Eldest Cub Hatches

Lou Yu withdrew his gaze from the sky, his expression calm once more. "Call a few more people over and load the prey onto the vehicles. Everyone gets an extra helping tonight."

The prey was too big for one person to carry.

The people who had come with Liu Qi'an asked in delighted surprise, "There's some for us too?"

Lou Yu said, "Snow Bird's treating us. Everyone here gets a share."

Although the prey was large, Lou Yu could have eaten it all over time if it was stored properly and kept from spoiling. Failing that, he could have made a profit selling it. But he wasn't the sort to keep good food to himself, and everyone here was his teammate or colleague. He couldn't think only of himself.

"Awesome! Long live Snow Bird and the captain!" Liu Qi'an and the others cheered.

The corners of Lou Yu's lips lifted. "All right, get moving. We don't want the smell of blood attracting other monsters."

High-level mutant monsters rarely appeared nearby, but there was no guarantee other mutant monsters wouldn't come.

They had been lucky this time. There hadn't been too much danger at the mission site, and not only had no one died, but they also had plenty of weapons left, enough to deal with ordinary mutant monsters.

Even so, it was best to avoid danger whenever possible. Having made it this far, Lou Yu wanted all the more to bring everyone safely back to the base.

The soldiers were well trained. They quickly loaded the prey onto a vehicle and sprayed it with scent-masking spray to reduce the chances of mutant monsters detecting it.

At the same time, someone reported that the vehicle that had broken down was fixed.

This time, Lou Yu drove himself. The convoy set off again, heading for Yong'an Base.

For fear that mutant monsters might hide in the vehicles or on people and sneak into the city, convoys had to undergo inspections before they could officially enter the base.

The research institute's staff were already waiting at the inspection point. Seeing Lou Yu return in one piece, they all breathed sighs of relief.

Chapter 13: Eldest Cub Hatches

In fact, ever since Lou Yu began participating in the development of the reagent, the people at the research institute had advised Lou Quan to stop sending him out on missions.

But neither Lou Quan nor Lou Yu agreed.

Lou Quan thought of Lou Yu as a swift, dependable blade, and keeping him at home just to chop vegetables would be a terrible waste of talent. Lou Yu, too, had no desire to be a flower in a greenhouse, hiding inside the base while his teammates risked their lives outside.

Lou Yu had also volunteered for this trip to retrieve the equipment.

There had once been a small base about two days' journey east of Yong'an Base, but it had been abandoned after an invasion of mutant monsters. The situation had been urgent at the time, and some important research equipment had been hidden underground and left behind.

The equipment was insignificant to the Central Base, and the other satellite bases had no use for it, so no one had risked going to retrieve it.

A mercenary squad from Yong'an Base had passed by the place some time ago. After investigating, they discovered that the passage underground was still intact and that what was inside might not have been damaged by mutant monsters.

As it happened, the research institute badly needed some of the equipment inside, so Lou Quan sent people to fetch it.

The equipment's purpose had to be kept secret, so the people responsible for the pre-entry inspection were all Lou Quan's people. And because Lou Yu, the only research material, was present, several people from the research institute had come as well.

Seeing the prey in one of the vehicles, an inspector's eyes widened. Despite his shock, he couldn't help swallowing.

The last time he had eaten meat was two months ago. Ever since news of reduced grain production had spread, he had spent his wages stockpiling rice, flour, grain, and cooking oil. Meat was even more expensive, and when he went to the supermarket, he didn't even dare look at it for long.

"You hunted a mutant monster on the way too?" He looked at the beaming Liu Qi'an beside him.

Liu Qi'an chuckled. "We didn't kill it. Someone gave it to us."

"Huh?" The inspector looked utterly bewildered.

The person beside Liu Qi'an couldn't hold back and said loudly, "Snow Bird gave it to Captain Lou."

"Huh?!" The inspector was even more dumbfounded. What were they talking about? He seemed to understand, yet he didn't understand at all.

Liu Qi'an's smile grew even brighter. He was bursting to share the news, as smug as if he were the one who had been given the prey.

He hooked an arm around the inspector's shoulders and loudly said, as if announcing he had something to hide, "I'm only telling you this secret, so don't tell anyone else..."

The commotion had long since attracted the others' attention. Hearing him say that, everyone who didn't know what had happened pricked up their ears.

Lou Yu shook his head helplessly and smiled at the baffled researchers, signaling for them to ignore the commotion for now. Then he lowered his voice and said seriously, "Besides the equipment, we also found some documents in the basement. You should be very interested in what's in them."

The researchers had been drawn in by Liu Qi'an's loud voice, but Lou Yu's words immediately brought their attention back to him.

None of them were fools, and they quickly understood what Lou Yu was implying.

At present, there was only one thing that could interest them...

Old Doctor Li, who was leading them, said, "Could it be...?"

Lou Yu nodded.

They all held their breath. Lou Yu and his team had brought back an incredible haul from this trip!

In less than half a day, news that Snow Bird had given Lou Yu a piece of prey had spread across most of the base.

