In the end, Norton brought all the candy jars along when he took Ye Muo back to his room.
Ano and Helene helped carry some jars. They set them down on the nightstand.
Ye Muo’s eyes still glistened with tears. His cheeks were still damp, but his full attention was on the neatly stacked jars beside the bed.
Ye Muo simply could not tear his eyes away. He had lay on Norton’s shoulder and stared at the jars in Ano and Helene’s arms the entire way back.
Still in Norton’s arms, Ye Muo continued to stare at the jars on the nightstand incredulously. He looked up to Norton for confirmation. “Muomuo’s?”
Norton paused from massaging Ye Muo’s legs and turned to survey the jars as well. He nodded eventually. “Yes, they’re yours.”
Ye Muo looked down and unhappily stuck his feet towards Norton. “Muomuo’s legs. Daddy has to rub them.”
Only once Norton resumed what he was doing before did Ye Muo return to staring at his stash. Ano handed the child one of the jars.
Ye Muo looked down at the jar, examining it from every angle. The gummies quietly rolled around inside.
The night was already deep. Norton made a gesture.
Ano nodded at Norton before pushing Helene out of the room.
Ye Muo was still turning the jar this way and that. He looked up again at the pile stacked neatly on the nightstand. “Muomuo’s.”
“You can’t have any before bed.” Norton reminded.
Ye Muo yawned and leaned back against his chest. “Muomuo won’t have any. Muomuo will just look.”
……
Faceless had been watching and actively seeking out opportunities to get in contact with the outside world lately so he could pass on the intel he had already gathered to Grantz.
The number of people on base had increased considerably, causing the amount of required resources to increase accordingly.
The base has been on total lockdown since their arrival with no access to the galactic network and no one allowed in or out. With the recent addition of so many people, Faceless roughly estimated it was about time for the resources they brought to be expended.
The logistics department should act sometime in the next few days.
Unfortunately, the logistics staff member Faceless was familiar with was transferred to help out in the kitchens two days ago.
Now he had to find another suitable individual to pass on the delivery.
Faceless recalled the profiles of logistics staff as he habitually took out the items he just placed in his suitcase and cleaned each of them thoroughly again.
He always kept his hands busy like this while thinking.
Candidate 1 had a rash personality and should be easy to deceive, but he was a drunkard prone to making mistakes aka unreliable.
Candidate 2 seemed to be on track for a promotion lately. They were also a cautious individual unlikely to agree…
Faceless relaxed once he found a suitable candidate. He continued with what he was doing as he imagined how much easier everything would be if he could connect to the galactic network. He could directly send out the intel encrypted with the Grantz cipher and check up on Ye Muo as well.
The last time he checked before arriving on base, the Empress had already posted seven pictures and three videos of the child on social media. There should be even more now.
Out of an abundance of caution, Faceless didn’t save any of the published media.
03 came strolling in with his hands behind his head and carrying a bag as Faceless sulked. He had kicked the door open with a thump.
Faceless’ hands didn’t even jolt. He glanced up at the other man before continuing with his work.
03 tossed the back on the coffee table before sitting on the sofa across from Faceless to watch him work.
Annoyed, he kicked the the coffee table. There wasn’t much space between the sofas and table to begin with, now there was even less.
Faceless didn’t ask. 03 spoke up himself once he was finished. He inclined his chin at the bag on the table. “Brought you lunch.”
Faceless wiped his hands before glancing at the bag. There were several different flavours of nutrient solution and three cans of drinks.
03 was visibly unhappy. “Those people cleaned out the cafeteria. These things were all that was left when I went back after eating.”
He declared carelessly, “I’ve decided to despise them.”
Faceless nodded as he silently gulped down nutrient solution. 03 didn’t like them to begin with judging by his previous behaviour.
03 rose and stretched. “Right, more people are apparently coming in the future. They seem to really be taking this seriously. Maybe we’re already on the news over there and we just don’t know it yet.”
“They plan to construct a ship path through the unexplored regions to connect our civilizations and further communication and all the other official sounding nonsense. In any case, it’s clear they’re not a unified faction. That Empire may indeed be strong, but there are other forces over there able to go head to head with them.”
