Monster Cub Live Stream – CH24

Chapter 24

Bai Yang had not deliberately lowered his voice, so Feng Wu in the bathroom naturally heard what he said.

Having finished washing up, Feng Wu pushed open the door and came out, only to see the little cub lying comfortably on the pillow, being fed bite by bite by the blue-eyed little white cat. He looked as though he wanted to say something, stopped himself, then wanted to say something again.

As one of the only two people in the room who knew the little cub’s true age, he ultimately chose silence.

…Forget it. It was not that big a matter. As long as baby An was happy.

“Uncle He says he’s ready,” Feng Wu said. “He’s asking when we’re leaving.”

Lin An’an waved a little tentacle. “Yingji!”

We can leave right now!

After washing up, Lin An’an gave Bai Yue another simple physical checkup.

The treatment from last night had been very effective. The white kitten’s body temperature had already returned to normal, but her mental state was still not very good, and she remained in a half-conscious, half-asleep condition.

Bai Yang gently rubbed his nose against his sister’s ear. [When will Yueyue wake up?]

[Soon.] Lin An’an typed. [She’s been too drained during this period. She needs rest.]

Bai Yang nodded his little cat head and let out a grateful meow.

“Bai Yang, do the auction house people know what you look like in human form?” Feng Wu suddenly asked. “Security in the inner city is tighter today. Everyone entering or leaving has to undergo a body search.”

Bai Yang looked troubled. [They don’t know. But… but for the time being, Yueyue and I can’t turn back into human form.]

Feng Wu frowned. “Can’t turn back?”

[The auction house people gave us drugs.] Bai Yang’s voice dropped very low. [They forced us to stay in our second forms the whole time. They said those people… prefer the second form more.]

Lin An’an slapped his little tentacles hard, inwardly thinking that merely blowing up the auction house had still been letting those bastards off too lightly.

The little cub bounced forward, his tiny tentacle landing on the white cat’s forehead.

A moment later, he gently shook his head. [The medicine’s effect is too strong. It can’t be completely cleared away in one go within a short time.]

Lin An’an sighed inwardly. Another day of missing replenishing grass.

Feng Wu gave a quiet hum. “Then we’ll use another method.”

The little cub had no objection at all. He had absolute confidence in Brother Wolf—something this simple would definitely be handled just fine.

It was only half an hour later, when He Yinghong arrived at the hotel room to meet up with them, that Lin An’an saw the pink baby stroller at He Yinghong’s side.

A question mark slowly popped up over the little cub’s head. “Yingji?”

This is the peerless, unmatched, world-shocking brilliant idea you came up with?

Sensing the resistance on the little cub’s face, Feng Wu assumed he simply did not want to ride in a baby stroller, so he patiently explained, “There’s a hidden compartment in the stroller. Bai Yang and Bai Yue will sleep in that compartment. With you out in the open as cover, plus mental power masking their presence, the guards won’t notice.”

Lin An’an naturally understood all of that.

Security was so strict this time mainly because they were trying to catch the two major star pirates who had caused chaos at the auction last night. The stroller could not possibly hide two star pirates that large, so naturally it would not be inspected too harshly.

He understood the logic, but—

[Why is it pink?] the little cub typed furiously. [And this kind of…]

With visible distaste, he stretched out a tiny tentacle and poked the pink-and-white lace frills on the stroller—light, soft, and flowing—as well as the giant sparkling bows studded with glittery little rhinestones.

Lin An’an: “……”

He truly did not even know how to describe this little stroller.

He Yinghong chuckled and explained, “Xiao Feng said to buy the best one possible. The clerk said this stroller was their bestselling model.”

As for what Feng Wu needed the stroller for, or why two white kittens had suddenly appeared after just one day apart, He Yinghong did not ask a single question.

Lin An’an sighed helplessly, then compromised and waved his little tentacles, allowing Feng Wu to place Bai Yang and his sister into the soft hidden compartment before hopping into the stroller himself.

