Everyone looked at the Little Prince, who was crying increasingly desperately, and they were all dumbfounded.
Just a second ago, he was fine, but now he was crying. His hands had turned into tentacles, wrapping around Little Bai, afraid he would run away. His tears had soaked Little Bai's clothes.
When the Little Prince wailed, Little Bai, with a look of uncertainty, clumsily patted the Little Prince's back, "Don't cry, don't cry."
Upon receiving Little Bai's response, the Little Prince, still sobbing, asked in a stutter, "Waaa... Little Bai, you're not... not leaving me, are you?"
Little Bai paused for a moment, and he quickly shook his head, "I want you, I want you."
But in his heart, Little Bai suddenly felt a feeling of guilt. He couldn't remember when he had done something like this. This honest child, feeling guilty and affected by the Little Prince's crying, pouted, and his own tears began to fall.
Reassured by Little Bai's promise, the Little Prince wrapped his tentacle around Little Bai. His cries quieted and turned into sniffles.
But as he continued to cry, the Little Prince suddenly looked down at his own legs in shock. He seemed to have fused with another tail as well.
The Little Prince hastily wiped his tears and looked at Little Bai with guilt, "I wasn't deliberate, I had no choice back then..."
Little Bai's eyes were brimming with tears, and when their eyes met, Little Bai's tears rolled down his cheeks, and he cried loudly too.
The Little Prince panicked and patted Little Bai's back repeatedly, "I didn't mean to, when you disappeared, I was caught, and the tail was forced onto me. I didn't abandon you. What about you?"
Little Bai hiccuped through his tears and reflexively answered, "I wasn't deliberate either, I was mistaken."
Even the world's most adorable Yolk was mistaken?
The Little Prince pouted and cried even more loudly.
Little Bai cried too.
After a while, the Little Prince hugged Little Bai tightly, "Little Bai, I forgive you."
Little Bai hugged him in return, "Yolk, I forgive you too."
In the end, the two toddlers, who had just learned to walk, hugged each other and cried loudly together, staging a grand reunion of star-crossed lovers.
Bai Xiaoyu, who initially didn't understand what was happening, now couldn't help but smile. Next to him, Bai Kan laughed like a hog, and the little golden tiger rolled on the ground. Big Black Egg and White Tiger remained the same as always.
However, from the conversation between the two, Bai Xiaoyu got a general idea. The term "Little Bai" reminded him of the scene he had seen in Qi Yanhuan's belly, where a deep blue little tail was parasitizing the yolk.
Now, this tail must belong to the Little Prince. Originally one entity, they had been separated into two independent entities by a twist of fate, which could explain the Little Prince's obsession with Little Bai and Little Bai's dependence and protection of the Little Prince.
Although he wasn't sure if his guess was correct, it was probably not far from the truth.
At this moment, the crying toddlers quickly reconciled and, holding hands, came over to Bai Xiaoyu, saying in unison, "White Papa, hungry."
Bai Xiaoyu silently took out an Insect Crystal and watched as the two kids quickly devoured the remaining Insect Crystal and looked at him expectantly again. He took out another hundred kilograms, which was quickly finished.
Bai Xiaoyu helplessly exchanged for another hundred kilograms of Insect Crystal. Even the system couldn't stand it and offered him a discount on the next Insect Crystal exchange.
Fortunately, the third time they only ate a little and stopped, leaving most of it, about ninety kilograms.
Bai Xiaoyu looked at the two kids, who were hiccuping with red eyes, hoping his dear kids wouldn't cry like this again.
The two little ones were typical cases of "only in, not out." All the food and energy they absorbed had been purified by their tentacles, filtering out the impurities. Every single hair on their bodies consumed energy when it fell, and the tears just now were naturally the same.
Just now, they cried for a bit and finished over 200 kilograms of Insect Crystal, so the pressure unexpectedly shifted to him.
Perhaps this was the cost of watching without intervening to calm the babies midway.
Well, such a situation is rare, occurring once in a thousand years, so it's worth it.
After eating his fill, the Zerg Prince looked up at Bai Xiaoyu. With his memories restored, he recalled when his tentacle found Xiaobao in his mother's womb and first met Bai Xiaoyu.
