Chapter 53: The Tyrant’s Little Scheme…
“Bingbing, over here!”
Shen Lin was wearing his little backpack, his hand held by a teacher as they walked out of the Beast Nursery. The moment he looked up, he saw Shen Zejue jumping the highest among the crowd.
It wasn’t even time for the Federation’s First Academy to dismiss yet. Seeing Shen Zejue here could only mean one thing—he was playing truant again.
And he wasn’t alone.
When the other parents picking up their children saw the group of rowdy, delinquent-looking teenagers loitering there, they couldn’t help but quicken their pace as they passed by.
“Teacher, I’m Shen Lin’s older brother. I’m here to take my brother home.”
Shen Zejue stepped forward and scooped up the cub, propping him onto his shoulders. After giving the teacher a quick word, he turned to leave.
His long legs moved like a whirlwind; he ran so fast that by the time the teacher reached out to give a few parting instructions, the boy was already gone.
The group of teenagers following Shen Zejue swarmed after them, running off into the distance.
Before coming to pick up the cub, Shen Zejue had already sent a message to the eldest brother, Shen Zeyu.
Consequently, the aircraft waiting at the academy entrance did not bear the Shen family crest. This caused several people who were lying in wait to intercept Shen Lin to miss their mark.
However, those who had been waiting for the “fish” to bite followed them stealthily from the shadows.
In a dense crowd, taking a few people away quietly wouldn’t attract much attention.
On the other side, Shen Lin had no idea he had just brushed past danger.
The vibrant, youthful teenagers all stepped forward to greet him.
“Hehe, Bingbing, hello there!”
Shen Lin responded seriously, “Ni-hao~”
“Wow, wow, wow! Cub-cubs really are so healing.”
“Give it a rest. Didn’t you say every younger brother in the galaxy is a little devil? Why did your tune change the moment you saw Bingbing?”
“Er… you know what my brother is like. Boss, how about we swap brothers?”
Shen Zejue punched his lackey on the head. “In your dreams!”
“Bingbing!”
“Tata~”
Shen Lin saw Tariel waving at him from not far away and waved his tiny hand back.
He tugged on his third brother’s ear, gesturing for him to head over there.
Shen Zejue curled his lip, but he didn’t refuse. He followed the cub’s wish and walked over to Tariel.
“Tata, your injury—”
“It’s fine. A few more days of rest and I’ll be completely healed.”
Tariel walked over with a limp, supported by a robot. His delicate face was covered in sweat; it was clear he was struggling to walk, yet he still forced a smile for the cub.
Previously, all of Tariel’s limbs had been fractured. Shen Lin had used his healing ability to help mend them, but it wasn’t as if he could jump back on his feet immediately.
Those were broken bones, not just scraped skin.
Even with repair agents, it would normally take months of recuperation.
But with Shen Lin’s healing power, it only took a few days for his bones and body to realign properly so he could walk normally.
Shen Zejue and Tariel used to have a terrible relationship, and the lackeys following them weren’t much better.
Fighting every few days was a regular occurrence, and both sides looked at each other like enemies.
Yet, Tariel had taken a few days of sick leave, and upon his return, his relationship with Shen Zejue had actually improved quite a bit. This left their followers utterly bewildered.
Especially now, the lackeys from both sides stared at each other, the air filled with an indescribable awkwardness.
Tariel didn’t stay long before leaving.
Shen Zejue’s lackeys breathed a sigh of relief as their former enemy departed.
“Lu Xiu, you’ve got the best brain. Tell us, what’s Tariel’s angle? Is he trying to make peace with our Boss?”
“I’m not sure. But with Bingbing around, a thawing of the relationship between the Boss and Tariel was inevitable.”
Lu Xiu was a famous bully at the Federation’s First Academy.
Because of his poor family background, he was often picked on by his classmates.
By chance, he was saved by Shen Zejue, who happened to be passing by.
From then on, Lu Xiu became Shen Zejue’s follower, and now he even served as the group’s military counselor.
