Chapter 238

Chapter 238

The dragon cubs treasured their mechs. Despite being extremely fragile compared to their beast forms, the mechs were still precious to the cubs. They couldn't withstand even a gentle kick from the adult dragons, and in their true beast forms, they couldn't sustain prolonged combat either.

Of course, part of the reason was that the cubs had only been practicing for less than a week and hadn't mastered much mech technology yet.

In mech battles, close combat was just one type of attack. It was also a method that could easily lead to mech damage. When facing a powerful opponent, the mech itself should not directly withstand the enemy's attacks. Instead, skilled mech operation was required to use the mech's various weapons to attack and dodge the opponent's counterattacks.

The dragon cubs' previous attempt at a barrage of firepower on the adult dragons was actually a sound strategy. Unfortunately, due to their limited skills, they couldn't dodge the adult dragons' precise stomps.

They were utterly defeated in the first round of the mech battle.

Now, they couldn't win in physical combat, and they couldn't succeed with mechs either.

Since arriving at the dragon cave, they hadn't won a single battle, but instead of being discouraged, they became even more determined.

Before, they had fought using their beast forms, and now with mechs, even after several attacks that left the adult dragons unscathed, they still believed that since White Papa gave them the mechs, there must be a special significance to these mechs.

Recently, the dragon cubs had been diligently learning about mechs, and the adult dragons were also happy to see this.

Xiao Lü and the others were a bit speechless about the adult dragons' attitude. The dragon clan required all dragons who returned to avoid using advanced technology. Even optical brains needed to automatically shield themselves unless for emergency missions. All clan members, including the cubs, were to remain in their most primitive state as much as possible.

Especially on this planet, the use of offensive weapons like mechs by clan members was severely penalized for adults, while for cubs, their parents would be punished.

But now, with the dragon cubs using mechs, the elders turned a blind eye, and other dragons treated the youth mechs as toys for the cubs, ignoring their other functions.

This was entirely because the dragon cubs couldn't leave the dragon cave to attend school. Not only did the adult dragons not mind, but they also allowed the cubs to fire at them. Moreover, they even arranged for someone to teach the cubs how to operate mechs.

Previously, the cubs had eagerly learned mech operation and were thoroughly defeated in many practical battles. After that, they were no longer in a hurry.

Only then did they start to research the optical brains that White Papa had also given them. The optical brains were distributed to the cubs later than the mechs.

The dragon elders were concerned that wearing the optical brains might expose the cubs' Bug clan genes. The elders had several days of meetings about this. Even though they knew through Xiao Lü that the optical brains were specially made to block the star network main brain's detection, they were still uneasy because the main brain was extremely powerful. It was only after the generals of the Twelfth Legion confirmed that there were no issues that the optical brains were handed over to the little guys.

When they initially decided to prevent the cubs from leaving the dragon cave, were they now going to deprive the cubs of the right to see the outside world through the optical brains as well?

Watching the lively and adorable dragon cubs cling to the adult dragons, nipping and squealing, the elders unanimously agreed.

After handing the optical brains over to the cubs, they were prepared for the possibility that the royal family might discover the cubs' lineage. Now, with the existence of the human-Bug cubs, ordinary dragon cubs were not an issue, but the bloodline of the generals of the Twelfth Legion was different.

They couldn't guarantee what the royal family might decide.

Afterward, they anxiously awaited the cubs to bind with the optical brains, but the cubs' attention was completely absorbed by the mechs, leaving them anxious for several days.

Now seeing the cubs start to study the optical brains, they were all standing by watching.

The dragon cubs wore the optical brains on their wrists and felt a slight sting that quickly disappeared. Normally, if the cubs felt even the slightest mysterious pain, they would be on high alert. But knowing the origin of the optical brains, they didn't even blink.

They had seen this device on White Papa's wrist before, and now that White Papa had given them one, they were quite happy.

At this moment, Lü Fei spoke, "I thought you would have bound with the optical brains a few days ago. I didn't expect you to wait until now. This device can contact your White Papa. Strange, aren't you all missing him?"

The dragon cubs had been brought back to the dragon cave shortly after birth. Most of the clan members inside the cave existed in their beast forms, and in their human forms, they didn't carry optical brains, so the cubs had hardly been exposed to optical brains.

As soon as Lü Fei said this, he was immediately surrounded by the dragon cubs.

"Quick, tell us how to contact White Papa!"

Lü Fei looked at the cubs, each with various eye colors and around eight or nine years old, and smiled smugly, "I didn't realize you didn't know."

