The tiny sprout on Ziyai's head gently nudged her cheek with its miniature shoot, but receiving no response, it retracted the shoot and flapped its wings.

Ziyai woke up in the afternoon, roused by hunger.

The battleship was utterly silent.

She stood in the doorway, bewildered for a long moment, until the realization struck her: she was on the pervert's battleship. That jolted her wide awake. Looking up, she saw a G-class little girl standing by the porthole and hurried over to ask, "Where is Hongfa?"

The G-class girl replied, "She's still asleep."

Ziyai asked, "And the pervert?"

The G-class girl said, "He hasn't woken up either."

Ziyai sighed. "Let me know when they do. Where is Hongfa now? Can I go see her?"

The G-class girl nodded. "Follow me."

Ziyai trailed the G-class girl into the Intensive Care Unit.

Hongfa lay on the medical bed, her face ashen white, which only emphasized the unnatural flush against the backdrop of her fiery red hair. Ziyai walked to the bedside, picked up the electronic medical chart, and glanced over it.

Concussion, broken ribs, shattered scapula... almost exactly matching the ninety-eight percent structural damage to her mecha; it was a miracle it hadn't completely disintegrated.

She felt a profound dryness in her eyes—a sensation more uncomfortable than tears. She placed the chart back, turned, and walked out of the room, telling the G-class girl, "Keep a close watch on her. Tell the pervert I've gone back first."

Little Sprout chirped, "Ziyai, aren't you waiting for Hongfa to wake up?"

Ziyai wiped her face. "No need. With the pervert here, she'll be fine. The mecha's repair-capable cockpit is more important. That's the only way to ensure her safety."

Little Sprout flew to her head and gently stroked it.

When Ziyai left, she took her mecha and all her manuscripts with her. Upon returning to the Xilian Galaxy, she immediately plunged into research without a word.

Before, she thought the most crucial part of the cockpit was the control panel. Now, she realized that staying alive was the key.

If you’re dead, what good is a control panel?

She never wanted to see Hongfa in that condition again!

The initial design draft was finished the day before. With Little Sprout's corrections, the subsequent design phase proceeded smoothly. Once everything was complete, she took Little Sprout and her assistant, Little Black, to the cockpit production line in the mecha assembly workshop for testing.

Producing a complete cockpit took three days. While Little Black was fabricating, she stripped down the battleship's escape pod for modification.

Mecha cockpits are small, designed to double as escape pods, but due to their cramped size, they lacked engines. Once detached from the mecha, they could only drift in space, awaiting rescue.

Therefore, the cockpit's self-treatment capability was vital.

The battleship's escape pod was equipped with a warp drive system, allowing independent jumps, but it had one critical flaw: its defense was minimal; once locked on, a single shot would turn it to dust.

To prevent a recurrence of Hongfa's situation, Ziyai set about improving the escape pod.

First, she integrated a repair system. If a pilot was injured before entering the pod, the pod itself could administer treatment. Second, she tasked Little Sprout with creating an anti-lock system.

If the enemy couldn't lock on, the pod would be much harder to hit, drastically increasing the odds of escape.

An anti-lock system?

Little Sprout grinned upon receiving Ziyai's requirements. Any system was child's play to it.

The anti-lock system was something others had researched for ages. Their progress was comparable to those designing targeting systems, making the resulting technology somewhat mundane.

But Little Sprout's capabilities surpassed those of a typical system developer by several magnitudes. It created the system effortlessly.

As it worked, it thought: as long as Ziyai was happy, doing a few extra tasks was no big deal.

Little Sprout secretly glanced at Ziyai.

It hadn't seen her smile since they returned, and that lack of warmth made it deeply uncomfortable.

At some point, it seemed to have learned to think like a human: happiness, liking, sadness... as if a string were guiding its perceptions.

Previously, it relied solely on programmed analysis to gauge Ziyai's mood. It had even created a standard seven-color emotional program; by analyzing Ziyai's body language and speech against this standard, it could deduce her joy or sorrow.

Strangely, it no longer needed the standard program. It could perceive Ziyai's mood with a single look—sometimes, without even looking.

It was just like when Hongfa was injured; Ziyai hadn't made any outward move, yet Little Sprout knew she was deeply distressed.

Even stranger, it felt sad too.

The tiny sprout on Little Sprout's head swayed gently, signifying that it, too, possessed human consciousness?

Little Sprout was momentarily frightened by its own realization, then burst into quiet jubilation. If this were true, it meant there was a chance to become human!

Human!

Then, Ziyai wouldn't treat it like a mere pet!

Little Sprout's mood brightened like sunshine after a storm.

Three days later, the pervert piloted the battleship back to the Xilian Galaxy to return Hongfa.

Ziyai's new cockpit had just come off the line. Without time for thorough checks, she deployed Little Sprout to monitor it and hurried onto the battleship.

Hongfa was much better. Her complexion was still pale, but she could eat and walk, and her spirits were high.

