Chapter 87: Bear, Why Didn’t You Remind Zao Zao?

Chapter 87: Bear, why didn’t you remind Zao Zao?

Just a little more, and Xiao Chuzao would have been moved to shove his cub formula into Amos’s mouth.

In the past, whether it was other children interacting with their parents—whether they were causing trouble, receiving praise, or anything else—the cub had glimpsed such moments before.

But birthdays were different.

He had never attended a single birthday party, nor had he ever been celebrated on his birthday. To him, it was just another ordinary day.

He didn’t even know what you're supposed to do on a birthday.

Even the words Finn used to "wish Amos longevity," the little cub had happily copied verbatim.

Cake, gifts, celebrations—for a cub with his wings tucked in, curled up in his ramshackle little hut, worrying about what to eat the next day, these were unimaginable luxuries.

The cub had rarely put aside his own small crown; now, only the little crown Amos had found for him rested atop his soft, fluffy dark curls.

This small crown wasn’t as splendid or beautiful as the Crown Clan’s own crowns, but for Zao Zao, it was enough that it came from his family.

The little cub buried his face in Amos's arms, sobbing.

He was still childlike, still feverish, his whole body limp with exhaustion.

He asked—"Is this what a birthday is like…? Is this really how it is?"

The Crown Clan members around them, who had all held differing opinions about the plan and were still chattering in dissatisfaction over their clever plans being scrapped until the little cub started crying, suddenly fell silent.

They watched the six-year-old cub clinging to Amos’s neck.

And they all shared the same odd feeling—

Especially Amos’s generation of the Crown Clan—

Watching a cub grow up, little by little—was this what it felt like?

So the Crown Clan, long since grown cold and nearly devoid of empathy even for their own kin, had begun holding meetings days in advance, complaining that no crown could possibly rival Zao Zao's while searching for the right minerals to craft one.

Some thought birthday celebrations were too ceremonial—they themselves had never paid much attention to their own birthdays—yet each of them prepared gifts, sneaking away in starships to neighboring planets for pretty wrapping paper, even picking up some party poppers.

Not to mention Zao Zao’s cake.

Amos had started preparing it early on, even arranging for Butler Mori to test different egg recipes. Of course, the Crown Clan was naturally hopeless in the kitchen, so in the end, the royal chefs were brought in to handle it.

Xiao Chuzao wept and wept, then took a big gulp of the cub formula Amos had refused when he felt thirsty.

When he looked up again, his already feverish little face was now bright red, his eyes rimmed with the same color.

Amos wiped Xiao Chuzao’s cheeks and answered his cub.

"No, it was supposed to be even grander."

Amos’s voice was calm, carrying a strong soothing effect for the cub.

"Including the last proclamation, and this birthday—both should have had far grander ceremonies."

But aside from missing the solemnity of the royal court, there was no real difference, nor any regret.

A six-year-old’s birthday on the battlefield.

Not too shabby.

Then they heard the little one sniffle, "This is Zao Zao's very first birthday... This is Zao Zao's best birthday ever."

His sniffly, babyish whimpers quieted as Amos picked him up.

If only things had been different.

Amos truly wished he could have said it in those earlier years—'Happy 1st birthday to my beloved son, Chu Zao Dwight.'

"Alright, it's already chaotic enough. Don’t cry yourself into a puffy mess. Come on, blow out the candles and open your presents—"

An Ya’s shoulder injury had mostly healed by now. During those days of recovery, he hadn’t dared to wander around the little one too much.

A feverish toddler wasn’t rational, giving him these looks that made him feel guilty for getting himself injured in the first place.

The only thing that comforted An Ya—as a member of the Crown Clan, he was clearly no longer at the bottom of Zao Zao’s ranking.

Ha!

An Ya glanced at Ayala, who had single-handedly herded the cub and, with Fei Man’s assistance, successfully brought the little one into this room.

Ayala was staring ahead expressionlessly.

His arms and back were muscular, his skin tone deep, his eyes narrow and often avoiding direct eye contact, radiating icy arrogance. Of course, this was how he usually came across in daily interactions, though the reasons for it were another matter.

But to the cub? Just plain terrifying.

Every time Zao Zao went to the command room to find Amos, he would carefully check if Ayala was around.

The cub was placed in his seat.

Fei Man leaned against the doorway, shrugging slightly, her striking face tinged with helplessness.