Seeing that he was about to be ganged up on if he didn’t speak up, Lü Fei finally showed the cubs how to bind their optical brains.

The elders nearby were also extremely nervous, assigning someone to constantly monitor the royal family’s activities.

The first thing the dragon cubs did after binding their optical brains was to contact Bai Xiaoyu.

At that moment, Bai Xiaoyu was feeding the Little Prince and Little Bai, who had recently doubled their appetites. Lately, the two were eating twice as much and always took extra. If Bai Xiaoyu hadn’t recently extracted a new batch of energy boxes, his funds would have been drained by now, considering the amount of Insect Crystals required to feed the cubs during their molting phase.

For now, he could still afford to raise the cubs comfortably, keeping them healthy and chubby.

In this rare peaceful moment, he suddenly received over twenty call requests.

Looking at the incoming call notifications on the optical brain, a small smile crept onto his face.

At that moment, the two cubs who were chewing on Insect Crystals stopped and turned to look at Bai Xiaoyu.

Little Bai walked over and hugged Bai Xiaoyu’s arm. "White Papa, what’s going on?"

The Little Prince, without making a sound, moved to the other side and pricked up his ears.

Bai Xiaoyu patted Little Bai’s head. "Do you remember the little dragon cubs who were taken away earlier?"

Little Bai nodded. "I remember."

The Little Prince snorted. "I don’t remember."

The twelve leaders and their deputies—what were they up to, suddenly contacting Bai Xiaoyu instead of focusing on growing and expanding their territories?

From the Little Prince’s attitude, Bai Xiaoyu knew he remembered. He was already used to the Little Prince’s usual tsundere behavior. Bai Xiaoyu then said, "It’s been a while since you’ve seen them. I’ll add them to the group chat."

Finally connected, Bai Xiaoyu heard the excited voices of the dragon cubs coming through the optical brain.

Looking at the grown cubs, Bai Xiaoyu’s eyes became increasingly gentle.

He greeted the little ones, and on the other side of the optical brain, the dragon cubs were so excited that they shifted forms and bounced around. If they weren’t separated by distance, Bai Xiaoyu would’ve been swarmed by the little ones by now.

At that moment, the Little Prince snorted, and the dragon cubs’ movements paused. They also noticed the Little Prince and Little Bai, and while they toned down their excitement, their eyes darted around, making sure not to call the two cubs "prince" in public.

Watching Bai Xiaoyu interact warmly with the dragon cubs, the nearby dragon elders observed the cubs’ unusually well-mannered behavior, something they had never witnessed before.

The elders felt a sourness in their hearts. Usually, the cubs would be snarling at them, occasionally challenging them and shouting about defeating them to go find White Papa.

They regretted stirring up the cubs’ fighting spirit in the first place. Now, the cubs wouldn’t even let the elders hold them, let alone touch them without facing their sharp little teeth.

But they quickly snapped out of it. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. When cubs bound the optical brain, it would automatically store and register their genes in the star network’s gene database. Without registration, communication wouldn’t be possible.

Since the call was connected, it meant the registration had been successful. They had been monitoring the optical brain and had not seen any messages from the empire.

Meanwhile, at the medical headquarters of the Twelfth Legion, someone was seriously examining the various intelligence reports being sent over.

He breathed a sigh of relief. The dragon cubs’ Bug gene had somehow gone undetected by the empire. It seemed Bai Xiaoyu, who provided them with the optical brains, knew what he was doing.

Looking at the cubs’ medical reports, he saw that aside from their Bug gene, they were all quite healthy.

Seeing the photos of the dragon cubs baring their teeth, a smile almost appeared on his face, but when he remembered their Bug gene, his expression returned to its serious state.

He glanced at the date. The biannual full medical check-up for the Twelfth Legion was about to begin.

The dragon clans' genetic resources are depleting there. This time, they've arranged for a more reliable escort.

Ye Yang from R99?

His expression grew slightly colder. It seems the former star leader of R99 ultimately lacked good judgment.

Soon, he stood up, putting on his glasses. The reflection from the lenses concealed his expression. The tall figure in a white coat, typical of the dragon clan's standard physique, slightly bowed over the optical brain and sent a message: "Prepare for the meeting."

As he left, he also sent out a message.

At the same time, on planet R99, someone swiftly began covertly monitoring Ye Yang.

Ye Yang, as usual, only vaguely sensed something was off but found no clue to investigate.

He suddenly became alert, realizing he was being watched.

The Huang Family hadn't provided the contact information for the insider within the dragon clan, but the insider knew his identity. When the time was right, the insider would contact him.

