Chapter 61

Chapter 61

For the first time in years, there was news about Little Grans, especially a photo from a bandaging scene, which immediately sparked widespread discussion.

"No wonder. After all these years, there's only one little treasure. It doesn't take a genius to guess they wouldn't let the culprit go. That's why the Clay Empire's high-ranking officials tried to flee and were intercepted a few days ago, wasn't it?"

"I wonder how serious the injury is. The injury doesn't look too bad from the photo. I wonder if the little prince will grow up to be as formidable as His Majesty. As the only one in his generation, it would be tough if he doesn't possess His Majesty's strength."

Mrs. Ye also saw this and immediately contacted Ye Mo.

"Little Mo, are you injured?"

Holding the terminal, Ye Mo instantly became nervous. He was incapable of lying to Mrs. Ye and soon stammered out the truth. He faintly heard Mrs. Ye sobbing on the other end and began clumsily comforting her, "Mom, it doesn't hurt at all. It was just an accident."

In the end, Ye Mo listened quietly to Mrs. Ye's voice, which she was struggling to keep steady, and felt a bit sad. "I'm sorry, Mom..."

Mrs. Ye seemed to wipe her tears. She said to Ye Mo, "Little Mo hasn't done anything wrong. If you apologize, it will make Mom sad."

Ye Mo instinctively wanted to say sorry again but bit his lip and held back. He listened as Mrs. Ye chattered on about various things, occasionally responding with a 'yes' or 'mm-hmm'.

Finally, as the call was about to end, Mrs. Ye said, "Little Mo is Mom's child, just like your brothers."

Ye Mo didn't reply. Mrs. Ye waited for a while before hearing Ye Mo's very soft response. He said, "Mom, I miss you a little."

Mrs. Ye's heart was breaking. Her Little Mo had always been shy and wouldn't bring up such things unless he was truly sad or scared and couldn't help but act a bit spoiled.

"Mom misses Little Mo too. Mom also wants Little Mo to come back."

"But Mom and Dad can't protect you right now, so let your other father protect Little Mo. Dad is also doing this for Little Mo's own good. When Little Mo grows up and isn't afraid of anything, when you don't need Mom and Dad's protection anymore, then come back for a while, stay by Mom's side, okay? You can come back whenever you want then."

Over the comms, Mrs. Ye heard Ye Mo obediently hum in agreement.

...

Some people had already pieced together Norton's movements from various information. According to speculation, if this incident hadn't happened, Norton would have left the capital days ago. By now, he should have verified all command points and headed to the area predicted to be hit hardest by the Insect Tide, establishing the most solid line of defense. But Norton was still lingering in the capital.

The defense line had not been established.

Grans also still had not issued a formal response. The forums were already filled with anxiety and panic. People directed their anger at the Clay Empire, demanding an explanation.

But now, the Clay Empire itself was in dire straits.

Grans' military had advanced into Clay Empire territory within a single day.

In the Clay Empire, the Old King was in the palace's administrative office. He had just finished a meeting, having temporarily stalled matters. Before he could return to a safe place, he anxiously dialed a communication line.

A cheerful voice, clearly belonging to a young man, came from the other end.

"Hello, how may I assist you?"

"You said you would sever the Grans bloodline within fifty years, that you would handle everything, clean up the traces, leave no loopholes, would..."

The other side interrupted him. "We did it, you know. If you live to see that day, you'll find the little prince of Grans will soon be dealt with by our lord as well. And—"

The voice on the other end drew out the words, "We cleaned up the traces. Look, has Grans come after us? Even this call won't leave any trace. We've been watching you all along."

"You!"

The Old King's eyes were wide with fury. He had cooperated with them many times before.

The other side continued, "We are also regretful. We invested considerable effort to place you on the Clay Empire's throne. This is a significant loss for us as well. But you have to blame your own incompetence. Haven't you noticed? Your control over this country has been declining recently. I told you, we've been watching you. Give our regards to His Majesty for us."

With that, the other side ended the call.

When the Old King tried to call back, he only heard a failed connection prompt. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. With trembling hands, he opened his terminal, only to find his call records and previously saved recordings had been deleted.

The conference room door opened again. Fully armed soldiers poured in.

They were not his troops. Boer walked in, followed by a man.

The Old King recognized him—his wife's younger brother. His cloudy eyes swept over the crowd, finally resting on his youngest son. He raised a trembling hand. "I surrender."

Immediately, someone stepped forward, shackled the Old King, and escorted him out. Boer suddenly spoke up. "Father, this is probably the last time I'll call you that. Do you have any final words?"

The Old King, hunched over, hands cuffed behind his back, shuddered when Boer spoke but did not turn around. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke, but he tried to maintain composure. "I shouldn't have been soft-hearted back then, leaving a scourge like you alive. I should have exiled you along with your eldest brother."

Boer showed no expression, gesturing for the Old King to be taken away. "Uncle, this fool has left us with a huge problem."

The man stood behind him, speaking unhurriedly. "If he hadn't been foolish enough to provoke Grans, we wouldn't have had this opportunity. Clay no longer wishes to follow his orders and continue pointless sacrifices."

Since the Old King ascended the throne, their faction had been constantly suppressed. Otherwise, Boer wouldn't have had such a difficult time here, nearly losing his life on several occasions.

