Lu Hao chuckled, an inexplicable sense of pride welling up inside him. “Dad, my Yuanyuan is very smart. Right, Yuanyuan?”
“Ji.”
That was right; he was indeed very smart. Even his Master had said that he was a peerless talent in sword cultivation, a rare and exceptional piece of raw jade.
“It can understand what we are saying?” Lu Jingzhou was genuinely a bit startled.
“Yes, Dad. Yuanyuan isn’t an ordinary level-ten pet beast. He is…” As to what exactly he was, Lu Hao couldn’t quite put it into words. “Dad, I suspect Yuanyuan is a newly emerged species. He should have space-mouse bloodline within him.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because Yuanyuan also has a spatial storage space, Dad. This time, my livestream ball and Lin Shen’s livestream ball weren’t accidentally eaten by the giant-jawed beasts. Yuanyuan did it on purpose.”
Lu Jingzhou on the other end felt completely bewildered. Why was his younger son saying things that he couldn’t quite follow?
“Are you saying that the giant-jawed beast and Yuanyuan are accomplices?”
“It’s not like that, Dad. It’s…” Lu Hao explained how he wanted to avoid exposing his bracelet and Fang Jing’s unusual traits, which was why he had destroyed the livestream balls.
Deeply shocked and stirred, Lu Jingzhou remained silent for a long time. But having held a high position for so long, he knew how to hide his emotions. “You did well. Once you arrive at Capital Star, I’ll send someone to pick you up.”
“Thank you, Dad.” Lu Hao asked about Lu Huan’s condition and learned that Lu Huan was still the same as before. Aside from showing initial concern about his situation, after the livestream balls were eaten, Lu Huan had gone right back to his laboratory to act half-dead.
Could the matter of love truly be this damaging?
After hanging up the video call, Lin Shen and the others came over. They had been curious about Yuanyuan the entire way.
Now, the four of them sat together, their gazes fixed on Fang Jing, who was placed right in the middle by Lu Hao.
“Ji?” Why are you all staring at me like that?
Fang Jing was already used to being watched by everyone, but he still hopped back into Lu Hao’s arms. Being held and petted by Lu Hao made him feel exceptionally comfortable.
“You saw it for yourselves. Yuanyuan is probably not an ordinary level-ten pet beast. I suspect he carries the bloodline of a space mouse. As for why he can eat so much, he likely has other genes mixed into his body as well.”
“So that’s why he looks like a mix of everything?” Pei Sui was immensely curious. He had never seen a creature like Fang Jing before and couldn’t help his curiosity. Seeing how fluffy and soft his fur looked, he reached out a hand to touch him. Who would have guessed that before he even made contact, Fang Jing would arch his back with his fur bristling and let out a sharp cry as a warning?
Lu Hao instinctively shifted his body away. “Don’t go patting him randomly. Yuanyuan doesn’t like it.”
“Tsk, you’re protecting him way too much, aren’t you? He doesn’t like it? Then shouldn’t you pet him until he gets used to it, until he likes it?” Pei Sui pouted. Who acts like Lu Hao? It’s just a pet beast, yet people aren’t even allowed to touch it.
Lu Hao soothed Fang Jing. “Don’t be afraid, Yuanyuan. If you don’t like it, we won’t let them touch you, okay?”
Listening to Lu Hao’s gentle tone, Lin Shen felt a layer of goosebumps rise on his skin. Even though in their impression Lu Hao had always been refined, easygoing, and modest, for some reason he still felt awkward. “Hao, the way you’re talking… anyone who didn’t know better would think you’re raising Yuanyuan like a daughter. I’ve seen people who treat their pet beasts like children, and they talk just like you, all sweet and sappy.”
“Yuanyuan is still young, and besides, he isn’t a princess, he’s a prince.” Lu Hao didn’t mind. In his view, since he had to take responsibility for Yuanyuan for the rest of his life, treating it like a child and giving it the best living conditions was only right, especially since it had contracted him.
