Chapter 442

Chapter 442

The mental force hanging overhead quickly settled.

Ethan stopped paying attention, just shrugging as he comforted Yemo, "It's nothing. The big guy's getting old, and his temper's mellowed a lot too. His anger only lasts a minute. This time, he's probably just been stuck here too long."

A voice came from behind—Caspar. "I'm gonna tell Ambrose about this, Ethan."

Lika stood beside him. Both looked travel-worn, like they'd just arrived and hadn't had a chance to clean up yet.

Ethan shot back without backing down, "Tell him you called your dad by his first name? And I'm your elder."

But he was also quick to change the subject, playing it smart. "What are you two doing here? So can I leave now?"

Fiona and the others almost never got rotated out, but Ambrose kept calling him back on the excuse of rotation. Lika and Caspar got called back just as often. Although Ethan liked staying with Yemo, being lumped in with the younger generation kinda grated on him.

Lika stayed quiet as always. Caspar wrinkled his nose, clearly not liking the arrangement either, but he was used to having no say. Being the youngest among the Graths meant taking some hits.

"Not sure. But the Rift's been pretty quiet lately. The insect swarms have scattered, so they probably don't need as many people."

Ethan clicked his tongue in annoyance. This was the first time the Rift had been breached, and it was also when they'd had the fewest losses.

Caspar remarked, "A rare stretch of peaceful days. Probably don't need us much now."

Yemo, who'd been quiet the whole time, blinked and spoke up. "Peaceful?"

In his mind, the fact that the Insect Tide hadn't been suppressed was still a big deal. They'd take over resource planets and attack people. Once a planet showed signs of an insect infestation, everyone had to stop work and production, drop everything, and huddle together in fear. People elsewhere would also follow the news on the star network, anxiously talking about what to do until the bugs were completely wiped out.

But Caspar smiled. "It's a bit busy, but you could call it the good times. We've also picked up several resource planets with cities on them. You've definitely never seen anything like them—not those defensive structures. Much better than here. Real cities with actual people living in them. I'll take you to check them out later. Too bad—if we weren't so short on people, we could have even more..."

It wasn't like they never ran into insect swarms, but it was still way better than being stuck on one planet. They'd been through so many Insect Tides; compared to their days at the Rift, this could definitely be called peaceful times.

Getting called back at a time like this didn't bother Caspar much either. After all, there was an even younger one—Yemo—who was being kept here by Ambrose, and even Ethan and the big brother got the same treatment.

Yemo was a little curious and a little worried. "Those planets have people living on them? Can they be ours?"

"Why not? We protect them from the insect swarms. Without us, those planets wouldn't exist anymore."

Caspar also jumped onto the windowsill, squeezing in behind Yemo. "Little gem, we're doing good deeds."

Beside Yemo was Theodore, who'd shifted into his cat form.

As he talked, Caspar mischievously tugged Theodore's tail, making Theodore spin around and land a few solid punches on him. Caspar didn't dodge, taking the chance to naturally wedge himself next to Yemo, draping his arm over Yemo's shoulder.

Theodore paused for a second, then immediately went for Caspar's other hand, biting and clawing at it.

Yemo had to play peacemaker. He tried to scoop Theodore into his arms, but Caspar took the chance to poke at Theodore's paw again. Theodore hissed, then quickly turned to rub against Yemo, soothing him briefly, before twisting out of his embrace and raising his paws again to fiercely tussle with Caspar.

Caspar happily traded blows with him.

Yemo lowered his hands and watched Theodore. He felt that Theodore had become more animated. He mentioned data less and less, and rarely brought up his optimal plans or best solutions anymore.

As he thought, he looked up at the sky again. Why had Ambrose been angry just now?

Lika had come over at some point. He placed his hand on Yemo's head and pressed down gently, as if reading his thoughts, and stiffly reassured him, "Don't worry about it."

Ethan added, "Ambrose's anger comes fast and goes fast. I told you, he's not a young man anymore."

"Mm."

For some reason, Yemo still felt a faint unease.

He vaguely sensed that those flames of anger hadn't disappeared—they were churning, pressed down into something deeper. Irritability. That wasn't a good sign for a Grath.

The windowsill wasn't small, but with so many people crowded on it, it felt a bit cramped. Caspar kept fidgeting around.

Eventually, Lika grew impatient and kicked him, putting an end to his little playfight with Theodore.

