Half an hour passed, yet there was no movement upstairs. The head of the Li Family, Li Zhenhai, perspired profusely, unable to sit still. He yearned for the next moment to see his wife and healthy son emerge from the elevator. Sensing his agitation, Li Zixu remained patient, waiting silently for a bit before saying, "Big Brother screamed so terribly just now; it seems something unexpected happened. Uncle Li, aren't you going to take a look upstairs?"
"Uh, let's wait a bit longer," Li Zhenhai glanced at the time, forcing a smile.
"What else are you waiting for? I can't understand how you think. There are so many skilled mechanics in the capital that you don't invite, yet you specifically sought out a child who hasn't even grown a peach fuzz. Is he supposed to be better than Deng Feng? Listen to all that racketâthis is limb installation or murder?" Li Yening scolded, his beard bristling and eyes glaring. It wasn't that he disrespected a level nine mech engineer; he just didn't trust a child who was inexperienced and hadn't even reached adulthood.
"Due to the erosion of elemental forces, Ziqian's wounds never fully healed. When installing the prosthetic, it inevitably touched the rotting flesh, worsening his injuries. It's only natural he screamed louder," Li Zhenhai wouldn't suspect Master Qi based on a few words from the clan elders.
"Big Brother has always been strong. Even with his severe injuries, he didn't utter a single cry of pain. Today's behavior is so out of character; I can't help but worry," Li Zixu frowned, "Uncle Li, you should go take a look. We'll wait for you in the living room. I know Big Brother has a strong sense of pride and wouldn't let anyone see him in a vulnerable state, but we are a family. How can we not be concerned? Once we confirm his safety, we'll leave immediately. The matter of changing the heir will be put on hold until he recovers."
The grandson's words were both enlightened and tactful, presenting a commendable attitude. Li Yening nodded in agreement, quite satisfied.
However, Li Zhenhai was so infuriated he wanted to curse: "You damn fool, you keep saying my son has a strong sense of pride and you don't want to hurt him. Why didn't you leave when the screams started earlier and instead sat here comfortably? Now, my son's life is uncertain, and you stand up, forcing me to go up and confirm his condition. You can't wait to see him at his most miserable!"
But no clan member could understand Li Zhenhai's feelings, urging him to go upstairs in a cacophony of voices.
Li Zixu's expression of concern grew, pacing twice at the stairwell, seemingly at a loss. But in his heart, he wasn't thinking about Li Ziqian's safety but about how to take over the family in the future. He had seen prosthetic installations before. Even if they touched the wound, they couldn't have elicited such a blood-curdling scream. It must be that Qi Ze mishandled the operation, causing trouble! As a 2S-level meta-human, his senses were more acute. How could he not hear the heart-wrenching cries of Mrs. Li mixed in with the screams?
If her biological son wasn't in grave danger, could a mother cry like this? Could it be that Li Ziqian was close to death? The thought had barely emerged when Li Zixu's heart leaped, and a secretive glee surfaced. Li Ziqian's influence remained strong in the corps, with many commanders only following his orders. They probably wouldn't easily accept a new heir. But what if he was dead?
The elation slowly expanded, and Li Zixu grew more eager to confirm Li Ziqian's safety. He looked at the head of the Li Family, ready to speak, but then heard a steady tread of footsteps from upstairs. Soon, Li Ziqian's tall and upright figure appeared at the staircase corner, not from the elevator designated for the disabled.
He wore a pure white military uniform with a golden sash across his chest. His slightly damp hair was combed back, revealing his strikingly handsome face. His originally hazel eyes had turned pitch black. His strong legs, encased in military boots, slowly and sturdily passed the corner and descended to the living room, each step seeming to tread on the hearts of the onlookers.
Mrs. Li, holding a handsome young man by the arm, followed behind him, her face wearing a radiant smile. It had been twenty years since they had seen her smile like that.
