Chapter 90
Dividing meat?
Rong Heng looked toward the source of the voice but saw no one. However, Lang Ze acted as if this was perfectly normal, even talking to thin air.
“Wow! It’s meat!” Lang Ze’s eyes sparkled with excitement, nearly drooling at the sight.
Even Lu Jiao, who usually wasn’t interested in meat, couldn’t help but swallow when he smelled the enticing aroma. He asked, “Did Su Su agree?”
That morning, the three of them had worked extra hard cutting meat to impress Su Su, and their arms were still sore.
“Mm.”
A-Yan nodded. The meat had been given to him by Su Su, but he didn’t mind sharing it with the kids. After all, he’d need their help for many things in the future.
However…
A-Yan’s gaze shifted to the two new cubs, Xiang Yang and Little Li Hua. He’d already overheard that Su Su had given them these names. The two seemed surprised by his sudden appearance—Little Li Hua looked more confused than anything, while her brother was clearly cautious and wary.
A-Yan thought about it for a moment and decided not to approach them for now.
He carried the plate over to Zheng Xing, opened his lunchbox, and picked up a piece of roasted meat. Just as he was about to place the slice on Zheng Xing’s plate, he noticed the child’s unfocused, blank eyes and paused.
A-Yan reconsidered, picked up Zheng Xing’s small spoon, and carefully folded the meat onto it.
“You can eat now.”
At his prompting, Zheng Xing slowly reached out and took the spoon.
Nearby, Lang Ze and Lu Jiao stared unblinkingly at him. Even the lion siblings couldn’t help but swallow at the sight of the spoonful of roasted meat, its enticing aroma filling the air.
Zheng Xing could feel the others’ gazes, but…
His attention was entirely captured by the roasted meat on the spoon.
It smelled so good.
Being blind, his other senses were sharper than most, and the aroma of the roasted meat was even more intense and stimulating to his heightened sense of smell.
Zheng Xing opened his mouth and carefully took the spoon into his mouth.
The moment the tip of his tongue touched the meat and tasted the flavorful sauce, an indescribable freshness spread through his mouth. The taste, one he had never experienced before, quickly filled his senses, making him instinctively squint his eyes to savor it.
The child didn’t say anything, but his expression said it all.
Lang Ze was swallowing uncontrollably, his eager gaze fixed on the plate. His fluffy tail wagged furiously behind him, making it obvious to anyone just how impatient he was.
Sitting in the middle, he was second in line—it would be his turn next!
“Brother Yan~”
The wolf cub sweetly called out to A-Yan, sounding just like a dog begging for food. He paid no attention to the horrified looks on Rong Heng’s and Little Li Hua’s faces as they stared at him from across the table.
A-Yan, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind at all.
However, he wasn’t as considerate with the wolf cub as he had been with Zheng Xing. He placed a slice of roasted meat directly onto Lang Ze’s plate.
The wolf cub didn’t care. He didn’t even bother with a spoon. Instead, he eagerly pinched the piece of meat between his fingers, opened his mouth wide, and stuffed the entire slice in, letting out a satisfied sigh of enjoyment.
“So delicious~!”
As expected, real meat was a hundred times better than meat jelly!
“Gulp—”
Lu Jiao, who had always thought of himself as a herbivore and preferred vegetable- or fruit-flavored jellies, couldn’t help but feel tempted as he watched his two companions.
The little white deer was no longer as deeply influenced by his bloodline as he had been before.
A new thought formed in his mind: although he carried the blood of a silver-white deer, he was, at his core, human. And humans could eat anything—meat, vegetables, or fruit.
The nanny robot had also said that eating a balanced diet was essential for growing big and strong.
Maybe it was because he hadn’t liked meat jellies before that he was so skinny! From now on, he decided, he’d eat meat too!
Unlike the wolf cub, though, Lu Jiao had a bit more self-control. When A-Yan placed a slice of meat on his plate, he quietly said, “Thank you,” before picking up his spoon to eat.