He tilted his head to examine Bai Xiaoyu. His true form had only been here for a short time, but he had actually been with Bai Xiaoyu in the form of a tentacle for over two months. His sense of familiarity and affection for Bai Xiaoyu grew instantly.
With Bai Xiaoyu having taken care of and hatched the little tail, the Zerg Prince now felt that before he left, he had to do something for Bai Xiaoyu and the little tail as repayment.
Bai Xiaoyu stroked his little head, "What is it? Do you have something to tell me?"
The Zerg Prince shook his head haughtily, "No."
But Xiaobao wiped away his tears, smiled, and reached out his arms to Bai Xiaoyu.
Seeing the two little ones with such different attitudes, Bai Xiaoyu simply picked them both up. The Zerg Prince said he didn't want to be held, but instinctively nestled a little closer to Bai Xiaoyu, though not as close as Xiaobao.
Bai Xiaoyu looked down at the two babies, "Can you tell me what's going on?"
Xiaobao, who habitually sucked his fingers, seemed to think seriously for a moment before saying, "White Papa, I don't know."
A moment later, Xiaobao patted the Zerg Prince next to him and said to Bai Xiaoyu, "But Eggy knows."
One thing was the little tail, but what about this 'Eggy' nickname?
Bai Xiaoyu initially thought he had misheard, but now he realized Xiaobao really did call the Zerg Prince Eggy.
His lips twitched, and he looked at the Zerg Prince, who now seemed helpless. This was their biggest secret; how could they just reveal it to someone else?
Seeing that the Zerg Prince didn't respond, Xiaobao nudged him with his little hand, "Eggy, tell White Papa."
The Zerg Prince sighed, "We were once one, Eggy and the little tail, but we were captured and separated."
Bai Xiaoyu thought of the large tentacle he received from Old Qi and the eggs the Zerg Prince had spat out earlier. He already had a guess, but now he needed confirmation.
A fierce look flashed in the Zerg Prince's eyes, which instantly turned black like dots, "His name is Bai Qi, Old Qi."
As expected.
What did the Huang Family want with capturing a Zerg Prince?
Moreover, those eggs were also taken from the Huang Family's lab.
Bai Xiaoyu's gaze gradually turned cold, and Bai Kan shared the sentiment.
Bai Kan: "The Huang Family has gone too far. We need to determine why Bai Qi captured the Zerg Prince."
Apart from informing the two legions, they couldn't report it directly to the royal family just yet. After all, their intelligence wasn't for show. Directly reporting to the source could easily expose them.
If they were exposed, the Zerg Prince might also be exposed. Therefore, they needed to plan carefully.
On the way back, while holding the two little ones, the little golden tiger repeatedly jumped onto Bai Xiaoyu's shoulder, only to be pushed off each time by the Zerg Prince.
Bai Xiaoyu was a bit speechless. He had already noticed that when he held the Zerg Prince and Xiaobao, the little prince wouldn't allow the tiger cubs to get close to them.
Bai Xiaoyu guessed wrong this time; the Zerg Prince didn't want the little golden tiger close to Bai Xiaoyu. This was an instinct of the Zerg Prince to exclude other princes near the Insect Emperor. Xiaobao was probably just a little tail, so his instinct wasn't as strong, but the Zerg Prince had this nature deep in his bones.
The Zerg Prince not only competes with and excludes other princes but, in severe cases, will also seize the opportunity to eliminate them.
Therefore, once the Insect Emperor has two princes, he will pay special attention to balancing their power. If the power gap between them becomes too large, a tragedy where one consumes the other will occur.
Now, the little golden tiger and the Little White Tiger are seen as competitors to the Zerg Prince, similar to other princes under the Insect Emperor. Previously, he didn't have the strength to take them down. Now that his strength has recovered, he's not sure about the Little White Tiger, but this little golden tiger, if given the chance, he could swallow in one bite.
The little golden tiger, completely unaware that he's been targeted, continues to bare his teeth at the Zerg Prince.
"Big Brother is mine, how dare this stranger push me?"
Of course, Bai Xiaoyu has also noticed the discord between them. Especially now, the Zerg Prince is far too dangerous.
The Zerg Prince can hunt silently, and if he ever has any ill intentions towards the people or the young ones here, the consequences would be dire. He must be warned and his actions restricted.
