Monster Cub Live Stream – CH47

Chapter 47

Capital Star, Amio Palace.

With a loud bang, Xia Yuanhan flipped over the tea table in front of him, sending everything on it scattering across the floor.

Fan Xiu shuddered on instinct, and one of the objects flying off the table smacked him squarely in the forehead.

The Second Prince was in the middle of a furious rage. Fan Xiu did not dare make even the slightest sound, afraid the other party would turn that anger on him.

Xia Yuanhan’s chest heaved violently as he glared at the projection in the middle of the room and ground out through clenched teeth, “Didn’t you say no one would be able to cure Alpha? Then what exactly is going on now?!”

“Calm down.” The mechanical voice remained as cold as ever. “The appearance of someone like this was beyond all of our expectations. It isn’t something I wanted to see either.”

Xia Yuanhan said coldly, “And you think I wanted to see it?”

“Xia Yuanhan.” The projected figure stepped forward and stopped just one pace away from him. “What matters most right now is changing strategy in time and coming up with a new plan, not standing here venting your emotions.”

“A new plan?” Xia Yuanhan repeated. “Easy for you to say. Then tell me—what direction exactly are we supposed to take with this so-called new plan?”

He let out a cold laugh. “The most crucial step in the original plan has already been interrupted. Now everyone is looking to that Lin An’an as their leader. He’s their light, the savior of the whole world, the hope that pulled them out of the fire and water—”

“And what about me?” Xia Yuanhan could no longer suppress his anger. With a sweep of his arm, a whole row of books on the nearby shelf came crashing down. “And I am nothing more than a coward who only knows how to hide in the palace, one who doesn’t even dare send a research team to Sin Star!”

The mechanical voice replied, “That’s not what StarNet is saying about you.”

“They aren’t saying it,” Xia Yuanhan sneered, “only because they’re afraid of my status. Who knows how many people are thinking it but don’t dare say it out loud.”

“You’ve already decided to send a team to Sin Star, haven’t you?” the mechanical voice said. “Since that’s the case, we may as well go along with the situation and carefully screen the candidates for the team.”

“Of course I know the candidates have to be screened carefully. But in a situation like this, even if I personally go to Sin Star, I’ll never be the savior.”

The mechanical voice fell silent.

“Lan’er Site, this is not what we agreed on in the beginning.” Xia Yuanhan stepped forward until he was almost pressed against the projected figure. “In the spirit contract we signed, you help me become ruler of the entire galaxy, and I help you deploy Kairo Stones and find suitable candidates for you to transform into evolved humans—”

“But now, I helped you deploy the Kairo Stones, while the position of ruler of the galaxy is still nowhere in sight.” Xia Yuanhan’s gaze turned cold. “Lan’er Site, have you forgotten? Anyone who violates a spirit contract will suffer backlash from the contract.”

The projection called Lan’er Site said, “Of course I remember. We drafted the contents of the contract together—how could I forget?”

Xia Yuanhan nodded. “Good. As long as you remember.”

He turned around, ordered Fan Xiu to set the overturned tea table back up, and said without looking back, “In that case, come over and help me work out the next plan.”

But what Xia Yuanhan failed to see was that Lan’er Site, who had kept a completely icy expression the entire time behind him, suddenly revealed a strange smile.

A spirit contract?

How could something from such a low-grade star system possibly affect a fully evolved modified human?

The one-week interval had arrived, and Lin An’an immediately drank a dose of purple medicine.

His ability core, which had been empty for several days, filled up once again. Lin An’an closed his eyes and felt it carefully, then suddenly let out a puzzled little sound.

“What is it?” Feng Wu, who had been guarding at his side the whole time, asked at once. “Is something wrong?”

“This time, my ability only recovered to less than forty percent.” Lin An’an frowned and instinctively looked down at the now-empty medicine bottle in his hand.

The last time he drank purple medicine, it had restored a full fifty percent of his ability. Since both batches of medicine had come from the same pot, there should not have been such a huge difference in effect.

If the medicine wasn’t the problem, then the issue had to be with him.

