Monster Cub Live Stream – CH39

Chapter 39

The way the young man was acting at this moment reminded Gu Yubai of the healers in the hospital when they were dealing with noncompliant patients.

…Though the one standing before her, the youth named Lin An’an, was himself a healer.

A faint trace of guilt suddenly rose in Gu Yubai’s heart, but it was quickly overwhelmed by something far stronger and more urgent.

“Thank you for your kindness,” Gu Yubai said, carefully choosing her words. “But I really do have something extremely important to do.”

Seeing that the expression on the young man’s face still did not change, Gu Yubai thought for a moment and simply came clean. “To be honest, my younger brother and sister are also on Sin Star. I need to go find them.”

And then she saw the youth in front of her curve his eyes and suddenly break into a brilliant smile. “Then all the more reason I can’t let you leave.”

Gu Yubai froze slightly. Before she could figure out what Lin An’an meant, the door to the room was pushed open once more.

A familiar meow sounded out: [What surprise? What surprise? Brother Xiong, stop keeping us in suspense already!]

Gu Yubai’s eyes flew wide, and she cried out in disbelief, “…Yangyang?”

The meowing stopped abruptly. Bai Yang and Bai Yue both popped their heads out of Xiong Yingjun’s arms, and in one glance they saw the familiar figure in the room.

[…Big Sister?!]

The room was temporarily given over to the three reunited siblings.

The siblings, brother and sister, had far too much to say after not seeing each other for so long. Feng Wu and Lin An’an quietly left the room and very thoughtfully chose not to disturb their reunion.

Lin An’an still had a livestream in the morning. Since Feng Wu needed to stay home today, he had Xiong Yingjun send Lin An’an—who had already changed back into his little cub form—to the farm.

[Why isn’t Wolf Bro here today?]

[Did Wolf Bro not get picked today? hahaha.jpg]

[First day without Wolf Bro. I miss him. wiping tears gif]

[LMAO the bullet comments are a bunch of drama queens.]

The weird and ridiculous comments made Lin An’an laugh. [Then next time we’ll do a Wolf Bro special—an entire stream with only Wolf Bro in it. How about that?]

The tone of the bullet comments changed instantly.

[No no no no, but a stream without cubby is even more unacceptable!!! Dame dame.jpg]

[Wolf Bro is great, but cubby is sweeter. A stream without cubby isn’t worth watching. wiping tears goodbye.jpg]

By the time the livestream ended and Lin An’an returned home, Si Youlin had already finished preparing today’s lunch.

Gu Yubai had clearly already had a talk with Feng Wu. She had changed out of the eye-catching clothes of the Supreme Commander and now looked very much as though she intended to settle here for a long stay.

With a broad wave of his hand, Xiong Yingjun pointed at Gu Yubai and solemnly said to Lin An’an, “Let me reintroduce her. This is the family’s newest member, Lin Tianqing. Everyone, please applaud and welcome her!”

The little cub was more than happy to oblige and clapped like a seal, giving the new household member an enthusiastic welcome.

Lin Tianqing was the disguise identity Gu Yubai would be using on Sin Star. While Lin An’an had been livestreaming, she had already arranged official identification for herself on Sin Star.

As for why her surname was Lin…

Xiong Yingjun proudly thumped his chest. “That was my suggestion!”

Everyone’s eyes turned toward him. Xiong Yingjun gave a grinning laugh. “Commander Gu was saved by An Cub. An Cub gave Commander Gu a second life, so naturally Commander Gu should take An Cub’s surname. That’s how it’s always written in novels!”

Gu Yubai blinked. “What he said actually makes sense, so I agreed.”

Lin An’an: “……”

Well… alright then. jpg

Gu Yubai said, “Xiong Yingjun said I can’t stay here for free and have to work for you.”

Lin An’an instantly lit up. [Sure! The farm just happens to be short on manpower.]

Gu Yubai paused slightly. “…The farm?”

[That’s right.] The little cub answered without the slightest trace of guilt. [My dream is to turn Sin Star into a major agricultural planet.]

Gu Yubai went silent for a second, then said, “What a wonderful dream!”

Once the joking and laughter died down, Feng Wu gave Lin An’an and Xiong Yingjun—who hadn’t been present—a rough retelling of the conversation he had had with Gu Yubai that morning.

