“Meow?!”
You human, let go of your hand right this instant!
If you don’t let go, I’m going to get mad!!
“There’s nothing worth looking at there. Let me take you home first.”
The man’s tone was gentle yet laced with an unquestionable firmness. His hand was removed from Ruan Bai’s face, but the starnet screen was taken away right along with it.
Sensing the low pressure radiating from the man, Ruan Bai decided that discretion is the valor of the wise, he could always check it once they got home anyway.
He rubbed his fluffy little head against the Marshal’s palm, his voice turning soft and milky.
“Meow-ao~”
Then I won’t look anymore~
As if! I’ll check it myself the moment we get back. Little kittens have plenty of tricks up their sleeves.jpg
The Marshal scooped up the little milk cat in his arms and strode away.
Looking bewildered, General Kaisen grabbed Qin Lang by the back of his neck just as the aide attempted to slip away behind them.
“Xiao Qin, what’s going on here?”
Aside from Marshal Kaisen, everyone present consisted of the Marshal’s most trusted confidants, individuals bound by absolute loyalty.
Since Marshal Kaisen was a respected elder trusted by their Marshal, there was no harm in telling him.
Besides, the incident had blown up to such an extent that the moment they logged onto starnet they would find out anyway; it was impossible to keep it hidden.
With that thought in mind, Qin Lang didn’t hesitate, directly pulling up the public outcry on starnet for them to see.
“Utterly shameless! Frauds deserve no good end!”
“Nice disguise, but too bad he threw away his dignity.”
“Some trash trying to ride Little Bamboo’s coattails for clout…”
The expressions of the assembled commanders turned uniformly grim.
“What is wrong with that kid Huo Jiuxiao? Is he just going to let this go unhandled?” Kaisen asked, his face rigid and his tone solemn.
Frank had been discovered by Xiao Bai. Prior to that, they had never encountered Zerg capable of flawlessly transforming into humans.
Xiao Bai had sounded the alarm for them, assisted them, and could even be said to have done the empire a massive favor.
Not to mention, Xiao Bai possessed formidable spiritual power; a 2S-grade spiritual capability was a rare gem in any nation.
“These minor complaints aren’t the main issue. The real problem is that Xiao Bai eats energy crystals, and that secret likely won’t stay under wraps much longer,” Peel said, his usual frivolous tone replaced by grim seriousness.
Xiao Bai was simply too extraordinary; it was inevitable that he would attract the attention of malicious actors, driving them to take desperate risks against the kitten.
“Marshal Kaisen, it looks like we’ll have to trouble your little playboy this time around,” Peel said with a helpless sigh.
Their usual operational style wasn’t well-suited for handling public relations on starnet; in fact, heavy-handed military intervention might even backfire.
After all, a bunch of rough-hewn, burly veterans like them had no clue how to navigate the twisting, maze-like dynamics of starnet. Professional matters had to be left to the professionals.
As luck would have it, Marshal Kaisen’s youngest son, Luo Yucheng, happened to be the owner of Whale Media, making him more familiar with this landscape than anyone else.
Whale Media was the empire’s largest self-media platform, with subsidiaries spanning every sector of the entertainment industry from livestreaming platforms to entertainment investments.
In other words, nearly all recreational and entertainment content bore Whale Media’s footprint to some degree.
Marshal Kaisen had never approved of his youngest son idling away his days in various entertainment venues, and it wasn’t a rare occurrence for him to chase the boy around with a military cane to thrash him.
Hence, Luo Yucheng’s reputation as a little playboy was born.
The old Marshal immediately zeroed in on this solution, calling up his fickle son on his optical computer without a second thought.
“Dad, I haven’t done anything wrong lately!” Luo Yucheng’s crisp, breezy voice echoed through the comms the moment the call connected.
He couldn’t help it Luo Yucheng genuinely feared his old-school father. The man resorted to military law at the drop of a hat, and since Luo Yucheng wasn’t one of the thick-skinned soldiers under his father’s command, there was no way his body could take that kind of punishment.
“Cut the crap. Get over the situation concerning Xiao Bai right now, or you’d better watch your skin.” Marshal Kaisen’s forced, chilling smile caused Luo Yucheng’s spine to stiffen instinctively.
With his mother visiting her maternal family recently, the old man’s temper had been growing increasingly volatile day by day; it was safer by far not to provoke him.
“Xiao Bai? You mean Marshal Huo’s cat?” Luo Yucheng sounded perplexed. “I’ve already dispatched people to handle it. Xiao Bai is genuinely a cat, so there’s no deception involved. It shouldn’t be a major issue.”
