As soon as he saw that reluctant look, the golden dragon instantly understood and gave a good flick on the head of a certain young dragon.
“You little rascal, trying to keep it all to yourself!”
Almer quickly dodged while clutching the pot of spider plant. “If you try that again, I won’t give it to you!”
The elder dragons glared at him. Although they doted on this dragon hatchling—the only one born in centuries—they knew there were times when discipline was necessary. A childhood without a few good scoldings just wouldn’t be complete!
And he really did deserve it this time.
“Hand it over!”
The golden dragon reached out expectantly.
“Let Uncle hold it. I promise I won’t hit you.”
The red dragon trotted over, only to have the golden dragon promptly step on his tail with one of his claws.
“Ouch!”
He opened his mouth, ready to breathe fire, but the green dragon raised a hand, summoning a vine that bound his open mouth, extinguishing the flames. All that escaped was thick smoke, filling the scene with a dramatic effect.
The green dragon spoke in a wise, grave tone, “If you hurt the spider plant or any of those two plants, you might as well just die here.”
Although he said it with a smile, it somehow seemed even more terrifying.
The red dragon: “…”
Watching the elders’ sneaky little scuffle, Almer held the spider plant with his chin slightly raised, looking quite smug. Though he seemed arrogant, the elders could all tell he was secretly pleased.
Elders: …Now we just want to discipline this little dragon even more.
“This is the only spider plant that’s grown so far, and it just sprouted recently. Shushu has written down the cultivation methods here, so you can check them yourselves.”
He handed over a cute little notebook.
“And there’s only one plant. I’ve already informed Grandpa, Great-grandpa, and Great-great-grandpa on Dragon Island, so once you take it back, everyone will still have to share.”
Since it wasn’t his, he said it rather casually.
The three dragons: …What a cheeky little hatchling!
“Here, you can take it and head back to Dragon Island now.”
“Alright then.”
The green dragon nodded with a smile, but with that expression, Almer couldn’t shake the feeling he had something else in mind.
Not thinking much of it, Almer waited until the three elders had left to discuss other matters with Director Hao.
Director Hao deeply regretted not being able to get his hands on that spider plant.
But he was still pleased as he looked down at the green pothos he held. And according to His Majesty, he would soon have the opportunity to see more mutated plants with zero pollution levels—how delightful ^-^
Director Hao was one of those traditional researchers: a bit of a recluse, uninterested in socializing, content to treat the institute as his home, and research as his beloved.
Director Hao, being more of a traditional researcher, wasn’t adept at managing the entire institute. His title as director was mostly honorary; Almer was the real one in charge of overseeing everything. On a day-to-day basis, most tasks were handled by his knight captain, Oss.
Oss was the ideal “hexagonal warrior,” a true all-rounder. Intellectually, he could do the work of ten people, managing everything on his plate with meticulous precision. Physically, he could command troops in battle, assist the emperor as needed, and his work was praised by all who relied on him.
Meanwhile, Almer was unaware that his three elder dragons hadn’t actually left the main star right away. Instead, they decided to make an uninvited visit.
Yes, they headed straight to the Ruan family residence.
At the time, only Shushu and the old butler were home.
The little one had a fluffy edelweiss pompom perched on her head, a pink mushroom on her shoulder, and a mutated vine disguised as a bracelet around her wrist as she…practiced her horse stance.
Yes, she was practicing the horse stance.
Shushu had decided to start building up her strength. Even if she couldn’t be as strong as a star beast, she wanted to be able to run faster in times of danger, with her mushroom friends in tow.
She even trained in her human form, since in her cat form she couldn’t carry the mushroom at all.
By now, she’d been holding the stance for three minutes, her dainty face flushed, and her little legs already starting to tremble.
Ruan Shushu: Only three minutes, and I’m already about to collapse, QAQ.
Basic exercises are so hard.
The butler, feeling immensely sorry for her, encouraged, “Miss, perhaps we should take a break? You’re already amazing for lasting three minutes!”
Of course, this was entirely to comfort her, as most other young star beasts could easily hold the horse stance for at least half an hour.
But their young miss was different. She was a soft and delicate ragdoll kitten!
The butler was, admittedly, quite the double standard.
Shushu’s soft voice, tinged with a slight tremble, replied, “I—I can still… hang on.”
Just as she was saying the last word, there was a loud thud, as if something massive had crashed into their protective shield, causing the entire marshal’s residence to shake. The jolt made Shushu fall to the ground with a thump.
She was utterly bewildered.
The butler quickly lifted her up, his sharp gaze assessing the object that had struck their shield, prepared to activate the mansion’s defense system at any moment.
Shushu looked over as well, eyes and mouth wide open. “That’s… such a big one.”
The red behemoth stood up, seemingly unbothered despite having hit his head—it had thick skin, after all.
Its enormous body loomed over the entire mansion, and its eyes, larger and more intimidating than lanterns, peered inside!
The butler’s eye twitched upon recognizing which star beast it was.
And it wasn’t over. A much smaller green dragon flew over and whipped the red dragon on the head with its tail.
What looked like a light swipe actually had far more force than the red dragon’s impact on the shield. It sent the red dragon stumbling back several steps.
“Karl, how many times do I have to tell you? Fly smaller, and fly slower. You nearly broke Marshal Ruan’s shield!”
After the tail slap, the green dragon transformed into his human form, floating in the air. His emerald-green eyes looked at the red dragon as if he were regarding a simpleton.
Despite being younger than the red dragon, he carried himself with a maturity that made it clear who was in charge.
The red dragon glared at the green dragon in frustration. “I told you, shrinking down doesn’t look cool at all! And how was I supposed to know that Ruan family kid had a shield around his house? What’s he even protecting himself from?!”
While the two dragons argued, a man with long, golden hair had already reached the Ruan family’s door and rang the bell.
The butler, recognizing these dragons right away, calmed Shushu down before going to open the door.
Clinging tightly to the butler’s neck in her nervousness, Shushu’s eyes went wide the moment the door opened. Standing outside was a stunning man with golden hair, an Eastern face, and dressed in a traditional long robe.
Shushu: “!!!”
She stared in shock at the man’s ancient-style outfit.
This…this attire with such a strong Blue Star influence.
“Do you like my clothes, little one?” The handsome man with golden hair looked at her with a smile. “This was designed a very, very long time ago by a species called humans, on a planet where we used to live. Quite nice, isn’t it?”
Shushu stood there, dazed. “Blue Star?”
“Yes, that’s right. But eventually, that planet began to age, and its energy slowly faded. If we stayed, it would’ve only sped up its decay, so we left.”
“Of course, even after we left, it only slowed down the planet’s decline. Later on, the humans there tried to explore the universe, but in the end, they couldn’t adapt to the conditions of space.”
His tone carried a sense of regret.