Chapter 58: Controlled Weapons
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The two projected videos showed identical scenes above: black circles spreading rapidly outward. Other than their size, the structures within were almost exactly the same. The black circles expanded at incredible speed. On the left screen, the circle nearly covered the entire sky over the base; on the right, it enveloped the testing field.
Comments poured across the Starshine Competition livestream.
“I’ve split my screen in half—the source weapon techniques used by His Highness Elvis and the testing ground are moving in perfect sync!”
“Forget that! I’m more curious about General Yun’s second son being pregnant out of wedlock. How shameless can he be? If I were General Yun or Madam Yun, I’d have strangled that disgrace the moment he was born.”
“That’s probably why they cut ties. I heard His Highness confessed to him once and got rejected. I didn’t understand it before, but now it makes sense—he probably knew he wasn’t worthy.”
“Can you all not talk about that here? This is Red Peony Powerhouse’s spotlight—don’t ruin the mood!”
“Look! The black lines forming the circle—they don’t look like ordinary lines. If you look closely, they’re more like whirlpools!”
“Yeah, like tiny vortices linked together into strands!”
As speculation buzzed across the comments, both Elvis and Yun Yinghui gave the exact same order at nearly the same time. In the next instant, the esper soldiers holding the auxiliary source weapons began channeling energy into them, activating their engravings.
They had been curious about the auxiliary weapons since the start but hadn’t understood them—until now. The moment they activated the engravings, realization struck. Their reactions were nearly identical. They had been looking up at the black circle in the sky, but now their expressions changed.
On both screens, the tracking drones captured the esper soldiers gazing upward, eyes fixed on the dark circle above.
Elvis’s battlefield stream, as usual, had no chat feed—just the video itself. But the Starshine Competition chat was a roaring flood.
“The circle looks the same as before, but right after both His Highness and the testers gave orders, they all started watching that black circle.”
“I replayed it—the timing’s identical!”
“Aaaaah, I’m dying to know what this source weapon actually does!”
In the Starshine Competition stream, the announcer said, “Now we begin testing. First, we’ll set the test dummies to Level Six mode.”
Yun Yinghui ordered, “Eighteen test dummies, engage in high-speed movement mode.”
“Understood,” replied the announcer.
Immediately, both battles began at once. Dozens of black threads shot from the sky, piercing down at their targets. Elvis’s main broadcast was utterly breathtaking. The black threads crisscrossed the battlefield, slicing through countless zerg lifeforms in an instant. But only for a moment—then every gory scene was censored.
Even so, it was clear that each swirling black strand acted like a scythe of death, reaping life after life. Without a doubt, Elvis’s stream was far more visually overwhelming than the testing broadcast. At that moment, though both were using identical source weapons, nearly everyone’s attention was on Elvis.
Since both broadcasts featured weapons made by the Red Peony Powerhouse, most viewers watched both streams side by side. Unable to chat in Elvis’s official stream, they flocked to the Starshine Competition chat to discuss.
“So strong!”
“Wait, I recognize that ability—that’s His Highness’s ability, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“I was once his teammate in training. When we got into danger, he used this exact esper ability.”
“So you’re saying the ability he’s using now isn’t Red Peony Powerhouse’s source weapon—it’s his own esper?”
“Yes, exactly! It’s his personal esper ability!”
As more people explained in the chat, a new theory spread—His Highness was using his own spatial esper, not a source weapon.
“Then what does that mean for the Red Peony Powerhouse’s creation? Is it just a power amplifier?”
“Wait, look at the Starshine Competition test! All eighteen test dummies are already shredded apart!”
“What?”
“Haven’t you noticed? Both broadcasts are using the same source weapon, with nearly identical ability traits!”
“Yeah! So why does the Starshine Competition stream show the same ability as His Highness’s?”
Confusion rippled through the audience. The two synchronized streams finally began to diverge. Elvis’s feed remained focused on warfare, while the Starshine Competition feed shifted into an analytical phase. Elvis’s battlefield grew increasingly fierce, black lines consuming half the visible sky, while the test broadcast turned to explanation.
As the main controller of the source weapon, Yun Yinghui spoke: “I’m busy, so I’ll keep this brief.”
“So arrogant! As expected from one of the Red Peony Powerhouse’s secretive soldiers!”
