TCPUAAV Chapter 107

 

After Liv and her group were taken away, the long-delayed spacecraft was finally able to resume preparations for takeoff.

 

Garland didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he traveled together with Ruan Shiqing’s group. They would first stop at Planet B3024, and from there, he’d head to Balham Star to find Hector.

 

Previously, during his collaboration with Siyan, Garland had pretended to head to a remote planet for a project. In truth, he had assumed a different identity to investigate who had schemed against Hector and to keep an eye on the progress of the experiment for Siyan. To avoid being tracked, he had shut off his AI assistant and communication devices. The new contact number he used was only known to Siyan and a few trusted aides.

 

Now that he had switched back to his usual AI system, he discovered that Hector had tried to contact him long ago. There were not only call requests, but also several text messages.

 

Cradling the little dragon in his arms, Garland scrolled through Hector’s messages one by one.

 

Hector’s messages had started coming in more frequently after he learned of the little dragon’s identity. He had used them to record every little detail of his time spent with the cub. While he claimed it was just a record of the young one’s growth, his words were filled with an unmistakable desire to reconcile.

 

The little dragon cub sat on Garland’s lap, craning its neck to peek at the screen too.

 

After reading a few messages, the cub couldn’t take it anymore—it covered its eyes and bolted out of Garland’s arms, diving under Rong Heng’s belly with its short, stubby tail wagging back and forth.

 

Muffled and disgruntled, it muttered, “Hector is so cheesy. That’s not for kids!”

 

Garland couldn’t help but laugh. The always-tense expression on his face finally softened, his features relaxing completely with a rare warmth.

 

Ever since the dragon egg was lost, it had been a long time since he had smiled so freely. Hector had always believed his lies were seamless, and even now—after the cub had been found—he was still being cautious, hoping for forgiveness.

 

But after cooling down, Garland had started to suspect that the loss of the dragon egg really had been an accident. Hector couldn’t be blamed.

 

Initially, he had been overwhelmed by guilt and self-blame. When he finally calmed down and thought things through, he realized he simply couldn’t get past the emotional barrier in his own heart. That dragon egg had been the culmination of both his and Hector’s devotion—he remembered every little care detail vividly. If he hadn’t separated from Hector for a while, he might have been driven mad by those memories and the guilt.

 

Dragons live long lives—they had plenty of time ahead of them. He had believed a temporary separation was no big deal. But he hadn’t expected to suddenly receive the news of Hector’s death.

 

It was at that moment that regret had crashed over him like a tidal wave.

 

Thankfully, he still had a chance to make things right. Looking at the messages, his gaze softened. Garland’s finger hovered over Hector’s contact number for a long time, but he didn’t make the call.

 

Given Hector’s impulsive nature, if he got word, he might set off from Balham Star right away. It would be better to wait until they reached B3024 before reaching out.

 

Garland put away his AI assistant and turned his gaze back to the little dragon cub.

 

By now, the cub had already been dragged out from under Rong Heng’s belly—who looked quite fed up—and had skipped over to join the other cubs, whispering secrets among themselves.

 

Because of the earlier incident, the little mermaid was worried the fox cub might be feeling down. So he was chatting with Ruan Jiao and her to comfort her.

 

But the little fox had taken her father’s words to heart. She wasn’t disheartened by having been targeted. On the contrary, seeing Liv being taken away in such a sorry state had been cathartic, like exorcising a lingering gloom from her childhood.

 

“Actually, I’ve seen her before. She was already a real piece of work back then,” the little fox said, feeling vindicated as she shared the story with the other cubs.

 

At the time, she had been living on the streets for quite a while. With plenty of experience fighting for food, she no longer went hungry. But she still envied the cubs who had parents to love them. When she had nothing to do after filling her belly, she would sneak over to the cubs’ school to watch.

 

She’d hide in treetops or behind walls, watching the carefree young ones play. Especially during pickup time, when parents lined up to collect their children. The cubs would rush into their parents’ arms, squealing with delight, before being led home.

 

Every time she saw a cub get picked up, she would imagine that maybe one day, her own parents would come for her too.

 

But she waited and waited, and no one ever came.

 

Eventually, she learned to give up on that fantasy.

 

It was around that time that Liv, for some unknown reason, noticed her—and started picking on her.

 

She still remembered the first time they met. Liv had been wearing a pink princess dress, looking like a delicate doll—but her mouth was full of venom, making her anything but likeable.

 

Liv had ordered her bodyguards to snatch away the nutrient supplements she’d worked so hard to collect and poured them into a trash bin right in front of her. Then she’d threatened her, forbidding her from approaching the school again, and told her to stay away from her father.

