Chapter 4

T/L: Da Guo   E/D: evy - kiskaiya - larkspur 

Marshal Ji was completely unaware that Yue An was holding a grudge against him.

He took the clean chip and walked to the front of the console.

This stealth chip was a point-to-point communication method. This piece in Ji Xiuyun's hand, was a terminal that connected to another chip held by Marshal of the Empire, Kevin.

This was a secret that no one except the makers of the chip and the two parties involved, were privy to.

The powers to be never wanted the entire army to be a close knit family. Therefore, on the surface, Kevin and Ji Xiujun were only nodding friends, even occasionally, at some important meetings, locking horns.

In reality, the relations.h.i.+p between the two marshals was quite good.

It's a known fact, when Ji Xiujun was achieving his meritorious military service, he was once Marshal Kevin's right-hand man.

However,  as his achievements were enough to  promote him to aMarshal,  Ji Xiuyun was waiting for the official orders to take up his post. At this moment, Marshal Kevin showed up with hundreds of thousands of troops and reprimanded Ji Xiuyun without mercy.

 Regardless of whether the two parties are concerned about it, others who knew of this matter were very concerned.

After Ji Xiuyun was reprimanded,  he received his first condolence from the former Emperor of the Empire .

Few people knew that  Kevin and Ji Xiuyun were actually Master and Apprentice.

When the teacher scolded his student, there was nothing to be ashamed of. Also, Ji Xiuyun did not regard being reprimanded in front of hundreds of thousands of soldiers as shameful.

As a general of the army, being scolded   for making a wrong decision was a very light punishment to be scolded.

As a man in uniform, one must possess the courage to face one's mistakes and sacrifice, especially the generals.

The bitter truth was, soldiers who lost their lives as a result of his lapse in judgement, would no longer have the chance to witness him being reprimanded.

Ji Xiuyun inserted the chip into the card slot of the console and he was not surprised to find it empty.  He quickly completed the rigorous authentication and entered a short set of coordinates. After the transmission was complete, the chip was simply pulled off.

The Marshal's mechs and s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps were bombed into cosmic garbage. Although the safety cabin was equipped with propellers, the power was barely enough to penetrate the atmosphere of the planet. If one hoped to leave, one could only wait  to be rescued.

Ji Xiuzhen was not clear about the situation outside. However, he was sure that it was a total mess, one could figure it out even without thinking.

The blood-stained silver blade, Hintas, was attacked and lost on the road of routine inspections. This news was big enough to explode in the league of major galaxies, and fairly enough for other countries and alliances that were willing to get certain petty advantages from the Hintas Empire to commence their actions.

What's more, Kevin was in such tremendous pressure, that it would come as no surprise if he lost a lot of hair!

Marshal Li politely expressed his condolences to his poor master about the possibility of going bald.

The Marshal was well-aware that the speed of the rescue team would not be slow, but considering the intricate reasons of power,  sneak attacks and foreign enemies, there was no way to be quick.

However, he had to prepare himself for danger considering he would be staying  on the planet for at least a few days. Water and food being the most essential resources.

The Marshal carefully put the invisible chip and turned his head to suspiciously look at  Yue An, the  celestial being of this planet.

As soon as he turned his head, he was stunned..

Because Yue An was holding the ore with his paws, which was almost twice as big  as his head,  nibbling slowly, even the fallen crumbs were licked completely clean and entered his stomach.

The Energy Crystal was an ore currently known for being highest in terms of energy composition and tenacity.

So far, there was no known method to decompose it perfectly, nor could it be purified. If someone attempted to cut the ore by hitting it with each other, it would result in very serious energy loss.

Researchers in this field had been studying it for more than two hundred years, and had yet to figure a way to cut it perfectly while preserving the energy in the ore.

Up until now, the Energy Crystal had not been put into ma.s.s use as a mechanical material. Even the mech armor of Marshal, which was blown into  cosmic garbage, had only a very light layer of synthesized Energy Crystal powder painted on very critical parts.

Although this troublesome problem had been bothering for more than two hundred years, however, to this little creature…it seemed it was no problem at all!

Yue An was clearly happy with himself. Although the Spirit Stone was tasteless,  he could still clearly feel the aura inside his body increase gradually.

The comfortable feeling of soaking under the warmth of the heating room on a cold winter day made his whole body lay as plainly as a pie.

Ji Xiuyun watched him lick the stone for a while and decided not to figure out any questions regarding how hard a teeth this small animal had.

