Child

In the leisure cabin of the Abrodi, Reno vigorously swung his arms, swiftly swimming in the pool at an incredible speed. He swam back and forth more than twenty times until a pair of slender legs appeared at the edge of the pool. Only then did Reno dive into the water, swimming underwater to the shore before resurfacing.

With a single hand supporting himself on the edge of the pool, Reno sat on the shore.

A cleaning robot glided over, extending a small nozzle that emitted a large amount of high-energy absorbent particles, removing all the water from Reno's body along with his swim trunks, without touching the water inside his body.

"Thanks, Jinli, but I still prefer the more primitive way," Reno said, taking a towel to dry himself off. "The result of too many functions in robots is that we don't have to do anything ourselves, leading to a degradation of our ability to act. From this perspective, the Academy was right not to allow the use of any robots."

"You seem quite leisurely," Claire remarked as she approached.

"Just taking some time to relax. I enjoy the feeling of being in the water, like returning to the womb," Reno replied casually, wiping off the water from his body and waving his hand. "Purify, close, restore starry sky."

Layers of decks extended out, covering the pool overhead, turning it back into solid ground, while the pool began purification and disinfection. The disinfected pool water could be directly used for drinking.

At the same time, the blue sky and white clouds scenery on the ceiling faded away, replaced by a transparent glass, allowing a view of the starry sky above. Several mobile tables and chairs automatically extended from both sides, turning the pool into an observatory.

Located at the outermost edge of the starship, from here, one could see the beautiful starry world outside, serving as a buffer zone during battles to shield more important facilities inside.

Reno found a chair and sat down. A cylindrical robot glided over, opening its round body to reveal various beverages inside.

"Mmm, I'll have the Blue Star Agate," Reno said after a moment of thought, then looked at Claire. "How about you?"

"Vanilla Lily," Claire replied.

The cylindrical robot served the drinks to both of them before retreating.

"So, how are things going?" Reno asked.

"Our detective is working enthusiastically," Claire replied. "But I doubt if he'll succeed. You know, it's not about finding the real culprit, but about exploring the mysteries of the universe that the New Federation hasn't been able to unravel in two hundred years."

"We already have the answers; it's just accidentally lost somewhere, but I know it's there. Now all we need to do is rediscover the brightest gem on the crown of universal truth," Reno replied leisurely. "I trust Hill. As long as he puts his doubts about me aside, he'll find the truth."

"Perhaps it's not the brightest one," a voice suddenly sounded from behind.

Turning around, they saw Nora standing there with a little boy.

Adam.

Seeing Adam, Reno couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, immediately understanding what Nora meant by "not the brightest one"—clearly referring to this little boy.

After bringing Adam back, Claire subjected him to a series of tests, much like the Santiago family, but they didn't find anything valuable.

Nevertheless, as the only boy who didn't gain special abilities through relics, the Free Heart still took him in.

Perhaps due to his past experiences, Adam was a quiet child who spent most of his time in silence.

Reno once thought of handing him over to Claire for care, but it turned out that Claire's maternal affection had almost no effect on Adam, whereas Nora, who had always been cold, seemed more attractive to him.

Once Reno inadvertently left Adam with Nora for four hours.

During those four hours, Nora completed a high-intensity physical training, followed by three hundred shots of long-distance shooting and a power-consuming ability exercise, while Adam silently watched for four hours.

Neither of them paid any attention to the other.

That was their only formal contact.

A few days later, when Reno jokingly asked Claire and Nora whom they would choose between, Adam immediately pointed to Nora without hesitation, which saddened Claire for several days.

Nora was surprised by Adam's choice, but she was the kind of woman who would accept whatever happened calmly. So when Adam chose to follow her, she didn't mind, just continued with her usual coldness. Adam didn't mind either; he was like a little tail behind Nora, wherever she went, he followed. In this highly technologically advanced era, with everything automated, the minimum standard of living could be met through technology, even a child could live alone. Having an adult watch over him was more about preventing him from doing anything foolish, like being curious about a certain control stick, pulling it down, and causing a power outage for the starship.

But Adam was a very sensible child who never touched things he didn't understand, and he didn't seem to have anything he didn't understand. His level of maturity was much higher than people imagined. So when this silent duo lived together, it was surprisingly reassuring.

Perhaps what Adam liked was exactly this—Nora's motherly concern made him instinctively uncomfortable.

Seeing Nora and Adam appear, Reno was also taken aback for a moment, then he smiled, "You're right, Nora, there are many gems on the crown of universal truth, and perhaps the Free Heart has more than one. Unfortunately, no matter which one, it seems that they are not easily obtained. To some extent, the one beside you is even more difficult."

"But you still brought him here."

"Just didn't want him to become a tool for those big families to accumulate wealth. At least here, Adam is free." Reno waved to Adam, "Hey, kid, hope you like it here."

Suddenly, the usually silent Adam spoke up, "If you didn't call me kid, maybe I would like you."

Reno was momentarily stunned, then he chuckled and looked at Claire, "This is probably why he chose Nora... He doesn't like being treated as a child by others."

Then he turned to Adam, "Okay, I promise, I won't treat you as a child anymore."

"In the true sense," Adam replied.

"In the true sense?" Reno didn't quite understand at once.

Adam had already taken out something from behind him.

A gun!

At that moment, Reno and Claire both stood up, their years of training instinctively causing them to move away from the muzzle, even though the gun wasn't pointed at them, but at the ground.

Reno simply raised his hand, using telekinesis to make the gun float in the air.

Claire exclaimed, "Where did you get the gun?"

"Oh, it's mine," Nora replied casually after taking a glance at it.

"Oh my God, how could you give him a gun!" Claire exclaimed.

Her expression was definitely not gentle now.

"I didn't give it to him, he took it from my bedroom himself," Nora replied casually. "I rarely have the mood to take him out and spend time with you. Before leaving, he said he wanted to get something... I didn't expect it to be a gun."

Nora's answer indicated that she had just found out, but her casual tone clearly indicated that she didn't care

 about it.

Reno was stunned for a moment. He used telekinesis to bring the gun over and looked at it, saying, "He dropped the energy clip."

Claire looked at Adam in surprise.

Adam remained expressionless. "In the true sense."

Now they understood the meaning of his words.

"I wanted them to get more acquainted with each other, but it seems to have failed," Nora shrugged.

Adam said, "Some people are inherently unsuitable for having friends."

"Right," they both said.

They turned and walked together toward the exit, leaving Reno and Claire staring at each other, unsure of what to say for a while.

After a while, Claire said, "I always feel that letting them be together will cause big problems... the kind that erupts when it does."

"It will definitely be big, but not necessarily bad. That child is much more sensible than we imagined," Reno corrected.

"Don't call him a child."

"In the true sense."

They looked at each other and laughed.