Boer's face remained stern. "No one can withstand Grans' wrath. They are far more formidable to deal with than that old fool."

The man also frowned deeply. "I will cooperate with Grans as quickly as possible to conduct a thorough investigation and try to give them an explanation. The Insect Tide is coming soon. Grans has delayed their inspection tour. No matter what, even if we have to sacrifice the entire upper echelon of the Clay Empire, including you and me, we must settle this matter."

...

Secretary-General Lin put down his terminal. He first went to report the day's affairs to Norton as usual, finally adding, "...Clay has surrendered. They agreed to cooperate. The Clay King has been transported to our warship, along with a total of 103 suspects. The palace gates are also completely open."

"Your Majesty, we interrogated the Old King immediately."

Norton opened his eyes, which had been closed. He knew Secretary-General Lin wouldn't waste words on useless information.

Secretary-General Lin continued, "He vehemently defended himself. Based on his testimony, we speculate that besides Clay, there should be support from another force, originating from the Drift Star Region."

The Drift Star Region, lacking any governing authority, has always been a stronghold for mercenaries, assassins, and space pirates.

Even any organization wishing to remain untraceable would choose the Drift Star Region as its base.

Norton wasn't surprised. Every assassination attempt was more or less linked to the Drift Star Region. "Go on."

"He died. Our personnel were monitoring his physical condition. While he was about to disclose more detailed information, he died from a sudden illness."

This in itself was abnormal. It was likely the other force trying to conceal itself.

"Should we continue the investigation into the Drift Star Region, Your Majesty?"

After a moment, Norton said, "Set it aside for now. The Insect Tide is approaching. First, detain and interrogate the others. Withdraw the military to the capital. We prepare to depart."

Most of Grans' military forces were currently on the Insect Tide defense line. The portion sent to the Clay Empire was part of the capital's garrison.

Norton stood up. "I will take Ye Mo with me. Arrange for him to be by my side."

"This time, arrange the guard detail according to the standard protocol."

Secretary-General Lin nodded. If it were just Norton himself, for the sake of efficiency, the guard detail would be reduced by two-thirds.

...

Ye Mo was awakened by a jolt from the warship. He sat up, checked the time. He was up a bit late today, so he quickly got ready and pushed open the door.

Ye Mo had been living on the warship for nearly a week now.

His room on the warship was next to Arnold’s, and beyond that was Norton’s. This time, they hadn’t brought Pawpaw along.

Unlike the relaxed atmosphere of the previous trip, Arnold wasn’t taking Ye Mo out to play every day, and everyone on the warship was busy and bustling about.

Ye Mo walked out of his room into the corridor, which opened directly into the command hall. His room was in a strange location—no matter where he went, he had to pass through here. And Norton, day or night, spent most of his time here.

Ye Mo quieted his steps and, as expected, saw Norton sitting in the central seat as usual. Sensing Ye Mo’s approach, Norton opened his eyes and looked over. “Arnold is in the training room.”

After a pause, he added, “You slept in a bit today.”

Norton knew that those spending an extended time on a warship for the first time often lost track of time, leading to lethargy and increasing fatigue. It was best to adjust one’s routine from the start.

Ye Mo nodded. “I’ll pay more attention to it next time.”

Then he quickly added, “Father, I’m heading to the training room.”

Only after Norton gave a slight nod did Ye Mo leave the hall and go to the training room.

When he pushed open the door, almost everyone in the training room paused for a moment, casting glances his way before resuming their activities. Still, subtle gazes continued to drift toward him.

The young prince was seldom seen around, so the training room was one of the few places to catch a glimpse of him.

This training room was reserved for the elite of the Imperial Guard.

As the commander of the Imperial Guard, Arnold stayed by Norton’s side and largely left the guard’s affairs to the Deputy. However, whenever he had free time, he would often come to observe the others’ training progress.

For some reason lately, Ye Mo had also started visiting frequently, even though there was a dedicated training room and simulation pods near his quarters.

Ye Mo carefully closed the door, making sure not to disturb anyone.

He scanned the training room. Arnold was in the combat area not far away, sparring with someone. As always, Arnold wore a mask and a collar around his neck. A crowd had gathered around him. With fierce and precise movements, Arnold slammed one opponent onto the mat, and another immediately stepped up to take their place.

Ye Mo hadn't often seen Arnold like this before.

Ye Mo’s gaze swept past Arnold, searching the training room for something else. Finally, he found what he was looking for and walked over.

Ye He also noticed Ye Mo. He stopped and walked toward him, leading Ye Mo to a corner and blocking the view of others.

“How’s the wound? Mom is worried about you.”

Ye Mo visibly relaxed a bit in front of Ye He. Although Ye He carried the air of an authoritative older brother—even Ye Yun behaved obediently around him—he was the person Ye Mo was most familiar with here.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore. I used the treatment pod yesterday when my mental energy stabilized a bit.”

“That’s good.”

Ye He quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead with the towel around his neck, then switched to a fresh one before turning back to Ye Mo. “Coming again today?”

Ye Mo nodded. “Yes.”

“Let’s go then.”

The two of them entered a one-on-one combat room one after the other. Over the past few days, Ye He had been gradually teaching Ye Mo techniques.

During a break in his sparring, Arnold paused and glanced at the door Ye He had closed before quickly looking away and continuing. He put a bit of force into his leg, kicking his opponent back. “Next.”