Bai Xiaoyu looked down at the Zerg Prince and said, "Little one, you cannot harm anyone here, whether it's the little golden tiger or anyone else. If you do, not only will I not give you any Insect Crystals, but I will also..."
Bai Xiaoyu looked at the innocent-looking Little Bai and the Zerg Prince's seemingly innocent expression, and swallowed the rest of his words, "In short, you can't hurt anyone unless they're bad people. If you deliberately harm an innocent person, even once, I will never give you any Insect Crystals again, and you will never see Little Bai again."
The Zerg Prince's expression finally changed. Not giving him Insect Crystals would be unbearable, but not letting him see Little Bai was absolutely unacceptable.
The Zerg Prince glanced at the constantly provoking little golden tiger and the Little White Tiger practicing with the mech, as well as Bai Kan and Big Black Egg, etc. He decided that before he and Little Bai made their escape, he wouldn't touch them.
Besides, the little golden tiger's size was so small it wouldn't even fill the gap between his teeth. Although it had high energy, it couldn't compare to Insect Crystals of the same volume. The Little White Tiger was more tempting, but whether he could defeat them was another matter.
Seeing the Zerg Prince nod, Bai Xiaoyu was satisfied but still cautious. The medicine and paint on the Zerg Prince contained his mental energy, so if the Zerg Prince planned anything, Bai Xiaoyu would know in advance.
With the Zerg Prince's promise secured, they began to head back. Bai Xiaoyu and Bai Kan started contacting the relevant people.
Meanwhile, Bai Qi and the masked man once again sensed the Zerg Prince's presence in the same direction as before.
They quickly ruled out some planets, and just as Bai Qi was getting frustrated searching these already checked planets, the masked man, thinking of Bai Xiaoyu's mental energy, marked D36 planet with a key symbol. While it's difficult for others to hide a Zerg Prince, he had a hunch that Bai Xiaoyu might be able to.
Perhaps he should take the opportunity to go there personally.
While Bai Xiaoyu was busy contacting the two legions, the Zerg Prince had already transformed into a blue mass in the room. He used his tentacles to lift his little tail, placing it on his head and tossing it up and down, with occasional laughter.
The Zerg Prince's black, dot-like eyes curved slightly into a crescent shape, clearly very happy.
Soon, the black, dot-like eyes circled, tossing Little Bai up, but this time without using his tentacles to catch him. Little Bai landed on the semi-transparent blue mass, creating a small dent that quickly bounced back, bouncing a few times at the top of the mass, showing excellent elasticity.
Little Bai liked this game and continued to bounce on the Zerg Prince's head.
The Zerg Prince allowed his little tail to play and even cooperated in various ways. But Little Bai accidentally stepped on a spot that gave the Zerg Prince a sudden headache.
At the same time, he began to faintly feel a certain call in his mind.
The Zerg Prince's black dot eyes widened. Although he had regained most of his memories, some were still missing, particularly the period when Bai Qi implanted the chip into his brain.
However, he did remember the moment before they implanted something.
Just now, Little Bai's foot happened to step on the corresponding position of the chip in his brain. This caused the chip to react. Now, stepping again, the chip was no longer in that position.
This thing is alive, and the Zerg Prince knew it clearly, but he had no way to deal with it at the moment.
He needed to find Bai Xiaoyu immediately.
The moment he realized this thought, the Zerg Prince froze in place. It was common for a prince to seek help from his Insect Emperor. Especially during the juvenile stage, unless harmed by another prince of the same Emperor, any harm inflicted upon a young prince, whether by insects or humans, would infuriate the Insect Emperor, resulting in the offender's destruction.
Yet, the instinct to seek help from Bai Xiaoyu was strange. After all, Bai Xiaoyu was not his Emperor.
The little prince's abnormal behavior was noticed by Little Bai as well. He slid down from his main body, looked at the black-dot-like eyes, and asked with a concerned look, "What's wrong?"
The blue blob growled a few times.
Little Bai understood and pulled one of the little prince's tentacles, saying, "Come on, let's go find Daddy White."
The blue blob retracted its tentacles and continued to growl.
Little Bai didn't let go, saying, "Come along."
Seeing that the little prince was still unwilling, Little Bai pointed at him and said, "Change... into human form."
