Tang Wending gazed steadily at Rayner, his former colleague, now transformed into this state. He couldn't tell if he should lament how cruel the Star Federation was, or how fragile Rayner's heart had become.

Zi Ye stood by, unsure what to say. She used to resent him intensely because he nearly ruined the Mengya Group, but if he hadn't done it, someone else surely would have.

He was merely a casualty in the vast interstellar conflict.

Every path he walked was his own choice, and he had to bear the consequences.

Rayner stared at Tang Wen, his eyes burning red, and suddenly lunged, as if determined to drag them both down into ruin.

Tang Wen sidestepped, pulling Zi Ye's hand, and offered a warm smile: "Let's go."

Zi Ye reached out and caught Little Sprout, who was hovering in mid-air, surprised into forgetting how to flap its wings, and held it close. "Come on, let's go home," she murmured.

Setting off again, they reached the doorstep in mere minutes.

The robots heard the sound and opened the door, lining up in two neat rows as they stepped out. "Master, you have finally returned!"

Tang Wen registered this for a brief three seconds before chuckling. "It's slightly better than I imagined."

Zi Ye shot him a sidelong glance. "What exactly did you imagine?"

Piles of trash stacked higher than the heavens? Skeletons scattered everywhere? A desolate wasteland with nowhere to set foot?

Tang Wen's refined face paled slightly. "Immediately stop those tiresome thoughts in your brain!"

Zi Ye scoffed. "Did you perhaps harbor some other vision?"

Tang Wen haughtily turned his face away.

Regardless, the scene before him was somewhat beyond his expectations. Although the architecture looked ugly and grime-coated, the presence of such a contingent of highly realistic intelligent robots made everything appear orderly—a great improvement amidst the less than ideal.

Before arriving, he had envisioned many possibilities for his grandfather's dwelling: perhaps a dilapidated ship constantly battered by wind and rain on the water, or maybe a cave, living like a savage, or perhaps resembling a convict, forced to clear mountainsides daily...

Zi Ye let her smile fade, unceremoniously tossing Hua back to him. "Immediately stop those tiresome thoughts in your brain!"

Tang Wen looked innocently up at the high, pale purple sky, clasping his hands behind his back and shaking his head gently. "I didn't hear that, I didn't hear that, I truly didn't hear anything."

Zi Ye very much wanted to throw a retort at him: Shameless display of forced cuteness. But she refrained, simply stating calmly, "Your grandfather's room is this way; please follow me."

Tang Wen's expression darkened a shade.

They walked through the main hall, entered the courtyard, traversed the courtyard, and proceeded down the corridor until they reached the very end, where Zi Ye stopped before a door. "It's here."

In that instant, she felt Tang Wen's body stiffen.

She suddenly dared not look up at his face, terrified of seeing an expression that would leave her completely unprepared.

"The room has been kept exactly as it was; I haven't touched anything," she whispered, head lowered. "I'll be outside; call me if you need anything." With that, as if guilty of some transgression, she turned and left.

After ten paces or so, she looked back to see Tang Wen already stepping inside the room, offering her only his retreating back.

Zi Ye shook her head. Alas, she hoped he could manage.

She sat down on a wooden bench in the corridor, resting her chin on her hand as she watched the courtyard. It was no longer as messy as before; the diligent A121 was earnestly working to put everything in order.

Sometimes she couldn't be sure who the real owner of this place was—herself or the robots.

She had created these machines, directed them to build the house, and if she hadn't left space, she could happily reside in this large house, leisurely pampering her robots and doing as she pleased.

But she had chosen to leave the void of space.

Now, it seemed the robots were more like the masters.

As she pondered this, Little Sprout fluttered back from A121 like a nimble butterfly and perched atop her head. "Silly thing, without you, all these robots would be useless. No matter how intelligent they are, they are just machines, not people!"

Zi Ye paused for a couple of seconds, then broke into a smile. "You are right." Whether she returned or not, this place was her home, her final, safe harbor.

She reached up and gave Little Sprout a gentle pinch, then turned and walked toward Tang Wen.

Tang Wen sat on the floor, unmindful of his crisp butler uniform and white gloves, meticulously sorting through Tang Shan’s few remaining belongings, piece by piece.

His head was bowed, so Zi Ye couldn't see his expression, but his posture radiated deep sorrow; just watching his movements made him seem terribly pitiable.

Zi Ye sighed silently, ignoring the white of her dress, and sat down beside him. Before she could speak, she heard Tang Wen murmur softly, "My mother used to hate my grandfather."

Zi Ye froze, then immediately understood he needed to unburden himself. She remained silent, simply listening.

"Because the moment I was born, Grandpa threw me into a four-times gravity field."

Zi Ye raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Tang Shan was gone; she didn't wish to speak ill of him, but in her eyes, outside of his professional seriousness in design, Tang Shan had been a lecherous old man, spending his time sharing 'One Hundred Moves to Tame a G-Cup Loli' with the utterly perverse. Before his death, the G-series lolis' chests grew ever larger, peaking at an E-cup that caused universal outrage. After his passing, Zi Ye decisively scaled them back to B-cups.

