Chapter 77

Upon seeing the panther greeting him in the courtyard, Xia You instinctively looked behind towards Lu Yinghuai.

He then felt a gentle swat from the panther's tail.

Xia You had a feeling that Lu Yinghuai was hiding something, so he tried to peek inside the entrance.

A tickling sensation on the back of his hand made Xia You look down, only to find the glossy tip of the panther's tail.

Lu Yinghuai's tail playfully swept across Xia You's palm, evading his grasp just when Xia You tried to catch it.

Xia You, who intended to play with the cat but ended up being played with, looked puzzled: "?"

Xia You glanced at Lu Yinghuai, who sat regally before him, and leaning against the panther, whispered with a hand on his cheek, "Your Highness, don't you feel that after spending time with Yuan Yuan, you've become a bit... well, childish?"

As he said this, Xia You made a "tiny bit" gesture with his thumb and index finger.

Lu Yinghuai gazed at Xia You, withdrawing the panther paw he had intended to offer for Xia You to play with, and shifted away slightly, ensuring not even a single strand of fur touched Xia You.

Xia You chuckled, maintaining his crouched posture, and shuffled closer.

Lu Yinghuai shifted again, and Xia You followed suit. Each move by Lu Yinghuai was mirrored by Xia You.

The man and the panther shuffled on the entrance steps, from left to right, until the comparatively smaller Xia You had cornered the massive Lu Yinghuai against the wall.

As a healer, Xia You's physique seemed slender next to warriors. However, with consistent training and rising psychic energy, he had grown taller, approaching the height of 1.8 meters, a milestone he hadn’t achieved in his previous lives. His muscles were finely sculpted, but he appeared smaller beside the robust panther.

Xia You, cornering the big furry beast against the wall, smirked triumphantly, "Going to keep hiding, Your Highness?"

Lu Yinghuai typed on the screen using his paw: [I must've inherited half of Mister Xia's childishness. I have evidence.]

"Is that so?" Xia You said with a playful grin, "Then I guess I'll have to share a bit more with His Highness, after all—"

"His Highness is quite adorable like this!"

Saying so, Xia You playfully used both hands, giving the big cat an enthusiastic pat-down without holding back.

"Roar!"

A sound of restrained frustration echoed from behind.

Xia You, who had just ensured that no one was around, froze in his actions.

He looked at Lu Yinghuai in disbelief, his teasing hand still feeling the luxurious panther muscles.

His Highness didn't warn him that someone else was present!

Lu Yinghuai, who was not at fault, met Xia You's gaze calmly, flicking his tail nonchalantly.

With agility, Xia You grabbed Lu Yinghuai's panther tail and tucked it under himself, then swiftly turned to face a dumbfounded red panda behind him.

Lu Yinghuai almost jumped out of reflex.

Curling his panther paw and suppressing the tingling sensation surging through him, Lu Yinghuai lowered his gaze, silently reciting the 5,000 laws of the empire in his mind.

—Laws that only those in the legal field would examine, many already abolished, tedious, and drawn-out.

Though the red panda was small, its eyes were keen, observing the blatant actions of both the man and the panther.

The reddish-brown furball, feeling like a third wheel, looked forlorn.

What did the red panda do to deserve this?

The red panda was simply lounging here, and it arrived first!

Xia You sat cross-legged, appearing totally at ease, betraying no hint that he had a panther tail beneath him.

The red panda glanced between Xia You and the black panther, identified as the Marshal's bonded beast, with a twitch of its mouth.

Xia You, imitating Lu Yinghuai's composure, smiled and said, "What brings you here?"

The red panda typed with a stiff expression: "I've been here all along."

With that, he raised a paw and pointed to the wooden structure on the underside of the eave.

Over there, several long steel bars crisscrossed, forming openwork corners. Their size seemed just right for the red panda to nestle into.

The red panda paused and added, "I've been here for two hours!"

Unexpectedly, Xia You not only showed no embarrassment but replied in a very casual tone, "Two hours? Hmm... you must've sneaked a peek at my mech adaptability test, right?"

Instantly, the red panda's ears flicked backward, and his eyes darted evasively.

Sneaking a peek?

He was a trainer for the First Legion, after all. Visiting the training base was his duty, not sneaking around!

Xia You looked at the red panda with a playful smile, "I've met the mech piloting standard, you know."

The red panda hesitated for a moment, then directed his attention towards Lu Yinghuai, "Doesn't the Marshal have anything to say?"

Indeed, Xia You met the minimum standard for mech piloting. But if they selected mech pilots based solely on the minimum, the borders would have been overrun countless times!

