Chapter 50
Ever since the other Ushatos learned that Soland was by Yu An’s side, and knowing the space around this world was still too fragile, they had temporarily left to hunt in more distant places.
Yu An’s mental power was still in its infancy. If his clansmen were too far away, he couldn’t hear their conversations, which was why he had rarely heard their voices over the past few years.
As the voice in his ear grew closer, Yu An visibly became anxious and restless. He took Claude out, kneading Him back and forth in his hands, trying to greet the approaching clansman.
[H-hello… this uncle…]
His soft, milky voice was timid, making one’s heart melt just listening to it.
The other side paused for a moment, before replying with even greater enthusiasm,
[Ah! An-an, An-an! My precious An-an, Uncle missed you to death! Don’t worry, I’ll go catch a beautiful big butterfly for you, I guarantee it’ll be drop-dead gorgeous, I’m coming right now!]
This Ushatos Uncle was so thrilled that He even accelerated His speed towards them. Yu An wanted to explain, but His excited laughter completely drowned out Yu An’s voice.
[It’s useless.]
Claude slightly curled one small tentacle, propping up His little head in a thinker’s pose. However, because His adorable body made it look rather comical, He added:
[This stupid one is Kaelen, He has already arrived.]
In an instant, several strong, powerful tentacles reached out from the space connected by the rabbit hole, entangling the giant butterfly in the blink of an eye. The butterfly’s beautiful wings were snapped cleanly off, scattering a sparse layer of glowing powder.
The pitiful butterfly couldn’t even let out a wail; it could only watch helplessly as a tentacle plunged into its swollen tail, rummaged around, and dug out a crystal-clear purple stone.
The moment the stone left its body, the massive butterfly crumbled into dust and vanished.
Zhuang Yexing held his breath, still reeling from the shock, not even daring to speak too loudly. “W-what exactly is this thing? A Super S-rank Xenogenic, and it dealt with it instantly!”
“What kind of terrifying Xenogenic is this again? Xu Yening, can you tell what rank it is?”
Xu Yening rolled his eyes at him, speechless. “Am I some kind of humanoid scanner? You think I can just look at it and know its exact rank?”
Zhuang Yexing choked on his words. That was true. The butterfly was already above S-rank, so this mysterious Xenogenic could only be even stronger. Fortunately, this tentacled Xenogenic had only killed the butterfly and hadn’t done anything to the rest of them, otherwise they definitely wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Throughout this, Yu An stared intently at those massive tentacles, shrinking into the corner, terrified of being noticed by Kaelen.
He absolutely could not afford to be exposed as a non-human in front of all these people, or his dads would definitely scold him. Even though they had never scolded him before, this time might be different.
Yu An’s backward shrinking caught Gu Yixing’s attention. Gu Yixing stood beside him, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “Hey, what are you hiding for? Think this one is especially scary?”
Yu An nodded guiltily.
“I think so too. Although those earlier ones were also terrifying, this one gives me the strongest sense of oppression. Just looking at the patterns on that tentacle makes me dizzy and nauseous.”
“But He doesn’t seem to want to hurt us. Is it because we’re too weak and He looks down on us? Makes sense, who would intentionally go out of their way to step on ants on the street.”
It had to be said, Gu Yixing was very self-aware, and he had indeed hit the nail on the head.
But a sudden turn of events occurred. The tentacles that had almost completely retreated into the hole suddenly stopped and shot out again. Everyone’s hearts leapt into their throats once more.
Whoosh!
The sound of something slicing through the air followed instantly. Ling Xingcheng reacted the fastest, using his crutch to forcefully shove Xu Yening aside, while the spot where Xu Yening had just been standing was pierced through by the tentacle.
Xu Yening’s face inevitably paled, but the very next second, the tentacle charged at him again.
Watching anxiously, Yu An picked Claude up.
[Why is Uncle Kaelen attacking Little Uncle?]
Claude watched Xu Yening dodging left and right.
[It should be because the aura of life force on him is too thick. That idiot Kaelen mistook him for a Xenogenic too.]
Sure enough, Kaelen’s voice rang out in the communication channel.
[An-an, wait a moment. I found a rare life-type Xenogenic here, I’ll catch it for you. Hey! It’s quite agile.]
If life-type Xenogenics weren’t so rare, He would have long since skewered him with a tentacle and brought the corpse back.
Yu An was terrified.
[I don’t want it, Uncle, stop catching him.]
[How could I do that?! This is my meeting gift to you, baby cub, you absolutely must accept it.]
But who catches someone’s uncle as a meeting gift?!
Yu An shook Claude’s small tentacles back and forth, on the verge of tears. “What do I do, what do I do…”
On the other end, Kaelen’s patience ran out because his prey was too agile. Infuriated, He withdrew two tentacles and widened the narrow rabbit hole, shoving more than half of His body inside.