So, covered in ruffled fur and basking in victory, Theodore settled onto Yemo's lap, purring contentedly.

...

A squadron of small warships sped through the starry void.

These were mech-type warships, known for their agility and stealth. The latest models had not yet had their specifications publicly disclosed and were only in service with Tansan's elite secret forces.

But their concealed hull numbers revealed that these were publicly known models, not the newest ones.

On the sides were the combined insignias of Tansan and Pailodes, indicating that this squadron wasn't purely from Tansan—it was a joint force of Tansan and Pailodes.

Occasional exchanges came through the comms.

"We're approaching the coordinates of Princess Karla's planet, but the direct route shows fleet patrols. Should we wait for them to pass?"

"We'll take the detour from Plan B and land directly on the sand."

After a moment of hesitation, a voice came through the comms again.

"Is that the detour around the nonexistent planet? The situation there is unstable right now. Can our stealth mode fool the patrol fleets?"

"The insect swarms have already left the incubation site. The insect density there is completely safe for stealth mode. I hope I don't have to repeat this question a second time."

Before the conversation ended, a third person cut in, voice tense. "Sir, insect swarms approaching—a swarm mid-jump."

"Perfect. Activate stealth mode and go around it. Consider it a field exercise, young man."

The entire fleet silently vanished into the starry void.

The leading captain only deviated slightly from the original route, keeping a distance from the detected insect swarm that was by no means far.

The comms went abruptly quiet. Only after they had passed the massive creature by a considerable distance did exclamations of awe begin to trickle in.

The officer who had spoken in the comms exchanged a glance with his Deputy and shook his head. "Young people."

The Deputy chuckled softly. "They're from Pailodes after all. Even with talent, they've never had access to the most cutting-edge technology."

Then his expression turned serious, and he sighed lightly. "There's no time for us to get acclimated. I hope our rescue goes smoothly. Princess Karla doesn't yet know... Since the target is Princess Karla, perhaps we should have sent that unit."

The officer shrugged. "The situation is urgent. This is sufficient. Tansan isn't that lacking."

...

Having confirmed that Yemo wasn't there, Arnold's mood lightened considerably. He couldn't wait to leave this place.

But both he and Norton had very little mental force left, and without a Grath warship, escaping the Rift wasn't easy either.

At first, they could still use the rock walls to ascend quickly, but after their mental force was depleted, they had to climb the final stretch by hand. As Arnold climbed, he said once again, "Cyril must have escaped."

He looked up, ignoring the grime on the rock wall, his eyes gleaming. "He's not that kind of foolish kid."

Norton didn't answer; he knew Arnold wasn't expecting one anyway.

But he couldn't help but follow Arnold's line of thinking. As he climbed, Norton ran through Ye Mo's lessons—had there been much on stealth? Anything on staying hidden? Had he ever taught him what to do in danger?

No. Just combat training.

He'd taught Ye Mo from his own childhood, dredging up only combat techniques from his jumbled memories. Grath never backed down—it was practically in his blood—and Norton had raised Ye Mo the same way, convinced that the best defense was his own strength.

But he'd burned through all his mental energy—could Ye Mo be in the same boat?

Norton's anxiety crept back. Shouldn't the most important lesson have been how to run? Baide was an idiot, and so was he.

Why teach a young lion only to hunt, not how to find a crack to hide in? Did he expect the cub to fight off enemies with its claws?

Distracted, Norton put too much weight on his foot, and the rock beneath him crumbled, tumbling into the depths.

Arnold, right behind him, shut his eyes for a second, letting the debris and stones hit him before they fell into the abyss.

Norton took a deep breath. "Sorry."

He hauled himself up on arm strength alone, his mind drifting back to Ye Mo.

Before Arnold could answer, he went still. A beat later, he yelled, "Big brother, there's something up there—right above us!"

Norton stopped as well. They locked eyes, and then Norton let go with one hand, only to jam his fingers back into the rock. He leaned down toward Arnold, reaching out his hand, and Arnold simultaneously extended his own. They locked onto each other's wrists.

Norton called on the little mental energy he'd just regained and, in a flash, hurled Arnold upward.

They were already close to the surface now; the light above was visible to the naked eye. Arnold drew his sword mid-air, Norton's force perfectly sending him to the top of the rift.

Blasted into the light, Arnold squinted, twisting mid-air to land right on the edge.