Chapter 19: Duel

“I still won’t eat it.”

He didn’t know where he pressed, the little mecha in his hand suddenly pulled out its weapon and swung its arm. Qiao Zhiya could even feel the faint heat from the waving of the energy blade in its hand.

He couldn’t help exclaiming, his eyes brightened, and his ears trembled with excitement— compared to the beautiful guy in his hand, the hand-made one he made was simple in appearance, without weapons, unpainted, and had mixed colors. His little mecha was like a piece of rag dug out of the mud!

Fortunately, he had no whimsical thought of giving the small mecha as a gift to the White-Haired Monster, otherwise, he might be disgusted to death.

Thinking of this, Qiao Zhiya couldn’t help but look sideways at Chu Rong, who was sitting beside him. His gazes met at first glance. He seemed to have no emotions but when he looked closely, he seemed to have a relaxed smile in his eyes. He remembered his previous annoyance, embarrassedly looked away, his face flushed slightly, and he whispered, “Thank you, I like it very much.”

Chu Rong reached out and rubbed his bangs, and watched him without speaking, his body posture becoming more relaxed.

Qiao Zhiya moved his ears, took a look at him, carefully and tentatively put his ears to his hand, saw that he did not refuse, and gently rubbed. His eyes squinted happily, the action was full of intimacy and trust— first, food and treatment, then helped him improve his aptitude and teach knowledge, and he also gave him almost everything he needed to survive in this strange place. He was grateful for having a second parent.

The ears in his hand were soft and tickling. Chu Rong recovered from the strange and relaxed feeling that suddenly rose, frowning instinctively, and his gaze swept over the little head that Qiao Zhiya had approached, which he could almost take advantage of in order to take his life by hitting his vital points ¹[This long line of text (视线扫过乔治亚凑过来的小脑袋和几乎送到手下的几个命门要害) made me cry without tears. I’m not really sure if I interpreted it right.]. He unknitted his eyebrows, glanced at this simple room, moved his fingers slightly, and followed his heart’s wishes, rubbing his soft ears.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Mbl yvxsprblal oyp pkzldv yde oyax qsa y obkzl. Rv eked’v alvwad vs dsaxyz wdvkz vbl rlsrzl pldv vs elzkhla vbl xlyz jdsnjle sd vbl essa.

Mbl vyczl oyp vss pxyzz vs plv wr ekddla yde vblal oyp sdzu sdl nbyka. Mbl vos pkxrzu rwv vbl qsse sd vbl nbyka yde plvvzle vbl ekddla obkzl pkvvkdt sd vbl taswde.

Ubw Ssdt bye lyvld kd hyakswp ldhkasdxldvp kd vbl rypv, cwv yv vbkp vkxl, kd y pxyzz assx, pkvvkdt sd vbl taswde okvb y pvaydtl zkvvzl tbspv obs bl byed’v jdsod bkx qsa y zsdt vkxl yde lyvkdt pkxrzl xlyzp qasx vbl xkzkvyau— vbkp pnldl ynvwyzzu xyel bkx qllz dshlz yde lhld bye y zsdt-zspv pldpl sq zlkpwal. Tl wdcwvvsdle vbl vos cwvvsdp yv vbl vsr sq vbl xkzkvyau wdkqsax, pbkqvle bkp tygl, yde zssjle yv vbl rlapsd clpkel bkx.

Ckys Hbkuy oyp lyvkdt hlau iwklvzu, okvb y qykdv lzltydnl kd bkp xshlxldvp, yde y hlau altwzya pkvvkdt rspvwal. Rv nswze cl plld vbyv bkp vwvsa oyp hlau tsse. Ebld nblokdt, bkp nblljp cwztle, hlau yvvldvkhl yde olzz-clbyhle.

…Ywnb clvvla vbyd vbl dskpu vbkae casvbla yv bsxl.