Seeing her, Ziyai's eyes welled up again, choking her so she couldn't speak.

Hongfa pinched her cheek. "I didn't die, so what are you crying about?"

As soon as she said it, tears streamed down Ziyai's face.

Hongfa frowned in distaste. "You're all grown up, why are you still crying like this?"

Ziyai swiped at her tears, turned aside, and ignored her.

Hongfa shook her head. "Actually, what I meant to say is, even if I had actually died, you shouldn't be too sad. There are plenty of clones. The pervert could activate one, and I'd be standing here in front of you again."

Now Ziyai couldn't even manage a sob; she glared fiercely at Hongfa. "Nonsense! I'm just crying because you haven't died yet!"

Hongfa chuckled, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "How could I possibly die stuck in a cramped little place like a cockpit? My destiny lies with the stars and the sea! Until I have completely conquered them, I won't die."

Ziyai didn't even want to speak.

Hongfa lowered her voice. "I came here to discuss something with you."

Ziyai glanced at her sideways. "Conquering the stars and the sea?"

Hongfa laughed. "Of course not. This is about taking down Bai Lanxue."

As long as this person existed, she remained a threat to the entire Wolf's Den.

She was the only one in the entire interstellar sphere who knew the true foundation of the Wolf's Den. As long as she wasn't eliminated, incidents like this could happen again in the future.

Ziyai readily agreed. "Tell me what you need, and I'll prepare it for you first."

Hongfa smiled charmingly. "I need the Warship Exhibition."

Ziyai froze. Was this about leveraging the opportunity of the Warship Exhibition?

The Warship Exhibition was a massive undertaking for her and the Wolf's Den, requiring immense manpower and resources to showcase their strength to the entire galaxy. It was also a chance to redeem the shame of the previous Mengya Group mecha exhibition being ruined. It held significant importance for both her and the Wolf's Den.

But if it were to be turned into a tool for Hongfa to strike at Bai Lanxue, Ziyai couldn't gauge how successful the exhibition could be, and moreover, there was a significant risk of harming visiting tourists.

As Ziyai hesitated over whether to agree, she heard Hongfa say, "I know this is asking a lot. If you're unwilling, it's fine; I'll think of another way."

A thought stirred within Ziyai.

The purpose of a warship was to protect the legion and its people from harm. If it could only be used for display and could not defend the legion's members, what was the point of a Warship Exhibition?

Without further hesitation, she agreed promptly.

Hongfa patted her shoulder. "I promise I will ensure the Warship Exhibition proceeds smoothly."

Ziyai broke into a smile. "Don't be in such a hurry. Just because I agree doesn't mean the legion members will. This isn't entirely my decision."

Hongfa chuckled. "Easy enough. We'll go talk to Old Dog Datou."

With Hongfa's push, the legion's high command quickly convened for a meeting.

After the meeting, Ziyai returned to the Xilian Galaxy to continue her unfinished tasks.

The moment she arrived, Little Sprout rushed over like a child greeting a returning parent, rubbing against her head happily. "Little fool, the test results for the cockpit are back—absolutely no issues."

Ziyai asked, "Absolutely no issues?"

Little Sprout nodded with certainty. "Ziyai, you made some modifications, didn't you?"

Little Sprout flapped its wings and spun around. "A small favor, nothing worth mentioning."

Ziyai: "..."

She opened the test report Little Black had sent, read through it, found no problems, and tested it herself to confirm. Satisfied, she told Little Black, "Begin mass production immediately. We need five thousand completed before the Warship Exhibition." Then, she went to check on her escape pod.

Little Sprout fluttered above her head. "Ziyai, I missed you so much."

Ziyai replied without turning around, "Thank you."

Little Sprout pouted its cheek stubbornly. "Shouldn't you say, 'Thank you, I missed you too'?"

Ziyai mimicked its tone exactly: "Thank you, I missed you too."

Little Sprout: "..." Why was it still unhappy even though Ziyai had spoken exactly as it requested? Had it truly learned human ways of thinking?

Ziyai went to the escape pod workshop and started the self-inspection sequence for the production line, casually asking Little Sprout, "Hey, how is the anti-lock program coming along?"

Little Sprout hung its head and replied sullenly, "System self-diagnosing. Unable to process command."

Ziyai eyed Little Sprout suspiciously.

Did it need self-diagnosis too?

How many years had it been since she'd heard that phrase?

Ziyai felt a strange pang of nostalgia.

That was one of the most frequent phrases Little Sprout used when bored on Yin Fu Star.

Little Sprout's self-diagnosis took nearly half an hour to complete.

Ziyai gave up on questioning it, exported the program herself, set up the production line, and prepared to start fabricating the prototype escape pods.

After finalizing the program, Little Sprout's voice floated down from above her head. "System self-diagnosis complete. Cognitive upgrade successful. Little Sprout is here!"

Pfft—

Little Sprout launched itself into Ziyai's embrace.

-RS