Xie Zhinian, who had remained silent for a long time, finally spoke. “Aren’t any of you curious about where Yuanyuan picked up that bracelet? Among the three major planets, Capital Star has the most top-tier technology and education. All the famous research institutes are basically on Capital Star. But as far as I know, these research institutes haven’t managed to invent any bracelets capable of deterring beasts like that over all these years.”
Ever since humans migrated to Capital Star and the other two planets, they had entered the interstellar calendar era. Over these past few centuries, research institutes everywhere had been spinning in circles.
Starships needed research; human abilities, contracts, ability cores, the Zerg, and many other fields required study. Yet after all this time, certain domains still hadn’t achieved breakthrough progress.
However, in terms of weaponry, the research institutes had made quite a few breakthroughs. In past battles against the Zerg, the Zerg possessed steel-like bodies that even bullets couldn’t pierce.
Later, research developed machine guns utilizing spatial abilities that packed more destructive power than cannons, allowing every single soldier to carry one.
Yet, it was true that research institutes hadn’t achieved any breakthrough progress regarding ability cores or contracts.
Every year, large numbers of soldiers in the military suffered from ruptured ability cores due to over-exhaustion of their abilities, leading to varying degrees of physical damage and even endangering their lives, forcing them to leave the military.
For these soldiers forced to retire, they had to endure the agony brought by their ruptured ability cores. When they couldn’t bear it anymore, they had no choice but to spend exorbitant amounts of money at the black market to buy painkillers.
Depending on their rank, some soldiers’ retirement pensions weren’t even enough to cover the painkillers they needed for the rest of their lives. For them, having a family member in the military used to be an honor for the whole family, but later it turned into a burden. One can imagine the physiological and psychological pressures these people had to bear.
According to his original plans, Lu Huan actually wanted to pursue a military career in his early years, but he later shifted into research precisely for this reason.
After all these years, if research institutes had genuinely invented a bracelet capable of deterring and suppressing contracted beasts like the one on Lu Hao’s wrist, Lin Shen and the others, being military descendants, would have known about it.
Lu Hao had actually thought of this long ago, but he still stubbornly insisted, “Yuanyuan picked it up. I don’t know where he found it. Maybe in this galaxy, besides us humans, there are other intelligent beings we don’t know about yet who are also suffering from the Zerg invasion?”
Lin Shen, Pei Sui, and Xie Zhinian exchanged silent glances.
Lu Hao was treating them like idiots!
Ever since migrating from Blue Star to Capital Star, humanity had explored this galaxy long ago. Did Lu Hao really think they crawled out of some primitive tribe?
Whatever. Since Lu Hao refused to tell the truth, what was the point of digging to the bottom of it?
Lin Shen said, “It’s almost mealtime, let’s go out to eat. After all this time, Yuanyuan must be starving by now.”
As for pet beasts like the ones belonging to Lin Shen and the others, even though they were contracted, they weren’t fully tamed yet, so they could only be left on the transport ships designated for pet beasts. Fang Jing being allowed onto the military cadets’ transport ship was solely the result of Lu Hao and the others vouching for him.
“Ji-ji…”
The moment food was mentioned, Fang Jing, who had been uninterested in their conversation and drowsy, instantly perked up.
Seeing those large, beautiful eyes light up the second food was mentioned, Lu Hao smiled softly. “Alright, let’s go out. Yuanyuan, you don’t have to eat roasted meat today. I’ll take you to try something else delicious.”
“Ji-ji-ji…”
What was this?
Fang Jing had never eaten rice noodles before, or rather, he had hardly eaten any interstellar delicacies. When he saw a bowl of bright red, fragrant, and appetizing hot-and-sour noodles, that pungent and domineering aroma constantly rushed into his nasal passages, making his mouth water.
He wanted to eat it so badly!
