Chapter 019 Wedding Ceremony 11

Chapter 019: The Wedding March 11

After finishing the porridge, Zhou Younan felt a comforting warmth and satisfying fullness in his stomach, a sensation far more reassuring than the artificial satiety provided by nutrient supplements.

Outside, the battle showed no signs of abating, with gunshots echoing relentlessly.

Unsure of what to do, Zhou Younan was about to venture out to assess the situation when Five-Spice Pork, caked in black mud, trundled into the house.

Five-Spice Pork was an LYZ007 model, a robot Zhou Younan had salvaged from a junk planet. Wei Qing had claimed it was a decade-old product, but in truth, the LYZ007 series had been the cutting-edge robot fifteen years prior.

Back then, finding one on a junk planet could fetch a considerable sum, enough to buy two months' worth of nutrient packs.

On the junk planet, Zhou Younan had only ever encountered broken, discarded robots.

After leaving the junk planet and arriving at Research Institute 411, he hadn't seen another domestic robot like it. For reasons he couldn't quite articulate, Zhou Younan felt a strong affinity for Five-Spice Pork, observing the still-functional machine with keen interest.

As Five-Spice Pork moved, its mechanical voice droned, "Goodness gracious. How did it get like this, so messy? Five-Spice Pork cannot tolerate this."

The front panel of its cuboid body opened, revealing a cleaning cloth and detergent inside.

Using its mechanical arms, it picked up the cloth in one hand and the detergent in the other, bending down to diligently scrub the floor.

Upon closer inspection, the area it was cleaning was precisely where its treads had just passed.

Five-Spice Pork had walked back from the forest, and its treads, like its body, were covered in mud.

Unaware of this, it focused solely on wiping the visibly dirty floor, oblivious to the new mess its own treads left behind.

Zhou Younan found it rather endearingly foolish—clearly not as intelligent as newer robot models.

He wondered if Five-Spice Pork could comprehend that its own dirty treads were responsible for the mess on the floor.

"Your treads are dirty," Zhou Younan informed it.

Five-Spice Pork paused, seemingly processing Zhou Younan's words. Three seconds later, it turned to scan the path it had just traversed.

"Five-Spice Pork is dirty. Treads require replacement," it declared, then proceeded straight into the house.

So it *could* understand—not entirely unintelligent after all.

Curious about how Five-Spice Pork would replace its treads, Zhou Younan followed to observe.

Passing the kitchen, they came upon a tall wooden display shelf that extended up to the third floor, illuminated by integrated light strips.

It was adorned with specimens of insectoid body parts: the head of a mad ant, the scythe-like forelimbs of a leaping mantis, the wings of a cockroach—all described in textbooks.

Zhou Younan's scalp tingled with revulsion.

The mad ant's head was as large as a football, its compound eyes a dense cluster of hundreds of hexagonal facets. The leaping mantis's scythes, when extended, appeared to be two meters long, their blades sharp with palm-length barbs along the edges.

A mere glance sent a tremor of primal fear through Zhou Younan's soul. He gasped, quickly averting his gaze to focus on the floor, too terrified to look again.

The Empire had issued a proclamation: the Zerg were invincible.

Even if their queen were annihilated, the Zerg would inevitably resurface. Humanity's only path to survival was constant readiness for battle.

As an Omega, Zhou Younan had no time to fret over humanity's fate; he only cared about protecting himself and Luo Luo.

Following Five-Spice Pork past the bathroom and storage room, they arrived at a sunken staircase leading underground. A ramp ran alongside it, and Five-Spice Pork trundled down.

The basement was filled with cabinets, each laden with various items.

"Five-Spice Pork has returned."

After announcing its presence, Five-Spice Pork stopped before a cabinet.

It extended its optical sensors and arms, retrieving a clean set of treads from the cabinet and replacing its own.

A colorful suitcase lay haphazardly discarded nearby, its disarray immediately catching Zhou Younan's attention.

"What's that?" he asked Five-Spice Pork.

"Those are your belongings, Madam. A person named Zhou Mo mailed them, marked as personal effects," Five-Spice Pork replied.

Zhou Younan raised an eyebrow—his brother had sent him supplies.

Zhou Mo had mentioned this before.

Five-Spice Pork continued, "I originally kept it in the living room, but when the Marshal returned yesterday and saw it, he said he didn’t want to see it anywhere in the house. So Five-Spice Pork moved it to the basement."

Hearing this, Zhou Younan pouted in annoyance.

It seemed Marshal Wei Qing had truly despised him before the capsule incident—so much so that he couldn’t even bear the sight of a suitcase associated with him.

He felt even more justified in having used the capsule.

That detestable Wei Qing!

Dragging the suitcase back to the first floor, Zhou Younan had just set it down when all the lights in the house suddenly extinguished.

The entire villa was plunged into darkness.

What was happening? The commotion outside had ceased.

Had the fighting ended?

With the cessation of battle sounds, a heavy silence descended.

Before him stood the display shelf laden with Zerg specimens. Beside him yawned the dark stairwell. Behind him, the shadows of trees danced eerily. Everything felt unsettlingly unknown.

Fear began to creep up Zhou Younan’s body from his feet.

