Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Danjiao, two years and six months old.

After wandering for half his life, he returned home with his belongings only to find no place for himself.

He found himself being held back by a little plump ball that looked exactly like him. Danjiao stared at him, waiting for him to speak.

The other little plump ball shook his head and whispered, "Let's talk outside. He's inside."

As if they shared a telepathic connection, Danjiao understood that "he" referred to their father.

Danjiao opened his mouth, then finally nodded.

Neither of them dared to go downstairs because Uncle was still there. It would be disastrous if he saw two identical little plump balls at the same time.

So, Danjiao led the other child to the balcony.

The balcony was usually unoccupied and thus relatively safe.

Danjiao: "Why did you open the door early?"

The little prince never expected the first question to be this:

"The soundproofing isn't good. I heard you talking to Uncle downstairs."

The little prince had been waiting for the real Danjiao to return, but he hadn't shown up for days. Thus, he speculated that perhaps the aide had taken him back, which explained why the aide left without waiting for him.

There were other possibilities, so he had been paying close attention to his surroundings lately.

All for this moment.

Today, little Danjiao was utterly devastated.

After finally escaping Demon City and the terrifying emperor to return home, longing to embrace his beloved father, there was someone in the house who looked exactly like him.

For a moment, he even felt as if he had encountered a glitch in the universe.

Before the glitch could be fixed, he stumbled upon his identical self, enjoying his father's love in his place.

Danjiao exclaimed, "This vest is Danjiao's!"

It was carefully chosen to match his dad's style and even featured cartoon characters for a delightful father-son ensemble.

Danjiao crossed his arms, his gaze somewhat fierce.

Although the expression looked adorable on him, it wasn't intimidating at all.

The young prince had imagined various possibilities, but never expected Danjiao's second question to be this.

He thought to himself, No wonder Lu Wei raised such a cub; their tastes are identical.

Looking downstairs, the young prince asked cautiously, "Were you followed?"

Danjiao patted his chest confidently. "I lost them all."

Staring at Pang Qiu for a moment, he then patted his shoulder. "You're Danjiao's shadow that came to life. I've seen movies, I know how this works."

The young prince: "..."

Not at all.

Once he confirmed that they were alone, the young prince spoke up, "I am the crown prince of Emperor Star, named Huo Nian."

Danjiao had only been joking earlier.

But now, he wore an indignant expression.

The baffling incidents that had occurred lately seemed to fall into place like puzzle pieces with this one statement.

Everything made sense after hearing it.

Despite still having numerous questions, Little Fat Ball introduced himself politely.

Danjiao said, "My name is Lu Lan, but my nickname is Danjiao. I'm Dad's precious little one, and Lu Wei is my father."

The young prince nodded in acknowledgment, "I've seen your picture."

Danjiao immediately understood the situation, "Did you go to Planet K with Human Trafficker Number One, that aide? That's why they mistook me for you and abducted me, but then Dad rescued you?"

They had switched!

Since Huo Nian wasn't the mirror monster nor had he intentionally taken over someone else's life, Danjiao no longer regarded him with hostility.

The little prince nodded. "…Did you go to the Emperor Star?"

Danjiao held up his chubby fists. "Yeah, I had classes and exams there!"

Looking at his scrunched-up face, the little prince recalled that Danjiao didn't seem to enjoy studying much.

"Did you meet Father?"

Danjiao could only wail in response. "Scary Uncle His Majesty!"

The corners of the little prince's mouth curled up. The nickname was quite fitting.

Father's intimidating presence wasn't something ordinary for children.

Actually, that wasn't entirely accurate. Father's impact on everyone was overwhelming, let alone children.

Danjiao complained, "Horrible Uncle Emperor always looks at me with a weird expression and speaks in a strange tone. When I slept with him at night, I almost couldn't fall asleep."

The young prince was slightly surprised. "You slept with Father?"

Pang Qiu shook his head and sighed. "Mm-hmm, but without Papa Xiaoxiang holding me, Danjiao is too sad."

The young prince lowered his eyelids.

Because they had switched bodies.

It was he who used to be hugged by Papa while sleeping.

The young prince's ears turned slightly red.

He pursed his lips. "I seem to have rarely, if ever, slept with Father before."

Danjiao could adapt and sleep soundly with Father on their first meeting. That was quite impressive.

Danjiao trembled, "Uncle His Majesty, is he really your father?"

The young prince replied, "Mm-hmm."

Danjiao was finally a bit relieved.

Thankfully, his father wasn't the terrifying Uncle His Majesty, hehe.

There was now one question at hand—

Young Pang Qiu One: "Why do we look exactly the same?"

Young Pang Qiu Two: "Why do we look exactly the same, oh?"

The young prince could only suggest the most likely scenario, "Have you heard of cloning?"

Danjiao nodded.

The young prince continued, "There's also the possibility that we're twins."

Danjiao rested his cheek on one hand and said, "It's possible, but I've never heard my dad mention it."

The young prince also added, "My father has never mentioned it to me either."

The queen had been in the Royal City from her pregnancy until giving birth. If there had been twins, he couldn't have been oblivious to this fact for the first time. His father had always mentioned losing the queen, but never mentioned losing his twin brother.

If the queen had indeed been pregnant with twins, his father wouldn't have been unaware.

Moreover, he couldn't fathom how both of them could be unaware of the existence of twins and end up with one being left behind.

So while the possibility of twins existed, it was rather unlikely.

The young prince, unaware that Lu Wei's special constitution prevented regular prenatal checks, skipped over this assumption.

Danjiao raised his hand and continued, "Also, my dad said he's straight!"

The young prince's train of thought was interrupted, and he asked curiously, "What's a straight man?"

Danjiao explained, "He said he likes girls and could never like boys. He said that the one who lost me must have been my mom, not my dad."

