Chapter 54
A few days later, the first batch of prisoners was successfully released.
They had changed into the clothes and cloaks their families brought them. Their flashy delinquent hairstyles had all been shaved into neat buzz cuts. Each of them stood properly in line, smiling as they took part in a handshake ceremony with the little figure standing in front.
When the handshakes were done, Yomi stood at the doorway with both hands folded, watching them leave.
Each of them carried a cloth bag they had sewn themselves on the sewing machines. The bags were bulging, stuffed with new clothes they had made for their families, along with some fruits and vegetables from the farm. At first glance, a passerby would have thought this group had just returned from shopping in town.
A whole month had passed just like that.
The strongmen were full of emotion. As they stepped out the gate, the boss thought of a suspense movie he had watched not long ago and tilted his head up toward the sun like a criminal leaving prison in a film, his eyes full of depth. The others saw their boss stop walking and assumed this must be a necessary part of getting out of prison, so they all immediately copied him and looked up too.
“The sun is really bright,” the boss said.
“It sure is,” the others replied.
The boss choked.
He had originally wanted to squeeze out a tear, but he was simply too happy. He could not cry at all. Meanwhile, the second brother was already crying his heart out on the spot, making the boss insanely jealous.
What a cinematic scene!
“Wuwuwu, I feel like I’ve lost my job!”
“…”
Karl, who was standing there closing the gate, was speechless too. It was truly his first time seeing people get emotionally attached to prison time.
Yomi, on the other hand, was very satisfied. The state these people were in now was completely different from when they first arrived. It was not just the change in appearance. More than that, it was a kind of spirit—a yearning for a better life. After a month of getting along with them, Yomi already understood their temperaments. He firmly believed that as long as no one deliberately provoked these tough guys, they probably would not go looking for trouble again.
Since Yomi had already stopped setting up stalls himself, he figured it would likely be hard for them to meet again in the future.
Clearly, though, that thought was not very accurate.
The very next day, two familiar faces appeared at the farm.
The boss and second brother from the tough-guy group had come back.
When Yomi saw those two figures, he was momentarily dazed.
Karl, who now also served as assistant and housekeeper, immediately became alert the moment he saw them. He thought the two had come back for revenge. Just as he was about to go get a weapon, the two strongmen shyly greeted him.
“Mr. A-Jia, may I ask if Boss Little Sheep is here? W-we have something we want to discuss with him…”
Karl: ???
Thinking that Anxius was at home and these people would not dare cause trouble, Karl brought them to Yomi.
As they walked, the two strongmen kept sneaking glances at the second batch of prisoners who were busy in the vegetable plots and the sewing-machine shed. Their faces even showed traces of nostalgia, like alumni returning to visit their old school.
Karl: …Are you people sick?
Anxius came out too. He had never had a good opinion of this group. He stayed right beside Yomi, slanting his eyes at them. If the two men showed the slightest bit of ill intent, Anxius would make sure they left in tears.
The boss and second brother did not dare look at Anxius at all. In their eyes, he was the warden’s gun—one that looked very likely to go off at any moment. Who in their right mind would go staring at the warden’s gun?
In the distance, Yexi and his wife were peeking over, extremely curious about why these two had come back again.
Yomi was curious too. These two clearly were not here to pick a fight. But coming to visit the prison… well, visitors were visitors! Yomi invited them to sit under the farm’s shade canopy and stood on tiptoe to pour tea for them.
The two were flattered and immediately held the cups with both hands, saying the tea was delicious.
Karl: “…You haven’t even drunk it yet.”
Then the two men copied Yomi’s posture and began sipping the tea in tiny mouthfuls.
“…”
After drinking some tea, they looked at each other, stammered for a while, and finally explained why they had come:
“We want to stay here!”
“That’s right! Not for one month, and not for one year. For a long time!”
The prisoners passing by nearby: ?
Yomi scratched his head.
Life imprisonment?
After talking for a while, Yomi finally understood what they meant.
The two of them wanted to work at the farm.