Yun Yinghui continued, “This source weapon consists of one main control and twelve auxiliaries, operated by a total of thirteen esper soldiers.” He paused, then added, “Though they’re called auxiliaries, the twelve sub-operators can, within a limited range of authority granted by the main control, manipulate spatial energy.”
He pointed to the circle in the air. “That’s the convergence zone. The energy from both main and auxiliary controllers merges there. Each esper soldier aligns with different elemental affinities. None of us are spatial espers by nature, but the creator of this weapon designed it as a complete, interconnected system. I don’t know the exact mechanism, but it seems the fused elements can transform between one another. The more controllers there are, the more thorough the spatial conversion becomes—eventually evolving toward its most powerful form. That’s what allows us to control it so easily.”
As he spoke, Yun Yinghui flicked his fingers. At once, the black vortex threads above burst outward again. The eighteen test dummies—already fragmented—were instantly torn apart once more.
“Normally,” he explained, “these dummies are made from specialized materials that are nearly impossible to damage. But spatial espers are always the exception. Those black threads you see are spatial vortices. When countless spatial vortices strike the targets, it isn’t really an attack—it’s instantaneous spatial displacement. It’s dangerous. It ignores rank, strength, and power differences. The moment of contact, it cuts through everything. If you tried to reassemble the dummies now, you’d find portions missing entirely from the joints. This,” he said, “is spatial esper power.”
As his calm, resonant voice echoed through the broadcast, the audience’s eyes turned back to Elvis’s battlefield feed.
Yun Yinghui’s voice continued through their speakers, “The creator of this source weapon—his vision was truly extraordinary. Spatial espers are the rarest of all in the Empire—there’s simply nothing else like them,” Yun Yinghui said evenly. “If a single esper soldier tries to control a space-type source weapon, the results are bound to be mediocre because of compatibility issues. The stronger the weapon, the harder it is to handle. I don’t know exactly how its maker built it, but I can guess—he must have used complementary energy systems to push its destructive power to the limit. Because it’s so complex to control, he designed it for distributed operation.
“The one I’m handling right now works that way—one main controller and twelve auxiliaries forming a single unit. The auxiliaries can manipulate spatial energy within their permitted range, which lightens the load on the main controller, and at the same time, greatly reduces the overall difficulty. In my opinion, as long as the operators can avoid friendly fire, this source weapon is practically idiot-proof.”
“It’s dangerous,” Yun Yinghui said again, his tone cool and precise. “Because the control method is so simple, even in high-intensity combat, the esper soldiers operating the auxiliary source weapons still have enough focus left to use their own esper abilities. That’s what makes this space-type source weapon set so exceptional. This entire series has only one skill—attack. The effect is what you’re seeing right now. That concludes the test.”
“Wow! Amazing!”
“It’s going to the auction house, right? I want it!”
In the Starshine Competition broadcast, Yun Yinghui looked at Nangong Qing and the others. “Let’s go. The test’s over.”
“I love it,” Jia Qingwan said, clenching her fists. “I’m definitely bidding for it!”
At that moment, it wasn’t just Jia Qingwan—everyone felt the same way. They had to buy it. Even the comment feed was filled with “Bid for it! Bid for it!”
But then Yun Yinghui’s calm, frosty voice came through again. “The destructive power of this entire weapon set is too high. It probably won’t be approved for auction.”
“Huh?” Jia Qingwan blinked.
“It’ll be classified as a controlled item,” Nangong Qing said quietly.
“What?”
“A controlled weapon? No way!”
“Of course it will! High-destruction source weapons always end up restricted!”
“I’m a source-weapon maker myself, and I still can’t figure out how that powerhouse managed to craft an entire distributed system like this!”
Everyone’s gaze shifted back to Elvis’s battlefield stream. Above, the chaotic spatial vortices continued harvesting lives without mercy. Spatial esper—an ability that ignored levels, strength, and power altogether. Even watching through a screen made the audience’s hearts pound with unease.
In the testing-hall broadcast, Yun Yinghui and his team departed. The Starshine Competition moved on to the next evaluation, but it was obvious—the announcer and the audience were still mentally stuck on the previous one.