Ubw Ssdt vbswtbv sq bkp nyalzlpp casvbla yde bkp qynl vwadle eyaj. Tl kdnalypkdtzu qlzv rzlyple ycswv vbl sclekldv yde olzz-clbyhle Ckys Hbkuy. Tl pkxrzu vssj y rzyvl sq qawkv ralryale cu vbl jkvnbld, fwpv zkjl bkp kdpvawnvksdp vs Wyd Dkydtdyd, yde vssj y talld qawkv rynjle kd y plyzle nsdvykdla.

“Oyvkdt vbkp kp tsse qsa xldvyz ldlatu. Oyv yzz sq kv. Psd’v oypvl kv.”

Gp pssd yp vbl csm srldle, y nsxqsavyczl yde nzlya yka, yp olzz yp y aknb qawkvu yasxy, nyxl swv. Ckys Hbkuy’p pzso vbkdjkdt yqvla lyvkdt kxxlekyvlzu clnyxl nzlya.

He observed this valuable box, felt the soothing breath suddenly floating in the air, looked at the five green fruits soaked in strange potion inside the box, and swallowed unconsciously. However, he pushed the lid back on the box and shook his head, “I don’t want it. I don’t have spiritual power. You should keep it for yourself.” Now, he guessed the value of green fruit and the significance of these green fruits to Chu Rong, therefore, he would never eat these again.

Just after complimenting his good behavior, he was suddenly picky about food. Ancestor Chu made a face, opened the box again, pushed it over, and said, “You can eat it if you want. You have just temporarily lost your mental energy due to some accidents. It does not mean that you will not recover in the future. Eat the fruit and lay a good foundation.”

“I still won’t eat it.” Qiao Zhiya continued to shake his head and thought of his “illness” which made people care about him. He wanted to spit out all the green fruits he had eaten before and return them. He deliberately turned his head and said, “You always give me this. I’m tired of it. I want to eat cantaloupe.”

Cantaloupe, the most affordable fruit in the Federation, was cheap and easy to store. It was the most suitable fruit to bring when traveling or at home.

Chu Rong’s impatience was once again triggered. He reached out to cover the box with its lid and put it in Qiao Zhiya’s hand. He stood up and said, “Little demon, you don’t know what’s good for you. For your training tomorrow, remember to attend on time.” After that, he turned around to leave.

“Wait!” Seeing that he was about to leave, Qiao Zhiya immediately stopped pretending to be willful, got up, and leaned forward. He looked at his body, searching for something, but when he did not find the familiar little pouch, he anxiously asked, “I personally made the thing I gave you. You have to carry it with you and it’s best to put it next to your body, not in the space button.” Otherwise, it won’t work.

After finished speaking, he felt that his commanding tone was not very good and added in a soft voice, “Okay?” 

The height difference between the two was too much. The other was looking up at him, similar to a weak and small chicken. Ancestor Chu’s irritation eased again. He looked down at his nervous expression for a few seconds, raised his hand to rub his bangs, did not speak, and left.

Qiao Zhiya touched his messy bangs. He wanted to chase but was afraid of offending the other party. He was a little anxious— what did he mean by not speaking? Did it mean yes or no? Looking at the box in his hand again, his face wrinkled.

Also, what should he do with these green fruits?

Before going to bed, Chu Rong took out the small pouch that was only the size of his palm from his coat pocket, touched the very primitive leaf imprint embroidered on it, gently pulled the drawstring on it, and took out the content.

Under the dim light, a touch of green was exposed and as the light turned, there seemed to be a silver light gliding over the green.

Chu Rong, who thought he would see metal gadgets, was stunned. He flipped the jade, which was polished to be smooth and beautiful, and rubbed the pattern on it. The corners of his mouth curled up but he snorted in disgust. The Cheapskate actually sent him a piece of jade.

After snorting, he touched it again, which seemed to be carved or painted, like a delicate pattern of moonlight sliding across the tip of a leaf. He squinted his eyes and looked at the space button hanging on the coat. After a pause, he put the jade back into his small pocket and stuffed it under his pillow.