A few minutes later, the little cub had melted into a soft little cub pancake inside the stroller.

Putting aside the stroller’s appearance, it really was extremely comfortable to lie in.

The little cub closed his eyes in pleasure and even took the initiative to pull down the sunshade, blocking the somewhat glaring sunlight.

Seeing this, He Yinghong coughed lightly to cover the laughter in his throat. Feng Wu, too, slightly curved his lips, and his golden eyes looked a few degrees brighter than usual.

The two of them acted like ordinary city residents and took a public hover bus, getting off at a stop near the city gate.

Because each person had to be checked one by one, several long lines had formed at the gate.

Lin An’an secretly poked his head out of the stroller, saw the endless line at a glance, then looked up at the scorching sun that seemed capable of roasting human flesh, and hurriedly shrank his head back in.

Being a little cub really was happier.

At last it was their turn to leave the city. The guard, who had been on duty nearly the whole day, finished searching both men and said in a slightly impatient tone, “Put your terminals through the security scan.”

The terminal scan was actually just a small detector used to check whether there were any sensitive items inside the terminal storage space.

The guard then said, “Open the canopy. Let me take a look.”

Feng Wu gently pulled back the stroller hood, revealing the little cub lying inside, sleeping obediently.

He was a tiny little bundle, still hugging half a bottle of unfinished milk, his soft little body rising and falling with each breath. He was unbearably adorable.

The appearance of the little cub instantly improved the guard’s mood. The fatigue of standing on duty all day seemed to fade a little.

The guard even pulled the canopy back down for them and unconsciously softened his voice. “Alright, you can go.”

Inside the stroller, the little cub secretly opened one eye. Acting like an innocent baby cub? That was something he was very good at!

After entering the outer city, He Yinghong asked Feng Wu for his home address, then left ahead of them.

He had long since grown used to living alone. Although Feng Wu’s house still had spare rooms, He Yinghong would rather rent or buy a house on his own.

It was not a major matter, so Feng Wu did not try too hard to persuade him otherwise.

When they got home and pushed open the door, Xiong Yingjun’s highly penetrating voice immediately came booming over.

“Boss! You’re finally back!” Xiong Yingjun came stomping out of the room. “With baby An not here, I’ve kinda—” not been used to it!

His words cut off the instant he saw the pink stroller.

The little cub hopped down from the stroller and looked at him as if to ask:

Kinda what?

Xiong Yingjun fell into a rare silence for two seconds, then asked, “Boss, why did you suddenly push back a baby stroller?”

Feng Wu did not answer. Instead, he opened the hidden compartment in the stroller, letting the two little cats who had slept there for a long while poke their heads out.

The hidden compartment had originally been meant for baby supplies like milk powder and diapers, and had not been equipped with ventilation. Feng Wu had only temporarily installed a small air system. Even so, after staying inside for too long, it was inevitable that it would become uncomfortable.

The younger Bai Yue was still asleep. Bai Yang let out a meow, gently bit the back of his sister’s neck, and jumped out with her.

Xiong Yingjun’s eyes widened. “No way, Boss, are you addicted to picking up cubs now? Are we switching careers and turning this place into a cub welfare home?”

Though spoken without much thought, the words struck the listener deeply. Bai Yang immediately became a little awkward. [I-I’ll pay for our living expenses. Big Sister will definitely come looking for us…]

Before he could finish, Xiong Yingjun cut him off. “Hey, hey, no, no, no, that’s not what I meant, I was just—”

“He’s just got a loose mouth.” Si Youlin slowly walked out from his room. “You don’t need to take his words to heart. Just stay here with peace of mind.”

Xiong Yingjun looked at his nose, then his heart, knowing he had apparently said the wrong thing. He did not dare utter even a single word in rebuttal.

