Chapter 117

In the living room, Meng Wenxuan lay face-down on the sofa, his face buried in a cushion, too embarrassed to look up.

The white lab coat he had been wearing was crumpled and discarded in the furthest corner of the room, dotted with specks of blood.

Wei Cheng stood nearby, contemplating how to use the medical device on Meng Wenxuan without him needing to undress.

Xia You's psychic tendrils lingered near the door, sneaking a peek. But before catching any gossip, Yuan Yuan scooped them up, draping them over his body and whisking them away.

The recent violent goose incident in the garden was too shocking. The victim, understandably distressed, was accompanied by Xia You and the returning Lu Yinghuai to the study.

On Lu Yinghuai's lap was a document freshly pulled from the shelf, filled with flamboyantly penned signatures. Xia You caught a glimpse and noticed the signature of Lu Jiuzhu.

The psychic tendril being taken away without getting any gossip, a disgruntled Xia You poked the back of Lu Yinghuai's hand.

Lu Yinghuai responded by taking Xia You's fingers in his, intertwining them.

Xia You's fingertips fiddled with the center of Lu Yinghuai's palm. Turning his head closer, in a hushed tone, he curiously inquired, "Your Highness, can our Marshal Mansion's guard team defeat this giant white goose?"

Detecting Xia You's eagerness, Lu Yinghuai asked, "Do you want a swift and decisive takedown, or a thrilling stand-off?"

Not expecting choices, Xia You's interest piqued, "What do you mean?"

"For a swift takedown, consult the feline species. For a standoff, consult the canine species," Lu Yinghuai assessed. "Geese are aggressive, but their weaknesses are evident, making them easy to subdue."

In single combat, members of the feline species are generally superior to their canine counterparts, largely due to their strong territorial instincts.

Most feline creatures, instead of flocking, are more comfortable being solitary wanderers, exhibiting strong curiosity and a proclivity for striking first.

Canine species, on the other hand, have submission, cooperation, and a natural tendency to prioritize the least harm to the group deeply ingrained in their genes.

Hm?

Xia You raised a fist and cleared his throat softly, "What if it's Yuan Yuan...?"

Lu Yinghuai turned to glance at Xia You.

Xia You looked genuinely inquisitive.

— Certainly not harboring the idea of watching a giant white goose chasing after His Highness.

— Definitely not.

Lu Yinghuai inquired, "Has his treatment concluded?"

Xia You nodded, "Yes, most of the companion beasts from the Blue Star Base aren't critically ill."

However, upon comparison, Xia You observed that companion beasts with milder conditions showed relatively weaker changes after their second phase of growth.

Beasts like Quqi and Xuebing, who had long entered hibernation before being awakened by Xia You, are nearly at the threshold of S+ in psychic power after their second phase of growth.

Compared to aggressive beasts like Quqi and Xuebing, the giant white goose does lag significantly in psychic strength.

Lu Yinghuai nodded, then reached up to caress the back of Xia You's head, his fingers weaving through Xia You's hair, applying a gentle massage.

Feeling drowsy from the touch, Xia You asked, "What are you doing?"

Lu Yinghuai replied, "Look outside."

Xia You: "What?"

Yuan Yuan, adorned with psychic tendrils, had ventured to the garden at some point and found the giant white goose splashing in a pond.

Seeing the mansion's master approach, the goose, feeling guilty, tucked in its neck.

At times, it really can't control itself. Whenever someone touches its bowtie or when it sees someone looking good in white, the companion beast can't help but dart out to take a bite.

Precisely because of this, the arts and culture division hesitated to accept it, fearing daily conflicts with the medical department.

When it gets injured and needs medical attention, it either confines its companion beast or places a blindfold on the goose, blocking its view completely.

Yuan Yuan stood by the shore, lifting a paw towards the large white swan.

The swan paused for a moment, cautiously stepping out of the pond and shaking off the water droplets clinging to its body.

The swan's down was so thick that even after taking a swim, a simple shake would leave it completely dry.

Tendrils hung from Yuan Yuan's body, the chubby tips resting in the middle of the panther's ears, curiously looking around.

