There was almost no room for retreat in the cramped space. The soldiers who were hugged could only stiffly let the researchers do as they wished. Some of them even had to let go of their weapons to support the other so they didn’t collapse.
Several had already turned to their superiors with pleading looks in their eyes.
The officers looked on coldly. “If no one is injuried, evacuate with our people as soon as possible.”
Yet the researchers had been through too much to do anything but cry right now.
The officer inclinded his head to a soldier by his side. “Have the medical team come over. They may have been contaminated by the insects’ toxins.”
The livestream viewers’ shock was giving way to joy.
[If he wasn’t from Grantz, I really would have thought he was joking to ease the embarrassment…]
[Sure enough, the Grantz live up to their reputation! Give them a hug them for me!]
[That’s right, that’s right! Hmph! If I knew, I would have hugged them too when I had the chance. Next time, I’ll blame it on the insects’ toxins too.]
[Then you’ll get to experience a medical exam free of charge, as well as puzzled looks from all the Grantz present.]
[Probably, but I still feel bad for the others.]
When the medical team arrived after a while and examined the survivors one by one, they managed to calm down.
Only then was the Grantz military able to evacuate them.
Bert and Jacob were still standing on the starship. Bert was crouched like a big cat, watching the people coming and going from above.
They saw the survivors being led out.
Bert glanced down with interest. “
There are quite a few of them.”
The officer overheard and stopped. He turned and looked up at Bert before saluting and reporting in earnest, “Your Majesty Bert, we have located 42 survivors thus far. No injuries or deaths.”
An older gentleman stepped out of the group. He seemed a little nervous, “Your Majesty Bert, we are so grateful…”
Bert cut him off with a smile.
“No need for thanks. We charge a fee, you know? Do you know how much it costs to have the Grantz come? Not to worry. Our Foreign Affairs Department will sort it out with your government.”
[LOL, the Foreign Affairs Department… So they don’t discuss the fee with the people being rescued and leave it to the bureaucrats.]
[Someone who came back from the other side said the Grantz just came to beat people up and make a quick buck. Her Highness Helene is going on a rampage over there. She looks furious.]
[This is the organization that imprisoned His Highness Adrian before, right? No wonder Grantz arrived so quickly. Not even the galactic boundary is safe from their wrath.]
Bert didn’t give them another chance to speak. He gestured. The officer nodded knowingly and left with the others.
Jacob said, “Helene and Aria are also done.”
Bert rose to his feet. His necklace shifted with him. He tucked it back inside as he said, “Then let’s go.“
The viewers had relaxed by this point.
[I recognize that inlaid gem, but what’s with that little lion?]
[That’s the top trending education cartoon character recently. By the way, its main audience is young children around five who are learning to speak. Even my seven year old niece thinks it’s too childish.]
Someone made a half-joking statement.
[Based on past experience, anything on His Majesty Bert that doesn’t belong to him was stolen by him. Evidently, this means His Majesty Bert stole the treasure of some poor kid under the age of five.]
After giggling for a while, the viewers started to serious discuss the possibility. In the end, they concluded– Yes, that was definitely something Bert Grantz was capable of.
Then the topic shifted to which cabinet minister or military officer’s child was the most likely victim.
……
Secretary-General Lin was making his daily report to Norton when he uncharacteristically paused and glanced down at his holomind. After browsing the information, he quickly looked up again. “It’s resolved, Your Majesty. All enemy warships, aside from the one our spies are on and a cargo ship, have been detained. The fleet is on their way back. They expect to arrive in Grantz by tomorrow at noon.”
“In addition…”
He adjusted his glasses. “I’m afraid we will have to start preparing for the coming insect plague.”
Norton’s brows furrowed for once. He made a sound of acknowledgement, “Proritize protecting planets with energy resources.”
Once a catastrophe on the scale of the insect plague begins, energy would become a top priority. Even worse, insects prioritized ransacking planets with energy resources.
Secretary-General Lin sighed mentally. Just as he was about to continue his debriefing, there was a knock at the study door, a lighter one than usual knocking.
Adlet, who was by the door, opened it. He looked down and saw Ye Muo carrying his bottle.
Adlet’s gaze paused on the bottle. It was about time to start weaning. Would switching to milk or warm water tomorrow be alright…
Ye Muo misunderstood. He got on tiptoe and enthusiastically offered his bottle to Adlet.
If it was His Majesty Bert, the generous little fellow would have lost his bottle of sweet formula by now.
Adlet smiled and squeezed Ye Mo’s cheek. “Thank you very much, Your Little Highness, but please allow me to refuse. Have it yourself.”
