Chapter 79: Inheriting the ‘Legacy’, Licking the Bag with Tears

Chapter 79: Inheriting the 'Legacy,' Bittersweet Gains

Xiao Chuzao, who had initially raised his arms, gazed up dazedly at Chao Huangmu.

Chao Huangmu edged a bit closer.

At ten years old, he was still baby-faced, but thanks to rigorous training from a young age, he was tall, with a sunny face. When he smiled, a glimpse of his little fangs could be seen, giving him a bouncy, puppy-like energy.

His fingers brushed through Xiao Chuzao’s soft black hair, his eyes lit up.

Especially when Xiao Chuzao tilted his head, his cheek accidentally nuzzled Chao Huangmu’s fingers.

His cool fingertips brushed against warm, soft skin.

Though Chao Huangmu had bravely reached out, this unexpected contact still caught him off guard.

He yanked his hand back instantly.

Staring down at his fingertips—

So soft—his hair, his skin…

“A-Huang!!!!” (Chao Huangmu’s nickname)

Peng Liang, not far away, widened his eyes as he stared at A-Huang.

Damn, he’s got guts??

The kid seemed a bit dazed. He touched his own cheek, met Chao Huangmu’s gaze, and then broke into a smile.

“Be careful, okay?”

His voice was sweet as syrup.

He didn’t seem the least bit upset.

This time, it was Peng Liang and Yun Songquan’s turn to shoot Chao Huangmu jealous looks.

Meanwhile, outside the door, someone loomed in the shadows. He had arrived silently at some unknown moment, clinging to the doorway, eyes fixed hungrily.

Chao Huangmu was then dragged out by the “furious” Peng Liang and Yun Songquan.

They bid farewell to Xiao Chuzao: “Little Highness, the warship will arrive soon. We’re running out of time. Once we return, you’ll also need to enroll at the First Military Academy. We’ll accompany you then.”

As they stepped out of the room, they abruptly bumped into the figure hiding by the door.

Like a shadowy mushroom, his icy gaze swept over Chao Huangmu, who was still slightly dazed.

For a brief moment, Peng Liang’s hair stood on end.

“Prince Lynn?”

“Hn.”

Lynn responded coldly.

His face, shrouded in shadows, showed no emotion; he barely seemed there. As he answered, he glanced down at his pocket.

Something inside bulged slightly, though it was unclear what it was.

The trio hastily departed.

It wasn't until they boarded the small departure starship on the military vessel that Peng Liang finally let out a sigh of relief.

"A-Huang, you nearly scared me to death."

"So reckless."

Yun Songquan also snorted. The aloof guy seemed somewhat awkward as he casually inquired,

"...So... how was it?"

Chao Huangmu wore a solemn expression.

"...I’m never washing this hand for the rest of my life."

The starship instructor: ?

"You nuts, kid? By the time you finish rolling in the dirt, who knows how many layers of Aberrant Beast blood you'll have on you. You want to reek up the whole ship? I won't allow it!"

Peng Liang shrugged. "I get it, though. When my grandfather had an accident before, Little Highness comforted me. I struggled for a long time back then because where he’d touched me still carried the scent of cub formula and candy from Little Highness."

Yun Songquan looked at Peng Liang, then at Chao Huangmu. "But that hand touched Little Highness!"

Instructor: ...???

What exactly did you all go do?

Pull yourselves together! I'm your recommending instructor—don’t drag my name through the mud in the education field and with His Majesty!

After listening for a while, Chao Huangmu looked up at Peng Liang. "Zao Zao got to touch you too?"

Peng Liang: ...That’s not the point!

And don't flash that sh*t-eating grin either!!!

With your personality, that smile definitely means you're scheming how to screw me over later, right???

The trio’s ship left the Saint Cas military vessel.

The Saint Cas military vessel soon arrived at Mineral Planet No. 78.

The ship didn't land.

But An Ya quickly came over, planning to take the cub for a stroll below.

They’d be back later.

