Chapter 75
Necklace
As this was the day Morrison would report for his official first day at work, Xie Luan wanted to gather everyone to greet their new colleague . When he walked into the living room early in the morning, he found that several people were already there .
And as he entered the house a bit more and walked into the hallway, Xie Luan saw a scene near the hall that left him utterly amazed .
A few different colored fluffy cubs were fluttering their wings, flying in midair, and standing near these feathery balls of fluff was the much bigger laili cub who was trying to follow suit .
The cub exerted effort to repeatedly wave his small flippers on both sides of his body like the other cubs and, then, took off with the nearby kuthi and kuwei cubs . While flapping his flippers up and down, Laili called out in happiness from time to time .
“…” Having just seen a plump little penguin fly in the air, Xie Luan raised his hands and rubbed his eyes to confirm that there wasn’t anything wrong with them . The astonishment on his face could not help but become more obvious .
Laili cubs do not have the ability to fly . Xie Luan remembered he had read this in the cub encyclopedia . From just looking at the laili cub’s body structure, it was clear that the pair of small flippers should not have been able to bear the cub’s weight .
Xie Luan raised his head and looked at the laili cub . Although he tried very hard to wave his flippers up and down, the laili cub’s speed could obviously not compare to the small fluffy cubs next to him . Xie Luan could still clearly see the flippers’ appearance as they moved up and down .
How in the world could he fly… It was difficult for the others to ignore Xie Luan standing there with a foolish look on his face . Zarad, who had come to the living room earlier than him, walked over and patted him on the shoulder . Once Xie Luan looked over at him, Zarad raised his hand and pointed at Morrison holding a steaming cup of tea nearby, saying, “Don’t you all know that this guy’s ability is gravity manipulation? He used his ability so the cub would be able to fly . ”
It wasn’t actually flying, it was more accurate to say he was floating up . And as the laili cub waved his flippers to generate a bit of momentum, his weightless body looked like it was flying forward .
After hearing the explanation, Xie Luan’s face only then showed some understanding .
However, to accurately control it continuously like this for several dozens of minutes at a time also consumed a lot of spiritual energy .
Without saying this, Zarad took a quick look at the man sitting at the table . Although the other was not showing it on his face as he stirred his tea, he was actually continuously using his variant ability on the laili cub .
If he had not seen it with his own eyes, Zarad truly would not have imagined that the man whom he once worked with in the military would become such a pampering parent .
“Ji, Gu-Ji~” The young and clear call went from being far away to close . Xie Luan raised his eyes just in time to see the fluffy laili cub fly over and crash into his chest . After having his head patted, the cub then flew over and landed in Morrison’s arms .
Following this, the other three little fluffballs who were flying together with the laili cub, flew into Xie Luan’s arms and were now softly rubbing their sharp, light colored beaks against his fingers .
These three cubs were the three whom Xie Luan had brought to Orte for the flying competition . Xie Luan raised a hand to tidy the feathers of these small fluffy cubs . Once done, he, one by one, touched the three cubs’ soft back feathers .
“Tiuh-Tiuh . ”
Squatting in Xie Luan’s arms, the three little fluffy cubs raised their heads and looked at Xie Luan’s face with their black lucid eyes . They at once seemed especially obedient .
Xie Luan coaxed the cubs for a while, and after the three little fluffy cubs flew away from his embrace, he walked over to Morrison .
He had intentionally gathered everyone under the pretense of having them get to know their new colleague . But Xie Luan actually had something else in mind, he wanted to officially introduce the other to Ya Yi who was following him at his side .
As the other was Star Alliance personnel, Xie Luan had no intention to have Ya Yi hide from the other when Morrison had visited Yunbao branch several times before .
However, since the other had now officially joined the Yunbao branch, regarding the matter of there being a nox at their branch, Xie Luan hoped the other could come to understand and accept it .
“Nox?”
The nox in humanoid form . Morrison saw this at first glance when Xie Luan approached him together with a man and immediately opened his mouth, saying this in an acknowledging tone .
Xie Luan glanced at the other’s face, he still wore his usual nonchalant expression . The nox, standing next to Xie Luan, answered in his place with a nod .
The other’s response was as he had expected so Xie Luan felt he had nothing to worry about . However, after a moment, he heard Morrison say something unexpected .
“The first time I saw him was on Ahtiya when he was still an egg . I didn’t expect we would meet again, especially, here . ”
He wasn’t a part of the Yunbao branch before . Although Morrison had seen the nox at the branch, he hadn’t intended to say anything . Now the situation was different .
Xie Luan paused for several seconds before responding . Once he processed the information in the other’s words, Xie Luan’s expression could not help but change slightly .
Ahtiya… The capital planet of the nox race .
