Chapter 151
The inspector randomly accessed surveillance footage from a week ago, focusing on the cubs’ rooms.
Initially, he expected to see scenes of the cubs going berserk—after all, that was a common occurrence in the nursery.
To his surprise, the footage revealed something entirely unexpected: the eight cubs’ rooms were completely empty.
What’s going on?
What shocked him even more was that the rooms had undergone notable changes. The most obvious one was the addition of windows in each room.
Thanks to the windows, the rooms were bright even without the lights turned on.
The inspector’s sharp eyes also caught sight of small tables placed near the windows in rooms Four, Five, and Seven. On each table sat a bottle containing an unknown green plant, adding a touch of life to the small spaces.
Beyond this, the inspector quickly noticed another strange detail about the rooms—they were incredibly tidy!
Previously, apart from a few exceptions, it was nearly impossible for the cubs to keep their rooms intact. Furniture was often destroyed, especially in the rooms of Number Two, Six and Eight.
Yet, in this footage, not only was all the furniture intact and properly placed, but the high-definition cameras showed no trace of clutter or mess anywhere.
The inspector’s face was filled with disbelief.
Could it be that the cubs no longer lived here? He couldn’t think of any other explanation. But if that were true, where had the cubs gone?
Hurriedly, he switched the footage to the present day, not only checking the cubs’ rooms but also scanning other areas of the nursery. Sure enough, there wasn’t a single cub in sight anywhere.
Where did the cubs go?
Panic began to rise in the inspector, but he quickly recalled Guo Hui’s report and forced himself to calm down.
If Caretaker Su had done anything harmful to the cubs, Guo Hui, known for her meticulousness, would never have submitted the exceptional recruitment application.
After pondering this for a moment, he decided to review the footage from a week ago again. This time, he didn’t randomly select a time segment but instead played the entire day’s footage from morning to night.
When the time reached early morning and the cubs were seen in their beds, the inspector finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, as he observed the cubs lying quietly in their beds, covered snugly with their blankets, he was once again shocked.
Are these really the little monsters I remember?
Unable to resist, he fast-forwarded the footage to around 8 or 9 PM the previous evening.
This was usually the cubs’ most active time. They seemed to have boundless energy, and even when confined to their rooms, they never settled down.
They were chaotic, aggressive, and prone to causing disturbances—smashing tables and chairs was a daily occurrence, accompanied by screaming and shouting.
During their bloodline berserk phases, they became even more terrifying. Each time the inspector watched the surveillance, he wondered if the rooms would one day fail to contain the cubs’ wild rampages.
After all, the cubs were growing day by day, and their abilities were becoming stronger.
But what was he seeing now?
The usually ferocious Number Two had gone to bed early. Even the quiet Number Three had moved out of his corner and curled up under the covers.
Number Four tucked Number Five into bed and soothed her to sleep before returning to his own bed. He then sat cross-legged and began meditating with his eyes closed.
The emotionally unstable Number Six was leaning over a desk, holding a pen, and racking his brains as he wrote something. The usually well-behaved Number Seven was also writing furiously.
As for the hyperactive Number Eight, he was sprawled out on his bed, snoring away. Scattered around him were a few sheets of paper and a pen.
The newest addition, Number Nine, who the inspector wasn’t very familiar with, lay obediently in bed, causing far less shock by comparison.
Curious, the inspector rewound the footage for Number Four, Five, and Eight, watching them before bedtime. He discovered that they, too, had been holding pens and writing.
Zooming in on the footage, he could make out the clumsy handwriting on the paper—they were actually writing!
The inspector was dumbfounded.
Since when did the nursery’s little monsters learn to write? Who taught them? And how? Could they really sit quietly and focus on writing?
To him, the sight was utterly bizarre.
“This footage must be doctored,” the inspector muttered to himself.
Overwhelmed by shock, he didn’t notice the faint flicker on the screen in front of him. Even if he had, he likely wouldn’t have paid it much attention.
As he recognized the cubs’ crooked handwriting and deciphered what they were writing, the inspector froze. Hastily, he opened the system’s backend.
The cubs’ growth diaries had already been uploaded and archived.
The inspector casually opened one entry and saw on the left side of the page the cub’s clumsy, childlike handwriting, while the right side displayed a translated version.
Without taking a closer look, he opened another diary and then another. Apart from a few exceptions, nearly all followed the same format. Glancing back at the surveillance footage of the cubs writing furiously, the inspector immediately understood:
These growth diaries were written by the cubs themselves!
How did that caretaker Su manage to achieve this?!
