Chapter 138: Little Rabbit x Archon

Having received a promise from Xiu, Wen Chu was content.

The two washed up simply, and after breakfast, the doctor arrived in a hurry.

Over the past year, Wen Chu’s heat cycle had stabilized to the first half of the month. Yesterday was the fifteenth, which still technically fell within that window.

Although rare, it wasn’t considered abnormal.

The doctor performed a full checkup on Wen Chu and finally concluded, “There aren’t any issues. It’s just a normal heat cycle.”

Xiu breathed a sigh of relief.

Wen Chu, however, looked at the doctor, hesitating for a moment before asking, “Doctor, during the heat cycle, is it possible to smell other scents?”

The doctor was stunned. “Other scents? What kind of scent specifically?”

Wen Chu stammered, “It’s just… for example, I smell a very fragrant scent on Father.”

At first, he thought it was the body wash Xiu used, and later he thought it might be some special natural body scent. But last night, after being triggered into a stronger reaction by the cool fragrance on Xiu, Wen Chu felt something was off.

The doctor thought for a moment. “We haven’t had a precedent for this before, but if you are smelling a scent from a person, perhaps it’s pheromones?”

“Pheromones?”

“It’s a chemical signal for biological communication. Since you possess some lop-eared rabbit genes, you should be able to perceive pheromones to some extent—have you only smelled this on the Archon?”

Wen Chu felt guilty. “Pretty much.”

The doctor hissed in a breath. “That is strange. To be able to smell only one person’s pheromones… that kind of specificity is rare even among insects. However, we can’t rule out that you’ve undergone some kind of evolution where your reaction mechanism is triggered only by a specific individual’s pheromones.”

“This kind of completely specific perception is generally used to increase the success rate of reproduction, to accurately identify an individual for effective mating and… ah.”

The doctor suddenly realized the two people before him were father and son and slammed the brakes on his words.

“Apologies, I got lost in thought for a moment. It could be something else entirely. Anyway, give me some time to research it.”

Xiu nodded uncomfortably.

After the doctor left, Xiu looked back at Wen Chu and asked somewhat unnaturally, “The scent you mentioned… how long have you been able to smell it?”

Wen Chu answered truthfully, “I smelled it right when I first met you, only it was very faint back then.”

As he grew older, the scent became more intense, until the heat cycle completely erupted last night.

Xiu’s expression stiffened.

Interpreting the doctor’s words, this specific pheromone reaction mechanism was generally in service of reproduction.

What did this mean? That Wen Chu had been attracted to him from the very first glance?

Wen Chu was only a ten-year-old child back then.

Seeing Xiu’s grim expression, Wen Chu whispered, “You don’t like it?”

Xiu rubbed the space between his brows. “It’s not that.”

It wasn’t a question of whether he liked it or not; it was a question of how many years of prison time he should be contemplating.

Oh, right. I am the Archon of the Lower District. I don’t need to go to prison.

…Do rabbits reach sexual maturity this early?

Xiu opened his mouth, unsure of what to say for a long time, and finally sighed. “What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.”

Regardless of the situation, they had to eat first.

This was the child he raised himself; he couldn’t just stop raising him now.

Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, a year passed.

Ever since the accident during the last heat cycle, Xiu never left home for long periods again.

He worked from home whenever possible, and even if he had to go to the Upper District for meetings, he would rush back before Wen Chu finished school.

Because of this, Wen Chu sat in on quite a few meetings and gained a general understanding of the current situation.

With Xiu’s departure, the Aflund family had been gradually sidelined, and the Upper District had openly declared their support for evolutionary experiments.

Although they hadn’t produced significant results back then, and the few existing superpowered individuals had all been recruited by Xiu, the mere concept of “possessing superpowers” was enough to make countless people rush in like moths to a flame.

In just eight short years, the situations of the Upper and Lower Districts had completely flipped.

