The hovercar automatically continued towards its destination.
Lakely expanded the screen and turned up the volume. The sound of wind was particularly realistic as the narrator’s voice became clearer.
[…This is a hunting ground familiar to the Grantz pride, but this time, they have newborn members in tow. A much more cautious approach this time, with the hunt split into two waves. Several lions that recently reached maturity and an elder have been left at home to look after the cubs. The main force has just returned to take over cub-rearing duties. They’ve left enough food for the others at the scene. The elder lion is leading the others there, but researchers believe they may conduct a hunt of their own.]
[The main force retrieves the cubs from the shrubbery, a good hiding place in unfamiliar territory that can also give the cubs a sense of security. However, perhaps because they have grown used to the manicured shrubs of the Grantz gardens, the pride rarely spends the night in the plains with their young. The majority of these cubs’ lives have been spend in the Grantz gardens.]
The little lions were plopped down in a pile in the shade. They huddled together, wary of the unfamiliar surroundings.
The lighter furred Pangzhua was sprawled out across the grass. It carelessly rolled over, accidentally dislodging several other cubs from the pile.
The camera zoomed in on it.
Lakely stared at Pangzhua for several seconds befor cautiously asking, “Was Pangzhua an only child?”
Derek’s expression changed subtly. He knew what Lakely wanted to ask, “They were born in the Grantz gardens, so you’ll have to ask the palace staff. However, what we do know is that lion prides interact with each other at set intervals. These cubs were basically born within 10 days of each other. The documentary team has confirmed with the palace staff that Pangzhua’s just naturally larger. The pride is quite at ease in the gardens and don’t mind exposing their young there.”
Lakely turned his attention back to Pangzhua. “No wonder everyone thinks it’ll be the next leader of the pride.”
Derek: “You could say that in a sense.”
Lakely focused on watching for a while. The cubs soon began to play around.
[The arrival of the main force has bolstered the confidence of the cubs. They are starting to come out of their shells. Well, most of them, that is.]
The camera turned implicitly to Pangzhua, who was still sprawled out on the grass. It perked up after sniffing the air and rolled onto its feet. Looking around, it soon found its target.
A male lion whose mane had just grown out was lying down, gnawing at a meaty piece of bone.
[Pierka, one of the cubs from our previous documentary, is known to be a very gluttonous little lion. It seems that Pierka’s habit of bringing along a snack hasn’t changed. Our researchers have capture at least six instances of it dragging a bone across the plains in this month alone.]
Pangzhua gleefully bounded towards Pierka and chomped down on the other end of the bone.
It nearly ran into Pierka’s snout.
Pierka instinctively reared back in alarm with the bone still clenched between its teeth. As a result, the little lion clamped onto the other end became airbone as well.
Pierka growled discontentedly as it lay back down, only to be cowed by an even louder growl from a male lion nearby. Its ears perked up in fright before it shut up and silently licked its bone.
The other cubs soon noticed the commotion over here and came over to investigate.
[Our Platinum Prince has developed an interest in Pierka’s bounty. The other lions gather curiously as well. It may be a bit early for them yet, but having a healthy appetite is far from a bad thing. Pierka seemed to be in a sour mood. It too is a little lion despite its size.]
Aside from Pierka, the other adult lions just laid back and watched the cubs growl and gnaw on the bone. They all soon lost interest except from Pangzhua, who seemed insistent on tearing a few bites off.
Pierka paced anxiously nearby, but cubs were favoured within the pride.
Lakely sighed, “No wonder it grew up to be so big. It was big to begin with with an appetite to match.”
Derek coughed, “Actually, there are always a few cubs in every generation that stand out in size. It was Pierka’s older sister in his generation, an extremely intelligent and agile lioness who takes thrill in the hunt. Those cubs were all gifted in hunting and cooperation to varying degrees. Meanwhile, the little lions in Pangzhua’s generation are adventurous eaters similar to it.”
They would try anything, even the berries growing on bushes and Pangzhua’s favourite apples.
While the other cubs would sniff or bat at foreign object with their paws, Pangzhua’s first response was to take a bite.
[Why do you know so much, Derek?]
[Ah, so they’re all gluttons, got it.]
[High EQ: adventurous eaters. Low EQ: glutton.]
“But it matured a lot as it grew up. It’s not as reckless anymore.”
Lakely recalled seeing Pangzhua act cute in front of Ye Muo back on the Central Planet. “Are you sure about that?”
Derek gave an emphatic nod and pointed in a certain direction. “The land here is quite abundant. Take the forest there for example, Pangzhua ended up eating something in there that left it stumbling after the rest of the pride. It fell down every other step before it decided not to get back up.”
“The entire pride was at a loss about what to do. Thankfully, it was heavy but still small enough to be carried back then. The adults took turns ferrying it back to the Grant palace, where it was found to have a mild case of food poisoning. The exact cause was never determined due to the sheer variety of foods in its stomach, half-digested at that. The running hypothesis was some type of mushroom. However, Pangzhua is actually quite smart. It learned its lesson and always brought new foods back for inspection before digging in. It still has a basket to this day, probably from the palace staff. I believe you can see it in the documentary I shared.”
