Chapter 97

For Sen Qiu's condition to stabilize, at least five sessions of this level of psychic treatment are necessary.

Xia You settled temporarily in the underground city—with Sen Qiu and Yin Wei supplying all the energy stones she required during her treatment.

Sen Shi remained by Xia You's side, especially when she went to the underground city. He scrutinized everyone she passed with an intense gaze.

Xia You tugged at her cloak, saying resignedly, "There's no need to be so tense."

Sen Shi also wore a cloak, ensuring neither of their faces, hair, nor clothing was exposed. Only occasionally would glimpses of their ankle boots be seen.

Noticing someone approaching from a distance, Sen Shi quickly shifted closer to Xia You, stating seriously, "We need to be alert!"

Remembering how his partner-beast was trained in combat by lynxes, snow leopards, and tigers, and himself being repeatedly drilled by Major Fan, Major Cheng, and Brigadier Wei Cheng, Sen Shi instinctively straightened his back.

Sen Shi's partner-beast is Sen Ran. He certainly doesn't find Sen Ran frightening or unlovable, but Xia You's house of cats seemed to think otherwise, making him memorize all their rules.

Yet Sen Shi knew that neither he nor his sister-in-law could merely stand by during the treatment. Thus, he preemptively met with his elder brother to set up some safety measures.

Ensuring both Xia You's physical safety and her happiness— a hint of pride crossed the youthful face hidden under Sen Shi's cloak.

After her treatment, Lady Xia You showed no signs of being traumatized, undoubtedly pleased with his arrangements.

A snake as clever and considerate as him surely must be one of a kind in the entire galaxy!

Noticing the young man's psychic energy beside her, Xia You smiled, inquiring curiously, "Sen Shi, I recall that the soldiers at the Blue Star Base underwent psychic intervention. But throughout our journey, I don't think I've ever seen your partner-beast?"

Sen Shi's steps faltered, his previously radiating psychic energy abruptly retracting.

"My partner-beast... um..."

Xia You tilted her head, her words playful and light, "It's okay. Sen Ran without bunny ears is still adorable."

Sen Shi, slightly embarrassed by the comment, scuffed his feet on the ground and murmured, "Actually, I've always had it with me— Who?!"

An unfamiliar psychic force breached their safe zone. Sen Shi's head snapped to the left-front, his gaze cold and piercing, a stark contrast to his usual sunny demeanor, reminiscent of a drawn blade.

A dark green streak shot out from beneath Sen Shi's cloak, its jaws aiming directly at the source of the unusual psychic disturbance.

Yet, the mysterious psychic presence that had been trailing them vanished eerily in a blink, leaving no trace.

Sen Shi's brows furrowed as he tensely surveyed his surroundings.

But when he turned around, Xia You was nowhere to be seen.

Sen Shi's pupils constricted, but the next moment, a warm psychic sensation enveloped him.

His gaze dropped to find Xia You, crouching down and cautiously reaching out a finger towards a small snake.

At first, Xia You hadn't intended to touch it, but after observing for a while, she found the forearm-length, two-finger-thick dark green snake, with its dazed look, irresistibly cute.

Through the psychic connection, it was clear that this was Sen Shi's companion beast, yet...

Xia You, looking at the inquisitively advancing snake, appeared surprised.

She had reviewed Sen Shi's records. His companion beast should be a dark green, sub-adult Sen Ran. While not as massive as its adult counterpart, it shouldn't appear so pitifully small.

The dark green snake, guided by psychic force, slithered up Sen Shi's ankle and finally coiled around his neck, blending seamlessly with his combat uniform.

Sen Shi scratched his head, "When I trespassed... um, the mansion, I was hung outside for a night. But that surely doesn't count as an official punishment."

"Actually, at the base, we can choose our punishments. Most of the time, when the hibernation center is conducting experiments, we opt to go there."

"Lately, they've had many medical practitioners come in. I've heard their research direction has changed significantly, so they need plenty of test subjects, and we're obviously the best fit."

Xia You opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words.

The challenge of psychic forces had plagued the empire for years. Even with Xia You's presence, no one would solely pin all their hopes on one person.

Countless individuals continue their relentless pursuit in this domain, striving to expedite the resolution, even if it shortens the time by a mere day, two days, or ten days.

