“Chapter Eighty-Nine”

"Chapter Eighty-Nine"

"The Emperor's response to Baisha's request was quite direct:"

"'When you become the Emperor yourself one day, you can even build a panther garden for all I care.'"

"What annoyed Cecil Roning was that upon hearing this, Baisha actually fell into serious contemplation!"

"What did that mean? Despite his 'threats and temptations' earlier, she hadn’t wavered, but now she was genuinely considering it?!"

"'You’re hopeless,' Cecil Roning said irritably, 'Do you know what your behavior resembles? A fanatic!'"

"Baisha raised her eyebrows slightly, 'How am I a fanatic?'"

"'You just got back from there, and now you’re asking me to keep a few of his psychic forms. If I agree and word gets out, what else would you be but a fanatic?' The Emperor wanted to roll his eyes at her then and there, but refrained due to his impeccable manners."

"'Ah, doesn’t everyone know already?' Baisha said, 'I’m clearly—'"

"'You're clearly longing for his psychic form,' the Emperor stated emotionlessly."

"Baisha: 'Actually, if I could just have one of the same kind, I’d—'"

"Emperor: 'Forget it. Psychic forms and real animals are entirely different. If you don’t believe me, try visiting a zoo; you’ll definitely feel the difference.'"

"Baisha’s eyes dimmed with disappointment, yet the eager spark in them did not extinguish completely, 'So, you mean, I can only take action on Ji Lun...?'"

"Emperor: 'Do you hear what you’re saying? Let me repeat, psychic forms are a special symbol for the people of the Empire. It’s fine for you to touch one casually; it’s mutual, no strings attached. But you can’t show any possessiveness in public, understand? I don’t want to see any gossip about you in the media before your identity is fully revealed...'"

"The Emperor was unusually talkative on these topics, and this was also the first time he explicitly advised Baisha to focus on her studies, leaving even himself silent for a moment after speaking."

"Baisha has always been indifferent to things outside of mechs, lacking enthusiasm. Keeping cats and petting panthers could be considered her 'only irrational desire.'"

"At one point, he really didn't want to be the parent who stifles a child’s interests and hobbies."

"But when he thought of the cats that strutted around in Baisha’s palace, that momentary wavering was quickly suppressed."

"'Anyway, having cats is enough for you,' the Emperor said, 'The notice from the military academy has arrived. Pack your things and go back to school. Sweat it out and cleanse your spirit.'"

"This was the first time Baisha left Yodou Star with Cecil Roning actually looking forward to her departure."

"She took a spaceship back to Tianquan Military Academy. The first phase of the Four Schools Competition had ended, and the list of students participating in the joint military exercise was announced. All four academies were experiencing a brief rest period, allowing students to sort out academic matters before the selected ones were taken to the training camp for intensive training."

"Baisha used her ID card to open the door of the dormitory building and, upon entering the living room, saw Cen Yuehuai sitting on the floor, surrounded by bottles and jars, with lots of text scrolling on the screen in front of her."

"Baisha: 'What are you doing?'"

"Cen Yuehuai turned around, her face breaking into a smile, 'Yo, Your Highness, you’re back!'"

"Baisha crouched down, picking up a bottle of medicine and reading the label, 'What’s this…?'"

"'After learning I was selected for the military exercise team, my family was quite happy. My sister sent me a huge parcel filled with these things,' Cen Yuehuai explained, 'I’m sorting and repackaging them. I’ll share some with you, Xino, and Yu Yan too.'"

"Upon closer inspection, they were various types of wound medicine, like genetic repair agents, psychic stabilizers… The Cen family was quite renowned in pharmacology, with well-known drug developers in the Empire. These top-grade items were valuable, and it was no surprise that the Cen family sent these resources."

"In a corner, there was a small bottle of dark green liquid, which Cen Yuehuai seemed to plan on loading into vacuum bullets."

"'And what’s that?' Baisha’s gaze fell on the somewhat special bottle."

"'Oh, that's a psychic central inhibitor, also a potent anesthetic,' Cen Yuehuai glanced at it nonchalantly, 'But this anesthetic is prepared by my family... Although it's been a tradition since my childhood, I haven't used it for a long time. The drugs in the last batch of bullets are nearly expired, so I'm making a new batch myself.'"

"Baisha was silent for a few seconds before saying, 'I don’t recall your psychic abilities being particularly unstable.'"

"'Maybe it's because of the right training methods? After coming to Tianquan Military Academy, my psychic form hasn't gone berserk,' Cen Yuehuai tilted her head, recalling, 'Except for that fight with that guy from Class B... Now that I think about it, it's quite miraculous.' She sighed deeply and patted her chest, 'Luckily, I insisted on enrolling at Tianquan.'"

"In fact, there’s no better way to train psychic control than constant battle."

"Cen Yuehuai's psychic abilities were once like a stagnant pool always on the verge of overflowing. Now, at least, she's revitalized that stagnant pool. Though occasional overflows still occur, it’s become more controllable."

"Perhaps there are other factors, but Cen Yuehuai didn't have much time to ponder these. She considered this a small miracle granted by fate."

"The anesthetic bullets meant to stop her from going berserk might never be used in her lifetime!"

"Saying so, Cen Yuehuai still made a batch of anesthetic bullets out of habit and carried a few with her as a sort of 'memento.'"

"'Your Highness, you should start packing too. There’s not much time left before the concentrated training begins,' Cen Yuehuai counted on her fingers, 'I still need to maintain my mech, finish a few courses early, and I’ve also signed up for Teacher Tisia’s meditation special training class...'"

