Chapter 185

Chapter 185

For the next few days, Bai Xiaoyu observed the eggs placed in the same incubation chamber.

However, these eggs didn’t need to be together all the time. With only a partial explanation from the Little Prince, Bai Xiaoyu learned that they only needed to be cultivated together for half a day each day. During the live streams, he would return the eggs to their original positions and move them back together after the broadcast.

The small vortices inside these second-tier eggs gradually finished consuming over the next few days. According to the Little Prince’s arrangement, they were paired in double-egg combinations. Apart from the initial acceleration of the vortices' consumption speed, there weren’t any other noticeable requirements for keeping them together.

Cultivating two eggs together, with sufficient potions and ample space, didn’t significantly impact the eggs in the early stages. However, when the eggs became mobile and developed emotional responses, there was a possibility they might fight.

But that was a concern for over a month later. For now, everything seemed to be going smoothly. However, the vortices that had undergone battles seemed to develop consciousness earlier than those of the same period.

Soon after, Bai Xiaoyu noticed that, apart from the double-vortex egg, the vortices of the other eleven eggs showed resistance towards the newcomer egg.

The first unified and violent egg had woken from its slumber, and if it could, it would have charged over to wreak havoc in its territory. Currently, it couldn’t emerge or move the egg, so it remained still.

Apart from this egg, the others showed varying degrees of dislike and resistance towards the cohabiting egg. This was something Bai Xiaoyu couldn’t understand about the Little Prince’s intentions. Wouldn’t forcing them together cause problems?

He asked the Little Prince about this, but the response was straightforward: “Don’t coddle them. Be fierce with them. And what about your mental energy threads? Weren’t you quite adept at using them on me and my tentacles? Why are you hesitating with them? Use them on the eggs.”

Without the Little Prince’s huffing and puffing and the dismissive, arrogant look on his small face, Bai Xiaoyu might have found the last few sentences sounding resentful.

Of course, he wouldn’t use them on the eggs. They were still undeveloped. As for the Little Prince, it was different. Even with just one tentacle, the Little Prince was ferocious. If he hadn’t disciplined him, the Little Prince would have gone overboard.

Seeing the Little Prince’s angry little face, Bai Xiaoyu stayed silent, fearing that if he said more, the Little Prince would demand he discipline the eggs right there.

The Little Prince was quite fierce.

Fortunately, after some initial discomfort, the eleven eggs gradually became less resistant once their vortices finished consuming. It was as if they were sizing up the newcomer egg, sensing a compatible field. After determining that the newcomer was up to par, their resistance waned.

Since being placed near the chief leader’s primary position, a specific vortex in these eggs had been overcoming challenges, becoming stronger than before.

Bai Xiaoyu couldn’t quite figure it out, but he guessed it was some mutual influence between their fields, one that targeted specific vortices.

In any case, all twenty-three eggs finally finished consuming, and the yolks began rapid development.

During this development, Bai Xiaoyu couldn’t help but worry as he looked at the eggs. With half of their genetic makeup being Bug, the consciousness inside was extremely ferocious from the vortex consumption phase. He wondered if the cubs to be born would also have such a fierce nature.

Of course, he was also concerned about their form. Although there was Little Bai’s successful example, it was somewhat different. The Zerg Prince’s rank was inherently high, and it involved the fusion of a small Zerg appendage entering an unborn egg.

These eggs, however, were a combination of Bug and human genes from the start, not genes injected midway. Moreover, they were lab-created hybrid eggs. Even after consumption, he needed to be prepared for any further complications.

Thus, Bai Xiaoyu remained extremely cautious, checking the development of these eggs thoroughly every day.

The eggs developed rapidly, and the delay from the vortex conflicts was quickly made up within a week, matching the progress of other eggs from the same period.

Bai Xiaoyu watched as blood vessels, tiny hearts, pulses, and gradually forming bones appeared on the yolks...

Although the vortices inside these eggs leaned towards the Bug during consumption, the developing yolks now looked no different from human cubs.

The developing cub shapes were more human-like, though with some Bug characteristics.

Staring at the fastest-developing egg, Bai Xiaoyu observed for a long time before concluding that the initial shape of the cub resembled a lizard.