But when he actually tasted the roasted meat, any pretense of restraint vanished. The little white deer’s expression matched that of his two companions—a look of utter delight.
So this was what real meat tasted like!
Across the table, the two lion cubs watched the trio’s enraptured faces while the enticing aroma filled the air. They couldn’t help but feel their mouths water.
Rong Heng was slightly more composed, still wary of who this “Brother Yan” was, which kept him distracted. Little Li Hua, on the other hand, completely stopped worrying about A-Yan’s identity after seeing her three companions enjoying such delicious food.
After all, the wolf cubs were calling him “Brother”!
To Little Li Hua, the word “Brother” naturally carried a sense of trust and closeness.
“Lang Ze, is that meat really that good?” Little Li Hua’s eyes darted toward the plate of meat, clearly tempted. She could see there was still some left!
“Yes! It’s super delicious!”
The wolf cub mumbled around his mouthful of meat, savoring the taste. Thinking about how this was a reward for their hard work cutting meat that morning filled him with a sense of pride and satisfaction.
Seeing Little Li Hua’s eager expression, the wolf cub hesitated for a moment but then reluctantly offered, “Do you want to try some?”
“Really?” Little Li Hua’s eyes lit up.
The wolf cub glanced toward A-Yan, unsure if the remaining meat was meant for them. He asked hesitantly, “Brother Yan, is that okay?”
Hearing this, Little Li Hua also looked toward the plate and sweetly called out, “Brother Yan~”
A-Yan felt a little dazed from all the “Brother Yan”s being directed his way.
Maintaining his composure, he spoke through his communicator, “The meat is for the three of you, two slices each, as a reward for helping cut meat this morning.”
The meat they had cut earlier was being used for lunch, one slice per meal, which added up to two slices each.
Upon hearing this, the wolf cub reluctantly glanced at the roasted meat left on the plate and said, “I’ll give my second slice to Little Li Hua, then.”
“Are you sure?” A-Yan looked at him with some surprise.
He knew how delicious the roasted meat was and how much the wolf cub loved it. Yet he was willing to give up his second slice?
The wolf cub nodded firmly.
A-Yan didn’t hesitate further. He brought the plate to Little Li Hua and placed a slice of roasted meat onto her plate.
Little Li Hua looked at the meat, then at Lang Ze. Remembering how he had shared his potato chips with her before, she thought for a moment and then reached for her brother’s spoon.
Using one spoon to hold the meat steady and another to cut, she carefully divided the perfectly cooked slice into two smaller pieces.
Noticing her actions, both Lang Ze and Rong Heng froze in surprise.
Under their watchful gazes, Little Li Hua used two spoons to pick up the larger piece of meat and leaned forward to place it back onto Lang Ze’s plate.
She then returned her brother’s spoon and picked up the smaller piece with her own, beaming as she said, “I’ll just try a little~”
She didn’t want to keep taking from the wolf cub, but she really wanted to taste what roasted meat was like, so this was the solution she came up with.
Lang Ze was delighted.
He had wanted to eat more anyway, and this way, both of them could enjoy the meat! Why hadn’t he thought of this earlier?
“Okay! Go ahead and try it. This meat is amazing!”
The wolf cub, not bothering with utensils, picked up the piece of meat on his plate with his fingers and stuffed it into his mouth. He even licked his fingers afterward, cherishing every bite.
Meanwhile, Little Li Hua popped the thumb-sized piece of meat into her mouth and immediately wore the same blissful expression as the others.
How could something taste this good?
Rong Heng, sitting beside them, looked at the wolf cub and then at his sister. His expression, initially filled with longing, now showed a touch of heartache.
At this moment, Lu Jiao spoke up: “Xiang Yang, I still have one piece left…”
“No need.” Rong Heng shook his head. As a young child, it was difficult for him to resist the temptation of roasted meat, but…
“You said just now…” He turned to where A-Yan was, “This is a reward for helping cut the meat. So, can I help too?”
Although he remained cautious and wary of this “Brother Yan” and was curious about where he had come from, his observations so far suggested no immediate danger.