The empire is vast, the galaxies endless; in just one day, so much happens, so many are lost.

Every warrior at the Blue Star Base can be rightly called the pride of the heavens.

Though young, their psychic abilities have already reached the peak of S-class. They are the patients closest to psychic disorders, and at the same time, the warriors leading the charge.

"They're just some minor drug trials, totally safe," Sen Shi quickly changed the subject with a smile, noticing Xia You's silence. "Look, ever since it was miniaturized, I can carry it with me! Before, it always fought me for the bed..."

"By the way, where's the little leopard usually with you? Haven't seen it today."

With Xia You no longer in the mood to continue their walk, Sen Shi accompanied him back.

Xia You remarked, "Leopards are cats. It probably wandered off but will return by night."

Sen Shi pondered, "You might want to put a collar on it or something. With the crowds in the underground city, someone might just snatch it up and grill it."

Xia You's eyelids twitched.

Sen Shi nodded emphatically, signaling the seriousness of the matter.

"A capybara I kept as a child disappeared just like that."

Xia You stopped in his tracks, turned to look at him, and raised an eyebrow, "Capybara?"

"Yes!" Sen Shi motioned with his hands to indicate its size, lowering his voice with excitement, "I found it when I was young. It was only this big, seemed like it got bitten. My sister-in-law even applied medicine to its wounds."

"It was amusing. I've never seen an animal so unresponsive. You could put an apple or an orange on its head, and it wouldn't move. All it did every day was soak in the sun or daydream; it wouldn't react even if you poked it or called it."

A hint of a smile played under Xia You's cloak.

"Later, my sister-in-law said it ran away. I searched for a long time but never found it."

Sen Shi sighed, murmuring, "Perhaps it's for the best. A Sen Ran keeping a capybara? People would think I'm storing up emergency rations..."

Sen Ran prefer marshes, shallow streams, or still ponds — places where capybaras are often found. As a result, capybaras make up a significant portion of their diet.

Xia You could piece together the tale of the capybara's acquaintance with the underground Sen family. Moving past the topic, he continued walking and whispered, "Your brother is a white Sen Ran. Why are you dark green? Your patterns also seem different."

Generally, individuals with close kinship, upon awakening their psychic form, tend to exhibit related characteristics.

Take, for instance, Hotstrip and White Tiger sister. While the white tiger is a variant, Hotstrip's orange-black fur represents the primary color in tiger populations.

After some contemplation and hesitation, Sen Shi remembered Yin Wei's advice that he could share all he knew about Sen Qiu with Xia You, and thus began:

“My brother and I weren't exactly born naturally. While we are siblings, our bond stems from our shared genetic origin.”

“We were born within the Federation's human experimentation base.”

The dark green snake around Sen Shi's neck nudged the edge of his cloak, revealing its tiny triangular head towards Xia You.

“In reality, my brother's psychic strength was only at A level. He initially had no psychic form, let alone a companion beast. All of these were catalyzed by the human experiments.”

“Through concoctions and intervention, they momentarily elevated my brother's psychic level to S, prompting the birth of his psychic form, which gradually materialized into his companion beast.”

“My sister-in-law was brought into the base later as another test subject. Combat observations were common there, and that's how she met my brother.”

"After that... Well, there's not much to tell." Sen Shi hadn't experienced the past chaos and mostly knew of it through Sen Qiu and Yin Wei. "Someone, a former test subject, returned to the base seeking vengeance. I'm not sure where he got all the ammunition and laser cannons or how he smuggled them in.”

“Anyway, one day, the base was decimated by this lone gunman. On that day, all containment units malfunctioned, releasing the subjects. Those skilled enough escaped to the Empire, while the rest eked out a meager existence in the Federation.”

Xia You: “…”

The blonde young man's expression briefly turned peculiar.

“Oh, I remember my brother mentioning that when he went to the cultivation chamber for me, he ran into the very mastermind who bombed the base!”

As Sen Shi recounted this, his eyes shone with admiration, “The reason we could escape was thanks to that man, who somehow gave us a push out."

"He must've had an extraordinary companion beast, perhaps a fantastical species with multiple arms! How else could he single-handedly challenge the entire base?"