The newest information Gu Yubai had brought from the Federation was that the Elders’ Council had changed drastically in recent days. She suspected that some people had come under outside control.

Lin An’an had already changed back into human form. Hearing this, he repeated, “Come under control?”

Feng Wu nodded. “We suspect it’s people from the X Galaxy.”

That suspicion was by no means baseless.

“I was just thinking before, how did those from the X Galaxy even take an interest in my seco… the Second Prince.” Lin An’an nearly let the truth slip right out of his mouth. “Turns out they really don’t put all their eggs in one basket.”

Xiong Yingjun spat in disgust. “Sinister! Crafty! Shameless!”

“If that’s the case, then they’ve definitely not only allied with the Empire and Federation.” Lin An’an frowned lightly. “They must also have ties with groups that exist outside both the Empire and Federation—especially those large star pirate organizations.”

The people of the X Galaxy clearly had no small ambitions, and they had not come with good intentions. Lin An’an did not believe they would let any opportunity pass them by.

Feng Wu inclined his head slightly. “Some time ago, Gu Yubai met with His Majesty.”

Lin An’an’s heart stirred.

The Emperor of the Empire—wasn’t that his father?

In all the memories he had recovered so far, this father of his had only appeared a handful of times, but not once had he left Lin An’an with a good impression.

Feng Wu’s gaze dropped to the pair of hands resting on Lin An’an’s knees.

When he heard the title His Majesty, though it was not obvious, the young man’s hands had indeed tightened slightly before relaxing again.

“Gu Yubai said His Majesty’s condition looked rather poor,” Feng Wu said. “He may be ill, or perhaps… like the members of the Federation’s Elders’ Council.”

Lin An’an fell silent for a moment, then gave a soft hum in acknowledgment.

Seeing that his mood had dipped, Feng Wu quickly moved past the subject.

“The energy-restoring grass planted last night has already matured,” he said. “When should we harvest it?”

Lin An’an’s attention was immediately diverted. “Right now! Energy-restoring grass has a long mature phase, but its best medicinal potency is within the first three days after maturing.”

He shot to his feet and ran straight for the stairs.

Feng Wu’s expression eased, and he followed after Lin An’an’s hurried footsteps.

His midday break was entirely sacrificed to the rooftop garden. After the afternoon livestream ended, Lin An’an returned home and plunged straight into the pharmacy room.

The herbs required for Red Potion and Blue Potion were now all complete. On top of that, there was the boosting divine ingredient Iron Whisker Grass that Tong Qiuxia had accidentally provided him with earlier. So the medicine Lin An’an was going to make today was the powerful mixed version of red and blue potion—Purple Potion.

Lin An’an was in an exceptionally good mood while making medicine. In fact, he was even thanking Tong Qiuxia in his heart.

If Tong Qiuxia had not delivered Iron Whisker Grass right to him, then today he would only have been able to make the basic version of Purple Potion.

The difference between the two versions was only one herb in the recipe, but the final effects were worlds apart.

If one dose of the basic version of Purple Potion could restore nearly ten percent of one’s mental power and ability, then the enhanced version could restore nearly fifty percent.

It was a pity that Purple Potion’s effect was too strong. It could only be taken once a week. If Lin An’an wanted to return to his peak state, he would have to wait patiently until the following week.

The liquid in the pot gradually turned a pale purple. Lin An’an picked up the prepared Iron Whisker Grass roots from the side and tossed them into the pot.

The pale violet deepened little by little into a rich, beautiful dark purple. Lin An’an turned off the heat, let it cool, and began bottling it. His excitement and anticipation were nearly beyond words.

—Though hidden within them was also the slightest trace of nervousness.

At that very moment, someone knocked on the pharmacy door. Hearing Feng Wu’s voice, Lin An’an let out a relieved breath and even felt a bit steadier inside.

Brother Wolf really does give people a sense of security, he thought, then went to open the door.

Feng Wu was holding a plate of pastries. The moment his eyes swept over the bottle of purple potion in Lin An’an’s hand, what he had originally meant to say immediately changed. “The potion’s already done?”

“Mhm.” Lin An’an nodded with a straight face. “I’m about to drink it.”

