Chapter 137: They Can Fly!
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Yuanxiao’s belly wasn’t exactly soft—it had the springiness of a marshmallow—but when they pounced straight onto Lin Xu’s face, it still made his nose go numb. He grabbed at Yuanxiao, trying to pull the little dragon off, but their claws tangled in his hair as they let out a series of high-pitched, muffled whimpers.
In the end, it was Heinrich who stepped forward, pried Yuanxiao’s claws open, and gently lifted them off Lin Xu’s face. He hadn’t held them for more than thirty seconds before Yuanxiao started flapping their wings, squirming in his hands to break free. Heinrich couldn’t hold onto them and didn’t dare use force. He had no choice but to let go and allow Yuanxiao to fly on their own.
The moment they were free, the little dragon shot straight back toward Lin Xu. He instinctively raised a hand to shield his face, but Yuanxiao landed on his shoulder instead, wrapping their tiny arms around his lifted finger and licking it affectionately, rubbing their head against his neck.
Lin Xu had no idea why Yuanxiao had suddenly become so affectionate. Just as he started to relax and gave them a couple of gentle strokes, Yuanxiao took off again, hovering mid-air in front of him with their wings beating.
When Lin Xu didn’t respond, Yuanxiao spread their wings wide and zipped around the entire bridge in a flash, leaving a sharp breeze in their wake. After two laps, they circled back to hover in front of Lin Xu again, their round, bright blue eyes staring at him intently.
Were they showing off that they could fly now? Lin Xu wasn’t sure. He offered a small encouraging smile, lifted one hand to scratch under their fluffy white chin, and with the other pulled a piece of sea crystal from his pocket to feed them.
Clutching the crystal, Yuanxiao flew two excited loops in place, then began gnawing on it mid-air with a loud crunching sound. Heinrich had been watching them the whole time, silently observing. Suddenly, a thought struck him—something he’d once overheard on Dragonstar.
“Yuanxiao… probably used to be afraid of you.” Lin Xu raised a brow. “Afraid of me?”
Heinrich nodded. “On Dragonstar, if a hatchling can’t fly after they break out of the egg, the mother assumes they’re weak and unfit to survive. She’ll abandon them—or worse, kill them. So hatchlings stay in the egg for a long time. They start practicing flying before they even hatch.”
Yuanxiao’s shell had fallen off early by accident. Lin Xu had seen them before they were ready, and the whole encounter had terrified the poor thing. But they were nothing if not disciplined. The moment they learned how to fly, they had rushed straight to Lin Xu to show it off—like they’d forgotten all about being scared.
Lin Xu watched them for a long moment, then suddenly reached out and poked their forehead. Unprepared, Yuanxiao lost control of their flight, spinning wildly through the air. Still dizzy, they blinked in confusion just in time to see Lin Xu grinning at them with mock fierceness, baring his teeth in a playful snarl.
Yuanxiao blinked. “…?” Then— “Waaahh! Wuuuuuhhh!!”
The black-and-white little dragon burst into tears, howling with abandon. Not even the sweet-smelling energy gel could calm them. Tears streamed down their face, but their tiny wings kept flapping stubbornly, refusing to let them fall.
Heinrich, who had witnessed the entire “prank,” shot Lin Xu a very subtle look. He had never realized Lin Xu had such a wicked sense of humor. Lin Xu rarely smiled, and he never joked around. But somehow, the arrival of this little dragon had started to soften everything about him.
Lin Xu reached out and pulled Yuanxiao into his arms, wiping away their tears while murmuring, “Alright, alright, no more scaring you. My sweet baby.” Yuanxiao stared up at him with watery eyes, then gave his finger a gentle lick, perfectly obedient. For a hatchling trying not to be abandoned, obedience and effort were written into their very genes. They were always striving to win their parent’s affection.
Lin Xu couldn’t resist squeezing their little mouth gently, then turned to Heinrich. “Now that Yuanxiao can fly, do you want to try flying with them?”
Heinrich hesitated. “…Sure.” Seeing his reluctant expression, Lin Xu stepped closer and held Yuanxiao out toward him. “You want to give them a little squish, don’t you?”
“…,” “…Yeah.” Heinrich quietly reached out and rubbed Yuanxiao’s head, then gave their fluffy white belly a few gentle pokes.
Yuanxiao was still young and couldn’t be directly exposed to the vacuum of space or cosmic radiation. But the interior of S297 was too small to accommodate Heinrich in his full dragon form. If they wanted to fly together, one would have to circle the ship from the outside while the other flew inside along the observation windows. Separated by the thick glass, a large and small dragon mirrored each other’s movements —flying in sync, keeping pace—and Yuanxiao couldn’t have been happier.
Lin Xu remained on the bridge, monitoring the flight status of the S297. They had already entered the Crescent District starfield, and now had to follow the designated route precisely to avoid collisions with other ships.
He absentmindedly opened his inbox and terminal communications. A flood of messages poured in all at once, though he usually didn’t receive anything particularly important and had mostly ignored it until now.
Most of it was the usual—lecture invitations, publishing offers, academic exchanges, Perseus Group shareholder meeting notices, notifications about new Gorin custom drops… and a message from Lu’a and Lu’la.
What were those two slimes contacting him for? Lin Xu clicked open the message, which had been buried among the rest.
“Beautiful Mr. Lin! Waaaah we went to look for our old coworkers, but the ship they were on crashed into a star and they all died! Waaaah…”
That message had been sent three days ago. They hadn’t written anything else—just that one line, a tearful outpouring of grief. But it sent a chill down Lin Xu’s spine. Lu’a and Lu’la’s “coworkers”… weren’t they the other slime miners from the G398? All dead…
Even though shipwrecks caused by gravitational pull from massive stars were unfortunately not uncommon in interstellar travel, this felt like too much of a coincidence to believe it was random.
