"By the way, what are their names?" Ryan suddenly asked.
Yu Weiwei froze when he realised that he hadn't named either of them.
Caspian noticed his expression and realised the same thing.
"The names aren't important right now. Let's call the human child Xiaobai and the dragon cub Xiaozi."
Elara looked at him strangely when she heard the names.
"Isn't that a little crude? Why call them Little White and Little Purple?"
Caspian shrugged it off.
"It's just a nickname. Weiwei can give them proper names later."
"Yeah, just a nickname," Xiao Baobao said resentfully as he stared at Caspian.
Caspian touched his nose, looking a little guilty as he realised why Xiao Baobao was reacting that way.
Ever since the first generation of the royal family, they had all been terrible at naming things. It had gotten to the point where the court ministers often decided the names of important things, or the empresses they married had to do it for them.
Louise and Ryan had escaped the royal family's naming disaster because the first empress had named them. As for Xiao Baobao, whose name literally meant "Little Baby," he had been named by the first emperor because of his baby-like appearance when he was first created.
Yu Weiwei shook his head helplessly while Louise and Ryan began setting up the necessary equipment in the living room. Caspian's expression became serious.
"It has been set up," Ryan reported.
Due to the questionable circumstances surrounding the child's parentage, Caspian had not brought any doctors with them. Instead, Xiao Baobao would be conducting the tests himself.
"Let's get started," Caspian said.
Yu Weiwei coaxed Xiaobai into the equipment, and the test began.
The first test was genetic.
The result was immediate.
Yu Weiwei was unquestionably the child's biological father. There was no possibility of error, and every genetic comparison confirmed the same conclusion.
The five of them were stunned. They all looked at Yu Weiwei in shock.
Yu Weiwei gave them an awkward smile.
"You knew he was yours? Weiwei, where did the child come from?" Elara turned to Yu Weiwei and asked seriously.
Ryan looked at Yu Weiwei and adjusted his glasses before saying, "Article 56, Empire Law 203 states that no citizen below the age of twenty five is permitted to engage in sexual activity. Any sexual conduct involving a minor is classified as a Grave Offense against the Protection of Minors. Any adult who engages in sexual activity with a minor, regardless of the minor's consent, shall be subject to severe criminal punishment. A minor who engages in such activity with another minor will not be subjected to adult criminal punishment while underage, but will be held accountable under the law upon reaching adulthood, unless the Imperial Court determines that the minor was acting under coercion, manipulation, exploitation, or other circumstances that warrant protection rather than punishment. The law is very clear, Weiwei. How did this child come to exist?"
"Well, would you believe me if I told you that Xiaobai is the Sea Sky Planetary Core?" Yu Weiwei asked with a bashful smile, a little stunned by Ryan law recitation.
The five of them looked at Yu Weiwei with expressions that clearly said, Do I look like an idiot?
Yu Weiwei sighed. He was a little glad that he had brought a miniature camera with him everywhere. In his first life, he had suffered greatly because of his lack of evidence. It wasn't until his fourth world, when he encountered a green tea who loved framing him, that he started installing miniature cameras and carrying a recorder everywhere he went. The experience had left him deeply traumatised by the need to have evidence for everything.
Yu Weiwei carried Xiaobai, who was fussing and trying to get out of the machine, before turning on the surveillance footage. He showed them everything from the moment he encountered the serpent to the moment Xiaobai and Xiaozi had their first fight. The only things they could not see were the contents of the inheritance and the memories he had witnessed.
"Well, apparently, my father, Lin Zhe, attached a spiritual vein to the planetary core, which caused it to awaken a consciousness," Yu Weiwei explained when he saw their confused expressions.
"Ahem, what exactly is a spiritual vein?" Ryan asked.
"According to ancient cultivation records, the world was formed from the body of a primordial Heavenly Dragon. Its bones became the mountains, its blood became the rivers and seas, and its meridians became the spiritual veins through which the energy of Heaven and Earth flows..."
"The spiritual veins are said to cure illness for ordinary people and helps to improve the cultivation of those that cultivate spiritual powers. My father probably brought the spiritual veins from his world."