The inspector quickly continued watching the footage. He saw that, after nightfall, all the cubs remained calm and quiet. Even when some of them got up in the middle of the night, they moved with utmost care, as if afraid of making any noise. This left him feeling a mix of emotions.
As time advanced to around 5 AM, the cubs began waking up one by one.
They entered the bathroom to wash up, their movements still careful and quiet. After getting dressed, they either squatted or stood uniformly, all looking up at the clock on the wall.
When the clock struck 6 AM, they suddenly dashed toward the room doors. To the inspector’s astonishment, the tightly shut metal doors opened automatically.
Watching the cubs happily rush out of their rooms, the inspector was stunned once again.
How is it possible for these children to leave their rooms without the company of a caretaker or a nanny robot? Who opened the doors?
This was a serious violation of nursery regulations!
But the most critical part was…
The inspector’s gaze shifted to the surveillance footage of Number Two. His eyes widened as he watched the boy fully transform into a Crimson Flame Tiger—a complete beast form. Seeing the tiger pace out of the room, the inspector almost hit the alarm button.
Then he remembered: this footage was from a week ago.
He could only hope that nothing terrible had happened at the nursery that day. However, Guo Hui’s advanced application for the caretaker’s official position popped into his mind.
Could it be that Caretaker Su had successfully resolved the situation that day?
The inspector immediately perked up, fully focused and ready to find out how the caretaker handled this unexpected crisis.
He entered a command to retrieve all footage of the Crimson Flame Tiger from that day and began watching intently.
Up until this incident, Number Two had experienced frequent berserk episodes but had never fully transformed into his beast form.
Complete beastification meant a total loss of reason, leaving only primal instincts. And as one of the Top Ten Ferocious Beasts, the Crimson Flame Tiger’s inherent ferocity was unimaginable.
Just watching the surveillance footage made the inspector break into a cold sweat.
Would the nursery’s cubs remain unharmed?
This wasn’t just about his professional responsibilities. After witnessing their obedient and peaceful behavior the night before, the inspector’s impression of these “little monsters” had already shifted.
Who wouldn’t like such adorable cubs? Besides, as someone who worked as an inspector at the nursery, he was inherently compassionate.
So the question gnawed at him:
Would this fully beastified Crimson Flame Tiger harm the other children in the nursery?
In the surveillance footage, the Crimson Flame Tiger was leisurely strolling out of the room when a lively figure burst out from the stairwell.
A boy with wolf ears cheerfully greeted the little tiger, his face lit up with a bright, joyful smile—the kind of openness and happiness the inspector had never seen on Number Eight before.
When did Number Eight and Number Two become so close? And didn’t this boy notice that Number Two was in full beast form? Why didn’t he show even a hint of fear?
Thankfully, the Crimson Flame Tiger didn’t attack the young wolf cub.
It lazily glanced at the boy, seemingly nodding slightly, before continuing its slow pace toward the stairs.
Meanwhile, the boy entered Number Three’s room, and moments later, came running out with a younger boy on his back, sprinting toward the stairwell.
Next to emerge were the lion siblings, who headed straight into the elevator.
The hallway on the fourth floor fell quiet, and the inspector quickly switched to another surveillance feed. He finally spotted the cubs again in the second-floor hallway.
The first to appear was the wolf cub carrying Number Three on his back. Leading the charge, he ran like the wind toward the dining hall.
As he dashed down the hallway, the elevator doors opened, and the lion siblings stepped out. Shortly after, another elevator opened, revealing Number Six, Seven, and the newcomer, Number Nine.
The group walked together, and it was clear that Number Five and Number Nine had a close bond. As soon as Number Five saw Number Nine, she let go of her brother’s hand and waddled over on her short legs to join her.
The two little girls—one with lion ears and the other with rabbit ears—held hands, chatting happily.
The three boys walked close together, occasionally exchanging a few words.
Watching this scene, who wouldn’t describe it as harmonious and full of camaraderie?
But the heartwarming moment was soon interrupted by a figure emerging from the stairwell behind them.
When the Crimson Flame Tiger appeared at the stairwell entrance, the inspector’s heart leaped to his throat.
However, the disaster he feared didn’t occur.
The cubs clearly noticed the Crimson Flame Tiger, but they merely glanced back, some even waving at it, before turning their attention back to the dining hall.
The Crimson Flame Tiger followed them into the dining hall.
The inspector quickly pulled up the dining hall footage and saw all the cubs sitting around the same table in perfect harmony—except for Number Six.
The blond boy sat alone at a separate table, giving the impression of being excluded.
