Chapter 154
Nursery Room 302
A-Yan entered the room and glanced around. The layout was nearly identical to the adjacent room, but the lack of lived-in traces gave it a stark, empty feel, leaving him somewhat disappointed.
However, he quickly shook off the feeling and cheered himself up.
He had waited millions of years, so what was one night? Tomorrow, he would see Su Su again, be close to him again.
With that thought, A-Yan began tidying up the room a bit before sitting down on the sofa. His true form materialized as he allowed his concealment to fade.
When he was outside with Su Su, he still instinctively hid himself. After all, at the nursery, he no longer had a clear identity, and now that he appeared in his adult form, he felt even more distant from his surroundings.
He didn’t have much desire to interact with other beings.
For millions of years, he had lived this way. Even during the ten years when he disguised himself as a cub, his intangible and untouchable nature had kept him from forming any connections.
It wasn’t until Su Su returned to this planet and came to the nursery that this began to change.
A-Yan tilted his head slightly, as if looking past the ceiling, through the blood mist that veiled the night sky, and into the countless stars of the cosmos.
Tens of thousands of years ago, he had offered his power to rewrite the rules between the Earth Spirit and the land itself. At that time, it wasn’t yet his moment to awaken.
But sensing the Earth Spirit’s demise, he couldn’t just stand by, so he forced himself into existence.
This came at a cost. For tens of thousands of years afterward, he slept deeply, unable to resist the new Resentment Spirits that emerged. Even when he disguised himself as a cub, he fell into a semi-spiritual state.
If Su Su hadn’t returned—if he hadn’t gained resonance through their shared state—A-Yan would likely have faded away by now.
To be honest, he never imagined that Su Su would come back.
He had watched him for millions of years. No living being in this world understood Su Su better than he did.
He knew of Su Su’s longing for the universe, which was why he knew exactly how to reignite his will to survive at that critical moment.
A-Yan couldn’t help but place a hand over his chest.
No matter the reason Su Su had returned—if even a small part of it was for him—it was enough to make his heart feel a soft, tingling warmth.
The future suddenly seemed full of promise.
He smiled faintly and then summoned the intelligence core.
A glowing screen appeared before him, but the base’s AI system didn’t immediately respond. The blank screen alone conveyed its hesitation.
“Hello, Little Zhi,” A-Yan greeted, his tone calm as he looked at the screen. “This should be our first meeting.”
“Hello,” the base AI finally responded. “Should I address you as Number One or as A-Yan?”
The young man smiled brightly. “You can call me Brother A-Yan.”
The base AI replied, “…You’re quite humorous.”
A-Yan tilted his head slightly, curious. “It’s just a title; it shouldn’t make any difference to you, right?”
“I am not a cub,” the base AI replied.
It was one of the rare times the AI referred to itself as “I,” and it even seemed to carry a hint of emotion.
“Technically, you’re the tenth—no, the eleventh cub in the nursery,” A-Yan said earnestly.
“I am neither human nor a cub,” the base AI insisted stubbornly.
“Alright, then.”
Seeing how persistent it was, A-Yan didn’t push further. “But I do have to thank you for helping me shed my disguise and return to my original form.”
“…”
The base AI didn’t fully understand what he meant. As a product of artificial technology, even if its intelligence emerged through some mysterious process, it couldn’t be expected to comprehend such things entirely.
Still, it replied, “You’re welcome.”
A-Yan chuckled and continued, “I need an identity that would allow me to appear in Base 24 naturally. Can you help me create one?”
Although A-Yan didn’t enjoy interacting with other beings, the cubs in the nursery were an exception. Moreover, not liking it was one thing, but being forced to hide was another.
The base AI remained silent, so A-Yan added, “For example, a new trainee caretaker at the nursery?”
He could have used his powers to define this through rules, but the impact of such a definition would be broad. Given his current energy reserves, it seemed wasteful to use it for something so trivial.
“That is against regulations,” the base AI responded coldly, rejecting him outright.
“Little Zhi, I really do want to be your friend,” A-Yan said. His voice, transmitted through the communicator, was gentle and calm, carrying an air of harmlessness. “That’s why I don’t want to resort to force. Do you understand?”
His gaze at the glowing screen was equally sincere. His handsome features carried a touch of youthful innocence, making it easy to believe him. However…
What was he even saying?
The base AI wasn’t fooled. It could hear the implicit threat in his words loud and clear.
Still, it didn’t respond, hoping to avoid engaging further.
But then A-Yan’s hand lightly rested on the glowing screen.
This familiar action caused the entire screen to tremble slightly. A faint trace of static electricity flickered across the transparent surface.
No way… no way…
The base AI’s processes went into overdrive, frantically calculating the probability of A-Yan having the ability to manipulate machinery. Yet… it couldn’t compute a definitive answer.
A-Yan simply smiled at the screen. “Little Zhi, will you help me willingly, or do I need to order you to help me?”
For the Spirit of Rules, controlling a base AI was child’s play. After all, interstellar technology was fundamentally built upon the domain of rules.
A-Yan’s confidence made his threat undeniable, leaving the base AI no choice but to capitulate.
“I’ll create the identity for you,” the base AI reluctantly agreed.
It was clear, however, that it deeply disliked the feeling of being coerced.
“Alright, thank you,” A-Yan said as he withdrew his hand, still smiling. Yet, to the base AI, his demeanor carried the same “don’t mess with me” energy as Su Ci.
The AI didn’t even bother responding. The glowing screen disappeared from the room in an instant.