Yuan Yuan took two steps back, signaling the swan to approach.

The white swan obediently walked two steps forward.

From her upstairs study, Xia You looked down and saw that Yuan Yuan and the swan were perfectly positioned for a prime viewing.

Beside Xia You, Lu Yinghuai continued to flip through his materials without pausing. Three projection screens were lit in front of him, and a communication window on the side was engaged in conversation.

Xia You gazed into the garden.

The sleek black panther stood firm and swiftly swiped at the swan's bowtie.

The previously timid expression of the white swan instantly transformed, its wings spreading and its head leaning forward, revealing a menacing stance.

Xia You's eyes widened in surprise: "!!"

However, Lu Yinghuai beside her remained engrossed in his documents, paying no attention to the drama unfolding with the creatures.

As the swan opened its beak to reveal a mouthful of serrated barbs, even on its tongue, Xia You sat up anxiously, eyes locked on the scene in the courtyard, fearing that Yuan Yuan might actually get bitten.

Yet, in the next instant, the muscular panther leapt into the air, executing an agile mid-air spin. With a swift right paw move, it pinned the attacking swan's neck to the lawn, landing gracefully. The motion was infused with the unique wild essence of felines.

Even the position of the tendrils on its head remained undisturbed.

Xia You: "!!"

The swan, pinned by the panther's paw, quickly realized its mistake. Remembering its audacity in challenging the marshall's companion, a sense of "Am I about to become a dish?" emanated from it.

Yuan Yuan looked up towards the upstairs study, gracefully moved his paw away and, accompanied by the tendrils that fussed around, strolled away.

Feeling that staying any longer at the marshall's mansion might be perilous, the swan hastily adjusted its bowtie, flapped its wings, vaulted over the wall, and dashed towards the training base.

With a panther to caress the tendrils, Xia You was utterly smitten. She turned and embraced Lu Yinghuai, rubbing her face against his cheek. Recalling the panther's impressive strike earlier, she passionately planted a loud kiss on Lu Yinghuai.

Lu Yinghuai's fingers paused on the projection screen for a good three or four seconds. He intended to continue typing, but his mind momentarily blanked out, filled only with thoughts of Xia You, rendering him unable to focus on his work.

With a sigh, he turned his head to glance at the young man, then reached out to ruffle Xia You's hair, murmuring, "Stop distracting me. Let me finish this part."

Xia You muttered, "It was Your Highness who touched me first."

With a soft huff, he turned and hugged a cushion from the side.

The usually efficient marshal took a good ten seconds to compose himself before continuing, remarking, "Didn't Wenxuan come looking for you earlier?"

Xia You pondered for a moment, uncertainly replying, "I think... he did?"

"But is Doctor Meng available now?"

"Go ahead, it's fine," Lu Yinghuai responded casually. "Wei Cheng intends to give Wenxuan a few days off, so he won't be using the medical device on him."

Xia You clicked his tongue lightly, blurting out, "You strategists, always playing such dirty games."

Lu Yinghuai raised his eyes to look at Xia You, his eyebrows lifting slightly.

Xia You blinked, quickly adding, "What I meant is, being so calculating and strategic is quite charming."

Having said that, Xia You put down the cushion he was holding and bolted from the room.

Lu Yinghuai glanced at the cushion left behind by Xia You, pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes softly lowering and the corner of his lips curling into a faint smile.

*

Before entering, Xia You cleared his throat and then knocked on the door three times.

Wei Cheng opened the door shortly after.

Xia You sidestepped to look at Meng Wenxuan, who was still lying on the sofa but now covered with a blanket that looked incredibly soft and cozy.

As expected, His Highness was right again.

From Xia You's knowing expression, Wei Cheng deduced what had transpired, touching the bridge of his nose in response.

Xia You took a seat on the sofa next to Meng Wenxuan, hesitated for a moment, then cautiously said, "Doctor Meng?"

Without his glasses on, Meng Wenxuan pulled the blanket to his chest, raising his head to look at Xia You.

Due to his habits of staying up late, irregular meals, and reluctance to go outdoors, Meng Wenxuan's complexion appeared unusually pale, almost as if drained of blood. Now, enveloped in the blanket, he looked much younger, listless, and strangely pitiable.

