In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 158: The Ruthless Marshal Father (1)

In the first year of the Stellar Calendar, 772, the vanguard troops of the White Tiger Corps returned to the capital. Over the two years of battling the alien beasts, from the marshal down to the ordinary soldiers, the entire corps defended the frontline with their lives. This long and brutal fight finally brought several years of peace to the entire Federation. The people of the Federation rejoiced, and after years of bloodshed and battle, the White Tiger Corps finally welcomed a rare period of peace and rest.
At the moment when both the Federation and the White Tiger Corps raised their glasses to celebrate, Marshal Qi Sheng of the White Tiger Corps—usually stern and unsmiling—also showed clear signs of good mood. Unfortunately, this rare softness didn’t last long, as terrible news arrived from the central star system:
Marshal Qi’s eldest son, Qi Junye, failed in his final metamorphosis!
“Metamorphosis” is a word that every Federation citizen hears since birth.
Federation citizens—or more fully, Federation Beastmen—originated in the ancient Blue Star era mainly as beast-forms. Over time, an increasing number of Blue Star intelligent beings, through chance and fate, could metamorphose into humanoid forms. The development of the humanoid form promoted the formation of primitive technological civilization on Blue Star. Unfortunately, before Blue Star technology could fully mature, Blue Star was forced into the interstellar Age of Great Navigation, accelerating the entire world’s development.
At that time, the rules of the interstellar era were chaotic. To face numerous difficult and powerful opponents, the ancient Blue Star intelligent beings not only enhanced their physical training and breakthroughs but also shifted all focus to technological power.
After hundreds of years and experiments involving hundreds of thousands of top scientists, combat mechas were finally born.
Combat mechas are weapons capable of boosting Beastmen’s strength by hundreds to thousands of times. Upon their debut, they caused a sensation among the people of Blue Star.
Beastmen, who chase power, naturally viewed piloting mechas as a life goal. But one of the conditions to pilot a mecha was to be in humanoid form.
And the humanoid form was not an evolutionary stage achievable by every Blue Star intelligent being.
Thus, after thousands of years of biological evolution and natural selection, more and more Blue Star intelligent beings successfully completed the metamorphosis.
By the early days of the Federation’s establishment, the Federation Beastmen gradually developed into what are now called Federation citizens, capable of freely transforming between beast and humanoid forms.
Newborn Federation cubs are mostly beast-form and typically metamorphose into humanoid forms between ages four and eight. Of course, with hundreds of billions of Federation citizens, exceptions to this metamorphosis timeframe do exist.
Some metamorphose earlier than four years old; some later than eight. However, Qi Junye is already ten years old this year—well past the historically latest metamorphosis age in Federation history.
Failing to metamorphose means living life solely in beast form.
In the ancient Blue Star era, living in beast form did not mark one as an outlier. But in this highly technologically advanced, mecha-piloting interstellar era, failure to metamorphose is seen as a disability by interstellar Beastmen, especially amid a small wave of extremists promoting human-centric ideology. To them, beastmen who cannot metamorphose are no different from ordinary animals.
At the Federation’s founding, to maintain harmony within the species, the government issued laws prohibiting any discrimination or oppression of intelligent beings unable to complete metamorphosis. With strong official backing, public speech mocking or discriminating against metamorphosis failures has become rare. However, this situation is only superficially alleviated.
“Alleviated” means not fully eliminated.
As times progress, powerful and well-established noble families arise. These families accumulate their legacy through generations of strong heirs. To them, only metamorphosed Beastmen capable of piloting mechas are useful members. While incomplete metamorphosis might be considered a mere formality, it is still hard for them to accept; failure to metamorphose at all is seen as a family disgrace.
Now that Qi Junye had just passed his tenth birthday, he failed the metamorphosis again. The fact that he could not metamorphose had almost become an established certainty.
When the vanguard troops of the White Tiger Corps received this news, those who had been preparing to celebrate wildly quickly packed up all the props and food and vanished like flying shadows from the warship’s main hall.
Everyone shrank their necks like quails, huddling quietly in their own corners, fearing that their iron-blooded Marshal might take out his anger on them at any moment.
Qi Sheng himself had just crossed over after the original owner had fainted in shock and anger.
He had absorbed the entire world’s storyline and couldn’t help but feel furious thinking about how harshly and ruthlessly the original owner treated his own son after returning to the central star system.
In today’s Federation, piloting mechas had become mainstream, and combat ability after piloting was closely linked to innate strength. Thus, Federation citizens began various training regimens from a young age to strengthen their physical functions ahead of mecha piloting.
Especially in great families like the Qi family, the scions enjoyed the glory of their lineage but also bore training and responsibilities many times more difficult than ordinary people.
Qi Junye, as the eldest son of the Qi family head and the future successor, started different intensity training programs just one year after his birth. Everything proceeded in a planned and orderly fashion. Even in beast form, he had always been the strongest fighter among cubs of his age.
His peers regarded him as a formidable opponent—until around the age of six, when changes slowly became noticeable.
Because many of his peers had already completed metamorphosis, but Qi Junye still showed no sign of it.
By now, the timing of metamorphosis no longer directly indicated strength, so although some were puzzled, few cared much. However, as Qi Junye grew older, the situation gradually became strange.
When Qi Junye turned eight, no sign of metamorphosis appeared. By then, many noble families on the central star were no longer quietly whispering—Qi family’s embarrassment seemed imminent. Unable to accept this, Qi Junye secretly ran off to the Black Domain Forest on the central star, hoping to break through to metamorphosis through battle.
Unfortunately, reality disappointed him. Even though the eight-year-old Qi Junye ventured into the highest danger zone of the forest and defeated the dangerous alien beasts within with his strong fighting abilities, he still did not metamorphose.
