Chapter 10

Zhan Xi felt sorry for his own child, but the child involved didn’t feel like he was being treated unfairly at all.

Sitting in a large basin of water with a swimming ring around his neck, Jian Ning kicked his short legs and tried to learn how to swim in the water. He was serious about his swimming, but his posture looked like that of a little duck flapping around.

“Daddy! Water, water!”

After kicking for a while, Jian Ning suddenly stopped and patted the space next to him with his chubby hand, hoping that Zhan Xi would come down and play with him.

Playing in the water was fun, and the baby wanted his father to play with him.

Zhan Xi looked at the basin and then at his own physique. His mouth twitched and told the baby the truth, “If Daddy steps on it, this basin will break.”

This kind of small basin used by children was still too fragile for an adult.

Jian Ning was a little disappointed when he saw that his father hadn’t come.

Zhan Xi had been keeping an eye on the time. Although the child liked playing in the water, he couldn’t really let him soak in the water for too long. Even if it was warm water, it wasn’t good to soak for too long.

“Baby, it’s time to go to sleep.”

Zhan Xi took a soft, large towel and wrapped up the naked child, then dried him and put him in bed, changing him into clean pajamas.

Jian Ning cooperated the whole time, extending his arms and legs without any resistance.

“Daddy, sleep.”

After finishing his bedtime milk, the child started to rub his eyes and wanted to sleep according to his biological clock. He was fine during the day with Guoguo around, but at night he only needed Zhan Xi.

A few nights ago, when Zhan Xi had to go out at night, Jian Ning somehow woke up. Hua Ya, who came to look after him, couldn’t coax him to return to sleep no matter how hard she tried.

The usually easy-going child cried inconsolably in Hua Ya’s arms.

Hua Ya listened to his almost hoarse cry calling ‘daddy’ and felt for the first time the hardship of taking care of a baby. She knew that when the baby first came, he did not recognize Zhan Xi, and he would cry all night because he was restless.

“Your father also doesn’t have it easy, huh?”

Hua Ya had been comforting the baby all night, and when Zhan Xi returned the next day, she returned the baby to him, patted Zhan Xi’s arm, and lamented for a while.

The night grew darker.

Zhan Xi, who had finished his simple wash, fell asleep with the baby smelling of milk all over his body. He had been too tired for too long, and the excessive use of his mental power made his head ache from time to time.

In his dream, Jian Ning suddenly wrinkled his small face.

He was close to Zhan Xi, so when Zhan Xi’s mental power leaked out, he caught it.

The mental power, like a little tender tooth, moved again. Although it was so weak that it was almost undetectable, when it faced the approaching huge mental power like a black pool, the little tender shoot was not at all afraid.

Not only was it not afraid, but it seemed to recognize that it was his father’s mental power, and the little tender shoot looked particularly joyful.

“Daddy.”

Jian Ning, who had his eyes closed, grabbed Zhan Xi’s clothes with his chubby little hands, and his beautiful little face seemed to be trying hard. At the same time, his mental power was also working hard to stick to his father.

He stuck to him all night long.

The next morning, when Zhan Xi woke up, he found that the little baby who should have woken up for milk at this time was still sleeping, and judging from the expression on his little face, he seemed exhausted.

He leaned over and tried the temperature of his forehead.

Luckily, he was not feverish.

“Baby, what did you do last night? How can you still be so tired after sleeping?”

Zhan Xi looked at Jian Ning’s small chest rising and falling, and the slight snoring sound, muttering in confusion.

Although he knew that the baby was very tired at the moment, Zhan Xi still woke him up after preparing the milk powder, let him drink the milk and then continue sleeping.

If he was hungry, even when he was asleep, the baby would cry with his eyes closed while sleeping.

Jian Ning, who was forcibly awakened, looked very tired. He held the milk bottle in his hands and drank it with a gurgling sound, barely keeping his eyes open.

Soon, he finished the bottle of milk, and before Zhan Xi could put him back on the bed, the little one who was sitting on Zhan Xi’s lap had tilted his head and fell asleep with his mouth open.

Zhan Xi felt a little helpless. He put the little one back on the bed, placed the learning machine next to him, and then got up to leave.

The Zergs on the other side of the stone barrier were too aggressive. These Zergs suddenly went crazy and wanted to invade. Even if countless of their companions were killed, they still refused to give up.

Such behavior was very unusual. Zhan Rao dared not leave now, for fear that something might happen after he left.