Lin An’an lightly patted Bai Yang’s little cat paw with a tentacle. [That’s right, that’s right. I still need you to take care of me!]

He said it with complete confidence, so matter-of-factly that Xiong Yingjun stared blankly. “Take care of you? baby An, you still need—mmph mmph mmph!”

The little cub took out a big tomato and accurately lobbed it right into Xiong Sansha’s mouth, stopping him from finishing the rest of his sentence.

Fortunately, Lin An’an’s words had indeed worked. Bai Yang, still only a little boy, immediately relaxed and said with firm conviction: [Don’t worry, I’ll definitely take very good care of you!]

There were still many empty rooms in the house. For the convenience of Bai Yang taking care of his sister, Si Youlin ordered Xiong Yingjun to clean up a room on the first floor and let the siblings move in.

These past few days had undoubtedly been unbearably hard for the white cat brother and sister. Now that they had finally come to an absolutely safe place, even Bai Yang could no longer hold on, and he quickly fell asleep.

After leaving the siblings’ room, Feng Wu frowned slightly, a thoughtful look passing through his eyes.

Lin An’an sharply noticed the change. [What’s wrong, Brother Wolf?]

“Bai Yang and Bai Yue…” Feng Wu paused. “I’m a little suspicious of their identities.”

Xiong Yingjun immediately came over. “There’s something wrong with their identities? Don’t tell me they’re spies—bah, informants—planted here by the Second Legion?”

“No.” Feng Wu shook his head and opened his terminal to start searching the star network.

At that moment he was sitting on the sofa, and the terminal light screen was level with his head. Lin An’an, sitting on Feng Wu’s leg, could not see clearly, so he huffed and puffed his way up onto Feng Wu’s shoulder.

There were only two simple characters in the search bar: [Federation]

The search results were ranked by popularity. The hottest news item was a report saying that internal strife had broken out at the top levels of the Federation. The Council of Elders was allegedly dissatisfied with the current Supreme Leader and was said to be preparing a joint vote to replace her.

The Federation authorities had still not released any definite statement on the matter. But neither the Supreme Leader Gu Yubai nor a representative of the Council of Elders had come forward to deny it.

That had left the entire Federation populace in a state of anxiety.

However, the information Feng Wu was looking for this time was not that most popular piece.

He scrolled down and found a video recording of Gu Yubai during an interview.

In the video, Gu Yubai wore no makeup. Her long hair was tied up in a neat ponytail. She was dressed in the standard Federation military uniform, with the badge symbolizing her status as Supreme Leader pinned to her chest. Between her brows there was a sharp, heroic air.

The current Supreme Leader of the Federation was the first female leader in Federation history. More rare still, Gu Yubai’s public approval rating was extremely high, and she was deeply loved by the people.

In this video, the interviewer had asked Gu Yubai about her family situation. Gu Yubai had not gone into detail, only mentioning that she still had a younger brother and younger sister at home.

Si Youlin looked thoughtful. “You think… Bai Yang and Bai Yue are the younger brother and sister Gu Yubai mentioned?”

Feng Wu nodded. “Gu Yubai’s second form is a white lion. For blood-related family members, there’s a very high chance that their second forms will be of a similar genus—or even the exact same species.”

Si Youlin said, “But that alone isn’t enough to prove they’re brother and sister.”

“A few years ago, at a joint Federation–Empire conference, I had contact with Gu Yubai,” Feng Wu said. “The feeling Bai Yang’s mental power gives me is a little familiar.”

At once, Si Youlin let go of his doubts.

Among them, Feng Wu’s mental power was unquestionably the strongest. He could sense tiny details that others simply could not perceive.

Since he said it felt familiar, then Bai Yang and Bai Yue were very likely Gu Yubai’s younger siblings. Even if they were not, there was certainly some other connection between them.

Scratching his head, Xiong Yingjun looked full of confusion. “But… how could Gu Yubai let her younger brother and sister appear on Sin Star alone, and even… even end up being auctioned off like that?”