"Master, please take a seat," Li Ziqian slightly bowed, his attitude respectful. After the young man and his mother sat down, he then looked at his father, waved his hand with a smile. The head of the Li Family immediately regained his composure, his eyes shining with joy. Was his son alright? Completely recovered?
"Sorry for keeping everyone waiting." Li Ziqian sat across from the old patriarch, crossing his long legs. He said calmly, "Now we can discuss changing the heir. Let me be clear, if the successor isn't outstanding enough, I won't agree to entrust the future of the family to this person."
Li Zixu scrutinized him from head to toe, his expression filled with surprise. He couldn't detect anything amiss with Li Ziqian, but that was precisely the anomaly. Although he wore gloves, it wasn't hard to discern the shape of his knuckles; his legs were clad in military boots, but through the leather, he could see the bulging muscle fibers. Every movement he made was robust and powerful, as if the weak and nearly dead man from before had never existed.
He stood up, completely, solidly!
"Big Brother, you've recovered?" Li Zixu could hardly believe this person was the Young Commander Li who had rolled in on a wheelchair just now.
"That's right. If you want to take over the family, you can, but first, you have to beat me. I'm not clinging to this position, I'm just worried about the future of the family. Old Patriarch, don't you agree?" Li Ziqian looked at Li Yening.
Having his own words thrown back at him, the old patriarch's face wasn't pleasant to look at. But in his heart, he thought Li Ziqian was just posturing. Didn't Deng Feng's prosthetic limbs work well at first? And what happened in the end? In less than half a month, they had rotted into a pile of scrap metal! This time, there was no need to wait half a month. A single fight would do it. Let's see how many impacts these screws, gears, straps, and bearings could withstand. Just don't let it fall to pieces while fighting. That would be embarrassing!
Thinking about not wanting to lose face, the old patriarch didn't spare any for Li Ziqian, making the decision, "Go to the training ground. I want to see how much of your strength you've regained."
"It's hard to say how much I've recovered for now, but I can certainly carry the Li Family's banner," Li Ziqian stood up, slowly unbuttoned his shirt, took off his jacket, revealing his muscular body clad in a shirt. There were no unnecessary supports or power devices, but a body that was like a rebirth. He felt incredibly at ease. His chest was filled with too much elation, with no outlet, wanting nothing more than a good fight.
Li Zixu, walking beside him, felt a chill run down his spine, suddenly feeling as if he was being targeted by a fierce beast. But how could that be? No matter how good a prosthetic limb was, it was just thatâa prosthetic limb. A simple twist and it would snap.
Li Zichen, following behind the two, quietly exhaled, then rubbed his right hand, broken by his cousin the last time. He had a premonition that today's battle would shock everyone. Li Yening had played the second house, but unbeknownst to them, their haste stemmed from the fear of Master Qi successfully fitting Li Ziqian with prosthetics. Those who thought they were clever were often the most foolish.
With different thoughts in their minds, the group reached the underground training ground. Li Ziqian brought over a soft chair for Qi Ze to sit in, then handed him his military uniform, saying gently, "Hold this for me."
"Go easy, don't kill anyone," Qi Ze knew the power of the body he had remodeled. Although it didn't reach 3S-level, dealing with a 2S early-stage meta-human wouldn't be a problem.
Hearing this, Li Zichen couldn't help but shudder, but Li Zixu sneered, "Big Brother, giving your all is the highest respect to your opponent. I respect you, and I hope you respect me as well."
"Since you put it that way, okay then," Li Ziqian nodded slowly.
The two entered the arena, activated the energy barrier, isolating the spectators. Li Zixu quickly stripped off his clothes, revealing his bare upper body, his sturdy muscles glinting faintly under the light. He was always focused on training and entered the combat state quickly. In just one second, he used liquid metal to coat his skin with a protective layer, followed by blades growing out of his wrists, elbows, and knuckles, somewhat terrifying. This was no longer a human form but closer to a weapon.
Seeing his cousin was ready, Li Ziqian only then calmly took off his shirt.