 

Back then, the little fox hadn’t understood what she’d done to offend the rich girl. Unable to resist, she left battered and bruised. But she hadn’t obeyed. She still returned to the school—just better hidden, making sure Liv didn’t spot her.

 

Then one day, when Liv’s mother came to pick her up, she accidentally overheard a conversation between the two and finally began to piece together the reason why Liv had singled her out.

 

—Liv had been complaining to her mother, saying she didn’t want anyone to know she had a low-born half-sister. It was too humiliating.

 

Liv’s mother, on the other hand, had spoken to her gently, assuring her that she would never let anyone find out.

 

From that conversation, the little fox had learned the truth about her origins. At first, she had been overjoyed. She even tried sneaking into the royal palace, hoping to catch a glimpse of her father—the man said to be the Fox King.

 

But instead, she ran into Liv, who was out with her parents.

 

Liv spotted her but didn’t immediately have the guards capture her. Instead, she had them chase her down with cruel glee, while she herself took aim with a dainty little bow and arrow.

 

The man rumored to be her father sat beside the noble Fox Queen, occasionally calling out pointers to Liv, teaching her how to aim more accurately.

 

She took quite a few hits, but Liv’s arms were weak, and her aim wasn’t very good, so the injuries weren’t serious. Still, the little fox played dead, feigning weakness to lull them into dropping their guard. When the moment was right, she escaped the palace.

 

Before she fled, she had sunk her teeth hard into the man who might’ve been her father.

 

After that, she never again held out hope for parental love.

 

“That’s about it,” the little fox said, casually recounting her past without a hint of sadness.

 

In her heart, she only recognized one father—Ruan Shiqing.

 

The three cubs listening to her story, however, were visibly furious. The little dragon in particular slapped his wings in anger. “If I’d known earlier, I would’ve spit two fireballs at her! Burn all her fur off!”

 

Even the usually gentle little mermaid clenched his fists and nodded fiercely: [That was letting her off too easily!]

 

Ruan Jiao looked at the two of them and joined in with a righteous little punch of his own.

 

The little fox rested her head on her paws, muttering, “Anyway, I already got my revenge. If she hadn’t suddenly shown up again, I probably wouldn’t have remembered all that.”

 

After being adopted by her father, the bitter memories of the past had slowly faded. When she looked back now, most of what she remembered were happy times.

 

“No, we have to get revenge for you!” The little dragon cub was pacing in circles, clearly fired up. At first, he thought about going to ask Papa Garland for help, but as he passed by Rong Heng, he suddenly stopped.

 

He decided that avenging Nota should be something he did—how embarrassing would it be to get the grown-ups involved?

 

The little dragon sidled up to Rong Heng, nudging him with the horns on his head. “Snowball… Big Bro Rong…”

 

Rong Heng lifted an eyelid to glance at him.

 

What was this annoying cub up to now?

 

The little dragon crept up to his ear and whispered, “You heard all that just now, right? Let’s think of a way to get back at Liv, okay? She was way out of line!”

 

Rong Heng gave him a cool, expressionless look and didn’t move.

 

Seeing this, the little dragon didn’t give up. He quickly roped in the little mermaid and Ruan Jiao to help plead his case. “You’re the eldest brother—shouldn’t you be standing up for Nota?! Even Ruan Yuebai and Ruan Jiao are on board!”

 

He stuck out a paw and pointed dramatically—first at Rong Heng, then at himself and the others. “Four against one. Majority rules!”

 

The cubs all looked at him with bright, hopeful eyes, waiting for his response.

 

Childish.

 

Rong Heng snorted and lazily began typing:

 

[What kind of revenge are you planning?]

 

The little dragon cub huddled with the others to whisper and plan, then scampered back to Rong Heng’s side to whisper the idea in his ear.

 

Rong Heng couldn’t help but scoff again after hearing it.

 

The crown prince really didn’t want to get involved in some silly cub-style revenge scheme.

 

He was a full-grown adult—what kind of image would he have if word got out that he was picking fights with a minor?

 

He was just about to refuse when he caught sight of the little fox’s hopeful expression.

 

He paused, and before his mind could catch up, his fingers were already typing:

 

[Fine. We’ll do it your way.]

 

 

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“You’re the eldest brother” Heli, honey, he’s gonna become your dad in the future lmao (I mean he already acts like it)

 

(Also, wow, I did not think Liv and her trash family could get lower in my opinion, I was WRONG! Hope that King *suffers* even more than the others!!!)

 

Thanks for reading!

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