“In that case…” Feng Wu paused. “Then I’ll go out first.”

“No, no, no!” Lin An’an hurriedly stopped him. “Wolf Bro, stay!”

He grabbed Feng Wu by the wrist of the hand that wasn’t holding the plate, pulled him into the pharmacy, and pressed him down into a seat by the shoulders.

Lin An’an looked a little embarrassed, the tips of his ears dusted with a faint blush. “Wolf Bro, just sit right here.”

He did not explain why he wanted Feng Wu to stay, and Feng Wu did not ask. He only gave a quiet hum and set the plate of pastries down on the small table beside them.

Lin An’an let out a small sigh of relief in his heart. The bottle of Purple Potion in his hand had grown warm from his grip.

He no longer hesitated and downed the whole bottle in one go with his eyes shut.

For the first few seconds, there was no reaction at all. Lin An’an had great confidence in his potion, so he waited patiently a bit longer. Then a warm, overflowing sensation began bubbling up from his abdomen, surging through every part of his body before finally settling into the mental core and ability core in his brain.

…It felt so good.

His body swayed slightly. Feng Wu’s heart clenched, and before his mind could even catch up, his body had already reacted—he reached out and caught the seemingly unsteady young man.

“Are you alright?”

Lin An’an shook his head and steadied himself with one hand braced against Feng Wu’s arm. “I’m fine.”

It was only that the sudden fullness of mental power and ability felt unfamiliar. Other than that, he had absolutely no problem at all. In fact, he felt so good he almost wanted to run two laps around the whole of C City.

Feng Wu lowered his eyes and studied him. Only after seeing the excitement glimmering in those dark eyes, and not the slightest trace of pain, did he finally relax and step back.

At that moment, the pharmacy door was knocked on again.

Xiong Yingjun’s voice came from outside. “Boss, An’an, Lao Si says we can eat now. You two done yet?”

Feng Wu opened the door. Xiong Yingjun stood there holding a half-eaten grilled fish, enjoying the special treatment Si Youlin had started feeding him in advance.

“Coming, coming!” Lin An’an bounced twice in place. “Let me test my second form and then—”

Before he even finished the sentence, his form started changing.

Feng Wu, who had his back turned to him, had wanted to see whether Lin An’an’s second form would change in any way. But before he even had the chance to turn around, a sudden burst of soft elasticity slammed into him from behind.

The impact was immense. It knocked the completely unprepared Feng Wu to the floor—more precisely, it squashed him down.

The grilled fish in Xiong Yingjun’s hand hit the floor with a splat. Having witnessed everything, his pupils quaked. “…Holy shit!”

Feng Wu, pinned underneath: “……”

Lin An’an, forced into the act of flattening Feng Wu: “……”

With a poof, Lin An’an instantly changed back into human form, rushed forward in a few quick steps, and helped Feng Wu up off the floor. “Wolf Bro! Wolf Bro, are you alright?!”

Feng Wu rose to his feet in silence, backed out of the room, and then said, “Change again.”

Lin An’an also stepped back obediently and did exactly as told.

The pharmacy, which had not been spacious to begin with, was suddenly crammed full by a massive soft black blob. Lin An’an struggled to shift his direction in the packed room so that his eyes could still see Feng Wu and Xiong Yingjun.

Xiong Yingjun sucked in a sharp breath, and the grilled fish he had just picked up from the floor hit the ground once again with a slap.

“My good heavens—” Xiong Yingjun muttered in utter disbelief. “You’re bigger than Boss. Bigger by this—much!”

Feng Wu finally saw Lin An’an’s current second form clearly, and even his eyes widened more than usual.

…So big.

The giant slime blinked innocently. “Yingji.”

The voice was still soft and tender. It had lost some of the babyishness of his tiny cub form, but it was still cute enough to leave people dazed.

Once the initial shock passed, Xiong Yingjun transformed into a curious bear. “So you’ve recovered your adult size?”

Lin An’an answered, [I think so.] Then he paused briefly. [Ah, I think I can use mental speech now!]

The little black blob—no, the giant black blob—felt immeasurably comforted. So it wasn’t that he couldn’t learn mental speech after all. It had simply not been the right time yet!

“I’ve never seen a second form this huge before!” Xiong Yingjun clicked his tongue in amazement. “What species is a second form like this supposed to be?”

