Chapter 38: Brother’s Back
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
After the preliminaries ended, Yun Yingzhi carefully packed up the nine source weapons after taking photos of them. Walking out of the competition hall, he sent Yun Yinghui a message with the photos. The appearance of the weapons was standardized—at a glance, all nine looked identical, with nothing special about them.
Yun Yingzhi: “Brother, look, these are the source weapons I’m giving you—nine in total!”
On the other end, Yun Yinghui had fast-forwarded through the preliminaries during his break, watching every shot that featured Yun Yingzhi. Seeing the photos Yun Yingzhi sent, even someone as stoic as him couldn’t help but smile.
Watching the entire preliminaries, he already knew how much “sheep” Yun Yingzhi had managed to “shear” from the organizers today. Especially when Yun Yingzhi had said halfway through, “I just can’t part with it,” it had hit a funny spot for many people.
Pulling up StarNet, Yun Yinghui could see related headlines.
Yun Yinghui replied: I’m looking forward to it.
Seeing his brother’s reply, Yun Yingzhi couldn’t wait to meet him. He hoped the source weapons he’d made would be useful to him.
Yun Yinghui sent a second message: You’re really amazing, Zhizhi.
According to StarNet users, no one was sure about A13167’s source weapon-making skill, but his speed and agility were exceptional. And there was one more thing… As the headline said: even if a source weapon maker doesn’t need to enter the battlefield, it’s necessary to enhance one’s own abilities—just like A13167.
Without that strength and extraordinary speed, he wouldn’t have been able to “shear” so much from the organizers.
Seeing Yun Yingzhi so different from the image he had in mind, Yun Yinghui couldn’t help but smile wider.
At the other end, Yun Yingzhi, completely unaware of Yun Yinghui’s thoughts, bubbled with excitement: Brother, I’ll get even stronger!
Thinking a bit more, he sent another message: Brother, look at these nine source weapons. I was in a rush when making them and didn’t have time to design the appearance.
Over the years, Yun Yingzhi had made plenty of source weapons. But he was lazy about designing their appearance, and it was tedious, so he’d always gone with the standardized look set by the Source Weapon Association. However, now these weapons were for his favorite brother, so he wanted them to look high-end and classy.
Yes, he’d even buy the most expensive gift boxes for them! Thinking back to the last time he’d spent a fortune on gift packaging, he winced a little—but since these were for Yun Yinghui, he didn’t feel any pain at all.
Brother deserves it!
Yun Yinghui replied: This is already great.
Yun Yingzhi: No! Brother, wait—I’ll redesign them!
Yun Yinghui had always thought the appearance of a source weapon didn’t matter; practicality was the most important. But seeing Yun Yingzhi so eager, he replied: Alright.
Seeing his brother’s reply, Yun Yingzhi thought maybe his brother also liked flashy designs. For his brother, he had to think hard about how to make the exterior as cool as possible. He sent another message: Brother, tell me what your comrades want in a source weapon—I’ll make it for them!
Yun Yinghui: Good boy. He then sent another message: Zhizhi, I’ve contacted a few of my companions. Based on the source weapons you’ve made, you can choose who’s the best fit.
Yun Yingzhi’s eyes lit up, and he bounced slightly in place. If it had only been Yun Yinghui, he might have still been worried. Based on the competition’s requirements and Yun Yinghui’s ice-type specialization, he might not have been able to make the optimal source weapon. But now, he had nothing to worry about.
Looking at the list Yun Yinghui sent, he saw names he had known since he was little. As he grew older and entered college, contact had gradually faded.
Nan Gongqing – Son of the Minister of Finance, currently working in Empire Star, twenty-nine, a year older than Yun Yinghui. He had been the top student at Fansa Academy back in the day.
Shan Junyu – Currently in the Empire Star Military District, twenty-seven, Fansa Academy graduate, consistently ranked top three in major tests.