A-Yan, surprised by Rong Heng’s initiative, couldn’t help but smile slightly.
Rong Heng, with his red-tailed lion bloodline, had a physique even better than the wolf cub’s. If he could win him over, he’d gain yet another reliable helper in the future.
“You can.”
A-Yan’s calm and gentle voice reassured the nervous Rong Heng, who slowly let out a sigh of relief.
Even though he still had farming duties with the caretaker, cutting meat shouldn’t take up his entire day, right? Still, Rong Heng’s mind was filled with even more questions.
Who exactly was this “Brother Yan”? Was he a new caretaker? Someone from the operations squad? And what kind of task was cutting meat?
He opened his mouth, ready to ask, but then paused as he sensed the harmonious atmosphere around him. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to hold off on his questions for now.
After all, he’d find out eventually.
Seeing that Rong Heng didn’t want his piece of meat, the little white deer didn’t insist. Instead, when A-Yan handed him a slice, he happily ate it together with Zheng Xing.
The outcome was a win for everyone.
“Alright, keep eating. I’ll be leaving now,” A-Yan said as he put the plate back into his spatial button. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly tilted his head slightly and looked toward the dining room’s exterior.
After a moment’s hesitation, he slipped out into the hallway.
There, he spotted a small figure outside the dining room. The child had tiptoed to peek through the window, a long, slender golden tail trailing on the ground.
Compared to the cheerful, bustling atmosphere inside the dining room, the child standing outside, tiptoeing and peeking in, looked a little lonely.
A-Yan thought of the little monkey who had kept him company the night before. He hesitated about whether to speak up, but before he could—
“Hmph!”
The seemingly silent and lonely golden-haired boy suddenly snorted heavily. Crossing his arms, he turned around with a pout of frustration. “What’s so special about it anyway?”
A-Yan listened as the boy muttered angrily about “Number Seven, that traitor,” before stomping away from the dining room, heading toward the elevator in a huff. A-Yan tilted his head thoughtfully.
Number Six and the little monkey… their personalities couldn’t be more different.
A-Yan didn’t follow him. Instead, he disappeared quietly.
The elevator doors opened, and Number Six returned to the fifth floor.
However, when he looked at the door to his room, he suddenly turned and headed toward the stairs. Eventually, he arrived on the fourth floor.
The boy stopped in front of Room Two’s door. Just as he raised his fist to knock, the tightly shut metal door slid open automatically.
Number Six wasn’t startled by the strange occurrence. Without a second thought, he walked in.
“Number Two! Let me tell you—”
Before he could finish, he noticed the room was completely empty.
The boy froze for a moment, then began to wander around the room, even checking under the bed. Other than a few strands of brownish-yellow fur, there was nothing to be found.
Where was Number Two?
He sat dazed on the edge of the bed, staring at the empty room. For some reason, the scene he had just witnessed outside the dining room replayed in his mind…
The usually carefree, mischievous little monkey now had a pained expression on its face. The boy’s heart felt heavy, though he didn’t understand why or how to alleviate it.
He wanted to roar in anger, to smash everything in sight. Grabbing a nearby chair, he prepared to hurl it to the ground. But then—
The memory of that terrifying night resurfaced.
The oppressive pressure from that time bore down on him again, as though an invisible hand gripped his heart tightly, leaving him breathless.
No causing trouble!
The command seemed to echo from the depths of his soul, booming and undeniable, forcing the agitated boy to stop mid-motion.
Even so, he didn’t immediately put the chair down.
He stood there, holding it high, caught in a battle with himself. On one hand, he desperately wanted to vent his frustration in his usual destructive way. On the other, his instincts, honed to respond to danger, held him back.
At that moment, Number Six was filled with inner turmoil.
His fragmented soul left him in a state of living purely by instinct. This mechanism had always been stable—he caused trouble for others without feeling any guilt or concern.
At this moment, two completely opposing instincts surfaced simultaneously—
He felt uncomfortable, frustrated, and needed to vent!
He felt danger, a sense of threat, and knew he couldn’t do it!
