Book Five: Escape from the Grey Hole

Chapter 167: Hope

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Lhachril

 

Luo XiaoLou quietly returned to the bedroom. After hearing the words of the maids, he felt even more disturbed. His Source of Consciousness was dwindling, and he couldn’t find any solution for it. And out of the blue, a prince appeared from nowhere and wanted to compete with him.

If Yuan Lie agreed, there was no room for him to refuse. Maybe Luo XiaoLou had never cared about winning or losing, but he didn’t want to lose on the eve of his and Yuan Xi’s wedding, and lose with that much shame.

He’d probably only be able to make secondary parts with the loss of his Source of Consciousness. This will make him a laughing stock in the Imperial Capital, and the media would post headlines like “Prince Consort’s True Strength Revealed, Ability Disappointing, Past Results Suspected Cheating” and “Prince Consort’s Rule-Breaking Incident Revealed”.

Under this kind of pressure, would Yuan Lie still agree to his wedding with Yuan Xi? Luo XiaoLou had no idea what to do. He didn’t even know how to say to Yuan Xi, ‘I’ve lost all my talent in mecha making. I can’t help you make advanced energy boxes anymore.’

Even his goal, to help Yuan Xi make the best mecha, would probably only be a dream.

“How much of my Source of Consciousness power do I have left?” Luo XiaoLou, who was mindlessly pacing around the house. He stopped, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked 125, who had been following him at the same pace.

125 carefully observed Luo XiaoLou’s face, hesitantly replied, “In fact, when you entered the house just now, it had completely disappeared.”

Luo XiaoLou was stunned and laughed bitterly. What could be worse than that?

“Hey, don’t be like that, it’s no big deal. Look, I still want you, and Yuan Xi definitely won’t abandon you because of this.” 125 tried to comfort Luo XiaoLou.

Luo XiaoLou was silent for a moment and said, “125, you followed me because I could save your master. Now that I’ve lost the Source of Consciousness, there’s no way I can save your master anymore. Are you sure you still want to follow me?”

125 jumped in shock and it stammered, “What do you mean?! Of course I’ll follow you! You’re my foster, you’re my foster, I’ll follow you.” It never wanted to leave Luo XiaoLou. It was programmed with a mission – to take care of the offspring of the Mythical Beast family.

Well, as a noble exotic beast mecha, it certainly had a mind of its own, but it had never had the slightest thought of changing fosterers.

“But what about your owner?” Luo XiaoLou asked calmly.

125 stayed quiet for a moment, then said dejectedly, “I’ve waited for so many years. I don’t care if I have to wait a few more.”

“You mean my Source of Consciousness power can still be restored?” Luo XiaoLou’s heart vaguely rose with joy.

125 gave Luo XiaoLou a blank look, “Of course I don’t mean that. I mean I can wait for your son, or your grandson, who hasn’t awakened.”

“…That’s really hard work.” Luo XiaoLou said not too sincerely.

If Yuan Xi didn’t marry him and instead replaced him with someone else… Luo XiaoLou thought of this and felt extremely uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Luo XiaoLou stood up. Other people, humans, none of them had Source of Consciousness, so why could they make mecha and not him?

Luo XiaoLou suddenly woke up to the fact that he seemed to have relied too much on the Source of Consciousness for the past two years. Without the Source of Consciousness, he had even denied himself completely.

Master Yan, Shen Yuan, and Mu Chen didn’t have Source of Consciousness, and no one would say they weren’t great. Even if he no longer had Source of Consciousness Power, as a human being, he at least still had Spiritual Power!

Luo XiaoLou changed his doomed appearance just a moment ago. He clenched his fists, determined that even without the Source of Consciousness, he would be strong with Spiritual Power. He was going to stay by Yuan Xi’s side all the time, and he was going to create the most powerful mecha for Yuan Xi.

“Come, let’s see now what the extent of my Spiritual Power is.” Luo XiaoLou, carrying 125 who was staring at him in amazement, strode over to the table.