The moment that thought appeared, Lin An’an’s heart tightened.

…Please don’t let something go wrong at a time like this.

Feng Wu saw the worry on his face and gently pressed down on his shoulder. “Don’t be afraid.”

Just those two short words instantly calmed Lin An’an down. He nodded and closed his eyes again, beginning a fresh inspection of his ability core.

A moment later, he made another sound of surprise.

But this time, his voice was full of disbelief and a trace of delight.

When he opened his eyes, Feng Wu asked, “How is it?”

“The capacity of my ability core… has expanded.” Lin An’an muttered in shock, then immediately checked again. “It really expanded!”

No wonder the same medicine had restored fifty percent before but less than forty percent today—it was because the upper limit of his ability had gone up.

Lin An’an was delighted, but also confused.

Normally, the capacity of an ability core became basically fixed after adulthood. The best time to improve an ability core’s capacity was after awakening one’s ability and before reaching adulthood.

After that, the only option was to force expansion with medicine. But that method showed very little effect, while also carrying the risk of irreversible bodily damage, so almost no one chose to use it.

And yet now, not only had his ability core capacity increased after adulthood, but he had not taken any medicine for that purpose at all.

This kind of natural expansion of an ability core normally only happened before adulthood.

Naturally, Feng Wu understood the logic too. He asked, “Do you feel any discomfort anywhere now?”

“No.” Lin An’an shook his head. “I feel great right now—better than I did before this last overdraw of my ability.”

“In that case, there’s no need to worry for now,” Feng Wu said. “You awakened your ability after reaching adulthood. Maybe because of that, your ability core is still in a growth phase and still has room to expand.”

Lin An’an’s eyes lit up. “You’re right.”

He had awakened much later than everyone else. By that logic, the ability core inside his body was indeed still in a growth stage—maybe even an early stage.

If that was the case—

“Brother Wolf, wait a second.” As he spoke, Lin An’an sat back down beside the medicine table and began writing and drawing on his terminal screen.

Feng Wu glanced over. “These are… medicinal herbs?”

“That’s right.” Lin An’an answered while drawing, “These herbs can nourish and protect the ability core. If used during the ability core’s growth stage, they can increase its capacity and also help strengthen and stabilize the wall of the core.”

“Good.” Feng Wu nodded. “When you finish, send me a copy. I’ll have people start buying these herbs.”

Lin An’an smiled at him. “Thank you, Brother Wolf.”

The boy’s smile was brilliant, and the joy in his black eyes made them look even brighter than usual.

Feng Wu swallowed, his Adam’s apple moving involuntarily. He looked away and said softly, “You… you don’t have to keep thanking me all the time.”

But his voice was too low, and Lin An’an was too focused on sorting out the herb list, so he didn’t hear clearly.

“What did you say, Brother Wolf?” The boy spared him a glance. “I didn’t catch that.”

Feng Wu paused, then said, “…Nothing.”

Lin An’an let out an “oh,” then soon looked up again. “Done. I’ll send you the electronic copy later. I’ll send Grandpa He one too. Maybe if his luck is good, he’ll be able to find some in the Sin Star wilderness.”

“Alright,” Feng Wu said, then checked the time. “It’s about time. Let’s go eat first.”

When the two of them came downstairs, they happened to run into Xiong Yingjun and Zhang Yifeng, who had just returned from outside.

“Where’s Squid Bro?” Lin An’an didn’t see Wuhu La behind them. “Still not back yet?”

“He’s still guarding the fissure,” Zhang Yifeng said. “We’re doing shifts. After we eat, we’ll pack him a share and bring it over.”

Xiong Yingjun thumped his chest and said, “That’s right—he takes noon shift, I take the night shift. An’an, don’t worry. We absolutely won’t let a single person get close to that fissure!”

Lin An’an struggled to pat Xiong Yingjun on the shoulder. “Good work. Thanks for all your hard work!”

Si Youlin had stewed bone soup for lunch, and the whole house was filled with its rich fragrance.

Feng Wu went into the kitchen to help. “It’ll probably be ready in another ten minutes or so.”

