The young emperor was stunned.

Xiu Jun's request had frightened him so much that he hiccupped through his tears.

An energy vein star was no small price to pay. After all, a stable energy-producing celestial body could be used for many things. It was worth noting that of the star Xiu Jun currently possessed, 70% of the monthly energy crystal production was sold directly to the Empire at a thin profit margin. Only the remaining 30% was within his range of free allocation.

This 30% was mostly used to replenish the military corps' warehouses, with only a tiny fraction going into his personal reserves.

"W-what do you need an energy vein star for?" the young emperor asked, his voice quavering.

"Our military funds are... shall we say, tightly controlled by Prince Kelsey's faction," Xiu Jun explained with a straight face, his words sounding reasonable and well-founded. "Apart from some self-sustaining industries, our finances are quite strained. One energy vein star is hardly enough to supply seven military corps."

What utter nonsense!

In reality, the military had long since established a self-sufficient industrial chain. The annual funds allocated by the Empire were considered extra income, with half of it being converted into logistical supplies for emergencies.

Marshal Kevin watched Xiu Jun tell bald-faced lies for the sake of cat food, and after a long moment, he averted his gaze.

How devious!

What a scheming mind!

But the young emperor, who knew little about such matters, believed Xiu Jun's deceit. Gritting his teeth, he agreed to the request.

When Marshal Kevin suggested that the emperor should stay at the military headquarters for his safety, the boy, between sobs, stubbornly declared, "No, I want to return to the Imperial Palace."

Marshal Kevin simply looked at him without saying a word.

Surprisingly, the young emperor didn't back down. Lifting his chin, he tried his best to assume a haughty and noble posture—even though he was still hiccupping, he said through gritted teeth, "That is my palace!"

Marshal Kevin's expression finally changed. He raised his hand as if to pat the young emperor's head, but midway, he changed direction and gave the young ruler a standard military salute.

Xiu Jun cut off the communication and glanced at the First Corps Commander, who had already very conscientiously begun facing the media to clean up the aftermath of this operation. Then, cradling his cat, he headed home.

After all, isn't it a subordinate's job to solve problems for their superior at times like these?

The First Corps Commander had long since grown accustomed to this over the years. Why else would he be so adept at fabricating stories for the media with a straight face?

Marshal Ji, covered in dust, was thoroughly disliked by Yue'an. As soon as they got home, he took his cat straight to the bathroom.

Yue'an, small in his cat form, didn't appear to have much dust on him—he hadn't transformed from a white cat to a gray one. But both man and cat felt as if they'd just rolled in a pile of dust, making a bath absolutely necessary.

Marshal Ji removed his military uniform jacket and filled the sink with enough warm water for Yue'an to soak in comfortably.

Yue'an crouched on the countertop, watching the water level rise. Then he walked to the edge of the counter, bottom in the air and paws extended, and pulled open a drawer underneath, revealing several neat rows of... Tribble toys.

Xiu Jun: "..."

Yue'an jumped onto the drawer, picked out one toy with his mouth, and dropped it into the sink.

Then he very obediently closed the drawer.

Xiu Jun remained silent for a good while. He turned off the water and set it to constant temperature mode, then looked at the Tribble toy floating freely on the water's surface and asked, "...When did you buy these?"

Yue'an jumped into the sink, his little paws pushing the iron-gray Tribble toy as it drifted back and forth with the water. The entire cat was soaking in the warm water as he lifted his head, shook his ears, and let out a soft "Meow" towards Xiu Jun.

Xiu Jun had only asked casually, and Yue'an had only answered casually.

As usual, the Marshal couldn't understand the cat's response.

But he nodded slightly, looking very serious as if he had understood. Then he turned on the news channel, clicked to watch, and entered the shower stall, pulling the curtain closed behind him.

Yue'an looked up at the projection in the bathroom, which was showing the First Corps Commander's response to the media.

The backdrop for his interview was a long line of criminal suspects being escorted out and loaded into vehicles, their charges clearly stated: illegal trading and disruption of social order.

The news headline read: Imperial Military Uncovers Major Illegal Trading Operation.

This group of arrestees had truly rotten luck, Yue'an thought as he playfully smacked the toy with both paws.

As Xiu Jun showered, he listened to the First Corps Commander's reasonable and serious fabrications to the media. He knew he had to memorize this version of events to avoid any inconsistencies if he was ever questioned about the incident in the future.

While he was listening and memorizing, a "Squeak!" sound came from outside the shower stall.