Saint Cas’s Mineral Planet No. 78 was still safe.

Because Amos’s troops had already arrived not long ago.

The Aberrant Beast Legion that had been attacking this area was wiped out.

The pressure on Saint Cas’s Mineral Planet No. 78 suddenly lifted.

An Ya, though, glanced at Lynn, who had showed up after wrapping up his work.

As usual, he was quiet as a shadow and barely noticeable—An Ya hadn't even noticed him arrive.

"My defenses are adaptable—I decide where to begin," Lynn said.

His gaze kept drifting back to the little cub.

While Xiao Chuzao now ate regular meals, he still needed to supplement with cub formula before meals to keep up with his rapid growth spurt.

At the moment, the little cub had been placed by An Ya on a soft cushion inside the small starship.

Small and snug, his soft white face was seriously gripping his cub formula bottle, tipping it up to chug noisily.

His little wings flapped with every gulp.

Lynn stared for ages before An Ya, having set the course, finally responded.

"The situation’s a bit messy, but not to that extent yet."

An Ya pondered.

"We’re still unsure what caused this situation. Second Brother’s on it."

"Yes, this was a rare attack. The coordination between the various Aberrant Beast Legions was freakishly high."

Lynn nodded in agreement.

"Within the Aberrant Beasts, there’s a hierarchy of evolution. We know that smaller Aberrant Beast Legions are led by their Legion Commanders. But given our relentless crackdowns, these beasts shouldn’t be able to evolve further—they’re usually eliminated before reaching the next stage. Hey, does Zao Zao have a sweet tooth?"

An Ya was about to reply when he abruptly heard this question. He froze, staring at Lynn.

How’d you swing the convo that way?

"Yes, he does—"

An Ya eyed Lynn suspiciously.

"Did you bring candy?"

Lynn: "..."

"Ah, no."

That pause—you totally packed candy to win over the little cub, didn’t you?!

"Don’t give Zao Zao too much sugar."

An Ya let it slide, merely offering a casual reminder.

Xiao Chuzao, meanwhile, was busy drinking his cub formula, totally tuned out An Ya and Lynn.

The milk was making him sleepy, a little tired.

His wings gave tired flaps behind him.

His tiny halo shone brightly, its branches now fully grown—a sign that Zao Zao had been spoiled right by the Crown Clan recently.

All at once, the little cub paused.

His wings twitched, and squinting, he let go of the bottle on instinct as he tilted his head, baffled, to look at his wings.

The pair of snow-white little wings folded in at that moment.

At the same time, An Ya and Lynn both looked over.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Chu Zao paused for a moment, hugging his wings and looking up at the adults. He reached out to tug at them, giving his little wings a squeeze.

"It seems like—maybe a cramp?"

The little guy seemed puzzled too.

Do wings even cramp that easily?

Wouldn’t he just drop out of the sky if he were flying mid-air?

"A cramp?"

An Ya walked over, crouched down, and gave a careful squeeze to the little one's wings.

He thought about how the little one had been showing off while drinking milk earlier.

This guy never knew when to hold back, always quick with sharp remarks out of habit.

Instinctively, he blurted out: "That’s what you get for showing off earlier—"

But before he could finish.

The little one whimpered, hugging his wings and plopping down.

"Uncle."

He gave a pitiful blink of his big eyes.

"It kinda hurts."

Wait... is he whining?

An Ya paused, surprised.

"Okay, okay, I’ll go easy. Is it here?"

An Ya worked on the little one's wings.

The soft feathers grazed An Ya's fingertips.

The little one never managed his feathers well—Amos always helped him with that.

Even when he turned into a tiny fluffball, Amos would brush his fur and tail for him.

That was his father’s special job.

"Feels like—"

Xiao Chuzao peeked back again.

"Kinda weird... like a cramp, but it stings—"

It felt like something was trying to come out.

The little cub wasn’t sure what to make of this situation.

"It’s normal," An Ya said.

