A few minutes later, two men quietly departed in a flying vessel waiting downstairs.
"Cough, cough..."
As he boarded the ship, Morian coughed lightly, his hand continuously rubbing the soft flesh of his neck to relieve the discomfort of almost being unable to breathe.
This was his first time riding a special imperial spaceship, and he was filled with curiosity as he surveyed the interior of the aircraft, a subtle interest and excitement hidden in his gaze.
The entire flight cabin was crafted from a dark silver metal, smooth and hard.
Inside, there were two rows of metal seats, and in the center, two sealed beds filled with transparent gel liquid. A thick metal plate obscured a more hidden area, making it difficult to glimpse any activity within.
On one side, a dark electronic screen displayed the latest news, while the other side, clearly suffering from poor signal, flickered with static but vaguely showed what appeared to be surveillance of a royal family's home.
The personal steward, dressed in Alliance attendant attire, first bowed to Orlannar before hesitating and looking at the handsome silver-haired man beside his master.
Someone permitted by His Highness to board the spaceship at such a special moment must be an extraordinary individual, helping His Highness to eliminate the rebels.
"This is...?"
Before he could finish, Orlannar waved his hand and instructed:
"He is a renowned scholar on the Star Net; treat him with noble courtesy."
Morian heard this, released his hand from his neck, and adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, nodding his head without a change in expression.
Since his mental sea had calmed slightly and most of his violent energy had dispersed, Morian exuded an additional touch of refined gentleness and approachability.
Despite growing up in a privileged environment, he was as comforting as a gentle breeze and bright moon. Looking at him multiple times, one couldn't help but feel a slight strangeness, as if a mask fit perfectly on his face, even the curve of his upturned lips identical.
"Yes."
The personal steward shifted his gaze from Morian's refined face, his mind unable to resist speculating:
A renowned scholar on the Star Net... could it be the highly discussed Father of the Star Net, also a master mecha designer from the Bai family? Wasn't it said that he was recently gravely ill and recuperating at home?
His mind filled with deep doubts, he retreated slowly, his thoughts churning. Before leaving, he couldn't help but glance over again—only to meet the gaze of eyes brimming with a smile.
The steward immediately shuddered, feeling an icy chill, and quickly lowered his head, retracting his gaze, daring not to look again.
So terrifying, as if all his thoughts and imaginings were completely seen through!
"Why bother with my personal steward? He has served me since childhood and has a memory chip in his body, so he won't betray me. At most, he's overly worried."
Orlannar closed his eyes, seated in the driving cabin, but his spiritual power spread throughout the entire inner compartment of the spaceship, scanning every crevice. Only when he found no abnormalities did he open his eyes and slowly retract his mental control.
He took out documents from the coded cabinet behind him and handed them to Morian, who still wore a foxy smile.
Although his expression conveyed a hint of deliberate displeasure and a desire to be provoked, Orlannar suppressed it. After all, he would rely on the other's silver tongue to secure victory in the negotiation.
If he hadn't publicly announced his disappearance and hadn't managed to uproot the Gudefen clan completely, he wouldn't have resorted to using someone he was completely unfamiliar with as a strategist.
However, with Morian's mental affinity, it would be easier to achieve twice the results with half the effort, coupled with his intelligence. For Orlannar, it was beneficial and harmless.
Since he was now on this "pirate ship," Orlannar had no intention of letting this genius easily escape and leak the plan.
"This is the information on the arms dealer. What you need to do today is, while hiding your identity, secure the greatest benefits for me."
...
In the following days, Lu Mingming posted the competition notice in the live broadcast room. She then locked herself in her study every day, studying and observing the competition content to familiarize herself with the operational procedures and learn from the experiences of other excellent participants.
Although Lu Mingming genuinely wished to learn, she had to admit that most of the animal caretakers were simply reckless!
Feeding newborn kittens with raw milk would only worsen their diarrhea. There were also all sorts of bizarre dishes; she had even seen them feeding one-month-old rabbit kits cured meat made with heavily seasoned and salty broth.
After hundreds of years of evolution, the digestive systems of beastmen could indeed accept some salt and seasonings, which was why Lu Mingming dared to use small amounts of oil and salt when cooking. However, they had not evolved human-like omnivorous, iron stomachs. Prolonged misinformation would inevitably lead to severe kidney and intestinal diseases in the cubs!
In these past few days, Lu Mingming had also reflected on many things, carefully considering how she should showcase more correct parenting methods in the competition.
"Hmm—finished writing."
Lu Mingming stretched lazily. The desk was densely covered with her analyses of the current competition and her planned responses for various situations.
The tension that had gripped her for three days finally relaxed. Tomorrow morning, a "special ship" would pick up Lu Mingming and the two cubs to take them to the airport. Therefore, the remaining time today could be spent relaxing.
Lu Mingming quickly ordered a batch of ingredients online. She hadn't cooked anything good for the little ones during this period, nor had she had time to play with them. The two cubs had been obediently "staying" on the sofa without running around, and she should compensate them well.
The ingredients from the Star Net arrived in less than ten minutes. Lu Mingming took out the vegetables from the bags one by one.
Having made a small fortune, she bought premium beef from the intermediate market today, planning to make a pot of fried beef balls.
She also bought some high-quality milk powder and glutinous rice to make milk candies.
The little ones, smelling the fresh meat, opened their eyes from their doze.
With nimble little legs, they jumped off the fabric sofa and rushed over, weaving around her ankles. The still-soft newborn fur brushed against Lu Mingming's ankles, bringing a touch of warmth in the cool pre-winter weather.
Lu Mingming crouched down, picking up one in each hand, gently scratching their chins. A comfortable purring sound emanated from them, and the Samoyed puppy couldn't control its nature, its tail wagging joyfully behind it.
"You've worked hard, I'm sorry to have made you endure these three days."
The two cubs exchanged glances, their eyes filled with guilt. Then, they sneakily and tacitly turned their heads away.
They weren't really suffering; they had secretly slipped out to explore quite a few times each day. Fortunately, the outcome met their expectations.
Lu Mingming's expression softened, and she lowered her head to kiss the little white tiger on its forehead. The cub held its breath, not daring to move recklessly, its tail curled around itself obediently.
"A reward for my good babies."
Lu Mingming turned to give the little Samoyed another kiss. The white tiger immediately snapped back to attention from its imaginary world, its little legs stepping forward to take Snowball's place.
Its round face tilted up persistently, its posture perfectly upright, as if to say, you can only kiss me, and kissing others would be a betrayal.
The little Samoyed's mouth twitched. It didn't make a fuss but stood quietly behind the white tiger, its tail wagging, clearly not wanting to compete for favor with such a childish fellow.
Although his human form was very normal... he was truly blind when it came to people he liked. He would absolutely never become like this in the future!!
Lu Mingming was also troubled, hesitating before giving the white tiger another kiss. She thought: Tangyuan's jealousy has increased again. It seems she needs to buy a parenting book to see how to avoid excessive jealousy during adolescence.
For a moment, only the little white tiger was completely satisfied with the outcome of the situation.