Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Norton was still in the room. He leaned back, settling into the chair. After the mental soothing session, traces of Ye Mo's mental energy lingered faintly in the air. Ye Mo was still too young to control it well.

It was like a cat rolling around the room, leaving its scent in every corner.

Now the entire room carried Ye Mo's "scent."

This gave Norton a rare moment of calm. He had grown increasingly restless since returning from the cemetery.

Under normal circumstances, leaving one's mental energy in another's territory was considered impolite. Those slightly sensitive to mental energy couldn't even share a full-simulation pod.

The Graths were even more sensitive to mental energy than most, with a smaller tolerance range. They found places with residual traces of others' auras to be off-putting. Even among family, this tolerance only extended to shared areas.

Before the Little Grans came of age, Baide had always forbidden them from entering his study and bedroom, largely because their aggressive, intermingling mental energy felt too obtrusive.

Even after "cleaning," a Grath's senses could still detect faint residual "scents."

Even the Little Grans, during the period when they couldn't precisely control their mental energy, would dislike each other's presence.

Norton never allowed any of his siblings to leave traces of their mental energy in his private spaces, especially his bedroom. Now, with even keener perception, being in a room full of others' "scents" made him restless.

Ye Mo was the sole exception. His mental energy was quiet and calming. Still, at first, Norton wasn't used to it. After the first time he performed mental soothing on Ye Mo, he had "cleaned" the room but still couldn't sleep that night.

Norton couldn't remember exactly when he went from being uncomfortable to naturally ignoring Ye Mo's residual mental energy. In fact, this environment actually helped Norton calm down.

Ye Mo would come to Norton for mental soothing at any time. Several times it had been in the living room of Norton's suite or his private study, and once even in Norton's bedroom. They had started on the sofa in the living room, but Ye Mo fell asleep halfway through the session. The carpet in the living room was a bit thin, so after finishing, Norton carried Ye Mo to his own bedroom.

It all happened quite naturally.

Norton leaned back in his chair and slowly closed his eyes. He dozed off briefly, which was rare for him. He usually didn't show weariness outside of sleep hours, and with a Grath's physique, he rarely got tired.

After a short while, Norton opened his eyes.

He stood up, placed a hand on his shoulder to stretch, then quickly let it drop and walked toward the door, feeling uncharacteristically relaxed.

The afternoon had been so comfortable that Norton let his guard down slightly. He hadn't used his mental energy to constantly monitor Ye Mo.

Since returning from the cemetery, Norton had been more tense than ever. He had been using his mental energy to keep track of Ye Mo at all times.

Norton went downstairs. When he reached the second floor, he stopped.

He looked toward the small, semi-open living room to the right of the stairs, where a group of Graths had gathered.

The Graths were all together, noisy and lively. Ye Mo was in the middle, leaning against Arnold beside him.

If Norton had tuned into the mental energy channel, he would have found the Graths' channel even more chaotic.

"This is the second round, right?"

"It's my turn. It's all Deenlie's fault for squeezing too long."

Herli leaned down, cupping Ye Mo's face with both hands, occasionally pinching and rubbing.

"Still a bit cold. Let Aunt Herli warm you up."

Ye Mo looked up, speaking indistinctly, "Then... hurry up, Aunt Herli. I still have a stealth class."

He tried to get his words out quickly between Herli's pinching and rubbing.

"So good, so good. Shall Aunt Herli take you to stealth class? Aunt Herli's stealth can even fool a King Insect. How about we go to a wandering starfield, find an insectoid planet, sneak into a nest, and steal their eggs?"

Norton suddenly spoke. "You all seem pretty idle."

The moment he spoke, the air stilled. Everyone froze, except Ye Mo, who breathed a sigh of relief. He called out "Father" and quickly pulled his face out of Herli's hands, let go of Arnold, and went to Norton's side.

Norton glanced at Ye Mo, who was pressed against him. Ye Mo's cheeks were slightly red, clearly from being rubbed.

Then Norton looked at Herli and the others.

Herli turned around stiffly, trying to act composed. "Not really idle, Brother. We were just discussing how to teach Cyril stealth class."

"No need. Secretary-General Lin will be bringing over a batch of documents shortly that need your attention."

Herli looked incredulous. "When? Aren't today's documents all done?"

"They'll be new ones after I send him a message."

Herli fell silent. Norton looked like he was hoping someone would challenge him so he could beat them all up.

Norton looked down at Ye Mo. "Come on. Your class started five minutes ago."

He escorted Ye Mo all the way to the classroom door on the first floor and opened it for him. Ye Mo's first class was literature. The teacher was already inside. Seeing Norton, the teacher quickly came down from the podium and bowed. "Your Majesty, Young Highness."

Norton hummed in acknowledgment and glanced at Ye Mo. Just as he was about to leave, Ye Mo spoke up. "Father."

Ye Mo was a little worried about what Herli had said earlier. "In stealth class, do we eventually have to steal insect eggs?"

He had never heard of that before. It reminded him of when he was younger and taking combat classes—he would get nervous beforehand.

"If you want to."

Norton hesitated for a moment, then looked down at Ye Mo, unsure if he really wanted to learn stealth from Herli. Ye Mo had reached the age where such things might spark his curiosity.

He lowered his voice to reassure him. "But not now. It's still a bit too early."