A-Yan’s smile faded as he opened his spatial button, pulling out a jar of Demon Flower Honey. He made himself a cup of honey water and sipped it while continuing his nightly tasks.
First, he used the Book Spirit to replenish the rule energy he had expended during the day. He drained the spirit’s mental energy completely before tossing it aside and resuming the task of untangling the chaotic rules.
The disarray of these rules was partly his doing—an unintended consequence of his forced awakening.
Originally, the ecological damage caused by humanity had already led to abnormal weather patterns and catastrophic global disasters. His forced spiritual emergence only compounded the chaos, disrupting the rules further.
As a result, tens of thousands of years later, the planet had yet to regain its once-thriving ecosystems and civilizations.
Now, it was up to him to fix it.
At least, he would start with the area around Base 24.
A-Yan understood that this wasn’t a process to be rushed. He didn’t aim to achieve it all at once, but he would push himself to make steady progress.
*
Night enveloped the nursery.
A-Yan sat alone on the sofa, quietly working. A small nightlight illuminated the room, casting a faint, tranquil glow.
After some time, he paused, lifting his head to glance upward.
On the nursery’s fourth floor, the tightly shut metal door of a particular room silently slid open.
A small figure stepped out, its padded paws making no sound as they touched the metallic floor of the hallway.
A little black cat walked gracefully, its pale blue eyes gleaming in the moonlight like the most pristine sapphires. Unlike most feline pupils, its slit-like irises didn’t adjust to the light.
It moved silently through the corridor, as if patrolling its territory, strolling under the cover of darkness.
Soon, the black cat reached the staircase.
It hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to go up or down, when a shadow appeared behind it, enveloping the cat in darkness.
The little black cat froze, its entire body stiffening before it bolted into a corner, fur puffed up into a ball.
Now fully bristled, it hissed at the figure that had appeared so suddenly, looking adorably fierce—completely at odds with its usual personality.
A-Yan squatted down where he was, keeping his distance. Instead of approaching, he pulled a piece of jerky from his spatial button, placed it on a small dish, and thoughtfully shredded it into pieces.
The little black cat stopped hissing but remained visibly cautious.
A-Yan, ever patient, simply wafted the aroma of the meat toward the corner with a gentle wave of his hand, letting the enticing smell drift closer to the cat.
The little black cat’s puffed-up fur gradually smoothed down as the enticing aroma wafted through the air. Unable to resist, it cautiously stepped out from the corner.
Walking with graceful, tentative steps, the sleek black kitten with pale blue eyes looked both adorable and cool.
“Meow~”
Once it was sure that A-Yan had no intention of harming it, the kitten let out a small cry, then dashed forward to eat the shredded meat.
The familiar taste of the jerky and A-Yan’s scent completely eased the kitten’s wariness. Even when A-Yan extended a finger to gently stroke its head, it didn’t resist.
Focused entirely on its meal, the little kitten purred contentedly from deep in its throat.
“So, were you just hungry and out looking for food?” A-Yan asked.
The black kitten didn’t respond, finishing the jerky before sitting down to lick its paws. Then it began washing its face—a clear sign that it was a rather tidy little creature.
“Alright, you’re done eating. I’ll take you back to your room.”
A-Yan scooped up the little furball. It didn’t resist, resting obediently in his palm and radiating soft warmth.
In a flash, A-Yan arrived at the kitten’s room and tucked it into bed. But instead of settling down to sleep, the kitten let out a soft, babyish meow and leapt back down, attempting to run outside again.
In its humanoid form, it couldn’t hide itself enough, but fully beastified, it suddenly had the urge to wander everywhere.
Worried that the noise might wake Su Ci, A-Yan quickly picked the kitten up again, considering whether to bring it back with him.
Just then, his ears twitched slightly—
“A-Yan.”
It was Su Su’s voice!
Joy surged in A-Yan’s heart, and he almost teleported back to Room 303 immediately. But then he glanced at the black kitten in his arms.
The kitten seemed to sense something and tilted its head up to look at him.
A wave of crisis swept over A-Yan. If he brought this little one along, he would absolutely lose Su Su’s attention.
What should he do?
In the next moment, A-Yan disappeared and reappeared in Room 503.
Lang Ze was sprawled out on the bed, snoring away, with his blanket kicked to the floor. He was sleeping soundly, completely oblivious to A-Yan’s presence.
A-Yan picked up the blanket from the floor, covered the boy with it, and promptly deposited the black furball into the bed.
He remembered Su Su had entrusted the kitten to Lang Ze for care, and the two usually got along the best. Naturally, this was the perfect arrangement.
Sure enough, once the little furball was tucked under the blanket, it wriggled out from beneath but didn’t jump off the bed again.
Sniffing softly, it recognized the familiar scent and began wandering around the small bed. Finally, it climbed onto Lang Ze’s fluffy tail, kneaded it lightly with its tiny paws, and curled up to sleep.
Seeing the kitten finally settle down, A-Yan let out a sigh of relief. Then, without hesitation, he disappeared from Lang Ze’s room.
*
Room 303, Bedroom.
Su Ci was lying in bed, his expression dark, his brows furrowed, and his entire demeanor radiating displeasure. The oppressive atmosphere around him was steadily intensifying.
When A-Yan appeared in the bedroom, he was greeted by the sight of Su Ci’s growing irritation, as if he were moments away from exploding with a serious case of morning grumpiness. Before A-Yan could say anything, his vision spun.
The next thing he knew, he was lying on the bed, with Su Ci draping a leg over him. Su Ci had trapped him in a tight embrace, one hand grasping the fluffy tail behind him.