Yue'an retracted his paws, and the Tribble toy he had squashed inflated back to its original shape, emitting a "Whoosh!" sound.

The little cat extended his paws and smacked the toy again.

This time, with a different amount of force, the toy made a "Peep!" sound.

Yue'an was instantly addicted to the game.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Inside the shower stall, Xiu Jun could hear the news broadcast accompanied by a series of "Squeak!", "Whoosh!", "Peep!", and a jumble of "Squeak-squeak-squeak!", "Peep-peep-peep!", and "Squeak-whoosh-squeak-whoosh-peep-peep-squeak!"

Occasionally, this cacophony was punctuated by Yue'an's "Meow", "Meow-ow", "Meow-rawr", and other strange vocalizations.

Finally, even the "Glub-glub-glub-whoosh!" of the toy being pushed underwater joined the chorus.

Xiu Jun: "..."

It was impossible to follow the news now.

The Marshal had never taken such a lively shower before.

When he emerged from the shower stall, he discovered that the noisy Tribble toy had fallen victim to Yue'an's sharp teeth. Its head had been bitten off and tossed aside, while its body, still floating on the water's surface, had been cruelly dismembered.

"Meow!" Yue'an tossed the toy aside and happily splashed water towards Xiu Jun.

Clearly, he had enjoyed himself immensely.

Of course he was happy—he was about to have an entire energy vein star! Although Xiu Jun had given a seemingly reasonable and high-level excuse, Yue'an knew that the star was being requested for him.

Yue'an contentedly splashed in the water, stretching out his wet paws, waiting for Xiu Jun to give him a thorough cleaning.

Marshal Ji, wearing his casual home clothes, looked at Yue'an's extended little paws and resignedly rolled up his sleeves to meticulously clean between the cat's toes and other hard-to-reach areas.

After all, this was his life-saving benefactor cat.

The Marshal thought as he cleaned, beautiful creatures naturally enjoyed some extra care and attention.

This special treatment manifested in various ways: Marshal Ji personally bringing gourmet takeout, Marshal Ji personally accompanying him to sleep, Marshal Ji personally washing his paws, Marshal Ji personally drying his fur, and even...

Marshal Ji personally serving as a sparring partner for combat training.

Yue'an was bewildered when he found himself thrown to the ground by an over-the-shoulder throw.

Regarding the fact that after bathing and drying his fur, Xiu Jun had asked him to transform into his human form, Yue'an had imagined many possible scenarios. Perhaps Xiu Jun intended to teach him human etiquette and social skills, or maybe work on his pronunciation and speech.

But he never expected Xiu Jun to lead him to an empty room and immediately execute an over-the-shoulder throw on him.

Yue'an: "..."

You've changed.

You actually dared to throw me.

However, Marshal Ji saw nothing wrong with this approach.

Compared to slowly teaching Yue'an how to move in human form step by step, pain education was significantly faster and more effective.

Yue'an wasn't an ordinary human who knew nothing; in fact, he knew everything in theory. Simply put: he understood the principles but didn't know how to apply them.

So, the best way to quickly familiarize Yue'an with various human movements and the use of force was through direct physical experience.

Pain is one of the most effective emotions for promoting rapid human growth. Coupled with Yue'an's competitive nature, it would lead to swift progress.

Though there's a saying that you shouldn't run before you can walk, this didn't apply to Yue'an. For him, the appropriate adage would be: practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.

After being forced into this practical exercise by Xiu Jun, Yue'an was stunned for a few minutes. Then he flipped over, got up, and lunged at Xiu Jun with a vengeance.

Marshal Kevin, having engaged in a verbal sparring match with the political faction at the palace, drove back in his bright red car to deliver cat food to Xiu Jun.

He had just rung the doorbell when he heard an angry shout from inside: "Ji Xiulin! You bastard!"

This was immediately followed by his student's calm correction: "It's Ji Xiujun, not Lin."

The door opened, and Marshal Kevin saw that Xiu Jun's forehead was covered in sweat—given his student's physical condition, he wouldn't sweat unless engaged in extremely intense exercise. The fact that he was sweating at home was simply unbelievable.

But soon he realized that Xiu Jun was in relatively good shape. The white-haired youth inside the house looked like he had been dragged out of water, sprawled on the sofa like a limp fish.

The image of a beautiful young man was thoroughly ruined.

Since they were at the front door, Marshal Kevin didn't intend to go in, and Xiu Jun showed no signs of inviting him in either.

