After finishing the bowl of porridge, Zhou Younan felt a spreading warmth settle deep in his stomach.
It was a heavy, comforting warmth, the kind that made a person feel safe and grounded, so much better than the cold, mechanical satisfaction of nutrient supplements.
Outside, the sounds of battle hadn’t stopped. Gunfire continued to burst through the air in irregular intervals, sometimes sharp and near, sometimes distant and muffled.
The chaos beyond the walls only made the quiet of the house seem more fragile.
Not sure what he should do, Zhou Younan hesitated for a moment, then decided to go outside and take a look.
Before he could move, the door slid open and Wuhuarou came trundling in, covered from head to toe in mud so dark it was almost black.
Wuhuarou’s model number was LYZ007, Zhou Younan had seen one before, back on the Trash Star.
Wei Qing once mentioned that this series was a product from over ten years ago, but in truth, the first-generation LYZ007 had been released fifteen years earlier and was the most advanced domestic robot of its time.
If someone had found one still intact back on the Trash Star, it could have been sold for a fortune, enough to buy two whole months of nutrient supplies.
But the ones Zhou Younan saw there were always broken, discarded, with parts missing or rusted beyond repair.
After leaving that desolate world and arriving at Research Base 411, he had never seen another one like it.
Maybe that was why, despite its clunky shape and outdated systems, he couldn’t help but feel a strange fondness for Wuhuarou. He found himself watching it closely, fascinated that this model could still function after all these years.
As Wuhuarou entered the room, its metallic voice buzzed through the air. “Oh dear. Look at this mess. Unacceptable. Wuhuarou cannot tolerate this.”
The front compartment of its boxy torso opened with a soft click, revealing a set of cleaning supplies, a rag, detergent, and a few brushes neatly arranged inside.
With a mechanical motion, it extended its arms, holding a rag in one hand and detergent in the other, and immediately began wiping the floor with brisk efficiency.
Zhou Younan blinked. The spot it was cleaning happened to be the same patch of floor its own tracks had just dirtied.
Having walked all the way from the forest, the robot’s treads were caked with mud. Yet, it didn’t seem aware of that at all, it was entirely focused on scrubbing away what it could see in front of it, completely oblivious to the trail of new dirt it was leaving behind.
Zhou Younan watched this and couldn’t help but think it looked a little foolish. Not as clever as the newer models, certainly.
He wondered if Wuhuarou was capable of understanding that the dirt came from its own treads.
He decided to try. “It’s your tracks that are dirty,” he said.
Wuhuarou froze, sensors flickering softly as if it were processing his words. After three seconds of silence, it turned its head, scanning the muddy trail it had left behind.
“Wuhuarou is dirty. Treads require replacement,” it announced solemnly, then rolled straight toward the inner part of the house.
So it could understand, after all. Not entirely hopeless.
Curious about how the robot would go about replacing its treads, Zhou Younan followed it quietly.
They passed through the kitchen, where beside the doorway stood a tall wooden display shelf that stretched all the way to the third floor.
Soft light strips illuminated the shelves, which were packed with insect specimens, preserved body parts arranged in eerie precision.
There were the heads of maddened ants, the hooked scythes of jumping mantises, the wings of cockroaches, all preserved under glass.
Zhou Younan’s scalp prickled as his gaze swept over the grotesque collection. The head of one ant alone was the size of a football, its compound eyes densely packed in symmetrical hexagons.
The mantis’s scythes spanned nearly two meters, edges sharp and lined with backward hooks the length of his palm.
Just a glance was enough to make his soul tremble in primal fear. He drew in a sharp breath and forced himself to look away, fixing his gaze on the floor ahead.
The Empire had long since issued its grim declaration: the insectoid species could not be completely destroyed.
Even if their queen was slain, it was only a matter of time before they evolved and returned. Humanity’s only option was to be perpetually prepared for war.
But Zhou Younan was an Omega. He didn’t have the luxury of worrying about humanity’s survival, his only concern was to protect himself and Lolo.
He followed Wuhuarou through a hallway that led past a washroom and a storage room before they reached a descending staircase. A sloped ramp beside it allowed the robot to roll smoothly down into the basement.
The basement was vast, lined wall-to-wall with cabinets filled with countless strange items.
“Wuhuarou has returned,” the robot announced, as if speaking to the room itself.