"Oh, so that's why there were reports that everyone on this planet seemed to have undergone a healing process yesterday, and there was that enormous thunderstorm that spread across Sea Sky Planet," Xiao Baobao exclaimed.
"How did you know that?" Elara looked at Yu Weiwei confused, she was aware that Yu Weiwei knew nothing about spiritual power and such.
"I...well I saw it on one of the books father Lin left behind." Yu Weiwei stammered a little before managing an excuse.
He really shouldn't know about spiritual power, but he knew about it due to his transmigration and he couldn't possibly tell her that.
"Oh." Elara dropped the matter hearing his excuse.
Apart from some books and trinkets Lin Zhe left behind for Yu Weiwei, the rest were swallowed up by the Yu family though they have been retrieved.
"Lin Zhe tampering with the planetary core is against the law," Ryan said with a frown.
"Huh? Why?" Yu Weiwei asked, slightly confused.
"Oh, it's because a thousand years ago, a group of people began destroying planets to obtain their planetary cores, claiming that the cores possessed immeasurable power. No one ever discovered whether those claims were true, but their actions resulted in the deaths of countless inhabitants. The planetary authorities eventually imposed a ban on interfering with planetary cores. Even attempting to tamper with one is considered a crime," Louise explained, clarifying why such a law existed.
"Hmph. Even so, it's not like you can go and arrest Lin Zhe across the worlds. Besides, he did it for a good cause," Elara snorted.
Ryan's expression became complicated, but he didn't retort.
Caspian wanted to say something, but ultimately decided against it. Tampering with the planetary core could hardly be considered a completely good cause, especially when the result was that twenty-year-old Yu Weiwei had somehow become a father.
"I'm curious. Who provided the maternal genetic contribution? Is it Lin Zhe?" Xiao Baobao suddenly asked, looking at Xiaobai, who was happily drinking from a milk bottle.
The rest of them immediately became curious as well.
Xiaobai was suddenly deprived of his milk bottle. Before he could even react, he was placed back inside the machine.
Louise began processing the data. Several seconds later, her expression became strange.
"There is none."
Elara was surprised.
"Really?"
"There is no identifiable maternal genetic contribution."
Ryan immediately checked the results himself.
"The result is the same."
Caspian stared at the display.
"That's amazing."
"Under normal circumstances, that's impossible," Louise said. "Even artificial gestation would require a genetic source or a documented synthesis process. There should be evidence of another contributor."
"But there isn't," Ryan said.
The three AIs felt as though everything they knew about biology had just been overturned.
They stared at Xiaobai, who had climbed out of the machine and was happily drinking from his milk bottle, in complete shock.
Then Ryan suddenly looked up from his display.
"There is another anomaly."
Everyone turned toward him.
"Xiaobai's energy signature is synchronised with Sea Sky Planet."
Louise immediately examined the readings.
"He's continuously receiving energy from the planet's spiritual network."
Caspian frowned.
"Can he control it?"
"Not consciously," Ryan replied. "His power appears to be immature."
At that moment, Xiaobai, who had been happily drinking his milk, suddenly had the bottle snatched away by Xiao Zi.
He became so angry that the spiritual energy in the room suddenly fluctuated.
The floor trembled, and Xiao Zi was thrown across the room, the milk spilling all over him.
Everyone froze.
Xiaobai stared at the spilled milk before suddenly bursting into tears.
The moment he began crying, the floor started trembling violently.
Elara immediately went over to Xiao Zi and picked up the dazed dragon cub.
"I'll go clean him up," she said before taking him away.
Yu Weiwei quickly carried Xiaobai and gave him another bottle, which immediately stopped his crying.
The trembling subsided almost instantly.
Xiao Baobao's eyes widened.
"Did he just do that?"
Louise stared at Xiaobai, then at the readings.
"The planetary energy responded directly to his emotional state."
"But something is strange. I can't find the source of the power. It's as if he's channeling a type of power other than mental power."
"Is it the spiritual power?!" Xiao Baobao gasped in surprise.