He asked, “Little White, do you know where the water is?”

Yue An glanced at him, while licking his spirit stone he turned over pointing his at him.

Rejected! was written all over his body.

The Marshal, who never knew how to reason with people, who no one would dare to reason with, went silent for a while, and decided to start from the preferences of Yue An.

“One piece of stone, you take me to the water source.”

“Meow!”

Yue An looked over and stood up!

So understandig!

Jiu Xiuyun overcame his excitement and turned around to take a few containers from the cabinet, when a simple folding bakeware and seasonings caught his sight.

"Is it far?" asked Ji Xiuyun.

 “Meow!”

the Marshal, who had acquired Level Zero of cat language, paused and asked, “Far?”

Yue An did not answer.

the Marshal asked again, “Not far?”

“Meow!”

“Is it dangerous?”

Yue An did not answer.

“No?”

 “Meow!”

The Marshal glanced at the seasoning spices and utensils and asked, “Are there any aquatic animals?”

 “Meow!”

Very good, not too far, no danger, and also no aquatic animals.

Ji Xiuyun put back the containers in his hand and felt that he might have to spend words of one year on this little guy.

 Thinking about how his saviour disliked having any nutritious food, the Marshal had a great desire to prove that humans have no problem with their sense of taste. He took out the folding BBQ utensils and seasonings, and a tube of antidote to prepare for the worst.

Yue An had been separated from human society for far too many years. He only recognized the containers used to hold water. As for the uses of other tools, Yue An was totally blind to all that and did not understand anything.

However, this had nothing to do with him, the only thing that mattered to him was the spirit stones

Yue An looked at Ji Xiuyun, yelled at him, pressed the rest half of the Spirit Stone under his paws, and turned his head to look at the wall with the Spirit Stones.

What a typical greedy and dissatisfied guy!

Yue An stretched his neck and glared.

“I'll give it to you when we return,” said the Marshal.

Yue An just sat there, looking up at the man for a long while. Then, he turned his head, held the Spirit Stones and laid down on the ground.

Ji Xiuyun,  “…”

This kind of protest is really scary.

If someone dared to attempt this in the army, the leader would directly throw him into confinement.

Ji Xiuyun looked at  Yue An for a while. Since he'd been in the military camp all these years, he had formed a subconscious habit never to compromise.

Yue An didn't say anything, he slowly nibbled at the Spirit Stone. He'd a beautiful pair of cat eyes, though slightly creased. He'd turn his head from time to time, to look at the human being who  had been standing in the same place.

Ji Xiuyun was somewhat helpless by his gaze, but that helplessness reflected on his face seemed to be indifference.

“I am giving it to you now, are you going to eat on the way?” asked the Marshal.

“Meow!”

That's an easy solution!

Yue An, who was completely unaffected by the human expression, yelled at him.

You hold me in your arms!

I'll hold stones in mine!

Let's have an inter-race heart-to-heart conversation!

Marshal Ji did not succeed in comprehending the meaning of what this small fluffy guy was trying to tell.

Yue An's ears drooped a little when all the expectation in his eyes had disappeared.

He felt resentful and looked at the Marshal.

 “Meow”.

He walked over and put his two front paws on the Marshal's long legs, attempting to urge him through body language to pick up this cute kitten!

However, the Marshal did not understand.

Hey!

Yue An, who had failed to entice the other with his cuteness, drew back his paws and made another mental note of unfair treatment. He put away the other half of the Spirit Stone in the corner, and while mumbling turned his back to scratch the door.

The Marshal was totally unaware that he was once again marked on the small notebook of the kitten.

He took it as this small guy was about to compromise and opened the cabin door with quite a bright mood.

With his four short legs, Yue An would only take ten minutes to get to the edge of the pond.

The fish in the water seemed to be aware of the movements on the sh.o.r.e, waving their tails quickly; he slid down from the surface.

The pond was not large, but quite deep. There was a steady upflow of groundwater from the bottom, which was a little warm due to geothermal heat.

The pond was not very large, just about four or five square meters, it's deep but the water was very clear, one could even see the bottom at a glance.

There were not many fish left in the water, most were caught by small animals that couldn't find any food in the dry season.

Yue An sat down by this small pond, and was comfortably licking his paws.

Ji Xiuyun turned his head and peeked at him while scanning the surroundings for any large carnivores, only to find none.

If one could possess a spring during the dry season and in such a place, this little guy must be fairly powerful.