A chorus of responses immediately rang out from the living room.

Bai Yue was still watching her beloved The Adventures of Kitty, and a whole group of people sat on the sofa watching TV with her.

Gu Yubai was holding her younger siblings, and the terminal screen on her wrist was lit up. Her lips were pressed together. Whatever message she had just seen, it had left her expression rather grave.

“Bear Bro, come with me for a second.” Lin An’an beckoned to Xiong Yingjun.

Hearing that, Xiong Yingjun—who had just stolen a piece of roast meat from the kitchen—hurried over. “An’an, what is it?”

“My ability has recovered a little more,” Lin An’an said. “Come upstairs. I’ll treat your Alpha.”

Xiong Yingjun’s eyes lit up on the spot. “Got it!”

Ever since returning from the fissure that day, every single hair on Xiong Yingjun’s body had fallen out—completely gone, even his eyebrows.

Without eyebrows, his face looked weird no matter how one looked at it. So Shi Xiaoxing kindly contributed her makeup kit and took up the daily mission of drawing eyebrows on him.

Xiong Yingjun had resisted a little at first, until he discovered that without eyebrows he had nearly scared little Bai Yue into tears. After that, he obediently accepted Shi Xiaoxing’s kindness.

Thankfully, her makeup skills were truly good—she had restored his old brows with near-perfect accuracy, and Xiong Yingjun was very satisfied.

The trip upstairs wasn’t far. On the way, Xiong Yingjun chattered on and on, bitterly complaining about the miserable life of being hairless.

At the end he asked, “An’an, once my Alpha symptoms are completely cured later, my hair will grow back right away, right?”

“That probably won’t happen.” Lin An’an said. “Curing your Alpha symptoms can only stop the hair from falling out like before. It can’t make your hair grow back overnight. Growing hair still takes time.”

The light in Xiong Yingjun’s eyes dimmed at once, as if life itself had lost all hope.

Lin An’an patted his arm consolingly. “The ingredients for the hair-growth medicine still aren’t complete, so I can’t make it yet. But you can talk to Snake Bro and ask him to cook you some food that helps nourish your hair. Maybe that’ll make it grow faster.”

“Alright, then.” Xiong Yingjun still sounded dispirited. “By that logic, Old Four’s gonna make fun of me for a long time.”

Lin An’an smiled with bent eyes.

The treatment process went very smoothly, and the two of them came back downstairs just before lunch was served.

Si Youlin set a large pot of bone soup on the table and arched a brow when he saw Xiong Yingjun coming down. “What? Did the Alpha not get cured?”

Xiong Yingjun immediately shot back, “It’s cured! An’an said my hair will grow back before long!”

“There’s still ‘some time’ before that, huh…” Si Youlin deliberately dragged out his tone and, unsurprisingly, earned a glare from Xiong Yingjun.

He smiled and stopped teasing the simple-minded big fellow.

After lunch, Zhang Yifeng went out with Feng Wu, carrying Wuhu La’s packed meal.

What surprised Lin An’an was that on the road they ran into quite a few other people, and those people seemed to be heading in the same direction.

“A lot of people have been going to the fissure lately just to look around,” Zhang Yifeng said. “Some even tried touching the ability barrier you set up. Wuhu La and Xiong Yingjun stopped them all.”

After shifting back into his tiny cub form, Lin An’an looked surprised. [What’s there to look at? Aren’t they afraid the barrier might crack?]

Zhang Yifeng gave him a look. “Will it crack?”

[Under normal circumstances, no.] Lin An’an said. [But the existence of this fissure was abnormal from the start.]

“Then let them look if they want,” Zhang Yifeng said with a sudden smile. “You may not have noticed, but most people on Sin Star—or rather most people across the whole galaxy—trust you very deeply.”

Feng Wu glanced at him. “Zhang Yifeng.”

Zhang Yifeng raised both hands in surrender. “Fine, fine, I’ll stop.”

Being trusted was a good thing. But being trusted by too many people in that way could just as easily bring immense pressure and burden.