…
The list had over ten people, with the strongest at level nine and the weakest at level seven. With such a team, Yun Yingzhi felt that even if he only made the most ordinary source weapons, they could still be boosted to the front lines. Victory was within reach; the money was right there.
Two gold-devouring little ones, Daddy’s going to give you the best life!
While talking with Yun Yinghui, Yun Yingzhi arrived at the inn, changed out of his black-and-red peony coat, and spent some money to return to Fansa Academy. His three roommates were in the dorm. They asked where he had been all day.
Yun Yingzhi paused, then replied: “I was in the source weapon manufacturing department all day.”
He liked making source weapons, but it was known he didn’t have much talent for it. Yu Feiwen and the others looked at him with sympathy.
Yu Feiwen said: “Oh right, today was the preliminaries of the Starshine Competition. Did you watch it?”
Yun Yingzhi shook his head. Today, all his focus had been on “shearing the sheep”—no, making source weapons—and he had no time to watch others.
Jing Haomiao said: “There was one participant today who was absolutely hilarious!”
Curious, Yun Yingzhi asked: “What happened?”
If he could do it again, he wouldn’t have asked. Soon, his three roommates started talking about a certain participant’s wild antics in the preliminaries. Yun Yingzhi’s eyelids twitched. At first, he thought the story sounded familiar—but the more he listened… The more he realized, the participant they were talking about seemed… off.
Upon thinking carefully, he realized—oh, no wonder it sounded familiar yet weird. That “sheep-shearing emperor” was him!
Yun Yingzhi’s face flushed crimson with embarrassment. No. According to his roommates, he had been extremely conspicuous in the preliminaries. So… had his brother, who knew his participant number, possibly watched the entire competition?
Yu Feiwen noticed Yun Yingzhi’s awkwardness and asked: “Yingzhi, why is your face so red? Are you feeling unwell?”
Yun Yingzhi stiffly shook his head. After a moment, he asked: “Was that A13167 participant really that noticeable?”
“Of course, super noticeable—especially with that middle-aged coat. You can check—it even trended online,” Ji Xiaobo replied. Yun Yingzhi’s eyelids twitched; his composure collapsed. His seemingly fragile body wobbled. Seeing this, Yu Feiwen quickly steadied him: “Yingzhi, what’s wrong?”
Yun Yingzhi paused. He couldn’t say he was completely mortified, so he said: “I’m hungry… I didn’t eat dinner.” He lied—he had eaten plenty—but he really was hungry. The three roommates felt sorry for him, thinking he was so weak for missing a meal. They pulled out instant food, and the four of them huddled together for a late-night snack.
Yu Feiwen said, “I heard that A13167 participant has really strong composure—he can eat a lot and sleep well.”
Ji Xiaobo and Jing Haomiao nodded in agreement. Yun Yingzhi’s hand trembled slightly, and the corner of his mouth twitched. He felt far too embarrassed to tell them that the person they were talking about was… himself. He forced himself to stay calm and continued eating. In his mind, he reasoned, “It’s not really that he has strong composure. I just ate more than usual because I had a disguise on, and besides, the food was free from the organizers—why not?”
He quietly finished his meal, and the four of them returned to their own activities. Still, curiosity gnawed at him. Yun Yingzhi hesitated, then opened StarNet to check, only to be bombarded with an overwhelming amount of information about himself.
He felt like his whole world had collapsed. Has Yun Yinghui seen all this? If he had, what would his brother think? Would his image be ruined? No, wait—just earlier, Yun Yinghui had sent him a list of older brothers and sisters, those senior friends… Did they know it was him? Did they?
Yun Yingzhi’s cheeks burned. He felt like he had completely lost all dignity in his life. “Sheep-shearing emperor”—ugh, how annoying. He slumped, angrily shut down his personal terminal, and went to sleep.
December 2nd, Yun Yingzhi received a private message notification. He had to admit, Yun Yinghui was seriously impressive. Under the pretext of Yun Yingzhi’s “health issues,” Yun Yinghui had arranged three days off per week for him. From now on, he could move freely around Fansa Academy without attending classes.
