Free Web Novel“You breaking the record and taking first place in this assessment has already spread all over our academy. You really did our mech major proud!”
In the military academy cafeteria, Zhuo Haoyu—sporting that flamboyant shock of little yellow hair—carried his tray over and ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) plopped down boldly across from Xi Heyan.
He kept talking without pause. “I heard it wasn’t just the instructors who got stirred up—this afternoon even people from the military came to ask about you. You’re a real hot shot now. When you graduate, I bet all the legions will be fighting to snatch you up.”
“Maybe I’ll have to call you ‘sir’ someday!”
Zhuo Haoyu could chirp on all by himself for ages, but as he kept going, he finally noticed something: why did it feel like there was only his voice the whole time?
Puzzled, he looked across the table—only to see the “main character” of his topic had his head raised, staring at the screen hanging above the cafeteria.
It was still broadcasting the same proper, boring news.
And the hottest news lately was, without question, the battle that had happened in the Eighth Star Sector. One side involved an infamous bandit race, and the other was the Saint Clan—so vicious in reputation that just hearing the name was enough to make plenty of people feel afraid.
The course of the battle and its outcome had been drawing attention from the entire interstellar world.
Seeing Xi Heyan staring at the screen in a daze, Zhuo Haoyu assumed he was interested in the campaign. He immediately said, sounding a bit emotional, “How can the gap between races be that huge? In the virtual battlefield, those Padar people beat us till we were a complete mess—yet the Saint Clan didn’t even need three days to take their capital.”
“If you hadn’t turned things around this time, the moment we walked out of the training room we would’ve been chewed out by the instructors until there was nothing left of us.”
Without comparison, there’s no hurt.
Facing the Padar people as the same opponent, the Saint Clan casually seized Kanirila in reality, while their performance in the training room could only be called terrible. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
And that was exactly why Xi Heyan breaking the record caused such a huge reaction from both the school and the military.
But while Zhuo Haoyu was praising him, Xi Heyan—the one who had stolen the spotlight in this assessment—was clearly distracted.
He hadn’t paid the slightest attention to what Zhuo Haoyu was even saying. Those dark, heavy eyes kept flicking, intentionally or not, toward the light-brain on his wrist.
Yet today, just like every other day, the light-brain was unnervingly quiet. The notification sound he was waiting for never rang.
Which meant Wen Yuzhi still hadn’t replied.
Xi Heyan couldn’t tell whether he should feel disappointed... or relieved.
What had happened before really wasn’t something he’d expected.
Instinct forged on the battlefield made him press the accept option almost on reflex, right there on the spot.
From the moment the video connected to the moment it was cut off, it lasted less than a few seconds.
Even with just that hurried glance, Xi Heyan still saw the figure on the other side of the screen: a young man with a panicked expression.
The age really was as young as Xi Heyan had imagined—yet the face was so beautiful it felt almost unreal.
Using “beautiful” to describe a half-grown teenager might not be accurate.
But that silver-white hair—rare even in the interstellar era—and those pale-gold eyes, clear and clean, bright like gemstones... made the other person look like an exquisite doll displayed in a shop window, cherished and fawned over by everyone.
For some reason, even though it was their first time meeting, Xi Heyan subconsciously felt that the teenager should look like this—soft, pleasing, as if born to be doted on by countless people.
It was just that the first meeting had been genuinely awkward.
The other person had seemed startled too—face flushing red all at once, lashes trembling uneasily, only blurting out a rushed “I hit the wrong thing” before hanging up.
That nervous, flustered voice had the crisp clarity unique to youth—clean in tone, yet because of the embarrassment, when the soft tail of the voice fell in a hurry, it carried a faint, uncontrollable tremor.
A voice like the person. A person like the voice.
Xi Heyan thought so.
It was just... the age was still too young. Had Wen Yuzhi even come of age...?
“Hey! Are you even listening to me?!”
Zhuo Haoyu had already noticed. He’d worked himself half to death talking on and on over here, and the person who was supposed to be listening was blatantly spacing out.
Seeing all that goodwill turn into talking to a brick wall, Zhuo Haoyu held it in, held it in—and finally couldn’t hold it in anymore, blurting out the question.
In response, Xi Heyan only answered with two perfunctory, cold words: “Didn’t listen.”
“...!”
Zhuo Haoyu nearly choked, the breath stuck in his chest, neither up nor down.
He truly couldn’t understand it—what about this awful temperament was worth so many upperclasswomen and underclasswomen liking?!
He’d bet three years of silence on it: someone like Xi Heyan was destined to be single for life!
..........
“Ah-choo!”
Wen Yuzhi sneezed for no reason at all.
And Mu Luo immediately tensed.
Carefully, Mu Luo gave this high-status yet extremely frail young Highness a simple checkup. Only after confirming Wen Yuzhi’s body showed no problems did Mu Luo finally let out a slow breath.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. Your hair and eyes are simply a manifestation of your bloodline. Your previous appearance was probably the result of someone using some special method to temporarily cover your eye color and hair color. As the Saint Clan senses your existence, the traits that belong to the Salilaino bloodline will slowly show themselves.”