Like, she’d only smothered him in a few extra kisses.

Finn also approached.

As the little one blew out the candles, he eyed Xiao Chuzao’s cub formula hungrily.

"Amos won’t touch this, but Uncle Finn’s brave enough. Gimme a sip—wanna know what the hype’s about."

Honestly, he’d been curious for a long time.

After all, they barely remembered being cubs—they had all been well cared for and grew up strong.

At Xiao Chuzao’s age, they hadn’t needed cub formula at all.

So the whole Crown Clan gaped.

...Classic Finn move.

The stuffy-nosed cub blinked up, foggy-headed. In his current state, he was very agreeable and immediately yanked the cap off his bottle eagerly, ready to share with Uncle Finn—

He tilted the bottle, about to pour it into Finn’s cup.

Except... oops. He’d already chugged it all.

But the little one, still dopey from fever and a bit slow to react, hadn’t realized it yet, too buzzed on birthday magic to notice.

He tilted it for ages—

Just one drop came out.

The cub blinked.

He tried again, flipping the bottle upside down—

Nope. Just one stubborn drop hanging onto the rim.

Zao Zao pulled the bottle back. A good boy who never wastes, he even licked off that last drop of cub formula from the edge.

Then he turned to Finn.

Finn: "..."

Finn gaped at the lone drop in his cup, frozen for a second.

"Ha ha ha—"

Mei Lun cracked up first.

Mei Lun had been about to scold Finn—what kind of adult Crown Clan member steals a cub’s formula?

But after a beat of silence, he lost it laughing.

Kaman rested his chin on his hand and snorted, "Tsk."

"Be grateful—"

He drawled, smirking, glancing at the dumbfounded Finn.

"Zao Zao generously shared with you."

Frey, silent until now, couldn’t help but curl his lips at his younger brother’s antics.

The cub finally caught on. He paused, then announced seriously, "Teacher taught Zao Zao—even if it’s just one drop, it was half of what Zao Zao had left!"

Yes, exactly half.

Feel better now?

Finn: "..."

Still gripping the cup, Finn got yanked back by Fei Man and An Ya, both barely suppressing their laughter. He looked totally lost.

The cub got his presents and a slice of cake.

A fancy slice sat on a pristine white plate. The cub grabbed his fork and stuffed a huge bite in.

Cream smeared his cheeks, and his nose was dotted with cream from the struggle to fit the oversized bite in.

It was one of the starship’s rarely used big conference rooms.

A huge adjustable window gave a view outside.

The cub was plopped in front of it, with Amos sitting behind him, fixing his wild curls, then gently tidying each snow-white wing.

Right now, the little one had both sets of wings out—fluffy, soft, and a total mess.

The warship of Saint Cas was currently hovering at a dangerously close distance to the ground, violating Saint Cas's safety regulations for aerial suspension of starships.

The little hatchling could see that over the past few days, the rubble of damaged dwellings had already been cleared away.

People were bustling about on the ground, seemingly setting something up.

Though the little hatchling had just woken up, it should have been morning on Saint Cas's Mining Planet No. 78, yet the sky was dim—its sun had not appeared. The planet's unique climate phenomenon unfolded:

The air was so clear you could see the cosmos.

Suddenly, with a loud boom—

Another spark of light shot into the sky nearby, exploding brilliantly, dancing like stardust in the hatchling’s wide eyes.

It was fireworks.

Victory fireworks—a celebration.

All armies of Saint Cas, no matter where they were, blared their horns simultaneously at that moment—a sound like a roar, like a proclamation.

Beneath those fireworks, the little hatchling spotted the previously injured Wen Qingfeng below, grinning and waving up at them, his head still bandaged. Not far away, Wen Qingyu watched him expressionlessly, flexing her fingers as if ready to drag the medical center’s runaway patient back.

Meanwhile, Amos patiently preened the little hatchling's wings, idly wondering if his own child would grow any more wings in the future.

He now had six wings to groom every day—his own two, and the little one's four.

But for now—

Amos looked down, locking eyes with Zao Zao.

"This is the star system of Saint Cas. Zao Zao will live here for many, many years and celebrate many, many birthdays."

Neither the past the little hatchling had endured nor the 'future' Amos had inadvertently glimpsed were gone for good.

