Arcius’s personal secretary was stunned by Pu Xin’s bold act of throwing herself into his boss’s arms. Then the affectionate cry of “Xiu Xiu” struck him squarely in the forehead like a hammer. His foot twisted, and he collapsed onto the ground.
The rubble beneath him was hard and jagged, and the poor secretary nearly burst into tears from the pain.
Arcius ignored the unfortunate secretary. Raising both hands, he attempted to push away the girl clinging to him. Yet she was like a piece of sticky candy, hugging him tightly while rubbing against him like a small puppy.
After rubbing against him for a while, she suddenly stopped moving. Seizing the opportunity, the “harassed” Arcius pushed her out of his arms.
She ended up standing only one step away from him in the ruins, tilting her head and staring at him in confusion, as if she had encountered something extremely difficult to understand.
For some reason, Arcius felt a hint of unease. This subtle emotion had disappeared from his life after he grew up, and he found it hard to imagine feeling such a thing in front of a stranger.
He was about to ask what was wrong when the girl’s soft willow-leaf brows knitted together, as though she were facing an unsolvable problem.
“You… are very strange…”
She spoke the word “strange” slowly, as if making a difficult judgment. When Arcius heard those two words, his expression suddenly stiffened.
However, he never showed his emotions in front of others. After that brief loss of composure, he quickly adjusted his expression.
Almost at the same time, Pu Xin stepped back and stood two paces away from him, looking him over from head to toe with a simple and straightforward gaze.
The man was tall and slender, no less striking than Zhizhi little one. Zhizhi carried the seriousness and dignity of a soldier, while the man before her possessed the elegance and composure of nobility.
Yet when they had brushed past each other earlier, she had clearly sensed her little one’s aura on him. Why had it now vanished completely?
An alien would never mistake the aura of their little one. It was the hope nurtured from the origin of life itself.
Pu Xin fell into confusion. She could not understand why this had happened. Even after trying hard to sense it again, she still could not detect her little one’s presence.
Arcius’s goodwill had vanished the moment Pu Xin called him strange. Suppressing the discomfort in his heart, he took a step back. Though negative emotions surged inside him, years of self-control and disguise allowed him to maintain a calm and elegant appearance.
With a polite smile that was both false and distant, he asked, “May I ask what exactly you find strange about me?”
Although they had exchanged gifts before, this was their first time meeting face to face. Calling someone strange upon first meeting them was undoubtedly rude. Before condemning her completely, he wanted to hear a reasonable explanation from her.
Pu Xin sensed that his mood had suddenly worsened. The confusion in her eyes deepened.
She stepped forward again, grasped Arcius’s hand, removed his glove under his dangerous gaze, and gently pressed her palm against his.
Unlike Lu Xunzhi’s hands, which were always warm, Arcius’s hand was cold as ice and pale without a trace of blood. The veins on the back of his hand stood out clearly, and tiny needle marks could easily be seen.
Pu Xin’s heart instantly ached.
She wanted to look more closely, but Arcius pulled his hand away and immediately grabbed his glove to put it back on. His voice grew colder.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
She had rushed forward to touch him. She had called him strange. She had removed his glove without his consent.
Arcius had never seen such shameless behavior from a woman.
Anger rose within him. He was about to teach the foolish woman in front of him that he was not Lu Xunzhi and would not tolerate her actions when she suddenly said:
“You’re my little one! What part of you can’t I look at?”
Arcius never expected to hear such words. He was completely stunned.
The false elegance on his face shattered instantly, along with the anger in his heart. The eloquence that usually served him well in business vanished, and he stammered like a fool.
“Little… little one?”
The ruthless capitalist who could face any situation without changing expression was dumbfounded. He wondered if he had heard her incorrectly.
But the girl before him was frowning in distress and trying to grab his hand again. Her emerald-green eyes had filled with a faint layer of moisture, as if she would cry the moment he pulled away again.
