Chapter 25: Little Prince
As soon as Ethan Cross returned to the military base, he saw several of his subordinates with their heads together, staring at a virtual screen projected by a Light Brain. A pile of instruments sat beside them, cluttering the entire room.
Seeing the mess, Ethan Cross felt his temper flare. His voice was laced with anger. "What are you all doing!"
’They were here to find the Marshal’s whereabouts, and what are they doing? Watching some streamer from the entertainment section!’
The moment they saw Ethan Cross, they looked horrified. They scrambled to their feet, and in their haste, one of them even accidentally cranked up the livestream’s volume.
They scrambled to turn it off the next second.
’We’re done for!’
That was the thought that flashed through everyone’s mind.
Ethan Cross laughed in exasperation. He looked at the person whose head was bowed so low it nearly touched the floor, suppressed his anger, and sighed internally. ’I knew I shouldn’t have brought this pampered prince along.’
"Little Prince, what was that promise you made when you snuck along?"
Shawn Thorne tentatively peeked up at Ethan Cross. Seeing that the man wasn’t so furious there was no room for negotiation, he said, "I promised not to run off, not to cause trouble, and to follow all of your orders."
"Besides, I’ve told you a million times, I didn’t sneak. I was just so worried about the Marshal that I wanted to find him as soon as possible, so I came along openly."
This was the Little Prince of the Empire. He had idolized Cillian Forrest since he was a child and loved to follow him around. When he heard Cillian Forrest was injured and missing, he learned of the search party and secretly stowed away on their battleship to join them.
It was too late by the time they discovered him. The prince was unruly and his status was too high; no one but Cillian Forrest could handle him, so in the end, they had no choice but to let him tag along.
"I might have agreed to let you stay, but I can’t say the same for the Marshal."
"You found Uncle Forrest?" Hearing Ethan Cross’s words, Shawn Thorne’s eyes instantly lit up.
The others instantly looked up at Ethan Cross as well.
These men were all his trusted confidants, and the Little Prince was the person closest to the Marshal. There was no need for secrecy. Ethan Cross grunted in affirmation. "We found him."
"That’s wonderful!" Shawn Thorne was thrilled. "I knew Uncle Forrest would be alright! Let those old fossils keep nagging my father every day, pushing for someone else to take over the First Corps. Just wait until Uncle Forrest gets back. We’ll see if they still dare to open their mouths then!"
Ethan Cross listened without comment. The Little Prince could get away with saying such things, but that didn’t mean everyone could.
Ethan Cross changed the subject. "Once the Marshal is back, you should return to The Capital Planet, Little Prince."
At these words, the smile vanished from Shawn Thorne’s face. "I’m not going back! I’ve been behaving. Why are you still trying to send me away?" he protested.
Ethan Cross glanced at the projected virtual screen. The livestream was still on, just muted.
No face was visible on the screen, only the image of a female streamer singing and playing an instrument.
"Is this what you call ’behaving,’ Little Prince?"
Speaking of which, Shawn Thorne suddenly remembered the important task he had been in the middle of—he’d almost forgotten.
"I wasn’t just goofing off," Shawn Thorne said, defending himself. "This livestream is different from the others."
"How is it different?" ’It’s a livestream from the entertainment section. How different could it possibly be?’
Shawn Thorne immediately pointed to the stream. "Ethan Cross, this livestream can soothe the turbulence of a rampaging Spiritual Sea!"
He had discovered the livestream by chance one day when he was incredibly bored.
At first, the stream didn’t even have many viewers. But the streamer’s voice was beautiful, so he stuck around and even sent her a few gifts.
Then, a lot of people in the chat started saying the streamer’s singing could soothe Spiritual Sea turbulence. He hadn’t felt much the first time, but when he stumbled upon the stream again today, he miraculously felt the turbulence in his Spiritual Sea ease slightly.
That was why he’d had his men bring the instruments to measure the turbulence levels.
A flicker of astonishment crossed Ethan Cross’s eyes as he listened to Shawn Thorne. ’Listening to a song can calm a Spiritual Sea rampage? I’ve never heard of such a thing.’
"So what were your test results, Little Prince?"
Shawn Thorne: "..."
"Well, it’s your fault! I hadn’t even started the test before you came back and interrupted me."
He could tell from Ethan Cross’s expression that the man thought he was just making excuses to watch the stream.
"Ethan Cross, you don’t believe me?"
Ethan Cross said calmly, "No."
With that attitude, he still had the gall to say "no." Shawn Thorne wasn’t having any of it. He had to prove he was right. "Turn on the instruments. I’ll run the test for you right now!"
Ethan Cross knew that once the Little Prince got an idea in his head, there was no arguing with him. He could only agree.
Everything was ready. But just as Shawn Thorne was about to turn the livestream’s volume back on...
The stream went black.
[The streamer has left the stream.]
Shawn Thorne: "...?"
Shawn Thorne: "!"
’The stream... ended?!’
Seeing his expression, Ethan Cross placated him, "Alright, Little Prince. I know you want to test the turbulence levels, but she’s already ended the stream. Maybe next time."
He had just located the Marshal and had many things to sort out and report. He didn’t have time to waste on some streamer.
Besides, he was far more concerned with Miss Wexler than any livestream.
After all, her talent could neutralize the Starbug toxin. As long as her Level was high enough after her secondary growth, the Marshal and the others poisoned by the Starbugs could be saved.
And then there was the matter of the Little Prince.
As for this livestream the prince was so excited about, if he enjoyed watching it, let him have his little hobby.
With that, Ethan Cross left. He had a lot of work to do.
Shawn Thorne watched Ethan Cross leave, fuming at the man’s blatant disbelief. His face flushed red with anger.
Only Shawn Thorne and one of his personal guards remained in the room.
Shawn Thorne turned to the guard. "You don’t believe me either?!"
"Not at all, Little Prince. I believe you."
Shawn Thorne huffed. "They don’t believe me. Fine. I’ll just have to find the evidence to make them believe."
He immediately opened his Light Brain, went to the streamer’s profile, and sent her a private message.
[Hello, I represent a professional research institute. We’ve observed that your singing alleviates turbulence in one’s spiritual power. We were wondering if you would be willing to participate in a formal test.]
After editing the message, he sent it off. ’I’ve tipped her so much money,’ he thought. ’She’ll definitely reply right away.’
But he waited and waited, and there was no response.
—
On the other side of things, Sophie Wexler had logged off and left her apartment right after singing "Recovery," the song requested by her top supporter.
She had received a message on her communicator from the Healer-class Protection Association, informing her that the Star Thieves had been captured and that she needed to come down to their office.
When Sophie Wexler arrived, she saw not only the Star Thieves but also the men from the bar that night.
The moment they saw Sophie Wexler, their faces flushed red with anger.
"Sophie Wexler! So it was you!"