Chiron did not speak immediately. He turned around, lifted his hand, and took off the gold-rimmed glasses, setting them casually on the low table beside him.
Without the lenses to obscure them, his gray eyes appeared even deeper, hiding some long-suppressed undercurrent within.
"That person Tian Yan mentioned who saved Blue Star might be my father," Chiron said, his voice low.
Jiang Lijin shifted her sitting position. "Father? Didn't you say he went missing many years ago?"
"Missing, yes." Chiron walked over and sat on the sofa opposite Jiang Lijin. "My mother was a C-class female, and my father was the top S-class male scientist at the Imperial Academy of Sciences back then. In the interstellar world, you know very well what that kind of rank difference means."
Jiang Lijin nodded. A gap too large in rank meant that a female could easily have her mental sea drained dry and die during the soothing process. Even if the male went to a hospital's purification department to find another high-ranking female for cleansing, in everyday interactions, even intimate gestures like kissing or hugging would gradually erode the female's mental sea.
"So, behind my father's back, she went to participate in an underground mental power jump experiment." Chiron spoke very slowly. "She died on the test table. Genetic collapse—she left no last words."
Jiang Lijin looked at him. This wasn't the first time she had heard this story, but for Chiron to bring it up again now, there must be some secret he hadn't fully revealed.
"Who was the mastermind behind that experiment?" Jiang Lijin hit the nail on the head.
"The official story says it was the black market, but my father suspected it was the nobility." Chiron lifted his eyes, his gray irises carrying a bone-chilling coldness. "In those days, the black market hadn't grown strong yet—it was just a bunch of disorganized scraps. There was no way it could provide that kind of massive funding and cutting-edge equipment. Only those old-line nobles, trying to stabilize their rule, would want to artificially create high-ranking females."
Jiang Lijin's mind worked fast, and she quickly connected the dots: "To create high-ranking females through experiments, they needed a catalyst that could forcefully break through genetic locks. So they set their sights on Blue Star's Source Core."
"Yes." Chiron gave a definite answer. "The theory that the Source Core could stimulate the mental sea was first proposed by my father at an internal meeting of the Academy of Sciences. But he believed the risks were uncontrollable, so he forcibly sealed the data. It wasn't until my mother's accident that he found out the nobility had stolen his theory and restarted the experiment."
Chiron paused for a moment, as if to calm his emotions.
"After learning the truth, my father went completely mad, but he had no evidence, and the nobility joined forces to suppress him. So he left the capital star, taking with him the Empire's highest-level spatial folding technology and all the research data on plant mutations, and vanished without a trace." Chiron looked into Jiang Lijin's eyes. "The timeline matches perfectly. Ten years ago, when Blue Star went down, it was not long after my father disappeared. Tian Yan said that person forcibly carved out a space—aside from that spatial folding technology my father took, no equipment in the interstellar world could achieve that."
Jiang Lijin understood it all.
No wonder Chiron, despite his high position, had a barely concealed disgust for the noble class. No wonder he knew she was seizing power, yet willingly stood behind her, handing over the Academy's entire intelligence network and resources.
Turns out this man was also a full-blown rebel.
Jiang Lijin suddenly smiled. She leaned forward and reached out to pat the back of Chiron's hand resting on his knee.
"Alright." Jiang Lijin withdrew her hand, her tone light. "Once we clean up these old codgers on the capital star, kill every last one of them including Darren, we'll go to the Abyss."
Chiron looked at her, a flicker of surprise in his gray eyes.
"You go see your dad, and I go see a fellow countryman." Jiang Lijin leaned back into the chair, chin lifting slightly. "Since we're family, we'll avenge this together."
Family.
Those three words were like a spark, instantly igniting the ashes in Chiron's eyes. He looked at the bold and protective woman before him, and the gloom that had lingered in his heart for years miraculously scattered by half.
He was about to say something when suddenly the bedroom door was knocked on.
"Sister, I'm coming in."
With this unceremonious announcement, the doorknob turned, and Tinia pushed the door open.
The golden-haired young man was wearing an extremely thin silk pajama, the collar wide open, revealing large swaths of firm chest muscle and delicate collarbones. He was hugging a pillow in his arms, his soft golden bangs pasted smoothly against his forehead, his blue eyes glistening and moist, like a big dog badly in need of petting.
Seeing Chiron sitting on the sofa, Tinia's smile paused for a moment but quickly brightened again.
"Dean Chiron, still in sister's room at this hour?" Tinia walked over clutching his pillow, his tone carrying a hint of sarcasm. "Researchers should get their rest, or they'll go bald. Not like me—young and full of energy—I could pull all-nighters and be fine."
Chiron's expression returned to its usual composure. He stood up, slowly and deliberately adjusting the gold-rimmed glasses back onto his nose.
"I was just about to leave." Chiron glanced at Tinia's still-swollen hands. "Since Master Tinia's hands are injured, you'd better behave yourself. Don't get careless in your sleep and rip open the wounds."
Tinia hid his hands behind his back, grinning brightly. "No need for the Dean to worry. Sister will dote on me."
Chiron ignored him and turned to Jiang Lijin: "Get some rest. There will probably be some movements from the cabinet tomorrow—I'll come pick you up early in the morning."
"Alright, take care." Jiang Lijin waved her hand.
No sooner had Chiron left than Tinia "clicked" the door locked behind him.
He tossed his pillow onto the bed, flopped down like he had no bones, rolled around in the soft blanket a couple of times, then patted the spot beside him.
"Sister, come quick, I've warmed the bed for you."
Jiang Lijin looked at him acting like a peacock showing off its feathers and found it amusing. She went into the bathroom for a quick wash, changed into clean pajamas, and came out.
The moment she lifted the covers and lay down, Tinia immediately wrapped himself around her.
He clung to her with all his limbs, like an octopus, pressing one long leg onto hers. His fluffy head expertly burrowed into the crook of her neck, breathing in deeply.
"Sister smells so good." Tinia's voice was muffled, tinged with a nasal tone.
"We agreed: just sleeping. Where are your hands going?" Jiang Lijin slapped away his paw that was trying to slide below her waist.
"I'm just hugging." Tinia pulled his hand back aggrievedly, obediently wrapping it around her waist. "Sister, you barely looked at me all day today. What did that old fox talk to you about for so long?"
"Business." Jiang Lijin yawned, drowsiness starting to set in. Baal had worn her out too much last night, and today she had absorbed so much explosive information—she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep until she dropped.
Tinia sensed her exhaustion and immediately set aside his little schemes. He adjusted their position to make Jiang Lijin more comfortable, gently patting her back.
"Sleep, sister. I'll watch over you."
The young male's body temperature was very high, like a constant warm stove. Enveloped in this warmth, Jiang Li Jin quickly drifted into slumber.