"It's a pity we lost track of him. Maybe the Federation got to him. Damn!" Sen Shi exclaimed, shaking his fists. "But if they had succeeded, they would've boasted about it. No news means he's probably still a kingpin in our circle!"

Xia You reluctantly responded, "It's not quite as exaggerated as you think."

The ‘big boss’ is now just a kindly old man, whose days consist of bathing tigers and cooking, occasionally dabbling in needlework on clothes and handkerchiefs.

"Heh..." Realizing his excitement, Sen Shi withdrew his hands sheepishly and placed them behind his back, "Anyway, since I was born in the underground city, my companion beast formed naturally. My brother's must've been due to the drugs."

After all, no Sen Ran species resembles the pure white of his brother.

"I see," Xia You nodded in acknowledgment.

Xia You never believed in sheer coincidences. The common thread between Tang Gao and Sen Qiu was simple: both had been injected with experimental drugs.

Residues of the drug in Tang Gao's body revealed components of insectoid genes.

The federal experimental base where Sen Qiu was once located, according to Uncle Zhou, was working on experiments to merge insectoid genes and psychic powers with humans.

Creatures showing these grayish-black clumps have all, to some extent, been associated with the insectoids.

Xia You pursed her lips.

She had a sudden, intense premonition.

If she could now probe into the core of His Highness's psyche, making contact with the residual psychic energy of the insectoid queen, could it manifest as this grayish-black substance?

***

Meanwhile, after Xia You left, Yin Wei sat with a grave expression, settling accounts with Bai Sen Ran.

Literally, settling accounts.

"Each treatment for His Excellency consumes... this many energy crystals to soothe the psychic sea," Yin Wei enlarged a screen, and the number displayed caused Sen Qiu's snake tail to stiffen and his pupils to contract.

"Fortunately, the treatment fee is in high-tier energy crystals. Including what we have and what Old Zheng has, we have enough. Given your psychic disturbances, I had prepared two advanced stasis chambers, which will now prove useful."

Yin Wei took a deep breath, stating seriously, "The real issue now is, we have four treatments left, costing approximately four times this number in energy crystals. And as treatments get more complex, His Excellency may require even more crystals."

Sen Qiu's snake head tilted back as numbers rapidly increased on the screen.

They ruled the underground city. While their influence was undeniably vast, resources in the city were scarce. Energy crystals, vital for armaments, were indispensable, especially if foreign enemies attacked, which would spell disaster for the city.

Private stashes, even in the homes of big shots, couldn't possibly hold such an astounding number of energy crystals.

After all, they weren't planning any insurrection or invading the imperial capital star. Hoarding so many crystals might attract unwanted attention.

If the news leaked, it could lead to a scandal.

Sen Qiu lifted his snake tail to shield the painful numbers on the screen, typing with its tip: [How much can we get from the noble contact point?]

"I've checked," Yin Wei said, expression numb. "The mercenaries His Excellency brought have already scavenged there. They're even extorting nobles from other star systems. I doubt we'll get a turn."

Sen Qiu: "..."

Yin Wei murmured, "I couldn't resist and looked into Marshal Lu's public assets."

She was aware of Xia You's identity and naturally knew that Xia You was Lu Ying Huai's partner.

Honestly, Yin Wei believed that an average person couldn't afford a healer like Xia You.

Having lived so long and seen so much, she had never encountered such an expensive healer.

Literally, a money-eater.

The value of high-tier energy crystals goes without saying. Even if ordinary people don't require them, their rarity and exquisite appearance always fetch high auction prices.

Lower-tier energy crystals are universally accepted currency, valid both in the Empire and the Federation.

The rate at which Lord Xia You consumes them is truly...

Even maintaining a battleship doesn't deplete this much in over a decade!

Even with the vast wealth of an imperial marshal, wouldn't this be a stretch?

However, when Yin Wei employed a few tricks to uncover a portion of the Lu family's enterprises, she was left speechless.

Sensing Yin Wei's pause, Sen Qiu, driven by curiosity, nuzzled his snake head gently against her cheek.

Yin Wei pursed her lips, tapped a few commands into her light computer, and projected a document onto the screen, answering emotionlessly:

"He owns mines."

"Two of them."