Yun Yingzhi knew that the three-day weekly leave was intended for hospital visits. He left the academy and went to the First Hospital of Empire Star for his checkup. Yun Yinghui had arranged everything in advance. There was no waiting; the moment Yun Yingzhi entered the hospital, the examinations began.
After a thorough check, he received some information that left him feeling uneasy. He had already known that there were two little ones in his belly—one in the second form, and the other seemingly in human form, which would normally take a full forty weeks to be born.
But… There was an unexpected development. This time, based on the imaging results, the second-form Little Bun remained in its second form. However, the previously human-form Little Bun appeared to have suddenly differentiated—possibly influenced by the second-form sibling.
Usually, the second form was stronger than the human form. With the two little ones together, the pressure from the second-form little kit may have triggered the other to change forms out of a sense of crisis.
Yun Yingzhi summarized the doctor’s words: “So… that means they both could be born at any time, right?” He received a firm confirmation.
Frowning, Yun Yingzhi left the hospital, his heart heavy with worry. By his calculation, if the first little kit were born now and the second one ten months later, he could probably handle both alone. But… If both were born at the same time, never mind the financial strain—could he really take care of two little ones properly?
Then he thought, if both could be born within a month, and Yun Yinghui happened to be on leave, his brother could help take care of them.
With this uneasy hope, Yun Yingzhi boarded the Fansa Academy airbus. Along the way, he saw a gift shop. Thinking about the source weapons he would give Yun Yinghui, he got off to buy gift boxes.
Inside, on a display shelf, he spotted the same high-end packaging boxes he had used for Yu Feiwen’s source weapons. Expensive… but totally worth it for my brother!
He noticed with delight that the boxes were part of a year-end special: buy ten, get ten free. Yun Yingzhi considered carefully: did he need so many boxes? He currently has nine source weapons. Next…
Right—next would be the preliminaries. The preliminaries lasted only one day, but the quarterfinals spanned a full seven days. Seven days—he could “shear” even more! Maybe he could make seventy source weapons for his brother in that time! But then, thinking realistically, even at the discounted price, he couldn’t afford seventy boxes. He would need to find a way to earn more money.
For now, he bought twenty boxes, planning to get the rest later once he made more source weapons. After all, the buy-one-get-one promotion would presumably continue until year-end. Each box was palm-sized and not too bulky when stacked.
After checkout, Yun Yingzhi returned to Fansa Academy with the twenty boxes around three in the afternoon. His three roommates weren’t back yet. With no afternoon classes, he guessed they were at the training hall. He placed the boxes in the closet and brought the nine source weapons to the manufacturing department.
In the workshop, he laid them out and pondered: how should he design their appearance? What kind of look would his brother’s comrades prefer? His mind went blank. He thought for a moment and checked his personal terminal for reference, but nothing helped. He messaged Yun Yinghui to ask.
Yun Yinghui replied: Anything works.
Yun Yingzhi muttered: ‘Anything’ is the hardest assignment ever!
Yun Yinghui: Zhizhi, look at the most popular source weapon designs in recent years.
At this, Yun Yingzhi quickly searched for the trending, well-reviewed designs. He was stunned. Some designs were sleek and simple, but those required shaping the base during material processing—so already-made source weapons couldn’t be converted into the minimalist style. They could, however, be decorated in flashy styles.
Yun Yingzhi’s eyelids twitched. The designs were great, especially for female esper soldiers—but what about male soldiers? Well, probably fine. He imagined taking the cute decorations—tiny butterflies, bunnies, kittens—and swapping them for superheroes, dinosaurs, etc., for male soldiers. That should work.
Since Yun Yinghui’s team would include female soldiers, Yun Yingzhi decided to do half-and-half.
He divided the nine source weapons into two groups and began designing the flashy appearances—Superman in bright red underwear overalls, pastel butterflies, little flowers…
He worked quickly. In just under an hour and a half, he finished all nine designs. On the inner side, he painted a Blazing Divine Rabbit standing amidst roaring flames. He packed them up and returned to the dorm.