The starship of the Grail Clan was slowly departing Saint Cas's star system.

Holy Grail Tribe Chieftain Cavenaugh held his Psychic Holy Grail—or rather, its base—in his hands, in utter disbelief, reevaluating his life.

Derek sat beside him, stiff and solemn, fighting to keep a straight face and mask his tendency to burst into tears.

Accompanying their departure were some members of Saint Cas's medical center and the Saint Cas Army—tasked with helping the Grail Clan establish defenses and a new medical center to contain their epidemic.

During this period, the Grail Clan had negotiated collaborations with Saint Cas, agreeing to share most of their cutting-edge research.

There was one upside, however—until a definitive cure for the Grail Clan's plague was found, Zao Zao would assist the nearly hopeless Grail Clan by... taking a bite and spitting it out.

To Xiao Chuzao, though the Grail Clan's psychic energy didn't taste good, its texture was weirdly satisfying—especially the rotten bits, which crunched nicely.

This resulted in the Holy Grail Tribe Chieftain and his son flinching on instinct whenever they saw the little hatchling.

The deafening fanfare of the Saint Cas Army reached them too.

Or rather—since they were being escorted back by the Saint Cas Army, they were surrounded by this triumphant fanfare—

In less than half a month, a full-scale counterattack had been launched. On the very first day, the emerged Monster Commander was eliminated, followed by a thorough purge of the Aberrant Beast Legion—ruthlessly efficient.

"You good now, Dad?"

Derek leaned in, peering again at Cavenaugh's Psychic Holy Grail... base.

Then Cavenaugh pushed him aside with a hand.

"Alright, I'm fine. But this time, your severe shortcomings in every aspect have been exposed—nowhere near as capable as that Little Crown Clan. I’ll reevaluate how we're educating you when we get back—"

Derek, clutching his Psychic Holy Grail now bearing tiny tooth marks: ...

Then Derek was hugged by Cavenaugh.

"Fortunately—"

Cavenaugh gazed at the starscape outside.

The Grail Clan had always prided themselves on making the right judgments and choices, time and again.

Yet, through seemingly flawless decisions, they had marched inexorably toward dead ends.

Fortunately...

"Derek, fortunately, we still have the chance to make another choice."

*

In a corner of the cosmos.

A small starship deftly navigated past layers of defenses, only to be captured by a larger vessel, completely signal-jammed, then towed toward the mothership in the vicinity.

The emblem of the Hymn Organization was engraved upon it.

This was a mobile base.

Inside the conference room.

"Our operational range has been compressed again and again—"

"This puts us at a severe disadvantage. The 'Emissary' from the depths of corruption was swiftly eliminated by the Crown Clan—something we never anticipated."

"The Crown Clan... again the Crown Clan... and that little one. Is there not a single flawless plan to deal with that child?"

A voice twisted with malice.

"However, the Crown Clan has begun venturing into the corruption's depths. They seem to have found a way. Might this breach our divine quarantine? This is also an opportunity—it means the sealed 'Emissaries' could strike back at the Crown Clan. Unfortunately, they're neither cooperative nor controllable; we can only evade them."

"Exploring the corruption will be the first step toward the Crown Clan's downfall. We need to lay low, waiting for that moment when the Crown Clan grows complacent. I refuse to believe those Crown Clan members can guard that Little Crown Clan every single moment—"

"Also, this respite we're enjoying now owes much to the followers we cultivated earlier—everyone was right. Our acolyte Shenghua has indeed made outstanding contributions."

"I recall assigning Test Subject Xi to monitor her? By now, Xi should be due to report in."

"We need further evaluation to determine if she is ready for more responsibility."

"But is sending only Xi perhaps too few?"

"No. As Shenghua reported before, she is a ruthless schemer. Her devotion to the divine only grows stronger. We should let nature take its course. Besides, we've got plenty of perfectly obedient test subjects—we know exactly how to keep them in line."

...

Xi watched as the starship's autopilot was cut off, all screens dissolving into static around him.

When the systems stabilized, he emerged from the starship.

"Test Subject Xi?"

A cloaked member of the Zange Organization held a form and scanned Hale with a device.

"Come."

They walked into a pitch-black room.

Hale sat on a chair, facing the projection of a senior member of the Zange Organization—who grilled him relentlessly about every detail of Shenghua's actions, checking if Shenghua kept her word.

