Chapter 58 - Xiao Xiao

Interstellar Power Couple

Translator: Mukyuu

Quality Check: Lala

First Published on Chaleuria

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Chapter 58: Xiao Xiao

If this was just a routine inspection, it wouldn’t affect Xiao Lingyu or Lei Jue very much. But because the children were at a critical stage of their growth, Xiao Lingyu paid careful attention to everything. So when news of the inspection was announced, he investigated it personally and that’s how he found out someone had cheated during the lottery in order to draw the Holy Eagle Mecha Corps without fail.

Since the Holy Eagle Mecha Corps was one of the elite units in the military, it wasn’t rare for leaders to pay them a bit of attention, but someone cheating their way in changed the nature of the visit immediately.

“They just had to choose now of all times. What else are we supposed to think when they choose this exact time to come?” Qi Yu pulled a sour face and continued, “And it’s more disgusting still how we can’t even protest even though we know someone cheated.”

“Talking about this is getting us nowhere. We should think about how to stop them from discovering this place.” Lu Xian furrowed his brow, “Actually, even if they come, they can’t exactly directly ask to see this place. So I’m thinking that they’ll probably try to find an excuse or pull some dirty tricks, but their final target will definitely be this weapon depot. There’s still half a month before the inspection, but once inspection starts we won’t know when they’ll come so we need to get this sorted out before then.”

“But don’t you think it’s weird? If they really want to see what’s going on, a surprise inspection would be much more effective but they gave us so much time to prepare.” Lei Jue mused as he opened a can of cat food for Loquat. “So I think that they’re waiting for something. For example, us shipping the ‘secret’ out.”

“I agree with Little Jue”, Xiao Lingyu concurred, “Previously, someone from the Southern Moon District managed to get near here by mixing in with the team of healers. And it’s true that recently people have been trying to get through the firewall around our weapon depot, though they’ve failed. Putting two and two together, it’s clear that they know there’s something hidden here, they just don’t know what.”

“Which means someone has long since placed the area outside under surveillance right now. Now what do we do?” Qi Yu continued. “Little Odd Flower is dramatically bigger now compared to before. It’s gonna be impossible to smuggle it out without anyone noticing.”

“Lu Xian, you and Che Heng spend some time in the next few days and check if there’s any irregular concentration of firepower in the city. If they’re planning on doing anything, they won’t be using their own men.” Xiao Lingyu noted something on his communicator. “Si Qing, you try and figure out where Lei Jianying is being held right now.”

“You got it.” When Lu Xiang saw rare signs of obvious worry on Xiao Lingyu’s face, he nodded at Lei Jue, “You should learn from Lei Jue. He’s much calmer than you.”

“Lei Jue, aren’t you worried at all?” Qi Yu meant no harm by the question, it was just that Lei Jue didn’t seem to be bothered by this at all.

“What’s there to worry about?” Lei Jue raised his head to look at the growing child fruit and a cold smile flashed across his lips. “Of course I want the children to arrive before the inspection. But if they need more nutrients, I don’t mind burying some idiots as extra fertilizer.”

Qi Yu’s mouth twitched, “Could you maybe not talk about this as if it’s as simple as burying a couple of dead mice?”

Lei Jue nodded. “Sure thing.”

In the next moment, his face immediately adopted a look someone who’s thrown caution to the wind. He grabbed Xiao Lingyu’s arm tightly and exclaimed, “Lingyu, even if it costs our lives we’ve got to protect the kids! Even if I die, I’ll make sure to take some enemies with me!”

He dropped the act and looked over at Qi Yu, “Better?”

Qi Yu didn’t even have the energy to twitch his lips anymore. Instead he grabbed Lu Xian and started heading out. “Dammit, how come I never remember my buddy found a wife who’s so good at pretending to be a saint?”

Lu Xian firmly smacked Lu Xian on the head, “Think you can remember this time?”

“Lu Xian, are you looking for a fight?” Qi Yu exploded.

Lu Xian smirked while looking Qi Yu up and down. “Go on, as if you can beat me.”

Qi Yu was so angry he almost forgot how to breathe.

Thankfully Che Heng and Si Qing, with tacit understanding, simultaneously stepped in to separate the two.

Lei Jue and Xiao Lingyu watched as the three layers of defense closed up. They sat down on the wooden bench near Little Odd Flower and Lei Jue stuck both hands in his pant pockets while he crossed one leg over the other. As he looked at the child fruits, he asked Xiao Lingyu, “You asked where Lei Jianying was being held. Were you hoping to use him to find out who’s behind him?”

Xiao Lingyu answered, “That was the thought. He’s been held so long that he must know he’s screwed. It should be hard for him to refuse someone who gives him a little bit of hope.”

“Have you thought about what would happen if they’re just using Lei Jianying as a trap for you?”

“That’s why I asked Lu Xian to go investigate it first.” Xiao Lingyu reassured him, “Don’t worry, I won’t be impulsive.”

Lei Jue murmured an agreement and then moved towards Little Odd Flower. After a brief pause, he suddenly broke off a branch about the size of his thumb from Little Odd Flower.

“What are you doing?” Xiao Lingyu asked in surprise. Lei Jue had always treated Little Odd Flower as a precious treasure, careful to never hurt even a single leaf on it.

“I wonder what would happen if we split it.” Lei Jue provided some life energy to the branch to encourage it to take root and then planted it in an empty spot about 2 meters away from Little Odd Flower. “Let’s move that in a few days.”

“You mean…”

“Since they’re assuming we’ll move our secret out ahead of time, let’s give them a show.”

“Sure thing. I’ll make sure to find a safe spot for it.”

