Xiao's Diary

September 1, Year 75.

Mars's weather was always like this. No matter whether it was winter, summer, spring, or autumn, the sky was always overcast, and the windblown sand was unbearable.

They possessed such great power, yet they refused to spare even a little excess energy to improve the environment. Compared to the most disgusting creatures in the universe, as they called them—the Earthlings—how were they any better? Fragile, filthy, barbaric, primitive Earthlings had restored Earth's environment over the past century. And what had they done?

Xiao, remember this: half the blood in your body came from fragile, filthy, barbaric, primitive Earthlings.

Remember the surname "Xiao." It was the only inheritance that poor woman left you.

Holsom—what did that "noble" surname have to do with you?

Remember, Xiao. This was the only thing your mother left you.

Remember how she died on this day twelve years ago.

Nanket Holsom appeared behind Xiao like a ghost. His fair, delicate face twisted with rage, and his perfect lips pressed into a sharp line. His long golden hair, radiant as sunlight, whipped about like willow branches in a storm under the violent fluctuations of his mental power. Nanket Holsom's three-meter-tall body likewise floated into the air amid the leaking psychic storm. Visible violet-blue streams of mist condensed from pure mental power wound around his body. The spacious, spotless room built from special alloy steel suddenly let out a teeth-grating creak, while an invisible force churned through the air.

Xiao, equally tall, powerfully built, and handsome enough to resemble an elven prince from legend, calmly saved the diary on his personal quantum computer. He filed it away in a folder called "Xiao's Diary." The folder's 1,024-digit multilayer password was enough to safely conceal this little secret of his.

Of course, if Nanket Holsom truly wanted to pry into Xiao's diary, even a password a thousand times longer would have been useless. But as one of the Roam people's most prominent figures, Nanket Holsom would not stoop to something so despicable. Even though he had personally witnessed his son venting his resentment in his diary today, out of the Roam people's hypocritical nature, he would still pretend not to see it.

The resentment of an illegitimate child of impure blood was not worth Nanket Holsom's attention.

Xiao stood up. Facing the immense psychic pressure Nanket Holsom intentionally or unintentionally released, he did his utmost to straighten his back.

His fair skin was like freshly congealed mutton fat, and his long golden hair was as dazzling as Nanket Holsom's. His exquisitely sculpted features bore a ninety-nine percent resemblance to Nanket Holsom's. Young Xiao and the equally youthful-looking Nanket Holsom standing together resembled a pair of twin brothers. But Xiao's height of 2.2 meters made him seem so small before Nanket Holsom, while his black, gleaming eyes, like black pearls, looked painfully glaring to Nanket Holsom. Nearly a third shorter than a pureblooded Roam person, with black pupils that could never possibly appear among the Roam people, Xiao's identity was beyond doubt—a mixed-blood.

To the Roam people, mixed blood itself was an original sin.

Nanket Holsom looked down at his son with a grim expression. Xiao's stubborn look reminded him of that woman, that infuriating, troublesome woman!

The pressure in the room suddenly increased more than tenfold, and Nanket Holsom's golden eyes emitted a blinding light.

"My son, are you unwilling to show your father the respect he deserves?"

Xiao's body trembled. The immense pressure made every joint in his body emit terrifying creaks. Beads of sweat seeped from Xiao's pores, quickly soaking through his thin clothes, and a small puddle gradually formed on the smooth alloy floor beneath his feet.

Yet Xiao still stood straight!

The pressure in the room increased again, and Nanket Holsom gave an angry snort.

The suddenly intensified pressure had already exceeded Xiao's limits. A faint blue ghostly light seeped out from his body, only to be easily crushed by the immense pressure like an egg beneath a hammer. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of Xiao's mouth. He lowered his head and helplessly prostrated himself at Nanket Holsom's feet. Nanket Holsom nodded in satisfaction.

"Doka Holsom, no matter what, you are still the son of me, Nanket Holsom. At the very least, noble blood from me flows through your veins. Therefore, I cannot simply leave you alone."

Glancing around, Nanket Holsom narrowed his eyes and let out several mocking chuckles.

