TCPUAAV Chapter 40

 

 

The little dragon cub sluggishly came downstairs, only to find everyone gathered together and chatting about something.

 

He looked at Rong Heng, then at the little fox, noticing the bright red marks on their faces. Realizing he was the only one left out, he immediately began to complain, “I want one too!”

 

Flapping his little wings in protest, he grumbled, “Why do you all get to have them, and I don’t?”

 

“Doesn’t matter if you do,” the little fox teased mercilessly, “you’re so dark no one will notice it anyway.”

 

!!!!

 

The little dragon’s eyes went wide, nostrils flaring as if he might shoot sparks any second. He clung to Ruan Shiqing’s leg, whining, “I don’t care! I want one too! Dad, draw one for me!”

 

Unable to refuse, Ruan Shiqing picked up the red pen and drew a mark on the little dragon’s face.

 

The little dragon’s face was covered in smooth, glossy black scales, overlapping like polished obsidian. The pen left only a faint mark on his scales.

 

Dissatisfied with the result, the little dragon examined himself in the pond and demanded that his dad press harder. After several more attempts, a bold red mark finally appeared on his face.

 

He lifted his chin proudly and turned to the little mermaid. “See? Now we’re the same!”

 

The little mermaid looked at the random red marks smeared across their faces. The dark clouds in his heart seemed to part, as if the sun had emerged, warming an entire field of flowers.

 

His chest swelled with warmth and joy.

 

“Ah!” He responded loudly, his tail swishing lightly as he smiled with squinted eyes, his mood visibly brightened.

 

At that moment, he truly understood what his dad had meant the day before: “Don’t let irrelevant people’s words weigh on you. To us, you’re the most beautiful.”

 

It wasn’t just an empty reassurance.

 

Through their actions, they had shown him that no matter what he looked like, he was always the most beautiful little mermaid in their eyes.

 

He shouldn’t let unkind words from irrelevant people trouble him or make things harder for those who cared about him.

 

Standing straighter, his blue eyes sparkled with newfound confidence.

 

Even with the scars on his face, Ruan Shiqing had never lied—this little mermaid was indeed beautiful.

 

*

 

When the cubs arrived at school, they unsurprisingly drew curious stares from the other students.

 

Some cubs giggled at the red marks on their faces.

 

“Those marks look so silly!”

 

But the little dragon proudly puffed out his chest and retorted, “You don’t get it! This is a badge of honor for men!”

 

“Exactly! It’s a mark of courage!” Nota chimed in with equal pride, lifting her chin high.

 

After all, their dad had explained before: the scars on Ruan Yuebai’s face were proof of his strength and resilience.

 

Not every cub could survive the kind of injury he had endured.

 

Those scars weren’t blemishes—they were marks of bravery.

 

The cubs prattled on enthusiastically. Rong Heng, listening from the sidelines, rolled his eyes so hard they practically reached the back of his head.

 

Where did they even learn such nonsense?

 

Still, the little dragon and the fox’s confident rambling managed to convince a surprising number of cubs. The students glanced at each other and nodded in agreement.

 

After all, adults sometimes called their scars “heroic badges.”

 

And what could be cooler than a heroic badge?

 

The incident from yesterday was quickly forgotten, and many cubs began clamoring for their own “heroic badge.”

 

The little lion cub, Mila, stood frozen, staring at the little mermaid in a daze. “A badge of honor for men?” he muttered.

 

“But Ruan Yuebai… isn’t she a girl?”

 

His voice was shaky, his eyes filled with tears.

 

“You’re the girl! Your whole family’s girls!” The little dragon cub was the first to react, indignantly shouting, “He’s my big brother! Are you blind?!”

 

The little lion’s eyes widened, tears brimming in his reddened eyes.

 

Finally, unable to hold it in any longer, he sniffled and sobbed, “But… but he’s so pretty!”

 

The little lion cub’s budding crush had just been thoroughly shattered.

 

Wiping his tears, he glared at the little mermaid and stretched out his hand. “G-give me back the hair tie!”

 

Blushing furiously, the little mermaid quickly pulled the red hair tie from his pocket and handed it back. He had been planning to return it anyway, so the timing was perfect.

 

Clutching the hair tie, the little lion cub ran off, sniffling all the way.

 

The other cubs burst into laughter, their giggles echoing across the schoolyard.

 

*

 

After dropping the cubs off at school, Ruan Shiqing headed to Fragrance Tower Manor.

 

Marlin had informed him that the first batch of energy blasters had already been sold to Mr. Rong. The down payment had been settled, and the weapons would soon be transported by freighter.

 

This time, Ruan Shiqing planned to finalize the details of a new order with Dares before he left, as Dares was both his first major client and connected to Snowball. To Ruan Shiqing, this business was of utmost importance.

 

In the manor, Dares was currently in a video call with several colonels.

 

A few days prior, an advance shipment of 1,000 energy blasters had been delivered to Yanji. Divided among three colonels, each only received about 300 blasters—not nearly enough to equip all their elite forces.

 

Eager to test the weapons, the colonels had immediately taken them to the battlefield.

 

While they had already heard about the energy blasters’ power, their field tests had left them amazed.

 

Compared to new-model laser guns, the energy blasters were less precise. But their enemy was not an ordinary foe—it was the Zerg.

 

The Zerg’s prolific numbers, massive size, tough exoskeletons, and incredible vitality made them a nightmare to fight. Even a direct headshot from a laser gun couldn’t instantly kill them. Worse, it often provoked a deadly counterattack.

 

The energy blasters, however, were different.

 

Each energy beam emitted by the blasters carried an extremely high temperature, ineffective against inanimate objects but devastating to the Zerg.