The next morning before the sun rose, a team of thirty from the Holy Eagle Mecha Corps headed out from the compound. Nobody knew what mission they were on. All they knew was that these soldiers surrounded the Holy Eagle Mecha Corps for several days and asked anyone suspicious approaching the unit to leave. Those who refused to cooperate paid a visit to the police station under the charge of interfering with military duties.

Of course, people usually weren’t stupid enough to keep bothering the Holy Eagle Mecha Corps. Nevertheless, these soldiers kept the compound under strict surveillance day and night, patrolling an ever-expanding perimeter with the most advanced mechas.

By the fifth day, you’d be hard pressed to find even a bird flying over the area surrounding the Holy Mecha Eagle Corps.

That night, General Si Wannian paid a visit to the Holy Eagle Mecha Corp. Supposedly he was there to see how his son was doing. After arriving, he casually walked around the compound before heading to a certain weapon depot, where he remained for about an hour. During this time, people observed several transport mechas lift a giant wooden chest from Weapon Depot 6 into the general’s vehicle.

General Si Wanniang left very quickly afterwards, followed by six teams of guards, and flew rapidly in the southwestern direction.

“Are you sure they left for Qi Min’s Navy unit?” In a dark and deep basement, a hoarse voice questioned.

“Yes sir. General Si transported a very large wood chest to the Azure Ocean Fleet. All of our information indicates that there seems to be a tree in the box, but we don’t know what type of tree.” The man who answered had the same face as the head of the Parliamentary Executive Committee, but his voice was sharper. “Should we pull our forces back to the Azure Ocean Fleet?”

“Not yet. Let’s figure out what the tree looks like first.”

“Yes sir. If you have no other commands, I’ll see myself out.”

“Wait. Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue haven’t left the Holy Eagle Mecha Corps?”

“They’ve left before. Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue asked for leave before visiting the older Xiao son’s lab and then directly went to the Xiao family home. People are speculating that Lei Jue was going for a check-up, but we don’t know the precise details.”

“Got it. You may go.” The old man turned to look thoughtfully at the man held captive in the special prison. Slowly, a dark and sinister smile spread across his face. “Lei Jianying, do you think the tree General Si transported to the Azure Ocean Fleet is the same type that you saw before?”

“How am I supposed to know? I haven’t seen it.” In the prison, Lei Jianying avoided the old man’s gaze and furrowed his brow deeply. Today was the first time he’s seen this old man and clearly, the old man knew a lot about what’s going on. But without being able to see his actual face, Lei Jianying had no way of guessing who he was. All he knew was this person wanted to know the secrets of the Maikalun people too. And only by keeping some things hidden would he have an advantage.

After all, only those with value would be kept alive.

“It’s best if you think carefully. After all, not many people can help you now.” The old man continued speaking in an even tone. “Yu Fenglai has been captured, just like you. As for your son, he’s in an even worse state, Lei Haige’s child died during the fetal transfer process. Old master Feng is very disappointed and contacted the Interplanetary Police Force that very night to transport him to the Planet of Darkness.”

“That’s impossible!” Lei Jianying had managed to keep his calm till now, but when he heard this news, he shouted. “That’s not possible! That’s Feng Gu’s first child. The Feng family holds Feng Gu in such high regard, they would never let the surgery fail! You’re lying!” His son was his only hope now!

“The Fengs said they will not allow their eldest grandson to have an evil mother. His background must be without scandal, so…”

“Shut up!” Lei Jianying ‘s eyes bulged in anger as he stared at the man outside the cage. The back of his hands began to morph as dark green scales gradually covered them.

He was a lizard elemental user, which made him one of the strongest among the animal elementals. Coupled with his high rank, others usually cowered in front of him. But now, as soon as his metamorphosis began, the old man pressed a button on the right-hand wall and a blast of cold air blew into the cage, almost freezing him instantaneously.

“Think very carefully. I’ve never been a patient man. If you’re still like this in two days, then you’ll find out just how much I don’t care about you.” The old man turned to leave as soon as these words left his mouth.

Lei Jianying made to follow, but the cage was so sturdy that even his abnormal strength could not budge it one inch. In frustration, all he could to alleviate his irritation was to curse quietly in his head.

After he left, the old man immediately asked for and received confirmation that Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue really did return home. But the truth was that Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue remained with the Holy Eagle Mecha Corps as before. Only they knew that it was Che Heng and Yu Le, disguised as Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue respectively, who went to the Xiao house.

To the rest of the Holy Eagle Mecha Corps, Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue didn’t exist. The two spent their days underground and never surfaced, going so far as having Lu Xian deliver their meals. When bored, Lei Jue would tease Xiao Lei, Loquat or Curly or stare up at the child fruits.

The little child fruit has visibly grown these days and the quivering has become more obvious in the last two days. One time, it shook so vigorously that Lei Jue wondered if the brat would shake himself loose. The next day when Lei Jue and Xiao Lingyu woke up they couldn’t find the little one!

As steady as Lei Jeu usually was, his face turned ashen. “Ling Yu, where is Xiao Xiao?”

Xiao Lingyu’s face was just as confused. The big child fruit was there but the little one had disappeared! There was nothing on the ground and the damned safety net was undamaged. But what happened to their child? Even if there was no baby, there should be a fruit at least!

Lei Jue searched all around the grounds and also the tree, but to no avail. Even more frightening, Xiao Lingyu called Carrerra several times but received no response. When they examined the two communicators, both showed irregularities in voltage, rendering them unusable!

The couple almost thought someone stole their child while they were sleeping, until they heard a quiet whine coming from under Xiao Lei’s stomach,