The next day, Chi Yao stayed home making cat nests while Jing Xi went to Chou Tianlin’s house alone.

The man’s eyes were bloodshot, looking as if he hadn’t slept in a long time.

“This is a blood sample from the subject during his susceptible period.” Jing Xi handed over the test tube.

Chou Tianlin’s eyes lit up. He took it and was about to head straight back to the lab.

Jing Xi stopped him. “Any discoveries?”

Chou Tianlin sat down, took off his glasses, and rubbed his heavy eyelids.

“It’s a wolf.”

Jing Xi’s eyes flickered. “You’re saying this subject’s genes have fused with those of a mutant wolf?”

Chou Tianlin nodded. “This is the most perfect fusion I have seen in all these years.”

Jing Xi’s brows furrowed.

To him, this didn’t sound like good news.

Did a more perfect fusion mean it would be more difficult to reverse?

“Do you remember what I told you before?” Chou Tianlin asked.

Jing Xi: “What was that?”

Chou Tianlin: “Under natural conditions, beast mutations can only reach level five.”

Jing Xi nodded, confused. “What does that have to do with this blood sample?”

“Although I can’t be 100% certain at the moment,” Chou Tianlin turned sideways, pulled up a test report from his system, and highlighted some parts for Jing Xi to see, “from this blood sample, it far exceeds level five.”

Jing Xi was stunned, his voice tightening. “Then… what will happen?”

Chou Tianlin’s expression was blank. “I don’t know. If we reference a level-five mutation, then it’s highly likely it also possesses special abilities beyond human comprehension. It’s worthy of in-depth research.”

To Chou Tianlin, this was just a subject with research value, but to Jing Xi, it sounded very heavy.

An ordinary person—just how cruel must the modifications have been to turn him into this?

“Is there a way to turn back into an ordinary person?” Jing Xi asked in a low voice. “As you can see, quite a few people have been modified by them. If this can’t be reversed, this group of people will never be able to return to a normal life.”

Chou Tianlin put his glasses back on and looked at him. “This has always been the direction of my research. Don’t worry. Since I promised you, I will do my best.”

Jing Xi nodded. For some reason, he had a degree of trust in Chou Tianlin.

“I need to leave the Capital Star for the next two days. I’ve left some people stationed nearby to keep watch. Be careful yourself. If you encounter any problems you can’t solve, contact me anytime.”

Chou Tianlin: “Don’t worry. Even if they come for me, they won’t take my life.”

Jing Xi thought about it and agreed.

Chou Tianlin’s value was irreplaceable by others. Just like him and Chi Yao, even though they knew Chou Tianlin’s stance was ambiguous, they still had to ask for his help.

---

Leaving Chi Yao home alone, Jing Xi didn’t dare to stay away for too long. He left as soon as official business was concluded.

When he rushed back to his small villa, the situation at home was much better than he had imagined.

Chi Yao was sitting under the veranda in the backyard, polishing a cat nest. The Yao Yao couple was squatting three steps away, watching him.

The scene was exceptionally harmonious.

Jing Xi raised his hand and took a picture.

His terminal suddenly vibrated. He swiped it open to see a message from his grandfather.

[How is Ah Yao’s condition today?]

Jing Xi casually sent the photo over.

[Emotionally stable.]

On his way to the backyard, a reply came back.

[Who’s he making a coffin for?]

Jing Xi: “…”

It seemed he wasn’t the only one with that impression.

It was warm under the veranda. Chi Yao meticulously polished with sandpaper, afraid that even the slightest splinter would hurt the newborn kittens.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up, and the calm mood he’d had all morning suddenly became unsettled.

“…”

It seemed it wasn’t related to his susceptible period. Jing Xi was the key to his emotional instability.

“How is it coming along?” Jing Xi sat down beside him and casually scooped up Yao Yao into his arms.

Chi Yao watched with envy.

He was envious of the fat cat in his arms, and even more envious of his wife holding the cat.

“Why does it scratch me when I hold it?”

Jing Xi: “Yao Yao is particular about people. It doesn’t let anyone hold it except me.”

Chi Yao: “…”

He was just about to ask if there was a way to lure the cat into his arms when he heard Jing Xi add, “Maybe all things named Yao Yao like to stick to me.”

Chi Yao: “…”

That makes so much sense.

---

They had lunch at their own house.

While feeding the cat, Chi Yao managed to sneak in a couple of pets on his precious daughter.

So warm, so soft, it felt so good.