“Ah!” Without waiting for Xie Luan to say anything, Zarad, who stood nearby and had heard what the other said, suddenly exclaimed and patted his head, saying, “I remember, when the Star Alliance sent the reconnaissance to Ahtiya, several members of the special forces were also sent as escorts in case of unexpected situations . . ”
And one of these members had been Morrison .
As an egg, Ya Yi was able to perceive the outside world . When Xie Luan had peered into the other’s spiritual realm because of the moonstone, he had seen Ya Yi’s memory of that time . But Xie Luan still later failed to recognize Morrison as one of the members of the investigation team .
If he had to name the reason, it was because the appearance of the other had changed a little bit . After all, it has been more than 30 years .
Taking a close look at the man holding the laili cub with one arm, Ya Yi lowered his silver tail a little and compared the other’s face to those from his memory . He recognized the man .
In the nox race, lowering the tail a little in front of an unfamiliar person was a gesture of friendliness, it indicated they had no intention of attacking .
Without denying Zarad’s words, Morrison nodded . “After the troops took the egg back to the Star Alliance headquarters, I and another person brought the egg to a cub raising branch . ”
At that time, no one assigned the task wanted it . Morrison and another person ended up taking over the task .
However, he did not know the egg later made its way to Yunbao branch . When he first saw the nox at Yunbao branch, Morrison was actually a little surprised .
Before digesting this unexpected coincidence, another related matter suddenly flashed through Xie Luan’s mind and he subconsciously opened his mouth, “Necklace…”
“Was there a necklace beside the egg when you found it at Ahtiya?” Regardless of whether it was from hearing about it or directly seeing the scene in Ya Yi’s spiritual realm, Xie Luan remembered this item .
A necklace of unknown material with a ring on it, the ring had “Ya Yi” engraved on it .
This necklace should have belonged to the nox . Xie Luan had seen the reconnaissance scout take the necklace, but later the necklace disappeared . The person who took the necklace did not give it to its owner .
It was so long ago . Morrison thought back for a moment and then nodded his head .
“Do you know where this necklace is now?” He was not very hopeful, but Xie Luan still asked this .
Sure enough, the person in front of him shook his head and replied, “I only know that it was not handed in . I don’t remember the person who took the necklace . ”
Xie Luan made a low “oh” sound . Although the nox next to him didn’t seem to care a lot about the necklace, Xie Luan still felt the necklace engraved with the other’s name was a very important item . He wanted to do his utmost to get it back for him .
If it had not been handed in and returned to the original owner, surely the person who took the necklace couldn’t have… sold it? The more he thought about it, the more likely it felt . In light of this possibility, Xie Luan posted a wanted ad with a description of the necklace on the starnet trade platform that afternoon .
Hope I can get something .
Having posted the ad, in the following days Xie Luan from time to time went on the starnet trade platform to check for any responses .
Unfortunately, the stone that had been cast into the well never caused any echo .
Last month, some parents had contacted the branch through the starnet and expressed interest in adoption . These people came to Gaia in person as promised and accepted Xie Luan’s observation and evaluation at Yunbao branch .
The parents who had agreed to personally come to Gaia all passed Xie Luan’s strict assessments . As a result, several of the orphaned cubs at the branch finally had a family . They were babies loved by both mama and papa together .
At present, the parents of all the adopted cubs at Yunbao branch had expressed no plans on moving the cubs to another cub raising branch . So these adopted cubs would continue to stay at Yunbao together with their familiar playmates .
Not only had a lot of parents come to adopt their cubs, but quite a number of saimu and budo people had also recently sent their cubs to their branch .
Seeing the number of cubs at their branch grow more and more with each passing day, Xie Luan could not help begin thinking about expanding the cubs’ nursery house .
“What do you think of expanding the existing nursery and doubling its squarage?” Calling over everyone to discuss this matter, Xie Luan first opened his mouth to voice his idea .
The proposal was quickly unanimously approved, and Xie Luan hired a construction team the following day . He spent the next few days discussing the design and remodelling needs with the other side .
From the finalization of the schematics to the completion of the construction, it took some time . On the day that the expansion of the nursery was completed, Xie Luan finally received a response to the wanted ad posted on the starnet .
The same day he saw the message saying that the other would visit, Xie Luan spotted a visitor in a gray cloak .
From the exposed hand, the guest looked to be an elder whose skin was a grayish kind of blue . There was only one race that met this condition in the whole interstellar; a race, that to outsiders, had always been shrouded in mystery, one that possessed extraordinary abilities— The saen race .
But what drew Xie Luan’s attention was not the mystery or the extraordinary abilities, but rather their relationship with the nox race .
From having talked to Zarad in the past, Xie Luan distinctly recalled the other saying that the saens had been very friendly with the nox race .