Chapter 1
The hashtag #OperationProtectTheCubs had been trending on StarNet’s hot search list for an entire month.
Not only were people on the main planet of the Beastman Star System paying attention, but even the nine major satellite planets were abuzz with discussions about it.
[So, did Central District’s Commander-in-Chief Huo Ranchuan really use his immense power and wealth to implement “Operation Protect the Cubs”?]
[I think it’s more accurate to call it a trial rather than a full rollout. Currently, they’ve only built a “Rose Nursery” as a pilot program, and the experimental subjects are limited to this year’s new cadets from the First Military Academy—there are only a thousand of them in total.]
The First Military Academy on the main planet was the most challenging school to get into; it admitted no more than a thousand students each year. As the chief instructor of the academy, General Huo Ranchuan could fully ensure their safety.
Using the new cadets as experimental subjects for “Operation Protect the Cubs” clearly indicated that this initiative had received royal approval.
But netizens were not optimistic:
[I’ve never heard of considering newly differentiated spiritual entities as cubs. Although they do appear in cub form when they first differentiate, they begin their first stage of evolution after about a month. Treating spiritual entities like human infants and taking care of them is just playing house.]
[Emmmm, although everyone is skeptical, didn’t General Huo say before that the reason for promoting this project is that incidents of sudden spiritual entity riots in the military are increasing, and the so-called experts have only blamed excessive training loads without uncovering any real solutions?]
[There’s also another rumor: it’s said that the former Mecha Squadron Captain Chen Min—General Huo’s childhood friend and comrade-in-arms—suddenly retired because his S-level spiritual entity, that golden eagle which was invincible on the battlefield, lost control!]
[Hmm? Isn’t it because General Huo was deeply moved by a sentence from a third-rate childcare expert: “An unfortunate childhood requires a lifetime to heal. Could the loss of control of spiritual entities be related to their childhood experiences?” He took it as gospel and insisted on implementing it?]
…
Almost everyone on the main planet had participated in the discussion about “Operation Protect the Cubs,” from the construction of the Rose Nursery, to Huo Ranchuan personally leading troops to station there, to the first batch of externally hired caregivers starting their training, and the first group of spiritual entity cubs—newly differentiated due to the maturity of their main bodies—being sent into the nursery.
The debates and opposing voices from the main planet’s residents had never ceased.
Bringing the spiritual entity cubs into a specialized nursery to be carefully taken care of like human infants, without having to, as tradition dictated, undergo various overload physical training from the moment of awakening, consume all kinds of nutrient agents to enhance spiritual power, and follow the human main body’s schedule to complete strenuous tasks.
This was unprecedented and even somewhat fantastical for people across the entire planet. Many were worried that it would delay the optimal training period for spiritual entities, causing their spiritual power to stagnate.
[Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous! General Huo Ranchuan was once our idol and hero, but now it seems his talents can only be displayed in warfare. In peacetime, he really hasn’t shown his value! Only he could do something this absurd!]
[And the first batch of externally hired caregivers are actually recruited from other star systems. It’s said that there are even people from the “Blackbird Star System,” which is the farthest from us! Humans from the Blackbird Star System have no spiritual power and are frail. What can they do? Use pheromones to go into heat?]
[Hey, you just don’t understand. Because they have no spiritual power, they can’t harm our spiritual entity cubs. That’s why General Huo can rest assured letting them take care of them!]
[I heard that yesterday, among the new cadets, a rare S-level spiritual entity awakened! I wonder if they’ve been brought into the Rose Nursery? By the way, General Huo mentioned in an interview before that when the time is right, the nursery’s live broadcast room will be appropriately opened. When exactly is this “right time”? I want to see the S-level!]
…
People on StarNet were fervently discussing—while not optimistic about “Operation Protect the Cubs,” they were also extremely curious about the situation inside the Rose Nursery.
Treating newly awakened spiritual entities as cubs to take care of… Had anyone asked the spiritual entities themselves if they were willing?
This question was on the minds not only of netizens in the Beastman Star System but also of the supervisors in various zones within the nursery.
At this moment, it was around eight o’clock in the evening. Autumn nights came early, and the night wind was a bit chilly. According to the nursery’s schedule, all the little ones should now be lying in their cribs, listening to bedtime stories or lullabies from the caregivers, drifting into sweet dreams.
However, in the most important S-level zone, the only spiritual entity cub brought back yesterday had actually hidden itself!
Mons, the supervisor of the S Zone, had been leading the guard team searching all evening, so anxious that he hadn’t even had dinner. Mons was beginning to suspect that the spiritual entity didn’t want to stay here and was wandering around.
And because they were worried about scaring the spiritual entity cub and could not let the caregivers from other star systems discover the spiritual entities—the first rule of their work guidelines was that they could not release their own spiritual entities in the nursery—even if they couldn’t find the hidden cub, they couldn’t release their own spiritual entities to help.
Mons wiped the sweat from his brow and nervously said, “General Huo comes over to patrol every night, no matter how busy he is. He’ll be here soon. If we can’t find the S-level spiritual entity, you and I are done for.”