“Give me some material and I’ll make a part.” Luo XiaoLou said with a fierce spirit.

An hour later, Luo XiaoLou stared blankly at the mecha part in front of him.

125 opened his mouth, brewed for a second, and said with an artificial surprise, “See, you can still do it! You’re absolutely right. You still have Spiritual Power!”

Luo XiaoLou was on the verge of tears as he stared at the level three inferior parts in front of him, the lowest level parts that could be made using Spiritual Power. Luo XiaoLou had been practicing during the time they had gone on the trial mission, and he had been able to make grade 5 medium mecha parts, but now…

“Never mind, that at least means it’s not the worst and I can still use Spiritual Power,” Luo XiaoLou reluctantly reassured himself.

125 nodded and said deeply, “When God closes your floor-to-ceiling window, he’ll at least leave a door open for you.”

Luo XiaoLou laughed, “No, my dear, I don’t need a floor-to-ceiling window, a door is all I need.” Be that as it may, that prince will compare and lose. He’ll win anyway!

As for the issue of his identity bloodline, Luo XiaoLou thought long and hard about it, and decided to first instill in Yuan Xi the understanding that the exotic beasts were actually not that scary, and as soon as Yuan Xi agreed, he’d confess immediately. If that didn’t work, he’d wait for the wedding and cook the rice.

After the wedding, he’d explain to Yuan Xi about his half-beast status. He hoped that Yuan Xi would grant his second request or turn a blind eye to it, since they were already married. Otherwise, Yuan Xi would be embarrassed, and an immediate divorce wasn’t something to be ashamed of.

Even if it did, he could use his memories as Yuan Xi’s ex-husband ……

Wait! If he really left, he still had the risk of being hunted, Luo XiaoLou jumped up and said to 125, “Didn’t you prepare a star map for me last time when I said I was escaping? Bring it over and let me see.”

Luo XiaoLou felt it was important to at least leave a way out before confessing.

Luo XiaoLou and 125 researched an escape route from the Imperial Capital, and prepared another six months’ worth of nutrition pills and a month’s worth of food to put in 125’s small warehouse.

Mr. Butler saw that Luo XiaoLou was not only unaffected by the public opinion, but had also increased his appetite. He was impressed by the fact that the person chosen by His Highness Yuan Xi had a strong psychological quality.

During the few days Luo XiaoLou was preparing, His Highness, the Prince from Xiao, made more than one public statement in front of the media, hoping for a chance to compete with the Prince Consort. He had even made a mecha part once in public, as high as Grade 5 medium, knowing that His Highness Prince Consort was known as a genius, and the highest he had ever made was a grade 4 part.

But when Luo XiaoLou had never volunteered to come forward to compete, some people began to wonder if the Prince Consort really wasn’t as good as this Prince Xiao? Was he afraid to fight?

 

Rod compiled the information from the past few days and handed it over to Yuan Xi, saying cautiously, “This is all I can investigate within my terms of reference.”

Yuan Xi read it with a gloomy face, tossed the information into the file box he was holding and said, “You can use all the power under my command. I want more detailed information, like where the fleeing exotic beast went.”

Rod nodded agreement, and after taking his leave, he was about to head out, when Yuan Xi suddenly said again, “What’s up with that Prince Xiao?”

Probably someone who adores you, Rod said in his heart, but didn’t dare to say it aloud, instead saying, “I’ve investigated it. This Prince seems to love mecha manufacturing, and is often looking for competitions in their country, and probably doesn’t have any other purpose.”

Saying that, he brought out an electronic book, which recorded the images of Prince Xiao in the past few days.

In front of him was an amazing looking young man, with blonde hair and beautiful green eyes, who was talking freely with confidence and pride.

As he watched, Yuan Xi suddenly stared at him, and Rod’s heart panicked. The Prince wasn’t really planning to change Prince Consorts, was he? If Luo XiaoLou finds out about this later, will he be able to call it quits? 

“This man – this man is Abel who we went on the trial mission with.”