The mere memory of Marshal Huo’s demeanor when contacting him earlier still sent a shudder of lingering fear down his spine.
Good grief, the man’s expression had looked dark enough to drip ink. If he had delayed by even a single second, Luo Yucheng would have feared for his life.
“We still need to give the netizens a reasonable explanation regarding Xiao Bai eating energy crystals, otherwise we’ll run into endless trouble,” Peel interjected from the side, a hint of worry in his voice.
With millions of viewers watching, this batch of netizens wasn’t easy to fool; every single lie told would require countless more to patch it up.
Once the truth was exposed down the line, public perception of the Marshal would likely take an even heavier hit.
“That’s not such a big deal, as long as Xiao Bai isn’t a unique anomaly,” Luo Yucheng murmured, mischief dancing in his eyes. “I’ll bring my little Hua to visit Xiao Bai and see if I can learn how he eats those energy crystals.”
Little Hua was a male tabby cat, typically haughty and fierce. He practically refused to let anyone pet him, and even Luo Yucheng only managed to cuddle him on rare occasions.
If Little Hua started eating energy crystals too, wouldn’t the cat have to beg him to buy them in the future? At that rate, would he ever have to worry about not being able to pet his cat?
The more he thought about it, the more his hands itched. “Dad, I’m hanging up. I’m going to take Little Hua to see Marshal Huo first.” Without waiting for Marshal Kaisen’s reply, he abruptly cut the connection.
“This… will that actually work?” The generals exchanged uncertain glances.
“Let’s just let him give it a try. We don’t seem to have any better options at the moment anyway.”
At the Marshal’s Mansion.
Ruan Bai was deeply agitated.
The moment Huo Jiuxiao returned, he had confiscated his optical computer, refusing to let him view it under any circumstances.
However, he still had a backup plan.
The tiny milk ball sprawled across the sofa, his gilded cat pupils fixed intently on the man currently communicating with someone else.
Under the cover of the coffee table, his small paw inched forward bit by bit, aiming for the smart household robot, Nuannuan, parked nearby.
The robot featured a large electronic screen on its front and was fully capable of accessing the internet.
Just as his paw brushed against the dark screen, Huo Jiuxiao seemed to sense his movement. Hanging up the call, the man turned on his heel and strode over.
Ruan Bai’s little paw zipped back like lightning, tucked neatly against his chest.
His wide eyes stared up with feigned innocence at the tall man approaching him.
Huo Jiuxiao looked down at the little milk cat whose entire body radiated a guilty conscience, and sighed with a headache. “It’s not that I won’t let you use the starnet. I’ll return your optical computer once this blows over in a bit, okay?”
Ruan Bai put on an expression implying total incomprehension: “Meow-ao~”
Cat hasn’t been doing anything wrong, you know.
Seeing him put on this act of playing dumb, Huo Jiuxiao experienced another wave of deep helplessness.
“Nuannuan, head to the kitchen.” At the deep, cold command, the chubby robot parked beside the sofa zipped away with a loud whoosh, vanishing from the living room mere moments later.
It looked for all the world as though it were fleeing from a ghost.
Ruan Bai: “……”
He was only just discovering that this pudgy, usually sluggish-moving robot was capable of such blistering speed.
Observing the slightly dazed expression of the astonished little milk cat, Huo Jiuxiao felt his gloomy, irritable mood slowly dissipate.
“Be a good boy, Xiao Bai.” A trace of a smile seemed to color the man’s tone, as if he had seen right through the cat demon’s scheme but deliberately chose not to expose him.
Ruan Bai glared at him with furious indignation.
“Meow!” You’re shameless!
“Meow meow!” You stole kitty’s optical computer!!
“Meow-ao!!” And you won’t even let Nuannuan play with me anymore format!
By the end of his tirade, Ruan Bai felt a sudden pinch of grievance.
In the past, whenever he wanted something, this human would grant it without hesitation. Now, he wouldn’t even let him play with a simple optical computer.
Is this what humans call “once you have them, you stop cherishing them”?
His pointy little ears drooped downward as he slowly turned his body around, presenting his backside directly to Huo Jiuxiao.
Marshal Huo: “……”
Who on earth taught this little fellow the bad habit of turning his butt toward people the moment he gets angry?
The Marshal wanted to properly correct this trait in the little milk cat, just to let him know that turning his little rear end around wouldn’t automatically melt his heart.
Just as man and cat stood locked in a standoff, a loud, resounding cry shattered the heavy silence of the living room.
“Marshal! Hiss—Little Hua, go easy…”