This was what had happened:
After returning home, the boss and second brother had originally planned to continue their old business. But that night, while preparing jerky, they saw their families cooking with the little sheep chef team’s dried meat. They tasted it—and sure enough, it was better than their own. Even though dried meat was still just dried meat, the quality of what the chef team made was simply better. The key point was that it was clean, and now it already had a good reputation too. Even if they improved their own jerky, the sales would definitely be nowhere near what they used to be…
The two of them worried over this, and that night they gathered together to discuss what path they should take next.
After spending time in the farm prison, they knew all too well how excellent Yomi’s chef team was. Against such a strong competitor, they simply had no chance of winning.
If this had been before, they might have thought about selling something else or changing to another market. But now they had learned a whole set of new skills. If the old line of work no longer worked, and they obviously had other options, then why insist on forcing the old path?
Especially when they thought about the sewing machines, their hands and feet itched.
They made the decision right away.
Why not come work at the prison?
Among that batch of prisoners, the boss and second brother had been the best at using the sewing machines. They had even thought up positions for themselves already—workers and prison guards.
They could use the sewing machines to make clothes and other textile goods. As for how to sell them, they had planned that too: the finished goods could be sold at different markets, and the sellers could be their family members. This would prevent untrustworthy people from running off with the money and goods—and conveniently gave their families work too.
As for why they wanted to double as prison guards, that was because they wanted Lord Sheep Asura to keep them. After all, all the prisoners who had learned the sewing machines could become workers, but not all of them, like the two of them, possessed such powerful original forms. They might not be able to beat Anxius, but suppressing the other prisoners would be no problem. Otherwise, how could they ever have become the bosses of a group of underlings?
Karl: …Prisoners turning into prison guards. You people from Junk Star really do dare to imagine anything.
When he heard the word prison guard, Yomi was a little stunned.
Did these people really think he was running an actual prison?
Seeing the hesitation on Boss Little Sheep’s face, the boss blushed and said, “After we went home last night, our family told us a lot of what’s been happening lately… A lot of people support your prison. Especially those who get bullied and have no power to fight back. To them, this prison is a source of courage. Especially after hearing that we were locked up… many people feel this kind of thing could continue long-term. Then they wouldn’t be left with nowhere to turn for help in the future…” He spoke with obvious embarrassment, but what he said was true.
The number of people who wanted to be the boss was actually very small. Most people just wanted to live peacefully.
Yomi drank his hot tea in silence, eyes lowered toward the ground, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Such unfathomable depth from Sheep Asura made the two men terribly nervous.
Yomi: Ah, there’s bird poop on the ground.
Anxius stood up and went over to deal with the bird droppings.
Once the ground was clean again, Yomi turned his attention back to the two men. “Let’s first make a batch of spring cloaks. Cloaks are simple to make, and demand is high. If that goes smoothly, then we can make other plans afterward.”
The two, who had still been praying he would not reject them, froze and both pointed at themselves at once. “Are you… talking to us?”
Yomi gave a hum, then got up and led them straight toward the sewing-machine shed. First he rummaged around in a cardboard box inside for a while, then pulled out several sheets of paper. The two men looked over in confusion, only to see that different little sheep heads had been drawn on them.
“Which one do you think would be more suitable as a logo?” Yomi asked.
“A logo?”
“The mark printed on the clothes. In the future, when people see it, they’ll know these are our clothes.”
“I see… Ah, so you’d been thinking of selling clothing for a long time already?” When Yomi nodded, they immediately frowned and began studying the doodles carefully. “Th-these… are they different?”
Yomi pointed at the drawings and explained, “The patterns on the horns are different.”
“…”
In the end, the two brothers picked the one with no pattern at all: an adorable bean-eyed little sheep with plain horns.
Yomi sighed.
It seemed everyone liked the logo without any patterns.
Once the logo issue was settled, Yomi kept them on and first arranged for them to rush out the first batch of spring cloaks.
If they wanted to grow bigger and stronger, the original few people were far from enough. Yomi was already planning that once they made more money, they would buy more sewing machines and open a factory… From a little factory worker to the factory boss, Yomi was a very ambitious little sheep!
With the new employees on the job, the farm grew much livelier.