Stopping in front of one of the cabinets, it extended its arms and retrieved a set of clean treads, then deftly replaced its old ones with mechanical precision.
Zhou Younan’s gaze, however, was drawn to something else, a brightly colored suitcase tossed carelessly to one side. The sight immediately caught his attention.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“That is Madam’s luggage,” Wuhuarou replied in its steady monotone. “A man named Zhou Mo sent it, marked as household supplies.”
Zhou Younan’s eyebrows lifted slightly. It was from his brother, then, his brother must have sent him the basic things he’d need to live here.
He vaguely remembered Zhou Mo mentioning something about that before.
Wuhuarou continued, “I originally placed it in the living room. Yesterday, when the Marshal returned and saw it, he said he did not wish to see it anywhere in the house. Wuhuarou had no choice but to move it to the basement.”
At that, Zhou Younan pursed his lips, irritation flickering across his face.
So before he’d used the bonding capsule, Wei Qing had really despised him that much, so much that he couldn’t even stand to look at a suitcase that had anything to do with him.
The thought made Zhou Younan all the more certain that using the capsule had been the right decision.
Wei Qing was insufferable. Absolutely detestable.
Dragging the suitcase behind him, Zhou Younan made his way back up to the first floor. But just as he set it down, every light in the house went out.
Darkness swallowed the entire villa in an instant.
What’s going on?
Outside, the sounds of battle had stopped.
Has the fighting ended?
Without the steady rhythm of gunfire, the silence that followed was almost unbearable.
Ahead of him loomed the towering display filled with insect specimens. To his side, the stairway descended into shadow.
Behind him, faint shapes of trees swayed beyond the windows. Everything felt strange, heavy with uncertainty.
Fear crept up from the soles of his feet, curling up his spine until his breath caught in his throat.
Wuhuarou had returned to the living room, apparently unbothered by the blackout. It was spraying cleaning fluid across the floor again, the nozzle hissing softly with each burst.
The sound of its rag rubbing against the floor echoed faintly, an irregular squeak in the oppressive stillness.
In that silence, Zhou Younan could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his chest.
No, there was something else. Another sound. Something foreign, close. Inside the house.
A faint tearing noise.
A soft, wet crunching.
And then a low, gurgling swallow.
It was coming from the storage room.
Before going downstairs earlier, he and Wuhuarou had passed it, the door had been closed then. Now, it was half-open.
Zhou Younan’s blood ran cold. Whatever it was, the sound was definitely coming from inside.
Suppressing the surge of terror rising in his chest, he moved soundlessly, step by step, toward the door.
Leaning forward, he carefully peeked through the narrow gap.
What he saw first was a tail, a long, furry tail striped in black and gold, swaying lazily through the air.
Pale blue moonlight filtered through the storage room window, casting an ethereal glow across the floor.
There, crouched on the ground, was a leopard.
Its golden coat shimmered under the light, every black rosette sharp and distinct. Beneath its front paws lay the half-devoured corpse of some unidentifiable animal.
The leopard lowered its head, jaws parting to reveal sharp, ivory fangs that sank easily into flesh. The sound of tearing filled the air, wet and soft.
A strip of bloody meat was pulled free. The leopard chewed slowly, the crunch of bone audible between its powerful jaws. As it swallowed, the muscles beneath its sleek fur rippled with effortless grace.
Its tail moved again, slow and languid, a picture of absolute confidence, as if this place belonged to it alone.
Then, sensing his gaze, the creature lifted its head.
Its face bore two long black tear lines trailing down from its eyes. The pupils were slitted, glowing a cold, eerie green.
Zhou Younan froze.
In human interstellar records, animals were categorized by their planets of origin, each planet had its own class. Earth’s animals were just one of countless such classifications now.
As humanity expanded across the stars, the creatures of Earth had faded into myth, preserved only in ancient holographic archives.
But Zhou Younan recognized this one instantly. He’d seen it before, in one of the old research institute’s rare books, a leopard from ancient Earth.
The text had described tigers that ruled the forests, pandas with gentle faces, birds that danced through the sky. He’d been fascinated by all of them.
But after Earth stopped rotating, nearly all of those species had perished. Though their genes were preserved, human cloning technology lagged far behind the rest of scientific progress.
Now, the only genuine Earth animals left in the galaxy were dogs, cats, and rats, rats still despised, dogs and cats kept only by the wealthiest of families.
