"Pfft!"
Jace couldn't hold it in. The sweet tea he'd just sipped immediately sprayed out. What kind of plot twist is this?
Since Auron didn't feel like he needed to hide anything from Jace, he just rolled his eyes at him and continued speaking to Dad on the phone:
"Yeah, about my age. Don't tell me you actually have some illegitimate son?"
Jace couldn't help but lean his ear closer, but he only heard Dad's helpless voice coming through the phone:
"Where would I get an illegitimate son your age? If you said older or younger than you, that might be possible."
"So you're saying you DO have an illegitimate son out there? Does Grandpa know?" Auron's eyes narrowed. He immediately caught the key point in Dad's words.
Jace's eyes grew brighter and brighter on the side. Incredible!
"Get your priorities straight, will you? What are you talking about? If your mom hears this, we're both done for!" Immediately after, Dad's exasperated voice came through the phone.
The corner of Auron's mouth curved slightly. "Don't drag me into this. If Mom finds out, you're clearly the one who's done for."
"You little punk—just you wait!"
With that, Dad hung up the phone.
"Uh, what now?" Jace looked at Auron somewhat dazed. Now there's no show to watch. Sigh, what a shame.
"It's fine. I'll send him a location—he'll be here right away." As Auron spoke, he sent his location to Dad's phone.
"Your dad's coming?" Jace's eyes lit up again. The show's not over! Seems like it's getting even more interesting. Looking forward to it!
"Mm."
Sure enough, before long, Dad had already charged in aggressively. After seeing Auron and the others, he strode toward them with a sinister smile.
"You little punk—what did you just say? Say it again?"
Auron didn't feel afraid at all. He just calmly patted Lu Zhengjie's shoulder beside him.
Though Skyspire University wasn't very far from the research institute, Dad still needed some time to get here.
During this time, Auron and Jace hadn't been idle. They'd started searching for Lu Zhengjie.
With only five medical rooms total, Auron and the others found him quite quickly.
After finding Lu Zhengjie, Auron asked about his family situation.
Then, under Lu Zhengjie's wary gaze, he released his own aura.
Very mysteriously, after Auron's aura was released, it automatically drew out what little remained of Lu Zhengjie's aura power.
Just like that, after Lu Zhengjie sensed the familiar feeling from Auron's aura, he became completely forthcoming.
Lu Zhengjie was an orphan—but not the kind who'd been orphaned from childhood. He'd become an orphan when he was sixteen, after his parents entered a Pokémon secret realm and never returned.
Worth mentioning—his aura had awakened at that time too, awakened due to extreme emotional turmoil.
Later, when he turned eighteen and could obtain Pokémon, due to his aura perception, he'd obtained a Riolu egg. Only then had he managed to get into Skyspire University with Lucario.
After learning about Lu Zhengjie's family situation, Auron understood—Lu Zhengjie most likely wasn't his dad's illegitimate son.
But judging from the familiar feeling transmitted through their auras, Lu Zhengjie should have some kind of family relationship with Auron.
Lu Zhengjie was also somewhat excited. After all, he'd never heard from his parents about having any relatives. So after Auron patted him once, he immediately released his aura power.
Dad: !!!!!
The aura power within Dad's body also stirred slightly, but like Auron, Dad instantly suppressed the aura that had been drawn out.
"This?"
Dad's aura had also sensed the familiar feeling from Lu Zhengjie's aura. He couldn't help but look at Auron.
Auron helplessly spread his hands. "I don't understand either, but I'm guessing he should have some family relationship with us. Otherwise, we both wouldn't feel this familiarity simultaneously."
Dad nodded in understanding, then did the exact same thing Auron had done earlier.
"Hello? Dad, do you have another son or daughter out there somewhere?"
At the research institute, Ashen—who'd been writing a paper—darkened his expression. He quickly turned to look around and, finding his wife wasn't nearby, only then did he curse at Dad with a black face:
"I only have you as a son! Where would I go get another son or daughter?! Are you sick or something?!"
Ashen cursed irritably. Fortunately, Liu Xiangjun wasn't here right now. If she were also here, he'd definitely get skinned alive today.
"Oh, alright then. Dad, come over now. Otherwise, Mom might find out." Dad's tone showed no emotion. After saying this, he hung up the phone.
"Send your grandpa a location."
"Mm, got it."
Neither father nor son showed any strange expressions, as if this were completely normal.
But there weren't just the two of them here—two others were standing nearby.
Dad's series of operations left Lu Zhengjie and Jace with twisted expressions.
Lu Zhengjie was wondering whether these two people were reliable at all. Something felt off.
As for Jace—he was purely holding it in. He had to work hard not to laugh. If he laughed out loud at a time like this, it would be awkward.
Compared to Dad, Ashen was much faster. After all, he could fly directly over without being intercepted by the no-fly system.
"You little punk, what do you mean by this? Using your mom to threaten me? Let me tell you—I never did anything like that, and I'm not afraid of your mom at all. You can't threaten me."
Ashen's righteous words didn't elicit any particular expression from anyone present. Everyone who gets it, gets it. If you're not afraid, why did you come, and come so quickly?
Dad also calmly patted Lu Zhengjie with an expressionless face.
And Lu Zhengjie very naturally released what little remained of his aura power.
Ashen: !!!!!
"What's going on?!"
After suppressing the aura that had been drawn out from within his body, Ashen—just like Dad earlier—asked with a shocked expression.
"See? Did you sense it? Aura power from the same source as ours. That's why I asked if you had any other sons or daughters besides me."
"No—from me to Little Ze, we've already been three generations of only sons." After instinctively denying it, Ashen furrowed his brow and carefully searched through his memories.
"Come to think of it, I think I remember—in your grandfather's generation, or rather my father's generation, I should have had an uncle. But I was too young back then and don't remember clearly. Though it should be recorded in the family tree."
"Uh, as for the family tree—my family has one too. Though the original was lost, my dad remembered the names of the most recent generations and later restored a copy. But it only goes back to my dad's great-grandfather's generation."
Seeing Ashen propose a method of verification, Lu Zhengjie weakly poked his head out to speak.
"Really?"
Ashen was overjoyed. Now they had something concrete to verify with!