Rumors spread across the Blood Blade like snowflakes, twisting and turning until they finally reached Gu Shen’s ears.
Gu Shen, who had been burying himself in hard work to finish upgrading the NSI monitoring system for the Boss: “…Huh? No way.”
He hadn’t heard even a whisper of wind about it.
Rain, who hurried over in a flurry, hooked his arm tightly around Gu Shen’s shoulder. “Why no way! Could what I saw with my own eyes be fake? Brother, a great opportunity to get in good with our Boss has arrived!”
“How come I didn’t know the Boss has someone he likes? With his temper…” Gu Shen casually put away the upgraded terminal and couldn’t help letting out a chuckle. “Who could put up with that?”
“I have evidence.” Rain looked mysterious, quietly lighting up his terminal to show Gu Shen the photo on it. “Look at it yourself. The Boss even accompanied someone to shop at a store like this; what else is there not to believe?”
Curious, Gu Shen leaned in to look. The moment he made out what it was, his eyes widened instantly.
That tall, cold-as-ice back in the photo was all too familiar, to the extent that just seeing the person standing under that pink-and-white lace-trimmed sign was enough of a shock to leave anyone dumbfounded.
Gu Shen was struck stupid. He rubbed his eyes repeatedly, and only after confirming back and forth did he mutter: “It really is him. The Boss hides things way too deep. But I still feel something is off—given his personality…”
Rain slapped him on the shoulder again. “Look at you, your research brain is so single-track. Haven’t you suffered enough losses because of that personality before? This time, listen to me, you definitely won’t go wrong.”
The blow made Gu Shen wince in pain, leaving him no choice but to compromise. “Fine, fine. Then what do I need to do?”
“I heard from Morell, we mainly need to tidy up the room nicely. Looking at the Boss’s current preferences, I think going for an exquisite and cute style fits just right.” Rain casually helped rub Gu Shen’s patted-sore shoulder and arranged: “You’re responsible for handling the smart home tech, maxing out the exterior aesthetics. The main theme is just looking good!”
Such a minor task was a piece of cake for Gu Shen.
He readily agreed: “Leave it to me.”
The two hit it off instantly and began bustling about with intense enthusiasm. They even mobilized the manpower of the entire battleship, clearing out an independent cabin in the Second District and using the supplies Morell had recently procured to decorate it with all their might, striving to give the newcomer the best staying experience.
Only, as a group of iron-blooded, rough men, none of them understood this kind of aesthetic. In the end, everyone still referred to the decorative style of the shop seen in Rain’s photo to finalize the soft furnishings of the entire room.
At least they managed to complete the task before the Boss returned.
At Rain’s instigation, Morell specifically dialed an early communication to Kane.
Morell: “Mission accomplished, Boss. We’re just waiting for you to come back and inspect it.”
Kane: “Got it.”
After hanging up the communicator, Kane casually tapped open the real-time flight trajectory of the Blood Blade. Morell wasn’t one to actively claim credit like that; he vaguely felt that something wasn’t quite right aboard the Blood Blade.
However, the positioning and live feed showed everything was normal.
Kane looked toward Xavier.
The other party was turned sideways to him, gaze lowered, fiddling with the necklace at his chest. He looked as though he wasn’t willing to spare even half a glance for him, completely lacking the curiosity he’d had earlier when secretly staring at him during training.
Kane knew he was still angry, but he truly couldn’t fathom this little intelligent entity’s logic, failing to understand what exactly he was angry about.
He stepped forward, his fingertips tapping lightly against the desk.
Without even raising his head, Xavier said, “What is it?”
At these words, the man raised an eyebrow. He didn’t believe that with an intelligent entity’s hearing, he hadn’t heard the communication between himself and Morell just now.
A flash of understanding crossed the depths of Kane’s eyes.
To keep the little fellow from flying into another rage after being exposed, Kane mustered up an unprecedented level of patience, specifically following up on his question: “Heading back to the Blood Blade. Your room has already been arranged.”
Seeing that Xavier still remained indifferent, Kane took the opportunity to sit down in front of him. Only when the changes in the little intelligent entity’s expression were laid bare before his eyes did he leisurely open his mouth: “You promised me, once you have a new room, you can’t stay angry anymore.”
Xavier lifted his gaze, glancing at the man who had deliberately leaned in closer. The naked amusement in the other’s grey-blue eyes didn’t look fake, even softening that fierce aura by a third. Only then did he lift his chin and let out a soft huff.
“That depends on whether the room can meet this Prince’s satisfaction.”
Having secured the little intelligent entity’s “tacit approval,” Kane handled the affairs on Floris City and then set off on the return journey with Xavier.
The Shadow Shuttle slowly sailed into the flight orbit approaching the Blood Blade.
Xavier sat idly by the porthole, gazing at the distant, massive, cold iron behemoth slowly drawing near.
Instruments were scattered across the console, their smooth and polished mirror surfaces casting a cold light that clearly reflected the man’s tall, powerful back.
Xavier’s gaze fell upon it from time to time. Seeming nonchalant, he muttered inwardly: If he were a personal blood servant, he ought to be guarding his side to serve him every step of the way, unlike this fellow who busied himself with other matters on his own.
Hmph, truly only fit to be a mere vehicle.
Pale eyelashes fluttered abruptly, and when he snapped back to his senses, he crashed unprepared into a pair of narrow, deep, grey-blue eyes.
Kane had turned around at some unknown moment, his gaze heavy as he locked onto his eyes through the mirror without blinking.
“What are you looking at?”
Xavier’s thoughts suddenly stalled. At that very moment, his peripheral vision caught an anomaly coming from the dead silence of space, and he instinctively raised his eyes.