In the interview video just now, although Gu Yubai had glossed over the details regarding her younger brother and sister, the moment she mentioned them, the sharpness in her brows and eyes had visibly softened for an instant.

That fleeting one-second change in expression was enough to prove that she was very close to them.

But if she truly loved Bai Yang and Bai Yue that much, then even if the white cat siblings had contracted Alpha, there was absolutely no way she would simply let her still-young brother and sister go to Sin Star alone.

There were also many people with Alpha in the Federation. Even hiring a random caregiver would have been better than letting the siblings live on their own.

Xiong Yingjun and Si Youlin had already learned the white cat siblings’ situation from Lin An’an. Xiong Yingjun had even deeply regretted not being able to take part in blowing up the auction house.

If Bai Yang had not been lucky enough to run into Feng Wu and Lin An’an, who had snuck into the underground auction under false identities, then what awaited the white cat siblings next was something even Xiong Yingjun—who liked using his brain the least—could guess.

But the emotion Gu Yubai had revealed in that video did not seem fake.

Thinking of the hottest news headline he had just glanced at, Lin An’an could not help frowning.

Power struggles were the most normal thing in the world, but if innocent young children were harmed because of them, then Lin An’an felt nothing but disgust and revulsion toward such methods.

Suddenly, he thought of the second brother who had appeared in his dream.

…Come to think of it, could he also be one of the “sacrificial victims” of a power struggle?

Thinking of that smile from his second brother that had struck him as strange, thinking of how he—a “good-for-nothing”—had been specifically abandoned in the Poison Mist Forest of Sin Star, and thinking of the deadly medicine the Second Prince had allegedly released on Sin Star and all the related events Feng Wu had uncovered—

The more Lin An’an thought about it, the more possible it seemed. The more he thought, the more the entire cub felt something was deeply wrong.

Feng Wu sharply sensed the change in the little cub’s mood and tilted his head slightly. “baby An?”

The little cub shook his head, indicating he was fine, yet unconsciously pressed himself against Brother Wolf’s neck.

The warmth of his body temperature made Lin An’an feel much better.

—Sure enough, keeping his cover tightly in place was an extremely important thing!

In the mere three days Lin An’an had gone to the inner city, the construction of Happy Farm had already been completed.

Shi Xiaoxing had been given a few days off. Fortunately, before leaving, Lin An’an had given her a few seeds whose quality had been improved with his ability, so that she would not spend those days with nothing to do.

Lin An’an did not hurry to the farm immediately. Instead, he dragged Feng Wu with him to the biggest shopping mall in the outer city.

Although Bai Yue’s condition had stabilized, she was still too young. The auction house had been utterly inhumane and used too large a dosage on her. In the future, there was a certain chance her condition would recur, and her constitution would also remain much weaker than that of a normal cub.

Lin An’an’s powers had still not recovered much. Aside from the power he used to accelerate seed growth and to treat Brother Wolf and Brother Snake, there was not much ability left for him each day.

So they had to keep a treatment pod at home.

And besides… Lin An’an had a very bold idea. He needed actual hands-on testing to verify it.

Pharmacies in interstellar shopping malls generally sold home-use treatment pods. Lin An’an was not sure whether the pharmacies in the outer city carried them. If they did not, then they would have no choice but to spend a huge sum and make another trip into the inner city.

If they had not left in such a rush yesterday, they could easily have bought a treatment pod in the inner city before leaving.

Although selling vegetables had earned them quite a lot of money now, Lin An’an still felt that spending a thousand star coins just to enter the inner city again really made him seem like a complete sucker.

This time, their luck did not seem very good. They ran through every pharmacy in C City, yet not a single one sold treatment pods.

Lin An’an was dumbfounded, thinking that surely he was not actually going to have to make another trip into the inner city, was he?

Then the owner of the last pharmacy stopped them. “You can try your luck at a secondhand shop.”