"You’re growing taller, and your wings will grow too. Later, we’ll have the medical center add more nutrients to help your little wings develop. Eat well, and when it’s mealtime, Uncle will give you all the poultry wings he snatches—you are what you eat."

This was purely coaxing a child.

The little cub blinked his big eyes and responded with soft "ohs."

*You are what you eat*—

The cub kept this thought in his head.

Until that strange feeling eased, the little cub got up, flapped his wings, and then turned back to struggle with his cub formula again.

Lynn stood there watching.

He refused to admit how eagerly he was staring.

Until the starship landed.

The cub happily reunited with Wen Qingfeng and Wen Qingyu, who had been waiting for a long time, and even shared his candies with them. Lynn still didn’t leave.

The Wen siblings took the little cub to tour their newly cultivated land. Besides potatoes, they had planted many other novel varieties.

However, the two were still very busy. Among the younger generation of Saint Cas’s 78th mineral planet, they were practically in leadership positions.

Now, their planet had many outsiders, requiring their close supervision.

"Little Highness, you can wander around here freely and explore. Our storage warehouse is over there—feel free to take anything you like to eat," Wen Qingfeng said with a smile to Xiao Chuzao.

"Oh, and also, the ecological recovery in this area has been going well lately. We released some avian animals earlier, and they’ve been appearing here often. If you’re interested, Little Highness, you can try spotting them."

"Okay," Xiao Chuzao lifted his little head.

Though the cub’s voice was still soft and sweet, he now wore a small military uniform and carried himself seriously—a far cry from his last visit here, showing significant growth.

He blinked his eyes at Wen Qingfeng and Wen Qingyu.

"You two go ahead with your work. Zao Zao can stroll around here with Uncle and Grandpa Lynn. If anything comes up, Zao Zao will let you know."

After speaking, Chu Zao couldn’t help but smile at them again.

"Grandpa Mori has already leveled the ground for Zao Zao. Soon, we can plant potatoes. When you return victorious, Zao Zao will invite you both to visit the Imperial Star."

Wen Qingfeng, ever the impulsive one, wanted to say something more, but Wen Qingyu kicked him back. Her expression softened as she saluted crisply. Wen Qingfeng staggered two steps before steadying himself and saluting as well.

"Understood, Little Highness. We’ll see you when we return victorious."

The Saint Cas border frontline.

*

Amos's Ninth and Tenth Legions were fully deployed, with countless naval artillery and mech units launching to swiftly eliminate the Aberrant Beasts.

Amos had just stepped onto the starship.

He had previously destroyed several Aberrant Beast Legion phalanxes, gaining some tactical advantage.

"Your Majesty, Prince Feyman reports—Prince Finn failed to reach the designated position."

The commander of the Ninth Legion, Ye Ming, urgently came to report.

"Their coordinates are approximately over three thousand light-miles away from Saint Cas."

Amos nodded.

Just as I thought.

"Has any message from Finn come through?"

"Yes, we have received a message from Prince Finn."

The commander of Saint Cas's Tenth Legion, Chang Le, also stepped forward and saluted Amos.

"Prince Finn encountered a Grail Clan starship trapped in an Aberrant Beast encirclement. Onboard were the Grail Clan's leader, Cavenaugh, and many elders infected with the Grail Clan's signature psychic contagion. Currently, Prince Finn is leading their breakout and plans to return to Saint Cas's imperial capital first. Additionally, Prince Ayala is also returning with the research team, while the other Princes are handling the Aberrant Beast Legions nearby."

Amos gazed at the projected star map of Saint Cas on the nearby screen.

The entire frontline of Saint Cas was essentially secure.

"Has there been any report of evolved Aberrant Beasts?"

Amos was certain, based on the Aberrant Beasts' evolutionary and command logic, that this situation could only mean some of them had evolved again, becoming entities higher in rank than the Beast Legion Commanders.

However, in the vast starscape, with movements too large-scale, even as Amos spread his psychic power inch by inch, it was difficult to pinpoint their location.