All of Arcius’s emotions were thrown into chaos by that single sentence. The anger he had been gathering dissolved, and even the oppressive feeling in his heart vanished inexplicably.
After a brief moment of shock, Arcius avoided her hand and gave a soft snort.
If a little girl behaved foolishly, it was understandable. But he was an experienced adult. He had no intention of acknowledging Lu Xunzhi, that violent war monster and impossible soldier, as his father.
Arcius quickly composed himself and put on the flawless smile he often used in business negotiations.
“Beautiful lady, have you mistaken me for someone else?”
He had no intention of arguing with someone who was clearly unwell. As long as she stopped saying nonsense, he could forgive her earlier offense.
In fact, Arcius even felt a little regret for having gotten involved with this pretty but somewhat foolish girl simply because of his rivalry with Lu Xunzhi.
Pu Xin looked at him firmly.
“How could I possibly mistake my own little one?”
Although she could not clearly sense her little one’s aura on the man before her, that did not stop a mother from recognizing her child.
Xiu Xiu little one did not seem to like her very much. He had even been fierce toward her and shook off her hand.
Little Dandelion felt a little unhappy.
She drooped her head, her soft hair falling forward as well. The light from behind cast a long shadow of her figure, nearly overlapping with Arcius’s shadow on the ground, creating a lonely and despondent scene.
Hearing her say something so outrageous again, Arcius felt irritated. Yet when he saw the girl standing awkwardly before him, pitifully revealing the small swirl of hair on the top of her head, his heart was suddenly struck by a soft force.
An impulse arose to stroke her soft hair and comfort her gently.
People could not completely suppress their instincts, not even someone with Arcius’s level of self-control.
When his palm touched the girl’s soft hair and he felt the strands slide through his fingers, the corners of Arcius’s lips curved unconsciously.
But the moment he realized what he had done, he jerked his hand back in surprise.
The girl who had been gloomy moments ago suddenly brightened with a radiant smile. Taking advantage of his distraction, she hugged him again and said sweetly, just as before:
“Xiu Xiu little one, I’m Mom. Mom loves you!”
Perhaps her inner joy had broken through some invisible restraint. With a soft pop, a tiny green stem sprouted from the top of her head. Before their eyes, it quickly bloomed into a pale yellow flower that swayed happily from side to side.
A flash of realization struck Arcius’s mind.
The girl before him was not human but an alien with a long lifespan.
And he himself possessed alien blood.
The certainty he had held for years began to crumble.
When the girl in his arms took his hand again and quietly looked down at the dense needle marks on its back, the capitalist who had once watched slaves being torn apart by beasts in the Empire’s arena without emotion felt a faint sting of bitterness in his eyes.
Several FSB agents responsible for escorting Arcius exchanged bewildered glances.
As core members of the operation, they all knew that the girl before them was Major Lu Xunzhi’s alien mother.
Why had she suddenly mistaken another person for her little one?
Cold-blooded capitalist Arcius and the Federation’s blade, Major Lu Xunzhi, as brothers?
No one in the universe would make such a cold joke.
Qi Xia’s jaw nearly dropped as well. In shock, he met the secretary’s eyes before quickly looking away, both of them instinctively disliking each other while sharing the same thought.
—Wasn’t Madam’s little one the major? Where did this other little one come from? And of all people, it was Arcius, the bloody capitalist and Major Lu’s sworn enemy during their exchange program in the Hetulu Empire!
—This woman must be insane. Knowing the CEO would never marry someone clinging to him, she must have learned he once searched for his mother and decided to claim she was his mother instead.
Qi Xia coughed heavily. Thinking Madam might simply be exhausted after everything that happened tonight and had mistakenly identified Arcius as her little one, he decided to bury the matter forever and never tell the major, who was already starting to resemble a walking vinegar jar.
Just as he was about to politely apologize to Arcius and coax Pu Xin away, Little Dandelion raised her head again. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Arcius.
“I want to stay with you for a few days.”