The guard team belonged to the Imperial Central District’s Royal Guard. Because of the nursery’s importance, Commander-in-Chief Huo Ranchuan had directly brought the first squad to station here.
They were all afraid of Huo Ranchuan. They definitely had to hurry and find it, but was there any other way?
One of them asked, “Supervisor Mons, when you did the full-body examination on the spiritual entity, didn’t you implant a chip?”
The chip could monitor the spiritual entity’s status and location in real time; every cub entering the nursery would have one.
Mons sighed, “It was implanted, but it seems to have malfunctioned.”
Everyone: “……”
“No,” Mons corrected, “It’s not malfunctioning; I suspect it was damaged by the spiritual entity.”
After all, it was an S-level from the military academy’s students. Even if it had just differentiated and was in cub form, its strength couldn’t be underestimated.
“Is it possible that its main body doesn’t want to come, so after synchronizing with the spiritual entity, they destroyed the chip?”
Although after synchronization, the main body’s thinking would be influenced by the spiritual entity cub’s thinking, destroying a chip wasn’t very difficult.
Everyone had this thought. There were so many opposing voices online; it was possible some of the new cadets were among them.
Mons shook his head again, “I just contacted its main body, Han Baiyi. Han Baiyi was very surprised and agreed to synchronize with the spiritual entity. In a moment, he’ll bring the spiritual entity back to me. I’ve already sent him the location.”
When the human main body and the spiritual entity synchronized, the main body’s consciousness would enter the spiritual entity, becoming the spiritual entity’s primary consciousness. In other words, Han Baiyi’s consciousness would take over the spiritual entity, and then he could follow the location and come to Mons.
Sparing Mons the effort of spending half a day searching in vain.
As a top student among the new cadets, Han Baiyi’s training tasks were very heavy. Mons was also a graduate of the military academy and knew how hard cadets worked.
If he weren’t truly afraid of being held accountable by Huo Ranchuan, he wouldn’t have bothered Han Baiyi.
They had already sent their spiritual entities over; yet he couldn’t even take good care of them. If this got out, who knew how the people online would ridicule their nursery.
This project wasn’t well-regarded to begin with.
Mons stood on the path in the orchard, sighed deeply, opened his light-brain device, pulled up the coordinates, and said to the guard team members beside him, “Let’s wait for three minutes. It’s dark now, and it has perfectly blended into the night. If we can avoid making a big fuss, that would be best.”
So many people were watching the Rose Nursery now; Mons didn’t even dare to inform the supervisors of other zones, fearing that news of the S-level spiritual entity hiding and being unable to be found would leak out.
At that time, the external pressure from public opinion would be even greater.
Unlike Mons and the others’ anxiety, elsewhere in the staff accommodation area, Bai Nuosi had, after a month of training, finally passed the caregiver’s entry assessment today with flying colors.
He received his sky-blue uniform and employee ID card.
The employee card displayed his name and photo, his position as “Junior Caregiver,” and his assigned work area: “S Zone.”
As a human from the farthest “Blackbird Star System,” Bai Nuosi knew nothing about spiritual entities, let alone that the S Zone he was assigned to was the most important area in the entire Rose Nursery.
The cubs he would be taking care of in the future were all the Empire’s S-level treasures.
Tomorrow was his first official day on the job. He washed his uniform, dried it, folded it neatly, and looked at his employee card, too excited to sleep.
As an Omega, his biggest dream was to settle on a planet without ABO genders. Then he wouldn’t be affected by Alphas’ pheromones, nor would he have to comply with policies that required accepting a mainframe-arranged marriage at a certain age.
But the early childhood education profession had many restrictions; most planets wouldn’t hire humans from other star systems as early childhood educators.
He was finally hired by the Beastman Planet; Bai Nuosi cherished this opportunity greatly.
His dormitory was on the first floor, and outside the window was a garden filled with blooming flowers. If he left the window half-open, the night wind would bring in dewy moonlight and floral fragrances to his pillow.
He loved his current life and had even begun to imagine that the beastman cubs must all be adorable little ones with fluffy ears and tails; getting along with them would certainly be delightful.
After taking a bath, with his hair still damp, Bai Nuosi came to the small garden outside his window.
Because there were few caregivers assigned to the S Zone, Bai Nuosi had no neighbors next door. The small garden seemed to be exclusively his. He enjoyed coming to the stone table in the garden to eat.
Tonight’s meal was sour noodle soup, cooked by himself. He added a lot of vinegar; the taste was sour and spicy, paired with his own spicy pickled cucumbers—absolutely delicious.
Suddenly, Bai Nuosi sensed that something was off.
He hesitated and turned his head to look toward the flower bushes on the left.
Sure enough, under the dark flower bushes, there were two golden spots of light, staring at him faintly.
Bai Nuosi: “……”
He had been living here for a month and had never seen golden spots of light in that flower bush before.
Moreover, those two spots of light looked very much like the eyes of a predator.