"Oh," the young prince nodded seriously.

That made it even more unlikely.

The young prince patiently laid out the scenario: "Assuming we're related, there's another possibility. Our parents might have some familial connection, like your mother could be my father's sister or something?"

But he had never heard of any aunts giving birth.

Aunt One was well past childbearing age, and Aunt Two...

The young prince furrowed his brow. "It could be Aunt Two. She married and left the Royal City early on. I only know she went to a distant planet, but not exactly where. She rarely keeps in touch with Emperor Star, so I'm unsure if she has children."

Danjiao's mouth dropped open in surprise. "So Danjiao's mother could be your aunt."

Young Prince: "Aunt Two loves interstellar travel, so it wouldn't be strange for her to meet... your father."

A passionate encounter with Lu Wei followed by leaving a child behind on Wu Star?

Possible, but all possibilities remained open.

The young prince then added, "But given how much we resemble each other, there's also the possibility of cloning."

Danjiao pinched his own chubby cheeks, leaving a red mark behind.

"It feels like my face is real."

The young prince was amused by this and his furrowed brow relaxed.

"I believe in you too."

Danjiao continued, "But if it's cloning, I've heard that some planets can achieve identical appearances. As the crown prince of Emperor Star, it wouldn't be strange for someone to target you."

The young prince agreed with this perspective.

If it were true, both he and his father might have reason to be concerned about someone cloning his appearance.

Seeing Danjiao raise his hand again, the young prince nodded and propped his chin on his hand, deep in thought.

It wasn't impossible that Lu Wei and Danjiao were deliberately crafted to become "queens," and that Lu Wei's amnesia was somehow related, with Danjiao replacing him in a scheme akin to a royal impostor. But he didn't want to attribute such sinister motives to them.

Young Master: "We need to learn more about everything."

Danjiao nodded eagerly. "We can try to extract more information from Father, but we mustn't let them know!"

The two youngsters huddled together, hastily devising a rudimentary plan.

Fortunately, they could easily understand each other.

Danjiao, the plump little one, suddenly reached out to press against the corners of Young Master's lips. "You look so odd when you smile with Danjiao's face."

It was like looking into a mirror, except the reflection had its own will.

Strange indeed.

Young Master dodged away. "You look odd too when you smile with my face."

It was no exaggeration to say that their faces were virtually identical when they looked at each other.

Huo Nian asked, "How did you convince your father to come here?"

Danjiao replied, "I told him I was coming to meet a friend, but that friend is fictional."

The young prince pondered for a moment. "Father might become suspicious."

Danjiao nodded in agreement.

After all, he had only thought about running away, not about explaining himself.

"His Majesty the Emperor is so paranoid; he'd definitely find it odd."

Two little plump figures huddled in the corner, whispering furtively.

The young prince extended his chubby hand and whispered, "Father is very perceptive when it comes to such matters. He might not intervene just because he chooses not to, not because he's unaware."

Danjiao immediately understood his meaning. "There were secret guards tailing me, but I managed to lose them by taking detours on K Star. There are many alleys here, some even passing through buildings. If they're unfamiliar with this place, they'll have no idea which direction I took. I'm confident they won't know I've returned."

In other words, the secret guards Father had dispatched were still somewhere on K Star.

Young Prince: "Then I need to think about how to explain this when I get back. When did you escape from Planet K?"

His father would certainly become suspicious. The fact that he sent covert guards to follow Danjiao showed that he already found Danjiao peculiar.

Now, Danjiao had fled.

Danjiao nodded. "It should have been around three hours ago."

The Young Prince held his hand. "We don't have time. If I don't return now, Father might take action against Planet K."

Danjiao agreed. "Uncle Terrifying Emperor would really do that."

The Young Prince calmly assessed the situation. "Based on the time it takes for messages to be transmitted, I must go to Planet K now so those covert guards can find me. Once they finish searching Planet K, they'll start wondering if you've escaped beyond its borders."

—By then, they might track us down here.

Young Prince: "Before we figure things out, we can't tell our fathers."

Danjiao raised his hand. "Agreed!"

His Majesty the terrifying uncle was ruthless in his actions; until everything was settled, Father's safety could not be guaranteed.

Father's words echoed the same sentiment – involvement in such matters was not a favorable situation.

The young prince's thoughts aligned with his; he did not hold any dislike for Lu Wei.

If he were to rashly inform his father, considering the other's temperament, who knew what actions he might take.

He knew Danjiao and Lu Wei's characters well, believing that they would never engage in cloning or be involved in intrigues. However, his father was unfamiliar with them, making his potential reaction an unpredictable variable.

The young prince's pupils were deep and dark.

There was a possibility that Father might harm Lu Wei and Danjiao later on.

The two little plump ones took an instant liking to each other, reaching out to touch each other affectionately.

Before leaving, the young prince said, "Let's add each other as friends on Star Network. You figure out a way to get a lottery number in Wu Star; we need to keep in touch frequently."

Danjiao replied, "Okay!"

Two round-headed Pang Qius leaned close, revealing their usernames to each other.

Danjiao: "…N?"

Young Master: "…"

No wonder he felt that Danjiao reminded him of someone – they were both fanatics when it came to boasting about their fathers.

Turned out it was "My Bias Is The Best In The Universe".

What a coincidence!

The two youngsters saw the spark in each other's eyes.

The young master descended the stairs first, casting a somewhat wistful glance back at the small attic. Then, he set off towards the heart of the starship.

Danjiao waved goodbye to him.

Now, each of us returns to our own homes and begins our covert operations!

Genius Spy at Two and a Half Years Old, Genius Detective at Two and a Half Years Old!

Super Detective, tackling cases with utmost seriousness.