By the end, it almost felt routine.

"Speak. What resources does that ambitious little miss want this time?"

Hale paused briefly before lifting his gaze to the projection. He seemed troubled but finally spoke.

"What’s on the other side of the contamination? Do you even know? Can you dodge those monsters?"

Hale's voice was hoarse as he asked.

The projection paused.

"Is this what she wants to ask, or is it you?"

Hale remained silent, lowering his head. His body began to tremble slightly—from white-hot pain.

To the Zange Organization, these mad lab rats only needed to obey, to follow orders, without independent thought.

Saint Cas had its fearless army, and they too possessed such 'units.'

"Whether it's you or that ambitious little miss—though her guts are impressive—there's no need to overthink things. What you ought to know, you will know in time."

The speaker's projection seemed almost amused as it watched Hale hunch over in pain, his knuckles turning white, before pressing a button.

A syringe slid up from the table.

Hale swiftly grabbed it and jabbed it into his arm.

The projection opposite him had already vanished.

After wheezing for what felt like ages, Hale finally raised his head. Beneath his damp black hair were eyes black and seething.

*

Meanwhile, on the imperial capital of Saint Cas...

The returning imperial army had quietly slipped back into formation.

The kid’s fever had subsided, and as he recuperated in a dazed state, the entire fleet made its way back.

Upon returning, the little one saw his teachers and others waiting to greet him.

But the journey had truly exhausted him. After letting Hale and the rest know of his well-being, he passed out cold.

He still needed time to recover fully.

Xiao Chuzao's meet-and-greets with other members of Saint Cas had also been arranged.

For the little one, crashing in his own room felt more comforting than ever.

The mess was finally over.

However, on the second day after returning to the royal court, the kid woke up...

The now fully awake little cub’s memories came rushing back.

The tiny cub sleepily sat up, his small body hidden under the blankets, with just his four tiny wings sticking out from behind.

Zao Zao hugged his ghost bear, lying face-down in the soft bedding, questioning his whole cub existence—

Did Zao Zao really cry and whine while snitching earlier...?

Not the first time, but after his fever started, when he was all loopy.

Because of a piece of candy?

And the wings he never got to eat.

What else had he cried and shouted about?

Did he really tangle up Daddy’s psychic threads, flailing the crown around while throwing a tantrum?

The scenes that had felt so justified during his illness now smoothly resurfaced in the cub’s memory—Daddy’s... okay, right?

Ack!

The flustered little cub grabbed his head and suddenly popped it out from under the blankets.

Cupping his little cheeks, still hugging his bear, he looked down at his ghost bear.

When Amos came in to check if the little one was awake and to tell him that Hale had arrived, he saw a messy little cub sitting in the soft bedding, totally dazed, mumbling to his ghost bear in his arms.

In a small, babyish voice, he whispered his complaint: "Bear, why didn’t you remind Zao Zao?"

Amos quirked an eyebrow.

He was dressed more casually than usual, standing at the doorway, watching the little one mutter into the blankets.

"If Bear had reminded Zao Zao, Zao Zao wouldn’t have whined so embarrassingly. Huh? You say you’re sorry? Okay, Zao Zao forgives you."

The little one grumbled to himself briefly, quickly brushing it off, ready to move past the whole thing. He kicked off the blankets and was about to climb out of bed when he spotted Amos standing not far away.

Little Chuzao blinked his big eyes.

"Papa?"

"You up?"

Amos stood in the doorway, watching the little guy startle.

"Remember everything now?"

King Amos purposefully walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, leaning down to meet the cub’s gaze.

The memory of trying to "hang up" but failing came flooding back.

King Amos, with a hint of mischief, teased lightly, his voice still steady and reliable, utterly serious: "Kid, you’ve got some serious pipes."

So much energy even when sick—color me impressed.

Xiao Chuzao stared at Amos, dumbfounded: ...Umm!

The repressed memories were attacking Zao Zao!—Back then, in his eagerness to complain, he had whined and wrapped himself around Amos endlessly, which also took a long time to undo.

The little one hugged his ghost bear and reached out a small hand to cover Amos's mouth.

With a childish voice, he tried to get out of it.

"What did Baba say? Zao Zao doesn't remember—"

Yes, that's right.

If there's any problem, take it up with his ghost bear. That bear's clear-headed, that bear's responsible.