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Qi Chao immediately stopped and hurriedly said, "Brother Shen, if you're feeling tired, let's go upstairs first. We can talk about this later."

Shen Yuxi smiled apologetically and nodded. As he passed the fish tank after getting up, he suddenly said, "This Mother Stone is very beautiful."

The heart-shaped Mother Stone was still a dull gray, but under Qi Chao's day-after-day feeding of Mental Power, it was no longer shriveled as before. Its unremarkable gray had turned into a cool, luxurious gray—full yet understated and reserved, with hidden sharpness, faintly gleaming beneath the lights.

"I think it's beautiful too. Setting everything else aside, I haven't seen many stones that grew into a heart shape."

Qi Chao paused. Hearing the Doctor praise the Mother Stone he had chosen, he chuckled and tapped the fish tank with his finger. "When I first found this little guy, the humanoid masters from the association laughed at me. They all thought my Little Beauty was defective."

"But now that Brother Shen has said so, I'm relieved." Compared to those humanoid masters, Qi Chao felt that Brother Shen was far more impressive.

Shen Yuxi smiled softly at Qi Chao's words. From an angle Qi Chao could not see, that gentle smile gradually took on a deeper meaning.

After leaving the basement, Qi Chao stood at the second-floor intersection. Once he saw the Doctor return to his room, he lowered his head and curled his lips before turning to enter the "operating room" to check on Lan Luo.

The door shut tightly, and the smile on Shen Yuxi's lips gradually faded. His gaze became calm as he strode over and sat in a chair, speaking in an indifferent tone.

"You didn't tell me that his Mental Power was abnormal."

He was the only one in the room, yet he spoke as though he were conversing with someone. The scene looked especially eerie in the empty room. The next second, the space by the door suddenly twisted, and the bandage-wrapped "young man" stepped out.

Though Moss had only just entered, he reacted as if he had been there all along. His strange black eyes seemed somewhat flustered as he pulled at his broken, raspy voice to explain, "Sorry, Father. I thought it wasn't important."

"It really isn't important."

Shen Yuxi nodded without denying it.

Moss's back tensed. He clearly knew it could not be that simple. Sure enough, the next second, he heard his father say lightly, "If there is a next time, I'll cut the Energy Stones into rice-grain pieces, soak them in water, and have Number Two feed them to you."

Energy Stones soaked in water were not actually unpleasant.

Or rather, puppets had almost no sense of taste and could not distinguish good from bad at all.

Yet even if it was not unpleasant, once Father labeled it a punishment, no puppet would want to try it—especially not with Number Two feeding him.

Moss stiffened all over. His lips moved beneath the bandages, and his raspy voice followed. "Yes, Father."

After pausing as though he had remembered something, he tried to make up for it. "His Mental Power is very strong. As long as his attention is on the Mother Stone, he unconsciously separates a portion of his Mental Power to feed it, and there won't be any abnormalities."

Shen Yuxi's peach blossom eyes widened slightly before he chuckled and narrowed them halfway. "That powerful?"

The state of that Mother Stone made it clear that Qi Chao's Mental Power level was very high, but Shen Yuxi had not expected it to be that high.

The higher Qi Chao's Mental Power was, the more beneficial it would be for them. Shen Yuxi's peach blossom eyes curved slightly. This smile seemed different from the one he wore before outsiders, yet it also seemed no different. Or perhaps, once a mask had been worn for too long, every smile had simply become a habit.

Moss stood silently behind his father without saying a word. After a while, his father's gentle yet calm voice reached his ears.

"Build a good relationship with him."

Moss froze, then heard his father say with a smile, "After all, we still need him to win the championship."

"Alright."

Moss did not understand what winning the championship had to do with building a good relationship, but he would not disobey his father's orders.

Meanwhile, Qi Chao browsed his Light Brain by the bed for a while. About half an hour later, he saw Lan Luo wake from his sleep.

Before Lan Luo could speak, Qi Chao rubbed Little One's head and comforted him. "Lan Luo, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Ever since hearing Little One say yesterday that repairing the cracks hurt badly, Qi Chao had been thinking about it. He had deliberately come to the room before Lan Luo woke up so he could comfort him right away.

Feeling the warmth on his head, Lan Luo did not flash the brilliant smile he usually wore. Instead, he seemed somewhat awkward, as though he did not know how to react. Only after a few minutes did he reveal a slightly stiff smile.

Lan Luo did not actually hurt.

He had lied to his master yesterday too.

He did not know why he had lied.

Was it just to receive his master's comfort?

Lan Luo picked at the bedsheet with his fingers, unable to figure it out.

Little One had just woken up and was a little slow to react, which Qi Chao understood. Seeing Lan Luo's familiar smile return, he felt relieved and smiled as well.

That evening, Qi Chao went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Lan Luo did not go looking for Father, nor did he watch cartoons in the living room. He simply followed behind Qi Chao the entire time.

No matter what Qi Chao did, he trailed after him like a tail, as though there were something he could not figure out.

Qi Chao asked him a few questions, but Lan Luo only shook his head and refused to say more. So Qi Chao let his Little One follow him. Having an extra little tail was rather interesting.

Soon, the other puppet in the house entered.

Father had said to build a good relationship with Lan Luo's master.

Moss had come to carry out Father's order.

At first, Qi Chao did not understand what Moss had come into the kitchen to do, so he asked in confusion.

The one-eyed "young man," wrapped head to toe in bandages, did not respond. After a while, as though he had remembered something, he said hoarsely, "Nothing."

Qi Chao was not foolish enough to truly believe nothing was wrong, but since Moss did not want to say it, Qi Chao thoughtfully did not press him.

Thankfully, the villa's kitchen was large enough. Otherwise, with two cumbersome "tails" trailing behind him, Qi Chao would surely have bumped into things constantly.

"Big Brother, what are you doing here?"

Lan Luo's voice was very low, and Qi Chao, who was cooking, did not hear him.