Zhan Rao was right. Given their status, they could not get close to the emperor's private treasury. Not to mention the private treasury. They could not even meet the emperor himself.

But looking at the still sleeping baby, Zhan Xi whispered softly, “I need to go to White Mist Star.”

White Mist Star was the capital city of the empire and the location of the imperial palace.

Upon hearing this, others chimed in, “Zhan Xi, the people going in and out of White Mist Star are strictly controlled. You cannot just sneak in.”

“Right, the law in White Mist Star is strict. If you expose your identity in front of them, you may face a lifelong imprisonment. If you end up in jail, what about Ningning?”

“Don't be impulsive. Let's figure out a way together.”

At least Zhan Rao gave them a way to wake up the baby, and having a plan meant there was hope. The group, who was just down in the dumps, quickly perked up and began brainstorming together.

Seeing this, Zhan Xi put his packed luggage back down.

Perhaps it was the power of many people, but soon, Ling Qi provided some information. “The Empire's little prince leaves White Mist Star every year to worship his mother on Original Stone Star, and the emperor does not accompany him. If we can seize the opportunity to hold the little prince hostage, we can exchange him for something from the emperor, and he will not refuse.”

This information was too private, and Zhan Xi furrowed his eyebrows, not knowing where Ling Qi had obtained it.

Ling Qi did not reveal the source of the information but detailed the little prince's itinerary and the situation on the Original Stone Star. “Original Stone Star is very remote. After the war with the alien race three years ago, the entire planet became even more backward, with only a few indigenous people still living there.”

“The little prince's entourage is led by General Mans, and they have few people and a completely confidential itinerary, giving us a great chance of success.”

Both Zhan Rao and Zhan Xi have been to Original Stone Star, and the place was almost uninhabitable, so it would be easy for them to get in.

Besides, the location was not too far away from them.

Taking a look at the expressions of everyone present, Zhan Rao immediately arranged: “Leave some people to guard the barren planet, and the rest of you will go. It will be difficult to deal with General Mans, and you must take the little prince away from under his nose. It won't be an easy task.”

Ling Qi said that the little prince would arrive at Original Stone Star in two days, and on the day before his arrival, General Mans would send someone there ahead of time.

Calculating like this, if they wanted to snatch the little prince before General Mans arrived, they had to get there today.

Time was pressing.

Everyone didn't have time to carefully pack what they needed to bring. They only brought a few days' worth of food and clean clothes, and hurried onto the spaceship.

It was only Jian Ning's larger items, such as the walker and the small wooden bed, that the Uncle from next door happened to carry onto the spaceship.

Zhan Rao didn't go. The gullies on the barren planet were not certain to be able to stop the Zergs, and he still had to deal with things here.

Soon.

The spaceship headed towards Original Stone Star at the fastest speed.

Jian Ning, sleeping on the small wooden bed, had visibly lost some weight in the past few days, and had a needle in the back of his hand.

“It's not a solution to keep giving him nutrients.”

When Ling Qi saw Jian Ning's chubby little hand with the needle in it, he furrowed his brows. “Zhan Xi, have you tried feeding him milk? Or giving him some liquid food?”

“I have, but he won't eat it. He only occasionally manages to swallow a little.”

If it weren't for having no other choice, Zhan Xi didn't want to give him nutrients. The little baby was most afraid of pain, and his body was trembling when the needle was inserted into his hand.

He could sense the pain, but he just wouldn't wake up.

Ling Qi heard what he said and didn't ask any further.

The two of them sat next to Jian Ning, and Ling Qi occasionally poked the baby's chubby little face and whispered to him, “Ningning, you've slept for so long this time, when you wake up, are you going to make us play with you?”

“Look at this chubby face. It's getting thin. He needs to drink more bottles of milk to make up for it.”

Ling Qi teased the young baby by himself, pinching his face and touching the little hand that didn't have a needle.

 

Suddenly, Zhan Xi, who was next to him, spoke up: “Thank you.”

“This time... I owe you a favor.”

Zhan Xi's gratitude didn't stir up much emotion in Ling Qi, who simply said, “No need to thank me. It's because Ningning risked his life to save us that he ended up like this. I'm just doing what I should do.”

“By the way, the boss just sent a message. We will keep Ningning's healing ability a secret from everyone.”

There were too many people now who were suffering from mental torture, and among those who had mental issues, there were many high-ranking individuals. Once they knew that Ningning had the ability to heal, they would definitely do whatever it took to snatch him away.

“At least wait until he's an adult.” Ling Qi said, “Before he becomes an adult, we will take good care of him.”

Zhan Xi's Adam's apple rolled down, and after a while, he repeated the two words he had just said in a low voice, “Thank you.”

He never asked for his baby to be more outstanding or have any rare skills. He just hoped that his baby could grow up safely and live an ordinary life, work, and eventually marry a wife he liked.

But now, his baby had the ability to heal mental powers, and once this ability was leaked, his baby would never be able to live a peaceful life again. Fortunately, the attitudes shown by the people on the barren planet gave him some peace of mind.

***

Just as Jian Ning was sleeping on the spacecraft and going on a long journey, the little prince, Huo Lin, who hadn't seen him for several days, looked at his learning machine with a dark face, almost smashing it to pieces.

“Your Highness, we have checked it for you. Your learning machine is not broken.”