Lin An’an muttered softly, [Maybe a slime, who knows.]

Unlike the second forms of other species, monster was the umbrella term for all second forms without a specific species name. Every monster looked different, but all of them were highly distinctive.

The monster second forms Xiong Yingjun had seen before were usually fierce-looking and terrifying. Only Lin An’an’s cub form had been soft and tender. Who would have thought that his adult form would be this enormous?

Though it still looked very squishy, Xiong Yingjun couldn’t help sneaking another glance at the giant black blob, his hands itching just a little.

…It really looked incredibly nice to knead.

After thinking for a moment, Feng Wu asked, “Your second form stayed abnormal and stuck in childhood all this time. Was that related to your mental power?”

Lin An’an attempted to nod, but the moment he shifted, he noticed the chandelier overhead swaying precariously, so he could only answer aloud, [Probably.]

The commotion they were making was too loud to ignore. The others downstairs heard it and came up, only to be utterly stunned by the gigantic black blob that nearly filled the entire pharmacy room.

Lin An’an: “……”

Wonderful.

A brand-new scene of social death.

Gu Yubai looked curious. “If you stay like this without changing back into human form, can you even get out of the room?”

Lin An’an answered, [I don’t know.]

But he could try.

The giant slime blob squeezed toward the doorway. The people gathered at the entrance very sensibly stepped aside, leaving Lin An’an an exceptionally wide space.

The black blob squished and squeezed. Its round body deformed under the pressure, but at last, right before everyone’s stunned eyes, it successfully squeezed itself through the narrow doorway.

Xiong Yingjun stared blankly. “Are you made of water or something? A liquid?”

The response he got was a pair of eyes so huge they were larger than copper bells even without being widened, full of pure innocence.

Si Youlin asked, “If An’an is like this now, what about the livestream?”

Everyone fell silent.

Lin An’an felt troubled as well. His current size was far too exaggerated. If he kept livestreaming like this, such a giant form would definitely scare a lot of viewers.

And the key problem was that this didn’t look like the body of a little cub anymore. It might cause some people to start suspecting things.

Yes, that was right—he was very much talking about the Empire’s Second Prince.

Lin An’an sank into thought. His second form was clearly deeply linked to his mental power. The first time he took Blue Potion, which restored mental power, he changed from his second form back into human form. After that, he was able to understand mental speech.

And now, Purple Potion had restored fifty percent of his mental power in one go. His abnormally stuck child-stage second form had turned back into its adult version—

So didn’t that mean that as long as he learned to control the amount of mental power in his body, he might be able to turn his adult form back into the cub stage whenever he wanted?

Bai Yue, who was curled in Gu Yubai’s arms, poked her head out. She seemed very interested in this gigantic black monster ball.

She glanced up at Lin An’an, then cautiously leapt out of her sister’s arms and approached the giant black blob. Stretching out one tiny paw pad, she gave it a light press.

Soft and super comfortable.

Unable to resist, Bai Yue planted both front paws on it and began happily kneading away in pure kitten bliss.

The little kitten’s movements were very gentle. Lin An’an only felt a slight tickle in that spot.

He didn’t pay it much mind. Closing his eyes, he tried gathering up the happily surging mental power flowing through his whole body and cramming it all back into the mental core in his brain.

The next second, the giant monster ball deflated like a leaky balloon—poof—and in the blink of an eye shrank back down into a palm-sized little monster cub.

The kitten, who had been kneading away so happily, lost her footing all at once and fell flat onto the floor with a plop, letting out a confused meow.

Lin An’an lowered his head to look at his slender soft little tentacles, then proudly puffed out his chest and lifted his chin. “Yingji!”

Just look! His unique special skill!

Xiong Yingjun was full of wonder. “Amazing. This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone who can resize their second form.”

Si Youlin rarely agreed so quickly. “Same here.”

Gu Yubai pondered it for a moment, then suddenly had an idea. “Then in the future, if An’an runs into an enemy, doesn’t that mean he has one more killer move than the rest of us?”

Lin An’an didn’t catch on at first. [What killer move?]

“Monster crush,” Gu Yubai said with a straight face. “Same principle as Mount Tai pressing down on someone. You understand, right?”