The clan members, who were originally full of enthusiasm, now drew in sharp breaths. They could hardly believe their eyes! Li Ziqian hadn't installed any prosthetic limbs, no signs of supports, bearings, or metal parts! His hands and abdomen were intact, covered by a layer of black scales. When he walked into the light, the scales emitted a chilly glow, which was horrifying.
"What, what is that?" the old patriarch stammered, "When did his hands grow back? Didn't you say you were installing prosthetics? He has eagle blood, why didn't feathers grow, but scales did? What did you do to him? Bio-experiment? Gene modification? Species fusion? Well, well, you have guts! That's illegal!"
Mrs. Li said with pride, "Great-grandfather, you don't know this. Our Eagle Clan's supreme deity is the Kunpeng. In the sky, it's a bird; in the water, it's a fish. Ziqian has turned misfortune into a blessing, awakening the bloodline of the supreme deity. If you don't believe it, you can test his DNA to see if we've added anything we shouldn't to his genes."
Mrs. Li dared to say this because she had already checked. Her son's genes hadn't changed; he only awakened his ancestor's power.
As the person spreading the rumor, Qi Ze silently covered his face, extremely guilty.
But Li Yening was obviously intimidated, exclaiming, "Kunpeng? Isn't the supreme deity of your Eagle Clan the Golden Peng?"
"Don't you know? Golden Peng is Kunpeng," Mrs. Li opened a webpage, simultaneously finding the ancient dictionary of the Mu family and the ancient dictionary of the Qi family. She used texts and pictures to support her claims, "Look carefully at the explanation of Kunpeng. See what it looks like when it transforms into a bird. That's our Eagle Clan's supreme deity!"
When humans settled in the Black Eye Galaxy, they experienced a process of cultural invasion and counter-invasion. When they were weak, the native extraterrestrial beings considered them their descendants left behind on Earth, and gave numerous examples. When they became powerful, they turned around and proclaimed that the extraterrestrial native beings were the descendants of Earth people, also giving many examples. After such bickering for thousands of years, no one could clearly state who was whose descendant, but their cultures had interwoven, producing similarities.
Whether the Eagle Clan's supreme deity was the Golden Peng, the Kunpeng, or some other bird, even Mrs. Li herself didn't know. She simply felt that the Kunpeng looked more powerful than the Golden Peng. Especially after her son grew scales, she became even more convinced of this. She immediately sent a message to the clan.
So, half a month later, the leader of the Eagle Clan held an important meeting, deciding to officially change the name of the supreme deity to Kunpeng, modified the totem, and then announced it to the entire Galaxy. Of course, this is a future story, which we won't delve into for now.
Seeing the changes in his cousin's body, Li Zixu was also greatly shocked, asking with a frown, "You participated in a bio-experiment?"
"What bio-experiment? You're overthinking it," Li Ziqian twisted his neck, laughing contentedly. He had no idea how terrifying he looked now. As soon as his fighting spirit stirred, the black scales spread over his whole body, finally climbing up his neck, leaving mottled marks on his pale face. But this did nothing to diminish his good looks. Instead, it added a sinister air to him, paired with his black and red vertical pupils, making him look truly frightening.
Li Zixu felt tight inside but didn't back down, immediately launching an attack. Two agile figures tangled in mid-air, the sound of fists meeting flesh echoed continuously, making people's scalps tingle. Li Zichen, covering his chest, hid behind others, grateful he didn't rush up to serve as a punching bag for his eldest cousin. His parents broke out in cold sweat.
Having been useless for twenty years, just recovered and not yet rehabilitated, Li Ziqian could already be on par with the 2S-level Li Zixu. How remarkable would his strength be at his peak? This thought unconsciously arose in the minds of the clan members, making them waver about changing the Young Commander.
Li Zixu had originally planned to give it his all. When he entered the arena, he held nothing back. But he found that he was wrong, and seriously so. Master Qi hadn't installed prosthetic limbs for his Big Brother at all. This was all a ruse to deceive the public! Big Brother's limbs must have grown back on their own, otherwise, they couldn't be so strong and flexible. Every clash, he could feel the metal layer on his skin indent and countless cracks appear. But Big Brother hadn't used his special abilities yet, just retaliating with the strength of his body. The scales on his body were incredibly hard. When struck by sharp blades, there weren't even any scratches, let alone wounds. Only the splattering sparks could prove that he was attacked.
