A-Tai

Bao'er did not really think Zuo Yi was Doraemon; it was just that her dad was far too magical.

Her attention quickly returned to the giant egg that had been thumping nonstop. She asked curiously, "Dad, didn't you say you were giving me a puppy?"

Could the puppy be hidden inside this egg?

She had actually guessed right!

Zuo Yi smiled. "The puppy is in there, but you need to wake it up, because it's sleeping."

Bao'er's eyes went wide again. "Huh?"

Weren't eggs for chicks, ducklings, and baby birds? How could puppies hatch from eggs too?

Bao'er was not some ignorant four-year-old. She knew more than five hundred characters, had read quite a few storybooks, and watched cartoons too.

She asked dubiously, "Then how do I wake it up?"

"It's very simple."

Zuo Yi said, "Just put your hand on it. It'll know you're calling it, and then it'll wake up."

It sounded completely unreliable, but because she trusted her dad and was looking forward to the puppy, Bao'er timidly stretched out her little hand and gently placed it on the eggshell.

"Like this?"

The little girl's palm was warm. The giant egg was warm too, and she could feel a powerful throb coming from inside it.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Like a heartbeat.

In a very short time, the giant egg's pulse synchronized with Bao'er's heartbeat, forming a resonance. Something marvelous was happening!

"That's right!"

Zuo Yi smiled faintly as battle energy surged continuously from within him, flowing through his palm and into the giant egg.

The giant egg suddenly shone with dazzling fiery light, startling the unprepared Bao'er and making her instinctively pull her hand back.

Crack!

The next moment, a long fissure suddenly appeared across the eggshell's surface, accompanied by a crisp cracking sound.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

In the blink of an eye, the shell of the giant egg, over a foot long, shattered into countless tiny fragments that scattered across the floor.

The thing sealed inside the egg had awakened.

It lay on Zuo Yi's palm, groggily opening its eyes and looking around in confusion.

Then it met Bao'er's gaze at close range.

"Wow!"

Bao'er had completely forgotten her fear. Both her eyes turned into hearts.

Her dad had not lied to her. Before her was an adorable little puppy, snow-white and fluffy all over. It was barely larger than Zuo Yi's palm, with bright watery black eyes, a round little black nose, and a face that practically screamed "cute."

It instantly pierced Bao'er's heart.

She also felt extraordinarily close to this puppy. Although it was their first meeting, it felt as though they had known each other for a very long time.

Bao'er stared at the puppy, and the puppy stared back at Bao'er.

Its eyes held a look of affectionate dependence as it opened its mouth and gave a little "Woof."

"Dad!"

Bao'er was completely defeated. She pleaded, "Can I hold it?"

The little girl no longer wanted to investigate why a puppy had come out of an egg. Right now, she just wanted to hold it, kiss it, stay with it, and take care of it!

"Of course."

Zuo Yi handed the puppy over.

Bao'er carefully accepted it and, as though she had always known how, held it in her arms.

Joy and happiness filled her face with an innocent smile, her eyes curving into crescents and shallow dimples appearing on her cheeks.

To be honest, even Zuo Yi felt a little jealous. He could not help wondering whether releasing this little fellow had been the right choice.

The puppy obediently curled up in Bao'er's arms. It lifted its tiny head and gazed at the little girl with obsidian-like eyes.

Bao'er could not resist reaching out to stroke its head. The puppy wore a blissful expression, then stuck out its tiny tongue to lick her fingers, making her giggle.

"Dad, Dad, it's so cute!"

The little girl was absolutely thrilled!

Cute?

Zuo Yi merely smiled without saying anything.

He did not tell Bao'er that this incredibly adorable-looking puppy was actually an Abyssal Cerberus!

The Abyssal Cerberus was the guardian of the gates to the Abyss World, a legendary extraordinary magical beast. It possessed many innate abilities, excelled at both close combat and powerful magic, and was strong enough to rival a proper knight order.

However, this pup, newly freed from its sealed state, was still extremely weak. It would take a very, very long time for it to reach legendary rank. For now, bullying a Giant Spirit Witch Slave would not be a problem, but a Gargoyle could definitely teach it how to behave like a proper dog.

