitten’s speech. “Isn’t it? Super sweet, super sweet? Oh, my dear little kitten Highness, the tomatoes you grew are so delicious~”
“This girl… from which family?” The old man shuddered with goosebumps.
The smoking old man was sharper. He shoveled rice into his mouth heartily, his gaze heavy. Only after a long while did he swallow and reply, “From old Taylor’s family. They have a little son named PJ who went out for a competition. He’ll probably be back in a couple days.”
“No wonder.” The old man shoveled rice frantically. “Old Taylor’s always had a screw loose since he was young… Speaking of which, these tomatoes are really delicious. How are they so good? Did the little kitten grow them? Weird, huh? Maybe it’s just this variety that’s tasty?”
The meal left them feeling refreshed body and soul. Afterward, the old soldiers sat together lazily chatting. Shelby smiled and asked, “How are you gentlemen feeling?”
“Feeling what?” The scruffy old man was so sleepy his eyelids drooped. He casually stuck his hoe into the ground and leaned against it, ready for a nap.
“Do your bodies feel less painful?” Shelby asked casually, his tone light, yet it was like a pebble dropping into a deep pool.
At those words, the surroundings fell silent.
These men were battle-hardened veterans. Under the dual effects of old wounds and the Crystal of Delphi, they had long grown accustomed to living with pain. Many woke up each morning not by opening their eyes first, but by enduring the dull ache, groping to see how close death had come.
And now, at Shelby’s question, they suddenly realized—the chronic pain that had accompanied them since implanting the Crystal of Delphi seemed to have truly… vanished.
“What’s going on?” They were stunned.
Uncle Lu rolled up his sleeve. “Before coming, a student told me the little Highness’s tomatoes could slow crystallization. I was skeptical, but it turns out it’s real.”
“What?!” The old soldiers jumped to their feet excitedly, pointing at the tomato fields clawing wildly in the distance. “It’s because of the tomatoes? Those tomatoes?”
“It’s not the tomatoes.” Shelby explained to them, “It’s His Highness Leo. Any fruit nurtured by his Spiritual Power has healing properties. Not just for crystallization, but for the Doom Virus too.”
“You’ve only eaten one meal, so the pain is just temporarily relieved. Like painkillers—once the effect wears off, it will come roaring back.”
“But painkillers have zero effect on crystallization and Doom disease! If they did, there wouldn’t be so many who chose suicide because they couldn’t bear the pain.”
“Yes.” Shelby smiled faintly. “Because these aren’t painkillers. These fruits carry His Highness Leo’s Spiritual Power. They don’t just relieve pain—they truly repair your bodies.”
Shelby distributed several research reports to the group. “The process is slow, but accumulated over time, it’s enough to suppress the Crystal of Delphi back to the moment it was first implanted.”
The scruffy old man’s hands trembled slightly—not from joy at his own salvation. His eyes reddened faintly, his voice hoarse. “And the cost? Such vast power—surely there’s a price? How does a child that small bear it?”
Uncle Lu looked at Shelby and received a shake of the head in return. “His Majesty’s campaign this time is both to clear out the Zerg and to seek the prophecy left by Her Highness Aliya a thousand years ago, hoping to find some clues within.”
Those three prophecies had been passed down orally through Aliya’s confidants. Legend had it there was also a prophecy stone tablet written in Aliya’s own hand, lost on the battlefield of the Old Sun.
Uncle Lu said, “Aliya’s third prophecy states that fate will grant Regalis a cub, who will lead Delphi to true glory. It seems this doesn’t refer to Ryan, but to Leo.”
Back then, Reniya had desperately tried to birth a cub, all in the hope of saving Delphi.
There was a problem with Regalis’s lineage. The pain Isiris endured was greater than that of all previous royals combined.
He was still so young, yet crystallization had already spread across his entire chest. If Regalis’s bloodline ended, the Delphians would no longer be able to wield the Crystal of Delphi’s power. If they didn’t find a way out soon, the Empire’s sun would soon fall.
This was also why Delphians were so tolerant of Reniya.
Unfortunately, the forcibly conceived cub’s own life hung by a thread.
Yet fate had shown Delphi extraordinary favor. A thousand years ago, it granted them Regalis I. A millennium later, as the Empire teetered on collapse, they welcomed a new dawn.
Delphi’s stars shone in the sky. Beneath the heavens, green oases had emerged in the vast desert. And at the place where hope was budding, a tender little figure ran toward the light—that was the final spark of fire fate granted Delphi. He was called Li Ao, the Empire’s supreme treasure.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of kilometers away in Delphi, people finally received the Empire’s announcement.
“His Highness Leo’s Spiritual Power healed His Highness Ryan?”
“The little kitten’s tomatoes can slow crystallization too?”
“Just tell me what the cat god can’t do!!” A big guy grabbed his pitchfork. “Come on! Let’s go plow land on the moon for the cat!”
“You haven’t finished plowing your own field yet?!”
“I’m done! Open up your father’s starship! I wanna go serve the Cat Cat God!”
Li Ao, who had just been about to lead Mantis Monster No. 1 for a prenatal checkup, was dumbfounded at the sight of the vast crowd before him…
On Aiai’ang’ang, how had so many people shown up?
