Zi Ye was nearly driven mad; why tell her it wasn't finished when she was at the peak of her joy?

Little Sprout knew no remorse, chuckling, "Three more days of testing are required."

The face that had just fallen immediately brightened up again. She shamelessly despised herself; once the testing was done and delivery complete, she could finally go to school, and she would still make it on time.

Now, she stopped poking Little Sprout and cradled it like a precious thing, "Good boy, hurry up and finish the testing then."

Little Sprout nudged Zi Ye’s face gently with its body, putting on a pitiful expression, "Mommy Zi Ye, I worked so hard for so long, shouldn't there be a reward?"

Zi Ye guessed, "What reward do you want? To swim with Tang Wen?"

Little Sprout shyly covered its face, "That’s only one part of it."

Zi Ye: "...... Then what else do you want?"

Little Sprout blinked its eyes, "I want to build a Virtual Training Base."

Zi Ye: "!!!"

The current Virtual Mech Master Training Base had taken the Four Great Families nearly seven or eight years to develop; it was unique in the entire galaxy. Little Sprout wanting to build one was incredibly bold!

Little Sprout’s specialties were mechs, battleships, and systems. The essence of a Virtual Training Base was also a system. Zi Ye stroked its head, "If you have enough energy, then it's no problem."

Little Sprout snuggled into her embrace coquettishly, "Then you have to help me."

Zi Ye readily agreed and took the opportunity to run system checks for it, which also served as acceptance testing.

It had to be said, within this system, Little Sprout's capabilities were perfectly displayed.

Even the most common, most minuscule icon was taken to the extreme by Little Sprout. The more Zi Ye looked, the brighter her eyes became, the more excited she got, wishing she could just carry the entire system away.

She suddenly didn't want to sell it to the Tang Clan anymore. What should she do?

Zi Ye stared at the interface with inner turmoil, wanting to share her insights with Little Sprout, but the words she was about to speak were rolled back by her tongue. If she said she didn't want to sell it, Little Sprout would certainly agree.

If that happened, what would she use to repay the deposit she had already taken from the Tang Clan?

After much thought, Zi Ye finally let logic triumph over emotion.

She tucked away her thoughts and continued with the testing.

Aside from being high-end, Little Sprout's vain personality was also showcased vividly throughout the entire system; a small sprout would occasionally pop up unexpectedly.

As Zi Ye tested alongside it, she laughed, "Dou Dou, are you planning to leave so many descendants here before selling it to others?"

The little sprout on Little Sprout’s head drooped pitifully, "Can we not sell it?"

Zi Ye’s heart skipped a beat; she didn't want to sell it either, okay?

But what came out of her mouth was, "Fine, then we'll just pull out the little sprouts and sell those separately."

Little Sprout: "......"

Generally speaking, completing a large-scale system could never be achieved by an individual, let alone achieving perfection right out of the gate. Many large corporations and legions would build three versions at once to ensure they produced the most beautiful system possible, eventually weeding out the two inferior ones, leaving the last remaining one for testing, modification, re-testing, and finally finalizing into a product.

This process usually took at least six months, if not a full year.

Little Sprout, relying not just on one person but on a self-aware light brain, had completed a system superior to human standards in just over a month.

When Zi Ye conducted her inspection, she only found a few infinitesimally small bugs.

Other design choices that didn't conform to human intuition were also completely negligible.

Testing complete, Zi Ye arranged to meet the person in charge from the Tang Clan, allowing their professional staff to run their own tests. After their confirmation, payment was made, the product handed over, and everything proceeded smoothly.

With everything finished, only one day remained before the start of the school term.

Zi Ye once again gathered her entourage: Dou Zai and its cradle, the metal teether, Little Sprout, Lingyin, and the three long-term audit students—Little Black, Little White, and Little Red.

Big Black Halle also wanted to come along.

Zi Ye mercilessly abandoned him under the pretense of needing someone to look after the house.

However, there was one person she couldn't abandon.

That person was An Junlie.

After being ruthlessly put down by Zi Ye, An Junlie spent two days in a slump, but he didn't leave the Xilian Galaxy. Instead, he worked diligently for her in places both visible and hidden from her sight, while also seeking experience from Os.

In the Wolf’s Den, the people most familiar with Zi Ye were ranked in this order: Red Hair, the Pervert, and Old Dog. Since none of those three were nearby, Os had the most recent frequent contact with Zi Ye.

Therefore, An Junlie could only turn to him.

Os’s resume was colorful: he had been a professor, engineer, small-time vendor, salesman, and designer. Chatting was completely no issue for him. His biggest problem was that in his fifty-plus years of life, he had never been in a relationship.

An Junlie seeking his advice could only be described with four words: utterly tragic.

Seeing that Zi Ye was about to leave for school, An Junlie knew he couldn't waste any more time. He decisively returned to act as a temporary nanny, helping care for Dou Zai, making sure to entertain Little Sprout, and not forgetting to help Zi Ye pack her luggage.

Watching him bustle about, Zi Ye wanted to say, "Actually, robots could do all of this." But in the end, she said nothing.

She was perfectly aware of An Junlie's intentions.

Ultimately, she couldn't bring herself to reject his kindness.

That period coincided with wartime, and they were also busy rebuilding the post-war order. As the commander of a major legion, she could figure out with her toes how busy An Junlie must have been.

She didn't blame him for not having time to spend with her.

Her only dissatisfaction was that An Junlie had made two promises, both of which he had failed to keep.

She had been quite independent since childhood; busy and overwhelmed during that time, whether she was alone or with someone else, there was truly little difference.

So, the conclusion was that her expectations of An Junlie had diminished, and his lack of corresponding action had resulted in her current state of mind.

After An Junlie finished packing, Zi Ye paused and asked, "Are you going back to the Angel's Domain later?"

An Junlie smiled sweetly, walked up to her, and gently ruffled her hair, "No, I'm going to Lings University with you."

Zi Ye looked at him, surprised, "Why?"

An Junlie grinned, "Because I want to be with you."

Zi Ye looked up at him, startled, and before her consciousness could catch up, her face flushed red. She threw out a quick, "Suit yourself," and headed for the door, then remembered something and turned back, "I have classes at school! I’ve already skipped three years; I can’t skip anymore!" The exam results from the last semester were flashing red for her; if she didn't work hard now, she wouldn't graduate.

An Junlie walked up beside her and naturally placed his arm over her shoulder, "I obtained an auditing pass for Lings University; I can attend classes with you."

Zi Ye was dumbfounded, "...... You're abandoning your legion?"

An Junlie leisurely replied, "I applied to Lan Li for a three-month leave of absence to spend quality time with you. The legion won't die just because I'm not there for a while."

-RS