The Lower District was orderly and thriving, while the Upper District was plagued by disappearances, trafficking, and riots, seemingly trending toward becoming what the Lower District was eight years ago.

Xiu had come to the Lower District only to rest and build up strength; returning was only a matter of time.

Therefore, when Xiu proposed on the day before his eighteenth birthday that he should gradually start handling the affairs of the Lower District, Wen Chu wasn’t too surprised.

At this moment, he was out with Xiu, standing in a cake shop picking out a cake.

Wen Chu continued selecting a cake with a calm expression, asking seemingly casually, “Then will I still be able to see you?”

Xiu paused, then smiled. “Of course. I plan to stay another year, until you are nineteen and can completely master all affairs before I go back. With you here, won’t I be able to travel freely between the Upper and Lower Districts?”

Wen Chu’s movements stopped as he caught the key point. “I can’t go find you?”

Xiu fell silent for a moment, then said, “No, you cannot.”

He didn’t state the reason, but both Wen Chu and he knew it well.

As a superpowered individual and a former test subject, Wen Chu held too many secrets that would drive the Upper District into a frenzy.

In fact, one of Xiu’s “entry tickets” for his return this time was some of the data conclusions he had derived over the years while caring for Wen Chu.

Xiu giving the Lower District to him—to put it nicely, it was handing over the reins. In reality, it was just like eight years ago: placing him in the safest place possible, protecting him tightly.

Wen Chu didn’t argue. He simply said, “Let’s get this cake.”

Xiu glanced at it; it was a simple strawberry cake.

He thought for a moment. “Can we add a greeting?”

The store manager immediately agreed.

Wen Chu didn’t have any objections; he didn’t care much about what the cake looked like.

That was until he saw Xiu pick up the pen and write “Happy Birthday Baby Chu,” toss it to the manager without giving him any time to react, and drag him out the door.

Wen Chu bristled instantly. “Why are you so evil!!”

He was turning eighteen, yet Xiu still called him “Baby.”

Calling him that was one thing, but writing it on his eighteenth birthday cake?

Once they took a picture and put it in a frame, he would be mocked by Xiu for at least ten years.

Xiu let out a muffled laugh. “You agreed to it yourself.”

Wen Chu was so angry he wanted to bite him. “How was I supposed to know you’d write something so ridiculous!”

But since things had come to this, and he had already been dragged out by Xiu, there was no chance to rush back and change it.

Wen Chu could only sulk silently.

They were in the most bustling city center of the Lower District. Outside the cake shop was a commercial street teeming with people.

It was afternoon; the sun was slanting westward, and lights were gradually turning on inside the mall. Occasionally, a few people recognized Xiu and greeted him.

Xiu looked up at the nearby mall, speaking suggestively, “Is there a gift you want to buy?”

The direction Xiu looked was toward a high-end luxury mall, the second-tallest building in the central business district.

Wen Chu wasn’t interested. He merely followed Xiu’s gaze to glance at the top floor of the mall, then withdrew his gaze. “No.”

Xiu chuckled softly beside him. “Buying gifts for you every year is the biggest headache. You aren’t like other children; you aren’t interested in anything.”

Wen Chu looked at the latest model mobile phone in his hand, the custom-made clothes on his body, and thought of the piles of game consoles at home that he didn’t play.

Wen Chu: “…But you’ve already bought everything for me.”

The emotion of “wanting” comes from not having. He had everything; how could there be anything left to want?

Xiu continued to smile and patted his head. “Whether you want it is one thing; whether I buy it is another.”

Seventeen or eighteen was the age for growth spurts. In just one year, Wen Chu had grown taller again.

Last year, Xiu didn’t have to struggle much to pat his head, but this year he had to lift his arm to pat this kid who was now as tall as he was.

“Eighteen years old, huh,” Xiu looked at Wen Chu, unable to stop a sigh of emotion.

Eight years had passed. When Xiu smiled, faint lines had begun to appear at the corners of his eyes, while Wen Chu had only become more beautiful.

