Chapter 4: A Gifted Beastman Baby

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: A Gifted Beastman Baby

The mention of an "improper procedure" sent Shu Xin’s mind into a total jumble.

She was the one who had uploaded all the documents and proof. ’Could the problem be on my end...?’

The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became, and she couldn’t help but sink into self-blame.

"An improper procedure would trigger a system warning," Shu Chao Yu said. "Sis, you didn’t receive a warning, did you?"

Shu Xin immediately shook her head, regaining some of her confidence at the same time.

"We may have connections in the Fourth District’s public security system—your younger uncle, for instance. But we didn’t ask for any special treatment."

We went to all the relevant departments for the required documents and followed all the standard procedures.

At most, we just had Shu Chao Yu use his position to keep an eye on things at his unit’s household registration department.

Shu Xin added, "If we really wanted to pull strings, we would have just asked your great-uncle to step in."

With Shu Guohua’s status in the Fourth District, getting Xiao Juzi registered would have been a matter of a single word. It would have saved us from all these unnecessary steps.

Shu Yao suddenly felt weary. "If it’s too much trouble, then let’s just forget it. The worst that can happen is I take Xiao Juzi back to Zone 9."

She sounded half-serious, half-joking.

But at the thought of the mother and son leaving the Shu Family, Shu Xin’s heart skipped a beat. Anxious and worried, she shot her brother a pleading look. ℴ

Shu Chao Yu gave her a reassuring look, then turned to Shu Yao and said:

"The Mainframe has taken an interest in Xiao Juzi. I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave even if you want to." Seeing Shu Yao’s bewildered expression, he patiently explained, "Although Zone 9 has always been considered a lawless land, it’s still under the Mainframe’s control. If the Mainframe really wants to find someone, hiding in Zone 9 is useless."

Shu Yao was unconvinced. "I was in Zone 9 for thirteen years, and it never found me!"

Shu Chao Yu was nearly choked speechless.

"But things are different now. Before, all we knew was that Scavengers liked to go there to pick through the castoffs. Who knew people actually lived there?"

Zone 9 is a sealed module, constantly shrouded in toxic fog. On top of that, it docks with the space station every three months to empty its mountains of trash.

Under the space station’s powerful gravitational pull, even the heaviest trash gets sucked away. It’s impossible for any living thing to survive in that environment.

Even if there were, they’d probably be sucked into the space station along with the rest of Zone 9’s trash and turned into fuel!

Shu Chao Yu hadn’t known much about Zone 9 before. It was only after bringing Shu Yao and her son back that he did a lot of research on the subject.

After learning just how harsh the environment in Zone 9 was, he felt even more strongly that life must have been incredibly difficult for the mother and son there.

Shu Chao Yu continued, "Zone 9 has no Heavenly Eye surveillance and no Star Network coverage. The Mainframe controls the gates there, but it doesn’t know what the actual conditions are like inside. Based on the large-scale environmental data, it calculated that it’s impossible for anyone to live in Zone 9."

"Yes, yes!" Shu Xin chimed in, her eyes red. "Actually, after we brought you and Xiao Juzi back, your great-uncle questioned the Mainframe’s performance to His Majesty. The response he got was just as your younger uncle described."

As the Mainframe of the Interstellar Federation, it’s a top-tier, self-correcting, and auto-updating intelligence that would never allow itself to make the same mistake twice.

It’s also quite human-like.

"Then could it be..." Shu Yao said, rubbing her chin, "that it knows my great-uncle reported it to His Majesty, so now it’s holding a grudge? It’s rejecting Xiao Juzi’s application for revenge?"

She couldn’t think of any other reason for the time being.

Shu Chao Yu chuckled. "If the Federation’s Mainframe were that petty, it would have been replaced by another AI long ago."

"So it’s not the Lin Family interfering, and it’s not the Mainframe getting revenge..." Shu Yao murmured, her delicate brows furrowed. "Xiao Juzi is just a little cub. He hasn’t committed any crimes. Why on earth would it reject his citizenship application?"

"It’s precisely because of Xiao Juzi." Shu Chao Yu stroked the fur of the little kitten sleeping soundly in his arms, the corners of his eyes crinkling with endless tenderness.

Shu Yao repeated blankly, "Because of Xiao Juzi?"

Shu Xin looked just as confused.

Shu Chao Yu said, "Don’t forget, Xiao Juzi is a Beastman, and a baby less than three years old at that. He can switch freely between his Beastification and human forms. How many Beastman babies can do that?"

Never mind a child his age—many adult Beastmen can’t do it, especially once they enter their annual irritability phase, when it becomes even harder to control.

Some Beastman babies are extremely emotional right after birth, and their parents have no choice but to send them to a Beastman Nurture Center for special training.

Shu Chao Yu asked Shu Yao, "Xiao Juzi has never had a spiritual power assessment, has he?"

Shu Yao: "No."

Shu Chao Yu gently scratched the white fluff under Xiao Juzi’s chin.

Even in his sleep, the little guy looked blissful. His closed eyes looked like two curved lines of eyeliner had been drawn on, and he began to purr unconsciously.

"My theory is that Xiao Juzi’s spiritual power is immense."

Shu Xin was overjoyed. "So our Xiao Juzi is a super baby!"

But Shu Yao didn’t feel happy about this.

A naturally gifted Beastman baby like Xiao Juzi was extremely rare in the Federation and would become a key candidate for special Federation training.

Shu Chao Yu guessed that the Mainframe had used the Heavenly Eye to deduce Xiao Juzi’s infinite, untapped potential, and had thus taken an interest in him.

"I think the Mainframe intercepted Xiao Juzi’s application to settle in the Fourth District because it has other plans for him. In the future, our Xiao Juzi might join the Federation Army and become its finest soldier!"

Shu Chao Yu seemed to look forward to this prospect.

But Shu Yao said coldly and firmly, "As long as I’m still his mother, there’s no way I’m letting my son be trained into some super-soldier!"

Shu Chao Yu opened his mouth to speak but then stopped.

The Interstellar Federation’s military service law stipulated that all Beastmen must serve in the military upon reaching adulthood.

But that was still a long way off for Xiao Juzi.

Of course, Shu Xin didn’t want her adorable little grandson to suffer in the army either.

She murmured, "It looks like we’ll have to get your great-uncle to step in on this registration matter after all."

Shu Guohua returned home after finishing his day’s work.

When he heard that Xiao Juzi’s household and citizenship application had likely been intercepted by the Mainframe, he immediately filed another complaint against it with His Majesty.

"Your grandson’s registration application was intercepted by the Mainframe?"

"Something like that actually happened?"

"How outrageous!"

Qin Songlin played dumb, feigning ignorance and giving vague answers.

His acting was probably too obvious, as it left Shu Guohua completely speechless.

"Oh, dear—" Qin Songlin sighed, holding his forehead. "I’ve been so distracted by the war on the front lines these past few days. I have indeed been negligent in matters of state. That’s my fault."

After speaking, his eyes darted out from under his palm to the holographic image projected by the Light Brain, trying to see if Shu Guohua believed him.

If he hadn’t given himself away like that, Shu Guohua might have actually been fooled by his frazzled appearance and felt sorry for him.

’Their Majesty just loves to put on a show!’

’And yet, he seems to have no idea just how bad his acting is.’

Seeing the image of Shu Guohua glaring at him with a taut face, Qin Songlin knew his tactic of feigning retreat wasn’t working.

The Emperor gave a dry laugh.

Just then, the Light Brain received a new military report from the front lines.

Qin Songlin’s eyes lit up, and he was overjoyed!

’Here’s my chance to change the subject!’