The head of the Hua De family was stunned upon receiving the information from his son. After an urgent investigation, it was revealed that the girl was the biological daughter of Hua Deyu, the second master of the Hua De family, and Lixi Amber.
When the family head first received this result, he doubted whether there had been an error. Further investigation revealed that although Hua Deli was Hua Deyu’s son, he was not Lixi Amber’s child.
“What’s going on? Has Second Brother lost his mind? No wonder Second Sister-in-law has been so cold toward Li all these years,” the family head said, feeling a headache coming on.
With limited time, the family head couldn’t uncover the full story behind this matter. However, it was confirmed that when Lixi Amber gave birth, her daughter had been swapped with another child and taken to a remote star. Over the past ten years, neither Hua Deyu nor Lixi Amber had made any moves to search for her, leaving the family head unsure whether they were aware of the situation.
Hua Deqi was incredulous when he learned of this absurd turn of events.
“Even if Second Uncle didn’t know, how could Second Aunt not know whether she gave birth to a boy or a girl? Besides, the gender would’ve been known during pregnancy.”
Regardless of the truth, this girl was his direct cousin, and Hua Deqi’s perspective shifted.
Due to her unique circumstances, the National Security Bureau had to investigate thoroughly to ensure no threats to the empire remained. But since she was his cousin, they needed to handle her with care. If she hadn’t been tampered with by aliens, he wanted to help her return to normal life as soon as possible.
Hua Deqi sent a message to the crown prince. Ruo Manni was not only his direct cousin but also the crown prince, Xiahai Adam’s, direct cousin. Naturally, he had to inform him.
Xiahai Adam was equally surprised by the news. The cousins discussed and decided to alter their original plan.
Hua Deqi had initially planned to send a trusted subordinate to meet Ruo Manni, but now he decided to go himself.
He had expected to find an anxious girl, assuming that a commoner from a remote star, unaware of their connection, would feel uneasy facing someone of his stature. Instead, he met a calm and composed girl whose gaze told him instantly that she knew her true identity.
“You know who you really are?” Hua Deqi asked directly.
Ruo Manni nodded. “Before my mother went to the Barren Forest to gather medicine for me, she might have had a premonition and left information about this in my care.”
This wasn’t a lie. Before heading to the Barren Star, Teresa Du had indeed left information in her account, and Ruo Manni knew the password. In her previous life’s memories, the “Ruo Manni” had recalled this, checked the account, but, feeling she wasn’t the original, only viewed the information without touching Teresa Du’s assets.
Since his little cousin knew his identity, Hua Deqi’s demeanor softened. “Can you clearly tell me what happened after you went missing?”
From her memory fragments, Ruo Manni knew much about Hua Deqi and his character. Aside from her rebirth and the jade pendant space, she recounted everything that happened after her abduction, including how the Yunkai Star people injected her with a special drug and how she faked her death.
In front of Hua Deqi, Ruo Manni used her optical brain’s imaging function to draw the Yunkai Star people she saw, the cave, and its surroundings on starnet, sending the images to him.
She also included some information about the Yunkai Star people that she wanted to pass on to the crown prince.
“You need a thorough checkup. We don’t know what effects those drugs might have on your body. A sudden surge in cultivation like this isn’t necessarily good. If you feel anything off, you must tell us,” Hua Deqi said gravely.
Hearing his cousin’s ordeal, Hua Deqi’s only thought was that this girl was incredibly lucky to have survived.
Ruo Manni herself worried about the potential harm from the alien drugs, so she willingly let Hua Deqi take a blood sample.
Afterward, Hua Deqi asked about the fruit she ate after escaping the cave, what it was like, and whether she still had any.
Ruo Manni handed over the fruit and two saplings.
Yes, saplings of that fruit.
After eating the fruit in her jade pendant space, Ruo Manni had buried the pits in the soil and watered them. To her surprise, they sprouted a month later.
Her jade pendant space now held over twenty small saplings, and the two she gave Hua Deqi were the first to sprout and grow the tallest.
Of course, she didn’t tell him they came from her jade pendant space, only that she found the sprouts near the fruit tree and dug them up to take out of the forest.
She mentioned encountering another such fruit tree in the forest, aside from the one near the Yunkai Star base, but since she couldn’t pinpoint its location, Hua Deqi and his team wouldn’t likely investigate further.
Ruo Manni recalled that in the “Ruo Manni” timeline, the crown prince, Xiahai Adam, was a reincarnator who preemptively seized the opportunities of Hua Deli and Mina-Olli, allowing Saint Doctor Xia to create a batch of elixirs that boosted the cultivation of the Gus Empire’s elites.
However, the supply was limited, so only a few elites benefited.
In this timeline, the crown prince wasn’t a reincarnator, so that opportunity was likely wasted by Hua Deli and Mina-Olli.
Ruo Manni believed that with the crown prince’s abilities, once he knew the fruit’s effects, he could maximize its potential to create elixirs similar to those in the “Ruo Manni” timeline.
With a large fruit tree in the Barren Forest, the crown prince would surely secure it. Hua Deqi believed that with ample elixirs, the Gus Empire’s military would be transformed in this timeline.
Ruo Manni felt that her rebirth was gradually altering the original trajectory of the story.
Upon returning to the National Security Bureau, Hua Deqi immediately had her blood tested, confirming his cousin was fine, which greatly relieved him. From every angle, his experience told him she was trustworthy.
“Don’t tell anyone else about the reason for your sudden cultivation surge. We’ll provide a reasonable, public explanation later,” Hua Deqi told her.
He had a plan. The fact that the Yunkai Star people injected her with drugs must remain secret. The fruit provided a perfect explanation for her rapid cultivation growth.
Hua Deqi took the fruit and saplings to meet Crown Prince Xiahai Adam.