"That’s Teacher Tisia’s unique skill. It's called meditation, but it can also be seen as a form of psychological suggestion, constantly practiced to enhance psychic control. However, it's a time-consuming effort that requires persistent dedication to be effective."

"Just listening to it, Baisha felt that she had been quite busy lately."

"Having returned to Tianquan Military Academy, Baisha of course took the time to visit Jiang Gui."

"To her surprise, upon her arrival, Jiang Gui greeted her with some unpleasant news: 'I didn't get the Star Devourer experimental subject.'"

"Baisha was somewhat surprised: 'Why?'"

"Given Jiang Gui's technical expertise in the field, he undoubtedly qualified to receive such valuable material."

"Do you remember the characteristics of the Star Devourer?" Jiang Gui asked.

Baisha replied, "Of course, I remember. We studied before that it has assimilative and high-efficiency transformative properties."

Assimilative refers to the Star Devourer's strong tendency to merge, which is why they are known as 'Star Devourers'—they can be rampant one moment and then suddenly merge into a dominant mass on a planet the next.

High-efficiency transformative means that the Star Devourer can consume a certain biological gene, and as long as it has sufficient psychic energy nutrients, it can continue to produce new organisms—meaning that with sufficient nutrition, it can maintain output indefinitely.

These two characteristics make the Star Devourer both a potential hazard and a source of great potential.

"An accident occurred in a lab that was allocated a Star Devourer," Jiang Gui rubbed his forehead. "Remember the mucilaginous materials from before? They came from mucilaginous creatures. But since the original planet of these creatures was destroyed, the number of experimental subjects is limited... It’s the development results of these mucilaginous materials that hinted at potential profit—"

A ridiculous idea suddenly struck Baisha.

"They're not trying to use the Star Devourer to replicate those mutated mucilaginous creatures, are they?"

These mutated mucilaginous creatures have self-evolving abilities, becoming tougher or more problematic each time they are destroyed. But their reproduction rate is limited. The Empire finds them problematic because they are hard to eradicate.

Now someone dares to use the Star Devourer to increase the production of mutated mucilaginous creatures?

Insane, right? The breeding efficiency of the Star Devourer combined with the self-evolution of the mutated mucilaginous creatures—

"Anyway, that lab has now completely shut down, reportedly with some casualties. The exact investigation results haven't been announced yet," Jiang Gui said tiredly, waving his hand. "Now, the Star Devourer specimens are under strict control. All research institutions have been ordered to halt related studies. Let alone me."

The incident involved a well-known laboratory within the Empire.

To call their idea crazy is an understatement, but given their level of knowledge, they must have been aware of the risks. All experimental steps must have been taken with the utmost caution and vigilance. Yet the outcome was still disastrous.

This only shows that the Star Devourer and mutated mucilaginous creatures should never be combined.

Those involved should be grateful that they decisively destroyed the original planet of the mutated mucilaginous creatures back then.

"Anyway, I'm temporarily out of tasks now," Jiang Gui remarked.

Baisha raised an eyebrow: "Why don't you draw some more mech designs for fun?"

"Who would use them?" Jiang Gui asked, lifting an eyelid to look at her.

"The joint military exercise is coming up, teacher. You promised to contribute by designing mechs for the main team members, so perhaps prepare a bit," Baisha earnestly suggested.

Jiang Gui laughed: "Can't you see I'm just a nominal advisor?"

Baisha: "But you can't be too perfunctory about it."

Jiang Gui: "I'll see how you all perform."

As he spoke, Jiang Gui suddenly sighed: "If I hadn’t handed over the follow-up work on the mucilaginous materials to you so quickly, I might still have something to do right now..."

Baisha, sensing his regret, quickly stood up to politely take her leave, fearing he might reclaim the research project.

A week later, the training day arrived.

The selected student representatives gathered. However, this time the number of trainees had significantly decreased. The venue was on a small asteroid near Tianzhuo Star—Serlan Star.

Serlan Star is a beautiful planet, boasting a magnificently vibrant color palette from space, resembling a pearl radiating splendid purple light.

For the students of Tianquan Military Academy, training here was extremely convenient. A short space shuttle ride of just a few minutes from Tianzhuo Star was all it took. Moreover, the climate of Serlan Star was almost identical to Tianzhuo Star, eliminating any need for acclimatization.

The training dormitories were single occupancy, and Baisha’s room was not far from Cen Yuehuai’s. Having just finished unpacking, Baisha stepped out of her room and bumped into Jiya, dressed in casual black attire, approaching her.

"Your Highness?" Jiya slightly widened her amber cat-like eyes—true to being Jilun's sister, they shared a particularly similar demeanor when blinking. Then, her eyes curved up slightly, "Long time no see."

It had been a long time indeed.

Baisha hadn't encountered Jiya on Greenyin Star. After that, when the competition resumed, Baisha didn't participate.

Baisha exchanged pleasantries with her and brought up Jilun.

"I heard from my brother that Your Highness recently went to him for special training?" Jiya seemed to recall an unpleasant memory, "Did he... go too hard on you?"

"It was manageable," Baisha recalled. Jilun's main focus was to expose her to the reality of killing intent. If he hadn't been tough, the training wouldn't have been effective.

Observing Jiya's facial features, so similar to Jilun's, Baisha remembered that Jiya's spirit form was a massive white Siberian tiger—

A substitute just arrived.

Baisha blinked.

She decided she must develop a deep friendship with Jiya!