Chapter 31#

The Innocent and Naive Fool#

“The Crown Prince?”

Lin Xiaodong stared at that shining golden background message, stunned for a moment: “Is it the one I’m thinking of?”

But clearly, in this world, only one person could be called the Crown Prince and have an official golden certification on the Star Net: Lu Xing.

Lin Xiaodong knitted his eyebrows, thinking back to his brief meeting with the youth. He felt that since this was only his first day of streaming, Lu Xing shouldn’t be able to discover his true identity, right?

After all, he hadn’t heard his voice before.

So it’s probably just a coincidence, he thought.

He didn’t take the matter too much to heart, eating and drinking as usual and sleeping until dawn. But to his surprise, the next evening at 7:30, as soon as he opened the live room, a dozen brilliant and dazzling meteor showers slid across the pitch-black screen.

[ “His Highness the Crown Prince” has entered your live room. ]

[ “His Highness the Crown Prince” has just sent you a Meteor Shower Gift Pack. ]

[ “His Highness the Crown Prince” liked your live room. Please keep up the good work, streamer~ ]

As a popular idol of the younger generation, it wasn’t the first time Lu Xing had tipped a Star Net streamer. But if the first time was a coincidence, then the second time, tipping exactly at the start of the broadcast, was definitely premeditated.

Along with the platform-wide announcement, the comment section exploded instantly.

But Lu Xing left quickly after liking. If he weren’t still sitting at the very top of Lin Xiaodong’s gift leaderboard, the audience in the live room would probably have thought they were seeing things.

“What is wrong with this guy?” Lin Xiaodong sat on the sofa, completely baffled. “Do I even know him?”

System: “Maybe he just happened to hear your song, and then just happened to fall in love with your voice?”

“Do you believe that?”

Lin Xiaodong snorted derisively.

“I have a suspicion now,” he said. “Tell me, as the first discoverer of the Merman Planet, Lu Xing could even blurt out ‘silver-white merfolk are very rare’ the first time he saw me. That means his understanding of merfolk is more than just a little bit. Do you think he’s recognized me?”

The System said nothing.

But they both knew the possibility was high.

“Whatever, if he recognized me, he recognized me,” Lin Xiaodong sighed. “Anyway, it’s not like he can do anything to me.”

He didn’t turn on his camera, choosing instead to use a cartoon seashell as his avatar for the stream. Opening the live chat, it was densely packed with requests for him to sing the previously released song again with accompaniment.

But Lin Xiaodong was a bit rebellious. He wasn’t really streaming to make money from singing; his most important goal was to alleviate the spread of brainworms among the populace as much as possible.

So he chose the specialty of the merman race—wordless chanting. He picked tunes at random from songs he knew; the listeners wouldn’t know which ones they were anyway after they were pieced together.

As the merman’s soft, lullaby-like humming filled the live room, the speed of the rapidly scrolling chat gradually slowed. Only occasional, scattered meteor gifts flashed by.

This was exactly the effect Lin Xiaodong wanted.

Live streaming technology in the interstellar era was very advanced. By adjusting the parameters of the light brain, one could achieve holographic projection for an immersive experience. And a pitch-black live room like Lin Xiaodong’s was perfect as a night sky background. In such a quiet and peaceful environment, even those with heavy burdens on their minds would involuntarily relax and find spiritual relief.

He hummed for over ten minutes and felt his throat was getting dry, so he had the artificial butler pour him a glass of water, typing on the screen that he needed to rest for a bit.

Although the streamer hadn’t said a single word from beginning to end, the listeners didn’t rush him. Instead, they felt that even the sound of gulping water had a mysterious magic. Many people were recording the entire session, saying they would save it on their light brains to listen to repeatedly before bed.

Setting down his glass, Lin Xiaodong originally intended to sing a bit longer, but then that guy Lu Xing, who had too much money to burn, sent him another Meteor Shower Gift Pack. Seeing the chat instantly liven up, the merman gave an expressionless “heh” and directly pressed the button to close the live room.

Just then, Gu Xi’s video call lit up.

“Have you been good today?”

He walked out of the starship bathroom bare-chested, drying his hair as he asked.

Once again, thanking the light brain’s holographic projection function, Lin Xiaodong stared at those steaming eight-pack abs almost shoved in his face, his eyes going straight: “Very good…”

Gu Xi took a glance. Seeing the little merman’s look of intense craving, how could he not know what was on his mind?

The man curled his lips and deliberately turned around, bending over with his back to the camera as if organizing documents on the desk. But the towel tied around his waist slipped down a bit because of his movement, revealing the lean, smooth muscle lines of his back.

Gulp

A sound of swallowing rang out, exceptionally loud in the quiet room.

At the last moment, Gu Xi grabbed his towel and retied it. He turned around quickly to see the little merman with bright, innocent, and pure eyes, his face full of a “I’m very upright and did nothing” playing-dumb expression.

