Chapter 5
Bai Nuosi received the cub’s information sent by Mons and gave it a quick glance. It stated that Han Baiyi was enrolled in a 24-hour full-care class, meaning that his food, clothing, housing, and transportation all required dedicated caregiver attention.
This cub was currently about three months old, which translates to roughly two human years. He exhibited delayed language development and couldn’t speak yet, but his gross motor skills were quite good—at least he darted away faster than a monkey when avoiding Mons earlier.
There wasn’t much to note regarding his diet. The only thing that required attention was that this black panther cub was socially anxious and feared people. He would hide whenever he saw anyone.
Mons found this quite troublesome.
If nothing unexpected happened, S-level spiritual entities like him would become the core talents of the Empire’s military in the future. Whether on the interstellar frontlines or guarding the Empire’s borders, these high-level talents were needed to hold the fort.
If he continued to fear people like this, no matter how well Han Baiyi himself concealed it, it wouldn’t help.
Bai Nuosi looked worried. “Why would such a young baby exhibit this kind of behavior? Did something bad happen after he was born?”
Every effect has its cause, especially with such young cubs. Bai Nuosi believed that something must have happened after the baby’s birth—perhaps he was hurt by someone; otherwise, he wouldn’t be hiding from people like this.
Mons couldn’t explain that all issues with spiritual entities stemmed from their human main bodies.
If the black panther cub had problems, it must be because Han Baiyi had problems.
Mons said to Bai Nuosi, “The black panther cub just entered the nursery two days ago. We’ll know more about his situation after I speak with his parents tomorrow. For tonight, please take good care of him.”
By “parents,” he naturally meant Han Baiyi’s family.
Bai Nuosi nodded worriedly. He couldn’t understand why such a young cub was placed in a nursery, and a 24-hour full-care one at that. It seemed the black panther cub’s parents must be very busy.
He was still concerned. “Okay, Supervisor. I’ll take good care of him. By the way, after you learn more from his parents tomorrow, could you share the relevant information with me?”
He wanted to know the cause of the black panther cub’s condition so he could help him in a targeted way.
Bai Nuosi added, “While the baby is still young, many issues need early intervention. Supervisor, we should find a psychological expert to evaluate him.”
Mons: “……”
No, the one who needs to see a psychologist is Han Baiyi.
That guy—how did he even pass the military academy’s assessments, hiding his issues so well? All the instructors’ evaluations had always been “physically and mentally healthy”!
It’s absurd!
Just thinking about it gave Mons a headache.
It was getting late, and Mons didn’t want to disturb Bai Nuosi any longer in his dormitory. He had already explained the basic matters; the other details could wait until Bai Nuosi officially started work tomorrow.
After bidding farewell to Bai Nuosi, Mons couldn’t help but peek into the dormitory several times, whispering, “Why isn’t the black panther cub coming out?”
That was the S-level spiritual entity that had just differentiated!
Mons had only seen the cub once when he first entered the nursery, and then the little guy had vanished without a trace.
He felt a bit depressed.
Bai Nuosi also turned to look at his dormitory, his eyes filled with worry. “It seems the cub’s fear of people is quite severe. Supervisor, we need to intervene as soon as possible.”
While the cub is still young, it’s the best time for intervention!
Mons nodded seriously, “Don’t worry, Xiao Bai. Our nursery is taking this matter very seriously. You take good care of the black panther cub, and leave the rest to me.”
Bai Nuosi nodded, “Alright.”
Mons said goodbye to Bai Nuosi. “Then you take the cub to rest. We’ll head back now. Oh, by the way—”
Mons paused, almost forgetting to tell Bai Nuosi something. “To ensure the safety of each cub, we’ve installed locators and monitors in their name tags. You know about this, right?”
Bai Nuosi nodded. He hadn’t thought of it earlier, but during training, the instructors had mentioned it. They also said that once all operations were running smoothly and the time was right, the Rose Nursery might open a live broadcast room on StarNet, accessible to all netizens in the Beastman Star System.
However, Bai Nuosi wasn’t sure what to make of this live broadcast idea. He thought, surely no one would be so bored as to watch caregivers taking care of children online…
He didn’t mind this at all. Nowadays, kindergartens everywhere have cameras installed, and parents can access them to watch their little ones during classes, meals, and naps.
Since the black panther cub was a “special needs child,” it was understandable that his parents would be concerned and want a locator and monitor installed.
He nodded earnestly, “I understand, Supervisor. Don’t worry; I’ll be careful and won’t do anything to damage the image of our Rose Nursery.”
Mons: “……”
Well, he wasn’t worried about Bai Nuosi damaging the nursery’s image. He mainly wanted to remind Bai Nuosi that the other end of the monitor had people watching 24/7.
Some caregivers might resist this, feeling that their privacy is being exposed.
But there was no choice; on this point, the Rose Nursery wouldn’t compromise. They paid high salaries to hire caregivers from other star systems precisely to ensure the cubs’ safety.
If someone couldn’t even accept being monitored, they couldn’t be formally hired.
Mons was very pleased, thinking that Bai Nuosi was excellent in every way. He felt he had really picked a great caregiver.
After saying goodbye to Bai Nuosi, Mons prepared to leave with the patrol guards.
However, even though there was a defense system, because an S-level cub was here, Mons temporarily added two more patrol teams to the dormitory area where Bai Nuosi lived.
As Bai Nuosi was heading back, he felt that the intense gaze hadn’t disappeared. Cautiously, he turned his head and unexpectedly met Huo Ranchuan’s eyes.
