Chapter 281: Thrown Out
Karina rushed back from Tianyun, where Anno was with Logan and the others.
The Zerg didn't have any special feelings for Starfire. No matter what Starfire called their little prince, he was just an outsider. They wouldn't have any special emotions towards him; at most, he was a slightly more distinguished guest.
But Logan and his group perceived the spark differently.
Logan and Tang Ting were shocked the moment they saw Xinghuo. They had raised Karina and knew best just how much Xinghuo resembled Karina.
The family cherished Xinghuo immensely.
When Karina returned, she saw her parents and siblings gathered around Xinghuo, enjoying a happy time together. Anno sat to the side and shrugged helplessly at her.
Anno didn't know whether Xinghuo was Karina's daughter or sister, but the two were so genetically similar that they weren't exactly clones; Xinghuo and Karina were still somewhat different.
The harmonious atmosphere froze the moment Karina entered the living room.
Of the family, only Locke and Downing aren't afraid of Karina, but they still can't get along with their daughter normally.
Karina spotted Starfire, who was surrounded by them, and Starfire saw her too.
The two stared at each other for a long time, neither of them speaking, the atmosphere quiet and eerie.
Anno had imagined many times what it would be like for Karina to meet Starfire—would she be curious, or indifferent? But he never expected...
Karina stepped forward, grabbed Starfire, and threw her out!
She threw it directly onto the base plaza; if Luo Jin and the others hadn't stopped her, she could have thrown it even further.
Karina's face was cold, and no one dared to step forward to persuade her.
Normally, when she's not angry, people are already afraid of her enough. Now that she's standing there with a sullen face, they dare not approach her even more.
Logan and Tangting tried to pick Xinghuo up, but Xinghuo sat on the chair with her lips pursed. Karina wouldn't let her cross the pedestrian crossing line in front of her. Whenever Xinghuo came forward, Karina would continue to throw things at her, so Xinghuo had no choice but to sit there and not move.
She didn't cry or make a fuss at all; instead, she gave Karina the same expression and stared at her coldly.
Seeing how much Karina disliked Starfire, Locke and Tang Ting felt a little awkward about going up to comfort her.
After all, Karina was the daughter they raised. They thought that if Karina saw a child who looked like her, she might think it was a clone of herself and wouldn't like it.
She didn't lay a hand on Xinghuo, nor would she lay a hand on such a small cub; at most, she simply couldn't accept her.
Anno was a little confused about the two's behavior and temperament. It was the first time she had ever seen Karina and Starfire show such expressions.
Tang Ting stepped forward and said softly to Karina, "We will find Xinghuo a new adoptive family. She is not a clone. Strictly speaking, you are closely related by blood. Perhaps... you are sisters."
It's also possible that the genes were extracted from Karina, as Starfire is genetically her daughter, but this can't be said to Karina.
Back then, he and Locke did adopt Karina through normal procedures, but she wasn't born in a normal petri dish facility; she was transferred from another facility.
When I turned around, Karina was almost ready to be taken out of the petri dish.
At the time, they did not investigate in detail because some slightly special embryos would be transferred from one base to another for various reasons. Their North River Star System's birth system was already well-established, and children were born on a large scale, just like products from an assembly line factory. Unless there were special circumstances, they would not make a special effort to investigate.
It wasn't until Dennis's privately trained enhanced humans were exposed, and Anno's core fragments were found inside Karina, that Tang Ting re-examined Karina's birth records.
They only found out Karina's true background after going through many twists and turns.
Based on the genetic comparison between Karina and Starfire, and the investigation from Dennis's records of enhanced humans, Karina is indeed an enhanced human, but not one of the batch managed by Dennis. Enhanced humans have been secretly studied by researchers for a long time.
In particular, obtaining the core of the Little King Insect greatly advanced their research.
Karina was one of the test subjects. A researcher accidentally put a fragment of the shattered core into her body, and then, due to some accident, she was sent out of the base.