This kind of situation had precedents in many races.
It was just that, most of the time, it happened to abandoned cubs. In early childhood, in order to survive, they would camouflage themselves to match the local environment. Only after adulthood would their original appearance gradually re-emerge.
Wen Yuzhi’s situation was very similar.
And Mu Luo also noticed that what changed on this young Highness was only the color of his eyes and hair—other Saint Clan traits still couldn’t be seen for the time being.
Probably because he was still too young, and because his body had some congenital weakness.
Wen Yuzhi didn’t really mind his hair and eyes changing color. He just wasn’t used to it yet.
But since Mu Luo said it was normal, Wen Yuzhi didn’t keep dwelling on it.
Over the next few days, Wen Yuzhi didn’t see Mansendis again.
Even Alvin was rarely seen.
Yet the meals delivered each day never decreased in the slightest. They were adjusted again and again according to Wen Yuzhi’s tastes. Every time food was delivered, there were tiny changes—enough to show that Alvin had been watching his situation the whole time.
Just... for some reason, Alvin didn’t appear...
Until the day Mu Luo came over, as usual, to do the once-a-day health check.
After Mu Luo finished, Wen Yuzhi grabbed the older doctor’s sleeve. He hesitated for a long time, as if wrestling with something.
Mu Luo didn’t urge him—just stood quietly in place, waiting in a posture of deference.
Mu Luo already had a faint sense of what Wen Yuzhi was going to ask.
And sure enough, the next second, the young man in front of Mu Luo—clutching and not letting go—trembled his lashes and asked in a slow, hesitant tone, “He... how is he?”
Mu Luo knew who that “he” referred to.
A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Mu Luo’s eyes. “The king’s condition is already stable, Your Highness. You may rest assured.”
“Oh... that’s good.”
Hearing that, Wen Yuzhi couldn’t help letting out a long breath. The worry that had been knotted in his chest quietly loosened.
Only...
He lowered his eyes, unconsciously hugging the moon plush tighter in his arms.
“Grandpa Mu Luo, do you know where Alvin is? These days Alvin seems really busy.”
He hadn’t seen the adjutant in a long time.
Since coming aboard this warship, the one who had stayed by Wen Yuzhi’s side the longest was Alvin.
Without realizing it, Wen Yuzhi had already grown used to having the adjutant there.
These days, Alvin came and went in a hurry. Even when they did meet, it was only a brief greeting. After one time, then two, Wen Yuzhi keenly noticed that Alvin seemed to be deliberately avoiding him.
At first, when Wen Yuzhi realized it, he felt at a loss, not knowing what he’d done to provoke Alvin’s dislike.
But slowly, from Alvin’s cautious attitude and the same meticulous care as always, Wen Yuzhi realized it might not be dislike at all.
On the contrary, Alvin was worried Wen Yuzhi would be frightened because of what happened that day—worried Wen Yuzhi would start to avoid them, so Alvin reduced their time together as much as possible.
Wen Yuzhi guessed it was his reaction that day that made Alvin misunderstand.
So Wen Yuzhi wanted to find Alvin and explain clearly.
He didn’t dislike it.
And he wasn’t afraid of them because of it.
But Mu Luo’s answer still left Wen Yuzhi disappointed.
“I’m very sorry. I haven’t really seen Alvin much during this period either.”
Wen Yuzhi hadn’t expected that even Mu Luo didn’t know. He pressed his lips together, looking a little dejected.
Mu Luo had never been able to stand seeing a cub look unhappy in front of him. Inside, Mu Luo cursed Mansendis—who had pushed Mu Luo out here—over and over, while also scrambling to patch things up for those unreliable Saint Clan.
“If I had to guess, Lord Alvin and the others are probably busy preparing to land. We have one day left—then we’ll arrive.”
“Is it the Saint Clan’s place?” Wen Yuzhi asked.
Sure enough, his attention was pulled away by that.
...After traveling for so long, they were finally going to arrive?
Mu Luo nodded, then corrected him. “If you mean the Saint Clan’s territory, we’re already there. The place we’re going now is Dark Tower Star. That is the Saint Clan’s origin land, and also their capital. That is our final destination.”
Wen Yuzhi went a little blank when he heard that. He looked at Mu Luo, hesitated, and asked, “We’re already inside the Saint Clan’s territory?”
Mu Luo looked back at him in surprise, as if shocked Wen Yuzhi didn’t know this.
“Alvin never told you? The entire Ninth Star Sector belongs to the Saint Clan. From the moment we saw the River of the Dead fish, Your Highness, you were already home.”
W-what?!
Wen Yuzhi was caught completely off guard by those words, hit so hard his head went a little dizzy.
“You mean... the entire Ninth Star Sector?” the young man asked, sounding like he couldn’t quite believe it.
Mu Luo, however, was completely calm. “It used to be. But now there’s also Kanirila in the Eighth Star Sector.”
Wen Yuzhi: “...”