Lu Xunzhi, who had just finished pushing away troublesome matters and testing the FSB Director before stepping out to take his mother home to sleep, suddenly stopped.
A large gray question mark appeared over his head.
When he saw the intrigued expression on Arcius’s face, the gray question mark instantly turned into a blazing red exclamation mark.
An alarm sounded in his mind.
Lu Xunzhi strode forward quickly and pulled the silly mother behind him. Before Arcius could speak, he said coldly:
“Mom, Mr. Arcius is suspected of participating in illegal underground transactions. He needs to be taken back to the FSB for interrogation. I’m afraid he doesn’t have time to chat with you.”
Even after so many years, the capitalist who would stop at nothing for money was still as detestable as ever. Not only had he participated in criminal underground dealings, he was now trying to lure his mother home.
Lu Xunzhi sneered inwardly and shot a glance at the nearby FSB agents who were quietly watching the drama unfold.
Take this bastard away immediately.
The agents snapped back to their senses. One of them took out handcuffs to restrain Arcius.
The secretary, who had been standing like a statue for quite some time, immediately stepped in front of his boss and put on a professional smile.
“Gentlemen of the Federal Security Bureau, Mr. Arcius is an Imperial noble. You do not have the authority to arrest him.”
If an Imperial civilian committed a crime in the Federation, the matter had to be handled through the Empire’s embassy. No matter how domineering the FSB might be, they had no right to detain an Imperial noble.
The words made everyone present frown.
Pu Xin tried to speak, but her little one pushed her back again. She struggled twice more until he lowered his voice with a dark expression.
“Mom, I can indulge you in many things, but I will absolutely never allow you to go off with someone else.”
His tone was firm, leaving no room for negotiation.
Pu Xin blinked, wanting to explain that she had found his brother.
Arcius finally managed to drag his attention away from Lu Xunzhi’s repeated “Mom.” A malicious smile appeared on his lips.
“Major Lu, what are you planning to do to my mother?”
Lu Xunzhi froze.
The man who had just been lecturing his mother and preparing to drag Arcius back to the FSB turned stiff as stone.
He stared at Arcius in disbelief.
“What did you say?”
His voice rose sharply. Amid the bustling surroundings, it did not sound particularly loud, yet it clearly revealed his loss of composure.
He looked at Pu Xin peeking from behind him and then glared at Arcius, desperately hoping he had misheard.
Unfortunately, the silly mother destroyed that tiny hope.
“Zhizhi, Xiu Xiu is your little brother!”
Little Dandelion shook her head, making the pale yellow flower on top sway against Lu Xunzhi’s cheek. The soft touch did nothing to prevent the decorated Federal Major from gradually turning to stone.
The satisfied smile on Arcius’s face froze.
Returning to his usual elegant composure, he said unhappily, “I’m older.”
Whether the little alien before him was truly his mother remained uncertain. But that did not stop him from enjoying the colorful expression on Lu Xunzhi’s face.
As former enemies and roommates, he knew very well that Lu Xunzhi was Marshal Lu Bieling’s illegitimate son, with an unknown mother rumored to be a human-alien hybrid.
Arcius found great pleasure in making Lu Xunzhi uncomfortable.
Lu Xunzhi quickly recovered from the betrayal. With a cold snort he replied, “I’m two years older than you.”
During his time as an exchange student at the Imperial Capital University, he had crossed paths with Arcius, the illegitimate son of an Imperial noble. They should have lived in entirely different worlds, but an accident once led Lu Xunzhi to witness Arcius conducting a shady transaction.
Far from home, Lu Xunzhi had no intention of interfering. Yet Arcius repeatedly dragged trouble along with him, and Lu Xunzhi kept running into it. Their personalities clashed naturally. Even though they solved several problems together, they still disliked each other more and more.
Arcius faltered slightly. For the past twenty-six years, he had indeed been two years younger than Lu Xunzhi.
But he had no intention of admitting that Lu Xunzhi was his brother.