These two contradictory instincts pulled at him relentlessly, until finally…
Two heavy thuds broke the tension.
The chair that Number Six had been holding above his head crashed to the ground with a bang, and the small boy, closing his eyes, collapsed unconscious on the floor.
*
Inside Room 303
Su Ci had just finished lunch and was sitting on the sofa with a holographic computer open, displaying the map of Base 24.
With top-level access now granted to him, the map he was viewing was the most detailed version, even marking locations without hovercar stations.
It went as far as showing which rooms belonged to whom, and who was currently active in which department. Every detail was marked clearly.
Within Base 24, everything was under the monitoring of the AI system, leaving little privacy for its members—but it did make management incredibly efficient.
Su Ci was studying the map when his brows furrowed slightly, just as his communicator began beeping urgently.
“Warning, warning! Detected sudden collapse of juvenile Number Six. Anomalous condition identified. Caretaker, please proceed immediately to ensure the cub’s safety!” The mechanical voice of the AI rang out sharply.
Without hesitation, Su Ci’s figure appeared in Number Two’s room in the next instant, arriving at Number Six’s side.
The small boy was sprawled on the floor. On his golden-haired head, two fluffy ears had emerged—
Normally carefree and thoughtless, Number Six’s beast-like traits weren’t very pronounced. Aside from his tail, he looked almost like an ordinary child.
But now, not only had his ears appeared, but fine, soft fur had also grown on his hands and neck. At a glance, if not for his face, he looked like a little monkey wearing human clothes.
“Su Su, what’s wrong with Number Six?”
A-Yan’s figure appeared beside Su Ci.
Su Ci shook his head gently. He picked up the little monkey and laid him on Number Two’s bed. Then, placing two fingers on Number Six’s forehead, he closed his eyes to sense his condition.
After a moment, he opened his eyes and said, “His soul is unstable. Combined with anger, fear, and frustration, his body couldn’t handle it and shut down.”
Although it wasn’t a serious issue now, if he stayed in this state for too long, problems were bound to arise.
Su Ci closed his eyes again.
He intended to retrieve the fragment of Number Six’s soul that had gone astray, but he discovered… the little monkey that had been wandering the nursery building had vanished.
The mark Su Ci had left on it showed it was no longer in the nursery building.
Opening his eyes, Su Ci looked at the boy lying on the bed and sighed inwardly.
These cubs…
Reaching out, he gently pinched one of Number Six’s ears. The little monkey’s ears were small, not much bigger than Zheng Xing’s, with soft, fine fur that carried a faint coolness. Come summer, they’d surely feel very comfortable to touch.
After pinching both ears a couple of times, Su Ci finally withdrew his hands with satisfaction.
When he turned around, he was met with A-Yan’s somewhat complicated expression.
“Hm?” Su Ci walked over to him. “What’s wrong?”
A-Yan shook his head, but Su Ci’s gaze was already fixed on the top of his head. Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Su Ci said, “A-Yan, your ears…”
The young man’s hand landed on A-Yan’s head and ruffled his hair vigorously. “When did they become round?”
A-Yan’s ears, previously pointed, had now turned almost completely round. The fur was still platinum in color but shorter, thicker, and softer, with a delightfully pleasant texture.
Seeing Su Ci smiling with amusement, A-Yan lowered his head, his cheeks slightly red.
He wouldn’t admit that this was the result of a whole morning of research on the tiger cub’s ears—of course, it hadn’t distracted him from his study of formations. He’d successfully modified the structure of two formations and even made progress on his second heavenly script.
A-Yan didn’t answer, and Su Ci didn’t press him.
With A-Yan, Su Ci didn’t hold back. After indulging in thoroughly rubbing his head, he finally said, “Let’s go. We need to retrieve the other half of the little monkey’s soul.”
Although Su Ci could have used his spiritual sense to directly transfer the monkey back from within its range, the farther the distance, the more soul energy it would consume.
He wasn’t keen on wasting energy like that, especially since he needed to step outside for a bit anyway. He couldn’t stay holed up in the nursery or the human base indefinitely. This was a chance to retrieve the little monkey and take a quick look into the Red Mist while he was out.