“I’ve set up a program in the cat nest,” Jing Xi walked over. “When it’s about to give birth, I’ll receive a notification on my terminal.”

Chi Yao’s eyes lit up. “Then we’ll be able to see if it’s a boy or a girl at the first moment?”

Jing Xi pulled him up and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes. You’re about to be a grandfather. Are you happy?”

Chi Yao: “…”

They weren’t even married yet.

In the afternoon, they returned to the Jing residence, intending to have dinner with the elders again and say their goodbyes before heading to Cetus the next day. However, before dinner time, a mission from the military headquarters arrived.

A beast tide had broken out on Cetus 820.

The Flying Dragon was the garrisoned legion for the Cetus constellation and would be prioritized for deployment. Other legions would only be considered if they absolutely couldn’t be dispatched.

“820 is very close to 810, right?” Chi Yao said.

Jing Xi nodded, involuntarily thinking of the cave on Planet 333.

Chi Yao had said that thing was abandoned there.

Could there be similar experimental subjects on other planets?

If they were deploying, they couldn’t be so leisurely.

Unable to wait for dinner, Jing Xi went to the military headquarters first for a meeting and to handle deployment procedures.

With Jing Xi, the proper grandson, gone, Chi Yao was monopolizing the affection of the two elders at home, being frantically fed at the dinner table.

Looking at the two bowls in front of him, piled high like small mountains, Chi Yao was speechless. “…”

This must be why Jing Xi doesn’t dare to come back often, right?

His terminal rang, and he swiped it open.

It was Jing Xi.

“I’m leaving the military headquarters now. I’ve sent you my location. You drive over.”

Chi Yao paused. “We’re leaving now?”

Jing Xi’s expression was serious. “The current situation on 820 is very similar to the initial stages of the attack on 333. I won’t be at ease if we don’t go over sooner.”

After hanging up, Chi Yao picked up his bowl and shoveled a large mouthful.

Those good-for-nothing garrisons in Cetus were all cultivated by Li Bo over many years. They were completely unreliable.

Even if there were good ones originally, they had all been eliminated by their screening mechanism.

Bai Qi nimbly packed a luggage bag for Chi Yao, filling it with food and medicine.

“Take care of yourself.”

Taking both food and gifts, Chi Yao didn’t feel embarrassed. He took the bag.

It was a piece of the elders’ kindness; refusing would be impolite.

Jing Rong said worriedly, “Contact us often, whether you have something or not. Besides not being able to help you reduce your sentence, I can help with most other things.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Who’s going to jail?

Before leaving, he suddenly remembered something, took out two wolf fangs from his pocket, and handed them to Jing Rong.

“The quality of these is no worse than yours.”

Jing Rong was stunned and took them.

These were two canines from a level-five wolf king. Their texture was hard and fine, their color white and lustrous. They were indeed of exceptional quality.

These two teeth alone were enough to buy a villa in the core district of the Capital Star.

Jing Rong gave them back to him. “I already have a wolf king specimen. You keep these for yourself.”

Chi Yao got into the driver’s seat, fastened his seatbelt, and looked at him through the lowered car window with a smile.

“Isn’t your specimen missing two teeth?”

Jing Rong was stunned. “How did you know—”

Back then, as soon as he got it, the two little ones had snatched the two best-looking teeth, causing his wolf king specimen to look particularly silly and not at all ferocious.

“If you want any other specimens, feel free to message me anytime. Don’t be shy.” Chi Yao started the engine. “Xi Xi is my wife. It’s only right to be filial to Grandpa and Grandma.”

Jing Rong: “…”

Chi Yao looked at Bai Qi and waved to her. “I’ll come see you next time. Help me take care of my melon. Don’t let it get bullied by Xi Xi’s fruit.”

Bai Qi laughed out loud. “I know.”

Checking the location Jing Xi sent, Chi Yao stepped on the gas and drove off.

Back in his room, Jing Rong couldn’t come to his senses for a long time.

“What’s wrong? Can’t bear to see the child go?” Bai Qi asked.

Jing Rong stared at her blankly. “Do you think this Yao Yao and our family’s Yao Yao could be the same person?”

Bai Qi’s eyes widened.

Thinking of the child from her memory, her nose tingled, and her eyes immediately became moist.

“Don’t talk nonsense without evidence. You’re just giving people false hope!” Bai Qi said with reddened eyes. “You absolutely cannot say this in front of Xi Xi!”

Jing Rong frowned, looking at the wolf fangs in his hand, unable to calm down.

