CH 115.3

Sorry for not updating Dwarf this week according to schedule… in return, I’ll upload those 4 chapters in one go today!

Inside the primitive planet, Mi Lai had also prepared the spaceship, happily placing her son on her newly made “toy”. After her husband finished drawing protective arrays on this ship, designed with distinct characteristics of the Magic Continent, she infused magic into the control room’s magic crystal. The navigation lights lit up, and the spaceship slowly ascended into the sky, heading towards the heavens.

“We did it!”

Mi Lai withdrew her hand, excitedly tossed her son up and down, then kissed him firmly on the cheek, placing him beside the magic crystal and proudly said, “Enjoy yourself, Baby. If you want anything, just tell Mom, and I’ll make it for you!”

Qiao Zhiya looked at her with starry eyes, his claws gripping tightly, his tail straightened with excitement, admiringly saying, “Mom is amazing!”

Success on the first try! Actually succeeded on the first try! Compared to his mom, who showed even more distinct dwarf features, he still had a long way to go.

Praised by her son, Mi Lai felt happy and relieved. She couldn’t help but hold her son again, rubbing his face with affection, laughing foolishly and completely losing the composed and reliable demeanor she had while making the spaceship.

Qiao Zhiya was also very happy, obediently letting her rub him all over, his wings fluttering excitedly, magic swirling around.

Qiao Yi smiled, walking up to the magic crystal controller, completely ignored by his wife and son, and took over the operation of the spaceship.

With protective magic arrays clearing the way and Qiao Yi’s magic enhancing it, Mi Lai’s spaceship sailed at a rapid speed, completely breaking convention, almost like a shooting star tearing through the sky, deftly diving into the asteroid belt.

Qiao Zhiya promptly regained his senses, flying to the magic crystal and concentrating magic to draw a traction magic circle. Then, from his storage ring, he carefully took out a ring made of ink jade and placed it within the circle, lifting his hand and pulling, pulling…

He hesitated, then remembered that he had no hair after transforming into a dragon. He dumbly searched his body for something similar to hair but found nothing. After a moment of hesitation, he finally fixed his gaze on the neat and beautiful scales on his body. His claws twitched, wanting to pluck at them.

Mi Lai and Qiao Yi’s good mood instantly turned to dust when they saw him about to harm himself to locate that ugly white-haired thing. Immediately, Mi Lai grabbed his tail and Qiao Yi pressed down on his body, threateningly saying, “Don’t move.”

Qiao Zhiya froze, glanced back and forth between his parents, and seeing their grim expressions, reluctantly withdrew his claws, mumbled, “But… but we need to locate the direction… this asteroid belt is huge, we might get lost…”

That was indeed a problem.

Qiao Yi furrowed his brow, his gaze falling on the ring. He picked it up, then looked down at his son with a hesitant look in his eyes. Suppressing the impulse to turn the ring into dust, he raised his hand and drew an improved version of a traction magic circle in the air, saying, “We only need a vague directional guide. Personal items carry the aura of their previous owners. This ring is enough.”

After finishing, he activated the circle, flicked the ring into it, and Qiao Zhiya couldn’t help but widen his eyes. When he saw the circle absorb and envelop the ring, he breathed a sigh of relief. Sensing his mother’s gaze, he shyly and nervously lowered his head.

After the circle enveloped the ring, it spun slowly for a few laps before turning into dots of light that entered Qiao Yi’s forehead. The ring floated back to Qiao Zhiya’s small claw.

“To the southwest,” Qiao Yi said, touching the magic crystal and adjusting the ship’s course.

In the Chu family flagship, Chu Rong suddenly felt a cold sensation in his chest, followed by a chill in the back of his neck. It seemed like a murderous aura was entwining around him. He frowned suspiciously, glanced around at the familiar faces in the room, shook his head to dispel the sudden chill, and asked, “How much longer until we arrive?”

