Chapter 55: When All Else Fails
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Yun Yingzhi looked at the two Little Buns, shivering and trembling in each other’s embrace, and felt an irresistible itch in his hands. He had never believed in corporal punishment before—but that was only because he had never encountered combat cubs with such extraordinary genetics. Once he did, he understood the value of a firm hand. He clasped his hands together, and his knuckles clicked sharply, “crack, crack.”
Immediately, the Little Buns’ trembling intensified. The little kit even tried to back up, holding the little egg in his tiny paws, but he was too panicked. He didn’t have the strength to drag the little egg, and for a moment, he couldn’t move him at all. Little egg, sensing the warm embrace had vanished, bounced backward and rolled right back into little kit’s arms. The reactions in the livestream chat were especially amusing.
“Before today, I always thought reasoning with kids was best, but looking at these two cubs, I kind of want the big tough guy to smack them.”
“Judging by their abilities, these two are tough as nails. If the big tough guy restrains himself a bit, he won’t break them!”
“Wow. This pair of cubs is hands down the wildest I’ve ever seen in my life. No contest.”
Yun Yingzhi narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to the two little cubs. The closer he got, the more helpless and pitiful the Little Buns seemed—but…
“Aww, the two Little Buns are so pitiful, hehe.”
“They look so miserable, and yet I can’t help but be excited, haha!”
Suddenly, a staff member called out Yun Yingzhi’s contestant number. Suppressing his rising irritation, Yun Yingzhi looked at the staff member.
The staff member said, “Participant A13167, you’ll need to cover the cost for the workbench you damaged with your outburst.”
Yun Yingzhi’s eyelid twitched. Did he really break the workbench? He had slammed it earlier in anger, creating an enormous crashing sound. That was the workbench breaking? He glanced at the table. Sure enough… it was completely wrecked.
His ears twitched as he overheard someone whisper, “He’s really violent.”
“So strong—probably comparable to an esper soldier specialized in strength.”
“No wonder he’s the father of two battle cubs. Those two must take after him completely.”
“Do we even have someone like this in our department?”
Yun Yingzhi felt his cheeks flush, itching to explain that the Little Buns didn’t actually resemble him—they looked like Prince Elvis. He wasn’t exactly happy. Even under a pseudonym, how long would he have to take the blame for Elvis’s children?
The staff member smiled politely. “We understand that your strength may be natural, but that’s why you need to control your power.”
Yun Yingzhi, blushing furiously from head to toe, tried to explain. “No, my strength isn’t actually that great, and I’m not a violent person,” he said under skeptical gazes. “Also, I think the workbench might just be old, which is why it broke.” He spoke with a straight face.
The Little Buns noticed Yun Yingzhi’s attention had shifted. They paused. Little kit, holding the little egg, stepped toward Yun Yingzhi, then seemed to reconsider and stepped back two paces.
“The big tough guy shifting blame cracks me up. It really isn’t his fault—just the workbench couldn’t handle his strength, haha.”
“Judging by these two Little Buns, the workbench was a normal bench. The abnormal part is his superhuman strength. Remember how he carried those materials before?”
As the chat erupted, Master Tang and Master Ted suddenly received messages from the competition organizers. Their expressions grew complicated. Someone had complained to Starshine Competition, claiming the workbench provided to the contestant didn’t meet regulations. What if someone got hurt?
Clearly, the complaint stemmed from Yun Yingzhi smashing the table. Normal people would think, “Wow, a battle powerhouse.” Abnormal people think, “It’s the table’s fault—what if the big tough guy got hurt?” Who, exactly, had filed such a bizarre complaint?
Meanwhile, the president of the Source Weapon Association contacted them. Unlike the overly eager complainer, the president was polite. He reminded them that the Little Buns were just newborns—one barely hatched little egg and one tiny little bunny. Given the previous request to provide for the Little Buns, it was clear: this was a subtle way of telling them to petition Yun Yingzhi on behalf of the two cubs.