Some questioned whether the news was true, some marveled at Lou Yu's good fortune, and others asked whether the mutant monster meat in Lou Yu's hands was for sale...

The base was as lively as if it were celebrating the New Year. Compared with that eye-catching news, no one paid any attention to what Lou Yu and his team had brought back from their trip.

As a result, it became harder for the informants in the base to gather information. With Lou Quan's forceful protection on top of that, not the slightest whisper leaked out of the research institute.

Those who came seeking information could only leave empty-handed.

Compared with the uproar at Yong'an Base, like water poured into hot oil, things were as quiet as ever on Tao Qiu's side.

Tao Qiu returned from another hunt and checked the nest. Only when he found that the temperature hadn't dropped much did he finally breathe a deep sigh of relief.

He gently stroked the three eggs and said with a smile, "Sorry, I ran into your other dad today and gave him something. It held me up, so I got back late. Don't be mad at me, okay?"

After that, he cheekily added, "But you haven't hatched yet, so even if you really are mad, you can't do anything to me. Guess all I can say is, your dad is still your dad."

If the three little birds were born safely and lived in peaceful times, they would surely go online to complain: My dad is great in every way, except he has a mouth.

A few days later, Tao Qiu went out hunting and happened upon a new plant: a tomato.

The plant was fully grown, though it had yet to flower. Tao Qiu dug it out with its roots and the soil around them, then planted it along with a new batch of wild fruit plants in the little vegetable garden he had prepared.

Tao Qiu watered the transplanted tomato and fed it supernatural energy, hoping it would survive. He genuinely wanted to eat some new fruits and vegetables.

Fortunately, plants in this era were hardy, and with the help of supernatural energy, the tomato plant perked up after wilting for less than half a day. It also began growing faster.

Time flew by, and before he knew it, a month had passed since the three eggs were laid.

That day, after watering the vegetable garden, Tao Qiu returned to the cave and settled into the nest, ready to continue incubating the eggs. But when he lifted the little blanket, he found that one of the eggs was moving.

Tao Qiu immediately realized that a chick was about to hatch.

It was Tao Qiu's first time seeing a little animal hatch with his own eyes, and this was his child at that. He immediately grew nervous.

He watched the egg quietly, even softening his breathing, afraid that too much noise would frighten the chick back inside.

And so the entire

space

was immediately filled with nothing but the faint sound of the eggshell being pecked apart.

Tao Qiu had heard before that it was best for animals that hatched from eggs to break out on their own, because it meant the young were healthy and strong and had a better chance of surviving afterward.

So even though Tao Qiu badly wanted to help, he was afraid of harming the chick. He kept a close eye on him, intending to step in only if the little one really needed help.

But the first chick clearly didn't need Tao Qiu to worry. About an hour later, he had pecked a broken ring around the upper half of the shell, and it seemed he would be out soon.

Taking advantage of the time, Tao Qiu went to drag the prey over. He didn't know about other birds, but he remembered that the first meal his bird parents had fed him after he hatched was meat.

At a time like this, he could be glad his child was a chick rather than a human baby. Otherwise, where would he find milk for the child to drink?

About twenty minutes later, the eggshell was pushed open, and a wet black head emerged.

Tao Qiu was a little surprised. Eldest Cub had down on his body as soon as he hatched, rather than looking like the fleshy little thing Tao Qiu had imagined.

Were all birds in this era like this, or was it only birds of his particular kind?

Tao Qiu had no bird siblings and had never seen another chick hatch. In the end, his lack of experience had left him at a disadvantage.

The chick had yet to open his eyes, and he didn't make a sound. He tilted his head, sensing the air outside, then tipped backward and crawled out of the shell enclosing his lower body, flopping down in the hay nest.

Tao Qiu hurriedly placed the chick in the little feather nest he had warmed long ago to keep him warm, then cupped the nest in both hands and raised it to eye level for a closer look.

The safe arrival of the new life filled Tao Qiu with excitement, which showed in his excessively bright eyes and the corners of his mouth that wouldn't stop rising. Watching the chick nestled there quietly, regaining his strength, he felt as if his whole heart were melting.

Because birds like Tao Qiu were enormous, even a newly hatched chick was more than half the size of Tao Qiu's hand. He could hardly be called tiny, but that didn't stop Tao Qiu from finding him adorable.

Yes, "he." This chick was male. Tao Qiu had checked when he put the bird in the nest just now. He was a male bird himself, so he naturally knew what that part of a male bird looked like.

Looking at the chick's jet-black down, without a single hair of another color, Tao Qiu thought the little one took after his other dad. The man's hair was black too, like the deep night.

After a while, the chick regained his strength. Perhaps sensing Tao Qiu's presence, he raised his head in his direction and began chirping.

He was hungry and begging for food.

The chick had hatched so suddenly that Tao Qiu had been too busy watching him to prepare any food. He simply returned to his bird form and shrank himself, then used his beak to tear the tenderest part of the prey into small pieces and feed them into the chick's mouth.