Part 2
Fortunately, they were both good at pretending. One maintained a cold, stoic image with pursed lips, while the other played dumb, acting as if everything from before had never happened.
He needed to quickly forget the image of the big cat carrying his own bowl, the big cat acting spoiled for food, and all the “pats” and “hugs.”
That was the big catās doing. Marshal Zong would just act as though he… Damn it! I can’t forget it at all!
The grey-white rabbit was stunned as Zong Hao walked over. When the disaster happened, A-Hao was still young. She hadn’t seen what he looked like as an adult.
But looking at those familiar features and the swirling emotions in his eyes as he looked at her, her eyes turned red. After a long while, she murmured, “Squeak squeak…” (A-Hao…)
She hadn’t initially associated that big cat with A-Hao. After all, though he was a shifter, A-Hao had been a little black kitten when he was small. The one she had seen was grey and white.
Ning Yunyi watched this scene and simply stood up. “I’m going to take a walk outside and find some food.”
He was afraid that if the siblings started wailing in each other’s arms, should he offer comfort? Or just cover his eyes and pretend he hadn’t seen it?
Ning Yunyi, sporting his “explosion” hairstyle, headed out. He leaned against the front desk, his eyelids drooping as he stared with those red eyes.
The receptionist silently took a step back. “Guest… are you checking out?”
“Not checking out. Iām staying for two more days. I came here to catch a fugitive and havenāt gotten the bounty yet. Why would I leave?” To deepen the receptionistās impression of him, Ning Yunyi could only talk nonsense.
When heād done enough, he flicked two gold coins over as compensation. “If you see him, remember to notify me. I wonāt let you give me info for nothing.”
The receptionistās eyes lit up. Holy crap, she doesn’t even make twenty thousand star coins a month.
This guest was incredibly generous.
Hesitating for a moment, the receptionist grabbed Ning Yunyi as he was turning to leave. “Guest, I see you donāt come out of your room much. Are you hungry? I have nutrient agents here, all sorts of flavors. Want to buy a few tubes?”
Ning Yunyi looked back in feigned confusion. Meeting the receptionistās gaze, his heart stirred. “Sure. I almost forgot, but those things taste terrible; I’m not a fan. But since I just woke up, I am actually hungry.”
The receptionist immediately rummaged underneath the counter and emerged with a box of nutrient agents.
There was a wide variety, a complete selection.
Ning Yunyi muttered as he sorted through them. “Had these, tastes like trash… forget it, it’s just to fill the stomach.”
He picked ten, tossed another gold coin over, and said, “Keep the change as a tip.”
The receptionist thoughtfully brought a bag to pack them for him and respectfully saw him upstairs.
Ning Yunyi took a glance as he walked away. There was an extra slip of paper inside.
An unexpected surprise. This trip is turning out well.
While Ning Yunyi was having one surprise after another, the atmosphere on the Crown Princeās side was heavy.
The baseās top person in charge only figured out the situation by dawn. He tremblingly reported the news via a connection, kneeling on the other side of the video, not even daring to lift his head.
The Crown Prince sat in his wheelchair, listening nonchalantly. However, the gaze he lowered was no longer gentle, but chilling to the bone.
“Self-destructed? And we lost one 3S and two 2S?” His laughter made the man in charge shudder.
The manās forehead touched the floor. “Reporting to Your Highness, after inspection, that is indeed the case. We simply don’t know how the self-destruction occurred. Perhaps Subject 05 sensed the danger and self-destructed while her mental power was being extracted for the last time. Your subordinate detected a high concentration of shifter mental power in the explosion-proof cellāit was very strong, enough to reach self-destruction levels. Also… there was a lot of rabbit fur and blood. I had someone check; it was indeed Subject 05ās blood.”
Only then did the Crown Prince’s expression improve slightly. “Confirmed dead without a doubt?”
The man replied, “Confirmed. No one else entered or exited the baseās defense zone last night. With over ten checkpoints, any forced entry would have been detected long ago. The alarm collar on Subject 05 only sounded once the self-destruction occurred.”
This meant the alarm only triggered because the shifter was no longer detected after the explosion.
The Crown Prince had initially thought there had been an accident and she had been kidnapped, but now he was in a good mood.
Although a small error had occurred, the ultimate goal had been achieved.
The Crown Princeās tone returned to its gentle state. “Seal Subject 05ās file permanently. Just to be safe, investigate all outsiders who have entered or exited the Desert Planet recently. Screen them one by one. This matter will only be over once we are certain there are no anomalies. Don’t let me down. If you prove to be as useless as he was… then just as you became the person in charge, someone else can just as easily take your place.”
The man in charge repeatedly agreed. Only when the connection was cut did his body go limp with relief. His life was saved.
He had been scared to death, thinking he was finished this time.
Walking out of the office, he called his subordinates and passed down the Crown Princeās instructions. Then, he gritted his teeth and said, “Immediately stop the banquets held every three days. Seal everyoneās mouths; no one is allowed to mention this again. Otherwise, if those above find out, not only will I be unable to protect you, Iāll be finished myself!”
If the Crown Prince found out they were holding banquets and singing and dancing every day here, a hundred of his lives wouldn’t be enough to pay the price.
Fortunately, he was smart enough to hide it. Otherwise… with the Prince’s suspicious nature, he would definitely think these people were problematic and investigate thoroughly.
By then, every club on the Desert Planet would be gone. What joy would be left for him in this godforsaken place?
But for now, they couldn’t act against the wind; they had to keep things quiet.
His subordinates understood perfectly and agreed.
Ning Yunyi strolled back with his bag.
Reaching the door, he even made a point of calling out a reminder: “I’m back.”
He swiped the magnetic card, closed the door, and poked his head inside. He happened to see the rabbit turning her back, wiping her eyes with a small paw.
Zong Hao also looked away, not speaking for a moment.
Ning Yunyi withdrew his gaze and headed toward the bathroom, pretending to wash his hands. He took his time before coming back to the living room and placing the bag on the table. “I bought some nutrient agents. How about we all share?”
This was a hotel, and the scent isolation wasn’t great; it wasn’t convenient to bring out real food.
Zong Hao wanted to give him a grateful smile, but he had lived with an “iceberg face” for years. Combined with the emotional upheaval just now, the smile was handsome, but inexplicably a bit twisted.
Ning Yunyi: …Brother, maybe you just shouldn’t smile.
It was kind of scary.
Realizing this, Zong Hao gave a low cough. “Thank you for this, Mr. Bai.”
Ning Yunyi waved it off. “Itās for my cub too, and for our common goal. No need for thanks.”
Zong Hao gave him a complicated look. He realized Ning Yunyi was avoiding mentioning the previous situation for the sake of his pride, so he could only pretend not to know either.
Did he really have to press and ask, did you know I was the big cat all along?
While telling his sister about the events of the past few years, he had figured out how Ning Yunyi knew.
The wristband on the kitten.
Ning Yunyiās attitude had shifted subtly starting from those two days after they moved back to the Ning residence.
The layout around the Ning house had changed. He had initially thought he was being kicked out, but then his retinal scan was recorded, and Ning Yunyi kept him there.
But not long after, Ning Yunyiās attitude changed after a trip to the study.
Zong Hao guessed that he had accidentally seen the kittenās wristband and found the problem.
Initially, he thought deleting the records would be enough, but since Ning Yunyi could change the entire Ning familyās perimeter defenses, finding deleted records wouldn’t be an issue for him.
Zong Hao sighed. He owed Ning Yunyi even more now.
To ease the awkwardness, Ning Yunyi divided the nutrient agents and pulled out the slip of paper.
[302]
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