"I've brought the car back," Marshal Kevin said, then nodded towards Yue'an inside. "What's going on?"

"Practical training," Xiu Jun replied, adding, "The progress is encouraging."

His cat had rapidly evolved from barely being able to speak coherently to being able to curse fluently.

And from tripping over his own feet to being able to engage in a small scuffle.

The progress was indeed encouraging. Pain education once again demonstrated its efficiency and effectiveness in rapid learning.

Of course, it would be even better if Yue'an didn't keep getting his name wrong.

Marshal Kevin was very familiar with what Xiu Jun meant by practical training. Most of the corps commanders under Xiu Jun had been trained through this so-called practical training.

Marshal Kevin had always firmly believed this was a product of Xiu Jun's personal sadistic tendencies, but he couldn't deny its effectiveness.

Marshal Kevin expressed his sympathy for Yue'an with a glance. "The genetic test results are in. It's human DNA."

Xiu Jun paused, unable to resist looking back at Yue'an, who was sprawled on the sofa, not even bothering to groan anymore.

"Bring Yue'an to my place tonight," Marshal Kevin said in a low voice.

Xiu Jun nodded, following Marshal Kevin to the yard. After seeing him off, he turned to retrieve the shopping box from the car.

Fortunately, Yue'an had taken out these energy crystals before the black market explosion, otherwise they would all have been confiscated.

As Xiu Jun pushed the box back into the house, he suddenly realized something he had overlooked earlier in his distraction.

—There was no disguise equipment in that red car!

Xiu Jun strode to Yue'an's side, flipping over the cat-like youth sprawled on the sofa, and asked, "Yue'an, what form did you use to go to the black market?"

Yue'an grunted twice, opened his eyes, and his snow-white hair and azure eyes quickly turned jet black.

Xiu Jun: "..."

It's a good thing the black market was blown up!

Brilliant!

It's really great that it was destroyed!

But even though it was destroyed, Marshal Ji was still worried about potential survivors who might have slipped through the net.

When he brought the exhausted and comatose Yue'an to Marshal Kevin's house, Xiu Jun explained the situation.

Marshal Kevin was also taken aback. The master and student looked at each other, both troubled.

Madam Ellie was massaging Yue'an's little paws on the side. The little cat was sleeping so deeply, all four paws in the air, showing no signs of waking despite the changes and movements around him. His little belly rose and fell, accompanied by tiny snores.

After hearing the concerns of her husband and his student, Madam Ellie tilted her head in confusion.

"Why are you making this so complicated?"

The two men, who usually dealt with either politics or military affairs, turned their heads in unison.

"First of all, hair and eye color greatly affect how people remember faces. And haven't you forgotten that there are many disguise devices on the market based on my appearance?"

As a famous interstellar movie star, Madam Ellie couldn't go out in public without a disguise. For those with status or money, disguise devices were readily available.

Naturally, some disguise device manufacturers would use her image as a base, making slight adjustments to create disguise profiles—after all, even for disguised appearances, people have preferences.

Some people prefer to make themselves look ordinary and inconspicuous, like Xiu Jun and Kevin.

But others hope their disguised appearance is that of a stunningly beautiful woman.

"Why don't we have Yue'an use his natural human form, disguised as someone I accidentally met while filming on another planet recently? We can take a few photos while we're at it. It's bound to create a lot of buzz, and we can use that momentum to announce that we're adopting him."

Madam Ellie spoke as if it was the most natural and obvious solution.

"Based on the photos of Yue'an you sent me, in a few days, disguise devices based on his appearance will be flying off the shelves. Even if there are any survivors, they'll naturally assume it's just another disguise device."

Xiu Jun, the military man who hadn't thought of this approach at all: "..."

Kevin, the political man who also hadn't considered this solution: "..."

Ellie, the entertainment industry woman who couldn't understand why the military and political experts would be troubled by such a problem, continued petting the cat while looking at them in confusion.

Marshal Kevin and Xiu Jun both averted their gazes.

"Then it's decided," Marshal Kevin said with a smile, employing his level 99 skill. "When do we eat?"

"Hmm..."

As his teacher and teacher's wife looked at him, Xiu Jun pondered for a while, unable to think of a suitable topic.

He racked his brains for a good ten seconds.

Finally, with a straight face, he said calmly and steadily: "Yue'an likes spicy food."

Yue'an, lying on Madam Ellie's lap, sneezed in his sleep.