So Ye Muo stuck it back in his own mouth to suckle on.
Ano, who stood behind him, explained, “He wanted to come over after his nap.”
As those words fell, Ye Muo was already running over to step on Norton’s boots.
Norton scooped him up. Ye Muo automatically started swinging his feet. “Want to go see flowies. And Pangpang.”
‘Pangpang’ was Ye Muo’s nickname for Pangzhua. No matter how tame Pangzhua was, it was still a beast in the end. Norton never allowed it to approach Ye Muo, until one day the child spotted it first. He was scared at first and ran to Norton, quietly peeking out from the man’s arms.
Norton thought that he was scared at the time and prepared to leave, yet Ye Muo wanted to stay despite being scared. Norton thought he wanted to play, so he stayed and prepared to chase Pangzhua away. Yet when Pangzhua left aggrievedly, Ye Muo started looking for it.
So Norton could only take him to Pangzhua again. Pangzhua excitedly circled around Norton’s feet since it had been forbidden from approaching for a long time. Meanwhile, Ye Muo tucked even his feet into Norton’s arms.
In the end, it was during an outing with Dylan and Ano that Ano noticed how curious Ye Muo was. He had Pangzhua lay on the ground and firmly held it there before letting Ye Muo touch. Ye Muo poked its butt before running off.
Then he chatted excitedly about it for the rest of the day. From then on, Ye Muo began to tentatively approach Pangzhua.
Yet Ye Muo had already gone outside once today. He had training this afternoon.
Norton looked at Ano, who was by the door. Ano coughed and looked away. He obviously knew what Ye Muo’s intentions were for coming. He might have even been the one egging him on.
Norton looked down and happened to meet Ye Muo’s expentant eyes. After a few seconds of silence, his initial refusal became, “Two hours. Don’t go into the water.”
Ye Muo made a loud sound of acknowledgement. His swaying legs sped up a bit like the tail of a puppy.
To Ye Muo, two hours was a really long time. After all, everyone always told him Norton would be away for half and hour or an hour at most when the man was busy.
One was less than two, but it was still a long time. Ye Muo would always cry at first, ignoring the new toys and tasty treats being shoved into his arms. He was afraid he would never see Norton again.
Yet as time went on, Ye Muo realized that Norton would always be back and relaxed. He even cleverly pleaded with his caretakers for an extra cookie or cupcake just before Norton was back.
Ye Muo used this strategy before to get a snack from Norton and then from someone else.
Then there was one time where Norton entrusted him to Ano, who ended up having to leave for a while and gave him to Dylan. Ye Muo was so stuffed after three portions of snacks that he couldn’t finish dinner and got exposed.
Now they always asked when handing him over if he had his snack of the day or not.
Ye Muo happily got off Norton’s lap after receiving permission and ran to Ano by the door. Norton had to set him down on the floor first.
Ano enthusiastically scooped Ye Muo up and had him sit on his shoulders. “Come on, let’s go find Pangzhua.”
Adlet set down his tray and reminded, “A herd of horned cattle recently arrived in the back mountains. The entire horde is there. Pangzhua may be as well.”
Ano thought about it. “It’s fine. Pangzhua might not have gone since it’s such a poor hunter.”
Adlet smiled. “I suppose it’s a matter of perspective.”
In the end, they really weren’t able to find Pangzhua.
But Ye Muo was still cheery. He pointed to the greenhouse from Ano’s shoulders. “Flowies!”
“Alright, let’s go see some flowies.”
The greenhouse was well maintained. All kinds of plants were growing beautifully after being trimmed by an expert.
The greenhouse decor made it resemble a palace whose walls were made of plants. It was entirely possiblet to live here. There was even a small dedicated living room and bed here, along with a hot spring.
Even Ano found it interesting.
Ye Muo gently grabbed the hanging branches and leaves of the plant on Ano’s shoulder before letting go. He didn’t hurt them at all.
Finally, they came to a partitioned space which seemed to be a study and a place to enjoy some afternoon tea. Ano followed Ye Muo’s gaze to a bookshelf that stored more potted plants than books.
Perhaps this place was too secluded to maintain regularly, but the plants here were all hardy ones like succulents that glistened like jewels.
Ye Muo stared at the cute little flowerpots. A memory popped into his mind suddenly when he touched one.
He was standing in front of a shelf like this, but the pots before him didn’t contain vibrant greenery. They were all withered, their roots rotten, their leaves shriveled.
For an instant, Ye Muo felt like the pots before him were just like that.