At first, Shen Zejue’s other lackeys were very unwelcoming toward this “scholar.”
After all, they were the types who just drifted through school and never got along with good students.
Originally, both sides minded their own business, but then Lu Xiu suddenly barged in, claiming he wanted to join them.
The lackeys were afraid their status would be threatened and tried to ostracize him.
But instead of being pushed out, he ended up becoming the counselor.
The reason was simple: Lu Xiu didn’t have the “nose-in-the-air” attitude of typical top students. He was approachable, easy to talk to, and his brain was genuinely useful!
When they used to clash with Tariel’s group, they usually ended up on the losing end.
Ever since Lu Xiu arrived, they had turned the tables many times, finally letting out the frustration they had kept bottled up.
As things went smoother, they began to see Lu Xiu in a much better light.
Shen Lin hung out with his third brother and his gang until dark before finally returning home.
The eldest brother, Shen Zeyu, only said, “Come back earlier next time,” and left it at that.
Everyone had dinner together.
Shen Zeyu then took the cub back to the small castle to sleep.
Recently, the second sister, Shen Zexi, hadn’t been seen at the dining table. It seemed that ever since the eldest brother returned, her overtime hours had grown longer and longer.
The eldest brother didn’t seem in a hurry to take up his post; instead, he insisted on picking up and dropping off Shen Lin at school every day.
A few times, Shen Papa and Shen Zeyu had even argued directly over who would take him, allowing the second sister to seize the opportunity.
By the time Shen Papa and the eldest brother finished their argument and turned around, the cub was already gone.
Later, they got smarter and started taking turns.
Shen Lin didn’t find the smothering attention of his family troublesome at all; he smiled happily every day.
He bared his tiny “millet” teeth, kicked his small feet, and hummed a song that the eldest brother couldn’t understand.
After changing his clothes, Shen Zeyu held the cub in his arms and playfully pinched his cheek. “What are you so happy about?”
“Not telling~”
Shen Zeyu squeezed the cub’s chin. “Bingbing, you can speak in full sentences now. Why do you still insist on letting words out in three-word bursts?”
Shen Lin blinked, putting on an innocent look.
Shen Zeyu opened his mouth, but the lecture got stuck in his throat.
Thinking for a moment, the eldest brother changed the subject. He reached out and tugged at the few strands of red hair at the back of the cub’s neck. “Did that little Ikaruosi sovereign give you these?”
Shen Lin carefully rescued those few strands from his brother’s hand. “Don’t touch~”
“I see.”
Shen Zeyu watched as the cub pitter-pattered off the bed, picked up a small mirror, and carefully counted the red strands. Once he was sure not a single one was missing, he put the mirror down and climbed back into bed. He snuggled into his brother’s arms, clutched his little blanket, and closed his eyes to sleep.
Seeing the cub’s series of actions, Shen Zeyu felt a bit sour in his heart.
But he wouldn’t tell the cub to get rid of those strands.
Last time, the energy within those strands had exploded to protect the cub, so Shen Zeyu had no intention of removing them.
Having them as a safety barrier was quite good.
He was just annoyed that the red-haired boy had so blatantly left his scent on the cub. How was that any different from marking his own territory?
The red-haired boy’s arrogant behavior made Shen Zeyu wary; he felt as though his little cub was going to be stolen away entirely.
This day, Shen Lin was counting his collection as usual.
A Ghost Vine poked its way through the window and tapped the cub’s cheek.
Shen Lin had just finished his count. He put his things back into his spatial button and grabbed the vine.
“What’s wrong~”
The Ghost Vine branch pointed downward.
Shen Lin followed its direction and saw a floor full of energy stones.
“You mean… something’s there~”
The Ghost Vine’s branch twisted with a sense of urgency.
“Down together~”
Shen Lin gripped the Ghost Vine’s branch, lay back in his chair, and closed his eyes.
The moment he linked with the Ghost Vine’s consciousness, his perspective shifted violently.