Of course, once it grew up, even countless Gargoyles would have to kneel and call it daddy.

Zuo Yi was not worried that this Abyssal Cerberus pup would hurt Bao'er. He had just helped the little girl and the pup achieve a spiritual resonance, and they would become companions bound in life and death.

When Zuo Yi was not around, it would bear the responsibility of protecting the little girl!

Zuo Yi said, "You should give it a name too."

This time, Bao'er did not even need to think. She immediately answered, "Taike. Its name will be Taike, A-Tai!"

"Taike?"

Zuo Yi was curious. "How did you come up with that name?"

"Dad, haven't you watched Tom and Jerry?"

Bao'er looked at Zuo Yi as if he were hopelessly out of touch and explained, "Taike is the son of Spike, the big dog from Tom and Jerry. I like Taike the most!"

Zuo Yi had watched Tom and Jerry, but he only knew Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse. As for the puppy Taike...

"All right."

He rubbed the little girl's head. "From now on, it'll be called Taike, A-Tai."

Bao'er happily called out, "A-Tai!"

Taike: "Woof!"

Then it stuck out its tongue again and licked Bao'er's hand full of drool, doing everything it could to act cute.

Knowing its true identity, Zuo Yi was speechless just watching it.

On the plane of Sadeya, the young of most powerful magical beasts were born in very cute and adorable forms.

But this had not been the case several epochs ago. Learned wizard-scholars had once studied the matter and concluded that it was an evolutionary adaptation developed by highly intelligent magical beasts to protect their young.

It was not meant to protect them from being eaten by other magical beasts, but to reduce the chance of being directly killed by humans.

Yet in reality, cute and soft magical beast cubs had become the favorite targets of adventurers and hunters!

It sounded absurd, but Sadeya had long since become a primary plane ruled by humans. No powerful magical beast could escape the hunting of knights and wizards. Perhaps this was the only way to keep them from going completely extinct.

Suddenly, A-Tai, who had been cuddling and acting cute in Bao'er's arms, twitched its nose, and its eyes became especially bright.

It abruptly broke free from Bao'er's embrace, jumped to the floor, and scampered joyfully toward the kitchen on all four paws.

It moved incredibly fast.

Caught off guard, Bao'er cried out, "A-Tai!"

Zuo Yi froze for a moment, then realized what was happening. "Oh no!"

He hurried after it into the kitchen, but he was already too late.

Taike had leaped onto the counter and seized the steak Zuo Yi had cooked earlier in its mouth!

"This little brat!"

Three black lines instantly appeared on Zuo Yi's forehead. He reached out, grabbed it by the scruff of its neck, and lifted it up.

Even so, A-Tai still clamped down on the steak and refused to let go!

Zuo Yi really wanted to find a whip and give it a good lashing.

He had forgotten about the Abyssal Cerberus's Taotie nature.

When Taike's mother guarded the gates of the Abyss, there were three ways to pass through her checkpoint: defeat her, fool her, or bribe her.

Zuo Yi had traveled to and from the Abyss World many times, and he had always chosen bribery—his Spatial Ring allowed him to carry vast quantities of meat.

Beef was the Abyssal Cerberus's favorite food!

Back then, a single bribe from Zuo Yi required the meat from an entire butchered Black-Horned Savage Bull, nearly a ton in total.

This little fellow had clearly inherited its mother's tastes. The moment it smelled the steak, it had rushed in to steal food.

It was already like this now. What would happen in the future?

"Dad!"

Just as Zuo Yi was considering how to teach it a lesson, Bao'er ran over, tugged on his clothes, and pleaded, "Don't blame A-Tai. It must have been really hungry to do that."

Fine!

Zuo Yi wordlessly put A-Tai down, feeling as if he had done something foolish.

Once it landed, A-Tai wolfed down the steak.

Bao'er crouched down and gently stroked its back. "Eat slowly. Dad won't take it from you. Don't choke."

A-Tai: "Nom nom nom..."

A-Tai: I'm this cute, and you still won't vote? Doesn't your conscience hurt?