Tang and Ted exchanged a glance, seeing both shock and speechlessness in each other’s eyes. Who could persuade the president of Loos Empire’s Source Weapon Association to plead with a battle-cub dad on behalf of his cubs? They looked at Yun Yingzhi with mixed feelings.
The staff member, maintaining a polite smile, said professionally, “Contestant, before every match, our staff conducts strict inspections. I guarantee with my life that this workbench had no issues.”
Yun Yingzhi said, “But I think…”
Before he could finish, an odd scene unfolded. From every direction—literally every direction—students in military uniforms tried to replicate Yun Yingzhi’s slam to see if they could break the workbench. They couldn’t.
One student, shocked, said, “I have an S-class constitution. The big tough guy’s must be far stronger—SS, maybe even SSS class?”
Yun Yingzhi felt like smoke was rising from his entire body. No explanation seemed sufficient. He felt utterly miserable, a scapegoat hero.Ah, forget it. He had a pseudonym. They could pile on all the imaginary blame they wanted, as long as he wasn’t recognized. And besides… there were still two Little Buns.
The two Little Buns might expose him, but… it didn’t really matter, right? Of course it didn’t matter. Little kit’s second form was common enough, and little egg would eventually hatch. By then, this layer of disguise would still remain a secret. Thinking this, Yun Yingzhi gave up on pointless explanations. “I understand. I’ll pay for it.”
He paid reluctantly, and the competition staff quickly cleaned up the mess. Yun Yingzhi’s gaze returned to the two Little Buns, still trembling in each other’s embrace. Feeling his eyes on them, the Little Buns shivered and slowly scooted backward, looking incredibly pitiful and helpless.
Finally, Yun Yingzhi had the chance to discipline them. But before he could pick them up from the ground, Master Tang and Master Ted stepped in and scooped the Little Buns up first. Master Tang held the little kit, while Master Ted cradled the little egg.
Little kit’s eyes brimmed with tears, looking up at Yun Yingzhi pleadingly. Yun Yingzhi’s eyes narrowed. His mask hid his features, but everyone could sense that he was planning to scold the two cubs.
Master Tang patted the little kit. “Contestant A13167, this is just a little bunny who doesn’t understand anything yet!”
The livestream chat exploded.
“?”
“Wait, Master Tang… you’ve never been like this before, right?”
Master Ted looked at Yun Yingzhi. “Contestant A13167, look—this is just a little egg that hasn’t even hatched yet.”
“Exactly. I thought something was off before—why does everyone want the big tough guy to smack the kids? Master Tang and Master Ted are right. These Little Buns are too small to have done anything wrong.”
“Still… what’s gotten into Master Tang and Master Ted?”
Yun Yingzhi’s gaze sharpened as he looked at the little kit. Little kit sat in Master Tang’s arms, resting his tiny paws on his cheeks, tilting his little head slightly. “Da.” A perfect, innocent pose. Seeing that Yun Yingzhi remained unmoved, little kit gently rubbed his paws against him, as if apologizing in the cutest possible way. It was impossible not to think the little kit looked absolutely adorable apologizing with his tiny paws.
Yun Yingzhi’s gaze shifted to the little egg. The little egg immediately activated his space ability, teleporting from Master Ted’s hands to Master Tang’s, snuggling into little kit’s embrace—an unbreakable bond of brotherly solidarity in the face of hardship. Yun Yingzhi took a deep breath, calming his anger, and reached out to the two Little Buns.
The little egg immediately used his space ability to bring the little kit along, leaping right onto Yun Yingzhi’s hand. Little kit looked at him cautiously, grasping a finger with both paws and licking it in a display of obedient affection. Little egg rubbed his shell against Yun Yingzhi’s finger in the same way, equally charming. The camera captured every moment perfectly.