He was suspended high in the air, and before he could prepare himself, he dove straight down.
The images blurred until the vision grew darker and darker.
Twisting sewers, Rat-men patrolling back and forth within the metal tunnels.
Sinking further, he reached the foundation of the Shen estate.
Beneath the soft soil, Earth-dragons occasionally surfaced, revealing their vestigial eyes as they sniffed for food. Their soft, squirming bodies wriggled—a sight that was physiologically unsettling.
Bypassing the Earth-dragons, he dove hundreds of meters deeper. More subterranean creatures appeared.
Five hundred meters.
Eight hundred meters.
One thousand meters…
At the 1,500-meter mark, the Ghost Vine’s root system stopped and dove no further.
Aside from darkness and dirt, the unchanging scenery almost made the cub fall asleep.
When the image finally stopped, he sat up straight and focused.
At first, he didn’t think much of it, until he saw a white wall. He finally perked up.
He manipulated the Ghost Vine to move forward.
As the distance closed, he realized it wasn’t a white wall at all—it was a section of a massive white bone.
Shen Lin had never seen a bone this large.
He wanted to get closer to take a better look, but his consciousness was suddenly snapped back.
“Hiss~”
Shen Lin shook his dizzy head and bounced out of his chair. He immediately went to pull the Ghost Vine’s main root.
The Ghost Vine seemed to have lost control; its vines were thrashing about wildly.
Shen Lin could even hear the cries of surprise from the servants outside.
His heart sank.
This was the first time the Ghost Vine had ever lost control.
Without a second thought, he quickly linked back into the Ghost Vine’s sea of consciousness.
The consciousness sea, which had previously been cleaned, was once again occupied by pollutants.
Shen Lin hurriedly used his healing power to soothe the rampaging Ghost Vine.
The pink bands of light turned into a bulldozer, rumbling through the space and even scraping away a layer of the ground.
With the trash cleared, the Ghost Vine’s violent emotions finally calmed down. It retracted from the ceiling and curled back into a ball.
Through the emotions transmitted by the Ghost Vine, he learned that it had gone berserk because of that section of white bone.
Shen Lin was puzzled. What on earth was that thing?
How could a single bone influence the Ghost Vine’s emotions to such a degree?
The Ghost Vine’s leaves shuddered, transmitting another piece of information to Shen Lin.
“Star Beast~”
The Ghost Vine was a Primal Species; it had received its inheritance the moment it gained consciousness.
Through that inheritance, it obtained information about the owner of the white bone.
It was the skull of a Star Beast.
Star Beasts were the enemies of all living things in the universe. They loved to devour the core energy of planets and often appeared where planets were first born. They were grotesque in appearance, had incredibly thick hides, and could even traverse interstellar storms and wormholes with impunity.
Ordinary starship cannons were useless against them. Only the Fierce Beasts among beastmen could contend with them, and even then, they couldn’t be fully killed—only driven away.
To think that 1,500 meters beneath him, there was the skull of a Star Beast.
That thing had a huge impact on the Ghost Vine.
It seemed to emit a certain type of radiation. Whenever a creature got close, they would involuntarily go mad and lose their reason.
Having figured out that the thing below was the skull of a Fierce Beast, a new question popped into Shen Lin’s head.
Who buried a Star Beast skull under their home?
“Bingbing, are you all right?!”
The door was pounded on, and the eldest brother’s anxious voice came from outside.
Shen Lin pulled the holographic controller and opened the door.
Shen Zeyu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the cub sitting obediently in his chair.
“Bingbing, I heard the Ghost Vine went berserk. Are you hurt?”
Shen Lin shook his head, indicating he was fine.
Shen Zeyu’s gaze locked onto the Ghost Vine on the cub’s wrist after checking him for injuries.
Sensing his brother’s increasingly dangerous gaze, the cub quickly hid his chubby hand behind his back.
Fearing his brother would say something unpleasant, Shen Lin gave up on his “three-word bursts” and hurriedly explained: “Vine-vine found Star Beast!”
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