Disaster

As he approached the hill, Li Qi saw the situation below clearly.

The boulder that had blocked the cave entrance had shattered into several pieces. A small white beast lay among the rubble, a bloody hole in its abdomen. It was already dead.

"So it really was Little Eighteen's pet, Little White."

Following the previous four Little Whites, the fifth Little White had died as well.

Jumping down from the Bone Shield, Li Qi walked to the cave entrance and met a pair of large eyes inside.

Li Qi said softly, "Come out, Nineteen."

"Where's that big bird?"

A four- or five-year-old boy with a dirt-smudged face poked his head out, cautiously looking from side to side as though afraid the big bird he mentioned would attack again.

"Brother Eleven!"

Before Li Qi could answer, a four- or five-year-old girl in filthy animal-hide clothes crawled out of the cave and threw herself into his arms.

The loving charge of an Apprentice Level Second-Order little sister made even Li Qi stagger.

Ignoring the girl's dirty clothes, Li Qi scooped her up and wiped the mud and tears from her face.

Li Qi asked gently, "Little Eighteen, why are you crying so hard?"

"That big bird was so fierce. It killed Little White in one hit..."

As she spoke, tears began streaming down the little girl's face again.

"It's okay. Don't cry. In a few days, Brother Eleven will catch you another Little White."

"Mhm, Little Eighteen won't cry anymore."

The little girl wiped her eyes and nodded heavily.

"Eleven!"

A Planetary Level powerhouse in black leather armor slowly descended from the sky.

Li Qi immediately recognized the newcomer as his father in this life, Derrick Royce, who ranked seventh among the Royce Family's second generation.

"Seventh Dad! Hold me!"

Little Nineteen stretched out his arms toward Derrick as he descended from the sky.

Ignoring Little Nineteen, Derrick took Little Eighteen from Li Qi's arms and softly coaxed her for a few moments.

Seeing his father holding Little Eighteen while Little Nineteen stood beside them with his arms outstretched, Li Qi was already used to it.

It could not be helped. The Royce Family had far more males than females. Only three females had been born in the family's third generation, and Little Eighteen was the youngest of them. Naturally, she was doted on by everyone.

"What was going on with that Dark Night Bird?"

After soothing the little girl in his arms, Derrick asked.

Li Qi shook his head slightly. "I'm not sure either. That Dark Night Bird kept staring at..."

At this point, he glanced at Little Eighteen and Little Nineteen, then did not continue.

"I understand. We'll discuss this after we return."

Derrick nodded. Amid Little Eighteen's giggles, he lifted her high into the air. "Let's go! We're going home!"

Watching his father carry Little Eighteen away, Li Qi lowered his head and looked at the envious Little Nineteen.

"Let's go."

Without waiting for Little Nineteen to agree, Li Qi picked him up and rode the Bone Shield toward the family encampment.

On the way back to the family, he looked over his shoulder in the direction the Dark Night Bird had fled.

At that moment, three streaks of light surrounded a black figure there, delivering a righteous group beating.

Without a psychic weapon, Bone Spikes made solely from Planetary Level monster teeth would be hard-pressed to threaten a Planetary Level monster.

Li Qi pondered inwardly, Given a monster's enormous size and powerful body, the Bone Spikes would have to break through its defenses and strike a vital point, such as the heart or brain.

He recalled his battle with the Dark Night Bird. His Bone Spikes had pierced through its tough feathers and sunk into its flesh.

It seemed as though they had dealt considerable damage, but to the Dark Night Bird, it was like a mosquito bite. It had only hurt for a moment, with little effect afterward.

On the other hand, after Li Qi drove the two Bone Spikes into the Dark Night Bird's flesh, its muscles clamped down on them, and he could no longer control them.

If he had fought that Dark Night Bird one-on-one, he would inevitably have lost in the end, because he would eventually have no Bone Spikes left to use!

If I had a psychic weapon, killing that Dark Night Bird wouldn't be difficult.

Psychic weapons had always been renowned for their sharpness. Even a damaged fragment of one was a deadly weapon for a Spirit Reader.

For example, at the Apprentice Level Ninth-Order Peak, Luo Feng had relied on the Heaven-Escaping Shuttle to kill a Planetary Level warrior wearing a first-order origin-force battle suit.

But if I want a psychic weapon, I'll have to go to Zhaoguang Academy or the United Training Camp.

After going in circles, it still came back to the same thing: he had to leave the family to grow stronger.

Li Qi shook his head. He did not want to leave the family for the time being, so he stopped thinking about it.

After returning to the family, Li Qi handed Little Nineteen over to his parents. Not long afterward, he was summoned to the family's main tent.

When he entered the tent, three people were already seated inside: his father, First Dad Huo Lu, and Sixth Dad Garibuel.

All three were Planetary Level powerhouses.

To be honest, Li Qi had suspected that his grandfather possessed a second-tier, or perhaps third- or fourth-tier, Human Race bloodline.

After all, every adult in the Royce Family's second generation was Planetary Level, and two of them had even reached the Stellar Level.

All the adults of the third generation were at the Apprentice Level Ninth-Order Peak, while the eldest brother had even reached the Planetary Level Ninth-Order.

"Father, First Dad, Sixth Dad."

After entering, Li Qi greeted each of them before sitting beside his father.

Garibuel was the first to speak. "Eleven, you did extremely well this time! You didn't retreat in the face of a Planetary Level Dark Night Bird. If not for you, Little Eighteen and Nineteen would have been in danger."

Li Qi felt somewhat unaccustomed to Sixth Dad, who was always extremely strict with both others and himself, taking the initiative to praise someone.

After all, when he had previously been taught Controller knowledge, he had watched Sixth Dad criticize Fourth Sister many times.

Still, he smiled and replied, "As Little Eighteen and Nineteen's brother, it was what I should have done."

His father, Derrick, nodded slightly before speaking. "Eleven, tell us what happened."

"It went like this..."

Li Qi described how he had discovered the Dark Night Bird, then added his own observations.

"For some reason, that Dark Night Bird was extremely persistent. It kept trying to attack Little Eighteen and Nineteen, even ignoring my attacks."

"That is indeed strange." After listening, Huo Lu, who handled the family's affairs, thought carefully for a moment before turning to ask, "Sixth, have the Thunder Eagles in the family returned?"

"I just checked. They haven't returned."

Derrick spoke up. "They probably won't be coming back. Since that Planetary Level Dark Night Bird could silently enter the family encampment, those Thunder Eagles are most likely gone."

Hearing this, Huo Lu said, "For the time being, don't let the little ones leave home.

"Also, I've already informed Father about this matter. Once Father returns, Eleven, your reward certainly won't be small."

Li Qi did not care about the reward Huo Lu mentioned. Little Eighteen and Nineteen being safe was the greatest reward for him.

"Hm?"

Huo Lu raised his left arm and tapped the black communicator on his left wrist with his right hand. A light screen appeared.

"An email from Father."

After seeing the sender, he tapped the light screen again and opened the email.

After reading it, Huo Lu's brows furrowed tightly. Only after forwarding the email to several brothers who were not present did he say in a grave voice, "Something happened!"

Just like the chapter title says, the author's computer had a problem. Hopefully there would be an update tomorrow.