“Five hours. There’s a malfunction at a teleportation point, so we have to detour,” Fan Xiangnan replied. Glancing at the recorded escape route through the asteroid belt on the flagship, he suggested, “And conservatively estimating, retracing our original route back to the primitive planet you mentioned will take at least three days. Sir, you should rest first.”

Three days was too long.

Chu Rong frowned deeply, not hearing the latter part of Fan Xiangnan’s words at all, and asked, “Can we speed up?”

The suggestion failed, and Fan Xiangnan sighed inwardly. He replied, “The flagship is massive, and speeding through the asteroid belt isn’t advisable. It could easily lead to collisions with active asteroids. Three days is already pushing the limits.”

“Then switch to smaller vessels,” Chu Rong immediately decided.

“In theory, smaller vessels are more maneuverable within the asteroid belt, and they would also be faster,” Fan Xiangnan answered. Seeing his commanding officer about to turn and order the deployment of smaller ships, he quickly added, “But most small vessels have thin hulls and may not safely traverse the asteroid belt intact. There’s a risk of damage midway.”

Chu Rong’s frown deepened. He turned back to the star chart, knowing that he was on the verge of losing his composure. He quickly pressed his forehead and suppressed his emotions, gripping the jade pendant on the space button, and said, “Speed up as much as possible.”

“Yes, Sir,” Fan Xiangnan responded. Not daring to persuade him to rest further, he focused on accelerating the flagship towards the escape point Chu Rong had left when entering the asteroid belt.

Inside the asteroid belt, Qiao Yi frowned and suddenly adjusted the course.

“Dad?” Qiao Zhiya looked at him in confusion.

“The target point is moving,” Qiao Yi explained, reaching out to comfortingly pat his son’s back.

Hearing this, Qiao Zhiya became somewhat worried, recalling Chu Rong’s terrible mental state before leaving and the situation with the experimental subjects. He clenched his claws together — moving? Could it be that Chu Rong hadn’t rested and was still on a mission?

But his spiritual power… 

Mi Lai scowled, glaring with narrowed eyes at her son’s worried expression, venting a breath of frustration through her nose. She reached out, pulling him into her arms, and muttered, “You’ve been fussing all night. Good children should be sleeping. Come, let Mommy sing you a lullaby.”

Qiao Zhiya glanced up at his mother’s expression full of killing intent, paused for a moment, obediently nestled in her arms, closed his eyes, and suppressed his worries about Chu Rong deep in his heart.

Initially, he had only intended to placate his mother’s emotions, but feeling her presence and hearing her soft humming, the rarely sleep-deprived him gradually felt drowsy and actually fell asleep.

He didn’t know how long he had slept when suddenly he heard his mother gasp in surprise. His eyelashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes. The densely packed asteroids had vanished from his blurry vision, replaced by the vast and beautiful cosmos. Faintly ahead, the familiar sight of the Chu family flagship appeared. He instantly woke up, instinctively calling out, “Chu Rong!”

‘Chu Rong?’

Qiao Yi and Mi Lai both turned to look at him. Then, seeing the stunned expression at the sight of the colossal behemoth, Mi Lai gritted her teeth and suddenly pressed a red button next to the magic crystal console.

Qiao Zhiya was now fully awake. He quickly sat up and called, “Mom?” If he remembered correctly, that button seemed to be the ship’s attack button.

Mi Lai froze for a moment, turned her head to avoid his gaze, and casually brushed a strand of hair from her face. She hesitantly replied, “Oh… that… oops, Baby, what did you just say? Oh dear, mommy was a bit startled seeing a big monster, didn’t hear you.”

“…Nothing, Mom.” Qiao Zhiya tactfully pretended nothing had happened, turning his head to look at the projection of the Chu family flagship on the crystal screen. He fluttered his wings and nervously flicked his tail, anxious to contact them and fly over. But upon seeing his reflection on the crystal screen, his body stiffened. His excited and anxious mood froze into uncertainty and hesitation.

