CHAPTER 297

CHAPTER 297

Ye Mo crouched where he was and looked up, still immersed in that wonderful feeling, not reacting for a moment.

Several Graths gathered around.

Baide, at the front, reached out and gently touched the spot where Ye Mo had bumped his head.

Ye Mo leaned back a little, feeling a tickle. Baide only pulled his hand back after making sure there was no injury.

Arnold hurriedly set the table aside and squeezed in, poking his head out from beside Deenlie. "Cyril, you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Arnold relaxed. "That's good."

The next moment, he realized Ye Mo had responded through the channel.

Ye Mo snapped back to reality and repeated, "I'm fine."

He was still confused and kept mixing up the channel with real-world conversation.

Baide looked very relieved, as if Cyril hadn't just learned to join the channel—more like a child who had never spoken finally spoke his first words. "My Cyril has actually learned to join the Grath channel. I've been waiting for this day too long—I have to share it with Sylvia. Our burden can be lightened now; this kid can finally talk."

Herli jumped in, "Not bad at all. I said our Mo Mo was smart."

Adrian was equally generous with praise. "Cyril is amazing. If I had taught him, he probably would have learned just as fast."

Elia was still regretful. "I wanted to teach too. Did Cyril actually learn? Next time you can't get in, remember to come find me!"

Jacob quickly chimed in, "Remember to look for me and Elia."

Arnold was displeased. "There's no way Cyril can't get in—he's so smart!"

Deenlie chimed in from the crowd. "Mm, not bad."

Arnold calmed down and started pointing fingers. "It's all big brother's fault. Cyril bumped his head just now, and it made a loud sound."

The channel went quiet for a moment, then the others quickly bailed out.

Only Arnold, Ye Mo, and Norton remained. A few seconds later, Arnold also dropped out of the channel and looked at Herli.

Herli immediately turned to Deenlie, threw an arm around his neck, and stiffly said, "Let's go train."

Deenlie, unusually, didn't argue and nodded seriously.

Arnold then turned to Baide.

Baide opened his wrist comm and actually started contacting Sylvia. "Is this Sylvia? Let me tell you, Cyril has learned..."

Ye Mo breathed a sigh of relief. Even though the information wasn't overwhelming, it was still too noisy for him—he wasn't used to processing several conversations at once.

Norton's mental energy was still shielding Ye Mo, guiding him cleanly out of the channel, then teaching him how to block it out. After demonstrating twice, once Ye Mo's mind had the steps memorized, Norton withdrew his own.

When Norton opened his eyes, he gave a gentle tap on the table, and Secretary-General Lin adjusted his glasses and resumed.

On the other side, as soon as Norton left, everyone else jumped back in immediately.

Herli and Deenlie slipped right back in. Baide put down his wrist comm, which had never actually connected.

Arnold let out a sigh of relief.

Ye Mo silently dropped out of the channel. "You guys have always been able to communicate like this? That's amazing."

Then he looked at the others reproachfully. "None of you told me."

Arnold immediately became serious. "Because we were afraid you'd get curious and try something risky. Look—even Big Brother didn't tell you."

With Norton supporting that, Ye Mo accepted the explanation and let it go. "So can I contact Sylvia? Baide just said he wanted to call her."

"No, but you might be able to reach Sylvia through the Star Net. The Star Alliance has been working on a full connection these past few days—it should be done soon."

Ye Mo immediately opened his wrist comm. "I want to try it."

"Go ahead, but it's not working yet. I couldn't connect just now."

Elia turned to Baide. "So, the signal's still unstable?"

Baide said confidently. "It must be a bad signal. I used the most basic voice call, and it still didn't connect."

The next second, Ye Mo exclaimed happily, "Sylvia!"

Sylvia's voice came through, warm and gentle. "Cyril, you look a bit thinner. How have you been eating these past few days?"

Several Graths crowded around, including Baide.

Ye Mo answered earnestly. "I haven't gotten thinner—I've gained a little weight. I've been eating well. Adelaide's cooking is still delicious."

Sylvia was relieved. "That's good."

Then Sylvia looked at the background behind Ye Mo and frowned. Since this wasn't a full holographic call, she could only see Cyril's side. Sylvia motioned for the others blocking the view to move aside so she could see the surroundings. "Where is this? A medical center? Is Cyril sick?"

"It is the medical center, but nothing's wrong. I just came for a check-up. Sylvia, I also learned how to communicate with everyone using mental energy. Baide just wanted to tell you that."

"Cyril, that's wonderful."

Herbert's voice came from Sylvia's side. "Sylvia... the documents here..."

"Sylvia, you go ahead. Let's talk another day. I'll bring you a gift when I'm back."

"Thank you, Cyril. Our Cyril is so thoughtful."

Then Sylvia's voice got a bit louder. "Tell Baide not to overdo it. I'm still watching him."

The call ended.

Everyone looked at Baide. Herli laughed coldly. "I thought someone said the signal was bad."