This habit of Pangzhua’s continued to this day. Even in recent documentaries, you could see it excitedly dashing across the plains back to the palace with a ridiculously small basket in its mouth.
Derek pulled up a picture. It was dusk and the pride was leisurely going home. Pangzhua was already huge and brought up the rear of the group. Its luscious fur fluttered in the wind, giving the impression of a majestic lion king that only existed in people’s imagination.
This mighty lion was carefully carrying a dainty basket that was almost comically small in comparison.
“The basket’s a bestseller in the zoo gift shop.”
“! I have a card I can use. Can we make a pit stop today?”
Derek made a sound of acknowledgement, “We are headed in that direction anyway.”
[Forget about the basket, send me a copy of that picture. Grabby hands.jpg]
[Grr…not only is Lakely doing less commentary lately, he’s not even sharing the things Derek sends him anymore!]
……
The day they were going home came a lot sooner than Ye Muo expected.
Compared to his previous excitement that made it hard to sit still, he was calm on the day of. He behaved himself on the mothership’s central observation deck as staff hurried to and fro in the background.
There was a private observation deck in their quarters as well, but Ye Muo found the place too lonely and set up camp here instead.
Theodore and Ye He were keeping him company. Pangzhua lay at their feet.
Ye Muo quietly watched the world outside. He was captivated by the sights no matter how many times he saw it.
Felix came over with a tray. He glanced at the lion who almost resembled a fur pelt carpet at their feet, making sure it had no intentions of getting up before approaching and setting down juice and snacks on the table.
Even if he learned from Adlet that Pangzhua rarely hurt people, Felix couldn’t let down his guard. ‘Rarely’ implied there have been injuries before. Besides, it was natural to be intimidated when you were in such close proximity with a wild beast of this size.
Pangzhua caught Felix’s scent as he moved. It squeezed its head out from between Ye Muo and Ye He only for Ye Muo to press it back down with a whimper.
Ye Muo was surprised to see Felix here. “Aren’t you going home, Felix?”
Felix paused before looking back at Ye Muo with equal incredulity. “Pardon me?”
Ye Muo recalled, “Father only asked you to help out back then because there was no one to manage the sheer amount of documents on the mothership, right?”
The mothership they were riding back then was new, so they accumulated a whole bunch of documents to fill out every time they travelled a certain distance or applied to land on a certain planet. The paperwork was meant to ensure they weren’t galactic pirates or Drifters.
Felix straightened up and cautiously stated, “It’s fine, Your Little Highness. That was the deal we reached.”
He dared not easily believe Ye Muo.
Felix knew Ye Muo was a very good child that the Grantz protected closely and shielded from the dark side. He couldn’t tolerate even the more lawful forms of cruelty like the resource tournament.
Besides, Felix had nowhere to go for the time being. He didn’t mind slacking off and being an occasional waiter here.
Ye He looked at Felix. “This seems to be our first time meeting, sir.”
Ye Muo finally realized he had to introduce them. “This is Felix, Big Brother. He came back with us from that planet I told you back. Felix, this is my big brother, Ye He.”
Ye He smiled politely and shook hands with Felix. They went through the motions before letting go.
Although Felix’s expression remained neutral, his mind was already abuzz with possibilities once he heard Ye Muo call Ye He ‘big brother’.
…Someone who could get a little Grantz, the heir apparent at that, to refer to them as ‘big brother’ couldn’t be a simple individual.
He soon made his leave.
Ye He withdrew his gaze as well. This was Adlet and Secretary-General Lin’s territory. They would make the appropriate arrangements.
The fleet initially set at a relaxed pace.
When they passed a certain planet, Ye He set down his glass. “That’s our planet over there. In time, it will become our second imperial capital.”
Ye Muo looked towards where he was pointing and quickly spotted a planet. It was easy to recognize since its configuration was almost the same as the Grantz imperial capital. The port had already been built. In fact, a mothership fleet was heading that way right now.
“The Grantz palace is almost complete as well. You’ll be staying there instead of the Central Planet the next time you come. Further out is an unexplored region of the galaxy. As long as we clear out the insects in the area, we can terraform the planets there to be habitable. One day, we’ll be able to move here and finally free ourselves of the incessant insect tides.”
“At that time, the burden on Grantz will be greatly reduced. Our current territories will become a resource field for harvesting insects and crystals. We’ll be able to sit back and reap the benefits like fishermen.”
Ye Muo had turned back to look at Ye He at some point.
Ye He’s eyes reflected the brilliant starry sky outside. “Our homeland will never be in danger of being swallowed by the insect tide again. The military won’t be lacking in manpower all the time, and young people like Ye Yun can spend more time in school.”
Ye He turned to meet Ye Muo’s eyes. He smiled slyly, “At that time, even you might have to go to school again.”
The children of Grantz would have the chance to grow up slowly just like their counterparts in the Alliance. They would have time to discover themselves and decide what to do with their future, instead of perishing before they could realize their potential on some unknown battlefield.