The accident actually stemmed from a disagreement among the researchers involved in the secret research. Karina ended up in the normal petri dish facility and was adopted by Locke and his team.
And Spark was created by fusing some of Karina's genes.
That's why Spark and Karina look so alike.
Karina's attitude towards Starfire was firm; she could never be her sister, much less her daughter.
"Anyone can pick her up, but not you." Karina coldly swept her gaze over her own family members and uttered these words.
Not only are they forbidden from raising them, but they are also forbidden from taking care of them.
Luo Jin and the others watched as Xinghuo sat there, neither crying nor making a fuss nor saying a word.
Spark was just a cub that had just emerged from a petri dish, so it was rather cold to her. However, Karina was, after all, their daughter whom they had raised, so they knew her to some extent.
Karina did this not only because she disliked her, but also because she didn't want to "look in the mirror" herself, nor did she want Xinghuo to "look in the mirror."
Xinghuo's identity is somewhat special, and she was not born normally. She was born in a petri dish at the age of five and did not grow up normally.
All her perception and intelligence come from Anno's core and Dennis's nurturing.
But precisely because of this special situation, who knows what might happen if she were placed in another adoptive family.
Anno didn't try to persuade Karina; she just stood there. Xinghuo, who hadn't shown any emotion initially, pouted upon seeing her, her eyes instantly reddening and brimming with tears. "Mommy..."
As soon as she called for her mother, Karina shouted, "Who are you calling your mother?!"
Her little girl is still so young, how could she have such a big daughter?
Karina reached out and put her arm around Anno: "Ignore her! I've already notified the people at the North River Cub Management Center and asked them to handle it. Don't worry about it."
Seeing Xinghuo's appearance, Anuo sighed, "Second sister, Xinghuo is still a baby."
Karina: "You too, she's not allowed to call you Mom, you're only a few years older than her."
As Xinghuo watched Anuo drift away from her, she could no longer control her emotions, and tears streamed down her face.
Unlike the other children, she didn't cry loudly. Instead, she choked back tears, wiping them away with her chubby little hands as she sobbed softly.
Even the most hard-hearted person would be moved by her pitiful appearance at that moment.
Besides, Anuo is not a heartless person; she is more soft-hearted than anyone else, especially towards those who are kind to her.
The first person Xinghuo saw when she opened her eyes was her. She had been following her ever since she came out of the petri dish, and from the moment she became conscious, she was affected by the core fragment, and all her memories were about her.
Xinghuo always believed that the person who kept appearing in her mind was her mother.
Anuo knelt down in front of Xinghuo and gently wiped away her tears: "It's okay, don't cry."
With a sob in her voice, Xinghuo asked her, "Mommy, do you not want Xinghuo anymore? I promise I will be a good girl and listen to you, and I won't cause you any trouble."
She didn't care about the fierce white-haired woman who was so stern with her, nor did she care about Luo Jin and the others who adored her; she only cared about her mother in front of her.
She didn't care whether other people were nice to her or not, but what those people said to her mother made her think that her mother didn't want her anymore, which is why she couldn't control her emotions.
Anuo wiped away her tears, "It's not that we don't want Xinghuo, it's just that we want to find Xinghuo a home, a mom and dad who will love you, and other brothers and sisters. You will have a lot of family."
Xinghuo hugged her neck tightly and burst into tears: "But all I want is my mom."
Anuo felt heartbroken listening to her cries, as if she herself had truly become a bad mother who had abandoned her child.
She looked at Sitar with a mixture of resignation and helplessness. Sitar walked over and squatted down beside them. "Let's raise them for now. I'll take care of them."
Sitar knew Anno's temperament all too well. This child was raised by her core. One obsessive Brightman was enough. At least this one hadn't gone astray and could be raised properly. It was just raising a small cub, not a difficult task. Normally, raising cubs was the male insectoid's job. With so many familiars, couldn't they raise just one cub? He wouldn't let Anno worry about it at all.
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