Chapter 28: The Face-Blind Cub (Second Update)
Sitting in the high seat, Marshal Shen looked at the generals he had personally promoted, a flicker of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.
His fingers tapped lightly on the table.
The drawing room, which had been noisy just a moment ago, immediately fell silent.
Everyone looked at Marshal Shen with burning eyes.
“The fact that my body is fine is not to be known by the outside world for the time being.”
Aske pondered for a moment and asked tentatively, “What is the Marshal’s intention?”
Marshal Shen said, “Our foundation is not as deep as that of the Star Clan. It is better to remain hidden. This time, I merely mentioned the abolition of the Star Clan’s slave system, and I was met with such intense suppression from the clans. The price was too high; we bet almost everything and still could not shake the clans.”
The generals remained silent.
Aske sighed and took a gulp of the cold tea.
“As long as the clans still control the production of inhibitors, everything we do is in vain. As long as they raise the price slightly, the lower-level beastmen have to grit their teeth and tighten their belts for a tiny vial of inhibitor. Our foundation is too shallow. Combined with the Chief Executive’s sudden betrayal, we are fortunate enough just to have kept the Ninth Legion.”
Back then, seeing that the Federation’s Star Clan clans still practiced slavery, Marshal Shen—who had risen from the bottom of the Blue Star—could not stand that even in the interstellar era, this group of people still lived like the feudal remnants of the ancient times.
(The Ancient Era followed an imperial monarchy; the Pre-Ancient Era was the age of the information explosion.)
Coincidentally, the Chief Executive, who was only a councilor at the time, found Marshal Shen, wanting to change the current state of the Federation.
The Chief Executive at that time did not despise the filth of the lower districts and took the initiative to go to the grassroots to understand the people’s situation.
Ordinary beastmen were forced to spend a huge amount of Star Coins to buy a single expensive inhibitor to suppress their bloodline.
Sometimes, the cost of one inhibitor could crush a family.
In order to survive, in order to live on, they had to work themselves to death for the lords of the clans.
Gradually, the lower-level beastmen became slaves of the clans, at their beck and call.
Perhaps the young Chief Executive truly wanted to hold up a piece of the sky for the lower-level beastmen back then; otherwise, Marshal Shen would not have supported him to sit in the position of Chief Executive.
It was just that the Chief Executive grew old, or perhaps power had blinded his eyes, causing him to lose his original heart.
Turning back at the critical moment and stabbing Marshal Shen in the back—the other party did it with practiced ease.
Did Marshal Shen feel resentment?
Of course he did.
But he did not regret it.
When he decided to follow the Chief Executive, it was undoubtedly so that the lower-level beastmen would no longer be persecuted by the clans.
If he were to choose again, he would still do the same.
Marshal Shen pulled back his thoughts. His fingers unconsciously tapped the tabletop. After a moment of deliberation, he said, “It is not convenient for me to show my face for the time being. All matters in the meantime will be decided by Aske.”
The generals had no objections. They were a group of rough men; matters involving thinking were better left to Aske.
The lights in the Shen family’s drawing room stayed on until the early morning.
Once everyone had left, only Marshal Shen and his daughter, Shen Zexi, remained.
“Dad, what are you thinking?”
Marshal Shen remained silent.
“Dad, I don’t know what your next plan is, but I won’t allow anyone to hurt Bingbing. I think you should understand how special Bingbing is. If he is exposed, there will be many people who want him dead!”
Shen Zexi did not want her little brother to be used as a tool for profit by her father. If that time really came, she might even commit patricide!
“What nonsense are you talking about? I am Bingbing’s father; it’s impossible for me to use my own son as a decoy.” Marshal Shen looked at his second daughter with eyes like a cold pool, his tone firm. “I won’t do it, and none of you three can either. Bingbing’s special ability must be kept tightly under wraps. After I completely clear out the Federation, then he can show his ability openly, and no one will ever hurt him again.”
“Dad, you’ve finally figured it out? You plan to strike out on your own?” Shen Zexi was very surprised.
“Yes.”
This time, Marshal Shen did not believe in the Chief Executive implicitly as he had in the past.
Even if his subordinates and his children were saying how bad the Chief Executive was, he had still stubbornly believed he had followed the right person and would not end up like the generals of the Pre-Ancient Blue Star, whose bodies were wrapped in horsehides after dying in battle.
In the end, his friend had stabbed him in the back, and he had walked the line between life and death. At that moment, Marshal Shen’s thoughts slowly changed.
Previously, he had placed all his hopes on others. Now, his life had been saved by his own son.
There was no doubt about the kind of uproar Bingbing’s special ability would cause once exposed.
What Marshal Shen had to do now was clear out all potential threats for Bingbing.
Those old fogies couldn’t even stand a small reform; they went to great lengths to suppress and marginalize others.
If they were to know that Bingbing’s ability was comparable to inhibitors, or even more effective than them…
They would either try to possess Bingbing or destroy him completely.
No matter which one it was, Marshal Shen, as an old father, could not accept it.
Although he had only spent a few short days with the cub, he had seen the cub’s full-hearted treatment and care.
Especially after he regained his sanity, whenever he thought of the scene of the cub risking his life to save him while he was on the brink of death…
The scene of the tiny cub, leaving bloody footprints with every step, calling out “Ba-ba” in a soft, milky voice…
A hint of softness appeared on Marshal Shen’s cold and hard face.
“Ba~”
The pink-haired cub ran pitter-patter to the Beast Blood Pool to look for his old father.
Only this time, he was met with an empty space. The black tiger that usually lay on the boulder was gone.
Shen Lin searched all around but could find no trace of the black tiger, feeling somewhat dejected.