It seemed he was being monitored by the insider.

He had been here for over a hundred years without this feeling, and now, understanding the reason, he remained calm and continued as usual. Inside, he was eager for the insider to reach out so he could help the dragon clans expose the mole.

Of course, after being monitored, he didn't contact Bai Xiaoyu, nor did he secretly retrieve the serum and mech Bai Xiaoyu had mentioned. When the time came, he didn't go to collect them.

He wouldn't do anything to alert the enemy now.

But it was strange; he didn't understand why the insider from the dragon clan would go through so much trouble to monitor him.

Weren't they on the same side?

The Huang Family hadn't mentioned the insider would behave in a way that seemed dissatisfied, monitoring him and deliberately letting him know.

Was this a form of punishment?

During this time, Bai Xiaoyu was being pulled into the star network by the dragon cubs, who had nearly mastered various communication methods on the optical brain.

They headed straight to the mecha training area on the star network, where virtual mechas were available. Here, they could show Bai Papa their recently learned mecha battle skills.

However, a group of eight or nine-year-old cubs saw the tiger cub barely reaching their knees and suddenly felt like big dragons looking at themselves. They asked curiously, "Bai Papa?"

The tiger image of Bai Xiaoyu nodded. "Cubs, how have you all been lately?"

They quickly struck up a conversation, with the cubs excitedly crowding around Bai Papa.

Little Prince stood by with his arms crossed, seeing the tiger cub looking up and speaking to the princes while darting around under the cubs' feet. He slightly frowned.

Nearby, Little Bai also saw this and was about to move when Little Prince spoke, "Little tail, I'll go."

Little Bai nodded, and Little Prince slowly walked up to Bai Xiaoyu, snorting, "You should at least bring a royal seat in this form."

The hierarchy within the Bug race is extremely rigid. The more one faced young leaders or others, the more they needed to feel the majesty and invincibility of the royalty. In his weakened state, Bai Xiaoyu might make the current leaders compare him unfavorably to the Insect Emperor pursuing them. Seeing such a royal might cause them to either run away or give up due to the overwhelming difference in strength.

Bai Xiaoyu was puzzled; what was with Little Prince now? The next second, Little Prince angrily picked up the tiger cub and placed him on Little Bai's head before Bai Xiaoyu could react.

Crouching on Little Bai's head, Bai Xiaoyu looked down at the dragon cubs' suddenly shining eyes. He thought, unlike the little white tiger, he wasn't used to having others sit on his head frequently.

Bai Xiaoyu waved his paw at the two cubs, "Little Breaker, Little Bai, I'm not comfortable speaking like this; can I come down?"

Seeing the tiger cub on Little Bai's head fidgeting, as if it wanted to jump down, Little Prince snorted. Should he let it down? Wouldn't that be too disrespectful?

Bai Xiaoyu doesn’t just lack power; he’s got zero dignity too. Besides, as a prince accompanying the emperor into battle, the highest spot on their rounded, tentacle-covered bodies is reserved exclusively for the emperor.

He doesn’t like being carried by Little Tail—does he expect me to do it instead?

The Little Prince eyed Bai Xiaoyu with disdain; from his perspective, nothing about Bai Xiaoyu screamed 'emperor.' He didn’t understand anything and was weak in strength. How did this weakling manage to keep those top leaders in line? In the Bug race, strength was paramount. A weak emperor like him might get overthrown by those top leaders.

Little Prince narrowed his eyes and glanced at the dragon cubs. Was it because he and Little Bai were present?

Now that Bai Xiaoyu didn’t want to ride on Little Tail’s back, he was eyeing Little Prince’s head, clearly conflicted. If he refused, those high-ranking leaders would definitely know that he hadn’t acknowledged the other as emperor.

Little Prince turned his face away. "If you want to switch spots, just hop over."

This left Bai Xiaoyu even more bewildered.

Seeing the bewildered tiger cub, Little Prince was speechless. He suddenly remembered reading about similar ancient histories on the optical brain. He suddenly felt like a powerful regent controlling a weak emperor.

The more he thought about it, the more he saw the parallel.

Bai Xiaoyu understood what Little Prince meant, but the little guy’s face darkened. No way he’d actually jump over, right?

He looked around and jumped onto a nearby mech. This position was good now.

But when he glanced down, Little Prince huffed again, clearly even more annoyed.

Naturally, Little Prince was furious. He had given Bai Xiaoyu a chance, but Bai Xiaoyu was refusing his approval.