Chapter 73: Kitten Trial

Xenoids could speak human words. Its pitch-black face clearly had no facial features, yet it still gave people the sensation of being watched. This uncanny valley effect was utterly chilling.

The arguing voices abruptly stopped. Someone instinctively reached to grab their weapon. But during the inspection in the docking area, their weapons had already been confiscated.

“You all… made Li Ao… sad.”

The Xenoid couldn’t string together full sentences, and its pronunciation couldn’t even be called clear. But this fuzzy, fragmented, word-by-word sputtering sent chills from head to toe.

“What kind of Xenoid is that?”

“Oh god, Delphi actually lets a Xenoid live openly in its territory?”

They were questioning Delphi, but even the Delphi natives who had interacted with Little Logic couldn’t suppress the tension in their hearts upon seeing these two Xenoids.

Li Ao had been keeping his face buried in Xun’s embrace. Hearing the voice now, he lifted his reddened eyes and looked back.

“Little Blue…” He dragged his tail and took two steps forward, waving at them. His voice was clearly still choked with sobs: “Little Logic, why are you here too?”

People watched as the terrifying Xenoid’s cheeks fluttered. It crouched down on the ground, allowing the little kitten to stroke its face.

“Have you guys eaten yet?” That short-legged kitten was so scary, yet he was actually asking a Xenoid if it had eaten.

Eaten? What did it even eat? The thought alone was profoundly terrifying.

The Xenoid let out a hissing screech that humans couldn’t comprehend—faint and sparse. No one understood what it was saying, but they heard the short-legged kitten say again: “I told you, you can’t eat people.”

What was even more terrifying was that the humans could no longer spare any attention to what the kitten was saying.

In the instant the little kitten’s attention was drawn to the Xenoid, a chill arose from the marrow of their bones, silently creeping up. They didn’t know where this fear came from, or even clearly perceive its direction. But that sensation felt like something inside them was melting away, rotting.

Xun looked at these troublemaking humans in front of him—merchants or Star Pirates, it made no difference to him. They had made the little kitten sad, so they deserved to die.

Seeing that the little kitten was no longer paying attention to the humans, distracted by Little Logic, the brutality Xun had been suppressing finally began to spread.

“I—” The merchant who had shouted the loudest let out a scream, but it was cut off in his throat before it could escape. He lifted his hand in horror, stunned to discover that he was dissipating. Bit by bit, like collapsing pixels, he was annihilating.

One, two—all the outsiders near this area, regardless of good or bad, you or me, treated equally.

Silver Wing saw it but did not intervene. Normally, at this moment, the human-friendliness protocols programmed into it would activate, making it stop the little monster’s actions.

But it didn’t.

Because it was angry too—its anger no less than Xun’s.

This emotion was so unfamiliar, unfamiliar enough to make it itself uneasy. It was rational because it was a Machine. But in this moment, it felt the impulse to destroy for the first time.

It couldn’t help but wonder: Were the twelve Alpha Machines from a century ago like this too? Did they also, upon witnessing their companions being harmed with their own eyes, choose in that instant to betray the programs set by their creators, resist orders, and even seek to overthrow human rule?

The Delphi people saw it too, but their hearts were filled with the same fear.

This fear was the instinctive reaction of humans facing something they couldn’t contend with. It had nothing to do with nationality or strength—it was a commonality in human genes.

They were treated well, standing there properly, able to discern that this fear came from who.

It was that monster always following the little kitten, pretending to be a puppy.

He was a pitch-black lump. Sometimes he’d manifest terrifying octopus-like tentacles, sometimes sprout wings, sometimes turn humanoid. But most of the time, like the little kitten, he was a little coal ball with short claws and short legs.

No one could clearly describe what he looked like exactly, but people always felt he was harmless, even lacking presence.

He was like the little kitten’s shadow, obediently staying by its side. Sometimes, to coax the kitten, he’d do childish, comical things.

Since the little kitten had tamed him, they assumed he was a dog.

But now they realized he had never been tamed. He had only sheathed his fangs while loving that kitten named Li Ao.

Despair—they even hoped the little kitten wouldn’t talk to the Xenoid anymore. Please, please turn back and look at the humans, save us.

In silence more oppressive than The Abyss, before the humans could wait for the little kitten to turn back, they heard: “Leo.”

The little kitten, entangled in talking with Little Logic, froze for a moment, thinking he’d misheard. Until another: “Leo.”

Li Ao turned his head in a daze. His view was blocked by Xun’s domain, so he couldn’t see the humans’ terrified faces. The little kitten’s gaze swept around randomly before locking onto the only clear, familiar figure in the distance.

White wings, golden long hair. He was half-naked, his body wrapped in blood-soaked bandages that hadn’t been changed. The massive Mandjet loomed behind him, as if he’d just leaped down from the warship, bringing the sharpness and silence of returning from the battlefield, descending here.

Even in the boundless darkness of the deep space port as backdrop, he was so dazzling it hurt to look away.

“Daddy.” Li Ao stumbled forward two steps, straightened up, paws outstretched, charging toward his father like a startled baby panda, shouting all the way: “Daddy, Daddy…”

Isiris crouched down, firmly catching the little cannonball-like figure. The kitten in his arms had just been crying, and now he wanted to cry again.

Isiris lifted him onto his shoulder. His large hand, paler than usual from injury, stroked the kitten’s back. Looking at the annihilating crowd ahead, what he thought was: The little kitten rarely calls me Daddy.

He’s usually shy, mostly calling me Xixi.

A string of calls like this showed just how much grievance the little guy had suffered.