He saw that right outside the porthole, several bolts of artillery fire suddenly shot out from the Blood Blade, heading straight for the Shadow Shuttle, midway landing successively in the surrounding asteroid belt and bursting into blooming clusters of hazy interstellar smoke and dust.
The pale-golden pupils reflected an inexplicable “attack,” instantly supplying an explanation for the split-second panic just now.
Taking advantage of the moment to shake off all the lingering thoughts at the bottom of his heart, Xavier turned to face the man and snapped irritably, “Looks like your subordinates are trying to rebel?”
The words had barely fallen when he saw Kane slowly narrow his narrow eyes. The emotion surfacing in the depths wasn’t purely the anger Xavier had imagined.
Xavier turned his gaze back, uncomprehending, only then catching the scene after the scattering of the sky-full artillery fire—
The flying stellar embers actually slowly coalesced into individual round, heart-shaped forms, scattered randomly among the sea of stars, and to top it off, they were all in pairs.
Xavier: ……?
A gloomy, sinister voice came from behind him, “This bunch of idiots. Compared to this, I’d rather they actually rebelled.”
Amidst Xavier’s puzzled gaze, the Shadow Shuttle accelerated all the way, driving straight into the Blood Blade.
When they successfully docked and boarded, a large crowd was already gathered in front of the tail-bay berth, every single one of them hiding boundless excitement on their faces. Morell and Rain stood grinning from ear to ear in the very front row.
Xavier sat on Kane’s shoulder, stepping down the boarding ramp step by step with the man’s pace.
Many members of the Blood Blade discovered Xavier’s existence at the very first moment.
It was simply too eye-catching and incongruous for a pretty, exquisite little doll to suddenly appear on the shoulder of the Boss, who had always been cold and ruthless in his dealings!
Gradually, whispering discussions began to rise among the crowd.
Kane’s grey-blue eyes swept coldly over everyone, his chilling gaze passing over them one by one until the back-and-forth laughter and whispering were completely suppressed.
His gaze finally locked onto Morell, and he asked in a cold, indifferent tone, “What is going on here?”
Xavier was curious as well: just who came up with such a “novel” welcome method?
Morell looked at Kane, then looked at Xavier, who was perched on his shoulder like a petite, exquisite pendant, and then looked at the empty space behind him.
He froze, stammering out: “Boss… where’s the person?”
Kane frowned, “What person?”
Meanwhile, Rain, upon catching sight of Xavier on Kane’s shoulder, felt his brain go buzz as he snapped awake.
Wrong!
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!
He remembered now—back in that dark alley, the only one accompanying the Boss from beginning to end was this little fellow!
But the Boss wasn’t an idiot; how could he possibly go out of his way to arrange a room for an intelligent entity?!
Rain’s pupils shrank, a chill ran down his back, and his brain went into a wild refresh loop: It’s over, I got it wrong!
“It’s… the person who was supposed to move in and live here.” Morell paused, looking somewhat awkward, his dark skin tinged with a faint red.
Rain couldn’t help tugging at his arm, whispering, “Bro, wait—”
Right as they were each harboring their own thoughts and panicking inwardly, Xavier, having listened to half the process, finally figured out that the protagonist of this entire farce turned out to be himself.
It seemed Kane’s image in his subordinates’ eyes was nothing much after all—not the least bit as majestic and formidable as he himself had been back when he ruled over Florence.
Xavier’s mood instantly brightened.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, the craftiness uncontainable within their pale-golden hue. Wanting deliberately to watch Kane make a fool of himself, he took the initiative to speak up: “It seems the person you all were talking about is this Prince.”
Rain’s unfinished warning came to an abrupt halt.
Huh? He didn’t get it wrong???
“What are you standing there in a daze for?” Kane frowned at Morell and the other, impatiently breaking the stagnant atmosphere as he urged: “Didn’t you say the room was ready?”
With that, he couldn’t help raising a hand to tap Xavier on the shoulder, signaling the little fellow not to be too over-the-top.
As expected, his fingertip met with resistant force. Unbothered, Kane retracted his hand, though the space between his brows relaxed quite a bit.
Having sulked with him for so long, the moment his own embarrassing blunder was exposed, Xavier was instantly happy.
Wondering just who designed this for the little fellow…
Kane’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he let out a low, short chuckle.
Rain was left completely bewildered by the interaction between the two, especially by that sudden laugh from the Boss. Morell, however, was the first to react, quickly responding, “Everything is ready, Boss. Please follow me.”
After they walked away, Rain, left standing in a daze in place, felt a severe headache coming on. His helpless gaze shifted back and forth, finally landing on his lackey.
“So… that same person we were talking about earlier, didn’t we guess that he pretended to be kind because he liked someone else who was present? What if—I’m just saying what if—that other person is actually an intelligent entity?”
The lackey, who was still savoring the aftertaste of the Boss’s chuckle, immediately let out an “Oh!” upon hearing this. “What’s so strange about that? Man-machine romance is super common these days!”
He expounded eloquently, “For the sake of the natural birth rate, the Empire specifically mandates that intelligent robotic entities cannot have more than 70% humanoid appearance on their surface, you see.”
“—So that’s how it is!”
Rain came to a sudden realization. His spirits surged once more as he instantly concocted an earth-shattering, ghost-crying forbidden love story between a man and a machine in his head.
He hadn’t guessed wrong! He just knew he hadn’t guessed wrong!
And this must be why the Boss had never shown it in front of them!
Since he, Rain, had discovered this secret, he swore he would do his utmost to help the Boss achieve happiness!
Rain happily gave his lackey’s shoulder a fierce pat, “Kid, you’ve got some culture in you, promising a future. Come on, let’s follow them!”