"No, Your Majesty."

"I see."

Amos nodded.

"For the time being, the Ninth and Tenth Legions will remain under your command until Lynn arrives."

Amos raised his hand, flipping his wrist, and the Psychic Sword bearing tiny tooth marks appeared in his grasp. He strode outside.

He needed to personally track down that thing's existence.

Amos was not pleased.

Because Zao Zao's sixth birthday was approaching.

And thanks to this creature, all the previous preparations had gone to waste. His little one's sixth birthday might pass without any proper celebration.

Amos tightened his grip on the sword.

Annoyed—extremely annoyed.

Meanwhile, not far away in the starfield, the Aberrant Beast Storm, having cleared the starship's personnel and extracted the relevant information, narrowed its eyes—its cold, bestial pupils brimming with danger and bloodlust.

"How strange—is the combat strength of the Aberrant Beast Legion here also insufficient? Were they wiped out this easily?"

The energy wings behind him unfurled once more.

Or maybe those Crown Clan folks actually have some chops—

But in the end, they're nothing more than cosmic ants. How could they compare to us, constantly spawning from corrupt energy?

Let’s go take a look—and take a bite out of them too.

With a laugh, Storm flapped his energy wings and took off again, dodging everything in his path as he headed toward the edge of Saint Cas, toward Mineral Planet No. 78.

*

Xiao Chuzao had already wandered around the area.

Honestly, the place looked about the same as last time.

But because the scenery was different this time, instead of endless yellow sand, there were quite a few crops and a small pond not far away. The whole scene was pretty nice.

The little tyke had no clue what the potatoes were—to be honest, even An Ya couldn’t quite tell—but he saved himself the embarrassment by checking the star-net.

After the little guy wore himself out playing, he returned to the room they’d set up to rest.

Of course, this was only temporary.

When the little one was ready to sleep, just to be safe, they would still have to return to the starship currently floating in the seventh orbit around Mineral Planet No. 78.

Inside the room now.

The little one had already chowed down and was tilting his little head, peering at Lynn, who was standing in the corner.

Lynn had followed Xiao Chuzao the entire way, hiding in the shadows like a weird little fungus. He neither spoke nor approached—until now, when the little cub toddled over and backed Lynn into a corner, looking up at him with his tiny face.

"Grandpa Lynn?"

Maybe it was just his imagination.

But the little cub felt like Lynn trembled for a moment, his hair almost standing straight up.

Like a spooked panther.

"Ahem—"

Lynn sucked at small talk.

Cornered, he looked away awkwardly before sneaking another peek at the kid.

"Grandpa Lynn, didja need somethin’ from Zao Zao?"

The cub tilted his head up, blinking his big eyes, his little wings flaring out behind him like a barricade, blocking Lynn’s escape.

"It’s... this..."

Lynn dug two candies out of his pocket—pink suckers with white sticks.

They were the lollipops Lynn had brought back.

He’d seen them on a nearby planet while mopping things up and, on a whim, bought them. They’d been gathering dust in his pocket forever.

"Candy."

Lynn clearly wanted to interact with the little kid but wasn’t quite used to it, so he seemed a little nervous.

He also felt this weird nervousness—

"It’s just, just—I saw it over there, it’s not like I went out of my way to get it for you or anything—"

Lynn was totally trapped by the little kid, panicking as he looked around.

The crown on his head lit up, slowly manifesting as black mist gradually swirled around him, like it was about to swallow him up.

—He just wanted to disappear.

"Of course, you have all kinds of candy, I know that—"

Lynn kept stumbling over his words.

"So it’s not like I got this just for you—"

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

He’d imagined he should find the perfect moment, especially when the little kid wanted candy, to smoothly offer it and cheer the kid up.

But of course, Amos was one step ahead.

The kid already had plenty of candy here.

So Lynn hadn’t found an opportunity the entire way.

Until the little kid cornered him, and without thinking, he yanked the lollipop from his pocket.

"Is this new candy?"