Li Zixu was extremely unwilling, and his moves became more vicious, turning his hands into daggers, stabbing directly at his cousin's vital pointsâheart, eyes, lower abdomen. As long as he could hurt the other, he could save his precarious dignity.
"Cousin, the match is over," Li Ziqian became thoroughly familiar with his new body. The hands covered in scales suddenly transformed into beast claws, breaking the dagger that was aimed at his eyes in half, and with one palm, he sent the other down from the arena. He raised his hands, no, perhaps it would be more appropriate to say claws, and looked at them under his eyelids. His expression was first one of shock, then he laughed heartily.
These hands bore no resemblance to a human's. Apart from layer upon layer of black scales, there were sharp claws akin to blades. They were incredibly sharp, slicing through metal as easily as through tofu. If he hadn't reined in his strength in time, Li Zixu, who was knocked down from the arena, might have died on the spot. But even so, there was a deep palm print on the other's chest, with broken ribs piercing into his heart, causing him to vomit several mouthfuls of blood.
Fortunately, Mrs. Li had a medical room at home that lacked no high-precision equipment. She was able to save Li Zixu in time. Li Yening didn't dare disturb the doctor's diagnosis and was anxiously waiting in the living room. Li Ziqian sat across from him, slowly transforming the beast claws back into ten fingers. Qi Ze was very interested in these mutated hands. He grabbed them and played with them on his lap.
"Sorry, your bloodline mutated. It's not Kunpeng, but a dragon. I think I should let you know the truth," feeling a pang of guilt, Qi Ze secretly sent this sentence into the Young Master's mailbox.
"It's alright, I really like this new body," Li Ziqian replied with a suppressed laugh.
"That's good. Dragons have nine similarities. Head like a camel, horns like a deer, eyes like a rabbit, ears like a cow, neck like a snake, belly like a sea monster, scales like a carp, claws like an eagle, and palms like a tiger. You changed into dragon claws earlier, but they looked like eagle claws to others, so don't worry about being ostracized by your mother's clan in the future," Qi Ze tried his best to comfort the Young Master in the chat channel.
"It doesn't matter, I don't care what outsiders think of me," Li Ziqian rubbed the youth's head.
Li Yening, who had been staring at the two, finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Did you really awaken the Kunpeng bloodline?" He had originally scoffed at such fantastical claims, but after seeing Li Ziqian transform his hands into eagle claws with his own eyes, he had to accept this reality.
"No, I just had a prosthetic limb installed," Li Ziqian told the truth, but no one was willing to believe him.
"You awakened the Kunpeng bloodline long ago. Why didn't you announce it to the public? Watching us worry about the family's future, you found it amusing? The young people nowadays are too unruly. When will you settle down?" Li Yening had nothing else to say, only spewing nonsense to reprimand a few times. Seeing his great-grandson, clutching his chest and sitting in a wheelchair, being pushed out of the elevator by Meng Kui, he was speechless instead. He sat in silence for a while, then decisively said, "Let's go. The Li Family's banner still needs Ziqian to carry. No one is allowed to mention changing the heir again, unless Ziqian dies outside."
Hey, you old man, how do you talk! Mrs. Li was furious but couldn't curse outright. She put on a stiff face and sent people to the door. Turning back, she hugged her son and cried her heart out. The head of the Li Family couldn't help but wipe away tears. He wanted to hug his wife and son at the same time but found that his son was too strong after recovering, and he couldn't even hold him. He stopped wiping his tears and suddenly laughed.
Qi Ze quietly watched for a bit and said to Meng Kui, "I'm leaving first. You shouldn't stay here and disturb them."