“Little pervert,” he said helplessly, his tone unable to help but carry a hint of amusement. “Where did you learn all this?”

The System provided a timely narration: “Clearly, self-taught.”

No matter how thick-skinned Lin Xiaodong was, he couldn’t stand being teased like this. His old face turned red, and he flicked his tail to change the subject: “Don’t talk about me. How are things on your end? You shouldn’t have reached Sagittarius yet, right?”

“Don’t worry, everything is normal,” Gu Xi replied nonchalantly. “We should arrive tomorrow. I’ll find time to video call you as the situation allows. If you’re scared alone at night, go find Lulu; she’ll come to keep you company.”

“I’m not a child,” Lin Xiaodong said. “And before you came, I was always alone anyway.”

Gu Xi was silent for a moment.

“It’s my fault,” he sighed. “You’re stronger than I imagined. I’m sorry.”

The man’s expression softened as he changed the subject: “Then let me ask a different way. Being home alone tonight, did you miss me?”

So cheesy.

Lin Xiaodong grumbled in his heart, but couldn’t help but reveal a brilliant smile, answering crisply:

“No.”

Gu Xi: “…………”

But before he had time to be sad, he heard the little merman clutching his light brain and saying sweetly: “Because I can look at the stars! Although there are so many stars in the sky and I don’t know which one you’re on, as long as I look up and see the sky full of twinkling stars, I’ll be very happy~”

The words fell.

Gu Xi stared blankly at the little merman in the screen, thousands of light-years away, looking as if he didn’t know how to respond. He only reacted when the artificial butler cleaning nearby bumped into his ankle, hurriedly making way for it.

It was still the System that knew him better: “Where did you learn all those sweet words?”

Lin Xiaodong gave a side-eye: “There, The Little Prince. A classic among classics, practically an encyclopedia of obscure romantic lines.”

They talked for a while longer. Upon hearing the fleet was about to arrive at the planet where the Queen Bug was located, Lin Xiaodong decided to carefully observe Gu Xi’s demeanor and actions starting tomorrow. This way, in case he was also parasitized by a brainworm, he could help him in time.

“Tell me, if Gu Xi were parasitized, what would he be like?”

After hanging up the video, his imagination ran wild. “Since brainworm hosts have drastic personality changes and become irritable and easily angered, would someone as controlled as Gu Xi usually is also start smashing things and throwing chairs, venting his emotions on people at random?”

He really couldn’t imagine such a scene.

System: “Not necessarily.”

“What do you mean ’not necessarily’?”

“There are many ways to vent emotions,” the System replied in a voice that had seen through the world. “Throwing a chair on the floor is one way; throwing you on the bed is another.”

Lin Xiaodong thought about it in silence for a moment.

A pitch-black, dim room. Gu Xi, with desire churning in his eyes, pinning him forcefully onto the bed, tying his wrists above his head with a tie, domineeringly and arbitrarily suppressing all resistance, doing whatever he wanted, this and that…

Damn, why am I suddenly a bit tempted?

He shook his head, and with great difficulty managed to dispel the various impure thoughts in his brain.

Casually opening the Star Net, he ordered all kinds of devices that could store music. From the most advanced light brains to the most primitive CDs and vinyl records, Lin Xiaodong bought them all.

He bought these for nothing else but to test the best medium for spreading merman songs. His individual influence was limited after all, and his own mental energy couldn’t hold out if he sang for too long. If there was a way to substitute, that would be best.

“Wait a minute,” while searching online, Lin Xiaodong suddenly saw something that suited his current situation. “System, what is this ‘Interstellar Broadcast’?”

System: “In an emergency, the royal family uses it to issue messages to all planets within the entire scope of the Empire. But its control console is inside the palace, and it’s basically not used even once a year. Don’t even think about it.”

“But if this continues, brainworms will surely spread to the entire Central Planet.” Lin Xiaodong said, curling his tail. “Though I don’t care… but I’m curious, why aren’t those nobles worried either? If the common people all die off, what good will it do them?”

“Because the areas currently affected by brainworms are mostly the territories of the old faction of nobles who support the King,” the System explained. “The nobles who support Lu Xing mostly have no territory but possess immense wealth. They are concentrated in large cities and would rather the old faction die off.”

“Political struggle again.”

Lin Xiaodong snorted. “I originally thought that Crown Prince was a somewhat smart person. Seems they’re essentially just birds of a feather, no different.”

The System reminded him: “Don’t forget, he likely still has a Good Person Card on him.”

“I know, don’t rush me,” Lin Xiaodong said lazily.

He opened his streamer background and took a look. Seeing the familiar golden logo, he gave a light laugh:

“See, hasn’t he just delivered himself right to my door?”