Feng Wu paused and turned back around. “A secondhand shop?”

The owner nodded and gave them a specific address. “I saw a treatment pod there some time ago. It was pretty badly damaged, but the owner of that shop is a repairman, so he should be able to fix it.”

Lin An’an’s eyes lit up at once, and he quickly turned back to thank the owner.

But the owner smiled and said, “No need to thank me. I’m telling you this for selfish reasons.”

The little cub froze. Selfish reasons?

Then he heard the owner say, eyes full of expectation, “I’ve wanted to eat your tomatoes for a long time now, but I’ve never managed to grab any. I don’t want much—just one tomato, would that be okay?”

As he spoke, he could not help smacking his lips.

At one look, it was obvious this was one of the regular little fans from his livestream room!

Lin An’an was amused by how greedy for tomatoes the man looked and very generously gave him an entire bag of tomatoes.

For the little cub, this was just a small favor done in passing. For the owner, however, it was nothing short of wonderful news.

After Feng Wu took the little cub and walked away, the owner eagerly snapped nine straight photos of the tomatoes, then immediately posted them to his CrimeNet account, making countless people wail with envy.

Lin An’an knew nothing about that. Feng Wu had already brought him to the address the pharmacy owner had given.

This secondhand shop was located in an extremely remote place. If the pharmacy owner had not provided the address, Lin An’an would never have thought to come into such a narrow alley.

Feng Wu pushed open the shop door, and the old door let out a sharp, grating creak.

The shop owner was a sturdy middle-aged man. He was sitting directly on the floor, holding an old-fashioned electric hammer and pounding away at a piece of metal in front of him with loud clangs.

He wore a thin short-sleeved shirt and work pants. The sleeves had been rolled all the way up to his shoulders, exposing muscular, well-built arms. Dark gray grime stained his clothes, pants, and even the bare skin of his exposed arms.

Feng Wu had just started to say, “Boss—”

When the owner cut him off: “Selling or buying?”

Feng Wu answered, “Buying.”

“Then go look for what you want yourself.” The owner pointed behind him at the chaotic little shop. “The prices are all pasted on the machines. Fixed price, no bargaining. If you can accept it, then place an order. If you can’t, then I won’t sell.”

That was a fairly tactful way of putting it. Lin An’an felt the owner probably wanted more to say something along the lines of buy it if you want, get lost if you don’t.

The shop was small, but it was crammed full of things.

Feng Wu was too big, making it hard for him to get through some areas, so the little cub hopped down and bounced his way inward. At last, in the deepest part of the shop, he found what they were looking for.

It was a foldable mini treatment pod. Even in its largest mode, it could hold at most one adult.

Lin An’an huffed and puffed as he shifted the treatment pod a little, jumping up and down while searching for a long time, but he still could not find the price tag the shop owner had mentioned.

When he heard there was no tag, the owner did not even lift his head. “No price tag means it’s broken. Not for sale for the time being.”

The little cub thought to himself that this owner was actually pretty conscientious. If it was not repaired, he would not sell it.

Feng Wu said, “We need it urgently. It’s fine even if it’s broken.”

The owner asked, “What thing?”

Feng Wu replied, “The treatment pod.”

Only then did the owner stop what he was doing and look up at them. “The core of that treatment pod is broken. Unless you replace the core, it can’t be used.”

He wiped his hands, stood up, rummaged through a nearby pile of parts for a moment, and dug out a pitch-black “lump of metal.”

“This is it.” The owner raised a hand to wipe his sweat, and in doing so smeared more grime from his arm onto his face. “Broken beyond repair. It can’t be fixed.”

Feng Wu did not mind the filthy metal lump at all. After taking it and examining it, he said, “It’s fine.”

The owner raised an eyebrow. “You know how to fix it?”

Feng Wu did not answer that. He simply said, “Name your price.”