Ji Xiuyun filled the containers with water and took a closer look at the fish in the bottom of the pond.

 Ji Xiuyun was very familiar with this kind of fish, a frequent family recipe of the 13th Galaxy, sweet and non-toxic.

In order to avoid expending another piece of Spirit Stone again, the Marshal immediately took out a pointed skewer; with lightning-fast speed and precise movements, he pierced two fish with it.

Yue An was shocked by what just transpired so he turned around and stared at the Marshal with his cat eyes.

Marshal Ji did not speak. He turned on the portable energy stove, then took out the spices and oil and began to slowly barbecue under the pair of beautiful, watchful, sapphire eyes.

The Marshal himself had slowly climbed up the ladder, from being a normal soldier to a marshal. There were many occasions that he had to survive in the wild, where all the work had to be done on his own, thus  becoming the No. 1 barbecue chef, but only barbecue.

Yue'an watched on as Ji Xiuyun slowly worked on the fish, brus.h.i.+ng things onto the skin, layer by layer- some of them he could barely distinguish through smell.

But it seems to be very fragrant.

The cat couldn't resist giving a thumbs-up.

The Marshal finished grilling the fish, turned to look at the white fluff that had unknowingly drawn close to him.

Yue An started to look back and forth between the Marshal and the grilled fish, but finally he stuck his paws out, pressed onto the hands of the Marshal, stretched his head and with the pink nose sniffed over the fish.

Even if the fish was a bit hot,  it wouldn't cause any harm to a monster.

It's a bit uncomfortable for a cat's tongue, but that couldn't be compared to a tempting meal.

Humans' pursuit of delicacy sure is endless.

Yue An thought, while enjoying the aromatic grilled fish.

The Marshal witnessed the cat elegantly and quickly devour a fish. When he looked at those pair of blue eyes, he calmly said, “We don't normally eat nutrients.”

Why do you still remember that! 

How petty you are!

Yue An cried a perfunctory “Meow”, and turned his head to another fish that Marshal held in his hand.

“This is mine.” The Marshal rejected him.

The Yue An glanced at Ji Xiuyun, walked to the pond, stared at a fish and waved his paws.

All of a sudden a thunderbolt exploded, it was completely different from the electro-optic light that was almost invisible as one might imagine. A lightning bolt, as thick as an arm's length slammed into the water causing it to be spray with the explosion onto the faces of a person and a cat, who had hardly taken any precautions.

Along with the water, the fish were blown up too.

All of them!

Ji Xiuyun: “…”

Yue An … A totally numb Cat face.jpg

Marshal Ji glanced at the grilled fish, which had been totally soaked by the water.

Yue An relieved his neck, however, he never expected that half of the Spirit Stone would bring such tremendous increase to his spells.

He uncomfortably stepped on the ground in front of him, turned his head and gripped the fish that had been blown off by the water, neatly placed it in front of Ji Xiuyun.

He sat behind fish, looked up at Marshal and cried “Meow” deliberately, attempting to sneak through.

Ji Xiuyun was actually not angry. This was no big deal. The little creature had saved his life, anyway.

He just thought that this cute little cat looked quite interesting when pleading him.

 The new power that Yue An had just demonstrated had given rise to immense interest in the Marshal.

Ji Xiuyun knew that it had a bad taste.

Marshal Ji, wearing his usual indifferent face, gazed at the white fluffy cat silently for a minute. He then turned his eyes and put the abandoned grilled fish aside to start over grilling those three fish caught by Yue An, without saying a word.

Yue An took a breath, relieved, and looked down at his paws. He was still shocked by the thunder just then.

The hot temperature quickly dried their soaked bodies.

The fish was grilled quickly.

Looking at the three grilled fish, Yue An couldn't wait to eat.

However, the second Yue An came over to the fish, the Marshal hung them up high.

Yue An tried to reach out with his paws and found that it was way too high.

Yue An looked with grievance filled eyes, cried, “Meow.”

When the Marshal heard the voice, he wanted to touch him, but his face remained calm and collected.

He even offered a cruel choice – “This or Energy Crystal, which one would you prefer?”

Yue An rounded up his eyes at Ji Xiuyun. How could a human being  be so shameless!

How could he ask such a question!

Yue An jumped angrily Ji Xiuyun's legs and in the next second did not hesitate to show him his furry soft belly.

Then he meowed softly but sweetly.

Nonsense!

Oh, of course, I want them all!