“It’s you!” Li Ao recognized who this person was. “Three for one buck!”
Bai Yunjun was quick-witted and accepted his nickname well. He lowered his posture, respectfully extending his palm to the little cat.
Li Ao didn’t quite understand what this meant, but instinctively reached out and placed his paw in Bai Yunjun’s palm.
Bai Yunjun curved his eyes, performing a hand-kissing salute on Delphi’s future monarch. “May your glory endure forever.”
It was a light touch, neither humble nor arrogant—perfectly measured. Afterward, Bai Yunjun gave the same salute to Ryan as well. With that, the two little Highnesses’ formalities were complete, and now it was the adults’ turn.
Li Ao was taken back to the inner field by Brenna. Xun, who was following beside the little cat, blinked.
“Li Ao!” The little coal ball, decked out in shiny jewelry, hopped to the little cat’s side. His short paws cupped the little cat’s hand and unhesitatingly popped it into his mouth.
Xun held the little cat’s hand in his mouth, mimicking an awkward hand-kissing etiquette. “May Li Ao grow to a hundred jin.”
Kiss kiss kiss! Rub rub rub! Covering up all the other scents!
Compared to Bai Yunjun’s incomprehensible blessing, the puppy’s words clearly suited Fierce Cat’s taste much better. Li Ao’s eyes lit up sparklingly. He directly hugged his little dog and rubbed back fiercely. “Xun also has to reach a hundred jin! Has to be super fat!”
The two little ones rubbed and nuzzled each other nonstop. Brenna hurriedly turned away at the sight, afraid she’d burst out laughing if she was a second slower. Her incredibly strong professional demeanor kept her expression unchanged as she quickly composed herself and turned back. “Your Highness, the starship has started up. We can head to Aiai’ang’ang now.”
The future near-hundred-ton puppy could still be effortlessly picked up by the little cat right now, rubbed and played with lightly. But it wouldn’t be long before this puppy grew into a colossal beast, and there’d be no more days of being lifted so easily.
Bai Yunjun’s visit to Delphi this time was for a business partnership.
Delphi’s living environment revered nature—or in other words, this nation had almost no modern entertainment to speak of.
The people here were warriors from childhood. They didn’t need entertainment in their growth; training was their entire life. In other countries, children’s childhoods might be spent in amusement parks and cartoons, but in Delphi, the cubs’ games were about surviving in extreme environments and better adapting to the Crystal of Delphi.
But all that ended with the arrival of one little cat.
The Delphians watched the little cat’s figure and gradually developed a thought they’d never had before— the little cat’s childhood shouldn’t be like this.
He shouldn’t be shuttling between two planets, busy planting vegetables and studying, bustling about nonstop. His biggest daily entertainment was getting permission from the robot to watch two episodes of Pink Hairdryer-Head Little Pig.
His childhood should be happy, spoiled, rolling on the ground and lazily willful—not so sensible that it made people’s hearts ache.
“How long until the renovation plans for the two planets are ready?” Delphi’s minister asked Bai Yunjun.
He had already done so much for the Empire. It was time for them to do something for him too.
Before departing for Aiai’ang’ang, Li Ao called Isiris again.
Still no answer.
The morning’s excitement gradually faded. The little cat climbed onto the starship seat, his ears drooping, the whole cat visibly much quieter.
So quiet that even the robot wasn’t used to it.
Silver Wing, who usually complained about the short-legged cat talking too much, unusually took the initiative to find a topic. “The new season of Pink Little Pig has updated.”
The little cat pursed his lips, unhappily saying, “Li Ao hasn’t even finished the previous ones.” Only two episodes a day—still so far from the latest season.
“…” That was true… The robot without a heart surprisingly felt a twinge of guilt. After hesitating for a few seconds, it turned on the projection. “Then, on the way there, want to watch an episode now?”
Of course he wanted to watch, but the cat’s enthusiasm was still low. His gaze stared blankly at the screen, not even his tail tip twitching much.
Isiris’s departure was like taking his charger away. If he could connect, he could recharge a bit; if not, he was completely out of power.
“Let’s see how long you can keep hiding like this.” The blond emperor’s gaze was cold. With a flick of his wrist, sword qi slashed down like a tangible entity.
Air currents churned, sword lights crisscrossed, a airtight net of death enveloping from above.
He advanced step by step, movements fluid and at ease, each sword precisely sealing the opponent’s retreat. But the shadow wrapped in black mist slid like a ghost, either dodging or resolving the assaults one by one.
However, the dense sword qi was so fast it nearly sealed space itself. No matter how it dodged, there was always one sword it couldn’t avoid.
“Pchi—!”
A splash of blood burst in the black mist. In the instant the sword qi passed, its edge like dawn light tearing through the night, it ripped a deep gash across the shadow’s body.
“Roar—!!”
Before the black shadow could scream, the Xenoid beside him flew into a rage.
The giant beast’s eyes suddenly lit up, azure energy veins flashing violently across its body. A chill that could freeze all things swept toward Isiris.
But the next second, it was met by that troublesome swordsman again.
Black hair whipped in the wind, purple eyes brilliant as stars. “I won’t let you get half a step near the Monarch.”