“If you really can fix it, then I don’t want any money for this treatment pod. You can take it as a gift.” As he spoke, the owner skillfully squeezed into the deepest part of the shop and dragged the treatment pod out.

The other things around it were pushed by him until they teetered dangerously. The little cub felt his heart jump, afraid everything would collapse and bury him underneath, so he hurriedly bounced after the owner and got out too.

Hearing the sound, the owner turned back and looked somewhat surprised. “This little cub…?”

“I brought him with me,” Feng Wu said. He bent slightly and caught the little cub as he jumped, using his fingers to brush off the dirt that had gotten on him.

The owner grunted. “You can take the treatment pod with you, but you have to agree to one condition.”

Lin An’an thought to himself, Just as expected—there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

“Once the treatment pod is fixed, let me use it once,” the owner said.

That was hardly any big matter. Feng Wu had absolutely no reason to refuse, only…

“There are treatment pods at the hospital too, and they’re not expensive.”

The owner shook his head. “Forget it. I don’t have much liking for those damned healers.” He clicked his tongue. “It’s not really some huge problem anyway. If it can be treated, then fine. If it can’t, then so be it. I can still live.”

Hearing that, healer’s instinct made Lin An’an immediately begin observing the shop owner more carefully.

This time, he noticed what felt wrong about the man.

The owner was wearing loose work pants, and only a section of his ankles showed. One leg had normal skin tone, but beneath the other pant leg, there was a faint metallic gleam.

…A mechanical prosthetic?

The shop door was pushed open from outside. Another customer had arrived.

The owner waved them off. “If there’s nothing else, then head back. Once it’s fixed, remember to contact me. My contact info is pasted by the door.”

After returning home, Feng Wu took out the filthy treatment pod and the core.

Lin An’an glanced at the lump of metal that was almost unrecognizable. [Can this really still be fixed?]

Feng Wu nodded. “Yes.”

The core was made of metal, and the inside had already been completely deformed. For anyone else, it truly would have been impossible to repair—but Feng Wu was different.

His power was metal-type. Even if metal objects were crushed into scraps, once they got into his hands, he could restore them back to their original form.

It was practically like cheating with an external hack, the little cub sighed inwardly.

Feng Wu asked, “What was that idea you said needed to be tested?”

Lin An’an snapped back to attention. [I want to try modifying the treatment mode of the treatment pod’s core.]

The moment he spoke about a field he was good at, the little cub’s beady eyes looked even brighter than usual.

[Treatment pods work by relying on the virtual treatment program inside the core. The essence of that program is a replication of a healer’s treatment ability.]

Feng Wu nodded. This was basic knowledge about treatment pods, and he understood it.

But in the very next second, his train of thought suddenly collided with the cub’s, and the movement of his hands paused.

[If—I mean, if.] The little cub looked a bit nervous. The tentacle he used for typing trembled excitedly across the light screen. [If the treatment program inside the core could replicate my healing ability instead?]

Feng Wu’s fingers clenched unconsciously.

If the treatment pod’s core could replicate baby An’s ability—

He lowered his head and looked deeply at Lin An’an.

The little cub was sprawled on top of the filthy treatment pod, and at some point he had once again gotten smudged with some dust and grime. Just then, a ray of sunlight from outside the window fell perfectly across the little cub’s body.

For that one brief instant, Feng Wu suddenly saw the figure of the Third Prince overlapping in front of him. That face still carrying a trace of youthful greenness was illuminated by the light, igniting a beam called hope.

In a moment of daze, he suddenly heard a little yingji.

Feng Wu came back to himself, only to see that the little cub had lost his footing. With a pa-ji, he tipped over flat onto his back inside the treatment pod and just so happened to get stuck in a narrow little gap.

The little cub struggled with all his might, his tiny tentacles flailing wildly. “Yingji!!!”

Stop staring!

Come save this cub already!!!

---

Click here to download the full novel. (EPUB & PDF)