The Audit Committee had recently been reshuffled, but the new members clearly weren’t changing course—they were still pushing forward with their cover-up plans.
Lin Xu grew concerned for Lu’a and Lu’la’s safety. He immediately responded to their message, asking where they were now. Ten minutes passed. Outside the starship’s viewport, the silver-white dragon had already returned inside and shifted back to human form. Yuanxiao, a bit worn out from flying, had curled up in their crib and fallen fast asleep.
Finally, Lu’a and Lu’la replied: “We’re not sure if we should continue with our interstellar travel plans. We’re still staying at the Perser Hotel for now.”
Lin Xu instructed them to stay inside the hotel and avoid going out or eating any unfamiliar food. He would come see them as soon as possible. When Heinrich returned to the bridge, he saw Lin Xu staring intently at the screen, brows furrowed. The light-hearted atmosphere from before had vanished entirely.
“What happened?” he asked, stepping forward. Lin Xu told him everything—what the slimes had said, and his growing suspicions. Heinrich was silent for a moment, then said, “I’ll dock the S297 at the Capital Star port. We’ll go check on the slimes together.”
“What about Yuanxiao?”
“We’ll take them with us.”
Lin Xu shook his head. “We don’t know what kind of situation Lu’a and Lu’la are in. I’m not comfortable bringing Yuanxiao along. Didn’t you set up a gene screening with Zhou Pingbo for them?” Heinrich nodded.
“After we land,” Lin Xu said, “you take Yuanxiao to Zhou Pingbo’s lab and do the screening like planned. I’ll go to the Perser Hotel to check on Lu’a and Lu’la.”
Heinrich looked like he wanted to say something else, but in the end, all he managed was, “Be careful.”
“I will,” Lin Xu replied. “This is Capital Star’s main city. Those people shouldn’t dare to bring out anything too destructive.”
—
After landing, the two split up following a quick rest. Heinrich took Yuanxiao to Zhou Pingbo’s lab at the Imperial Research Institute, while Lin Xu headed toward the Perser Hotel. Arnold, summoned by Heinrich, was assigned to escort Lin Xu.
Arnold had seen Lu’a and Lu’la back when they were still aboard the Victoria, but most of the deeper conspiracy had only been discussed with Zhou Pingbo. Arnold knew almost nothing about the darker truths; he was just carrying out Marshal Chu’s orders with strict discipline.
He rarely showed curiosity about military secrets, but his gossip-loving heart was a lot harder to suppress than protocol allowed. The moment he saw Heinrich step off the S297 cradling that giant white egg, Arnold’s eyes widened like saucers. When Dr. Lin said goodbye to the Marshal and gave the egg a few reluctant pats, Arnold felt even more certain:
That egg was their child. A dragon egg. But… Could a human really lay an egg? Doubt crept into Arnold’s heart. He was torn between suspicion and curiosity, but one look at Lin Xu’s cold, serious expression in the co-pilot’s seat made him swallow every stray thought and focus on flying.
“Dr. Lin, there’s a photon gun in the drawer in front of you. The Marshal said you’re free to use it if needed.”
Lin Xu opened the drawer to find a compact photon pistol and a holster belt. Once he’d put on the belt, the weapon could be holstered discreetly under his arm, and with a jacket layered on top, no passerby would know he was armed. But firearms were strictly regulated on Capital Star, and photon weapons weren’t sold to civilians.
Sure enough, Arnold added, “The carry permit is registered under the Abyss Fleet and already taken care of. It’s just in case. But, Dr. Lin—unless it’s absolutely necessary, try not to fire it in the Crescent District. The local cops are a pain to deal with.”
“Understood.”
Lin Xu checked the weapon, loaded it with energy and rounds, and gave it a final inspection. Paired with his cool, unreadable expression, he looked like a villain preparing to avenge some long-standing grudge. Arnold turned away, silently telling himself to stop imagining things.
When they arrived at the Perser Hotel, the staff at the front desk immediately recognized Lin Xu. He had visited once before, and as a major shareholder of the Perseus Group—and with a uniformed Alpha officer accompanying him—they were allowed to pass without delay and headed straight for the elevator to reach Lu’a and Lu’la’s room on the 53rd floor.
Lin Xu and Arnold stepped in first. Three other passengers entered after them. One of them moved to press the elevator buttons, only to see that 53 had already been selected. He quietly withdrew his hand. Another man glanced at him and pressed 51 instead.
The elevator began its ascent. An awkward silence filled the confined space. Lin Xu stared at the reflective metal doors, his face calm but unreadable. The three strangers inside grew visibly tense. When their eyes met Lin Xu’s gaze in the reflection, they quickly looked away like they’d been shocked.
What are the odds… Lin Xu couldn’t help but frown inwardly. Arnold had been trained for years and could also sense something was off about the trio. But Lin Xu hadn’t shared the full backstory with him, so he couldn’t pinpoint the issue—only that something definitely wasn’t right.
Ding! The elevator reached the 51st floor. The three men stepped out and disappeared around the corner. The elevator continued upward, but didn’t stop at the 53rd floor as expected. Instead, it came to a halt on the 52nd floor. The doors slowly slid open.
Lin Xu immediately pulled Arnold with him and stepped out. “Wait—this isn’t the 53rd floor!” Arnold started to protest, but then caught something out of the corner of his eye.
The call button outside the elevator was lit with the up arrow. But… there was no one waiting for the elevator. Those three men?!
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