A Chemist's Interstellar Saga

Chapter 122: Targon Meeting Drexel
Chapter 122: Targon Meeting Drexel

Arix and Drexel strolled leisurely towards the villa, which was the first to visit on their list.

”Targon, open up!” Arix yelled with enthusiasm.

The villa door creaked open, and Targon poked his head out, eyeing Arix suspiciously.

”Hey, cuz, what brings you here? And who’s this?” Targon asked, his gaze shifting to Drexel.

”This is my brother, Drexel. Drexel, meet our cousin, Targon,” Arix introduced them with a grin.

Arix had a feeling that her brother and Targon would hit it off. Both had been at the receiving end of her antics more times than they’d like to admit.

Her feelings was true. As soon as Targon heard that Drexel was Arix’s brother, he gave him a look filled with understanding and sympathy. Having Arix as a sister was no easy feat.

”Nice to meet you, Drexel,” Targon said warmly, stepping out to shake hands. His friendliness was so genuine, it dispelled any awkwardness.

Drexel, taken aback by Targon’s enthusiasm, thought he might be naturally outgoing. But when Targon leaned in and whispered, ”Has she tricked you too?” Drexel realized they were kindred spirits.

”Targon, I feel like we’ve known each other forever. We’re destined to be friends!” Drexel replied, shaking his hand eagerly.

During their visit, Drexel and Targon chatted like old friends, sharing knowing glances about Arix. As their time drew to a close, they lingered at the villa’s door, reluctant to part ways.

Arix was aware of the time and she knew they needed to visit more people before dinner. So she cut in. ”Targon, here’s the surprise I told you about yesterday. Don’t forget to check it out. We have to go now.”

”Will do. Take care, Drexel. See you soon,” Targon said, waving as Drexel followed Arix to the next villa.

After they left, Targon thought to himself, ”Drexel’s really patient. If I had a little demon sister like Arix, I’d probably have to teach her a thing or two about respect every day.”

With a chuckle, Targon looked down at the surprise Arix had given him. The packaging was impressive, featuring a temporary Space Button. Space buttons like this were costly, around 2000 credits, and usually reserved for special gifts.

Intrigued, Targon raised an eyebrow and used his psychic power to explore the contents of the Space Button.

”Holy crap!” Targon yelled, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

Inside the Space Button were ten vials of psychic power healing potion!

Targon remembered that Arix had once gifted two vials of this potion, which had thrilled their grandfather to no end.

But ten vials? That was insane!

Though each Psychic Healer from the Alliance cost around 100,000 astrocredits, the Empire could only get them through gray market channels, where the price often skyrocketed tenfold. Even then, they were hard to come by.

The most crucial detail about these gifts was that The packaging was so simple, almost laughable.

In the Empire, anyone with a Psychic Healer would store it in an expensive gemstone box. Considering Arix had once mentioned that making potions wasn’t difficult, the truth was clear to Targon: Arix had made these potions herself!

Realizing this, Targon understood why Drexel pampered Arix so much. She wasn’t just a little sister; she was a goldmine!

Targon was so eager to know if it was too late to start pampering her now.

As dusk settled, Arix and Drexel finally finished visiting all their relatives.

Reflecting on their overly enthusiastic family members, Arix and Drexel shivered a bit.

Handing out psychic power healing potions made them nearly revered. Some relatives wouldn’t even let them go, treating them like precious gems.

The Alliance’s ”specialty” turned them into the most popular members of the Tiger clan that afternoon. Some relatives, having heard about their visit, even waited at the door to welcome them.

But the relatives didn’t just take the potions for free. Almost every household stuffed them with valuable gifts from the Empire.

”Arix, how about we visit more families sometime?” Drexel suggested, smiling as he patted his Space Button, now brimming with gifts.

Arix, too tired to scold her naive brother, sighed. Her fur had been nearly petted off during the visits.

Gently patting her fur, Arix replied disdainfully, ”If you want to go, go by yourself. I can really use some moments of peace now.”

Seeing Arix’s disinterest, Drexel dropped the idea, though he couldn’t help feeling a bit regretful about missing out on more gifts.

When they returned to Scion’s villa, Arix kicked Drexel aside and quickly flew into Scion’s arms, whining, ”Scion, look, my fur is almost gone.”

Scion was sitting in the living room, engrossed in a book, when suddenly a furry ball jumped into his lap, whimpering pitifully.

With a mix of helplessness and affection, he put down his book and looked at the fluffy little cub who was almost a puffball. He patted her small head, a hint of amusement in his voice. ”No, you look just fine.”

”Ha! Since you’re saying I look fine, then fine it is,” Arix cooed, nuzzling Scion’s palm like a spoiled child.

”Are you hungry? Let’s go eat,” Scion suggested, picking up the little cub and heading toward the dining room.