Time had frozen at some point. The crowd’s annihilation had also stopped. Above the star river, only the golden-haired Monarch and the pitch-black little monster stared each other down.

“You need to learn restraint,” Isiris said flatly. “He won’t be happy about what you’ve done now.”

Xun narrowed his eyes, saying nothing.

“If you want to stay by his side, then become human. Handle things the human way.”

“What does handling things the human way mean? Watch them bully Li Ao and do nothing?” Xun’s voice finally couldn’t suppress his rage. Bone wings flared open, colorful light points faintly flowing beneath them. His scarlet eyes burned with pure malice: “I want to kill them.”

“You can kill them this time, but not every time.”

“If I want, I can kill everyone.” Xun twisted, trying to transform, but always missing that final link: “Including you.”

“You’re welcome to try.” Isiris’s gaze was imperious: “See if your flame breath is faster, or my sword.”

The man wasn’t exaggerating—Xun knew that. If he were at full power, he’d be confident in devouring him. But he wasn’t; he lacked the most crucial inheritance. And the little kitten liked him a lot…

“I won’t kill you because you’re the little kitten’s daddy.”

“I won’t kill you because you’re the little kitten’s companion.”

One big and one small—two beings representing the peak combat power of their respective races—faced off like that.

Ordinary people couldn’t perceive time passing, but the little kitten could. He lay on Daddy’s shoulder and neck. The familiar body warmth and embrace relaxed him. His little paws hugged the man’s neck, sniffing a bloody scent: “You’re hurt?”

In the instant he spoke, the two ended their standoff. They compromised with each other because they shared the same kitten to protect.

Time rewound. The humans didn’t even know they’d just nearly been completely wiped out.

“No matter, just a superficial wound, almost healed.” Isiris didn’t let him focus on himself. Instead, he held the kitten up to his eyes. Golden pupils stared into those reddened ones, asking: “Why are you sad?”

No one dared speak. The humans knew they’d just morally blackmailed a child. And now, the child’s father had arrived—the tyrant would stand up for his child.

Li Ao didn’t know what people were thinking. He sniffed, eyes drooping dejectedly.

“Leo, look at me.” Isiris asked again, looking at him: “Who bullied you?”

The little kitten shook his head, not saying he’d been bullied. Instead, he pouted and asked: “What if the tomatoes get eaten by bad people?”

Isiris asked: “You don’t want bad people to eat them?”

It wasn’t exactly that… Li Ao couldn’t explain clearly. He was just a bit scared—scared of saving bad people, scared they’d hurt good people. Then, wouldn’t he have hurt the good people?

“They said that auntie is a bad person, can’t sell tomatoes to her.” Li Ao stretched out one paw, pointing at Qin Yi: “But, but I didn’t feel anything bad from her…”

The little kitten’s face was round, his eyes clear after being washed by tears. Through his eyes, Isiris could see everything in his mind.

“They questioned your decision, didn’t they?” Isiris swept a cold glance over the crowd: “Then let’s see if your decision was right.”

“Pull up the database.” Isiris’s voice was cold and deep: “Verify the identity information of everyone present, one by one. I don’t want a single name overlooked.”

No one dared to move. Those merchants who had previously relied on the kitten’s guardian being absent and the kitten’s ignorance of worldly affairs, clamoring for the kitten to be fair, were now utterly silent.

These people needed to be punished, and Delphi’s rookie soldiers even more so. One or two of them—no, with so many guarding right here, they actually let someone bully little Highness to tears right in front of them?!

The Third Legion Commander, freshly rescued back, kicked a young soldier in anger at his incompetence. He pinched his index and middle fingers together, pointing viciously at the man—the meaning was obvious.

The soldier left behind to guard the little shop’s order grimaced as he rubbed his butt, figuring he’d get a mixed doubles beating from his parents when he got back. The other soldiers weren’t any better off; they all subconsciously patted the flesh on their bodies, inwardly lamenting that they were screwed.

Meanwhile, Isiris, his wings still unretracted, strode step by step toward those three Xenoids. Little Blue had dealt with him before and gotten thrashed, so it was a bit scared and stayed prone on the ground, unmoving. Little Logic, on the other hand, wanted to bare its teeth, but before it could open its mouth, Spiritual Power smacked it back to the ground. It didn’t move either.

As for Xun? Isiris directly ignored that scorching glare. He stepped right onto Little Blue’s raised back, sitting down squarely at the junction between the Xenoid’s shoulder blades and spine.

Several bright blue spinal spikes protruded from Little Blue’s back, silhouetted behind Isiris like the backrest of a throne.

He bent one leg, propping his elbow lazily on his knee while casually extending the other, letting the kitten sit at the root of his thigh.

Just like that, with his child in tow, he judged everyone who had come to buy the fruits.

Li Ao stuck out his butt and pawed at the man’s pants, finding himself a comfy spot as he leaned against Daddy’s abs. Subconsciously, he started tugging at a sliver of colorful pattern that had peeked out.

“Xun, come here~” He beckoned to the little doggy. “You should tug too.”

The Xenoid shuffled its feet two steps, glancing at the kitten before glaring at the kitten’s dad.

Isiris gave him a faint sidelong glance. “Come here.”

With a brief truce achieved, Xun immediately hopped over without ceremony, stepping on the man’s leg to snuggle up next to the kitten.

“Silver Wing, you come too and pronounce these people’s crimes.” The golden-haired Monarch pinched two fingers together in a hook gesture, signaling the robot to stand at his side.

And so, one by one, the people coming to buy tomatoes faced the kitten’s trial.