Once the first batch of spring cloaks printed with the little sheep head logo came out, the families and underlings of the boss and second brother came to collect the goods. Under the name Little Sheep Clothing Shop, they went to set up stalls at different markets. At each stall, they even placed a sign saying they accepted custom orders. As for the Little Sheep cloaks, they wore them themselves too. The craftsmanship was good, they were sturdy and durable, and the logo was so cute. For the vendors to wear them while selling was the best advertisement possible.
And so, the Little Sheep Clothing Shop officially opened across the major markets.
At the same time, the snow and ice melted away rapidly. As the weather grew warmer, there were fewer and fewer troublemaking prisoners too.
As one batch after another of prisoners left, the farm also built dedicated prison cells. During less busy periods, the boss and second brother finally got their wish and became prison guards, patrolling seriously every day and educating everyone on how to be a Junk Star person with public morality.
Karl: (?.?||)
Of course, as the farm prison’s reputation grew, prison guard very quickly became a highly sought-after job. Besides the two of them, other powerful Junk Star natives with strong original forms also began coming to apply for the position. After all, the job came with room and board, the pay and benefits were good, and they got to keep troublesome thugs in line. Just thinking about it felt satisfying!
Karl was the one in charge of interviews. The prison guard selection process was very strict, and he even conducted background checks. The guards who passed Karl’s screening were basically all people of sound character.
With more prison guards, the huge farm really began to look more and more like a prison.
Its authority gradually increased as well, and it also solved the employment problem for some Junk Star people who were not suited for hunting.
By the time spring truly arrived, Little Sheep Farm had completely become something that local bad guys feared at the mere mention of its name.
Recently, Yomi had been busy planting new vegetables. He had no idea that on this most unremarkable patch of land on Junk Star, he had already gained a brand-new title:
The Prison King of Ghost State!
The weather grew warmer and warmer. Yomi’s vegetable plots began expanding, filled with new seeds and some fruit as well.
Right now, the main income still came from the chef team and the clothing shop. The vegetable garden would not truly begin showing its earning power until after spring. Yomi was not in a hurry. He had hired quite a few workers by now. Everyone was capable and efficient, they finished work early, ate well, and smiled every day.
Recently, Yomi had been learning how to be a boss. In addition to paying monthly wages, he would also from time to time distribute vegetables, cloaks, and food bought from town as thanks to everyone. After a little more time passed, he even wanted to organize team-building outings for them.
That day, Anxius had gone to town again to handle his own matters. The members of the little sheep chef team were on their day off, Lynn’s study schedule was not being rushed either, and everyone had not gone fishing together in quite a while, so they made plans to go to the river in front of the farm to fish.
While they were fishing, Yexi and his wife came over to see their results.
They had no idea Yomi’s fishing skills had improved—
he had now reached the level where he could fish his friends’ big fish out of his friends’ buckets!
His friends pretended not to notice, and when Yexi and his wife exclaimed that Yomi’s fish were very big, they even chimed in, “Yomi’s fishing is amazing now.”
Yomi, who had only wanted to practice a bit in his friends’ buckets: …
He continued fishing. In the warm afternoon, sitting quietly on his little stool, swinging his legs, he felt indescribably comfortable.
Time passed slowly.
Suddenly, a flash of black and white entered the corner of his vision. Yomi turned his head and was shocked.
It was dance ants!
Several dance ants were together not far away, dancing in the sunlight. Their movements were chaotic and all over the place, but they looked incredibly joyful.
Yomi’s mouth opened into an O-shape. He did not dare make a sound, afraid of scaring the dance ants away.
Yexi also saw the dance ants and smiled. “Spring has come.”
Yes, spring had come.
The traces of dance ants dancing were almost everywhere now.
Sometimes Yomi thought of Big Eye back on Snar, and of all those fans who liked both dance ants and him.
Every day, he would take out one slice of dried meat and feed it to the dance ants that appeared at the farm. That dance ant would usually carry the meat away, then the next day come back with a wildflower for Yomi, because it had seen that there were always flowers stuck in some container on the table where Yomi ate snacks outside, and had assumed that flowers were his food.
Yomi thanked it for the kindness and accepted the flower. Sometimes he would even return the favor with a piece of candy. At those moments, the dance ant would become terribly excited and perform a little ballet for him right on the spot.
…So cute.