His roommates still hadn’t returned. Yun Yingzhi took out the nine gift boxes and carefully placed each source weapon inside. As he was putting in the last one, his three roommates returned. Their eyes immediately fell on the source weapons.
Jing Haomiao smiled: “Yingzhi, are those bracelets you bought?”
Yun Yingzhi paused, shook his head: “These are source weapons.”
The three of them then noticed the subtle but familiar packaging—cheap-looking yet recognizable.
Yun Yingzhi put the flashy source weapons into the boxes and said: “They were made by a source weapon designer I know. He asked me to deliver them for him.”
Yu Feiwen and the others thought: indeed, it must be that incredibly skilled designer. Seeing the flashy designs, they reconsidered their earlier impression that his source weapons were plain. Compared to red butterflies and big yellow flowers, the standard design now seemed quite nice. The world suddenly seemed too wonderful.
Yu Feiwen and the others were very interested in the nine source weapons, especially Ji Xiaobo and Jing Haomiao, who hadn’t received theirs yet. Yun Yingzhi reassured them that by the end of the semester, they would each get a source weapon of their own. He had already planned that in the quarterfinals, he would “shear” the materials and create source weapons for them.
Normally, he wouldn’t use expensive materials freely, but the quarterfinals were different.
December 10th, Yun Yingzhi returned to the hospital. This time, the doctor confirmed that one of the little ones in his belly seemed to be a small rabbit. Yun Yingzhi’s brow furrowed ever so slightly, and he instinctively placed a hand on his belly, full of tenderness.
As a child of the Yun family, he knew that General Yun wanted strong offspring. The second-form little bunny, having no offensive power, had never been favored since its differentiation. At that moment, he realized that this little bunny, sharing his form, would never be liked by his grandparents from birth.
He felt deep sympathy for the fragile little bunny. Moreover, he worried for other reasons. The little bunny was so delicate—what if it got bullied in the future? Yun Yingzhi already began worrying about the fragile little bunny.
Suddenly, he thought about the other Little Bun, the one who had transformed into the second form under the influence of the rabbit. He asked: “Doctor, what about the other Little Bun? Can we see if it’s in the second form yet?”
He didn’t know what Elvis’s second form was like, so he had no reference. But if the other little kit was strong, it might be able to protect the little rabbit. After all, the two little ones would go to school together.
The doctor paused: “For now… it looks like an egg.”
Yun Yingzhi’s eyelids twitched, imagining all sorts of eggs—chicken, duck, goose, quail. He asked: “You mean… like a chick? Or a duckling?”
Normally, this type of little kit would also be fragile. Fragile little rabbit and fragile little chick? Yun Yingzhi was already stressing about them. Now he understood why, whenever there was the slightest incident, Yun Yinghui would be so concerned for him, and why he would always contact older friends to take care of him whenever he traveled. Because, in Yun Yinghui’s eyes, he was really fragile.
The doctor added: “It could also be a raptor. Not absolutely certain, but the second form is usually inherited from the parents. You can refer to the other parent’s second form as a guide.” Yun Yingzhi left the hospital with a heart full of anxiety.
December 12th, Yun Yinghui contacted Yun Yingzhi, saying he was already on a spaceship and, barring any accidents, would arrive at Empire Star on December 14th. Upon hearing this, Yun Yingzhi, whose heart had been worrying for the fragile little ones for two straight days, finally felt a bit of relief. He then thought about the level four source weapon he had made for the preliminaries.
Based on the tradition of the Starshine Competition, on December 14th, the evaluation results for all preliminary source weapons would be released. About 85% of participants would be eliminated. The remaining participants’ source weapons would then be narrowed down to the ten most outstanding for live-streamed evaluation.
Yun Yingzhi realized that Yun Yinghui’s return timing was perfect. The source-weapon evaluation would last three days—from the 15th to the 17th—and Yun Yinghui’s arrival would allow him to personally evaluate the weapons.