Baide pretended not to hear. He spread his hands. "See? Sylvia only remembered to warn me. Some people, like Herli, didn't even get mentioned by name."

Herli snorted.

Ye Mo squeezed between them just in time to separate them. "Adelaide should have lunch ready. Let's go eat."

...

That evening.

Theodore turned off the lights for Ye Mo and adjusted the room settings to the ideal conditions for him to sleep.

Ye Mo had already gotten under the covers and was about to sleep when he sat up again.

He tried to call Mrs. Ye, but only after dialing did it occur to him that it might be really late over at Grath's. He hesitated, wondering if he should hang up, but then the call went through.

This time Ye Mo only made a voice call.

Mrs. Ye's voice came through, "Little Mo?"

"Mom, it's me!"

The moment the call connected, the Graths outside already knew.

Norton looked up, using his mental energy to envelop Ye Mo's room and block the other Graths' sneaky eavesdropping.

Baide pulled back his mental energy like nothing had happened, while Arnold looked disappointed but said to Norton seriously, "Brother, you shouldn't eavesdrop either. Ye Mo's old enough that he needs his privacy. If he finds out you're listening, he'll get mad at you."

Norton didn't even look up, just gave a casual "mm-hmm."

Adrian lightly pushed Arnold's head. "You're the one who wanted to eavesdrop."

Arnold dodged. "Like you're not curious?"

"Anyway, we can't hear a thing."

Back in his room, Ye Mo had already flipped over, lying on his stomach on the blanket, a holographic screen opening in front of him.

"Mom, I can connect to Grath's communication system now. In a few days when the signal is more stable, we can try the full holographic mode. Then you can come take a look. I bought a ton of cool stuff. If there's anything you like, I'll bring it back for you..."

The moment the call connected, Mrs. Ye barely got out "Little Mo" before Ye Mo started rattling off a long string of sentences. Mrs. Ye couldn't get a word in edgewise, just listening and responding earnestly.

Ye Mo continued, "I got you a present. I was going to keep it a surprise, but I can't help telling you now. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it in, but I miss you so much, Mom. When I found out the signal was working during the day, I tried to contact Sylvia with Baide. After I talked to her, I wanted to talk to you right away, but Baide was there the whole time. He'd definitely make fun of me."

As he spoke, Ye Mo began to feel guilty. "I'm sorry for making a big deal about this and contacting you so late."

Ye Mo heard Mrs. Ye laugh on the other end, "What's there to apologize for? Our Little Mo is grown up now and cares about his pride. Besides, didn't you reach out to me on the very first day you could?"

Only then did Ye Mo think about the time. "Mom, you're not asleep yet, are you?"

"It's still early. It's just dusk here, and we've only just finished dinner."

Then Ye Mo heard a loud snort from Ye Yun, so clear it sounded like he had deliberately leaned in.

Ye Mo quickly added, "I miss Brother Yeyun too."

Ye Yun leaned over Mrs. Ye's light brain. "I don't believe you. You just now remembered me, and here I was worrying about you."

In the living room, Mrs. Ye nudged Ye Yun and shot him a look. Ye Yun instantly got the message: either play nice or get out.

Ye Yun chose to behave. He wanted to snort again but forced it down, squeezing in next to Mrs. Ye.

Ye Mo realized it and felt a bit embarrassed. "Did you see that? I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Mrs. Ye said gently, "We're not worried now. Our Little Mo is very strong."

Ye Yun chimed in, "Of course I saw. I also saw you go whine to the Emperor."

Ye Mo raised his voice. "Brother!"

Ye Yun snorted again. A few seconds later: "Did you get me a present too?"

"Of course Brother Yeyun has one, but if you keep picking on me, I'm holding it back."

Ye Yun ignored the last part. "That's more like it. I'll forgive you this time. When the holographic mode is up and running, I want to see it first."

"Sure. Mom, do you want to see it too?"

Mrs. Ye smiled. "If our Little Mo can hold out, I'll wait until you come back to see it in person. Now go to sleep. Isn't it time for Little Mo to sleep?"

"I just got into bed. It's still early."

Ye Mo tried to justify, "Arnold and the others haven't gone to sleep yet."

Mrs. Ye knew Ye Mo too well, "But it's your bedtime now, right? If you stay up any longer, you won't be able to fall asleep."

"I'll tell you one more thing and then sleep. Mom, I also bought some very nice cups. Adelaide said..."

He went on talking with Mrs. Ye for a while longer before finally hanging up.

As soon as the call ended, Norton quietly withdrew his mental energy.

In the room, Ye Mo turned over, contentedly pulling the quilt over himself.

Then he opened his eyes again.

Baide said in the channel, "Cyril, what did you tell Mom? Our little Xiruil misses his mom? Do you need me to sing you a lullaby? Don't be shy—I can sing one."

Ye Mo exited the channel.

Ye Mo blocked the channel.

He regretted not having held it in during the day, he thought.