Chapter 11

A young sprout-like mental power just appeared, but it was immediately swept into a violent ocean of mental powers. The little sprout had never seen anything like it before and was stunned.

After a few seconds, the trembling sprout reacted and started searching for its father’s mental power, followed by uncle’s, sister Hua Ya’s, Uncle Ling Qi’s, and next-door uncle’s.

The sprout couldn’t withstand the pressure of so many mental powers and collapsed onto the bed. His head hit the window frame, leaving a bruise.

Although the window frame had made the young sprout dizzy, he didn’t care about his own injury. He closed his eyes, and his chubby face wrinkled.

“Boss, our mental powers... have returned to normal!”

Amidst the chaos, someone suddenly shouted excitedly, and then more people followed suit: “Mine too!”

Amidst the many exclamations, the redness in their eyes gradually faded. Zhan Rao’s mental power was the most severe when it went out of control, but now he was like everyone else, it calmed down suddenly.

With their mental powers no longer in turmoil, they could finally let go and slaughter the disgusting bugs that wanted to invade their territory.

The battle turned around.

During the period when their mental powers were temporarily under control, everyone worked together to create a deep and unfathomable trench at the entrance where the bugs and the barren planet met.

The warm light of dusk shone on the trench and on the dirty faces of many people. They looked at the battlefield that had finally calmed down, and they rested, panting heavily while leaning, lying, or sitting.

Zhan Xi and Zhan Rao were closest to each other. Both of them looked dishevelled, with bloodstains on their faces and clothes, as they had killed too many insects.

“Boss,” Zhan Xi’s chest was heaving heavily, not because he was excited to calm the battlefield, but he was trying to steady his breath. He spoke in a confident tone to Zhan Rao, “Someone has been helping us to channel our mental power.”

He couldn’t sense who was doing it, nor did he know how they were doing it. All he knew was that his rampaging mental power was like a furious tiger or leopard that had suddenly broken into a quiet forest. Then, it seemed as if the wind had gently caressed him, and the rain had nourished him, and he had become completely calm.

Zhan Rao, who was standing in front of him, had an indiscernible expression on his handsome face.

“I know,” Zhan Rao said, his tone sounding no different, but his eyes were bright and alarming. “I was already helped once when I lost control last time.”

Both Zhan Xi and Zhan Rao had received help before, but they had not been able to find out who was helping them.

“Big brother, how can we investigate?”

“Let’s clean up this place first. After we’re done, I’ll investigate thoroughly.”

Thanks to the continuous mental power channelling, the people on the battlefield had not gone crazy or insane after such an intense battle. Instead, they were able to calmly clean up the battlefield.

“Zhan Xi, you don’t have to stay here.”

Zhan Rao glanced in the direction of the wooden house and instructed, “There are enough people here. You and Ling Qi can go back and look after Ningning.”

Ling Qi’s hand was injured, and it was not convenient for him to stay any longer. Zhan Xi was worried about his own child, so he didn’t refuse and hurriedly left with Ling Qi.

Soon.

Zhan Xi quickly found his own baby on the bed in the cabin. The baby was lying on his back with his belly up, his small chubby face pale and his eyes tightly closed.

“Ningning?!”

This scene startled Zhan Xi. He rushed over and picked up the baby, carefully checking him: “Fortunately, there is no problem with his breathing.”

Although his eyes were tightly closed, the baby’s small chest still rose and fell.

On the baby’s forehead, Zhan Xi saw the marks from where he had bumped his head. He frowned and his whole body was full of low pressure. “The baby probably accidentally hit his head and got knocked out.”

Ling Qi, who followed behind, also went forward to check.

Neither of them were doctors and couldn’t tell what was wrong.

“Go find a doctor.” Ling Qi pinched Jian Ning’s chubby little fist and gave advice, “Let’s not analyze it here blindly.”

There were doctors on the barren planet, but they were too poor to have any medical equipment for examination.

Jian Ning was held by Zhan Xi and went to seek help from the doctor.

Although there was no equipment for a physical examination for the baby, the doctor lifted his eyelids and after a manual examination, said: “There is no problem, he’s just sleeping.”

Zhan Xi: “...”

Zhan Xi had an expression of “do you think I believe you?”