The red panda was simmering with frustration, perplexed by what the Marshal was thinking.

How important Xia You was to them was clear to anyone with eyes, yet the Marshal seemed not to prioritize his protection but let him act recklessly!

What if something goes wrong?

After a moment, Lu Yinghuai, having made peace with his flattened tail, responded coolly to the red panda's ire: "The mech piloting standard refers to the testing criteria for new recruits entering the military academy. Every student, whether capable of piloting a mech to the frontlines or not, must at least have the ability to pilot a mech for self-protection or to protect civilians when necessary."

"In reality, the physical requirements for actual mech pilots are much higher than this standard."

The red panda, hearing Lu Yinghuai's straightforward explanation, paused, then quickly turned to look at Xia You, his eyes filled with anxiety.

Xia You simply raised an eyebrow, "I don't care. You promised me a mech before, Your Highness."

Lu Yinghuai seemed to chuckle and typed: "Yes, you will have one."

The red panda looked puzzled.

What does he mean by "have one"?

What are you talking about?

Had he slept for centuries, only to find that mech technology outside had undergone a complete overhaul?

Xia You's physical test results were barely better than the weakest mech engineers in his legion. For him to pilot a mech would mean—

The red panda suddenly froze, with a complex and indecipherable light gleaming in his dark pearl-like eyes.

Zhuo Xi's father was a mech warrior and a war hero. Zhuo Xi had always dreamt of joining the military and becoming a formidable mech warrior. However, due to his inherent physical limitations, he couldn't enlist, and even entering a military academy seemed a distant dream.

But Zhuo Xi never gave up. When his physique fell short, he intensely honed his mental strength. Later, he met his mentor, eventually earning a place at the premier military academy as a mech designer, with his name listed in the First Legion's reserve roster.

The first half of Zhuo Xi's life hadn't been smooth sailing, and the decade after graduation...

The red panda stood upright, his gaze deep and inscrutable.

Suddenly, he understood Marshal Lu Yinghuai's intentions.

The current assembly-line mechs obviously weren't suited for Xia You. And those dim-witted graduates from the capital's academies, who only knew textbook solutions, would probably run away in terror if asked to design a mech for a healer.

The Marshal's plan for Xia You was probably a bespoke, bio-customized mech from the outset.

The red panda remained silent for a while, his delicate paw raised, then lowered.

Eventually, the red panda turned away, refusing to face them. He curled himself into a fluffy, round ball, isolating himself in the corner, exuding an aura of wanting no interaction.

Radiating an air of refusal to communicate.

Xia You's hand, which hung by his side, reached out to touch the surface of Lu Yinghuai's leopard paw, his eyes questioning.

Lu Yinghuai gently pressed Xia You's hand beneath his paw pad, giving it a light squeeze, signaling for Xia You to remain patient.

Xia You and Lu Yinghuai saw things differently. Having spent time together, Xia You felt that the red panda's personality, compared to other fluffy members of the First Legion, was... more like his own.

A sudden realization struck Xia You as he looked at the red panda's retreating back.

Lu Yinghuai hoped Zhuo Xi would come to understand on his own. But if Zhuo Xi could reconcile these feelings himself, he wouldn't have waited until now.

Xia You swiftly turned his hand over, placing it atop the leopard's paw. Before Lu Yinghuai could respond, Xia You gently nudged the leopard, whispering, "You go in first."

Lu Yinghuai remained still.

Xia You poked him.

Lu Yinghuai lowered his gaze.

Xia You did the same.

Xia You shifted slightly, extricating the leopard's tail that she had accidentally squished, and handed it back to Lu Yinghuai. Blushing and slightly irate, she pushed him towards the entrance, exclaiming, “Hurry on home! Uncle Zhou isn't waiting for you anymore!”

Lu Yinghuai hesitated mid-step, about to type out a defense that he wasn't afraid of Uncle Zhou, only to see Xia You already consoling the red panda.

Marshal Black Panther sighed, pivoting on his heel, and began strolling towards the garden.

The red panda, hearing the marshal's departure, twitched his fuzzy ears.

Xia You resumed her earlier seat, patting the space beside her with a smile, “It's rather lonely watching the stars alone. Care to join?”

The red panda didn't move, sitting silently, resembling a plush toy.

Unperturbed, Xia You continued, “After regaining consciousness, you didn't actually want to fully awaken, did you? You wanted to maintain this state, right?”

The red panda's tail twitched inwards.