Turning back to Pu Xin, he said, “You may really have mistaken me. There’s no way I’m related to this tyrannosaurus.”
For the girl before him, he could no longer summon anger. Once his complicated emotions settled, he even thought that having a little alien caring about him might not be so bad.
Glancing at Lu Xunzhi with the pale yellow flower stuck to his cheek, he felt a subtle flicker of jealousy. With a mischievous smile, he bent slightly toward the beautiful and innocent Little Dandelion and extended his hand with elegant courtesy.
“You’re welcome to stay with me anytime.”
Pu Xin happily prepared to take his hand.
But Lu Xunzhi pulled her back.
With a colder smile, he said, “Mom, perhaps we should wait for the DNA test results before acknowledging this younger brother.”
He emphasized the words younger brother, the phrase carrying two meanings.
Arcius ignored the childish provocation and raised an eyebrow.
“I think that’s a good suggestion. Roth, contact a doctor. I want a DNA test immediately.”
He enjoyed thrilling situations and wanted to know whether the girl who suddenly called him little one was truly his mother.
Pu Xin sensed the tension between them. Looking from one little one to the other, she paused briefly before coming up with what she thought was a brilliant idea.
“Zhizhi, how about letting Xiu Xiu stay at home with us?”
Little Dandelion’s world was simple. The seeds she nurtured all grew together, crowding around her before they matured.
A mother should not play favorites.
She should not live with only one little one.
Lu Xunzhi wanted to refuse on the grounds that the DNA results were not yet out.
But Arcius had already agreed.
“As it happens, I haven’t found a place to stay in the Federation yet. I’ll trouble Major Lu tonight.”
When it came to climbing up opportunities, no one surpassed the bloody capitalist who planned shady dealings behind the scenes while smiling elegantly on the surface.
Lu Xunzhi felt like he was having trouble breathing.
He wanted to refuse outright, but when he met the hopeful sparkle in the silly mother’s eyes, he could not bear to disappoint her.
With a forced smile, he said, “Of course. I just wonder whether Mr. Arcius can tolerate my humble residence.”
Arcius calmly adjusted his diamond cufflinks.
“Major Lu and I were roommates for two years in university. I doubt it will be a problem. After all, with the rooms separated, I won’t hear you snoring.”
Lu Xunzhi nearly exploded.
This bastard had no shame! Since when did he snore? How dare he smear him in front of his mother!
Little Dandelion, completely fooled by the brothers’ false harmony, immediately caught the key point.
She shook the pale yellow flower on her head and looked at Lu Xunzhi with curiosity.
“Zhizhi, you snore when you sleep? Like this? Snore snore…”
As she spoke the sound effect, she pushed her little nose with a finger to imitate the noise.
Lu Xunzhi was speechless.
But she was not done yet.
“Like the laziest little piggy in Emerald Lake. It always snore snore when it sleeps, hahaha…”
Little Dandelion laughed heartlessly, completely unaware of Lu Xunzhi’s darkening expression.
After being stabbed repeatedly by his mother, Major Lu finally snapped and began speaking blatant nonsense.
“Mom, actually I’m the one who can’t tolerate Mr. Arcius. His feet smell, and he often doesn’t wash his socks…”
Arcius froze.
Pu Xin stopped laughing. Her large emerald eyes blinked as she wrinkled her nose and secretly glanced at Arcius’s expensive Kate crocodile leather shoes.
Her actions were far from subtle. Combined with her cautious expression, they pierced Arcius’s heart like a spear.
Grinding his teeth, he was about to explain when the silly mother spoke again in a thoughtful tone.
“Xiu Xiu, we should be clean children. You must wash your feet every day…”
Arcius stood speechless.
Under the worried gaze and earnest advice of the silly mother, he reluctantly nodded.
Lu Xunzhi felt refreshed.
Qi Xia and Secretary Roth, who had witnessed everything: “………………”
There was really no need for this.
Why hurt each other like this?