Later, if not for Mrs. Qi, Bu Qiongyu, rushing over to pilot her mecha and stopping him with her personal guards, he might have tried to enter deeper into the forest.
Bu Qiongyu naturally understood her son’s impatience but couldn’t just watch him go to his death. An eight-year-old child, no matter how strong, would have little chance of survival deep in the forest.
Qi Junye returned disappointed, but his secret attempt to break through in the Black Domain Forest was soon spread around.
Suddenly, the Qi family’s eldest son’s inability to metamorphose became the laughingstock of the central star. This covert ridicule peaked when Qi Junye passed his tenth birthday without breakthrough.
His father had just won a victorious battle and become the war god hero of the Federation’s people, but his son, at this moment, was a very “effective” drag on the family. The Qi family’s rivals and opponents all applauded and celebrated, while Qi Junye, the one involved, nearly fell into depression due to his inability to metamorphose.
When Qi Sheng pushed open the door, he saw the dim room’s little guy lying curled in a small corner, silently crying. Seeing him come in, he only stood up and shrank further into the corner without saying a word.
Bu Qiongyu entered at the right moment. She worried her husband would be angry because of their son’s failure to metamorphose, especially since the boy’s fighting spirit was gone. Knowing her husband well, she feared their son would suffer badly because of it.
“Sheng, you just got back. Take a good rest first. We can talk about Xiao Ye’s situation later.”
Qi Sheng shook his head and ignored his wife’s suggestion. Step by step, he approached the little tiger standing alone in the room.
In the corner, the little white tiger with black stripes was no bigger than a medium-sized adult dog. Whatever had happened recently, the little tiger’s fur was dull, and he looked very listless. Even with thick fur, Qi Sheng could clearly see how thin the boy had become.
This pitiful, helpless, and lifeless appearance made Qi Sheng’s heart ache.
Qi Sheng had originally intended to come over and comfort the little guy, but he didn’t know that every time he took a step forward, his wife nearby tensed up.
Qi Junye, however, was not as anxious as his mother. Although he also suspected what might come next, at this moment he was in a stage of self-isolation and self-loathing. In his mind, perhaps his father’s punishment would make him feel somewhat better inside.
But the storm he expected didn’t come. Instead, a warm hand rested gently on his head. Qi Junye looked up in confusion, his deep blue eyes filled with puzzlement.
“Only ten years old, and you’re already planning to give up?”
Just this brief sentence made the little tiger, who had been drowning in despair, feel a bit wronged.
He hadn’t wanted to give up—but would his father still give him a chance? He had already become the family’s shame, the laughingstock of the entire central star.
Qi Sheng seemed to see through the little tiger’s thoughts. He said, “Does a child of mine need to care about what others think?”
Surprised, the little tiger lifted his head. He hadn’t expected that his father, who always demanded strictness, wouldn’t reprimand him this time. He thought that when his father returned, he would face only disappointment and disdain.
The little tiger, who had just been feeling discouraged, was finally moved a little. He couldn’t help but stir and take a step forward, tentatively getting closer to Qi Sheng, wanting to detect his father’s true feelings.
The little tiger took the initiative to throw himself into his father’s arms. Qi Sheng naturally did not refuse; he reached out and pulled the fluffy little guy close, the softness of his fur allowing him to fully enjoy the sensation.
Though dressed in a cold, sharp military uniform that still radiated the deadly aura of the battlefield, in this moment, Qi Sheng holding the little tiger was even more heart-stirring to Bu Qiongyu than when he had won a battle.
Her husband was far warmer than she had imagined. Bu Qiongyu finally relaxed at this moment and quietly slipped out of the room, deciding to leave the space to just the father and son.
In fact, this moment of warmth surprised not only Bu Qiongyu but also the little tiger nestled in his father’s arms, who found it hard to believe.
Since he was one year old, his father had never held him again. Becoming a Federation warrior had been his destined path since birth, and his days were filled with tightly scheduled battle training — a life he had long grown used to.
His father trained him, guided him, fought alongside him, but never held him.
The little tiger, who had always seen battle as the goal, thought that was just how his father was. It was only at this moment, wrapped in warmth, that he realized that long ago, when he was exhausted or injured during training, what he truly longed for was a small word of encouragement from his father.
The little tiger couldn’t help but lick Qi Sheng’s chin. After this reflexive gesture, he sheepishly tried to break free from his father’s embrace.
Qi Sheng couldn’t help but smile quietly, enjoying the little tiger’s stolen kiss. He looked at the little guy, whose face was full of discomfort and the urge to escape, and firmly held the fluffy bundle tighter, asking, “How many days have you gone without eating?”
Though he had stubbornly refused food before, the little tiger inexplicably felt a bit guilty at this moment. He obediently nestled deeper into Qi Sheng’s arms, trying to get away with silence.
Qi Sheng gently rubbed the soft belly of the little tiger. Although it still felt good, he could clearly tell that the fluffy little belly was somewhat hollow.
Not wanting to be harsh, Qi Sheng avoided the tough topic and said lightly, “Are you hungry? Come with Daddy to eat.”
The little tiger obediently nodded. He planned to leave his father’s arms and follow him to the dining hall, but the next moment his body was lifted off the ground. The confused little tiger could only prop himself up with his two front paws and stare blankly ahead.
The butler waiting outside the door was also surprised to see this. Qi Sheng ignored the astonished look from the Qi family servant and casually stroked the little tiger’s fur with one hand.
Relaxing under the gentle strokes, the little tiger quietly lay on his father’s arm, silently lost in thought.
Has Father changed a lot this time he returned? Is it because I can’t metamorphose?