Chapter 426: Unprincipled beast

He looked down at the little cub in his palm, thoroughly speechless. "I’ve crossed paths with Commander Yuel before—well... I suppose he’s the Archon now. He speaks far more pleasantly than you do."

"And that’s exactly why you’re considered dumb," Terry said, shaking his head with a look of profound concern for Sylas’s IQ. "My daddy only speaks pleasantly to you for one reason, and that’s because you’re useful to him. He isn’t completely honest like me, saying whatever comes to mind."

Sylas sighed. "Alright, you can stop talking now."

He was already feeling miserable enough. It had been less than an hour since he boarded the starship, cleared his mind, and realized he had been thoroughly tricked into recognizing a Zerg bug as his female master.

In this brief span of time, he not only had to process and digest the incredibly foolish things he had done, but he also had to play along with Bree for the time being, quickly formulate a strategy to handle her, and now endure a little cub insulting his intelligence right to his face. It really was...

"The truth is always hard to swallow. Since you don’t want to hear it, I’ll stop," Terry said, letting Sylas off the hook with a generous wave of his tiny hand.

Sylas glanced at the route and coordinate map displayed on the lounge screen. He turned to Terry and said, "As soon as we get back to the Golden Roc clan’s territory, I’ll find an opportunity to send you back. Your mother must be worried sick after you ran off without a word."

With this little guy slipping out completely on his own, Rory was bound to be frantic.

Terry wasn’t worried in the slightest. He told Sylas, "The surveillance cameras caught me when I followed you out. Mom definitely knows I’m with you by now.

Very soon, my daddies will come looking for me. You can take that exact opportunity to discuss with them how to handle that bug. She’s a Rank 13 Zerg, after all—you can’t kill her on your own."

Terry had planned everything out the moment he decided to come along. After all, he possessed the shared memories of both his father and mother; he had at least that much intelligence.

"Why are you helping me?" Sylas asked, looking at Terry with a serious expression.

"Helping you?" Terry let out a tiny chuckle. "Are you kidding me? The ones I’m helping are my actual daddy and my mom."

If it weren’t for the fact that this bug’s plan would bring trouble to his mother and interfere with his daddy’s grand plan to consolidate power, he wouldn’t even bother meddling in this business. He was a highly selfish little fruit who only cared about the people within his circle. As for the rest of the beastmen, whether they lived or died had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Back at Starlight Prime Tech.

Rory had already reviewed the surveillance footage and spotted Terry taking advantage of her distraction to sneak right into Sylas’s pocket.

"We can confirm now that Terry is with Sylas," Vangar said, standing up and speaking softly to Rory. "Rory, I’ll head out to find Sylas right now. I promise I’ll bring Terry back safely."

"I’ll go with you," Vincent added.

After all, if that Bree truly was a Zerg who could flawlessly pass as a human female, there was a very high probability she was a Rank 13 Zerg.

If a fight broke out, Vangar wouldn’t be able to handle it alone. A clash between a Rank 12 powerhouse and a Rank 13 Zerg would unleash a terrifying amount of power, enough to blow the Central District completely apart.

While high-ranking beastmen like them might stand a chance at escaping with their lives, the slightly weaker, innocent beastmen would all perish. They absolutely could not allow innocent bystanders to be harmed.

"Aren, Xarion, the rest of you stay behind and protect Rory," Vincent instructed the others.

Xarion and the rest nodded seriously. "Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of the Female Master."

Rory urged Vangar and Vincent, "When you see Terry, don’t scold him or scare him. Just get him back first, and we’ll deal with everything else later." If there were scores to settle, they could settle them back home.

"Don’t worry, we understand." Vincent nodded, and he swiftly departed alongside Vangar.

After they left, Rory thought it over and decided to send a message to Yuel to inform him of the situation. After all, Terry wasn’t her cub alone.

Yuel had a right to know.

Having just wrapped up dealing with a bunch of old foxes and achieving his objectives, Yuel received Rory’s message the moment he stepped out of the conference room.

Looking at the content of the message, Yuel let out a soft laugh.

Yuel: [Rory, I’ve received the message about this matter. Go ahead and head back to the castle first. I’ll bring Terry back with me tonight.]

After replying to Rory, Yuel placed a call to Vincent and Vangar.

"You two can head back. Leave Terry’s situation to me."

Vincent said, "Are you sure you can handle it? The opponent might be a Rank 13 Zerg." Both he and Vangar were slightly uneasy, worried that Yuel might run into danger if he went alone.

Yuel replied, "There’s no need to engage. Bree won’t expose her identity before she achieves her goals, and Terry won’t let her discover him either."

Vincent and Vangar exchanged a look. "We’ll leave it to you then. Contact us anytime if you need backup."

"Understood." Yuel hung up, grabbed his coat, and walked out.

He didn’t head straight to the Golden Roc clan’s territory. Instead, he had someone arrange a meeting with Sylas outside.

Half an hour later, Sylas showed up inside an underground casino not far from the Golden Roc clan’s estate.

Seeing Yuel sitting in the lounge area, Terry instantly deflated inside the jacket pocket. Oh no, why is it Daddy who came? Shouldn’t it be Daddy Vincent and Daddy Vangar? Why is it my biological dad?

"Master Sylas, please have a seat." Sitting on the sofa, Yuel smiled at Sylas as he entered alone, gesturing for someone to pour him some tea.

"I thought the ones coming would be Vincent and Vangar. I didn’t expect it to be you," Sylas remarked, finding it a bit surprising to see Yuel.

"He is my cub, after all, so naturally I should be the one to come." Yuel smiled, pushing the teacup slightly toward Sylas. "My time is limited, so I won’t beat around the bush with you. Since Terry approached you on his own initiative and you came to this meeting so readily, it seems you already understand exactly what’s going on."

Yuel extended his hand toward Sylas. "Let Terry out. Rory is very worried about him, and I’m taking him back now."

Hearing Yuel telling him to come out, Terry immediately whispered to Sylas, "I just saved your life, you can’t hand me over!" If he went out right now, he was absolutely going to get it.

Sylas didn’t listen to Terry. He didn’t want to keep Rory anxious. He quickly reached into his pocket, fished Terry out, and placed him right into Yuel’s palm.

Terry: "..."

What a completely unprincipled beast. He had literally just saved the guy’s life, yet he handed him over this easily.

"Da... Daddy..." Terry instantly shifted into his tiny child form. Standing in Yuel’s palm, he offered him a flattering, sycophantic smile. "Why did you come all this way yourself? I could have made my own way back."

Yuel didn’t say a word. Smiling, he opened his optical computer, snapped a picture, and sent it to Rory. Following that, he sent a highly gentle voice note to her.

Yuel: [Rory, Terry has been found, so please don’t worry. I’ll bring him back tonight and ensure he won’t go missing again.]

Sylas watched Yuel as he pitched his voice up to sound incredibly soft and tender for the voice note. He was completely stunned. He had known Yuel for a fair amount of time, and while they hadn’t interacted extensively, the Yuel known to the outside world was absolutely nothing like this.

At the very least, the man’s usual way of speaking was a far cry from this sweet, almost overly strained tone.