Even Ling Qi frowned slightly and said, “Zhan Xi called him just now and he couldn’t wake up at all. He doesn’t usually sleep so soundly.”

Ling Qi knew this baby well. When there were no adults around to accompany him, he would fuss.

But now the baby was lying quietly, not crying or making a fuss, and he didn’t respond to Zhan Xi’s voice. This was too abnormal.

The doctor glanced at them and spoke in a calm tone. “I said he’s just sleeping. Look, he still has normal reflexes when you move these areas. He’s fine.”

After the doctor finished speaking, he applied some medicine to the bruise on Jian Ning’s forehead.

“Okay, you can take him back now.”

“Then let me take him back first and check on him.”

Zhan Xi picked up Jian Ning, who had just had medicine applied to his bruise, and held him in his arms. He wasn’t wearing a coat because he didn’t want it to get dirty and smell bad. The baby’s breathing could be felt through the thin fabric, which had a calming effect on Zhan Xi’s nervous heart.

They had cleaned the battlefield up, so Zhan Xi went straight home.

Ling Qi lived not too far away from him. At the fork in the road, the two of them went their separate ways.

When they arrived home, Zhan Xi put Jian Ning on the bed, changed his clothes, and let him continue sleeping. “Daddy will take a quick shower and come back to be with you. If you wake up and cry, Daddy will hear you and come out.”

Zhan Xi took a quick shower and got dressed. He then climbed into bed feeling fresh and clean, and slept with his baby.

He had hardly been able to sleep for the past few days.

Now that the situation had temporarily stabilized, Zhan Xi hugged his fragrant and soft baby, buried his face in his body, and gently rubbed him.

The father and son fell asleep together.

In Zhan Xi’s arms, the baby, with his eyes tightly closed, smelled the familiar scent. The lively mental force that was once been inside his head had already withered away to a dull gray. The grayish-brown little sprout curled up pitifully, so fragile that it was almost about to disappear.

Jian Ning was working hard to maintain the little sprout’s presence.

Don’t let the tender sprout disappear.

Suddenly, a signal came from the depths of the brain. Jian Ning did not know the purpose of this signal, but he instinctively knew that he could not lose his little tender sprout.

If the little sprout disappeared, something very bad would happen.

Jian Ning started to work frantically.

He worked with his eyes closed, while Zhan Xi next to him looked at the time on the starboard and became increasingly anxious.

“Baby?”

Zhan Xi looked at the young baby who had been asleep for most of the day and raised his voice, “Wake up, okay? It’s time for us to eat. Daddy bought tomatoes for you, and we’ll use a small spoon to scoop them up and eat.”

Fruit was precious on the deserted star, and Zhan Xi had been trying to find ways to buy fresh fruit to add to Jian Ning’s diet. Now, there wasn’t much fruit left at home.

If it were before, Jian Ning would have smelled the scent of the big tomato and would have opened his eyes greedily.

But this time, Zhan Xi not only brought tomatoes but also other foods, including milk, which the baby loved to drink. He tried everything, but the baby still didn’t wake up.

On the first day Jian Ning slept, Zhan Xi was still able to listen to the doctor’s advice.

On the second day Jian Ning slept, Zhan Xi’s spirits were already stretched to the limit. He had just finished cleaning up and was personally coming to check on the situation.

But as he saw it, the little baby on the bed was breathing normally, and his vital signs were stable, but he just wouldn’t wake up.

On the third day, Jian Ning continued to sleep.

As Zhan Xi was packing to take the baby outside for medical help, Zhan Rao came to find him.

When he arrived, there were other people in the room.

“Zhan Xi, the temperature outside is different from here. I made some new clothes, bring them to Ningning to wear.”

“Zhan Xi, this is for eating. Give it to him when Ningning wakes up.”

“Here, I promised to make him a small cat toy.”

“I’ve saved some money when I found a wife later. Let’s use it for Ningning first. If it’s not enough, just let me know. I’ll transfer more later.”

People on the barren planet had no mercy in their hearts. They never gave anything to the weak. In their eyes, this world was survival of the fittest, and if you wanted to survive, you had to rely on yourself.

But at this moment, these heartless people were willingly giving a small baby food, clothes, toys, and money without expecting anything in return.