That was why the current G-series lolis looked so normal.

For such a depraved old man to subject his newborn grandson to a four-times gravity field—what a ruthless heart he must have possessed!

Zi Ye instantly grasped the depth of her mother's resentment.

Gravity fields were no joke. If one couldn't withstand the pressure, the mildest outcome was stunted growth, becoming a dwarf; the worst was bursting blood vessels and dying.

No woman could bear to see her child undergo such an inhuman trial at the very beginning of life.

Tang Wen managed a faint smile, but his expression was so melancholic that even his smile felt heartbreaking. He shook his head again. "By the time I developed memories, I was constantly in the force chamber. The first toy I ever received was a mecha model from my mother, but the very next day, my grandfather replaced it with a real combat mecha."

Zi Ye couldn't help but ask, "He was very strict with you?"

Tang Wen nodded, then suddenly thought of something and shook his head again. "Not exactly strict. He was harsh with Stas; he’d whip him every time they met. Stas ended up making detours just to avoid him. Looking back now, without him, perhaps we wouldn't be where we stand today."

"The year I turned nine, he left the family and became a designer for the Star Federation, reaching the pinnacle of his career in less than three years. Do you remember the castle on Katcher Star? That was a gift he gave me after we arrived in the Federation. When he was on leave, we would stay there, and he taught me everything..."

Zi Ye finally understood.

So, that collection of books, vaster than any library, had been Tang Shan's hoard.

It explained everything—why the similarities were so striking!

"One day, he ran back late at night and woke me up, asking me to help him photocopy all the books. I didn't know what was happening, but he wouldn't tell me anything. After finishing the copying, I fell asleep from exhaustion. When I woke up, he was gone, and the books were gone too!"

"Many people said he was dead; some claimed he was living under an assumed identity. The family sent countless people searching, but they never found him." Tang Wen suddenly laughed, a bitter sound crossing his face. "I actually think he passed away, otherwise why wouldn't he come back to see me? But I couldn't accept it, so I ran out with Stas. I wanted to go back to where he had been, to see what exactly had happened."

"My father strictly forbade me from looking for him, saying that if I took a single step away from the Tang Sect, I would no longer be his son!"

Zi Ye's fingertip twitched. The Tang Sect?

Tang Wen was actually part of the Tang Sect!

She had been wondering what kind of family could produce someone like Tang Wen—a genius bordering on the insane in professional matters, yet as childish as an infant in daily life. Now she knew: the Tang Sect.

There were four great noble houses in the stars, but the commonly known ones were the Fia, the Moko, and the Seji Houses. The fourth was the Tang Sect!

The Tang Sect was considered a reclusive lineage; in space, no one could glimpse their shadow, yet they were omnipresent. Most people wouldn't even know where to begin if they tried to provoke them.

Zi Ye mused wistfully. No wonder he could vanish and reappear in the pilot training base jointly run by the four great houses, and manage to batter her relentlessly with the Platinum Tycoon model—he was effectively part of their high command!

However, these were secondary concerns to Zi Ye's immediate focus.

She cared about that last sentence: "You severed ties with your father?"

Tang Wen smiled faintly, placing the relics neatly aside. "Yes," he said dismissively.

Seeing his outward nonchalance, Zi Ye noticed the undisguised pain lurking in his eyes. She couldn't help but shake her head internally; this kid's masterclass in the Silver Talisman poker face definitely still had room for improvement.

But she understood the principle of not breaking a fragile moment, so she didn't expose him.

Though she was curious about the Tang Sect, it was inconvenient to inquire further, so she changed the subject. "Would you like to see the study?" Saying this, she set the relics down on his hand and stood up, pulling him up by the way.

Tang Wen rose, and unfortunately, a patch of dust had smudged the rear of her white dress. He found the sight inexplicably amusing, and his depressed mood lifted considerably. Just as he was about to tease her, Little Sprout suddenly squeaked from behind them: "Ahhh, why are your butts split in two?"

Zi Ye turned back and was instantly mortified, unable to utter a word.

She captured Little Sprout and thought intensely into its mind: Little brat, give me some face!

Tang Wen was always elegant and handsome; having him witness that was a complete humiliation. She felt so awkward that she completely failed to notice Little Sprout had said "your" (plural), meaning Tang Wen’s rear end was also marked.

If one had to find a slight difference, it was that he wore black trousers, making the grey dust print on his posterior less obvious than her black-and-white contrast.

Zi Ye deliberately lagged two steps behind Tang Wen, wildly patting her rear with both hands until she felt the dust was gone. Then, she hurried up the stairs and pushed open the study door.

Tang Wen followed her. The moment he stepped inside and saw the sea of familiar book titles, his feet felt as though they were weighted with a thousand pounds, and he couldn't take another step in.

He remembered that night clearly: Grandpa rushing home, waking him and Stas, and ordering them to copy every single book they owned. They had set up a machine and worked for three full days just to copy so many volumes.

After the copying was done, they were utterly exhausted and had fallen asleep directly on top of the books.

When they woke the next day, they were in the wrong location, and the books were gone!

-RS