When that child came to their home back then, they only heard his name was Yao, but even the person who brought him didn’t know the specific character. Thinking the child was still young, they just called him Yao Yao, Yao Yao, never delving deeper into it.

Maybe Xi Xi had told Chi Yao about this, which was why he knew his wolf king specimen was missing two teeth.

But he had the same name as that child, and their ages were similar.

Was it really just a coincidence?

---

Chi Yao drove very fast. When he reached the destination, he met up with the Flying Dragon fleet.

Following the instructions, he drove the hover car directly into a shuttle that had descended halfway, which then entered the main warship.

In the command cabin, Jing Xi was in a combat meeting.

Lu Meng, Jin Ze, and others surrounded the conference table, their expressions serious.

“According to the surveillance footage sent back from the battlefield, only the southern continent is currently under attack by the beast tide.”

Lu Meng magnified the map and drew a circle on a coastal area. “This area has always had mutant beast activity. The local garrison is already evacuating personnel urgently. The number of casualties is still within a controllable range.”

820 was composed of three continents—East, West, and South—separated by oceans that took up more than 60% of the planet’s surface.

“They’ve learned their lesson this time,” Jin Ze said sarcastically.

Lu Meng: “If they don’t learn their lesson, the only option left is to go home and farm. Right, Boss?”

Jing Xi received the news that Chi Yao had arrived at the main warship and looked up at the map.

Although the three continents were not connected, the southern continent was the largest. If the line of defense couldn’t hold, the situation would be no better than Planet 333.

“Activate full-range monitoring immediately after entering 820’s airspace,” Jing Xi said faintly. “We cannot rely on the garrison’s data.”

The heads of the information and programming departments nodded in agreement.

The cabin door opened. Everyone turned to look and was surprised to see it was Chi Yao.

The leader of their sworn enemy was moving in and out of their legion with increasing freedom.

The officers: “…”

The mood was complicated.

“Is the situation serious?” Chi Yao naturally pulled out the chair next to Jing Xi and sat down, oblivious to the gazes cast his way. “The south again?”

Jing Xi briefly explained the current situation to him.

“So, want to go together?”

He didn’t say who, but Chi Yao knew he was referring to Extreme Shadow.

It’s convenient having a wife who’s a legion commander.

You can join the group and pick up military merits for free anytime.

Chi Yao smiled. “It’s not entirely out of the question.”

The officers: “…”

Taking advantage and still acting coy.

Jing Xi wanting to bring Extreme Shadow along wasn’t purely for personal reasons.

Firstly, he hoped to slowly widen Extreme Shadow’s path, guiding them toward the right track. Secondly, there were too many unknown situations on the battlefield. If it was like Planet 333, he would need to rely on Extreme Shadow’s power.

---

There were still five hours until they reached 820.

Chi Yao had eaten his fill, but Jing Xi had been so busy he hadn’t even had time to drink water.

After the deployment meeting was over, Chi Yao pulled him back to the rest cabin.

“Grandma asked me to bring this for you. Pad your stomach with it first.” Chi Yao tossed him the luggage bag. “Tell me what you want to eat, and I’ll make it for you.”

Jing Xi was stunned. “No need, there’s food in the mess hall. I’ll just eat something simple—”

“How can you eat something simple?” Chi Yao rolled up his sleeves and walked to the kitchen. “While I’m in the mood to cook, hurry up and name your dishes. If you don’t say it now, I’ll change my mind.”

Jing Xi: “Sautéed cabbage with vinegar.”

Chi Yao: “Rejected.”

Jing Xi: “Sweet and sour pork ribs.”

Chi Yao: “Rejected.”

Jing Xi: “…”

“Forget it, you’ll eat whatever I make.” Chi Yao opened the fresh-keeping cabinet and rummaged through it, saying casually, “You like everything anyway.”

Just as he finished speaking, he felt a warmth on his back as arms wrapped around his waist.

“Are you feeling better?” Jing Xi rested on his shoulder, inhaling his scent.

“I’ve been fine for a while.” Chi Yao turned on the tap to wash the ingredients. “I’m not like you, crying my heart out.”

Jing Xi: “…”

Chi Yao’s pheromones were indeed no longer leaking. Even with Jing Xi this close, he could barely smell them.

“Sorry, I couldn’t accompany you through your susceptible period properly,” Jing Xi’s voice was muffled.

Chi Yao turned his head and kissed him on the cheek.

“Call me ‘husband,’ and I’ll forgive you.”

Jing Xi looked at him. “Hub—”

Chi Yao’s lips curved up, and he heard him continue, “—by.”