In his current state, would Chu Rong even recognize him? Would he find him repulsive?

Qiao Yi furrowed his brow, picked up his visibly disheartened son, and looked at the massive ship in front of him. In his mind, he raised Chu Rong’s threat level by another notch, pressed the magic crystal, and activated magical interference.

The Chu family flagship, which had just approached the edge of the asteroid belt, halted its course. Everyone in the command room looked at the scanning screen, staring at the object that suddenly emerged from within the asteroid belt, resembling a miniature ship. They were dumbfounded.

“What is that?” Chu Yan was the first to ask.

Chu Huai frowned as he looked at the ship, which was smaller than regular small vessels, with a rounded shape that somehow gave it a toy-like appearance. He hesitated and speculated, “Could it be a wandering traveler who accidentally entered the asteroid belt?”

It was no wonder he guessed that way. The miniature ship looked nothing like a standard vessel and resembled more like something a wandering traveler might cobble together.

However, Chu Rong suddenly realized something. He quickly reached out and tapped a few times on the console, then zoomed in on the scanning image. The overall shape of the miniature ship became clearer and more distinct on the screen. The patterns of magic circles slowly rotating on the ship’s hull and the vine patterns on the edges also appeared clearly to everyone.

“Magic circle, vines… Could it be Qiao?” Chu Yan’s eyes lit up, and he quickly rushed to the control panel, urging, “Quick! Establish communication with the ship opposite! Faster!”

Fan Xiangnan snapped out of his daze and moved quickly. Beside him, Lin Zhen’s expression suddenly changed as he said, “Not good, there’s an attack response!”

Huh? An attack response?

Everyone was stunned, looking back at the screen. Suddenly, a deep brown magic array appeared in front of the miniature ship, floating and rotating in the air. Then, the array glowed brightly, and a large stone almost the size of an asteroid materialized out of thin air. It was enveloped in a formidable gray-brown flame-like energy, heading straight for the flagship.

“Bang!”

No one gave any orders to evade or counterattack against this assault, so the flagship took the hit head-on. Lin Zhen glanced at the feedback on the damage and solemnly reported, “There’s a large dent and cracks appearing on the protective shell, and the cracks are expanding.”

In short, despite its small size, the miniature ship unexpectedly packed a powerful punch, showing no mercy.

Everyone turned to look at Chu Rong with strange expressions—magic circles and vine patterns, emerging from the asteroid belt, and all signs pointed towards the miniature ship being Qiao’s creation. However, Qiao’s current response… was truly intriguing.

Fan Xiangnan halted his attempts to establish communication with the other side, breaking the silence in the room with a perplexed expression. “Captain, it seems the ship opposite doesn’t have a communication device installed. We can’t establish contact.”

Great, not even able to communicate.

Chu Rong tightened his grip and suddenly turned, striding purposefully towards the exit.

“Erge, where are you going?” Chu Yan caught up, asking.

Chu Rong didn’t look back, his figure quickly disappearing into the distance as he faintly replied, “To bring Qiao back.”

The room fell silent again, the strange atmosphere lingering. Tan Shengwei, who had been quietly standing in the corner, weakly spoke up, “But what if Chu Rong goes down there and they attack again…”

Mechas weren’t as sturdy as flagships.

Silence fell over everyone. Chu Yan hesitated for a moment, about to turn and follow to fetch Qiao. Suddenly, the command room filled with a series of interference signals, and then a gentle, deep male voice spoke in a somewhat awkward lingua franca, “Have Chu Rong come over. I’m Qiao’s father.”

The interference signals vanished, restoring normalcy. It all seemed like a hallucination.

Chu Huai and Chu Yan froze, then their expressions changed. They exchanged a glance, still in their hastily donned pajamas, before hurriedly rushing back towards their respective rooms — oh no, the in-laws were here, and they didn’t even use “ceremonial cannons” to announce their arrival. Lao Er/Erge was in for it now!