Feng Wu lowered his eyes toward Lin An’an, worried that the other boy might take that burden onto himself again.

But instead of feeling pressured, the little cub puffed out his chest proudly and said, [Well, of course. This cub was always worthy of trust.]

Zhang Yifeng burst out laughing and shot Feng Wu a look that plainly said, See? Told you so.

Feng Wu froze for two seconds, then smiled faintly.

He had underestimated Lin An’an. His Third Prince was stronger and more remarkable than he had realized.

Feng Wu and Zhang Yifeng shifted into their second forms. As before, Lin An’an curled up comfortably in the thick fur on the silver wolf’s back.

The three of them soon reached the fissure.

A giant squid was standing guard there. Aside from Wuhu La, there were quite a few unfamiliar faces too. They were standing there much like him, as if keeping watch over the crack.

Zhang Yifeng explained, [The C City lord sent some people too, to guard the fissure with us. Some others are just enthusiastic locals from the wilderness. They said they came voluntarily to help as thanks for you saving their lives before.]

As he spoke, a very familiar black panther suddenly rushed toward them.

Feng Wu immediately entered a guarded state. The muscles under his fur tensed as he watched the approaching black panther warily.

Lin An’an poked his head out from the thick wolf fur and felt that the black panther looked a little familiar.

The panther stopped just in front of Feng Wu, looking obviously nervous. His eyes were full of gratitude when he looked at Lin An’an.

As if feeling it wasn’t appropriate to stay in second form, the panther suddenly shifted into a young man.

Rubbing his hands nervously, he said, “About before… thank you for saving me, An Cub.”

Lin An’an studied him for a moment, his eyes pausing on the wounds visible on the young man’s skin. Then he remembered who he was.

—This was the first person he and Bear Bro had saved on the way to the fissure, the black panther covered in wounds and losing blood everywhere.

Lin An’an smiled kindly. [No need to thank me.]

The black panther smiled shyly. “My name is Han Qing. If you ever need anything in the future, just come find me.”

[Okay.] Lin An’an nodded.

The moment he got Lin An’an’s agreement, Han Qing’s whole face flushed red. The dark complexion on his face showed an obvious blush, making him look adorably simple and honest.

Wuhu La had already started eating the still-warm meal Zhang Yifeng brought him. Zhang Yifeng shifted back to human form and stood by the fissure, staring straight at the glowing green surface as if lost in thought.

“You’re planning to go down and take a look, aren’t you?” Zhang Yifeng asked.

Lin An’an hopped off the wolf’s back. [To be exact, I’m going down alone.]

The moment those words came out, Wuhu La stopped eating, Zhang Yifeng frowned at him, and Feng Wu also changed back into human form.

The three of them almost said in unison, “No.”

The little cub lifted his head. “???”

Why not?

[There are still Alpha energy waves below the fissure.] Lin An’an explained. [No one knows what might happen from close contact with the source of the spread. Me going alone is the safest option.]

Zhang Yifeng said sternly, “Exactly. No one knows what might happen from close contact, so you’re not going either.”

Wuhu La swallowed the meat in his mouth. “An’an, it’s too dangerous for you to go alone.”

After thinking for a moment, Feng Wu asked, “That movable ability barrier you made for us before—can it be made portable?”

[Yes.] Lin An’an answered. [You’re planning to take the barrier and go down with me?]

Feng Wu nodded. “From the very beginning, I assumed the two of us were going down together.”

The little cub opened his mouth as if to object.

Feng Wu didn’t give him the chance. “If I’m not going, then neither are you.”

His attitude was firm, leaving absolutely no room for argument.

Lin An’an could only say, [Fine.]

The cub hopped forward and landed in Feng Wu’s palm. Soft green light, the same color as the fissure’s surface, rapidly covered Feng Wu’s whole body and slowly settled against his skin.

[We’ll go down in Silver Armor.] Lin An’an said. [If anything feels wrong once we’re below, we’ll have Silver Armor bring us back out immediately.]

Without another word, Feng Wu released Silver Armor from his space.

Silver Armor’s eyes flashed, as if it were greeting them.