"Master, let me send you off," Meng Kui's admiration for Master Qi had reached the sky. If he could, he would have chopped off his hands and feet, letting the Master install new ones. But thinking about the Master's exorbitant appearance fee, he had to silently give up the idea.
He would wait until he had saved enough money.
As soon as Qi Ze returned to the dormitory, he received a short message. Excitedly opening it, he found that it was from Young Master Li, with only two wordsâthank you. He was a bit disappointed, replying listlessly with "No need to thank me".
Ouyang Ye was hiding at the kitchen door, holding a piece of roasted meat. Like a thief, he looked left and right, whispering, "Young Master Qi, let's stew meat for dinner tonight? Can you prepare this piece of meat?"
"Wow, level eight Tyrannosaurus meat, you've made great progress," Qi Ze removed the impurities from the meat, rinsed it under the faucet, seemingly casually asking, "Has Yan Junyu contacted you recently?"
"No. I heard that the Sixth Army has received a major military mission and sent out the mech vanguard. Young Master Yan must be the leader. Why, " Ouyang Ye felt a bit strange, pressing on, "Did he not contact you either? Is your AI broken?" Given how warm Yan Junyu was with Young Master Qi, he wouldn't even say a word when he was on a mission? That was impossible!
"I was indeed not contacted," Qi Ze found him annoying when he was around, and something felt off when he wasn't. He opened his AI, checked the network settings, and opened his mailbox and chat channel to see if he missed any messages.
At this point, a video appeared in his mailbox, with "Yan Junyu" marked in the sender column.
Qi Ze's taut heartstrings eased slightly, and he hurried back to his room, pressing the projection button. The full-size virtual image of Yan Junyu appeared before him, wearing camouflage, a pulse gun slung over his shoulder, a few gray-green streaks painted on his face. He gazed at the youth and began slowly, "Little Ze, I'm currently on a spaceship, preparing to go to planet MNR112 for a mission. I don't know when I'll be back. When I'm not around, take good care of yourself..."
Following were the usual instructions. Qi Ze could repeat them with his eyes closed, but this time he listened very carefully, not daring to miss a word. Waking up and cooking for himself in the morning, waiting on the side of the road when school was over, accompanying him on outings, helping him clean up after causing trouble, unconsciously, Yan Junyu had occupied his life. Once the other party was absent, he was unable to adapt.
"Why a video and not a call?" Wanting to ask many questions but unable to find the person, Qi Ze felt very uneasy.
On the other side, Yan Junyu finally finished his instructions and then fell silent. His eyelids drooped slightly, as if pondering something. After about five minutes, he spoke again, his voice unusually hoarse, "Little Ze, you once said my feelings for you were just curiosity, asking me to think clearly. Now, I have thought very clearly. It's not curiosity, nor is it just affection..."
He fell silent again. As Qi Ze's heart pounded fiercely due to his unfinished words, he sighed, "It's love. So I hope you will always be safe and happy. Little Ze, I love you!" The video flickered with snowflakes and then completely ended.
Qi Ze didn't react for a long time, only coming to his senses when Ouyang Ye pounded on the door hard.
"Love me? Are you sure it's not gratitude?" He shook his head, murmuring as he stewed meat under Ouyang Ye's urging. Just after making dinner and about to eat, the doorbell rang.
"Who is it? Mo Tianlei isn't on a date with his girlfriend, is he? Li Ziqian and Meng Kui have also returned to the Li Family, haven't they?" Ouyang Ye was quite annoyed and hurriedly hid the pot of stewed meat in the Interspatial Button. Qi Ze opened the door but didn't see anyone, only a strong smell of blood lingering in the air.
There was danger! He immediately realized it and was about to close the door when a black mass pounced at him, then his legs were tightly hugged, unable to move. As a weakling, he was terrified inside, ready to summon Ouyang Ye to come to his protection. But when he looked down, he met a pair of tear-filled eyes.
The one hugging him was Ming Rui, covered in blood; the one pouncing at his face was Xiaohei, soaked in blood. These two little ones seemed to have run into trouble.