Chapter 160

Chapter 160

Bai Xiaoyu had wanted to check on Little Prince when he heard his earlier loud cries from the room. He wondered why Little Prince was making such... disturbing cries.

However, at that time, he was still in the bathtub, needing to consolidate his newly improved physical condition. It was only now that he had the time to check on Little Prince, only to witness this scene.

Bai Xiaoyu watched Little Prince, who was still digging and screaming, and grew even more curious. This was the first time he had seen Little Prince in such a state. What could have happened to make the little guy act so out of character?

At that moment, he didn’t notice his own silver-white tiger ears twitching on his head, even standing up straight, while his tail behind him swished involuntarily. It was very much like how White Tiger and the little golden tiger looked when they were curious.

Although curious, Bai Xiaoyu was more concerned about Little Prince becoming so agitated. He worried that if Little Prince wasn’t careful, he might revert to his original form, which would be problematic.

After all, the courtyard of the breeding facility was connected to the playground for the eggs. It used to be the activity area for the eggs when they were mobile. Now, it was occasionally visited by the cubs from the Blood Egg group. Apart from them, there were also two assistants and interns who might walk around, but essentially, there were no outsiders.

However, even with them around, Little Prince’s identity had to remain hidden.

Soon, Bai Xiaoyu realized that despite his loud cries, Little Prince was still in control of himself and hadn’t reverted to his original form, which was the worst-case scenario he had feared.

Bai Xiaoyu breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t expected Little Prince to be able to maintain control to this extent. The little guy was becoming more and more reassuring.

Just as Bai Xiaoyu finished thinking this, Little Prince, still below, grew increasingly angry thinking about his Insect Crystals. His cries became stranger, his hair gradually stood up again, and his eyes began to darken into black dots.

Bai Xiaoyu’s heart skipped a beat, and he was about to speak up to stop him when Little Bai, who was gnawing on an Insect Crystal beside him, suddenly stretched out his chubby little hand and gently patted Little Prince’s back.

Little Prince’s long, high-pitched roar came to an abrupt halt, as though a pause button had been pressed. For a brief moment, Little Prince stood still. After a while, his bristling hair returned to normal, and his voice turned into a very aggrieved whimper.

Seeing this, Bai Xiaoyu couldn’t help feeling both amused and relieved.

He finally understood why Little Prince hadn’t completely lost control. No, it wasn’t that Little Prince had lost control; it was that Little Bai had stopped him just as he was about to go berserk.

Once his whimpering subsided, Little Prince continued digging. When Little Bai withdrew his hand, Little Prince’s voice changed once more.

Suddenly, Little Bai shoved the half-eaten Insect Crystal into Little Prince’s mouth and patted his back again, saying, “Eggy, if we lose our Insect Crystals, we can gather more. As for that thief, we’ll catch him together in the future.”

With that, he pulled Little Prince back.

Seeing this, Bai Xiaoyu felt relieved. He examined his physique and tried to use his mental energy through various parts of his body. He found that even when using mental energy through his limbs, it was still significantly restricted. However, it was much better than his previous C-grade physique. If before he could release mental energy up to a peak of 2S, the strain on his body had been immense, and the duration very short.

He usually wouldn’t use such high levels of mental energy unless absolutely necessary, like when he confronted the masked man.

Although the masked man’s mental energy level was higher than his, both of them had only been testing the waters and hadn’t gone all out.

During mental energy confrontations, the mental energy altered by physical suppression could make the opponent feel a hidden pressure. Even if he deliberately lowered the intensity of his mental energy, it still carried a strong suppressive force. So, even when he was using 2S peak mental energy for confrontation, he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage in a short period.

Of course, he couldn’t sustain it for long. His mental energy remained full and eager, his fighting spirit high, but his body was already exhausted.

Now that he had upgraded to B-grade, the highest level of mental energy he could release reached 3S, and the duration was twice as long as before.

Bai Xiaoyu was clearly satisfied with this result.

B-grade, whether in terms of mental energy or physique, was considered a watershed.

In the star system, adults at C-grade and below were generally considered weak. These people couldn’t go to battle, couldn’t pilot combat mechs, and couldn’t even ride in high-speed flying vehicles.

B-grade allowed for almost complete freedom with most flying vehicles, and B-grade mechs met the standards for going into battle.

He was no longer the one with the lowest physique at the breeding facility.

This was still after comparing himself to the two assistants rather than the tiger cubs and interns. Lu Qing had a B-level physique.

Even more satisfying was that his mental energy could now be projected through his tail and ears, with an intensity reaching 70% of his peak capability.

This was truly a surprise.

He had initially estimated that after the physique upgrade, he might be able to reach 40-50% mental energy output through his tail, based on the previous 30% projection.