Huo Ranchuan had been half-hidden in the garden’s shadows. He seemed ready to leave now, so he stepped out of the shadows, allowing Bai Nuosi to see his face clearly.
Huo Ranchuan was tall, with dark skin and sharp facial features. His entire aura was imposing.
Spiritual power and pheromones are similar; the levels of pheromones and spiritual power are about the same.
Therefore, Bai Nuosi could clearly feel the strong pressure emanating from Huo Ranchuan.
Locking eyes with those deep golden pupils, Bai Nuosi shuddered and quickly turned away, hurriedly running back inside.
When he stepped onto the stairs, he stumbled due to his haste and almost fell.
Huo Ranchuan: “……”
He rubbed his nose. Was he really that scary?
Watching Bai Nuosi, who seemed frightened and nervous but still remembered to gently close the door after returning inside, Huo Ranchuan felt a bit conflicted.
An Omega who was clumsy and timid like this didn’t pose much of a threat. Before coming here, Huo Ranchuan had suspected that the other party might have used some means to win over the spiritual entity cub. However, after observing for a while, this Teacher Xiao Bai seemed genuinely innocent. Perhaps there was another reason with the little black panther.
After the door closed, Huo Ranchuan withdrew his gaze. Turning around, he saw Mons looking at him with a strange expression.
Huo Ranchuan kept a straight face. “What’s the matter?”
Mons: “……”
Mons wanted to retort, ‘You tell me what’s the matter!’
They had been here for half an hour, and Huo Ranchuan had spent that time staring at Bai Nuosi as if he were prey.
Mons quickly shook his head, “Nothing!”
“By the way, Commander,” Mons asked in a low voice, “Do we need to contact the Han family tomorrow?”
The fact that Han Baiyi’s spiritual entity had such issues meant that Han Baiyi himself had problems, but he had been hiding it well. If not for the spiritual entity’s differentiation and being brought to the nursery, this problem might never have been discovered.
Why did Han Baiyi resist or even fear interacting with people? Did the Han family know about this?
As they walked, Huo Ranchuan said, “Han Baiyi is an adopted son of the Han family…”
He paused and then continued, “No need to contact them for now. Let’s first observe the spiritual entity cub’s reactions. Tomorrow, arrange a meeting with those old experts and have them study this carefully.”
The “old experts” he referred to were the so-called spiritual entity specialists.
When Huo Ranchuan wanted to establish the spiritual entity cub nursery, these experts were the first to stand up in opposition, making a big fuss. They claimed that this would cause the cubs to miss their optimal training period and accused Huo Ranchuan of destroying the Empire by opening a nursery.
Thinking of this made Huo Ranchuan grind his teeth in anger. He sneered, “I want to see what solutions these experts can come up with.”
Mons: “……”
He knew General Huo held grudges, but he didn’t expect him to remember even the grudges against those experts who did nothing but talk. Fortunately, those experts were elderly; otherwise, if Huo Ranchuan met them privately, wouldn’t they get beaten up?
Huo Ranchuan returned to his office in the Rose Nursery. Though no one would believe it if he said it, perhaps he was the one who cared most about this nursery and the spiritual entity cubs.
His own spiritual entity had unstable emotions. Although his spiritual power was strong enough to suppress it completely, others might not be able to.
If they couldn’t find the reason behind the frequent loss of control of spiritual entities, perhaps the Empire truly would be doomed.
Sitting in his office, Huo Ranchuan opened his optical computer and once again pulled up Bai Nuosi’s personal file, reading it carefully several times.
He recalled the scene of Bai Nuosi holding the black panther cub. He could sense that the cub’s spiritual power was very stable, with no emotional fluctuations. When he approached earlier, the black panther cub was likely resting.
An S-level spiritual entity cub, sleeping in the arms of a stranger he had just met—if Bai Nuosi wasn’t Han Baiyi’s partner, then this was truly unusual.
As he was deep in thought, Huo Ranchuan’s spiritual entity—a Teng Snake covered in black scales with sharp horns on its head—appeared.
His spiritual entity was neither entirely a snake nor a dragon, with an especially long maturation period. At the time, many experts had said he had a failed or mutated differentiation.
Before the Teng Snake had fully matured, it was taken away for research. It was subjected to numerous drugs, had a lot of blood drawn, and even underwent many high-pressure tests and training.
With a stern face, Huo Ranchuan looked at the black snake, now the size of his arm, and said coldly, “Why are you transforming into a cub form?”
It had even retracted its wings.
The Teng Snake’s golden vertical pupils rolled slightly as it glanced at Huo Ranchuan, then quickly turned to slither away.
Huo Ranchuan snorted coldly, “Stop right there.”
The Teng Snake paused, turning its head to look at him.
Huo Ranchuan narrowed his eyes, “Do you plan to patrol like that tonight?”
He personally arranged for his spiritual entity to patrol the nursery every night, but this was the first time the spiritual entity had taken it upon itself to transform into a juvenile form.
Apparently, the spiritual entity wasn’t listening to Huo Ranchuan at all. Being his spiritual entity, it could sense his inner thoughts.
So, after two seconds of silence, the Teng Snake slowly shrank a bit more, becoming an even younger form. Then it tilted its head to look at Huo Ranchuan, as if asking: Is this small enough for you?
Huo Ranchuan: “……”
He was silent for a moment, thinking that turning into a juvenile form might be good—it could get closer and observe Teacher Xiao Bai.