Chi Yao: “…”

“If you don’t hurry up and get your household registration, we’re both going to be past the legal marriage age,” Jing Xi’s eyes filled with laughter. “At that point, I can only call you my old partner.”

Chi Yao: “Nonsense again.”

According to the latest data released this year, the average life expectancy in the Empire was 130.

The marriage law stipulated that after the age of 70, whether it was a first marriage or a remarriage, it could only be considered a “partnership” and not a “marriage.”

Compared to marriage, partnership had a clearer and simpler distribution of common property, and the rights and obligations were also different.

Chi Yao had never paid much mind to his past.

He had never even thought about marriage.

But hearing this now, he suddenly felt a little guilty.

Jing Xi counted on his fingers. “At this rate, it will take at least ten years to offset your criminal record, plus at least three years in prison. If you happen to be in a good mood and decide to go rob something in between, back and forth, you’ll be in your sixties or seventies.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Chi Yao: “I won’t go robbing.”

Jing Xi looked at him. “Really?”

Chi Yao: “At least I’ll make sure you don’t see it.”

Committing a crime in front of my wife is too costly.

Jing Xi: “…”

While Jing Xi was eating, Chi Yao had him open a certain social platform.

Jing Xi slurped his noodles and directly authorized his terminal’s permissions to him.

“What is it?”

Chi Yao opened his homepage. It only had the initial advertisement from when he joined, with no other information.

After thinking for a moment, he switched to the Flying Dragon’s homepage.

“Do you have operational access to the legion’s account?”

Jing Xi: “I do.”

Chi Yao: “Let me borrow it to post an ad.”

Jing Xi: “?”

By the time Jing Xi finished eating and washed the bowl, Chi Yao was sitting on the sofa, smiling.

“What did you post?” Jing Xi sat casually on the armrest, looking at the screen.

The internet was already dominated by Extreme Shadow.

A few minutes ago, the Flying Dragon homepage had released a video message without any text description.

Jing Xi clicked on it, and Chi Yao’s face immediately appeared on the screen.

“Hello everyone, I am Chi Yao—”

In the video, he was smiling and polite, looking like a young master from some noble family, completely unrelated to a Star Pirate.

Netizens didn’t expect that after being awarded the medal, Chi Yao’s first appearance would be in this manner.

“OMG, my husband’s voice is so nice!”

“Flying Dragon is helping Chi Yao post a message. Looks like Extreme Shadow has already reached a cooperation with the military, right?”

“Heard through the grapevine that the Star Pirate circle has been very active recently, all clamoring to join Extreme Shadow.”

“They couldn’t run away fast enough before, now they’re all rushing to curry favor. This is life [doge]”

Jing Xi finished watching his short two-minute video.

There wasn’t much content; it was just a roundabout way of praising Extreme Shadow and himself.

“You’re bored?” Jing Xi put his arm around his shoulder, looking down at him.

Chi Yao: “I haven’t gotten my hands on Xingbang’s armaments yet. I can’t be careless. What if they get suspicious halfway and back out? Wouldn’t I have sacrificed my looks for nothing?”

Jing Xi: “…”

With this mention, Jing Xi suddenly understood.

The military was now under Pei Zhenyue’s control. To those people, Chi Yao getting too close to the military might be another kind of dangerous signal.

By putting on this show, Chi Yao not only clarified his Star Pirate stance but also put on the full “nouveau riche” attitude of a street rat who had made it big, which would easily confuse the opponent.

“That day, Ruan Lingyun didn’t do anything to you, right?” Jing Xi’s tone was a bit jealous.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to ask; it was that he was afraid of hearing an answer he didn’t want to hear and letting Chi Yao see his immature side.

But—Chi Yao wasn’t that mature either.

Chi Yao looked him up and down. “He sat on the armrest that day too, leaning against me just like this.”

Jing Xi’s body stiffened.

Chi Yao said deliberately, “He even called me ‘big brother.’ I almost couldn’t hold back.”

Jing Xi: “…”

He narrowed his eyes, his gaze dangerous. “Big brother?”

Chi Yao raised an eyebrow, smug.

Jing Xi: “Calling a minor ‘big brother,’ where does he get the gall?”

Chi Yao: “…”

---

They would arrive at Planet 820 around midnight. Tonight was destined to be sleepless.

It was too early now to sleep.

The two decided to lie on the sofa, chatting idly.

Chi Yao had called some of his people to standby on Planet 0520, ready to depart at any time if needed.