A-Yan nodded.
Su Ci’s hand remained firmly on his head as they teleported to a location outside the nursery building in an instant.
For Su Ci, teleportation consumed minimal soul energy. Now, with the base’s AI shielding his activities, he could use his abilities a bit more freely—provided he avoided being seen by the humans.
*
Cultivation Garden, Hover Bus Stop
A hover bus pulled up to the station, its doors opening. Out of sight of the human passengers, a small golden monkey jumped off the bus, landing steadily on the ground.
The monkey crouched, looking left and right, then scampered toward the entrance of the cultivation garden.
Several vehicles were parked at the entrance, and robots were busy loading boxes of goods onto them.
A tall young man wearing an orange-yellow uniform with the number “26” printed on the back stood beside the first hover vehicle, talking to one of the cultivation garden staff.
“This garlic stinks! Is this some new variety developed by your Base 24?” the tall man complained, pinching his nose with an expression like he was suffocating.
“Really?”
The cultivation garden staff member, a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard and a gray-and-white uniform, likely a researcher, shook his head and replied, “Smells fine to me. Quite invigorating, actually.”
Hearing this, the tall young man couldn’t help but show an indescribable expression.
This taste is way too intense!
The middle-aged man just laughed heartily, clearly in a good mood. “I’m serious. This is the outer area, so the smell is already much weaker. If you head further inside, you’d need a gas mask.”
The tall young man thought this sounded exaggerated but had no intention of finding out for himself. Testing the waters, he asked, “So this really is a new variety you’ve cultivated? What’s it for?”
The middle-aged man didn’t deny it but responded ambiguously, “It’s for waking you up. Honestly, if I don’t smell this every day, I feel all out of sorts!”
The tall young man nodded, quietly impressed by the dedication of these researchers, so he didn’t press further and changed the subject. “Did Base 24 recently hire a new caretaker? Someone named Su Ci who’s still in their probationary period?”
“Seems like it. Why?”
He had heard of this new caretaker—a seemingly gentle person but one who could remain calm even in the face of giant spiders and mutated plants.
Had Su Ci’s reputation already reached other bases?
The tall young man then asked, “Have you interacted with him?”
“No, not really. Do you need something from him?” the middle-aged man replied.
“Not much. Someone asked me to pass something along.” The tall man retrieved a black bag from the cockpit. “Could you deliver this to him? I don’t have time to find him myself.”
With extreme weather potentially arriving any moment, he had to finish his deliveries and return to Base 26.
“What’s in here? It’s not contraband, is it?” the middle-aged man asked with a frown.
“Of course not! If it were contraband, I couldn’t even bring it in!” the tall young man waved his hand dismissively. “It’s just a can of food and two sausages. A rookie named Song Ze asked me to pass it along.”
“Oh, I see. Alright, no problem.” The middle-aged man opened the bag, checked it briefly, and, finding nothing suspicious, agreed to help. He also accepted a cigarette handed to him by the tall young man.
On Prison Star, cigarettes were as good as currency.
“Thanks a lot!”
The tall young man saw that the vegetable crates had all been loaded. After carefully counting everything, he signed the receipt and prepared to leave.
Just as he was about to get back into the cockpit, the middle-aged man stopped him and handed him a small spray bottle.
“What’s this?” The tall man instinctively pressed the nozzle, only to be overwhelmed by the intense smell of garlic.
The middle-aged man chuckled. “Garlic-scented perfume. It’s great stuff! Spray it when you’re tired, and you’ll wake up immediately!”
“…”
After confirming the man wasn’t joking, the tall young man reluctantly accepted the bottle of garlic “perfume” before climbing back into the cockpit.
He drove off, leaving the cultivation garden behind.
Behind him, a convoy of self-driving cargo trucks followed, heading toward the large aircraft dock at Base 24. On the last truck, the little monkey squatted on the edge of an open crate.
It looked down at the corn inside the crate, entirely unaware that the hover truck had already started moving…