Zhou Younan hadn’t imagined he would ever see one alive.
The leopard’s crimson tongue flicked out, licking the blood from its lips.
His breath caught. Why was there a leopard in Wei Qing’s storage room?
For a long moment, human and beast stared at each other across the dim space, eyes locked.
Then Zhou Younan noticed the small tricolor tag clipped to the leopard’s left ear, red, yellow, and blue. It looked almost identical to the ear tag Wei Qing wore.
Could it be… Wei Qing’s leopard?
His pulse quickened.
Carefully, he drew back from the doorway, pressing himself against the wall and out of sight.
The heavy metal door of the storage room opened outward. Zhou Younan wrapped his fingers around the handle, moving it as slowly as he could, inch by inch, trying to close the door without a sound.
Zhou Younan calculated carefully in his mind. As long as he could trap the leopard inside the storage room, separating man and beast by a solid door, his safety would be guaranteed.
Once Wei Qing returned from outside, he would simply tell him about the leopard then.
That was his plan.
He just needed to close the door quietly before the leopard realized what he was doing…
But before he could finish, a heavy paw suddenly slid out from the gap beneath the door and landed squarely on the top of his foot.
The paw looked soft and furry, but its weight was anything but light. The pressure made the bones on the back of his foot throb in pain.
Bad. He had been discovered.
The leopard had sensed his attempt to shut the door, and it was coming out.
This was the very situation Zhou Younan feared most. A close encounter. Face to face with the leopard.
He held his breath, mind racing desperately, trying to decide what to do next.
The metal door of the storage room was built with a special design. It could swing outward a full one hundred and eighty degrees.
Zhou Younan thought that if he positioned himself between the wall and the door, he might gain a brief moment of safety.
Wei Qing should be back soon. He only needed to hold on until Wei Qing returned. At that moment, he found himself praying, more sincerely than he ever had, that Wei Qing had come through the fierce battle outside unharmed.
The paw lifted from his foot. The door, which had almost shut completely, was pushed open again by the leopard’s massive body.
Zhou Younan retreated quickly, his back slamming hard into the wall. He gripped the metal handle tightly, his breath fogging against the cold surface and forming a round patch of mist.
He wedged his body into the narrow space between the wall and the door, forcing himself not to tremble, hands clamped tightly around the handle as though it were the only thing anchoring him to safety.
Out of the corner of his eye, a flicker of golden yellow appeared.
Zhou Younan turned his head slightly, and froze. The leopard was peering through the narrow opening, half of its head extending into view.
Just as Zhou Younan had peeked through the crack earlier to spy on its feeding, the beast was now returning the favor, quietly studying him through the same slit of darkness.
Zhou Younan was terrified of meeting its gaze. He turned his face away at once, heart pounding so fiercely that it seemed to echo in his ears.
A soft sound broke the air.
The leopard’s claws landed lightly on the metal door, just a faint click.
The sound was so small it should have been nothing, yet in Zhou Younan’s ears it exploded like thunder.
Every hair on his body stood on end. His heart hammered wildly, his breathing turned shallow and fast, and a cold sweat began to slide down his spine.
He had planned to hold out until Wei Qing came back. That was his plan, simple, logical, safe.
But now… now he was far too frightened to think. The terror that had been gnawing quietly in his chest finally surged up, overwhelming every bit of reason left in him.
Zhou Younan drew in a trembling breath, then, with every ounce of strength he had left, he shouted.
“Wei Qing!”
His voice tore from his throat, raw and desperate.
He shut his eyes tightly, clinging to that name as if it were a lifeline, the only thing that could pull him out of this nightmare.
“Wei Qing!”
The cry was hoarse, breaking midway, filled with fear and longing.
He shouted again, louder, his voice echoing through the dark corridors of the villa.
Like a drowning man gasping for air, he called out again and again for the only person he believed could save him.
“Wei Qing!!”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(≧▽≦)ﾉ☕ coffee!