The little prince immediately transformed into a young child, but as soon as he changed, he was picked up by Little Bai, who rushed outside.
Bai Xiaoyu had just hung up a call when he saw Little Bai, with the strength of a three-year-old, holding a huge, elephant-sized blue blob and trying to stuff it into his arms.
Before Bai Xiaoyu could react in shock, he quickly said, "Wait, I can't hold him."
The Big Black Ball in the room blocked his way and glanced back at Bai Xiaoyu, seemingly envious.
Bai Xiaoyu: "..."
Stop looking at me like that, even if I wanted to, I can't hold you right now.
At that moment, Little Bai released him, and the blue, elephant-sized blob crashed to the ground. Without the thick carpet, the impact would have caused an earthquake.
The blue blob coiled all its tentacles around itself. Even though it temporarily reverted to its original form and rolled on the ground, hoping Little Bai would relent, she didn't. Instead, Little Bai rolled up his sleeves and simply hoisted the little prince's true form onto his shoulder.
This was...
The little prince, unable to outmuscle his little tail, struggled but couldn't bring himself to use force. Once lifted, the little prince was on the brink of a breakdown.
Bai Xiaoyu looked at Little Bai's short, chubby arms and couldn't imagine how he had managed to lift such a massive creature, let alone without losing his breath.
Just as he was about to ask Little Bai why she had carried the little prince over like that, she pushed the little prince, who was pretending to be dead on the floor, toward him. Patting the little prince, she said, "Daddy White, there's something wrong with Egg Yolk's brain. Can you take a look?"
Chapter 140
Bai Xiaoyu looked at the crouched Little Prince and the incredibly strong Xiao Bao, and asked hesitantly, "...Did you two have a quarrel or a fight?"
From his observation, the usually unbeatable Little Prince had apparently lost. And Xiao Bao had somehow learned to swear.
No one had taught him that, normally.
To his surprise, Xiao Bao shook his head and said, "No quarrel, no fight. He just has something wrong with his brain, that's what he said."
Bai Xiaoyu looked at the Little Prince again. The Little Prince tried to scoot back a little but was grabbed by two of Xiao Bao's main tentacles, thrown over his shoulder, and dragged back.
Then, Xiao Bao grew a pair of wings made from his tentacles and began to pull at the Little Prince's tentacles, which were curled up. After a series of tugs, the Little Prince finally exposed his chubby body, with a black dot-like eye that trembled.
Xiao Bao patted the smooth top of the Little Prince's head and said, "White Papa, come and see, it's right here."
Bai Xiaoyu walked over and touched the Little Prince's body. A black dot-like eye moved to the top of his head, watching his hand.
Bai Xiaoyu said, "This is at Xiao Bao's request. You can try to persuade him. I'll just take a look and won't do anything else, and I certainly won't hurt you."
Seeing the Little Prince's eyes shift, seemingly vacillating between him and Xiao Bao, he finally moved his gaze away from his forehead after some hesitation.
Bai Xiaoyu patted the Little Prince and said, "I'll use my psychic energy to probe. Don't resist."
As soon as he finished speaking, his psychic energy entered, and the blue mass, which had been extremely tense, gradually relaxed under his gentle pats. His psychic probe found no issues on the surface of the Little Prince. Finally, he targeted the Little Prince's brain.
His psychic energy entered the Little Prince's brain and scanned it, finding no obvious issues.
Still, something felt off, and though he couldn't identify the problem, it felt like something was watching him.
At first, he thought it was the Little Prince, but the sensation of being watched was completely different from the Little Prince's presence—it was a chilly sensation.
He paused, then withdrew his psychic energy.
Seeing Xiao Bao looking at him expectantly, Bai Xiaoyu rubbed Xiao Bao's head and said, "There doesn't seem to be a problem…"
Just then, as Bai Xiaoyu's psychic energy retreated, it made a sudden comeback, catching a glimpse of a fleeting golden flash.
The golden object quickly merged into the Little Prince's brain, and now that it knew it had been discovered, it began to move restlessly.
Despite the different color, Bai Xiaoyu immediately recognized it—it was similar to the biochips of the earlier berserk warriors.
But the previous chips had been fixed in one spot; this one, however, seemed to be alive. No, it was alive. A living biochip.