As the host tried to continue, his voice wandered back. “Honestly, I’ve never seen a source weapon measured by groups before. No wonder His Highness Elvis gave it such high praise!”
Strangely, no one—neither the viewers nor the testers on-site—found that statement odd. One of the esper soldiers running the new test even replied, “And the control method’s super easy. That mysterious tester even called it idiot-proof!”
“How did they pull it off?” someone murmured. The chat kept scrolling nonstop:
“Wait, I just thought of something serious. Earlier someone said that wasn’t a source-weapon skill but His Highness’s own ability. But this proves it is a source-weapon skill, which means…”
“…which means the Red Peony Powerhouse copied His Highness’s ability?”
“Whoa!”
“Should I say—of course he did! While others saw His Highness’s ability and just felt awe or fear, our powerhouse saw it and thought, I can recreate that!”
“That’s why he’s our powerhouse!”
“The powerhouse and His Highness are friends—that’s why His Highness ended up with his whole source-weapon set. Now I just want to know which student from Fansa Academy the powerhouse actually is!”
“Three years ago, the Starshine Competition winner was from Eiffel Academy, right? Why didn’t the powerhouse compete that year?”
“You mean he wasn’t even in Fansa Academy back then? So he must’ve enrolled within the past two years?”
“At least a second-year, right? He’s already got two kids!”
“I’ve got a theory. You know how His Highness Elvis and General Yun’s second son—Yun Yingzhi—were connected? Didn’t someone just leak that he’s pregnant? A second-year Fansa Academy student… Could the powerhouse be Yun Yingzhi?”
“Are you insane? And pregnancy takes ten months! Even if everything matched, he couldn’t be pregnant yesterday and have two kids today! Obviously Jiao-Jiao and Tao-Tao—”
“Wait… what?”
“Jiaojiao and Taotao? They look newborn—Taotao hasn’t even hatched yet, just an egg!”
“No way…”
“It can’t be…”
“And I heard General Yun’s second son’s secondary form is a little white rabbit?”
“Even if he got into Fansa Academy through connections, he’s still a military cadet. He should fight pretty well, right? Could he really be the powerhouse?”
“Someone leaked General Yun’s son’s combat footage from the finals. Go watch it if you’re curious.”
Yun Yingzhi’s vision blurred as tears streamed down his face. On the twin projection screens, his own creations—those source weapons—shone with breathtaking brilliance, displaying their unmatched strength. All his life, he had wanted to tell General Yun and Madam Yun that he was not the disgrace of the Yun family. But now… Images of those sharp, merciless words flashed through Yun Yingzhi’s mind again—
“The Yun family has severed all ties with him.
“Unmarried and pregnant, he is the disgrace of the Yun family.
The two Little Buns had been staring at the projection screens, but they quickly realized something was wrong. Yun Yingzhi was crying. Little kit immediately scrambled up onto his father’s face and licked his tears, trying desperately to make them go away.
Little egg thought Yun Yingzhi was sad because of what was on the screen. He kept trying to use his spatial ability to move the projection somewhere else, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, the little egg stomped his tiny shell against the floor.
Yun Yingzhi sniffled, turned off the projection, and hugged both Little Buns tightly. His tears kept falling, one after another. The two Little Buns comforted him in their own ways. Little kit tried to shove his favorite milk bottle into Yun Yingzhi’s mouth, determined to make the little white rabbit drink milk. Little egg offered up his small sunglasses instead.
Yun Yingzhi sniffled again and shifted from his second form into human shape. Even then, holding both of them in his arms, he couldn’t stop crying.
Little kit licked his cheek, then turned toward the air and let out a fierce, milk-sweet growl—“Awrrr!”—before looking back at him and chirping softly, “Da da da.” He reached out his tiny paws, trying to wipe his father’s tears away.
The little egg didn’t have paws. He could only roll his round little shell across Yun Yingzhi’s cheeks, hoping to wipe the tears off.
Yun Yingzhi had been deeply sad—but under little egg’s clumsy efforts, the tears just smeared onto the shell and back onto his own face. A laugh burst out of him before he could stop it.
Little kit blinked in confusion, tilting his head. “Da da?” His eyes darted toward the little egg, who was still rolling over Yun Yingzhi’s face. After a second’s thought, he curled himself into a ball and rolled onto Yun Yingzhi’s cheek too. Yun Yingzhi quickly caught one in each hand. “Daddy’s not sad anymore. You don’t have to do that.”