As soon as this thought formed, probably because his mental energy threads were still probing the egg yolk, the vortex inside sensed it. Then, Bai Xiaoyu was met with the anger of the small vortex, which seemed to be getting angrier as it developed. He withdrew his mental energy threads, and the last thing he saw was the vortex inside still raging about the word “lizard.”

Rubbing his nose, Bai Xiaoyu wondered what he had said wrong.

The initial form does resemble a lizard, but why does the small vortex seem insulted?

And lizards are also a species on the human side, not the Bug race. Could it be that this consciousness can't accept a human form?

Except for this first-formed egg, the others haven't shown any signs of an initial form yet.

Knowing this egg disliked being described as lizard-like, Bai Xiaoyu didn’t mention it again. Instead, he observed the changing temperaments of these egg vortices. Initially, the little tail was also fierce, but as it slowly developed, it became a flesh-and-blood offspring, rather than a cruel and cold-blooded Bug.

Ever since these eggs started developing, it seemed that as the human form appeared, their temperaments began to change as well. Seeing these not-so-obvious changes, Bai Xiaoyu felt slightly relieved.

After all, these eggs contain half-human genes, so it's no surprise they exhibit some human traits. But thinking back to the previously enraged small vortex, Bai Xiaoyu wondered if a lizard hatchling could be this aggressive.

Bai Xiaoyu specifically looked up information on Lizardmen. Most of the Lizardmen in the star system preferred quiet and liked to sleep. This matched the egg’s vortex.

However, most Lizardmen had gentle temperaments and weren’t irritable. This was completely opposite to the small vortex. But it was normal considering the early stages were mostly influenced by Bug genes.

None of these eggs have found their parents yet. Otherwise, they could analyze the parents' genes to see if they could find similarities with various hybridized beast forms across generations.

Who knows whose genes Bai Qi combined with Bug genes to create these eggs?

Thinking about the egg yolks, Bai Xiaoyu realized that with the help of his potions, these egg yolks were not only better than others of the same period, but even stronger than the eggs from two legions with excellent parents. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have withstood the small vortex’s torture.

He had compared them with previously cultivated eggs. Eggs with strong parental bloodlines naturally had stronger yolks. Like the little one who was poisoned countless times in the womb, if not for the strong bloodline, it wouldn’t have survived until birth.

Looking at this egg, Bai Xiaoyu thought the strength of its yolk, apart from the Bug genes, should also come from a human gene that was on par with the strongest Bug gene.

Bai Xiaoyu researched various strong lizards, crocodiles, and the like, but he still didn’t understand. By nightfall, he returned with Big Black.

Returning to his residence, he saw the cubs being dragged back by Big Black after a fight, with the two tiger cubs looking aggrieved under the watch of Little Prince and Little Bai, who stood with their hands on their hips.

Ever since the tiger cubs were forced to sleep independently, this scene played out every day. Almost always, the little golden tiger took the lead, and the white tiger followed suit. Naturally, Little Prince and Little Bai guarded here every day. Thus, every night was extremely lively at his place.

After all the cubs left, Bai Xiaoyu saw Big Black eagerly inviting him to sleep inside the eggshell. He nodded in agreement.

The next second, a tail wrapped around his waist and pulled him inside.

As expected, he entered the dream. By now, entering dreams had become routine, happening every night or every other night.

Inside, he found himself rolling on a transparent mental energy sphere. His form was still that of a ten-year-old, unchanged for the past three years.

Indeed, three years had passed in the dream. After three years of restoration, his consciousness had become remarkably solid. Half a month ago, he could briefly leave Marshal Bai’s mental sea, though he needed to be wrapped in Marshal Bai’s mental energy layer.

Bai Xiaoyu quickly learned from the little guy’s thoughts that there was a meeting today, and many people were expected to attend. Marshal Bai couldn’t accompany him, so he came to play with the old military doctor.

Over these three years, although this guy had mostly been sleeping, he had explored enough to get familiar with the place.

The military camp seemed the same as usual, but he had been floating above and had seen quite a few unfamiliar faces, or rather, teams of people in strange military uniforms walking by.

After watching for a while, he went to find the old military doctor.

After all, besides Marshal Bai, only the old military doctor knew of his existence.

The old military doctor was busy researching potions when he noticed Bai Xiaoyu. Mental energy tendrils emerged, "Little guy, what a rare visit! You don’t usually wake up for ten or fifteen days, and when you do, you’re usually with the Marshal. What brings you here today?"