“Your earlier insistence on me treating you first wasn’t because you wanted to end your hibernation sooner. Instead, you were planning to sneak away once you felt better, right? Along the way, you've also scoped out the changing of the guard patterns and routes, intending to return when your condition worsens, am I correct?”

The red panda's eyes widened, casting a surreptitious glance at Xia You.

Xia You was genuinely stargazing.

Being in the Milky Way, the night sky of Blue Star was always breathtaking.

“I'm not sure if His Highness guessed your intentions.” Xia You spoke as if she could read the red panda's thoughts, not even turning her head, “But I suspect he didn't.”

The red panda hesitated for a moment, then turned and sat down beside Xia You.

[How did you guess?] he inquired.

“Because... we share something in common, something His Highness and his lot will never have,” Xia You turned her gaze to the red panda, a faint smile playing on her lips, “Perhaps sometimes, kindred spirits sense things more acutely.”

[What might that be?]

"Inferiority."

Xia You's voice was a mere whisper.

The red panda suddenly realized he'd made a grave mistake.

He'd only investigated Xia You's noble lineage and interstellar affiliations, and, factoring in Xia You's unique psychic prowess, had naturally lumped him together with the other healers at the treatment center.

But if Xia You was merely the straightforward heir to a duke, the chosen fiancé of a marshal, and an A-level psychic healer, where did this resonant sense of inferiority stem from?

Yes.

Zhuo Xi felt inferior.

Zhuo Xi's origins were humble. It was his father's martyred status that afforded him educational resources beyond his station. Yet, he lacked the physical stature to walk in his father's footsteps. Despite navigating barriers with his mech talents, his deep undercover mission of twelve years was compromised on the brink of fruition.

Only those mired in the muck truly understand how to torment a person — a torment more excruciating than death.

Zhuo Xi, having lost both arms, became a true invalid.

Even if he was still accepted by the First Legion, he couldn't bear to face the accolades bought with his youth and limbs, let alone the bright-eyed, freshly graduated cadets.

—He should have been one of them.

The thought consumed him.

Hence, he knew he couldn't mentor these spirited, vibrant young soldiers anymore.

He felt inferior.

Because he was never a chosen one, and now he had lost everything.

The red panda sat beside Xia You with legs crossed, gazing up at the star-studded sky, lost in silence.

Abruptly, Xia You cushioned his head with his hands and lay down.

Red panda: "?"

The next instant, his vision blurred, and he found himself scooped up by two small tendrils, tickled under the arms, and presented in front of Xia You.

The red panda dangled in mid-air, kicking its little black feet, and gave Xia You a look of disbelief.

Seeing the red panda's softened demeanor, Xia You smiled and proposed, "Commander Zhuo, how about we make a deal?"

The red panda was momentarily taken aback by the long-forgotten title. It tried to type a response, but Xia You's psychic tendrils held it, preventing any chance of refusal.

Oblivious to her own forcefulness, Xia You continued, “I'll heal your arms, and in return, you give me that unique super mech. We both get something invaluable from the other. It’s a win-win. What do you think?”

The little tendril shook the red panda excitedly.

The red panda had an exasperated expression, its eyes filled with sarcasm.

Before receiving an answer, Xia You muttered, "Hmm? You shouldn't refuse... Let me think about how to persuade... Ah, reason first, then appeal to emotion, and if all else fails, force—"

The red panda could no longer tolerate Xia You's nonsensical rambling. With effort, it managed to break free from the psychic grip and landed firmly, typing furiously: [Did you even let me type?!]

Xia You blinked, sitting up, her face a picture of innocence.

The psychic tendril was still eagerly tugging at the red panda.

The red panda tried in vain to pull the tendril off its head. It became even more agitated when the tendril began to fondle its furry ears, almost to the point of speaking human language.

[Take your tendrils back! You're going to make me bald!]

The little tendril reluctantly poked the red panda's soft belly.

Sincerity shone in Xia You's eyes, "You know... sometimes the psychic form doesn't always obey its master."

The red panda glared at Xia You.

The wind rustled the flowers and plants in the yard.

Uncle Zhou lit up the warm-colored night lights surrounding the eaves, illuminating Xia You and the red panda with a dazzling yet gentle golden hue.

The red panda smoothed its tail fur with its paw and looked at Xia You.

[Aren't you going to give me a name? Like they all have?]

Xia You was taken aback.

The red panda chuckled and laid its fluffy, well-groomed tail on Xia You's lap.

[Once I've crafted that one-of-a-kind super mech for you, you can get to know Zhuo Xi.]