Seven, who hadn't been called out yet, cautiously shrank to the side, trying to minimize his presence. Big Brother only needed to pressure Little Nine; he absolutely couldn't see him.
Xiao Jiu, who was under pressure from his elder brother, finally gave in after a while.
He lowered his voice and struggled to ask, "Big brother, is this really how it has to be?"
"Um."
Yu An's tone left no room for negotiation. He looked down at Xiao Jiu, neither urging her nor indicating that he would give up.
Time passed little by little.
Xiao Jiu had no way to avoid it. He pursed his lips somewhat helplessly, and a few seconds later, he lowered his head and bit Yu An's wrist.
Mycelium began to spread from Xiao Jiu's body.
Yu An was instantly enveloped in mycelium, but Xiao Jiu only made a big show of it; in reality, he only bit through a small part of Yu An's skin.
Yu An learned from his method how to feed the cub.
After Xiao Jiu finished biting, he was visibly upset. He buried his face in Yu An's arms, his voice choked with sobs: "I'm sorry, big brother. We're all bad kids."
Only a bad kid would eat even his older brother.
Yu An looked at the dejected Xiao Jiu and smiled: "Our little ones are all good little ones, not a single one is bad. Don't be sad, your big brother doesn't care."
Xiao Jiu was still venting his emotions when he blurted out, "Big brother, at first I really didn't know that the nutrient solution in the nutrient tank was mixed with your blood."
"I first saw the eldest and second cubs when I came out. I guessed it from their conversation; they said they didn't want to be fed by you anymore."
The cubs behind them were fed in a relatively gentle way.
And the eldest son and his friends—
It was my eldest brother who fed me with his own flesh and blood, little by little, that kept me alive.
Yu An listened to what Xiao Jiu said, but his heart wasn't really moved. Just like feeding the cub like this, he didn't feel anything at all.
Although he couldn't remember what had happened before, he knew very well that the fact that he had persisted in feeding the cubs for so many years meant that he had never regretted this decision.
Little Jiu, this little mushroom, used to fake cry all the time, but the tears he shed this time were absolutely genuine.
"Big brother."
Xiao Jiu was still pleading with him: "Could you please stop feeding us like this? We're all grown up now, we don't need it anymore."
They are already adults and don't need their older brother to do this for them anymore.
"Good boy/girl."
Yu An wiped away his tears, no longer as cold as before. He lowered his head and comforted Xiao Jiu, who was truly upset: "We'll talk about this later. I need to go find Liu Zai. You guys wait for me here, okay?"
He made up a reason on the spot: "Sixth Prince is about to start treatment, and he can't be without someone by his side. I need to spend more time with him."
Liu Zai is still lying in the hospital room, and his condition is clear to all the children.
So Xiao Jiu didn't want to compete with Liu Zai for the position of eldest brother. He nodded and told his eldest brother to leave.
Yu An looked at him, thought for a moment, and decided to stay a little longer. He called Qi Zai over as well; Qi Zai was sniffling and also seemed to be in pain.
He loves them all, and his children are all his precious little ones.
Yu An patiently soothed the two cubs, and only after calming them down did he get up and leave.
His room wasn't far from Liu Zai's.
He hadn't walked far when he arrived at Liu Zai's ward. Just then, a doctor who was there for a routine check-up was also about to go in.
Yu An raised his hand and pushed open the door.
The next second.
Yu An and the doctor who performed the examination both changed their expressions. Looking at the empty bed, after searching the bed, under the bed, and throughout the entire ward, they had to admit that the little butterfly had flown away.
Yu An's first reaction was to ask Xie Chiyuan for help.
But he immediately suppressed the thought. Xie Chiyuan was probably already overwhelmed with problems, and he couldn't let these things bother Xie Chiyuan any further.
"Where is the monitoring room? Take me to the monitoring room."
After asking the doctor, Yu An went to the monitoring room to check. He had just seen Liu Zai that morning, or more precisely, two hours earlier.
In two hours, a still weak little butterfly may not be able to fly far.
Yu An stared intently at the monitor frame by frame, carefully tracing the route the baby had taken. Once he could determine the direction, it would be easier for him to search for it later.
Just as Yu An was watching the surveillance footage, Xie Chiyuan also received his message.
The person standing in front of Xie Chiyuan looked even uglier upon hearing this news: "Commander Xie, I told you, those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts. Even if the mutants are legalized, other districts still treat them very strictly."
"They are merely tools domesticated by us humans. Being too kind to the mutants only hurts us!"
The man in front of me spoke passionately. After describing the dangers of the mutants, he directly identified the perpetrator in this case.
"The mutant A06 had just disappeared from the hospital when Chief Yin was attacked. Isn't it obvious who the culprit is?"
He has already explicitly named and blamed A06. And he even argued, "A06 did not operate alone; they must have been working together with other aberrations."
"At the scene of the attack on Chief Yin, only a few aberrations from Sequence A were present. Too many coincidences are no longer coincidences; this is a blatant provocation!"