Ye Mo's situation was special. Because of his psychic energy, his development was much slower than the average Grath's. Graths were already known for their superior mental energy, but Ye Mo's mental energy was still in its developmental phase, with most of it residing in his mental domain, making it hard to measure his level exactly.

Yet when Norton performed mental soothing on him, he could feel that Ye Mo's psychic energy was even vaster than theirs at the same age.

So even though Ye Mo's mental energy was gentle in nature, he could hardly control it at all. It greedily absorbed nutrients, becoming a heavy burden on him, stunting his physical development.

His physical condition had only shown noticeable improvement after the last accidental drift into the wandering starfield. As his body and psychic energy continued to harmonize, he was gradually growing stronger.

Until he fully matured, Norton didn't plan to let him out of his sight or territory.

Even if Ye Mo were to go somewhere, it should be under his escort. If the accompanying person was unreliable, even a Grath could easily get into accidents. That was when Arnold had his arm bitten off, and Baide had miscalculated the strength of the King Insect compared to Arnold.

Norton would take Ye Mo to hunt King Insects, but not now. He was still too young.

In the meantime, it was better to give him other things to divert his attention, like a plant planet or something.

...

On the second floor, after Norton and Ye Mo left, the group of Graths visibly deflated. They walked quietly toward the study.

Until Herli let out a cold snort, breaking the silence. "What's a few documents? We've done them before. We've already gotten our money's worth."

Arnold nodded. "If every day could be like this, I'd happily handle documents."

"Elia, did you get that recorded?"

"Of course, I used a portable camera, holographic mode, for a full experience."

"As expected of Elia."

"We're here. The documents should be here too, right? Secretary-General Lin is terrifying, he practically lives in the next office over."

They complained as they entered the study.

Inside the study, Secretary-General Lin adjusted his glasses, with a stack of documents in his arms. "I'm sorry to disappoint, but except for emergencies, I strictly adhere to Grath's standard work hours and holidays."

Adrian grumbled irritably, "Damn it, we used to work every day until late at night."

Beside him, Baide laughed unceremoniously.

Secretary-General Lin placed the documents on the table. There have been almost no urgent documents lately, so he had pulled out quite a few from other closely connected departments.

Adelaide skillfully poured tea for the several Grath family members.

Secretary-General Lin left quickly.

Arnold was opening a document, an application for funding from the Robotics Research Institute, when he suddenly stood up. "Ye Mo mentioned earlier that his robot seemed to have some issues. He asked me to send it in for inspection and repair."

Apparently, it was consuming power quickly and reacting slower than before.

Ye Mo had been nervous for a long time and repeatedly urged Arnold to be careful when Arnold volunteered.

Jacob casually raised his hand. "I could check it for him."

Jacob had been very interested in mechanics since childhood. His powerful mental strength allowed him to clearly understand the internal structure of any machine when he studied them, making it twice as effective with half the effort.

Adelaide knew about this too; it was originally supposed to be sent to the institute. "I'll go get the young master's robot."

When Adelaide came back in, an old-fashioned nanny robot followed him. It had a big belly, looked round and bulky.

"Why is it so outdated? I remember current technology is far beyond this. Why not get him a better one? I have several of the latest models at home—great for housework and with some attack capabilities."

Arnold stood to the side. "No way. Ye Mo treasures this robot. He's used it since he was little, and even the shell can't be swapped. It has to stay exactly as it is. It even has a name: Mumu."

The several Grath family members gathered around. Arnold couldn't help but remind them, "Be careful, don't break it."

Jacob crouched beside the robot, extending his mental energy into it. "I will."

"There's no major hardware issue. A few parts are a bit loose; I'll tighten them up later. Let me check the core."

The robot was shut down and then restarted.

Jacob carefully sensed every change.

"The core is relatively new and quite advanced. Was it replaced later? The charging interface is a bit slow; I'll replace it with a new one. Also, the storage near the core is overheating. Has it not processed the usual recordings?"

Nanny robots automatically record as long as they don't involve the little owner's privacy.

"It only had the core replaced. The storage is still the old type. The recordings from all these years have never been cleared. You could delete unused recordings or replace the storage with a new one, and import the videos into it."

Jacob pulled back his mental energy.

Arnold didn't hesitate. "Let's get a new one."

Elia nodded. "I've got plenty of high-quality storage devices. I'll go grab one and put it in."

She uses her storage devices for her videos and photos, carefully selecting the best ones.

Deenlie stood with his arms crossed; as he shifted, the contours of his shoulders became more visible.

He wasn't very familiar with these matters and kept silent. But just as Jacob was about to stand, taking the robot to get a storage device from Elia, Deenlie suddenly interrupted them.

"If the recordings from all these years have never been cleared, then that means Ye Mo's childhood videos haven't been cleared either."

The Grath family members all turned to look at him, then all turned back simultaneously to stare at the robot standing quietly in place.

Author's Note:

Here's a little Mo whose cheeks are red from being ruffled.

Aunt Herli, like Deenlie, is a beauty with a large chest. I thought that if she picked up Little Mo, he'd inevitably get buried in her chest, but then I thought, Ye Mo would definitely be shy enough to avoid Herli from then on. Poor Aunt Herli would be too unfortunate, so I skipped that scene.