The little kid’s attention was immediately hooked.

"Zao Zao hasn’t seen this before."

He stretched out his tiny hand, standing on his toes to grab it.

Even though his pockets were full of candy, the sight of something new clearly got him all excited again.

"Ah, yes, it’s new—well, not exactly new, it’s just that Saint Cas doesn’t sell much of this kind—okay, okay, I got it just for you. Of course, I originally had a plan and everything..."

As the little kid moved closer, Lynn panicked, ducking toward the door—

He intended to hand the candy to Xiao Chuzao and then slip away.

But the door opened inward.

Lynn had barely reached the doorway—he was so stealthy—when the door was suddenly flung open.

"Uncle Lynn, Second Brother has new orders, everything’s ready... Huh? Uncle Lynn?"

An Ya, who had pushed the door open, stared blankly as she looked down.

Lynn, completely mortified, was sent sprawling by the impact, making no effort to resist, his only thought—

*This is so embarrassing.*

Then he landed face-first, refusing to face An Ya or Xiao Chuzao.

The little cub blinked his big eyes, looking at An Ya and then at Lynn. His tiny body trotted over cautiously, crouching down beside Lynn.

"Planny Grandpa, are you okay?"

Don't call me Planny Grandpa!!

His Highness Finn, you’ve really done me dirty!!

But... is this concern for him...?

Lynn didn’t lift his head.

Yet he felt his hand twitch slightly.

Lynn froze for a moment before finally turning his head.

There, crouching beside him, the little cub held out his little hand, snatching the candy from his grasp.

His dead-serious look seemed to say—Grandpa, grandpa, candy.

Grandpa got knocked flying? Not sure if he’s still breathing, better check on him, then taking over the ‘inheritance’—tearfully claiming the loot.

Lynn: "..."

Lynn: "......"

An Ya leaned over.

"Uncle Lynn, are you alright?"

Just fine, only slightly dead.

The next moment, Lynn scrambled to his feet, too ashamed to stick around, and with a burst of energy, bolted out of the room in an instant.

The candy, however, remained in the little cub’s hand. His voice trailed behind as he made a hasty retreat: "I’m off to complete the mission."

Xiao Chuzao clutched the candy, waving goodbye to Lynn.

"Grandpa Lynn, Zao Zao’s gonna get you next time!"

The tiny, sweet voice carried far.

An Ya clearly saw Lynn, who had already dashed quite a distance, trip over his own feet.

An Ya looked down at the innocent little cub, who was now diligently working on the candy wrapper.

An Ya sighed.

Reaching out, he helped the cub open the lollipop wrapper.

The cub, now sucking on the candy, perched by the window to peer outside.

Time slipped by—who knows how long.

Then, as if he’d seen something—

Xiao Chuzao’s big eyes widened, locked onto the pond not far away.

Snow-white wings...

The little toddler hopped down and went scampering outside.

This was within the safe zone, so An Ya didn’t follow.

She was checking on the frontline situation.

Before long, she got this weird feeling that something was off. An Ya slowly lifted her head, eyeing their surroundings warily.

The toddler was nearby, while a bit farther away were the mining planet locals—the gunfire overhead had ceased, showing Saint Cas had the beasts fully under control.

But this feeling—

Strange…

Suddenly, a series of "squawk-squawk" noises rang out.

An Ya froze and looked up.

Her jaw dropped.

There was Xiao Chuzao, tiny, clutching the bird by its long neck as he toddled excitedly toward her.

He chirped excitedly.

"Uncle, uncle! Wings—you are what you eat, yummy—"

The white bird, clutched by the toddler, had wings somewhat resembling Xiao Chuzao’s, looking utterly resigned.

*Such a delicious scent of flesh and blood...*

Before An Ya could react to Zao Zao’s actions, a faint sound sliced through the air—an eerie, unfamiliar presence had silently arrived while their guard was down. An Ya’s pupils dilated sharply, and in the next instant, she dove for the tiny toddler still gripping the bird’s neck.