His little head drooped, his face full of “baby is not happy.”
He sat on a rock, his small legs dangling in the air, swinging back and forth.
He pulled a snack made by the head maid out of his bag and nibbled on it half-heartedly.
Without Papa there, the cub felt the jungle was terrifyingly quiet.
Especially looking at the artificial sun in the sky, it felt so heavy he could hardly breathe.
Clearly, in the past, the black tiger would always wait for him at the edge of the jungle; he had gotten used to it.
As a result, just as he got used to it, the black tiger disappeared.
He was even thinking about clearing the deeper pollutants in the black tiger’s consciousness sea, and now…
Hmph!
The little cub suddenly got a temper and stood up with a thud.
The stray hair on top of his head wobbled.
Shen Lin swallowed his snack in one gulp, intending to head back.
Hearing a rustling sound from the grass, his large, dark eyes lit up instantly, and he lunged toward it like a young swallow returning to its forest.
“Ba~”
His milky voice was several degrees sweeter.
But what he touched was not Papa’s furry coat with its prickly texture, but a body carrying the temperature of a human.
Shen Lin’s body stiffened. His pink-haired head, looking like an explosion, tilted up bit by bit.
He met a rugged and hardy face.
The other person was exceptionally tall, with muscles so large they were frightening. The kind that could punch him into the ground and make it impossible to pull him out.
Shen Lin’s body was like it had hit a spring; he immediately jumped away.
He transformed into his red panda form in mid-air, holding his little paws high, revealing his plum-blossom-like pads, and bared his teeth at the man.
“Who… are~ you~”
Even though he put on a fierce expression, trying to scare the man away…
The cub, who still had difficulty articulating, spoke in a sticky, muffled way.
It was hard to make anyone afraid.
The man not only did not leave but instead leaned forward.
“Not… allowed~”
The little cub issued a warning.
“Bingbing, I am Papa. Can’t you recognize me?”
For some reason, when facing the cub, Father Shen, who always prided himself on being a tough guy, subconsciously softened his voice, speaking in a higher pitch.
He remembered a subordinate who had a daughter and would smile like an idiot every day while holding her photo.
Especially when video calling his daughter, he would speak in a squeezed voice; Marshal Shen had made fun of him for a long time.
Now that he had a cute little son, Marshal Shen finally understood why that subordinate was so happy all day long.
The cub was simply too cute!
The man was truly too tall; the cub had to tilt his neck back until it ached just to barely see his face.
Papa?
Not right!
The cub moved back a few steps, his gaze fierce.
His Papa was a majestic big tiger, not a human!
In his subconscious, the cub still treated the black tiger as Monster Papa; he simply did not believe that the man was his Papa.
Seeing that for every step he took forward, the cub took a step back…
No matter how he explained, the cub treated him like an interstellar kidnapper.
Father Shen felt very helpless and could only switch forms.
A majestic and overbearing big tiger appeared.
The cub’s eyes instantly lit up, and he called out with a softened voice: “Ba… ba~”
“Bingbing, come here.”
Father Shen switched back to his human form and squatted down, beckoning the pink-haired red panda cub.
The cub, who had originally wanted to lung into Father Shen’s arms with a face full of surprise, immediately stopped his footsteps upon seeing the black tiger disappear.
Eh?
Father Shen frowned in confusion. He had clearly switched forms in front of the cub; why was he still so afraid of him?
Father Shen refused to believe it and switched forms again.
Black Tiger: “Roar.”
Cub: “Ba~”
Father Shen: “Baby son.”
Cub: Q-Q
Black Tiger: “Roar.”
Cub: “Ba~ (^▽^)”
Father Shen: “Bingbing.”
Cub: Q-Q
Father Shen: “…”
Father Shen gave up.
He resigned himself to his fate, switched forms, and carried the cub on his back as they strolled through the forest.
The little cub lay on him, humming and chirping, his milky voice fluttering; one could tell just by listening that the cub was in a very good mood.
Father Shen was incredibly depressed.
How was his precious son still a face-blind cub?
“Ba~”
A milky voice laced with honey sounded.
“Aye, what is it, baby son?”
“Run~”
“You got it!”
Father Shen grinned with a wide mouth, smiling in a way that looked quite “cheap.”
The black tiger sprinted through the jungle, whipping up a gale and startling the nesting birds.
The father and son “chased cats and teased dogs” in the jungle, nearly inciting public anger.
Marshal Shen had no idea that his current appearance was exactly the same as his third son’s—the spitting image of a Husky, completely devoid of the majesty of the fierce black tiger.
The reason Father Shen let himself go was simply that he wanted to spend more time with the youngest.
He didn’t have much time left to accompany the youngest; a mountain of things was waiting for him to handle later.
The father and son played until nightfall.
The little cub hadn’t been this happy in a long time; he was so tired he fell into a deep sleep in Father Shen’s arms, snoring softly.
Father Shen looked down at the little cub snoring, his two small hands clenched into fists with palms up, his little face flushed from sleep; an old father’s heart melted in an instant.
Father Shen carried the cub back to the small castle with light steps.
All patrolling personnel nearby were withdrawn, and even the maids in the small castle were cleared out, leaving only the head maid, A’mei, standing quietly at the door.
The moment she saw Marshal Shen, her pupils constricted violently.
However, the head maid had been carefully cultivated by the old butler, Uncle Chen, and her knowledge and vision had broadened; she was barely able to maintain her facial expression upon seeing Marshal Shen.
Marshal Shen only glanced at A’mei as he passed her, heading straight for the cub’s room.
He carefully placed the cub into the nest, guarded by his side, and stayed until the next morning before leaving.
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