No, wait—that won’t do… The source weapon he had made was suited for a single-element gold esper soldier, not Yun Yinghui. Yun Yingzhi thought for a moment. One of Yun Yinghui’s older friends seemed to be a purely gold-type esper. If possible, that brother could help him evaluate it.
The next moment, Yun Yingzhi realized he was overthinking. There were so many source weapons in the preliminaries, and his was only a four-level weapon. Among all those weapons, the chances of his four-level source weapon standing out were almost zero.
He decided not to dwell on it further. He and Yun Yinghui agreed that on December 14th, he would go to the spaceship station to pick him up.
In the blink of an eye, it was December 14th at 10:00 a.m. Yun Yingzhi packed the twenty source weapons into a large bag.
Yes, twenty. From the end of the preliminaries until now, he had made eleven more six-level source weapons. The total number of weapons now exactly matched the twenty gift boxes he had bought.
After telling his three roommates, he boldly left the academy, thanks to Yun Yinghui having secured his leave, and headed toward the spaceship station.
At 11:00 a.m., Yun Yingzhi arrived at the station. To his surprise, he saw several familiar faces—or rather, they recognized him.
Nangong Qing, Shan Junyu, Jin Taichu, Jia Qingwan… Eight people in total, all past friends of Yun Yinghui.
After hearing that Yun Yinghui was returning, they had come to meet him—and upon seeing Yun Yingzhi, realized who he was. Yun Yingzhi felt a surge of happiness and greeted the eight familiar older brothers and sisters with hugs.
Nangong Qing ruffled Yun Yingzhi’s hair. “Zhizhi, you heartless little bunny! I could hardly get a chance to see you.”
Yun Yingzhi explained obediently, “No, brother, you know Fansa Academy is a closed campus. It’s hard for me to get out.”
Suddenly, he received a communication notification—a voice message from the Starshine Competition organizers. He told the eight people a quick word and stepped a short distance away to answer. He knew the eight were strong enough to hear him even at that distance, but he wanted some privacy.
The voice on the other end said, “Hello, Mr. A13167. I am a staff member of the Starshine Competition.”
Yun Yingzhi replied politely, “Hello.”
“First, congratulations on passing the preliminary round of the Starshine Competition.”
Yun Yingzhi was not surprised and said, “Thank you.”
“A reminder: the quarterfinals begin at 9:00 a.m. on December 21st. Please arrive at least ten minutes early. We will send an email with detailed rules, and any questions can be addressed via communication.”
Yun Yingzhi nodded, “Understood.”
“Also, Mr. A13167, regarding the source weapon you created in the preliminaries—does it have a name?”
Yun Yingzhi thought back: he had made the weapon quickly, just trying to “shear the last bit of wool.” It had no name. He answered honestly: “No.”
“Understood. Among all preliminary source weapons, our evaluation indicates that your weapon is quite special. It has been selected for evaluation on the 15th of this month. We understand you have a recommended esper soldier, correct?”
Yun Yingzhi was stunned. He had only made a four-level source weapon—and yet it had been selected? His gaze instinctively shifted toward Yun Yinghui’s friend, Jin Taichu, the one who appeared to be a single-element gold esper soldier.
As if sensing his gaze, Jin Taichu met his eyes. Their eyes locked in midair. Jin Taichu nodded at him.
Yun Yingzhi’s cheeks flushed. Jin Taichu seemed to be an eight-level esper soldier, and he was… thinking of having Jin Taichu test the effect of his four-level source weapon.
The voice on the other end prompted him: “Mr. A13167?”
Yun Yingzhi replied quickly: “Ah? Yes, I’m here.”
“You have a recommended esper soldier, correct?”
Yun Yingzhi instinctively answered: “Yes.”
“Please contact that esper soldier and ensure they arrive at the Source Weapon Association before 9:00 a.m. on December 15th, tomorrow morning.”
Yun Yingzhi said, “…Understood.”
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