46 Cadet Han By the time the hovercar reached the front gates of Scylla Military Academy Zi Xingxi had already arrived atop one of the campus buildings with Chronos already back in her pendant.

Crouching down she wrote a message on her light brain to Zi Han.

ProudMom: You look handsome.

Zi Han who had been following behind his grandfather saw the message and began to look around but he couldn’t see his mother. A second later another notification popped up.

ProudMom: Your ten o’clock.

ProudMom: Look up.

Zi Han looked up and when he saw his mother standing there he couldn’t help but smile. He knew it wasn’t safe for her to be around here thus he didn’t expect her to come. But now that she did he couldn’t help but feel touched.

Zi Feiji who had already walked forward noticed his grandson wasn’t following so he looked back only to find him looking up. Following his line of sight, he saw his troublesome daughter atop a building watching her son. It’s like she wanted to get caught.

Zi Feiji walked back and draped his arm around Zi Han’s shoulders before pulling him away while reprimanding Zi Xingxi with his sharp eyes. Instead of listening Zi Xingxi sat down on the ledge of the building and took out a cigarette.

.....

She always thought she would be the one to drop off Zi Han at college and when she was pregnant she had imagined dropping him off together with her husband.

But now her father had to do it because she was the most wanted person in Capital Star and her husband was dead.

So yes, she desperately needed to calm her nerves. As she took a long drag of her cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke, Chronos spoke, “Master, you have about twenty seconds before Sheba notices something is wrong with the surveillance system in this grid.”

After being caught with a pair of scissors in its hand and about to cut Zi Han’s hair it had been well behaved. The Sheba it was referring to was the surveillance AI running the show in the Captial Star. Chronos was great at what it did but it still was no match for Sheba and could only do so much.

“En,” replied Zi Xingxi as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes for a second. A teardrop shimmered under the sun as it hung on her lower eyelid. Chronos wanted to say something but it was in the dog house at the moment.

Zi Xingxi flicked the half-smoked cigarette away before she got up and wiped her eye with the back of her hand. Just as she was about to let out Chronos and take off a ding sound from her light brain caught her attention.

When she swiped it she saw it was a message from Zi Han.

Mama’sBoy: I love you.

Mama’sBoy: Be safe.

A radiant smile crept up her face as the gloomy cloud hanging over her head vanished into thin air. Her baby boy really had a way to put a smile on her face no matter how sad she was.

Unfortunately, this precious moment didn’t last long because Sheba had already noticed the discrepancy near Scylla Military Academy and thus deployed armed surveillance drones in that area.

historical

Sharp zapping sounds pierced the air as beams of light shot in her direction. “Master!” yelled Chronos as it emerged from the pendant and morphed into a protective shield dispelling the attack.

Zi Xingxi laughed as she ran along the ledge and leapt into the sky. “You know one day I might not be able to catch you in time,” said Chronos as it pulled Zi Xingxi into the cockpit.

“That would be the day you die,” said Zi Xingxi with a light chuckle.

“Ha ha ha, nice one master,” laughed Chronos nervously but it knew she meant it.

Just as Sheba’s drones ran around in confusion looking for the culprit who infiltrated the system, Yi Chen who had just stepped out of his hovercar happened to step on something.

When he looked down his expression changed subtly as he saw a familiar cigarette bud.

He suddenly had an ominous feeling but before he could put the puzzle piece together Li Ran appeared from behind him like a ghost and draped his arm around his shoulders.

“What are you standing here in a daze for?” asked Li Ran while patting his chest, “You were so out of it that you didn’t notice that pretty cadet watching you.” After saying this he gestured with his eyes for Yi Chen to take a look.

A short distance away was a girl in uniform standing by her hovercar while staring at him. When she found out that she had been caught leching after Yi Chen she shyly lowered her head as she pulled down her service cap.

“Not interested,” replied Yi Chen in a cold and indifferent tone as he walked ahead of Li Ran.

“Of course, you aren’t,” he said while smiling and waving at the girl before catching up with him.

Meanwhile, Zi Han who had been dragged to the Dean’s office by his grandfather was trying to restrain himself and patiently listen to the old men catch up.

From his grandfather’s conversation, he guessed that he had missed the registration date for Scylla Military Academy but because he had registered in Saarilia his grandfather had convinced his friend to take him in.

He was extremely grateful and had thanked the dean for his generosity but he could no longer listen to these two reminiscing. He was even sleepy at this point.

“... if he starts trouble call me personally and I will deal with him,” said Zi Feiji while patting Zi Han’s shoulder hard as though to wake him up. It was as though he had sensed that his grandson was about to pass out and catch up with his sleep since he was forced to wake up early today.

Zi Han hurriedly sat up straight only to hear the dean say, “If he is anything like his mother then that is a given. There will indeed be trouble. I trust in your disciplinary skills Old Zi.”

Zi Han, “...”

Wasn’t the dean being a little prejudiced. He was nothing like his mother, okay?

Author’s Note: Yes, he is nothing like his mother. He is much worse than her.