Five-Spice Pork had already returned to the living room, where it hissed as it sprayed cleaner and wiped the floor with a "squeak."

In the deathly quiet, Zhou Younan could clearly hear his own heartbeat.

No—there was another sound, strange and close.

What was it? Coming from inside the house.

A "shredding" noise, as if something was being torn apart.

A "gnashing" noise, like chewing.

Wet "swallowing" sounds—was something being swallowed?

Zhou Younan pinpointed the source of the sounds: the storage room.

Earlier, when he and Five-Spice Pork had passed by, the door had been closed.

Now, the door was ajar.

Zhou Younan was even more certain that the sound was emanating from within.

Suppressing the fear rising in his throat, Zhou Younan silently, slowly, step by step, approached the storage room.

Peeking slightly, his gaze moved past the door. What caught his eye was a tail—a black-and-yellow, fluffy tail—swaying in the air.

Bluish moonlight streamed through the storage room window, falling onto the floor and illuminating the interior.

A leopard crouched on the ground, feeding.

Under the moonlight, its golden fur and black spots shimmered with a unique luster. Beneath its front paws lay the unrecognizable carcass of an animal.

The leopard lowered its head, opening its bloody jaws as its slender, sharp teeth sank into the carcass, emitting a faint *tearing* sound.

A piece of bloody flesh was torn off, and the leopard’s jaws produced a *crunching* sound as it chewed.

With each swallow, its muscles rippled smoothly beneath its fur, displaying unparalleled grace and beauty.

The leopard’s tail swayed gently, elegant and composed, as if this were its domain.

As if sensing it was being watched, it turned its head and locked eyes with Zhou Younan.

The leopard had two long black tear-streak markings on its cheeks, and its slit-pupiled pale green eyes exuded coldness.

Spacefaring humans categorized all known animals by their home planets—as many planets as there were classifications. Earth animals were just one group among this vast diversity.

As humanity conquered more and more planets, Earth animals existed only in holographic records of ancient Earth.

Zhou Younan recognized the creature before him instantly because, during his time at Research Institute 411, he had read a book dedicated to Earth animals.

The powerful tigers, endearing pandas, and lightly fluttering birds described within had filled him with longing.

Unfortunately, after Earth ceased its rotation, most Earth animals had gone extinct. Though humanity preserved their genes, genetic engineering technology lagged behind the rapid advancements in other scientific fields.

The only Earth animals spacefaring humans could actually encounter were dogs, cats, and rats. Rats remained repulsive creatures, while cats and dogs were luxury pets only wealthy families could afford.

As spacefaring humans lived farther from Earth, most now only recognized alien creatures.

The leopard extended its crimson tongue, licking the blood-stained fur around its lips.

Zhou Younan froze in place behind the storage room door.

Why was there a leopard in Wei Qing’s storage room?

Human and leopard stared at each other across half the room.

Zhou Younan noticed the leopard had a red-yellow-blue ear stud on its left ear—very similar to the one Wei Qing wore.

Was this… Wei Qing’s leopard?

Zhou Younan looked away, carefully pulling back his head and quickly hiding behind the door.

The storage room’s black metal door swung outward. Grabbing the handle, Zhou Younan inched it closed, desperate to seal it.

His plan was simple: lock the leopard inside, put distance between them, and ensure his safety.

Once Wei Qing returned, he could inform him about the leopard.

That was the plan.

If he could just shut the door quietly before the leopard noticed…

But then, a massive paw slid out from under the door, landing squarely on Zhou Younan’s foot.

The paw looked fluffy but was surprisingly heavy, digging painfully into his foot.

*Shit, it saw me.*

The leopard had sensed his attempt to close the door—it was coming out.

This was the scenario Zhou Younan dreaded most—face-to-face with the leopard.

Holding his breath, he frantically scrambled for what to do next.

The storage room’s metal door had a unique structure, capable of swinging open 180 degrees outward. Zhou Younan thought squeezing himself between the door and the wall might buy him some time.

Wei Qing would be back any minute. He just needed to last until then. At this moment, he desperately hoped Wei Qing had made it back unharmed from the earlier fierce battle.

The leopard’s paw lifted from his foot, and the nearly closed door was pushed open a bit by the leopard’s body.

Zhou Younan lurched backward, his back slamming into the wall. He clutched the door handle tightly, his breath fogging a small circle on the metal.

Jamming himself between the door and the wall, he struggled to stop his arms from shaking and kept a firm grip on the handle.

A blur of yellow moved in his peripheral vision.

Zhou Younan slowly turned his head—the leopard had pushed its muzzle through the opening.

Just as Zhou Younan had peeked at it while it fed, the leopard was now studying him.

Afraid of meeting its gaze, Zhou Younan quickly turned his head away.

The leopard’s paw landed on the metal door with a soft *click*.

A quiet sound, but to Zhou Younan, it was as deafening as a gunshot.

Every hair stood up, his heartbeat skyrocketed, and his breathing came in gasps.

He had planned to endure until Wei Qing returned, but now he was terrified out of his mind.

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Younan mustered all his strength and screamed, “Wei Qing—”

Closing his eyes, with hope and desperation, he shouted, voice cracking, “Wei Qing—”

Like a drowning man, in despair, he called the name of the one who could save him: “Wei Qing—”