The childish softness on the boy’s face was slowly fading, and the original harmless cuteness was gradually shifting toward “exquisite beauty.”

Like a rose raised with meticulous care, gradually blooming from a bud.

Wen Chu met Xiu’s gaze, looking at the man who had raised him almost single-handedly, and said softly, “Father, I am eighteen.”

The date Xiu had promised him a year ago was arriving.

During this year, he had skipped grades in school, angering Alice—who had been sent to protect him—so much that she cursed continuously while pulling all-nighters to skip grades along with him.

Although he still hadn’t made many friends, he had become a prominent figure in the school. After the college entrance exam results came out, he stayed on the trending searches for a full half-month.

It wasn’t anything major—just that he was the Archon’s adopted son, plus the child who sacrificed himself to test the medicine, plus he skipped grades, plus he was turning into an adult this year, plus he scored first place overall in the entire Lower District’s college entrance exams.

After hearing the paragraph above, Alice angrily blocked Wen Chu and still hadn’t added him back.

Wen Chu genuinely felt it wasn’t a big deal—compared to what Xiu had said to him a year ago, these things didn’t count as anything at all.

He looked at Xiu seriously. “Father, you’re still the only one I like.”

The tips of Xiu’s ears turned red. He awkwardly lowered his hand and lowered his voice, “Keep it down. We’re outside. Don’t forget we have a mission.”

Wen Chu obediently fell silent.

Xiu silently picked up the pace, leading Wen Chu quickly to the restaurant he had booked nearby.

The tallest building in the commercial district had a revolving restaurant on the top floor, offering a panoramic view of the city center.

Today, Xiu had booked the entire floor.

The two sat down under the arrangement of the waiter. The appetizers were served quickly. Xiu watched Wen Chu eating salad with a fork and inexplicably hallucinated rabbit ears growing on him, propping his chin up with a smile.

“We’ll eat out today, and tomorrow we’ll eat a little something at home—are you sure there’s nothing you want to buy?”

Wen Chu shook his head. “No.”

It was just the day of his birth; Wen Chu didn’t really understand what was so memorable about it. If anything was worth commemorating, it should be the day he met Xiu.

Before meeting Xiu, he wasn’t really living. That day was his “birthday” in the truest sense.

In the center of the revolving restaurant was a grand piano, where a gentle and beautiful woman was playing. Wen Chu hurried to eat his food.

If he didn’t eat now, he wouldn’t have time later.

Xiu spent a lot of money to book the place; he had to at least eat enough to make it somewhat worth the cost.

Wen Chu’s inner thoughts didn’t show on his face. From an outsider’s perspective, he and Xiu looked like an ordinary father and son.

Xiu was giving him earnest advice, and he was chewing on his greens with his cheeks puffed out.

The salad bottomed out quickly, and the waiter promptly brought up the next cold dish.

Wen Chu looked at the foie gras on the plate, stuck out his tongue, and forked it over to Xiu.

“I don’t like it.”

Xiu took it with an amused expression.

In that instant, the glass beside him shattered with a crisp sound as a bullet pierced through it.

A bullet grazed the back of Xiu’s head and struck the grand piano in the center of the restaurant.

If he hadn’t moved to accept Wen Chu’s foie gras, the bullet would have hit his temple.

The piano music stopped abruptly. The woman playing let out a short scream before a crack was heard.

The power to the entire building was cut, and the restaurant plunged into darkness.

The sound of panicked, fleeing footsteps filled the restaurant, and the smile on Wen Chu’s face slowly faded.

He pounced on Xiu, acting like a panicked child seeking shelter, but in his mind, he was counting the seconds and carefully distinguishing the various sounds.

The sound of a sniper using a silencer one hundred meters away, panicked crying, the sound of breaking plates, and… footsteps approaching them.

Four sets, coming from different directions.

Bang—

Another bullet. Wen Chu tackled Xiu to the ground, dodging it by a hair’s breadth, and used the momentum to pull Xiu into the sniper’s blind spot.