Their only intention was: “Once Ningning is cured, visit them and start blowing rainbows at them. They are already used to hearing it.” (T/N: blowing rainbows - overly flattering or exaggerating compliments)

Everyone knows that Ningning loved to blow rainbows.

The baby sitting in his father’s arms would politely shake his little hand and looked seriously at whoever he met, blowing sincere rainbows. In the end, he handed over his chubby little face, waiting for the adult to pinch or kiss him.

Even adults who didn’t like babies had no defense against such a soft, chubby face.

Almost everyone on the barren planet had pinched this chubby little face, listened to the baby’s childish praises, and held this soft, plump baby.

But now, the soft and chubby baby had his eyes closed and not shaking his little hand or asking for a hug.

Zhan Xi silently watched everyone handing over things. His big hand still held Jian Ning’s small hand, and his eyes that always have a smile hadn’t shown any joy for a while.

Zhan Rao stood there for a while, but finally walked in. He flipped through a yellowed book in his hand and handed it to Zhan Xi when he walked in. “I found the reason for our sudden mental stability.”

As soon as he said this, everyone’s gaze gathered on him.

Among the people on the barren planet, none of them were free from mental power issues. The only difference was the severity of their condition.

Different levels of severity only meant that they would be tortured to death sooner or later.

After all, even the Emperor of the Empire couldn’t solve the problem of mental power.

Zhan Xi held the warm little hand of his baby, his eyes showing no emotion. “Boss, I don’t have the energy to deal with whether our mental power is stable or not.”

Right now, he just wants his baby to wake up.

Zhan Rao saw that he didn’t take the book and placed it next to him, then got straight to the point. “Our mental power suddenly stabilized, and it was done by Ningning. I calculated the time and checked the information to confirm the answer.”

“I don’t know how Ningning did it, but I can only confirm that when we were fighting the Zergs, Ningning guided us to stabilize our rampant mental power, allowing our mental power to stabilize.”

After Zhan Rao finished speaking, the scene fell silent, and everyone stared at him in disbelief.

Zhan Xi’s brain was thunderstruck as if he had been hit by lightning.

He thought about his own sudden stability in mental power, the tired little face of his baby after each occurrence, and the way he couldn’t wake up no matter how hard he tried.

At that time, he even laughed and poked his baby’s little cheek, calling him a lazy baby...

Zhan Xi’s eyes were red, and his lips trembled. He had many questions to ask, but he couldn’t make a sound. The surrounding people didn’t look any better.

They were all thinking about everything that had happened on the battlefield that day.

Yes.

The baby fell into a deep sleep on that day, and on the day they were saved, he closed his eyes and had not opened them since.

Ling Qi stood at the foot of the bed, his slender hand tightly gripping the corner of the bed.

He calmed his breathing and asked on behalf of everyone after a few moments: “Boss, since you’ve found out the reason why Ningning fell into a coma, do you know how to wake him up?”

Zhan Rao remained silent.

Under the gaze of everyone, he spoke slowly, his tone revealing an unmistakable sense of gravity: “I know, but... the chances of Ningning waking up are slim.”

Zhan Rao knew that what he was saying was cruel, but he had to continue: “According to the records, those who can heal other people’s mental power are extremely rare. There hasn’t been anyone like that for at least a hundred years.”

“Ningning is the only one.”

“He’s too young, and excessive use of his healing ability could cause irreparable damage to him. I’ve searched through all the records about healing ability users, and found that the youngest age at which they started using their ability was fifteen.”

Zhan Rao’s words were like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone’s heads.

The scene was filled with a deathly silence.

The group of star thieves who always thought that tears were a symbol of losers all had red eyes when they looked at the peacefully sleeping face of the little baby. A man with a sturdy build and a big face murmured with red eyes, “How could my wretched life match such a precious baby?”

If he could start over, he would rather die in the hands of the Zergs than let this little baby, who hadn’t even learned how to walk yet, save him.

“Boss.”

Zhan Xi, who was holding the little baby, was trembling all over, but his voice was surprisingly calm as he said, “Tell me the way to wake Ningning up. Even if the chances are slim, I still want to try.”

Zhan Rao seemed to have expected this answer. After a brief pause, he said, “We need an item from the Emperor’s private collection.”

“Zhan Xi, you know we can’t get close to the Emperor’s private collection.”

***

The author has something to say:

The little prince opened the private collection: Take whatever you want!

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