However, this was Xia You's first time seeing Meng Wenxuan's features up close. Every time they had met after their first encounter, Meng appeared unkempt and haggard, yet his facial features were undeniably refined.

Hmm...

Actually, the big white goose didn't react when it saw Meng Wenxuan. It wasn't until Wei Cheng rushed over, commenting, "Be careful in that white outfit, the goose might nip you," that the goose perked up and, in a flash, bit an unprepared Meng Wenxuan.

Seeing Meng Wenxuan's relatively calm demeanor, Xia You silently commended Wei Cheng's unique pacifying technique, then asked if Meng had wanted to discuss something earlier in the afternoon.

Meng Wenxuan mumbled, "Yes, I wanted to request a few high-grade energy stones for research."

Xia You raised an eyebrow, "High-grade energy stones? Did you discover something?"

Xia You had had some speculations previously, but they were fragmented and lacked coherence.

"It's not exactly a discovery," Meng Wenxuan shifted, attempting to adjust his posture, but pain shot through the wound on his hip, contorting his expression. He quickly lay back down, "I've shifted my research direction. I want to determine if the uniqueness of your psychic power targets only a specific domain."

Meng Wenxuan had previously retained a sample of Lu Yinghuai's psychic energy to compare it with Xia You's.

The results indicated something peculiar about Xia You's psychic power.

"Typically, individuals with mutated psychic talents possess unique abilities. However, these mutants rarely, if ever, share samples of their psychic power."

Hence, while Meng Wenxuan knew that Lu Yinghuai was a psychic mutant, he was unaware of the specifics of his mutation.

"I've studied the Marshal's psychic power, and it aligns with known mutation data. The Marshal's unique psychic power can indiscriminately... devour and nullify certain entities, like others' psychic energy."

As Meng Wenxuan reached the end of his explanation, his voice dropped to a whisper, so faint that Xia You had to lean in to catch his words.

"At a glance, your psychic energy seems to possess a devouring mutation similar to the Marshal's. But strangely, your psychic energy only seems to devour and absorb the gray substance within companion beasts and energy stones."

Meng Wenxuan had sampled numerous individuals' psychic energies, and the results were consistently the same.

For those like Cheng Zhi Nian and Zhuo Xi who had fully recovered, Xia You's psychic sample showed no signs of absorption when confronted with their psychic energies. However, against those untreated, the sample exhibited pronounced activity.

Naturally, when faced with energy stones, the psychic sample also displayed similar activity.

"Yet, when your psychic sample is pitted against the Marshal's, it displays an unusually

Xia You straightened up and paused before saying, "There's no need for a test; I can give you the conclusion directly."

Meng Wenxuan looked up, his eyes intense.

Xia You admitted frankly, "Indeed, His Highness's psychic realm has an unparalleled allure to me."

Meng Wenxuan hesitated for a moment, glancing at Wei Cheng who was not far away in the room.

Wei Cheng locked eyes with Meng Wenxuan for a brief moment, then turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Only then did Meng Wenxuan speak slowly, "The Marshal consumed the psychic power of the Bug Queen, didn’t he?"

Xia You's fingers tightened, and he remained silent for several seconds, neither confirming nor denying.

Meng Wenxuan didn't really expect a response; he lowered his head, leaning into the couch, his cheek resting on a pillow, and whispered, "Is it possible—"

"That it's not the Marshal's psychic power you're inclined to consume, but something specific within the core of his psychic realm that piques your interest?"

Only bugs would naturally feel attached to the Bug Queen. Meng Wenxuan's words implied a connection between Xia You and the bugs.

However, Xia You remained calm, "I've speculated about this, but after researching the bugs, I'm certain I don't have an innate, overpowering protective instinct towards His Highness."

Xia You's desire to be close to Lu Yinghuai stemmed from his emotions, not instincts.

"And isn’t the relationship between the Bug Queen and her swarm one of top-down consumption and bottom-up selfless dedication?"

Yet Xia You was the exact opposite, his psychic power eagerly wanting to feast on the Bug Queen’s energy— which was clearly illogical.