The two of them agreed to go to the stone barrier today to find clues. They had to know why these disgusting bugs suddenly went crazy.

Since he woke up, Zhan Xi had been focused on taking care of the baby and then worried about finding Zhan Rao. One thing after another made him completely ignore his mental power issue.

It wasn’t until he walked a few hundred meters out the door that he suddenly stopped and touched his head in shock and hesitation. “What’s going on?!”

His restless mental power in the past few days suddenly became so gentle?

Zhan Xi touched his head, his expression on his face uncertain and puzzled.

On the other side, Jian Ning, who had slept until almost noon, got enough sleep and finally opened his eyes. He stared blankly at the ceiling for several seconds before shaking his head and waking up.

“Daddy!”

“Your father has left.”

A neighbor sat beside his bed, doing handicrafts. “Come here. Your dad said that when you wake up, I have to feed you and take you to the bathroom.”

Jian Ning looked outside the window at the dazzling sun and understood that it was his dad’s time to leave. He obediently opened his little hands and let the neighbor pick him up without crying or making a fuss.

The neighbor was also a man with a stubble beard, he was tall and burly, but his hands were very skillful. He was just weaving a little turtle next to Jian Ning.

The little turtle, woven with green wool, was handed to Jian Ning casually by the neighbor. “This little toy is for you.”

Jian Ning took the little turtle and thanked him in a childish voice. “Thank you!”

After thanking him, the baby who loved to flatter added, “Good!”

He wanted to say that Uncle was really good, but his vocabulary was limited, and being able to blurt out this word was already not easy.

The neighbor, who had taken care of him a few times, could understand his baby talk. He held him up and looked at him as if he didn’t care about what he said, but he asked, “Do you like kittens? I will weave a kitten for you next time.”

Jian Ning had seen cats in picture books and was deeply attracted to the furry little kittens.

So, when he caught the word “kitten,” he immediately exclaimed with bright eyes, “Kitty!”

He liked kittens!

The neighbour could tell that he liked it from his reaction.

Jian Ning raised his face and let the uncle who was taking care of him pinch his cheeks. After the uncle finished pinching, he logged into his learning machine.

Adults loved pinching his cheeks, so gradually, besides waving his little hands, Jian Ning would also generously move his face closer to others.

Most people would just touch it once, but Ling Qi would go a bit further.

Not only would he pinch the baby’s tender cheeks several times, but he would also steal a kiss on his face when his father wasn’t around!

Before long, Jian Ning successfully logged in. He clapped his hands and called out to Guoguo, who he had not seen all morning: “Guoguo, here!”

Huo Lin’s mood finally improved when he saw him.

Jian Ning could stand but not walk yet. He loved to be lazy and would not stand unless coaxed by Zhan Xi. He was the same in front of Huo Lin.

Huo Lin picked him up and walked skilfully into a small room. Although it was called a small room, it was not small in area. There was a specially designed playroom and a projection room.

“Okay, today you have to study with me.”

As the only prince of the empire, Huo Lin was already carrying a heavy burden despite his young age. His learning task was heavy, covering many areas.

Recently, he had been coming in every day to take care of Jian Ning, and his own progress was clearly slower than before.

His father came to see him last night. Although the other didn’t say much, he felt that his father was probably dissatisfied with him.

After serious reflection, the little prince decided that from today onwards, while taking care of the child, he would also push his own learning progress.

Coincidentally, the things he wanted to learn could also help the baby familiarize with them in advance.

The big screen in the projection room lit up.

Jian Ning sat on Guoguo’s lap, leaning against Guoguo’s chest, and began to watch the big screen.

“This is the Zerg, our enemy.”

As the screen lit up, Huo Lin’s voice also rang in Jian Ning’s ear. He hugged Jian Ning’s small body and said, “In this lesson, we will learn the weaknesses of the Zerg.”

Jian Ning: “......”

Jian Ning looked up with a puzzled expression. “Ah?”

He didn’t understand.

Huo Lin: “......”

Huo Lin also realized that if he spoke like this, the little baby wouldn’t understand. So, after thinking about it, he pointed to the big insect on the screen and explained concisely, “This is an insect, very bad. If you see it, you should immediately crawl away and hide.”

He originally wanted to say that when you see it, you should kill it.

But before he could say it, he remembered that this little baby in his arms would not be able to confront the Zerg head-on.

He paused and changed his tone. “If you see it, you should crawl away and hide immediately.”