His wrist was cut by the shattered glass, and he had quite a few small cuts on his body from the debris.

Wen Chu didn’t care, but fearing Xiu would be worried and blame himself, he took advantage of the darkness to quickly heal the wounds on his body.

Then, he casually picked up a fork from the table and stabbed it without hesitation toward the nearest set of footsteps.

“Ah!!” A woman’s scream rang out.

It was the woman who had been playing the piano in the center just a moment ago. The fork in Wen Chu’s hand had stabbed directly into her right eyeball, leaving a long trail of blood on her beautiful face, looking exceptionally terrifying.

Wen Chu didn’t hesitate. He stood up to shield Xiu, raised his foot to kick her down, pulled out the fork, stabbed her remaining left eye, and quickly snatched the gun from her hand.

The woman had already fainted from the pain. Wen Chu twirled the pistol and fired cleanly and efficiently in the direction of the remaining three sets of footsteps.

Three muffled sounds of impact followed. The three men attempting to flee were all hit in the knee and fell to the ground.

Wen Chu said softly, “Solved.”

Xiu listened to the news coming through his earpiece that the sniper had been arrested and nodded. “Solved on my end too.”

As his voice fell, the entire building lit up brightly again, revealing the messy floor.

Plates and cups were scattered everywhere, the grand piano in the center was completely scrapped, and the large carpet on the floor was stained with dark red blood.

Wen Chu said with heartache, “Father, did you buy accident insurance? How much will we have to pay for this?”

If he had known earlier, he would have eaten more grass.

Xiu walked over with a smile, taking out handcuffs to restrain the four people on the ground. “It doesn’t matter. These should be people from the Upper District. They heard rumors of my return and panicked like cornered dogs. I have plenty of ways to make them cough up the money.”

Wen Chu pouted, clapped his hands, and threw away the gun. “On the eve of my eighteenth birthday, you actually made me accompany you on a mission. That’s so excessive.”

The end of his sentence dragged out lightly, obviously just acting coquettish.

Xiu, however, looked genuinely thoughtful. “Hmm… it is indeed a bit excessive. Shall I compensate you?”

Wen Chu paused. Before he had time to wonder what kind of compensation this would be, there was a knock at the door.

Knock knock knock!

The knocking was exceptionally urgent.

Wen Chu looked at Xiu.

Xiu nodded at him. “Go open the door.”

This restaurant had been booked by Xiu early on. Aside from those four waiters (assassins), everyone else was their own people. Wen Chu subconsciously thought it was Xiu’s subordinates outside, so without suspicion, he walked over and opened the door.

The moment he opened the door, he was blinded by countless camera flashes.

“Mr. Wen Chu, is it true that you and the Archon were suddenly attacked by terrorists while eating here?”

“We just heard from restaurant staff that you single-handedly took the Archon to avoid two sniper shots and subdued four criminals. Is this true?”

“It is said that the Archon has been suffering from hidden injuries for a long time and that you have been protecting him all these years. Is this why the Archon has stayed in the Lower District for so long? What are your thoughts on this?”

“Can you share your…”

Wen Chu blocked his eyes with his hand, nearly drowning in the sea of reporters, and struggled to flee back to Xiu’s side.

“Where did you all come from???” Wen Chu asked in astonishment.

Xiu let out a light chuckle beside his ear.

Wen Chu paused, and then suddenly understood.

Why Xiu insisted on acting the day before his eighteenth birthday, why Xiu sat on the sidelines the whole time forcing him to act, and why he immediately called in so many reporters.

Xiu was transferring power.

Starting with the ‘fall’ (feigned weakness) of the old Archon, he was lifting the next Archon up to become the desire of the people.

In a roundabout way, it was still Xiu paving the road ahead for him.

Xiu’s lowered laughter reached him. “How is this coming-of-age gift? Baby Chu.”

He deliberately enunciated the last two words slowly and mischievously.