Jing Xi lay on his side in Chi Yao’s arms. “If they come, bring Tie Xiong and Xiao Jinyu too. I haven’t seen them in a while.”

Children don’t need material things the most, but the companionship of their family.

“He’s happily raising fish every day,” Chi Yao’s tone was sour. “I wasn’t this comfortable at his age.”

Jing Xi turned to face him. “You still can’t remember where that place was?”

Chi Yao rarely mentioned his past. As he himself said, what’s past is past. He didn’t dwell on it or long for it.

But knowing where that place was would be a great help to the investigation.

Chi Yao shook his head. “I only remember it was a level-five danger zone. The people there were either key experimental subjects like me or death row inmates. I had the old man try to find it before, but the scope was too large, and we were always busy with immediate matters, so it got dragged on until now.”

Thinking back on the past, Chi Yao didn’t actually feel much.

People who were used to ordinary life might find it painful there, but he had been there since he was a child.

Perhaps it was self-protection, or maybe he was just too young. After he forgot the memories from before he went there, he quickly adapted to the new life.

“The death row inmates had to undergo physical modifications and go out to mine. Many were eaten by mutant beasts before their modifications were even complete.”

Chi Yao sneered. “In the eyes of the administrators, if you can’t beat the mutant beasts, you deserve to die. It was a rule for screening elites, in a way.”

Jing Xi frowned. “What about the children?”

Chi Yao pillowed his head with one arm, the other resting on his waist.

“At first, it was just regular injections and check-ups. When we were around 10, they started arranging for us to go out hunting.”

Speaking of this, Chi Yao smiled.

“That was my only form of entertainment as a child.”

Jing Xi found it hard to imagine.

Letting 10-year-old children walk around a level-five danger zone and even making them hunt.

“It was too dangerous!”

“If you couldn’t complete the designated quota, you would be punished. Many people broke down.”

The smile on Chi Yao’s lips became ironic. “But there was no reward for performing too well, either. It just meant entering the various ‘playgrounds’ early and becoming the playthings of those VIPs.”

Thinking of Chi Yao being like the contestants in the underwater Colosseum, being bet on and forced into life-and-death fights, Jing Xi’s heart ached as if pricked by needles.

Just how much suffering had he endured to live until the day they reunited?

Chi Yao was in the middle of his story when he saw Jing Xi bury his face in his chest, not speaking.

“Sleepy?”

Jing Xi shook his head, his voice muffled. “Did you run away later?”

Chi Yao patted his head. “I got tired of playing all the games. Why would I stay there?”

Jing Xi: “…”

As expected of you.

He looked up. “You picked up Yin Wei during your escape?”

From this angle, Chi Yao could see Jing Xi’s long, straight eyelashes.

“I gave birth to it.”

Jing Xi: “…………”

Seeing Jing Xi’s expression was off, Chi Yao realized his previous sentence was ambiguous.

“In my first year of hunting, I found a dead wolf king. It was pregnant with Yin Wei in its belly.”

“You cut it out?” Jing Xi asked.

“The mother wolf probably hadn’t been dead for long. It kept moving in the belly.” Chi Yao recalled that time. “It was my first hunt. I didn’t dare to go too deep into the forest. Thinking I could get a ready-made one, I spent a lot of effort getting it out.”

Jing Xi: “And then you saw it was too cute and couldn’t bear to hand it over?”

Chi Yao laughed out loud. “I was afraid it would be taken away if I brought it back, so I found a place to hide it. I didn’t expect it to still be there the next day.”

“Maybe it thought I was one of its own because I had the scent of a wolf. So every day, under the pretext of hunting, I would run out to play with it.”

Chi Yao continued, “Wolves grow very fast—”

Jing Xi: “And then you used it as a body pillow?”

“Making the best use of everything.” Chi Yao kissed the corner of his eye and smiled. “Later, the organization still found out, but my strength was there for all to see. They didn’t dare to say anything.”

Running wild in the forest with a wolf all day, his skills were definitely better than ordinary people’s.

A thought flashed through his mind, and Jing Xi sat up abruptly. “Yin Wei might be able to find that place!”

Chi Yao sat up with him. “You mean—”

Jing Xi looked at him, his expression serious. “From the climate, environment, and general galaxy, narrow down the scope first! The number of level-five danger zones isn’t large. If there are specific clues, we can narrow it down further.”

Chi Yao rested his chin in his hand, pondering. “It’s feasible. It’s very idle anyway. With it along, the efficiency can be much higher.”

Jing Xi’s face darkened.

“The people who hurt you, not a single one of them will get away—”