Little kit wriggled free of his father’s grip and waved his paws fiercely, his tiny face serious with “Teacher Little Kit will show you how it’s done” written all over it. “Awrrr! Awrrr! Awrrr!”
Yun Yingzhi nodded solemnly. “Okay, okay—awrrr!”
Little kit instructed again, “Awrrr! Awrrr! Awrrr!”
Yun Yingzhi kissed both Little Buns on the forehead, then began his quiet little brainwashing session. “Your grandpa and grandma don’t want Daddy anymore, so Daddy doesn’t want them either.”
The two Little Buns didn’t understand, but that didn’t stop them from agreeing completely.
“You shouldn’t like them either,” Yun Yingzhi continued. Little kit didn’t understand a word, but he nodded obediently anyway.
“Jiaojiao, Taotao,” Yun Yingzhi said, “if you ever see them again, just… just…”
“Awrrr?” Little kit asked cautiously.
“Yes, exactly that!” Yun Yingzhi said, then added after a moment’s thought, “And ignore them!”
Little kit waved his paws again, full of determination. “Awrrr! Awrrr! Awrrr!”
Little egg wriggled free of Yun Yingzhi’s hand and slipped into his shirt. A knock sounded at the door. Yun Yingzhi quickly picked up both Little Buns and opened it. Standing outside was Yun Yinghui. Before Yun Yingzhi could say a word, the two Little Buns clinging to him launched themselves straight at Yun Yinghui, chirping and growling their complaints.
Yun Yinghui chuckled and hugged them both, then set them back onto Yun Yingzhi, where they promptly climbed back up. He reached out and gently wiped Yun Yingzhi’s tears. “Zhizhi, you’ve still got me.” Yun Yingzhi nodded, but the tears kept falling.
Yun Yinghui’s gaze swept the room. When his eyes landed on the small cushion nestled between the Little Buns’ favorite armchairs, he couldn’t help remembering the sight of Yun Yingzhi sitting there with them side by side—so soft, so small—and his heart ached even more. He wrapped an arm around Yun Yingzhi’s shoulders and guided him to sit on the edge of the bed. “Zhizhi, you’re really angry right now, aren’t you?”
Yun Yingzhi’s lips trembled. He nodded hard. “I don’t like my mom and dad!” he burst out. Then, more quietly but no less hurt, “They don’t want me, so I don’t want them!”
But beneath the anger, confusion still lingered. His pregnancy was public now. How would his classmates at Fansa Academy see him? Could he even keep studying there? And what about the two Little Buns? Would His Highness Elvis find out about them? He probably would. Would he try to take them away?
Yun Yingzhi looked down at the two Little Buns clinging to him and felt his heart twist painfully. The tears kept falling, one after another.
“Zhizhi,” Yun Yinghui asked gently, “have you ever thought about telling everyone that you are contestant A13167?”
Yun Yingzhi froze. His eyelids twitched violently as lines of text flashed through his mind—
“Red Peony Powerhouse.
“Big Muscle Man.
“Wool-Plucking Emperor.
Just thinking of those ridiculous titles made his entire face burn red with embarrassment. Every single one of them clashed with who he really was—humiliating, mortifying labels that made him want to crawl into a hole. He absolutely did not want anyone to know that was his secret identity!
At that moment, little kit clung to Yun Yingzhi’s cheek like a small bunny pancake, chirping, “Da da da da!” to express himself.
The little egg rolled up and down Yun Yingzhi’s chest in solidarity. From the look of them, both were clearly trying to tell him something.
Yun Yingzhi caught the bunny pancake in one hand. “Big Brother, what are Jiaojiao and Taotao saying?”
When the little egg saw that the tittle kit had been captured, he immediately began rolling across Yun Yingzhi’s other cheek. Yun Yingzhi caught him too. Yun Yinghui paused for a moment, then smiled faintly. “They’re saying… they want you.”
Yun Yingzhi blinked. He looked at the two Little Buns in his hands and said softly, “Then I guess I should thank you both for wanting me.”
“Da!” The little kit chirped proudly. Little egg tried to bounce in his palm, doing his best to agree.
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