The knight’s Spiritual Power collided with the Xenoid’s breath, instantly triggering a nuclear-explosion-like boom. Destructive energy waves pressed outward like a tsunami, shaking the ice plain to shatter. Cracks spiderwebbed wildly, fragmented ice blocks collapsing in layers, unstoppable.
The black shadow had just tried to leap away from the sinking ground when it was smacked down again by the sword wind.
The shockwave’s roar broke off in front of Isiris, blocked by an invisible barrier. The blond emperor stood in place, not retreating a single step. His golden pupils reflected the black shadow’s form, his tone calm to the point of indifference. “Is this how I taught you?”
The black shadow trembled slightly, knuckles digging into the icy ground. The tattered black mist surged uncontrollably around him, about to swallow him whole in the blink of an eye.
“Did I ever teach you to retreat?”
“Did I ever teach you to flee?”
“Did I ever teach you to be this pathetic?”
Each word, lightly stated, landed like a heavy blow, smashing deep into the black shadow’s consciousness.
He trembled violently, head splitting with pain. He vaguely recalled something—shattered images flashing by, blurry voices echoing in his mind.
Training ground, clashing blade lights, golden pupils looking down at him…
“Stand up. Pick up your sword.” That voice said: “Regalis never admits defeat.”
Another wave of sword intent pressed in, killing intent like raging storm winds. The next second, it would devour the black shadow—but just as the sword qi was about to pierce through—
Clang—!
A silver-blue longsword materialized from nowhere, precisely blocking the incoming sword wind.
The black shadow’s fingers tightened on the hilt, the violently surging black mist gradually steadying.
He stood up.
“Good child.” Isiris’s lips curved. “This is you.”
“His Highness Li Ao’s eyes really look exactly like His Highness Zane’s.” Brenna carried the little cat’s double backpack, following one step at a time behind him.
After disembarking the starship, the short-legged cat pulled Xun along, waved goodbye to the robot, then turned to ask, “Who’s Zane?”
Brenna smiled at the corners of her mouth. “He’s Your Highness Little Cat’s uncle.”
“Susu?” Li Ao was stunned, thinking of Lian.
“Not His Highness Lian.” Brenna’s voice held a hint of nostalgia and sorrow. “It’s His Highness Zane.”
“Speaking of which, everyone first noticed Your Highness Little Cat thanks to His Highness Zane.” Brenna said, “Zane’s monitor detected Regalis genes on you, so it bound you. Everyone thought you were His Highness Zane’s cub left outside.”
His Highness Lian was already thirty but still carefree like a love-ignorant minor—impossible for the little cat to be his. Her Highness Reniya had Ryan, so not hers either. As for His Majesty Isiris… that was even more impossible.
Isiris was the Empire’s faith, an existence untainted by romantic entanglements. Delphians might suspect the little cat was the old king’s illegitimate son’s illegitimate son before guessing he was Isiris’s child.
How could the sun have a child with a mortal? Absolutely impossible.
“But you really are His Majesty’s child.” The impossible became possible. “The little sun fate granted us.”
“And by a twist of fate, your eye color doesn’t resemble His Majesty’s—it resembles His Highness Zane’s.”
Li Ao listened in a fog but remembered the name Zane.
After a busy day, the little cat returned to Delphi once more. Before his steps even steadied, he ran to Delphi’s network room.
The screen lit up, and seconds later, the familiar unanswered prompt appeared in the air.
The little cat stared at the projection, his tail of eager expectation slowly drooping. His ears flattened against his head, the whole cat like a deflated balloon.
“…Still no answer.” He muttered softly, paw pad pressing the button to try again.
Still no response.
Machine said two days, and it’s only been one… Li Ao comforted himself. Tomorrow, it would definitely connect tomorrow.
His tail, bigger than his body, dragged on the ground. The downcast short-legged cat curled into his cardboard nest, pillowed on the little dog’s body, and fell asleep.
He slept very restlessly this time, chaotic dreams flashing and intersecting like shards of a broken mirror.
He dreamed of a planet sealed in ice and frost.
Snow blanketed the earth, while frigid winds wailed like howling ghosts and gods. In this terrifying world, a familiar figure stood quietly, his back tall and steady.
“Xixi!” The little cat grinned and charged toward him, only to grasp at empty air. “Xixi?” Li Ao stood up in a daze, finally realizing he was floating in midair—he couldn’t land, and no one could see him.
What was Xixi looking at? Li Ao followed the man’s line of sight to see for himself.
Then, he saw it—
A mass of black mist roiled like surging tides, struggling, twisting, and expanding. Within it, a blurry figure faintly emerged, like a prisoner swallowed by thick fog, howling in agony.
“I will bring you home.” Isiris raised his sword, his golden pupils calm and resolute. “Even if it’s just your corpse.”
The instant the vow left his lips, the black mist churned as if struck by some force, writhing and tearing violently. Amid the frenzy, the dark fog ripped open a fissure, and a pair of deep blue eyes suddenly snapped open within the crack!
Li Ao’s eyes flew open as he shouted, “Zane!”