Faceless quickly incorporated the new information into his analyses.
1. Constructing such a long ship path, through the unexplored regions infested with insects no less, demanded a high level of technical skill and considerable future maintenance. Therefore, the other party’s grasp of interstellar navigation should far exceed any countries on this side.
- Given that resources were obviously finite, two or more factions of similar power present in the same place equaled competition. In any case, the factions would not simply be friends and collaborators. This might warrant further investigation.
It was at this point Faceless suddenly turned to 03. “How do you know this?”
“Those little bastards don’t seem to know that even the walls have ears here.”
03 tossed something up and down idly. “And here I was worried they would notice. It’s obvious at this point that they may be more developed as a civilization in some aspects, but not all.”
He tossed it on the table. “At the very least, they’re nowhere near as vigilant as Exile Sector trash like me.”
……
The first thing Ye Muo did when he woke up the next day was to look for his candy stash. Even his precious bottle and little lion took a backseat.
The candy jar was on the dining table during breakfast.
Ano came over to check on his legs. “Do they still hurt, Muomuo?”
Ye Muo shook his head. “No, no.”
He added, “Muomuo won’t see the doctor.”
Helene kept poking his leg beside him and got slapped on the arm by Sylvia. She sheepishly stood up. “I guess they really don’t hurt anymore.”
Adrian casually remarked, “Growing pains only happen at night, no?”
Ano and Helene turned to him in unison.
Adrian took a step back. “Why are you two looking at me like that? I didn’t even mess with you!”
In the end, Adlet ushered all of them back to their seats.
After breakfast, Sylvia watched over Ye Muo as he played in the parlour. It was around the time Ye Muo always asked Norton for gummies now.
Ye Muo hugged the jar tight and stated with utmost seriousness to Sylvia, “Muomuo’s. The doctor said Muomuo could eat.”
Norton already informed Sylvia of this long ago.
Sylvia feigned surprise. “Is that so? Muomuo is so awesome. Does Muomuo want help opening it?”
Ye Muo nodded emphatically and handed the jar to Sylvia. He immediately stuffed a bunch of gummies in his mouth after getting the jar back and almost bit his own hand as well.
Sylvia was worried about Ye Muo choking, but before she could say anything the child offered a heaping handful to Sylvia. The gummies were almost spilling out of his tiny hand.
Sylvia seemed a little absentminded as she looked at those colourful gummies. She knew how much Ye Muo liked these gummies. They were meant for children, but their surprisingly good flavour attracted a lot of adult fans as well.
Ye Muo then generously offered handfuls to Adlet, Bert and Hebert too.
Adlet thanked him with a slight smile.
Hebert did so in earnest as well.
Bert set the gummies down on a nearby table before holding his hand out again. “That’s not enough to even fill my teeth.”
Ye Muo painstakingly scooped out another handful from his jar for Bert, who accepted it without an ounce of guilt. The third time he tried to hold out his hand, Sylvia ground her heel into his foot. He put his hand down with a cough, “I supposed I can have a taste now.”
Ye Muo ran back to Norton once he had emptied out his jar. Adlet trailed behind him.
It was one of those rare occasions where everyone was present in the study. Ye Muo gave Norton a handful first before moving on to Ano and the others.
Once Ye Muo had gotten to everyone, he returned to Norton with a nearly empty jar.
Ye Muo opened the lid as he sat on Norton’s knee and peered into the jar.
The Grantz were holding a small meeting in the psychic channel.
Helene was immediately on alert. [Crap, he’s going to realize he didn’t leave any for himself. Is he going to cry again…]
Adrian tried to shift blame: [This is all Bert’s fault! Adlet said he grabbed the most!]
Aria watched Ye Muo with worry. [What should we do? Put some back?]
[I’ve already finished half of my share…]
Norton was also observing Ye Muo. He glanced at his own portion. Just as he was figuring out how to tell Ye Muo he didn’t need any candy, Ye Muo shifted.
He stuffed a rabbit-shaped gummy into his mouth as he swung his feet and hummed the theme song of the little lion cartoon.
Jacob’s expression grew complicated. [Turns out he looked so serious because he was picking out a shape, ah…]