They both forgot about Drexel, who was still in the living room. It wasn’t until Arix suddenly remembered and called out, ”Drexel, dinner!”

”Coming,” said Drexel, who felt a bit like an invisible man. He responded gratefully.

Looks like Arix wasn’t completely forgetting him; she still remembered to call him for dinner. So there was still hope!

During dinner, Arix used her fork, specially designed for her tiger paws. She picked up the pre-cut steak and eagerly popped it into her mouth, chewing with delight.

Meanwhile, Scion and Drexel handled their forks and knives with precision, cutting their steaks gracefully like young nobles.

”Hey Arix, ever tried searching your name on the interstellarnet? Better do it now, or you might miss out tomorrow,” Drexel said with a wink after swallowing a bite of his steak.

Arix was about to take a sip of water when Drexel’s suggestion caught her off guard. She had a feeling this wouldn’t end well. But curiosity got the better of her. She looked down and commanded her opticomputer’s AI, ”PP Boy, open the interstellarnet and search for Arix.”

”Sure, searching for Arix Kering,” the AI replied. In seconds, a torrent of information about her appeared on the virtual screen.

”Pfft...” Arix choked on her water at the sight of the search results. Her appetite vanished as she put down her fork and kept scrolling through the screen.

”No way! Even if I fell into a black hole, I’d still be fine. Why are they already writing my obituary?” Arix was so frustrated she felt like she might cough up blood.

Planet Waste had spread rumors about her before, but now they were flat-out declaring her dead. ’What will they claim next? That I’m coming back as a zombie?’

”Well, you did fall into a black hole. If it was a wormhole, you might survive. Cassian had survived that with his Supergiant+ physical and psychic powers. But no one’s ever made it out of a black hole alive. By the way, Arix, how did you escape?” Drexel asked, intrigued.

”I was saved, but I don’t know by whom. I only remember an old man,” Arix recalled, picturing an elderly man with a white beard and mustache. She was almost sure he was the one who rescued her.

She felt it a pity that she couldn’t remember him more clearly. It felt like someone had intentionally wiped that part of her memory.

”Whoever it was, the Kering family owes him big time,” Drexel said, clasping his hands in a gesture of thanks before returning to his meal.

”Arix, you fell into a black hole?” Scion put down his knife and fork, looking at her with concern.

Arix didn’t react much, but Drexel paused his eating, remembering the moment his sister fell into the wormhole. Guilt welled up in his eyes.

”Yeah, during a training competition on Hecaris, I was ambushed by insectoids and fell into a black hole. When I woke up, I was in the Empire,” Arix recounted casually, as if it were someone else’s story, not wanting Scion and the others to worry.

Although Scion hadn’t known Arix for long, he could tell that this little cub liked to hide her wounds, only showing her strength and bravery.

He didn’t call her out on it. Instead, he gently patted her head and asked, ”Were you scared?”

”Of course I was scared. But sometimes, even if you’re scared, you still have to act. If I hadn’t tried to stop them, more people would have died,” Arix said, remembering the innocent faces of her classmates. That event had nearly cost her life, but she had no regrets.

If she had stood by and done nothing, it would have haunted her forever, no matter how many times she tried to make up for it later. It wasn’t about being a saint; it was about a basic human principle.

”You’re still young, so you need to protect yourself better,” Scion advised, not fully agreeing or disagreeing with her stance.

Arix nodded obediently. ”Okay.”

”Good girl,” Scion said softly, his eyes gentle.

Sensing the heavy mood in the room, Arix decided to change the subject. ”By the way, Scion, we have the bloodline test tomorrow. Do I need to prepare anything?”

Drexel, who had been looking rather down, also perked up at this question.

”No need. I’ll take you there at 8:45,” Scion replied with a warm smile.

”Okay.” Arix gave Scion an adorable howl before resuming her steak.

”And, um... I need a bloodline test tomorrow too,” Drexel chimed in, realizing they had forgotten about him.

Arix paused her eating and then, as if just remembering, told Scion, ”Oh, right, Scion, my brother needs a bloodline test too.”

”Him? A therian?” Scion looked Drexel up and down, unable to see any therian traits. He assumed Drexel’s bloodline purity would be quite low. Uninterested, Scion gave a rare dismissive response, ”Okay.”

”Thank you, Scion,” Arix said politely.

Drexel scratched his head awkwardly, ”Thanks, Scion... um, Scion bro.”

Scion’s initially stern expression softened at the last three words, and he nodded kindly at Drexel.

Seeing Scion’s attitude shift, Drexel finally understood why Scion had been giving him such a cold face since they met—he minded being treated like a senior, an elder.

Realizing this, Drexel was both amused and exasperated. ’Is it really okay for the Empire’s admiral to be concerned about such things?’