Suddenly, he realized, "Is the Marshal busy?"

The little guy floated over, circling above the potion. "Yes, Marshal Bai is very busy right now."

The old military doctor nodded. "You think he's not busy? The Twelfth Legion comes over for a meeting once every ten years. Forget it, where do you want to go? I'll take you there."

The old military doctor set down the potion, which was a restoration potion meant for the little guy, provided by Marshal Bai. They couldn't use A-grade potions like before anymore. This little guy's mental energy level was extremely high, and the next phase would require an even higher grade of potion. Hadn't his mental energy been condensed and unchanged for a while now?

Bai Xiaoyu looked at his ten-year-old consciousness form and nodded, then floated up to the old military doctor's head and asked, "What is the Twelfth Legion?"

The old military doctor, like someone leading a balloon, took the little guy by the hand and walked along as he explained, "The Twelfth Legion was one of the most powerful legions that followed your ancestor and the Bai family's ancestor when they conquered the world. Initially, apart from the Bai family legion being number one, the Twelfth Legion was second to none—from the second to the thirteenth legion. Later, when your ancestor rose to power, the Bai family legion took the initiative to guard the borders of the star system."

The old military doctor coughed lightly, realizing he was talking about the little guy's ancestor, and carefully said, "For certain reasons, the Bai family legion stepped down from the top spot, and the top three positions were given to the royal guard legions. The Twelfth Legion was pushed back from second place onward, and now they're ranked from fourth to fifteenth."

The little guy was confused. "So, is this meeting about preparing for a joint battle?"

The old military doctor suddenly smiled, looking at the little guy with a meaningful expression. "Without the emperor's and the royal family Elder Council's approval, the Twelfth Legion can only guard the eight directions and can't join the Sixteenth Legion in battle. The only thing they've kept from their original tradition is a meeting once every ten years. Although the royal family strongly opposes it, the Twelfth Legion insists on keeping this tradition."

The little guy was puzzled. "What's the deal with that?"

The old military doctor said, "You'll understand when you grow up."

At that moment, a team in crimson military uniforms walked in, led by a tall man with hard facial lines and a crew cut of flaming red hair, exuding a fierce and violent aura.

The little guy stared at him for a long time, and the man suddenly looked over, noticing the old military doctor and nodding slightly. His gaze lingered around the old military doctor for a while before leading his team away.

The little guy asked, "Who's that red-haired man? Did he discover me?"

The old military doctor replied, "He's the general of the Fourth Legion, very powerful. It's normal that he discovered you."

The little guy rolled in the mental energy ball. "He looks so fierce."

The old military doctor explained, "His beast form belongs to the ancient dinosaur species, called the Blood Fury Tyrant Dragon. Naturally, he's fierce. He came here not only to follow a tradition that's been around for tens of thousands of years but also to challenge Big White."

The little guy immediately panicked, bouncing three feet high with the mental energy ball. "What? He's looking for trouble with Big White?"

The old military doctor quickly reassured him. "Relax, Big White's never lost to him—not even once—and hasn't been hurt either."

Hearing that Big White could beat him, the little guy relaxed. "Blood Fury Tyrant Dragon, how come I've never heard of it? What does its beast form look like?"

The old military doctor said, "The records on dinosaur species within the Twelfth Legion have never appeared in public textbooks. Only the royal family and certain powers have access to them. I've seen the data, but I can't release it. However, the last time he fought our boss, I secretly took a photo, planning to study the structure and weaknesses of his beast form. I can show it to you now."

The little guy took a look and saw a massive crimson dragon with a bulging belly, covered in crimson scale armor, with a horn on its head, an extremely long and powerful tail, sharp fangs in its mouth, and an overall fierce appearance.

The old military doctor was worried that the fierce appearance of the Blood Fury Tyrant Dragon might scare the little guy, but the next second he heard him say, "It's just a big-bellied dragon."

The old military doctor was speechless.

He turned to look at the photo again, feeling the same. It was true that the belly was a bit big, but didn't the little guy notice how fierce it was?

Bai Xiaoyu was also staring at the photo, unconsciously connecting the fierce dragon with the baby lizard he had seen in the egg.

Could it be? Was that little guy's beast form this big-bellied dragon?