At that instant, the Little Buns had completely shed their previous rough-and-tumble image. They looked like two tiny angels. Yun Yingzhi originally thought about poking them with his finger, but then he considered that they might not listen, so he waved his fist gently instead.
As expected, the sight of Yun Yingzhi’s fist made the Little Buns even more obedient. With a blank expression, Yun Yingzhi carried both Little Buns back to the new workbench. He noted how fast the competition staff had replaced the damaged table—they must have realized the original was defective and covered it up.
Yun Yingzhi’s mood sank. He kept running into all sorts of unexpected problems, which was why people always misunderstood him. He truly felt miserable. He didn’t dwell on those frustrating thoughts any longer—there were still tasks to handle. He first cleaned the little kit’s dirty little body, then changed his diaper. After the little kit was clean, Yun Yingzhi wiped down the little egg’s shell. Soon, the little egg looked like a pristine, glossy little egg again.
Then… Yun Yingzhi’s eyelid twitched. The little kit was holding a diaper in his tiny paws, attempting to put it on the little egg. Little egg, seeing that little kit was already wearing a diaper, seemed to think it was a good thing. He didn’t resist at all, but instead actively jumped in to cooperate. Surprisingly, the diaper had some stretch to it. After a small struggle, the little egg actually ended up wearing it.
Yun Yingzhi twitched his mouth in silent exasperation. He hadn’t wanted to bring the little kit to the competition before, mainly to prevent social embarrassment later. But now, it wasn’t just the little kit—little egg was going to experience it too. It was frustrating.
Only when Yun Yingzhi got angry did the once-fighting brothers snuggle up to him in perfect harmony. Little kit looked at him with pleading eyes. Little egg hopped slightly, expressing that he, too, wanted recognition. By this time, the livestream chat had been completely flooded with “hahahahaha.”
Yun Yingzhi placed the two Little Buns into his cloak and returned to his work. For the rest of the time, the Little Buns behaved exceptionally obediently, not fighting anymore. A subtle detail: every time Yun Yingzhi changed the little kit’s diaper, the little egg would demand that Yun Yingzhi change his diaper too.
What they didn’t realize was that each time this happened, the livestream chat would be spammed with “Put a diaper on the little egg!”
Master Tang and Master Ted clearly adored the Little Buns. Every so often, they would bring them odd little toys. At first, they were tiny things that little kit could hold in his paws. Later… The toys gradually became stranger. Sunglasses suitable for little kit and little egg, hairpins for little kit, floral wreaths for little egg… Even outdoor mini castles and tiny swimming pools designed for the two Little Buns. The two of them went completely wild playing in their own little kingdom.
Before they knew it, night had fallen. Someone, who had been focused on the Little Buns all day, asked curiously about Yun Yingzhi’s results. Soon, someone in the livestream compiled the data, and the results were shocking.
The big tough guy lived up to his reputation. Nobody knew what kind of source weapon he planned to produce, but the amount of raw materials he had used today was nearly double yesterday’s. The second day of the preliminaries passed smoothly. Meanwhile, it was no surprise that little kit and little egg had gone viral.
The Loos Empire protected portrait rights—but only for humanoid forms, not second forms. So once little kit and little egg went viral, photos and videos of the two Little Buns spread across the entire Star Net, spawning countless discussion threads and even fan clubs. Because of the two amazing Little Buns, contestant A13167 once again became the focus of everyone’s attention.
It could almost be said that now, after the appearance of the Little Buns, people were more curious about Yun Yingzhi’s identity than about the pure-attack source weapon he was about to create in the preliminaries.
Major factions tried to investigate him, only to be warned to stop. They realized Yun Yingzhi’s identity was far from ordinary. And because of that, even more people were curious. Who was he?
Some began piecing together key information: A military academy student, highly talented in source weapon creation, physically strong, violent personality, and… two children? Which student at Fansa Academy could match all that?