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Escape from Zhou familyChapter 2 · Bride To BeChapter 3 · Attacked on SpaceshipChapter 4 · FiancéChapter 5 · Wild one Tastes betterChapter 6 · Cousin, Zhou MoChapter 7 · Wedding DressChapter 8 · Wedding Hall disputeChapter 9 · Marshal Fainted!Chapter 10 · CATNIP!Chapter 11 · His Pheromone is Catnip!Chapter 12 · The show beginsChapter 13 · He likes me!Chapter 14 · He is crazy!Chapter 15 · Auditorium, I brought it. Do you like it?Chapter 16 · Only I can bite your lipsChapter 17 · Wei Qing grabbed his wristChapter 18 · Your posture just now was perfect for kissingChapter 19 · This is… Wei Qing’s leopard?Chapter 20 · Let’s do what newlyweds should do.Chapter 21 · Release your pheromones and overwhelm meChapter 22 · Zhou Younan, I miss you.Chapter 23 · The promise to bite your lip isn’t just for yesterdayChapter 24 · You beast! You enormous beastChapter 25 · My patience is almost at its limitChapter 26 · Touch Wei San? Pluck its feathers?Chapter 27 · Doesn’t Wei Qing like you a lot?Chapter 28 · You’re the dog, your whole family are dogsChapter 29 · How did things turn out like this?!Chapter 30 · Zhou Younan, I love everything about youChapter 31 · Cheetahs do react to catnip.Chapter 32 · Second PrinceChapter 33 · Immersed in the fluffy touchChapter 34 · What can you do to help if you stay?Chapter 35 · Sand WormChapter 36 · I gave Wei Qing a capsuleChapter 37 · His vulnerable period has arrivedChapter 38 · Reason has long since been burned awayChapter 39 · I can’t believe I did that! I’m insane!Chapter 40 · The person I want to protect is my wifeChapter 41 · Zhou Younan, you can only be mineChapter 42 · Until the last star in the universe is annihilated.Chapter 43 · The light in Wei Qing’s eyes dimmed.Chapter 44 · Family?Chapter 45 · The green capsule was in his palmChapter 46 · Zhou Younan was filled with fearChapter 47 · Brother won’t abandon youChapter 48 · What a piece of trash!Chapter 49 · Zhou Younan, are you looking at me?Chapter 50 · Zhou Younan feared Xu QiChapter 51 · Zhou Younan, you’re such a foolChapter 52 · You really don’t want to marry me?Chapter 53 · My braceletChapter 54 · Zhou Younan, I can’t mark youChapter 55 · A symbol of brotherhoodChapter 56 · How old are you?Chapter 57 · Abnormal!Chapter 58 · Did you give Wei Qing the capsules from the tin box?Chapter 59 · Brother, I’ve made up my mindChapter 60 · Doing things for you is my wishChapter 61 · You’re the first person I’ve ever liked, Wei Qing.Chapter 62 · Childhood sweetheartChapter 63 · He can’t live without youChapter 64 · Teacher RigenChapter 65 · Were they running togetherChapter 66 · You two kidnappersChapter 67 · GiftChapter 68 · Don’t look back, just carry onChapter 69 · Maurice Jin is already a thing of the past for meChapter 70 · I finally found youChapter 71 · Who’s your wife?Chapter 72 · How would he interpret his leaving?Chapter 73 · Wei Qing was Wei San?Chapter 74 · Maurice Jin had been assassinated?!Chapter 75 · Turn your face towards the sunChapter 76 · Wei Qing’s eyes were brightChapter 77 · Pheromones are a double edged swordChapter 78 · Don’t stareChapter 79 · He’s the Empire’s MarshalChapter 80 · So WeakChapter 81 · Are you alright?Chapter 82 · Was he really that kind of person?Chapter 83 · He remembered his forgotten goalsChapter 84 · Come on, shoot me in the heartChapter 85 · Why are you unhappy again when I touch you?Chapter 86 · Don’t you even like me anymore?Chapter 87 · Wei Qing transformed into Wei San.Chapter 88 · I’ll give you my love, and I’ll give you my lifeChapter 89 · Just do it for me, okay?Chapter 90 · Don’t bother me until you explain clearlyChapter 91 · I want to stop your time when you still love meChapter 92 · Damn it! Zhou Younan! You just waitChapter 93 · From the very beginning, I had no choiceChapter 94 · From the very beginning, I had no choiceChapter 95 · A gunshot rang outChapter 96 · I grew up in the research instituteChapter 97 · You complete liar! You’re despicableChapter 98 · You will always be the only one in my heartChapter 99 · You are actually the same as meChapter 100 · Zhou Younan, I’m leavingChapter 101 · How could a big cat possibly resist the allure of catnip?Chapter 102 · The EndChapter 103 · Extra: 1