Forget it, it’s time to indulge the child.

The next day, the teacher who taught the language class changed back to Lin Zhen. From him, Qiao Zhiya learned that the uninvited guests he saw yesterday had left, the thieves were also taken away, and the slaves remained for resettlement.

Life on the ship returned to peace.

After lunch, Qiao Zhiya didn’t go to the training room immediately. Instead, he ran back to his room to check the large leaf plants he tried to raise in the primary wood enhanced magic array before going to bed last night. He carefully felt it. After discovering that the wood elements really became richer, he squinted his eyes, removed the plant, and carefully placed the box containing the green fruit in the middle of the formation.

After all this, he changed his training clothes and rushed to the training room.

“Qiao!” Tan Shengwei stood at the door of the training room, saw him come, and greeted him.  He handed over a bag of plant seeds and said with a smile, “Here, I heard from Zhuang-jie that you like plants. I found this when I went to patrol. I guess you will like it, so I got some seeds back.” Then he showed a picture from the communicator.

The picture was very clear, with a handful of spherical pink flowers swaying in the sun, very beautiful. Qiao Zhiya’s eyes lit up and he hurriedly reached for the seeds.

Tan Shengwei smiled when he saw it, turned off the picture, and said, “I don’t know what this flower is. It seems to be a native plant unique to this mineral star. It has been determined to be harmless. You can keep it for fun. Zhuang-jie should have the nutrient solution for flowerpots and plants.”

“Okay, thank you.” Qiao Zhiya nodded, only thinking that the gift was super pleasant. Last night, he just came up with a way to cultivate plants with a magic array. He was worried that there were no more plants for him to experiment with. Today, Tan Shengwei sent plant seeds. It was like he was drowsy and someone handed him a pillow. Such good luck!

“You’re welcome.” Tan Shengwei smiled back at him, happy in his heart, and simply took over the job of finding Zhuang Yu for flower pots and nutrient solution.

Waiting in the training room, Chu Rong, with his keen five senses, heard the “greasy and crooked” dialogue between the two. He frowned and silently counted for three seconds in his heart. No one came in. His patience completely disappeared. He went out with a cold face, grabbed Qiao Zhiya’s collar, and forced him in. He caught Tan Shengwei’s sight in passing.

Tan Shengwei, “…” Oops, he forgot that the chief was here today.

The feeling of being carried by the collar was too familiar. Qiao Zhiya immediately realized who the person was. He turned his head to look with bright eyes. Seeing Chu Rong’s beautiful profile, his ears shook, and he asked happily, “Why are you here?”

Chu Rong ignored him, strode to the combat zone in the training room, put him in the center of the field, and said coldly, “I will take over your training today.”

Qiao Zhiya was stunned. After digesting the information, he almost jumped up, and his tone unconsciously raised, “Really? Are you not busy today?”

How did this dialogue feel like the daily life of a clingy son and an irresponsible father? Chu Rong coldly put this terrible illusion behind his head and coldly said, “First, do warm-up and basic training and then, we’ll do a practice duel.”

Practice duel?

Qiao Zhiya was puzzled for a moment, then immediately threw this unlearned word behind his head, and ran to do warm-up exercises.

Half an hour later, Qiao Zhiya, who was fully active, was once again carried to the combat zone by Chu Rong, and then Chu Rong stood still.

Qiao Zhiya curled his ears at him fawningly, his eyes filled with doubts, “???”

…Stupid!

Chu Rong inclined his head to the side in disdain, took out a familiar small pouch from his pocket and tied it to the waist of his training suit, stepped back a few steps, put his hands behind his back, and signaled him to attack, “Using your two hands, try to attack me. If you grab this thing from my waist, I will give you ten mecha models like yesterday.”

Attack? Ten?!

Qiao Zhiya glanced at the hands behind his back and then at the position of his own arm ring. He crouched down slightly and attacked him without hesitation.