That night, Yun Yingzhi returned to his villa with the two Little Buns. After a late-night snack, he slumped on the sofa, lost in thought, his mind filled with the source weapon he was building.
Suddenly, little kit’s excited “Da” caught his attention. Curious, he looked over. Beside him, Yun Yinghui was watching a video projection with the two Little Buns. Yun Yingzhi felt his soul shudder, his pupils quake, and his body shook instinctively.
Yun Yinghui noticed him from the corner of his eye, furrowed his brow, and asked with concern, “What’s wrong, Zhizhi?”
Yun Yingzhi’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably, but he steadied himself, trying to act calm, though his gaze kept drifting to the video projection. On the screen, a little white bunny celebrated wildly after winning a battle, exuding almost tangible little flowers. One paw was on the ground, the other lifted, spinning joyfully in small circles.
Yun Yingzhi felt that his little white bunny looked especially silly through the projection. What made him even more frustrated was that, unlike him, the two Little Buns were clearly delighted by the scene in the video.
Little kit imitated the bunny, spinning in perfect mimicry—so precise it wasn’t just similar; it was identical. It seemed little kit might have taken this silly bunny as a life goal. Even little egg spun in circles, too. Looking at the little egg, Yun Yingzhi could only wish he had two legs to fully express himself.
Yun Yingzhi, “….” No, he had explicitly contacted the Yaoming Battle Arena to take down the battle videos before—so how had Yun Yinghui gotten a copy of this video? Yun Yinghui suddenly said, “So cute.” Yun Yingzhi glanced around guiltily.
Yun Yinghui replayed the video once more. On the screen, a small, fluffy, white bundle clung to the chest of a tall esper soldier. Admittedly, if you only looked at the image, it was unbearably cute.
Yun Yingzhi’s eyelids twitched again. His face flushed red, smoke seemed to rise from the top of his head, and his heart contracted painfully.
The two battle Buns were ecstatic. Little kit ran around screaming, “Da da da!” Then, spotting the esper soldier on the projection, he let out an “Ao ao ao!”
The little egg, just like the little kit, bounced and spun in circles. Then… On the video, the little white bunny kicked off the air, leveraged the momentum, and executed a powerful tumble…
Outside the screen, little kit and little egg perfectly synchronized their movements with the bunny in the video. Yes, they were joyfully spinning in circles. Overcome with embarrassment, Yun Yingzhi’s entire body was red. His toes dug into the floor as if he could dig up an entire palace.
The little kit waved his tiny paws, “Ao ao da da ao ao!” The little egg bounced on Yun Yinghui. Watching the two Little Buns get so excited, Yun Yingzhi had a bad feeling. Yun Yinghui followed his gaze, a smile tugging at his lips. “Jiaojiao and Taotao say they want to go play with Dad.”
Yun Yingzhi forced himself to stay calm. “The white bunny in the video… it’s really just a coincidence. It’s a weak little bunny, not really suited for the battle arena.”
As Yun Yingzhi spoke, the projection switched to the next battle. The little white bunny on-screen activated a mark, summoning twelve massive cannons in midair. The bunny’s tiny face was ferocious, paws pointing at the opposing esper soldier. It was clear that both battle Buns had seen this video before. Already hyped, they grew even more excited, mimicking the bunny’s actions—one screaming, the other hopping wildly.
Under Yun Yinghui’s watchful eye, Yun Yingzhi scooped up the two Little Buns and fled. Little kit, “Da?” Yun Yinghui called Yun Yingzhi’s name.
Yun Yingzhi sniffed and turned back reluctantly, whining, “I mean… you know, there are so many newbies in the Yaoming Battle Arena. Their actual strength isn’t really that high.”
Yun Yinghui hummed in acknowledgment. “Jiaojiao and Taotao want to go with you.”
Yun Yingzhi thought to himself: maybe it’s better not to go at all. Too embarrassing. Moments later, Yun Yinghui rested one hand on his chin, deep in thought. After a while, he said, “Next time, I’ll take you. It looks fun.”