This time He absolutely had to catch it!
On the other side of the rabbit hole, Claude had a splitting headache. Seeing the surrounding space threatening to collapse due to Kaelen’s descent, He sighed.
[It’s fine. Wait for Him to come out, I’ll whip Him back.]
Kaelen, who was in the middle of drilling through the hole, shivered all over. He warily looked around, and after confirming there were no other creatures, continued squeezing through.
By the time He finally pushed His way out, eager to show this unappreciative Xenogenic who was boss, He was met face-to-face with Yu An standing behind a group of people, and Claude resting on his shoulder.
Kaelen was overjoyed.
[Precious An-an, why are you here? Soland, long time no see! You’re still as ugly as ever, hahahahaha.]
Yu An pursed his lips.
[Uncle, can you go back first?]
[Why? I just got here! Right, right, I have a super delicious, shiny energy stone here, I’ll give it to you!]
The tentacle carrying the purple stone approached Yu An. Beside Yu An, Fu Yunshu and the other two skipped a heartbeat. This Xenogenic is targeting them? What does He want to do?
Right at that moment, Claude jumped down from Yu An’s shoulder. His gaze turned icy, and His body instantly grew infinitely larger. A tentacle wrapped in immense power lashed out towards Kaelen.
Kaelen paled in shock.
[Bo… Ah!]
He was instantly whipped away, curling into a ball as He rolled back down the rabbit hole. Claude glanced at the rabbits.
[Why aren’t you going to repair the space?]
The rabbits cried “ying ying” twice and swarmed forward, diligently patching up the massive hole. Claude only maintained His enlarged form for those few seconds before reverting to His original, petite size.
With Claude’s aura acting as a deterrent, the other Xenogenics took detours, not daring to burrow into the rabbit hole despite the sweet aroma of food wafting from inside.
In another space, a thoroughly bewildered Kaelen shouted loudly,
[Boss, why did you whip me out of nowhere? And you even let An-an see, my face is completely lost, ahhh!]
Claude: [Scram.]
Kaelen instantly caved: [Scramming then, hmph!]
Claude tilted His little head up to look at Yu An. Yu An picked Claude up and placed Him in his palm. Seeing Him looking a bit dizzy, Yu An poked Him, his eyes full of concern. “Are you okay?”
Claude: [You… forget it.]
Yu An didn’t understand.
[What’s wrong?]
Claude was leaving, returning to His original body, and the real Soland in the Temple would come back.
However, this not-so-smart little cub would likely be unable to tell Him and Soland apart, so there was no need for parting words.
Claude gazed at Yu An’s exquisite, pretty side profile and zoned out for a moment. He didn’t know when they would meet again. Perhaps by that time, this little guy would have already grown up.
[Soland gege, are you very sleepy?]
[Mhm, I’m going to sleep for a while.]
[Okay, I’ll wait for you.]
Yu An placed the sleeping little octopus into his pocket. When he looked up, the several adults were staring at him with burning gazes. Yu An’s heart trembled. “W-what’s wrong?”
Ling Xingcheng stared at the slightly bulging pocket on Yu An, finding it hard to believe that this tiny Xenogenic could repel a Super S-rank Xenogenic with a single strike. So cute, yet it didn’t affect His combat power at all.
He couldn’t help but guess how Wen Xun and Lin Huaichen managed to procure such a powerful Xenogenic. Seeing the shock displayed by Zhuang Yexing and Xu Yening, it was obvious they had been unaware as well. That meant the Institute likely didn’t know either.
Ling Xingcheng pondered for a few seconds, pulled Yu An to his side to protect him, and turned to face Zhuang Yexing. “Since the matter is settled, we’re going home to sleep.”
Saying that, he picked Yu An up, ready to run.
Zhuang Yexing obviously wasn’t that easy to fool. Of course, despite being distracted by Claude, he hadn’t forgotten his mission, keeping his other hand firmly on Zhou Xia.
Zhou Xia didn’t struggle, looking like he had already accepted his fate.
Zhuang Yexing narrowed his eyes. “An-an, what is the origin of this Xenogenic of yours? Why isn’t it registered with the Institute?”
How would Yu An know? He frantically hugged Ling Xingcheng’s neck, hemming and hawing but failing to utter a single word. He shook his head, looking pleadingly at Ling Xingcheng for help.
Ling Xingcheng pressed Yu An’s little head against his neck, patting his back comfortingly, and shot a stealthy glance at Zhuang Yexing. “It’s alright, go to sleep, go to sleep. I know you’ve been sleepy for a while. We’re heading home to sleep right now.”