The spacious room, over a hundred meters long and wide and more than ten meters high, was filled with delicate machine tools of every kind. Countless mechanical blueprints lay scattered messily across the floor. Between the machine tools and blueprints were heaps of metal components, from ordinary screws and nuts to gigantic photonic circuit boards complex enough to drive an ordinary person mad. Countless mechanical parts were mixed together in a chaotic jumble, giving off a strange smell that made one want to cover one's nose. Amid this wreckage of metal, one could barely make out the "remains" of a single bed. One of its legs had broken off, and a skeletal-looking half-finished combat robot was currently lying on it.

Nanket Holsom stomped hard on Xiao's shoulder and shook his head repeatedly in disdain.

"Learn from your brothers. Even the weakest among them is already a hundred times stronger than you!"

With a heavy sigh, Nanket Holsom forced his facial muscles into the expression of a loving father.

"Though you are a lowly mixed-blood, the noble blood of our Holsom Family still flows within you. You should not be this weak!"

"Remember your identity. You are a member of the Holsom Family—of course, you can never become a core member of the Holsom Family—but you can barely be considered part of our family. Therefore, such lowly work as mechanical design does not suit you. Grasping the source of power, mastering great strength, wielding the power to rule over those inferior creatures—that is what you should be doing! Fiddling with these pieces of metal? By the great God of Black Holes, you are bringing shame upon the Holsom Family!"

Xiao lay on the floor, his gaze wandering over a blueprint pinned beneath him. He paid no attention at all to Nanket Holsom's words.

But Nanket Holsom grew more and more excited as he spoke. He began recounting his family's former glory, from Nanket Holsom's father to his grandfather, from his grandfather to his great-grandfather, from his great-grandfather to even more ancient ancestors. From the look of it, he intended to recite the Holsom Family genealogy, stretching back who knew how many centuries, from beginning to end.

Time passed second by second. After Nanket Holsom had finished reminiscing about his seventeenth-generation ancestor, he finally turned to the reason for his visit today.

"The honor of the Holsom Family cannot be desecrated by you like this. Since you, a lowly mixed-blood, have not developed any outstanding genetic mutation, then you are worthless. Yet even as worthless as you are, you are still the Holsom Family's worthless offspring. Studying these primitive, backward machines is truly bringing shame upon the entire family."

"Therefore, the family is giving you one final chance. As long as you survive this trial, you will gain the family's recognition and become a true core member of the family."

Nanket Holsom raised his head and loudly proclaimed in the tone of a god blessing his followers, "In three months, you will enter the temple to undergo the Christo Fusion Ceremony."

Xiao's mind had already drifted far away. All his attention was focused on calculating a tiny alteration to the blueprint, and he showed no reaction whatsoever to Nanket Holsom's words.

Nanket Holsom finally realized that his entire speech about the family's glorious history had gone completely to waste. Furious and exasperated, he viciously kicked Xiao more than ten meters away.

Xiao crashed headfirst into a pile of metal components. A sharp alloy saber carved a deep gash across his face, and bright red blood sprayed out like a fountain.

Nanket Holsom looked at the blood Xiao had sprayed out in disgust.

"Damn it, red blood! It is the most disgusting liquid in the world!"

With a casual wave, he cast a streak of blue light onto Xiao's body, then turned and left Xiao's room.

"Remember, in three months, you will undergo the Christo Fusion Ceremony!"

The blue light stopped the blood gushing from Xiao's face, but it only stopped the bleeding. The wound on Xiao's face showed no sign of healing—Xiao knew that Nanket Holsom could have restored it instantly, but how could the current head of the noble Holsom Family waste any more effort on a lowly mixed-blood burdened with original sin?

Xiao lay on the floor and stuck out his tongue to lick the blood that had flowed from him.

Bright red, scorching hot blood.

He opened his diary document and wrote a new entry.

"Today, I saw the color of my blood—my blood is red!"

All right, an extra chapter today...

Comrades, applaud and vote...

I confirmed it today. Barring any surprises, it will be released on April 1...

Pighead's promise still stands: 50,000 characters on the first day of release... Mm... Comrades, look forward to it... It won't be many days now... (To be continued)