 

A well-aimed shot could melt half a Zerg’s head in an instant. Even if the shot wasn’t perfectly accurate, the intense heat caused severe damage and pain, effectively neutralizing them.

 

Thrilled by the results, the colonels had all reached out to Dares with new requests.

 

Captain Melair of the Moira suggested eagerly, “The energy blasters are great, but could you mass-produce energy cannons? Just imagine—when the Zerg swarm hits, we could roll out energy cannons and roast them in droves!”

 

The only female among the five captains, Melair was second only to the late Asman and Dares in strength. Known as the “Grim Reaper” on the battlefield, she had a fearsome reputation.

 

Captain Shoy of the Minotaur interjected in disbelief, “We can barely afford the energy blasters, and you’re already dreaming of cannons?”

 

Pushing Melair aside, Shoy shoved his face right up to the camera. “I’m not greedy! Just give me energy blasters. Five thousand of them!”

 

Dares squinted at him. “Five thousand?”

 

Shoy looked offended. “Fifty thousand!”

 

“…”

 

Ignoring Shoy’s absurd demand, Dares turned to the next colonel. “Alright, next! Be quick—Master Ruan will be here any moment.”

 

Captain Jasper of the Prometheus crossed his arms, unimpressed. “Why do we even have to go through you? We could just speak directly to Master Ruan.”

 

Dares: ???

 

Dares rolled his eyes so hard they almost got stuck. If I let you guys loose on Master Ruan with demands like that, you’d scare him right off!

 

Pretending to cut off the call, he barked, “Five minutes left—hurry it up!”

 

The three captains reluctantly accepted reality and began rattling off their demands, each more over-the-top than the last.

 

Unlike them, Dares had a good grasp of boundaries. He filtered out the absurd and nonsensical requests, keeping only the reasonable ones, which he forwarded to Ruan Shiqing.

 

After reviewing the list of requests, Ruan Shiqing nodded thoughtfully. “I can handle these. But since the weapons are intended for the Zerg, I’d like to study their anatomy. Could you send a few Zerg corpses to B3024?”

 

The captains blinked, stunned.

 

“That’s all you need?” Dares asked, sounding almost disbelieving.

 

After years of dealing with the Imperial military’s research departments, he had grown accustomed to being dismissed, ridiculed, or outright ignored. The researchers at the military’s weapons labs often considered the soldiers’ requests unrealistic and impractical, claiming that front-line officers didn’t understand weapon design.

 

Most years, a submission of ten requests would result in maybe two being approved.

 

This attitude had bred deep resentment among the front-line officers, who often preferred ordering directly from private arms manufacturers instead of dealing with the military’s bureaucracy.

 

But Master Ruan? He didn’t complain, argue, or ridicule. He just took the requests and got to work. To Dares, he was practically a national treasure!

 

“There is one other thing,” Ruan Shiqing added, sending over a feedback form. “Once the first batch of energy blasters has been deployed, please provide a detailed report on their performance. That way, I can make adjustments before the next batch is manufactured.”

 

What else could Dares do but nod like a bobblehead while silently singing Ruan Shiqing’s praises?

 

After wrapping up his meeting with Dares, Ruan Shiqing prepared to leave. On his way out, he ran into Shen Wuzhuo.

 

“Mr. Ruan, I heard your missing cub was found. Congratulations,” Shen greeted him warmly.

 

“Thank you.” At the mention of the little ones at home, Ruan Shiqing’s smile grew more genuine. “I apologize for not attending the last mutual aid meeting.”

 

Previously, Shen Wuzhuo had invited him to a gathering, but the event had coincided with Snowball’s disappearance. With all his energy focused on searching for the cub, he hadn’t been able to spare the time.

 

“It’s a voluntary gathering; no need to feel bad,” Shen Wuzhuo replied with a wave of his hand. “That said, quite a few people were disappointed by your absence. They’ve been asking me to arrange another meeting to invite you. Would you be available?”

 

Ruan Shiqing, knowing the importance of maintaining connections, readily accepted the olive branch. “I’m free these days. Just let me know when and where.”

 

“Excellent. I’ll set it up in the next few days and send you the details,” Shen Wuzhuo promised.

 

After a bit more polite conversation, they parted ways.

 

Instead of heading straight home, Ruan Shiqing detoured to the underground market.

 

With its transient population and eclectic mix of goods, the market was the perfect place to search for rare remedies. His goal was to find a way to heal the scars on the little mermaid’s face.

 

As he wandered through the market, he spotted a familiar figure in a quiet corner.

 

The merchant who had sold him the dragon egg and 09 stood behind his stall, wearing a simple brown cloak. When he saw Ruan Shiqing, his face lit up with genuine enthusiasm. “Mr. Ruan! I just got some new stock—would you like to take a look?”

 

Ruan Shiqing paused a few meters away, scrutinizing the man from a distance.

 

He was thin, his features youthful—no older than thirty—and his expression was sincere, with no sign of pretense.

 

On the surface, there was nothing suspicious about him.

 

But when Ruan Shiqing thought about 09’s sentience and the dragon egg hidden among ordinary ore, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Could all of this really just be coincidence?

 

Or was he overthinking things?

 

The merchant, noticing his hesitation, called out again, his tone as warm as before.

 

After a moment of deliberation, Ruan Shiqing decided to approach the stall.

 

 

 

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Lol poor Mila, typical little brat who doesn’t know how to act normally with his crush. Tho he’s rude for taking back the gift >:c

I keep a list of characters to not get confused when we get new ones, and god there’s starting to be a lot of side characters related to the military lmao

 

Thanks for reading!

For every three ko-fis, I will upload a bonus chapter~