“Old Zhuang, how would a little kid like him know about these things? You should go ask Lin Huaichen.”
Ling Xingcheng tried to run off with Yu An, but Zhuang Yexing wasn’t about to let him go, tailing right behind them. “This Xenogenic is too dangerous. It must be taken back to the Institute first to test its exact rank.”
“Where is it dangerous? It’s just a cute little pet belonging to a child.” Ling Xingcheng decided to act shamelessly. “It’s probably just a C-rank Xenogenic. We’re people who have seen the world, there’s no need to snatch a kid’s toy over a Xenogenic…”
Yu An remained completely silent the whole time, terrified of disrupting Ling Xingcheng’s performance. Thankfully, Xu Yening adopted an outsider’s stance, not asking any questions, leaving Ling Xingcheng to deal with Zhuang Yexing alone.
As they argued, Zhuang Yexing gradually grew angry. “How is that a normal, low-level Xenogenic?! It just sent a Super S-rank Xenogenic flying! Is that the kind of strength a low-level Xenogenic should have?! Ling Xingcheng, don’t treat me like a fool!”
Ling Xingcheng lied through his teeth: “Is that so? How come I didn’t know? Where is there a Super S-rank Xenogenic? Aren’t there just a bunch of fluffy rabbits here? Old Zhuang, you must be going senile.”
Zhuang Yexing: “…”
Shameless. Absolutely shameless!
He decided to just make a move, attempting to take Yu An from Ling Xingcheng’s arms. The little guy’s arms were fair and tender, and Zhuang Yexing, afraid of hurting him, used minimal force.
Yu An pushed him away effortlessly, but Zhuang Yexing immediately reached out again. Yu An had no choice but to hold onto Ling Xingcheng tightly, sticking to him like cling wrap.
Ling Xingcheng frowned, slapping Zhuang Yexing’s hand away. “Hey! What are you grabbing at? Don’t think just because my leg is broken you can do whatever you want in front of me! I really will fight back.”
During the scuffle, Soland, inside the pocket, woke up. Drowsy and disoriented, he tumbled out and hit the ground with a splat. Rolling twice, his body expanded once more, fully transforming into a human.
Ling Xingcheng: “Oh, sh*t.”
Yu An was shocked. “Soland gege!”
Zhuang Yexing and Ling Xingcheng stopped simultaneously. Zhuang Yexing stared coldly at Ling Xingcheng. “This is what you call a low-level Xenogenic?”
As everyone knew, only A-rank Xenogenics and above could change their forms.
Even after being slapped in the face with reality, Ling Xingcheng showed no signs of embarrassment. “Yeah, it’s the latest model of Xenogenic, it can turn into a human. Rare, right? It’s my first time seeing it too.”
Zhuang Yexing: “…I really want to smack you to death.”
Soland lay on the floor, his head spinning. He remembered Claude swapping bodies with him, and after that… he seemed to get very, very tired, and then slept for a very long time.
A little radish-head ran to his side, grabbing his hand and pulling at him, his soft voice filled with concern. “Soland gege, how are you? Are you feeling unwell?”
Soland’s mind was sluggish. Using Yu An’s help to stand up, he felt weak. The power Claude had exerted using his body earlier was too immense, and Soland’s weak physique couldn’t handle it; his limbs were currently limp and devoid of strength.
“I-I’m fine.” Soland shook his head a few times, trying to stay awake. Looking at Yu An’s gradually maturing face and increased height, he exclaimed in surprise, “An-an, you’ve actually grown a bit.”
Yu An paused, looking up into Soland’s lake-blue eyes. Although “Soland” hadn’t appeared in human form for a long time, his memory still vaguely lingered in Yu An’s mind.
It was no different from his memory, yet something was definitely off. It was a very strange feeling that Yu An couldn’t quite articulate, but he stubbornly believed that the current Soland and the one from just moments ago were different.
“Who are you…” Yu An let go of Soland, his eyes turning unfamiliar. He took two steps back, full of wariness. “Y-you are not Soland gege. Who are you?”
Soland was taken aback, completely baffled. “…I am Soland. An-an, what are you talking about?”
If he wasn’t Soland, who else could he be?
Yu An pouted. The Soland in front of him felt entirely different from the one he was familiar with. It was as if he had lost a familiar family member, and a profound panic seized his heart.
“You’re not…” Yu An choked back a sob, trotting over to Ling Xingcheng’s side. He turned his head to look at Soland, then buried his face in Ling Xingcheng’s chest, breaking down into tears. “You’re not, you’re not… wuuuuuu.”
Seeing him cry, Soland felt like crying too.
Good heavens, I just took a nap! Fine, the kid inexplicably grew older, but why is he suddenly acting like he doesn’t know me?!
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