The chips from the earlier berserk warriors had integrated with their brains. Although he had destroyed the mental imprints within the chips, the chips were still there. As long as his psychic energy could control them, no one else could, unless their psychic strength surpassed his.
He could do the same with others, so he placed his psychic energy into their chips. As long as the person's psychic strength didn't exceed his, they couldn't control the berserk warriors.
Still, it remained a hazard.
Bai Xiaoyu had been researching a safe method to remove the chips but hadn't quite figured it out yet. Now, there was an even more advanced biological chip to deal with.
The golden, translucent chip seemed to know that Bai Xiaoyu couldn't do anything to it for the moment, so it continued to move restlessly in the Little Prince's brain.
This thing, living inside the Little Prince's brain, was moving as freely as a fish in water.
The Little Prince had previously not remembered Xiao Bao; now, it seemed they had found the culprit. This also meant that tampering with it could affect the Little Prince's memory.
Bai Xiaoyu hadn't thoroughly studied the object and didn't want to act recklessly.
He continued to observe without attacking, fearing he might accidentally hurt the Little Prince. At the same time, he looked for an opportunity to get close to the chip and probe inside it.
Before he could even get near, the chip suddenly used its mental force to viciously 'bite' at his mental force.
Bai Xiaoyu didn't dodge; he was actually waiting for this opportunity to close in.
The bite was like biting into steel, and the chip immediately retreated, still wary despite its intense desire to swallow the delicious mental force.
Even if it was just for an instant, Bai Xiaoyu felt the chip's mental force fluctuations. They were somewhat similar to the mental force of the masked man he had encountered on the F105 planet, and the chip's mental force was also quite strong.
Bai Xiaoyu's mental force tried to approach again, and after watching it for a long time, the chip seized another opportunity to bite.
After this bite, it went back into hiding but continued to keep an eye on Bai Xiaoyu's mental threads.
When the chip bit again, Bai Xiaoyu's mental threads seized the opportunity and instantly bound the nail-sized object, attempting to pull it out.
As a result, the Little Prince started rolling around, seemingly in great pain.
Bai Xiaoyu quickly let go, and the golden object, feeling quite smug, not only didn't leave but even started gnawing at the mental threads.
Seeing the chip's persistence, Bai Xiaoyu wondered just how much it wanted to consume his mental force.
Since the chip wanted it so badly, he decided to give it what it desired.
In the next second, Bai Xiaoyu's mental threads broke into tiny particles, which the chip, upon discovering, frantically began to swallow.
Thirty seconds later, while the chip continued to devour Bai Xiaoyu's mental particles, some of the mental force inside it had gradually fused and reformed into a mental thread.
Bai Xiaoyu's expression turned slightly astonished because, although his mental particles had reconnected fairly quickly, one of them had already been absorbed and digested by the chip.
The chip's mental force was visibly strengthening, and the half of the mental thread he had left outside was now giving off a faint numbing sensation. The terrifying speed was immediate and noticeable.
The mental force of people in the star system had to be accumulated through their own efforts, little by little. He had almost never heard of anyone absorbing another's mental force to advance.
It was known that the original host had only progressed through various potions and had never used such a method.
What exactly was this thing that could absorb mental force to evolve?
When it formed into a complete thread, the chip's mental force seemed unable to 'sink its teeth' into it for a moment. Bai Xiaoyu immediately began to quickly probe inside the chip, and what he discovered shocked him.
While it looked like a chip, the interior was actually a miniature version of half a golden brain. From the outside, it looked small, but once inside, it was like a maze for mental threads.
As Bai Xiaoyu continued to probe, he found that the strength of the half-brain itself far exceeded the ordinary 3S level, but the mental entity from earlier, though close to 3S in strength, was far from matching the half-brain.
At this moment, Bai Qi suddenly looked shocked. He faintly felt that the chip's interior seemed to have been invaded.
Now that the chip's location was shielded, he had no choice but to try and forcibly control the remaining fragmented mental entity inside the chip.
In order to better control the Little Prince, he had torn a small part of his mental entity and left it inside the chip.
He had already tried to forcefully control it before and found that the longer the mental entity was out of control, the weaker its connection to the main entity became.