But hadn’t their interactions in the hallway just moments ago seemed perfectly fine? The inspector was puzzled.
Previously, Number Six had always left an impression of being mischievous, moody, and hard to communicate with—a far cry from the polite and gentle boy in the footage now.
Why would someone like that be left out?
Just as the inspector was mulling over Number Six’s social situation, the Crimson Flame Tiger’s movements drew his attention away. The tiger had begun to stride deeper into the dining hall.
But as it turned out, his nervousness seemed completely unnecessary.
In the footage, the Crimson Flame Tiger never attacked the other cubs. After entering the dining hall, it went straight to the table where Number Six was seated and crouched down across from him.
The inspector even saw Number Six smile at the tiger.
Soon, the nanny robots began serving breakfast. In addition to the nutrient gel, each cub was given two bright red fruits.
The inspector immediately recognized them as Star-chain Fruits. Even through the surveillance footage, he could tell that these fruits were at least Grade A in quality!
Since when did Base 24’s plantation produce such high-grade fruits? Are they just handing these out now?
In the footage, the cubs quietly enjoyed their breakfast, eating their nutrient gel and munching on the Star-chain Fruits. Even the Crimson Flame Tiger sat by the table, calmly eating its portion of meat gel.
Watching this harmonious scene, the inspector could hardly believe his eyes.
This is nothing short of a miracle!
How on earth did Caretaker Su manage this?
Shortly after, Guo Hui received the inspector’s signed confirmation from the nursery, along with a series of questions.
However, she had no time to respond just yet. After submitting the application and requesting urgent processing, she was busy answering messages from several influential leaders at the base.
The Operations Division, Security Division, and even the Medical and Purification Division all reached out to her directly, hoping to recruit Su into their departments.
But how could Guo Hui make decisions on behalf of someone like Su CI? After diplomatically brushing off their requests, she sent Su Ci a message herself.
Although the formal approval was still pending, it was clear that Su Ci’s promotion to a permanent position was already a done deal. Wanting to show the base’s appreciation, she decided to share the good news with him in advance.
This time, people from Base 26 had also witnessed the battle.
No way could they let Base 26 poach Su Ci!
Meanwhile, Su Ci, who had just left the Demon Flower Valley, continued receiving notifications on his communicator from Base 24. The device was chiming incessantly.
He glanced at the messages briefly but didn’t bother to respond.
He was quite content working at the nursery and had no plans to leave for the time being. Besides… he had made promises to those children. He wasn’t about to break his word.
Activating his spiritual shield, Su Ci and A-Yan made their way toward the tallest mountain peak.
The dispersal of the human base’s rules of power had little impact on the mountains. In fact, the area was now quieter, as many of the monsters and vengeful spirits had been relocated to the base.
The source of the river lay high in the mountains, occupied by a Water Demon.
The eyes Su Ci had seen in the pool that day belonged to this very demon.
It resided in water sources throughout the mountain range, monopolizing all water supplies, including the river’s source. To restore the river’s flow, the Water Demon would have to be dealt with.
Although Su Ci had expended a significant amount of energy earlier by defeating over a hundred monsters, he had absorbed a chain from the sealing barrier, unlocking part of his strength. Taking down the Water Demon wouldn’t be too difficult.
However, before Su Ci and A-Yan reached the pool, the creature hidden within seemed to sense danger. Without waiting for them to make a move, it quickly attempted to flee.
Unfortunately for it, it was facing two of the most terrifying beings in existence.
With a single step forward, Su Ci trapped the Water Demon within the pool, preventing it from escaping into the ground.
Before the Water Demon could make a desperate struggle, A-Yan pulled out a miniature version of the work manual. Holding the book open in one hand and pointing at the pool with the other, he spoke in a hoarse voice:
“I declare, this place is part of the nursery. All water-related beings here are now cubs.”
Platinum-colored rule energy surged forth, enveloping the small pool entirely.
The work manual in A-Yan’s hand began to float into the air, and a new page appeared within it.
A-Yan continued, “All cubs must obey the caretaker’s orders.”
His words transformed into a line of text etched onto the new page, solidifying into a new rule under the glow of the platinum light.
Although Su Ci wasn’t particularly fond of A-Yan abusing his powers, this was the first time he had witnessed the combat abilities of a Spirit of Rules. He found it rather entertaining.
He stroked his chin and, when A-Yan turned to look at him, joined in by saying, “Water Demon, come out and show yourself.”
The work manual glowed even brighter.
Under the constraints of the rule energy, a small, blood-red blob of water bounced out of the pool with an audible duang-duang-duang.