The person standing in front of the Little Prince was explaining in a trembling voice, “Also, Prince Yaeger said that the user data in the learning machine cannot be leaked at will, even if you are the imperial prince.”

Prince Yaeger was Huo Lin's uncle, and his wife, Aila, was the founder of the learning machine.

When Huo Lin heard this reply, his anger made his eyes red. “Where is Uncle Yaeger? I'm going to find him! And where is Aunt Aila?”

Huo Lin rarely lost his temper like this. He broke a lot of things, including some of his father's favorite ornaments.

In the end, the Emperor, Ludwig, who came out of the study, personally came to check on his son's situation.

Ludwig looked at his son, who was in a rage, and he knew why he was angry. “Caesar, you are being unreasonable.”

Huo Lin had two names. One was Huo Lin, which his mother, a member of the ancient Earth race, gave him before she died. The other was Caesar, which his father gave him.

Of the two names, he preferred Huo Lin.

Huo Lin, who was scolded by his father using his full name, kept a straight face and said nothing.

Ludwig looked at the shattered pieces all over the floor and continued to admonish him, “Using unreasonable means to try to achieve your goals, Caesar, is foolish.”

Huo Lin had received the strictest education since childhood, and he naturally knew that he should not force others to break the rules for him.

But he couldn't find that clingy little creature.

Father and son stood face to face like this, Huo Lin with a stubborn look, not even a hint of willingness to give in.

Ludwig looked at him for a long time before telling him in a deep voice, “The baby Ning you're looking for didn't leave any address information with his parents.”

“The communication number left by the other party has also been disconnected.”

The news brought by his father stunned Huo Lin. He shook his head unconsciously and denied a guess. “No, Ningning wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to me.”

Ningning was the one who liked him the most. It was impossible for the other to suddenly ignore him.

Ludwig thinks that young children were easily distracted. As long as they had new friends, their new friends would easily distract them.

His son had few friends, so he wasn't usually affected by this principle.

He approached his son and thought he had “coaxed” him for a while.

After a moment.

Ludwig left, and Huo Lin clenched his fists and ran back to his own bedroom, locking the door directly.

He didn't even take a shower, just wrapped himself in the blanket.

The next day.

When the little prince boarded Mans' spaceship, Ludwig did not appear. This emperor, who was arrogant and indifferent in front of the public, had a stubborn and paranoid personality.

 

He firmly believed that his wife had not died, so he refused to go to the place where she had died to pay his respects.

The spaceship started.

General Mans looked at the little prince sitting in the chair and brought him food and some toys, but the little prince didn't even look at them.

Mans was not surprised by this. He didn't bother the obviously unhappy little prince again, and instead chose a seat by the window to deal with official business.

There was a special setting by the window, and the wind formed by the airflow outside the spacecraft blew in, not vigorously, but rather comfortably.

The little prince sat upright in the chair and glanced at Mans. The wind blew the man's silver hair, and his golden eyes narrowed slightly. He looked quite relaxed while dealing with official business.

But Huo Lin didn't understand. The other clearly didn't like children, so why did he come to escort him every year?

The two of them traveled together, but they didn't say more than ten sentences to each other.

After an unknown amount of time, Mans stood up and walked over, “Your Highness Caesar, we have arrived. Do you need me to carry you down?”

“No, I don't.”

Huo Lin, wearing a smart military uniform and shiny boots, got off the chair and walked towards the land outside the spacecraft.

Just as he was getting off the ship, a voice sounded in his ear.

“Your Highness, I heard that you did well in your military training class, but I think that real training grounds are more suitable for learning than artificially arranged ones.”

“I have released several star thieves on the wanted list, and they are all currently hiding on Original Stone Star. Do you want to find them all?”

Huo Lin hesitated for a moment, then spoke directly, “I will catch them.”

Star thieves should be brought to court and locked up, not staying in his mother's former residence with evil intentions!

Huo Lin grasped the sword at his waist and continued walking forward.

Mans followed him, maintaining a few steps away from him.

***

Original Stone Star never had a completely dark night. The night here was a grayish color, allowing one to see things, but people with poor vision would find it difficult.

When the gray night fell.

Jian Ning slept in a strange small room, leaving only an uncle to look after him. Zhan Xi and Ling Qi were outside, keeping watch over the young prince.

“It's strange. Mans left the prince's residence. Doesn't he live with the young prince?”

“I just counted. There are only twenty guards around the young prince. Zhan Xi, we have a chance.”

They watched the house where the young prince was staying and whispered their plan to each other, “We need to be quick and not be discovered by Mans, nor should we confront him.”

Mans was the empire's top general. His strength was terrifying.

After finishing their discussion, Zhan Xi glanced in the direction where his own baby was sleeping.

Ling Qi followed his gaze and whispered, “Ningning is waiting for us. Tonight, we must abduct the young prince.”

“Okay.”

***

Just as they were about to begin their operation, Huo Lin's eyelids suddenly twitched. He quickly put all the baby's toys that were in his luggage back in the box. Those toys were all favored by the baby.

He had planned to ask for the baby's address after he got online and then send the toys to him.

But now, it seemed like he wouldn't have that chance anymore.

Forget it.

Huo Lin frowned and thought with a blank expression on his face. He didn't care for that heartless baby who left without saying goodbye.

What he needed to do now was to catch all the Star Thieves who had infiltrated and send them to jail!