Moreover, every time he tried to control it, the connection was intermittent, like a broken network. Several times, just as he activated the chip's internal mental force, the connection was lost. He didn't know if the fragmented mental entity would give the Little Prince random and chaotic commands.
Just as he managed to reconnect, Bai Qi was about to be greatly pleased, but the next second, his expression turned as dark as the bottom of a pot as he lost contact again.
Meanwhile, as Bai Xiaoyu continued to probe, a fragmented mental entity suddenly rushed towards him, also trying to bite.
Bai Xiaoyu instantly swatted it away, but another golden mental essence that was desperately trying to devour his psychic energy followed and swallowed the flying entity.
On the other side, Bai Qi's face turned pale. His consciousness was either destroyed or severely damaged—what exactly happened?
The mental vibrations of the earlier entity were exactly the same as the berserker's mental waves, clearly belonging to the same person.
The chip was used to control the Little Prince; Bai Qi would never give up that control to someone else.
So, the owner behind the earlier mental essence was Bai Qi. Bai Qi's repeated attempts to obtain the Insect Crystal now made sense. But how could this golden chip control the Little Prince?
What was this other mental essence? Was this half-brain the original owner's, or was it something that had formed later?
And why did all these mental essences want to bite his mental thread? Leaving aside the strange dark golden mental essence, what was going on with Bai Qi's mental presence? Had it mutated?
In fact, Bai Xiaoyu had guessed correctly. The broken mental essence that was swallowed began to forcibly fuse with the dark golden mental essence. Just like how Bai Qi had previously implanted and fused with the half-brain. Now, Bai Qi's psychic energy had transformed into a half-human, half-insect form.
This mutated fused mental essence chased after Bai Xiaoyu's mental strand.
Outside, Bai Xiaoyu looked thoughtfully at the Little Prince's head. Little Bai poked his head over and asked, "White Papa, what's wrong with Egghead's head?"
Bai Xiaoyu: "There's a chip inside. Don't worry for now; I've temporarily entangled the internal presence."
He couldn't destroy or remove the chip for now, so entangling it was the only option.
Little Bai nodded, seemingly understanding. He knew everything was fine now. Of course, he had to find White Papa. Next time there's a problem, he'd drag Egghead over again.
After playing with Little Bai for a while, Little Bai yawned and carried the Little Prince's original form back.
Bai Xiaoyu, leaning on the Big Black Egg, began to look up information on advancing his psychic energy. He found that standard information didn't mention absorbing others' psychic energy for advancement.
Thinking for a moment, Bai Xiaoyu contacted Bai Kan, asking if he had any information on this.
Soon, Bai Kan sent over a file with information that couldn't be found in the star system. Apparently, several hundred years ago, in Imperial Star, high-level studies on the psychic energy advancement of advanced insect species discovered that some advanced insects could devour higher-level psychic energy to enhance their own. After a series of hypotheses and analyses, it was proposed that humans who hit a bottleneck in their psychic energy could also break through their innate limitations using higher-level psychic energy.
It was just a hypothesis back then, and no one publicly confirmed it through practice, but according to intelligence, many factions, including the royal family, secretly researched it and affirmed the possibility.
However, this was limited to individuals who already had high innate talent, at the very least an S-rank. When a person with S-rank psychic energy reached the S-level and couldn't break through further, finding a person with 2S-rank psychic energy and absorbing their mental essence could allow them to break through to S. Most people would succeed and reach S, but a significant number would drop several levels or even lose their lives.
Moreover, the failure rate was extremely high, over 95%. After all, it was a shortcut to break through innate limitations, so a low success rate was expected.
Fortunately, the low success rate deterred many from attempting it.
But there was an exception—those whose time was running out. In the star system, individuals with different levels of psychic energy or physical bodies had different lifespans. When that time came, many would take a desperate gamble.
Although no one in Imperial Star had publicly succeeded, some individuals who should have passed away long ago were still alive. Some had gone into hiding after leaving Imperial Star, while others shamelessly claimed they had broken through their innate limitations and advanced, giving various reasons like their initial talent assessment being wrong.
The Huang Family had quite a few individuals like this over the centuries. Bai Kan even mentioned Lou Hao—if he hadn't escaped quickly, not only would he have lost his wings, but his mental essence might have been used for someone else's advancement. After all, Lou Hao had 2S-level psychic energy at a young age.
