Chapter 1: The Commander-in-Chief Might Have an Illegitimate Son

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: The Commander-in-Chief Might Have an Illegitimate Son

「First Star Zone, Imperial Hospital.」

Shu Yao pinched the scruff of a small kitten’s neck, deliberately using a fierce tone to scold it:

"Didn’t I tell you not to run off!"

The adorable little orange cat drooped its head and ears, utterly dejected. The pitiful look in its lively, intelligent eyes would make anyone who saw it feel an irresistible urge to scoop it up into their arms.

A woman in her forties, exquisitely dressed and adorned, approached, unable to bear it. "He’s still just a child."

The little kitten immediately went on alert. The orange fur on its back and tail, speckled with black, instantly puffed up. It spread its four little paws, revealing sharp little claws and soft pink pads. It glared at the approaching woman with hostile eyes, letting out a fierce, kitten-like growl.

A hurt expression flashed across Shu Xin’s face, quickly replaced by overwhelming guilt.

Her beautiful eyes reddened as she choked back a sob. "If only I had found you sooner..."

The Shu Family were nobles in the Fourth Star Zone. After a marriage alliance with the Lin Family of the Upper Star District, Shu Xin gave birth to a daughter, Shu Yao.

But her daughter suddenly went missing at the age of seven. Such missing person cases were not uncommon in the Interstellar Federation, and most of the lost could be quickly found using high-tech methods like the Heavenly Eye, whether they were dead or alive.

Yet, despite using every means at their disposal, the Lin and Shu families failed to find the missing Shu Yao.

In less than a year, the Lin Family gave up.

Shu Xin and the Lin Family had a major falling-out over the search for their daughter.

The Lin Family held no more hope and was unwilling to waste any more energy on the matter.

Shu Xin, however, was determined to find her daughter no matter what. After divorcing her husband, she returned to her family home in the Fourth Star Zone. Despite suffering countless setbacks, she never for a moment gave up on the thought of bringing her daughter back.

As a mother, she firmly believed her daughter was still alive somewhere in a corner of the Interstellar Federation.

The search lasted for thirteen years!

Just a few days ago, a sizable conflict broke out in the Interstellar Federation’s junkyard—Zone 9—between the abandoned people and the Scavengers, alerting the local police of the Lower Star District.

Shu Yao was one of the instigators and faced a penalty of fifteen days of criminal detention. While being escorted out of the Ninth District, she was registered with her fingerprints and a blood sample for identity verification. She casually mentioned she was undocumented, only to widen her eyes in shock when the local police pulled up her identity information from the system’s database.

She was actually the long-lost heiress of the Lin and Shu families!

Upon receiving the news, the Lin Family seemed unwilling to come forward and acknowledge this daughter who had grown up in the Lower Star District.

The Shu Family, on the other hand, rushed to the Lower Star District the moment they received the notice. As soon as Shu Xin stepped off the Flying Machine, she threw her arms around Shu Yao and cried until she fainted.

Shu Yao had originally been a descendant of the Xuan Sect from Ancient Earth. Yet, driven by a deep passion for food, she became a senior nutritionist, mastering life skills like medical theory, dietary therapy, and culinary arts. She even possessed a personal space and was living a very comfortable life. Just as she was about to reach a new high point in her life, she was killed in an unexpected car accident. When she woke up, she found she had transmigrated into the interstellar era, into the body of a seven-year-old girl who shared her name.

The original owner of the body had been placed in a cryogenic container and thrown away like trash in Zone 9, an area so remote it wasn’t even covered by the Star Network’s signal. Her vital signs were weak, she had suffered a head injury, and she had lost all her memories.

Fortunately, when Shu Yao transmigrated, she still had her personal space.

She used the Spiritual Spring and medicinal plants from her space to repair the original owner’s body before climbing out of the cryogenic container.

「Thirteen years passed in a flash.」

Now, Shu Yao’s identity as a noble young lady was restored, and she settled in the Fourth Star Zone with the Shu Family, bringing her son, Shu Ju, with her.

That’s right.

She had a son—her biological son, just over two years old, and still a young cub.

The very same kitten in her hands.

This was her son’s Beastification form.

Registering her own residency with the Shu Family was no problem, but registering the little cub was a hassle.

She had to prove her son was biologically hers. If he wasn’t, she would need official adoption papers.

Shu Ju was born in the barren and isolated Zone 9. He had no birth certificate and was completely undocumented.

As a mother, Shu Yao couldn’t possibly let her beloved son remain undocumented. This was the primary reason she had agreed to acknowledge her relationship with the Shu Family—there was no other.

In order to successfully register her adorable grandson with the Shu Family and get him his own identity documents, Shu Xin brought the mother and son to the Imperial Hospital, the most authoritative hospital in the entire Interstellar Federation, for a paternity test and to retroactively issue a birth certificate for her little grandson.

The paternity test required a blood sample.

Upon hearing that they needed to prick his finger for the blood sample, Xiao Juzi, who was afraid of pain, was so scared that he instantly shifted into his full Beastification form, tightly curling his little paws to hide his soft pads.

"Mommy~ I’m Mommy’s child, I don’t need anyone to prove it!" The two-and-a-half-year-old Xiao Juzi was very sensible and could already say many things. His sweet, childish voice was cute enough to melt anyone’s heart.

"As if I don’t know you!" Shu Yao furiously rubbed his cat head. "You’re just scared of getting your finger pricked!"

A guilty look flashed in his pair of inky-black pupils, and Xiao Juzi’s cat ears drooped back in surrender.

Shu Xin gently coaxed him from the side, "It’s true that Xiao Juzi is Mommy’s child. But a lot of other people don’t know that. So how are you going to prove it to them?"

Xiao Juzi said innocently, "Then I’ll just tell them loudly that I’m Mommy’s child!"

Shu Xin patiently guided him, "But what if they don’t believe you? You see, you’re a Beastman, while Mommy and Grandma are both Purebred humans. You don’t look like us."

Xiao Juzi looked at his mother.

Mommy’s hands and skin were fair and clean.

But in his Beastification form, no part of him looked like his mother.

Staring at his fuzzy paws, he asked pitifully, "So if I do this paternity test, will it prove to everyone that I’m Mommy’s child?"

"What a smart boy!" Shu Xin praised with a smile.

"Then... I’ll do it!"

’I am Mommy’s child! No one can deny that!’

Xiao Juzi obediently rested on Shu Yao’s shoulder, his fluffy tail flicking once before gently hooking around her wrist.

Shu Yao had to admit, this mother she had just acknowledged really had a way with children.

Her own consistent method of discipline was—a beating is affection, a scolding is love, and failing to do either is to raise a disaster!

So, in a situation like the one just now, given her usual short temper, her first response to disobedience would have been a beating, and they could talk later.

The medical technology of the interstellar era was incredibly advanced. Under normal circumstances, a medical robot could provide the results within three minutes of drawing blood.

The results of the paternity test confirmed with certainty that Xiao Juzi was Shu Yao’s biological son, but the system also matched Xiao Juzi’s biological father’s identity information from the hospital’s archived database.

As the matter concerned the Imperial Family and involved the Interstellar Federation’s highest secrets, the medical robot immediately transmitted the paternity test data to the main brain.

Paternity probability greater than 99.99999%!

This data nearly fried the main brain’s circuits!

After the main brain processed this, it immediately contacted the most revered member of the Imperial Family.

"Your Majesty, the data from the Imperial Hospital indicates that the Commander-in-Chief... might... perhaps... have an illegitimate son!"