Meng Wenxuan sighed deeply and weakly said, "Indeed, this part doesn't make sense. That's why I thought if we could just feed you a sample of the Bug Queen's energy to see..."

Unfortunately, the Federation, having paid such a high price and even losing their research base to acquire that psychic sample, would never hand it over to the Empire.

Sitting on the couch with his legs crossed, Xia You tapped his fingers on his thigh. After a moment, he said, "It's not entirely impossible."

Meng Wenxuan sprang up, disregarding the pain from his wound in his excitement, "Do you really have a way?!"

"It's not a guarantee, but it's worth a try."

Xia You caressed the pads of his fingers and lowered his eyelids, deep in thought. His contemplative demeanor oddly resembled that of Lu Yinghuai.

Meng Wenxuan's eyelid twitched upon seeing.

Xia You momentarily set that matter aside, returning to the topic at hand. "You want the advanced energy stone just because of this?"

Meng Wenxuan hesitated for a moment, "It's just a speculation, but I think it's worth sharing with Xia You."

After all, Xia You was involved in this matter one way or another.

"Your unique orientation of psychic energy has led me to question if the onset of psychic disarray syndrome might be linked to the energy stones."

"Ms. Xia You,"

"From the very beginning and even now, the instruments guiding and intervening in the psychic forms rely primarily on energy stones for their core power source."

"Even those psychic forms that awaken spontaneously, without any guidance, are advised upon registration to consistently replenish their energy with energy stones. This ensures their psychic forms remain cohesive for a while."

Meng Wenxuan's breathing grew slightly rapid, and the heaviness evident in his gaze made Xia You unconsciously clench her fingers.

"Energy stones are unique energy conglomerates from certain planets. They've been used interstellarly for a long time, coming from various sources. No one before had found an issue with them."

"And the psychic disarray syndrome, like the psychic companion creatures, mainly exists within the Empire. On the Federation's side, aside from the initial experiments involving Uncle Zhou and his batch, no similar cases of psychic anomalies or uncontrollabilities have been reported."

Uncle Zhou and his batch, who emerged from the Federation's test base, were initially experimented on regarding the gene fusion between insectoids and humans.

It's well known that planets within the Federation's borders aren't lacking in energy stone veins, and there were speculations about the Blue Planet being a potential host for the insectoids.

Within the Empire's territory, planets rich in energy stone veins are few, with the vast majority of energy stones sourced from the Blue Planet's veins.

Meng Wenxuan's voice was low and hoarse, "If there truly is a problem with the Empire's energy stones, then..."

Xia You closed her eyes momentarily.

While advanced energy stones are rare, basic energy stones have long been integrated into the daily lives of the Empire's citizens.

Healthcare, military, education... Every sector heavily relies on the energy provided by the energy stones.

Psychic users of rank S and above manifest the impending disaster earlier and more acutely through their psychic forms or companion creatures.

If there's truly an issue with the energy stones, countless citizens of the Empire are at risk beneath this problem.

Compared to the long-deceased insectoid queen, which feels like a tale from a century ago, the mere speculation of an issue with the energy stones is madness in itself.

Yet, it sends... chills down the spine.

Xia You sat there, her expression a portrait of calm amidst an impending avalanche.

He gazed down at his own hands.

Thinking of the zombies and mutated plants he encountered during the end-times of ancient Blue Planet, he squinted slightly.

No, that's not right.

The existence of zombies cannot be equated with the insectoids.

He found no connection with the insectoids; on the contrary, he was a zombie—and likely a high-ranked one at that.

His displayed desire to consume the psychic power of the insectoid queen was far from the insectoid instinct to nourish their queen.

Insectoids and zombies...

While the former has its own distinct racial characteristics, the latter is a virus, relying on other species for transformation, infection, and consumption, eventually leading to evolution and ultimate destruction.

Xia You, contemplating a certain possibility, caught her breath.

Only a higher-ranked zombie core can attract advanced zombies.

Is it possible that the zombie virus from the Blue Planet attacked and infected the insectoids... or, perhaps, the insectoid queen herself?

If so, how did such an infection come to be associated with the energy stone veins?