After reading the information, Bai Xiaoyu fell into deep silence for a long time. He hadn't expected something like this to actually exist.
As he reviewed the information repeatedly, his brows furrowed deeper, and his eyes turned cold. Leaning against the Big Black Egg, he was suddenly hit by a wave of drowsiness amidst these emotions.
He fell asleep and dreamed again.
Still an egg in his dream, he felt a bit disappointed as he bounced back from outside. Wanting to absorb the nutrient solution, he instinctively sensed something was wrong as he entered the incubation chamber. Almost immediately, he bounced back out and stared at the reagents inside the chamber.
He might not remember much, but his instincts were still there. From the egg's perspective, the reagents looked the same as before, but he could see the subtle differences. For example, the addition of other reagents caused slight precipitates, and the transparency and texture of the solution had changed accordingly.
Soon, Egg noticed another thing—the egg that had always been beside him had been placed into a different cultivation chamber and had already sunk to the bottom.
Egg bounced over and nudged it. Usually, eggs that couldn't bounce around like him were quite lively, but this one didn't respond at all.
Egg became anxious and extended a mental tentacle, wrapping it around the egg.
At that moment, two people walked in—Elder Han and Elder Chen.
The two looked at the egg floating in the air with intense expressions. Elder Han said, "It's no wonder it has a royal-level mental force. It can do this even before hatching."
Elder Chen added, "Indeed. Don't just dawdle. Now is the best opportunity."
Surprised, Eggy saw the two elders then start to make a move on him, as if they intended to capture him. They even brought out a large net, and all the exits were sealed upon their entry.
Bai Xiaoyu was just a bystander and could only watch, powerless, as the two did something to Egg.
He watched as Egg, carrying a companion egg with a mental tentacle, struggled to evade the surrounding net. It was hard for a single egg to escape, let alone while taking care of another egg.
Soon, both eggs were caught in the net and placed into the cultivation chamber's liquid.
Egg felt his strength rapidly draining, and his consciousness became muddled.
At that moment, Elder Han came over with a special-looking transparent syringe and gave a shot to the immobilized Egg.
The moment the injection entered his body, Egg's mental force was about to erupt, but suddenly, a familiar yet strange broken consciousness floated over and stopped him.
He recognized it—this was the consciousness of the egg that had been beside him, his brother.
Egg was furious.
Elder Han asked, "Will this work?"
Elder Chen replied, "We'll see. After all, it's a royal-level mental force. We have to restrict it a bit. This little guy is smart. He cares about his brother. As long as he has any intention of protecting him, it's our chance."
Elder Han then said, "Do you see? That's your brother. His consciousness is about to dissipate. If he doesn't find a host to rely on..."
In fact, before Elder Han even spoke, the little one inside the egg had already made way, carefully guiding the other consciousness into his own body. His own consciousness was left wandering inside the eggshell.
At that moment, two transparent needles appeared, accompanied by Elder Chen's voice, "Choose—either enter the host body or have your brother's consciousness extracted again."
Bai Xiaoyu watched as his past self, raging with fury, was sucked into the syringe.
"We've secured the royal-level consciousness. It looks like our breakthrough to 3S is imminent."
Finally, Bai Xiaoyu, with a furrowed brow, watched the figures laughing with the syringe as they left and woke up.
Now, reviewing the data on his optical brain, he felt anger about those high-aptitude individuals being harmed. But now, he realized he had become a victim himself.
At that moment, Little Golden Tiger ran over and leaped onto his shoulder, nuzzling Bai Xiaoyu's face with its fluffy little head. It cried out, "Don't stay here and mope with this Big Black Egg. I'll take you out to play!"
Bai Xiaoyu patted Little Golden Tiger's head. Fortunately, he had chosen to save this little guy. While he could survive without the egg, this little one would have had no chance.
Just as Bai Xiaoyu was about to shake his head, his optical brain flashed. He connected the call and saw Bai Qing on the other side, with Elders Han and Chen standing next to him.
Bai Xiaoyu's gaze fell on the two white-haired elders, who looked at him with kind expressions. They had aged considerably, their hair completely white, and their faces wrinkled.
At that moment, Bai Qing on the other side spoke, "Is your brother there with you? The one behind you, number 101."