Fang Jing kept staring at Lu Hao’s hot-and-sour noodles. With no other choice, Lu Hao picked up a single strand for him with chopsticks. “Yuanyuan, these are noodles. They’re noodles with chili oil. They smell amazing, but they’re very spicy. Try just one strand first, and if it’s too spicy, don’t eat anymore.”
Looking at the lonely strand of round noodles stained with a bit of chili oil in front of him on the plate, Fang Jing couldn’t wait to dig in.
Instead of using his paws, he imitated Lin Shen and gave a strong slurp.
“Ji-ji…”
A muffled chirp rang out. Lu Hao was startled, hurriedly grabbing Fang Jing and pulling out the noodle that had poked its way right out of his tiny nostril.
“Cough, cough…”
Fang Jing coughed for quite a while. The feeling of being choked by chili oil was not pleasant at all. Flustered, Lu Hao grabbed a cup of milk and coaxed him, “Yuanyuan, take a sip of milk to wash away the spice. Once you drink it, it won’t be spicy anymore.”
Wuwu, I made a fool of myself!
To think he actually got beaten by a single noodle. Now his nasal passages hurt and burned like crazy.
After hastily licking a few sips of milk, Fang Jing leaped off the table and aggrievedly buried himself in Lu Hao’s arms, pushing his round head against Lu Hao’s school uniform in an attempt to burrow inside.
Before he could succeed, Lu Hao pulled him right back out.
“Does it hurt?” Lu Hao pushed the cup of milk on the table a bit further away to prevent Fang Jing from bumping into it if he jumped around later.
Lu Hao scooped Fang Jing up and coaxed him softly, “Yuanyuan, lift your head and let me see if your nose is hurt.”
“Ji.” It hurts.
Fang Jing let out an aggrieved chirp, the teardrops squeezed out by the spice still lingering in the corners of his eyes, making them look watery, pretty, and pitiful. He obediently raised his little head to let Lu Hao examine his nose.
Lu Hao carefully inspected Fang Jing’s little black nose from top to bottom. “It’s fine, nothing’s wrong, it’s not injured. Do you still want to eat noodles, Yuanyuan?”
Of course he still wanted to eat.
That stuff made his throat and nose sting, but after the pain passed, Fang Jing recalled that unprecedented feeling of his taste buds being stimulated the moment it entered his mouth, leaving a lingering aftertaste that made him want more.
“Ji-ji-ji…”
Using his tail, Fang Jing pulled Lu Hao’s bowl of noodles closer, his little tongue licking back and forth across his rosy lips, looking every bit like a little glutton.
Lu Hao couldn’t help laughing. “Still want some? Aren’t you afraid of the pain anymore?”
“Ji-ji…”
Fang Jing learned his lesson. Slurping the noodles too violently made it easy to choke, so he would just use a little less force this time.
But Lu Hao didn’t give him that chance.
“Yuanyuan, sit right here.” Lu Hao placed Fang Jing on the edge of the table right in front of him, then picked up the bowl with one hand and chopsticks with the other. “I’ll feed you. That way you won’t choke.”
Since Fang Jing still wanted to eat the noodles, Lu Hao had no choice. He acted just like someone feeding a child, picking up the noodles piece by piece with chopsticks, biting off the overly long portions at the bottom, and then bringing them to Fang Jing’s mouth.
Oh ho! Having food delivered straight to your mouth, the feeling of being pampered and spoiled was simply fantastic.
Fang Jing looked at the exceptionally handsome and flawless Lu Hao, feeling like he was looking at fine art to go with his meal, and his mood was so wonderful that his tail couldn’t stop wagging behind him.
The group of military cadets in the transport ship’s lounge who witnessed this scene were utterly dumbfounded.
Was the study god treating a level-ten pet contracted beast like his own son?
Even Lin Shen, Pei Sui, and Xie Zhinian, who were sitting at the same table acting as professional chow-hounds, didn’t know what to say.