A strange expression flickered across Feng Wu’s face for an instant. He gave a light cough and said, “It’s worth trying. If you strike unexpectedly and catch them off guard, it might actually have some surprising effects.”

Lin An’an: “……”

It… actually sounded strangely reasonable.

He snuck a glance at Feng Wu. Even Brother Wolf had been flattened by him, so other people probably stood even less of a chance, right?

Gu Yubai, now going by the name Lin Tianqing, officially stayed on in the C City home.

Naturally, hiding her identity was part of a plan—to let the Federation’s Elders’ Council believe their scheme had already succeeded.

As for everything else… Gu Yubai stated that right now, even if she wanted to rush things, she couldn’t. Coming to Sin Star was easy enough, but leaving Sin Star after arriving here was exceedingly difficult.

During another livestream, the viewers noticed that there was now one more mech hard at work on the farm.

[Did the farm hire a new worker?]

[One mech for Xingxing, one for Brother Xiong… could the third one be Wolf Bro?]

[There hasn’t been any recruitment posted from Happy Farm lately, so it’s probably Wolf Bro, right?]

[Think bigger. Maybe it’s Brother Roe Deer!]

Lin An’an answered, [It’s a new employee.]

Gu Yubai’s mech happened to drive over right next to the little cub. Lin An’an waved a little tentacle at her, and the mech cabin opened on cue. Wearing a wig and a disguise mask, Gu Yubai waved at the camera and greeted the viewers.

[! It’s a cool cool big sister!]

[I’ve gone numb, gone numb. My 101st day of wanting to work at Happy Farm. crying kitty jpg]

[Can I ask softly… when will healing produce be put up in the livestream shop? People in Z City would like to say we live way too far from C City and urgently need online shopping. big hopeful eyes jpg]

[Same, same! People in Y City need it very badly too!]

Put it up in the livestream shop… Lin An’an turned and glanced at the farm behind him.

[The production volume still isn’t enough right now.] Lin An’an answered honestly. [But Robe Bro and I are already discussing expansion.]

[Expansion? Like opening a new farm?]

[Will the new farm still be in C City? Or will it open in another city? rubbing hands excitedly jpg]

Lin An’an replied, [It’ll probably be opened in the wilderness.]

The plan to open a farm in the wilds had been temporarily interrupted by Gu Yubai’s arrival. But after a few days, Gu Yubai was basically healed, and the shelved plan was put back on the agenda.

That day, after the livestream ended, Lin An’an once again dragged Feng Wu out to the wilderness.

This time, their luck was good. Before long, they found a wide stretch of land highly suitable for growing fruits and vegetables.

They had come out rather late, and by now the sky had already darkened. Lin An’an marked the location and was just preparing to return to the city with Feng Wu.

Just then, the silver wolf suddenly raised his head and looked toward the direction from which the wind was blowing.

Lin An’an had just finished leaving the marker and had only just straightened up when he noticed the silver wolf staring toward the distance, his expression slightly grave.

“What’s wrong?”

Feng Wu answered, [There’s a smell of blood.]

Lin An’an’s brows immediately furrowed. It was not strange for there to be a smell of blood in the wilderness, but this was the land he had selected for the new farm. If there was blood nearby, then that likely meant this area was not safe.

“Let’s go take a look,” Lin An’an said.

Hopefully there wasn’t any large exotic beast nest nearby. If there was, then Brother Wolf would just have to work a bit harder and drive the beasts away.

The giant wolf lowered his front half on his own initiative, and the youth leapt onto his back with practiced ease and sat firmly in place.

Feng Wu quickly found the source of the scent of blood.

It came from a steep slope. Feng Wu stood at the edge and looked downward. With a wolf’s excellent night vision, he could make out what looked like a human-shaped being lying on a giant rock jutting out halfway down the slope.

On the opposite side of the slope, a gigantic exotic beast lay collapsed on the ground in a weakened state. Sensing someone’s approach, it struggled to lift its head, but still failed.

Lin An’an jumped down from the wolf’s back and peered down the slope.

Human eyesight could not compare to a wolf’s. He stared for a long while before asking, “Is that a person? Are they still alive?”

After identifying the figure for a moment, Feng Wu answered, [Yes. Still alive.]

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