Yomi watched very seriously and lifted his thumb in a big approving gesture!
With spring here, the number of clothes Yomi could change into became especially large. The spring sweaters alone were already more than he could keep up with, and every day he dressed in dazzling colors. Still, Anxius remained dissatisfied. He bought several more sewing machines and even placed one of them in their bedroom. Whenever he had free time, he would focus on making clothes.
They were all in Yomi’s size. White shirts, trench coats, suits, suit pants—he had basically made everything.
There were so many clothes that the villa ended up getting an extra room just to serve as Yomi’s walk-in wardrobe.
Of all Yomi’s current businesses, the chef team was still developing the best, followed by the clothing shop. But the lush and thriving big vegetable garden also seemed to be preparing to earn money soon, and they could now buy some chicks to raise as well… Looking at the Little Sheep Group Staff Chart in front of him, Yomi had a strong feeling another batch of workers was about to be added.
Little Sheep Farm was thriving, but things on Anxius’s side were not going smoothly.
Today, while he was in town conducting some underground transaction, an explosion occurred there.
Local forces had clashed and opened fire, injuring quite a few innocent people by accident.
Anxius reverted to his original form, hid a box of imported alien medical supplies under his wings, abandoned the truck, and left through a back route. Once he reached an area that would not be affected, he picked up the box and flew toward home.
Anxius had run and flown almost the whole way back. To avoid dangerous areas, the trip home became much longer.
Night fell.
Yomi said goodbye to the dance ants he kept “free-range” around the farm—at least, that was how Yomi saw it—then went back inside, took a bath, and sat on the bed in a daze.
Outside, it was completely dark. Anxius still had not come back. Usually, when he went to town, he was never this late returning home.
Yomi waited another long while, but there was still no sound outside.
He began watching a movie, some political intrigue film. As he watched, he thought of the escaped prisoner who had been brought back today and could not help starting to let his thoughts run wild.
Why exactly had Anxius, who was always punctual, still not returned?
Could the Snar royal family have caught him?
Impossible…
Then had he been beaten? Did Junk Star really have anyone who could beat him?
Even while thinking it was impossible, he kept muttering in his heart: What if someone stabbed him in the back?
Yomi: shocked.
Forget it. The more he thought about it, the more it felt like he was cursing someone. Better not think about it anymore.
Before long, sleepy Yomi fell asleep with a slight frown still on his face.
When Anxius got back, what he saw was the little figure sitting on the bed, leaning crookedly to one side. He had clearly fallen asleep already, but his body was still propped against the headboard, his head slightly tilted, and in his hand he held a piece of jerky. Apparently he had originally intended to eat it, but remembered he had already brushed his teeth, and restrained himself.
Anxius paused for a few seconds, then hurried over and gently carried him into the blankets. Just as he was about to take away the jerky, Yomi gave a start and woke up.
The first thing to enter his sight was the terrifying, enormous original form of the monster. Yomi blinked slowly. “You’re back?”
“The truck broke down on the road. I’m sorry.” Anxius took away the jerky, then removed a little box hanging under his wing and asked carefully, “I brought you a little cake. Do you want to eat it?”
The gloomy, worried expression on Yomi’s face immediately changed. His eyes brightened at once, clearly drawn away by the cake. Still, he shook his head. “I already brushed my teeth.”
Anxius opened the cake box, revealing the tempting little strawberry inside. “Eat it. When you’re done, I’ll brush your teeth for you.”
How was anyone supposed to resist that?
Still half dazed, Yomi sat on the bed and ate the cake one bite at a time from the monster’s hand. It was sweet and delicious. As he ate, the sense of reality slowly returned, and it was as if he suddenly remembered something.
“…I almost thought you’d been caught,” he murmured.
“I wouldn’t be.” Anxius spoke with absolute certainty and continued feeding him cake. Lightly inhaling Yomi’s scent, he stared at those adorable little horns and that head, and his heart trembled again, as though this alone could ease the exhaustion of his long journeying. “Nothing will happen to me.”
This was something Anxius could absolutely guarantee.
He still had not carried out the symbiosis surgery with Yomi.
His life was Yomi’s life.
He cherished it more than anyone.