Admittedly, at first glance, the A sequence variants in Yin Qin's case seem quite suspicious.
However, Xie Chiyuan asked expressionlessly, "You insist they are the murderers, so what was their motive?"
"Does a mutant need a motive to harm people?!"
The man who accused the mutants of being the murderers said with indignation, "They were born bad, and they would do whatever they wanted, no matter how bad it was."
Xie Chiyuan: "..."
Xie Chiyuan looked at him with an expression as if he were looking at someone mentally challenged.
"Don't you know where these mutants used to live?" Xie Chiyuan patiently explained to him, "They used to live on the training island."
The training island has always been the most important training place in the West District, and everyone who can get in there is a top-notch individual.
There are not only training grounds over there, but also secret laboratories.
The mutants live in such an important place; if they really wanted to cause trouble, they would have done it long ago. Besides, Yin Qin goes there from time to time to look for Ruan Ke.
After Xie Chiyuan finished explaining, he thought the other party would finally calm down. However, he underestimated the depth of the other party's prejudice against mutants.
"Sir, only the mutants are at the scene, and one of them went missing at noon. They are currently the prime suspects. According to normal procedures, they should be detained temporarily. If the real culprit is found, it won't be too late to release them then."
Xie Chiyuan's explanations were completely ignored by the other party.
If this man hadn't held a high official position and hadn't spent a long time with his father, Xie Chiyuan would have kicked him out long ago.
"Forget about the mutants. Let's arrange the defenses in the West District first. We've only just discovered that the enemy has infiltrated. It's very likely that something sinister has happened inside the West District."
He can kill his own children, and Xie Chiyuan can just as easily conclude that someone within their West District is up to no good.
Access to the main base has always been very strict. Even if the other party is a mutant or a superhuman, it is impossible for them to sneak in alone without being detected.
The children are not the murderers. The real murderer must have an inside accomplice.
Xie Chiyuan continued to handle the affairs of the West District. Yin Qin had mentioned to him a long time ago that he should take over the West District in the future.
Now, this succession may have to be brought forward.
Xie Chiyuan didn't want to take over the business; he wanted to retire directly. In his plan, once he had saved enough money, he could take Yu An and the children to enjoy a comfortable life.
Xie Chiyuan was still busy, suppressing all the decisions to detain the mutant cubs.
At the hospital.
Just when Yu An's eyes were about to go blind, she finally saw a small butterfly stumble and fly away. The butterfly's flight direction—
It is outside the West District.
The western district was not safe at the moment, and Yu An couldn't sit still as soon as he saw his direction.
He practically ran back to his room, and as soon as he got back, he called to all the kids: "Come on, we need to go find Sixth Kid now."
Yu An took the children out, and at the door, he saw the gatekeeper.
Xie Chiyuan did not send anyone to guard them; those who did so were those who disagreed with him. Xie Chiyuan did not have complete power, and his word was not absolute here.
He believed in the mutant offspring, but most people didn't.
Yu An can move freely within the hospital, but cannot leave the hospital premises.
After a stalemate, Yu An compromised: "I will leave the two babies here. With them here, I will definitely come back."
"I have urgent business to attend to now."
Yu An's compromise did not earn him any leniency. Unable to think of any other solution, he could only bother Ruan Ke, who was also at the hospital.
Ruan Ke is in very poor condition.
Yin Qin remained unconscious and did not wake up. Ruan Ke stayed by his side, refusing to move an inch.
Upon seeing him, Yu An lowered her head and apologized, "Uncle Ruan, I'm sorry."
If the kids hadn't gone to have dinner with Chief Yin, none of this would have happened.
Although Ruan Ke's face was pale, he hadn't lost his composure. He said wearily, "It's not your fault, nor is it the children's fault."
"The murderer is already in the base. None of us can know in advance when he will kill your Uncle Yin."
Ruan Ke managed to get Yu An out of the hospital, but Ba Zai and Qiu Qiu couldn't go with her. The two little ones were temporarily held hostage.
Thankfully, the kids were very well-behaved and didn't cause much trouble.
Yu An, along with Qi Zai and Jiu Zai, followed the direction outside the West District and chased after them. They hadn't gone far when Yu An received a text message from Xie Chiyuan.
“Baby, I can’t help you look for it anymore. Be careful in everything you do, and call me anytime if you encounter any trouble.”
After reading the text message, Yu An replied with "Okay" and continued searching.
The original form of the little butterfly that flew away was too small. Fortunately, Xiao Jiu could grow some small green mushrooms and let these little mushrooms work as laborers.
Seven is even more useful now.
He crouched down, directly sensing the inconspicuous weeds by the roadside. We're all the same; we should always help each other out in times of need.
Tan Zhan, who was always nearby, had disappeared and hadn't appeared yet. Qi Zai was busy looking for Little Butterfly and didn't have time to pay attention to him.
I don't know how much time passed.