Yun Yingzhi, “…” Subtly, Yun Yingzhi remembered the deafening shouts from the Yaoming Battle Arena: “Let the little white bunny win!” “Let the little white bunny spin on one paw!”
If his embarrassing secret identity got completely exposed, he felt like his mental state would collapse. Really, he should just take the two Little Buns farming on an alien planet.
January 3rd. A piece of news spread across the major families of the empire: a new owner had moved into the central area of Yunhai Villa District. The central area of Yunhai villas occupied the largest and best plots in the district. Over the years, countless people had tried to buy property there but were always rejected by the developers. Now, no one knew who had moved in.
At noon that day, another piece of news circulated throughout the Loos Empire. The battle on the frontline star, Bingying Star, had concluded. All the Zerg had been trapped and eliminated, granting absolute victory. It was said that the reason the Bingying Star battle ended so smoothly was due to a mysterious source weapon. Its effects were unknown, but according to rumors, this source weapon seemed connected to contestant A13167 of the Starshine Competition. However, the nature of the connection remained a mystery.
Yun Yingzhi paid no attention to the news outside. His mind was entirely occupied with devising new source weapons, performing countless experiments daily, analyzing each failure, and trying again. This time, creating the source weapon was far more challenging than before.
Previously, his weapons—even if somewhat unique—followed familiar activation and usage patterns. He only had to optimize within established methods. This time was different. He was truly forging a new path without any precedent, bound to be filled with difficulties.
On the seventh day of the preliminaries, Yun Yingzhi finally completed the design for a full mark. It seemed feasible. He felt confident in his approach, but the area the mark could cover was too small.
At that moment, Yun Yingyao was on the trial planet Shaluo. Shaluo Star was riddled with crises. At certain times, the battlefield could engulf the entire trial planet. Considering the worst-case scenario, Yun Yingzhi thought it best if the source weapon’s attack could cover an entire life planet.
Of course, with his current abilities, achieving that was nothing short of a pipe dream. But if a whole life planet was impossible, a large base should be doable, right? One main control source weapon, and an auxiliary source weapon system that could ideally be set to unlimited numbers—the more, the better.
On the eighth day of the preliminaries, Yun Yingzhi, in experimental fashion, completed a level-six main control source weapon and then produced twelve auxiliary source weapons. Then he fell into thought. The main control source weapon represented the strength of the output.
If the main control was only level six, then no matter how strong the esper operating the auxiliary source weapons was, the output would be heavily restricted. Yun Yingzhi wasn’t entirely satisfied.
To him, this setup—one main control and twelve auxiliary source weapons—probably wouldn’t do much on Shaluo Star. It might actually be more practical to just have His Highness Elvis use his esper directly. Not believing his own source weapon to be world-shaking, Yun Yingzhi set the whole setup aside and opened his personal terminal, beginning a more complex line of thought.
The main control source weapon was temporarily planned as level seven. It only contained a simple type of mark, so control wasn’t too difficult. Upgrading control shouldn’t be a major challenge. Next was the auxiliary source weapons. How many should he make?
Yun Yingzhi glanced at the time. It was the eighth, and the preliminaries ended on the fifteenth. Excluding today, there were seven days left. With a production-line approach and with little egg’s help, he could make about thirty auxiliary source weapons per day.
Seven days… that’s 210? One main control, 210 auxiliaries—covering a base should be more than enough.
Yun Yingzhi looked at the two Little Buns. At this moment, they were lying on sofa chairs that Master Tang had specially brought for them, wearing diapers, sunglasses, basking in artificial sunlight, looking utterly content.
Yun Yingzhi, “…”
They looked so comfortable. He subtly wanted to join them, to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, but that wasn’t possible right now. He was busy. Yun Yingzhi grabbed the little egg and started his daily routine of directing child labor.
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