Lin An’an froze for a second. Little Master?

“Silver Armor.” Feng Wu’s voice carried a trace of warning.

Silver Armor immediately fell silent and linked up with Feng Wu’s spiritual power.

[Don’t talk nonsense in front of him.] Feng Wu said through the spiritual link.

Silver Armor sounded puzzled. [But Silver Armor wasn’t talking nonsense. Silver Armor made a careful observation and conclusion before—]

Feng Wu cut it off. [Stop talking. We have something important to do.]

Silver Armor answered at once, [Understood, Master.]

After a short pause, it added, [Master, you look very handsome all glowing green too.]

Feng Wu: […]

The huge silver mecha soon rose into the air and slipped down into the fissure.

Lin An’an kept his attention fixed on Feng Wu’s condition. Once Silver Armor had fully descended below the fissure line, he shifted into human form and asked, “How do you feel?”

Feng Wu sensed for a moment. “I’m fine.”

A little later, Lin An’an asked again, “And now?”

Feng Wu replied, “Still fine.”

After a while more, Lin An’an said, “Brother Wolf—”

“I’m fine.” This time Feng Wu cut him off and looked at him with helplessness in his eyes. “If something feels wrong, I’ll tell you. Don’t worry.”

Lin An’an still frowned, clearly unconvinced.

Then he thought for a moment, suddenly reached out, and grabbed one of Feng Wu’s hands tightly.

Feng Wu instinctively tried to pull it back, but it didn’t budge.

The hand holding his was a size smaller than his own, with a soft, warm palm that made his heart quiver a little.

Only after a while did Feng Wu swallow and find his voice again. “…An’an?”

“I’m borrowing your hand for a bit.” Lin An’an’s face was serious. “I’m using it to monitor the state of your spiritual core. You focus on piloting.”

Feng Wu’s first instinct was to say no need, but the words never left his lips. He lowered his gaze to their joined hands, then changed what he was going to say. “Alright.”

Silver Armor: [Wow.]

Feng Wu: [Silver Armor, shut up.]

Silver Armor: [Yes, Master. Hehe.]

Feng Wu: […]

The fissure was very deep. The farther down they went, the more the rock walls on either side seemed to draw inward.

Feng Wu had to slow Silver Armor down so its huge body wouldn’t scrape the walls and trigger some uncontrollable accident.

What neither of them expected was that after passing through a narrow, cave-like channel, the path below suddenly widened.

The stone walls on both sides became far flatter and smoother. After observing them for a bit, Lin An’an said, “Looks like it was artificially carved out.”

Feng Wu nodded in agreement.

The path ahead grew even broader, so Feng Wu increased Silver Armor’s speed again. But not long after, the mech cabin rang with one of Silver Armor’s alerts.

“Warning! Energy body detected ahead. Shall it be destroyed?”

After sending out his spiritual power to probe, Feng Wu said, “It’s an energy shield. Unknown energy source.”

Silver Armor sounded excited. “Master, would Silver Armor be allowed to fire an energy cannon?”

It had been cooped up in mech space for too long and hadn’t used its cannon in ages, leaving it itching to do so.

But Feng Wu simply said, “No.”

He spread his spiritual power across the shield, and after a moment, a silver-white glow lit up ahead where nothing had seemed to be before.

Several crisp ka-cha sounds rang out, and the silver-white barrier shattered into fragments and scattered away.

With that shield gone, the scene below became visible at a glance.

Beautiful blue-violet light spilled upward, illuminating the dark depths of the fissure in dazzling brightness.

Though the timing wasn’t right, Lin An’an still couldn’t help saying, “It’s beautiful.”

Silver Armor suddenly sounded enlightened. [So that’s how it is.]

Feng Wu: [? How what is?]

Silver Armor answered dreamily, [Master is planning to confess here, right? It’s so beautiful here. Master is so romantic! Little Master will definitely say yes to your confession!]

Feng Wu: […] Silver Armor, stop talking.

Silver Armor: [Yes, Master.]

A moment later, Silver Armor added: [Go for it, Master!]

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