Now, his mental energy was suddenly released to 70% of its capacity.

Surprised, Bai Xiaoyu carefully examined and guessed that this was due to the combined boost from his tail and ears.

His tail and ears could withstand stronger mental energy, and together, they sped up his physical progression.

It had been extremely difficult for him to advance in physique before, slowly inching his way up from the very beginning. Now, he had skipped two minor levels, despite the increasing difficulty of advancement at higher levels.

Originally, he was a bit worried that even after the upgrade, he wouldn't be capable of processing the 800-year-old Xisui grass. Now, he had an 80% confidence of success.

An 80% chance was enough to reassure him. After all, when he refined the 300-year-old Xisui pill before, he had only a 50% success rate.

After checking the results of this advancement, Bai Xiaoyu felt completely at ease.

He glanced at the herb list on his optical brain; now he was just waiting for good news from the plant people.

Bai Xiaoyu opened the door to go out and found that outside, apart from Big Black Egg, Bai Kan, and two tiger cubs, Little Bai was also leading back a fuming Little Prince.

As soon as Bai Xiaoyu opened the door, everyone looked over, and they were all stunned to see the new silver-white tiger ears on his head.

Bai Xiaoyu touched his tiger ears, "They just grew out. I haven't learned how to control them yet, like the tail."

Bai Kan circled around Bai Xiaoyu, "Little Hundred has grown beast ears and a tail. He looks more energetic than before."

Bai Xiaoyu: "..."

This was entirely because his physique had improved. Before, he used to wobble with each step. How could he have looked spirited back then?

The two tiger cubs jumped onto Bai Xiaoyu's shoulders and stretched out their paws to tease his tiger ears.

Big Black Egg was also excited, bouncing over to rub against him. With tiger-like mental energy, it brushed away the two cubs' paws and began gently playing with Bai Xiaoyu's beast ears. It even split a mental energy tentacle to engage with the tail.

The two tiger cubs naturally protested. They had already sensed Big Black's mental energy, and small round tentacles popped out from their heads, fighting with Big Black's mental energy tentacles.

Everyone here was quite taken with Bai Xiaoyu's new tail and ears.

However, the already irritated Little Prince snorted, his cheeks puffing up in frustration.

Bai Xiaoyu, originally a pure human, didn't resist this change. With the appearance of a tiger tail and ears, he could now sense the presence of his natural predator. He had felt it when his tail first appeared, and now it was even more obvious.

At this moment, Little Bai tilted his head and looked at Bai Xiaoyu for a while before his eyes curved into a gentle smile. He stretched out his arms, asking for a hug, "White Papa has grown stronger again."

Bai Xiaoyu picked him up, "Yes, Little Bai is very smart."

Little Prince snorted beside them. Naturally, Bai Xiaoyu also hugged him, gently pressing his face against him as he asked, "Little Breaker, why are you so angry today?"

Being picked up and hearing Bai Xiaoyu's question, Little Prince, who had hidden his insect crystal from Bai Xiaoyu, was certainly not going to tell him about it.

Not only did he not say anything, but he also pushed Bai Xiaoyu's approaching face with his hand and glared at his trembling silver-white tiger ears, "You smell like a White Tiger now. Stay away from me."

Although he wondered why he didn't feel any hostility towards Bai Xiaoyu in this form, right now he was feeling uneasy and didn't want to get close to him.

He kept pushing and pushing.

Thinking of the natural enemy relationship between the White Tiger and the Zerg Prince, Bai Xiaoyu didn't press the issue. After recovering, he asked, "You haven't told me why you're so..."

Why is he asking again?

The Little Prince immediately began to struggle, deciding that flight was the best option.

After slipping out of Bai Xiaoyu's arms, the Little Prince waved at Little Bai, "Little tail, let's go back and continue our previous progress."

This time, however, Little Bai sucked his fingers and blinked at him. "Eggy, I want to hang out with White Papa for a bit longer."

The Little Prince was filled with disbelief, then returned, feeling both aggrieved and frustrated.

After returning, the Little Prince jumped into the spherical container and floated around, occasionally punching and headbutting the walls.

What was he doing back here? Advancing didn't matter anymore.

Sensing that the Little Prince's presence was completely hidden, Little Bai turned and suddenly hugged Bai Xiaoyu's neck, planting a loud kiss on his cheek.

Under the watchful eyes of others, Little Bai gave Bai Xiaoyu a big smile. "White Papa, can I have a piece of Insect Crystal this big?"

Little Bai gestured.

Having received a kiss from the little guy, Bai Xiaoyu's lips curved into a smile. "Are you hungry?"

Little Bai paused and thought, "A little. Then we need more. One portion for me and Eggy to eat, and another to rebury as Eggy's future escape fund."

Bai Xiaoyu: "You're not going to eat it? Why bury it?"