Bai Xiaoyu released Little Golden Tiger from the screen and said, "He's here. What's the matter?"
Bai Qing looked at the little golden tiger, giving him a once-over before nodding. "Not bad, quite lively. This time, in accordance with the Elders' Council's request, I'm bringing 101 back to name him and announce it to the entire star system. From now on, all future royal family members will be pushed back by one rank. I'll have Elder Han and Elder Chen accompany him back."
Bai Xiaoyu disagreed. "You can just give him a name and notify us. There's no need for him to go back to Imperial Star, just like when Little Bit was born."
Bai Qing said, "This is the Elders' Council's requirement. Besides, maybe the little guy will prefer Imperial Star more. Why not ask him what he thinks?"
Bai Xiaoyu rubbed the confused little golden tiger's head and asked, "Little golden tiger, he wants to take you back to Imperial Star to name you. Do you want to go?"
The little golden tiger transformed back into human form, put his hands on his hips, and pointed at Bai Qing. "Who are you, old man, trying to name me, the super invincible emperor of the star system? My brother can give me a name. Who do you think you are? And those two old prune-faced men next to you, they don't look like good people. Stay away, or I'll bring my army to flatten your wrinkled faces."
After finishing, he transformed back into the little golden tiger and fiercely growled at them.
Bai Qing suddenly felt a headache. His son, though somewhat rebellious before, had always respected him and never spoken to him like this. What's going on now?
Bai Qing looked at Bai Xiaoyu. "Is this how you've been raising your brother? It seems you're not very suitable to be 101's guardian."
Before Bai Xiaoyu could respond, the little golden tiger immediately stood in front of him and growled at Bai Qing. "You're the one who's not suitable! If you've got the nerve, let's talk on the Star Network."
Bai Qing said, "Fine, let's talk on the Star Network."
Soon, as 101's guardian, Bai Xiaoyu took the little golden tiger onto the Star Network, where Bai Qing and the other two elders were already waiting. Suddenly, two little tiger cubs appeared before them. One was brown with gold, and the other was pure gold.
The little golden tiger was amazed. In his eyes, Bai Xiaoyu's beast form looked very similar to his own.
No wonder he's my brother; his beast form is so awesome! And this awesome, bold, and flashy username—it's exactly what I like. If my brother wants the empire I've built, I might share half, but no more.
The little golden tiger excitedly circled Bai Xiaoyu, barking with joy.
Bai Qing, who had been ignored, coughed lightly, reminding the two tiger cubs of their presence.
The little golden tiger looked over and suddenly yelled at Bai Xiaoyu, "Brother, I'm itching to scratch those two old wrinkled faces. One each, okay?"
The brown-gold tiger cub, recalling the recent dream, agreed to the absurd request for the first time.
In the next second, both Elder Han and Elder Chen were scratched by a little tiger, unable to fight back with Bai Qing watching. They could only grit their teeth and bear it, wondering when their emperor would tell the little tiger to stop.
Bai Qing, for some reason, didn't stop them either, only speaking up when the two elders were about to be logged out due to injuries. "Alright, you've had your fun. Now let's get to business."
Neither of the tiger cubs listened to him. Bai Qing took a deep breath and shouted, "Enough!"
Bai Xiaoyu stopped, but the little golden tiger didn't. With his sharp claws, he swiftly scratched Bai Qing's cheeks, leaving two symmetrical bloody marks.
The little golden tiger growled, "Who do you think you are, daring to order me, the great emperor? I'll teach you a lesson if you don't show some respect."
Bai Qing felt a surge of anger rising from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, grabbed the little golden tiger by the back of his neck, and glared into his eyes. "I. Am. Your. Father."
The little golden tiger froze for a moment. Just as Bai Qing thought the farce was about to end, the little golden tiger swung his paw and landed a cat-style uppercut on Bai Qing's chin, adding three more bloody marks.
The little golden tiger adjusted his little crown and growled back, "I am your father, no one can claim to be my father! My real father might be dead since he never showed up after I was born."
Bai Qing's face turned pale, and he looked at Bai Xiaoyu again.
Bai Xiaoyu swished his tail and turned his furry tiger face away. "Don't look at me. There are many things I haven't had the chance to teach him yet."