Little Bai: "Eggy said burying it would serve as our future escape fund. He's been secretly collecting a lot."

Little Bai added, gesturing, "He goes on patrol every day to check if it's still there. This time, when he came back, all the Insect Crystals were gone, so now he's really angry."

Bai Kan: "Haha, so the Little Prince was planning to escape? No wonder he was making a fuss earlier. He was upset because his Insect Crystals were stolen."

Bai Xiaoyu couldn't help but feel amused too. He rubbed Little Bai's soft hair, "Can you tell me this? Won't Little Breaker be mad at you?"

Little Bai looked puzzled, "Is there anything we can't tell you? I didn't do anything wrong. Why would Eggy be mad at me?"

As a Zerg Prince, he would naturally be open and honest with their king.

Looking at Little Bai's serious expression, Bai Xiaoyu couldn't help but pinch his cheek. He then happily traded with the system for Insect Crystals and even doubled the amount requested by Little Bai.

Delighted, Little Bai kissed Bai Xiaoyu's cheek again and quickly divided the Insect Crystals into about ten to twenty portions before running out.

Watching Little Bai's departing back, Bai Xiaoyu and Bai Kan dropped their smiles and exchanged a glance.

Even though they had been laughing earlier, the issue of the stolen Insect Crystals still required investigation.

After waiting for a long time, the impatient Little Prince finally emerged from the transparent container again.

Almost instantly, he sensed Little Bai's location and also detected the familiar fluctuation of Insect Crystals from a familiar direction.

The Little Prince was so startled he almost jumped three feet in the air. Could it be that the thief, frightened by his earlier roar, had secretly returned the items?

The Little Prince rushed out, wondering how Xiaobao had run into the forest, right to the location of one of the Insect Crystals.

Excitedly, he ran toward Xiaobao's location. He had originally thought Xiaobao went to dig up the Insect Crystal, but who knew the crystal was still there after Xiaobao left. Now, Xiaobao had moved to another spot, where the fluctuation of another Insect Crystal appeared.

Could Xiaobao be catching a thief?

Wait, he'd be right there. The thief who could find his Insect Crystal must have some extraordinary ability or be a fellow prince. He didn't want Xiaobao to put himself in danger.

Abandoning the attraction of the crystals at other locations, he ran toward Xiaobao's position.

Yet when he arrived, instead of the thief he had imagined, he saw Xiaobao covered in dirt, his small hands still burying soil.

Xiaobao wasn't startled by the Little Prince's arrival. He looked at the Little Prince and said, "Egg Yolk, you're here. Don't be mad. I buried the travel funds back."

The Little Prince looked at Xiaobao, who had dirt not only on his body but also on his face. He awkwardly wiped it clean, feeling both touched and excited. "Little tail, so you've secretly saved up so many Insect Crystals just like me? You've even saved more than I did! Good job. In the future, we'll put in the effort together, and soon we'll be able to leave. By the way, where have you been hiding these crystals? How come I didn't know? Now that it's exposed, we can't hide them here anymore."

Xiaobao blinked his eyes. "I didn't hide them. I asked White Papa for them. He knew you'd been stolen from and gave us double."

The Little Prince fell silent. Looking at Xiaobao's pure yet determined eyes, he saw the boy had even grown beast ears and a tail of a White Tiger. How could his silly little tail still get it wrong?

Finally, as if giving in, the Little Prince squatted down. "Little tail, we can't hide them here. Let's dig them all up."

Xiaobao now had completely relied on White Papa and probably wouldn't want to leave. The Little Prince was determined to wait until Xiaobao was a bit older to see if he could explain things better.

At the moment, wherever Xiaobao was, he would be there too.

So the two little ones quickly dug up all the Insect Crystals again. Together with the ones White Bai had given them, they piled them all together.

Looking at the crystals, the Little Prince suddenly said, "Xiaobao, since we can't hide them, why don't we just eat them all?"

So the two little ones began chomping on the Insect Crystals, burped, and then returned to the container.

This time, the Little Prince, who had been unable to settle down, quickly fell into hibernation with Xiaobao.

Perhaps it was because of the gift Xiaobao had prepared or because he had relaxed after White Bai discovered his little thoughts, he even made a decision that he hadn't realized was so satisfying. He soon advanced along with Xiaobao.

The next day, when White Bai went to check, an eight-year-old cub charged at him, sending his newly advanced body flying into the wall. His head spun from the impact, like being hit by a powerful cannonball.

The eight-year-old boy next to him crossed his arms and reminded Xiaobao, "Little tail, you've advanced. You've knocked him out again with this collision."

White Bai staggered to his feet, his vision still blurry from the hit. He held his chest and said, "Xiaobao, next time, please be a little lighter. A little lighter."