After repeating it several times, Jian Ning, who was sitting on his lap, began to jump up and down, saying, “Bugs are bad! Baby, crawl away!”

“That’s right, crawl away if you see it, but you are unlikely to see it.”

The empire’s extermination of the Zerg had never stopped. Except for some barren areas, these bugs would not appear on the land of the empire.

Even if one or two accidentally appeared, they would soon be killed by the guards in that area.

Although Huo Lin didn’t think the baby in his arms would see these bugs, he still talked to the baby about many related knowledge points. These knowledge points were what people of the empire had to learn from an early age, and related courses had been set up since kindergarten.

After finishing the video lesson, he taught about mental power.

Huo Lin held the baby and asked him softly, “I am an S-rank. What level are you? It’s better not to be too high.”

Otherwise, he would be tortured like Huo Lin himself.

Jian Ning shook his head.

Huo Lin thought he didn’t know, so he didn’t continue to ask.

After nearly an hour of class, the baby in his arms who didn’t like to study was moving around, either pulling his socks or looking around.

After moving around for a while, Jian Ning, who hadn’t been taken to play yet, looked at Guoguo, who still had to continue class, and approached him and said, “Guoguo, toy car!”

He wanted to play with the toy car.

Huo Lin frowned and said firmly, “No, we have to study well today.”

Jian Ning: “......”

Jian Ning looked at Guoguo’s serious expression, not afraid at all.

He pulled Guoguo’s arm, trembling with his short legs supporting him as he stood up. After standing up, he leaned towards Guoguo’s face and kissed his cheek.

After kissing, not even three seconds passed...

The principled little prince picked up the baby, who fell on his butt and went to play with small toys.

Days passed by.

Jian Ning followed Guoguo to study during the day and waited for his father to come back at night. However, what made Jian Ning unhappy was that his father was coming home later and later.

The people on the barren planet were all busy.

Even so, no one could spare the time to take care of the baby.

Zhan Xi had no choice but to find some strong and wide strips of cloth and carry the baby on his chest. Wherever he went, the baby followed.

The stone barrier had already collapsed.

Zhan Xi found himself in an increasingly harsh environment with the baby, and he thought several times that his decision to bring the baby back was a mistake.

Following him, the baby did not have a good life.

“Baby.”

Standing beside a broken tree, Zhan Xi lowered his eyes and asked the little baby in his arms, “Is it tough to follow Dad?”

The baby being asked, with his chubby face tilted up, seemed to not understand what “tough” meant.

He just hugged his dad’s neck tightly, with his eyes full of trust and dependence: “Baby, follow Dad!”

As long as he was with Dad, the baby felt that it didn’t matter even if he was tossed and turned.

The fracture of the stone barrier completely broke the stability that the people on the barren planet had barely maintained.

At the critical moment of life and death, the people on the barren planet did not consider leaving as their first option, even though they had already packed their bags under Zhan Rao’s command.

“Bug.”

Jian Ning, who was lying on Zhan Xi’s shoulder, saw a big bug again. Before she could even react, Ling Qi, who was passing by their side, quickly cut off the worm’s head.

Jian Ning didn’t even flinch at this bloody scene.

As Guoguo said, bugs were bad!

A large number of Zergs swarmed in densely. If this happened on another planet, it would be difficult to deal with, even with an army.

But here, these seemingly unremarkable residents actually managed to hold out for nearly half a month.

They blocked the cracks of the stone barrier where the insects tried to crawl in.

Zhan Rao stood at the forefront.

In the air filled with the scent of blood, the mental power that erupted from everyone was like a sharp blade, cutting the Zergs that attempted to cross the line into pieces.

The insects died one by one.

Jian Ning, who was placed in the small house by Zhan Xi, leaned against the window, anxiously looking outside.

“Daddy.”

He whispered, calling out “daddy” and then “uncle” to the others in his line of sight.

Dad and uncles were both outside killing the insects.

Jian Ning was not afraid of the insects, but what made him uneasy was the countless violent mental powers that he sensed. These violent mental powers could not only destroy enemies, but also destroy themselves.

“Zhan Xi, take everyone back.”

Zhan Rao, who was at the forefront, already had a hint of red in his eyes. He ordered in a hoarse voice, “The spaceship’s fuel is fully loaded, you go first.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhan Xi knew what he meant.

Zhan Rao wanted to stay here and completely release his mental power to destroy these Zergs.

Although Zhan Rao’s mental power showed as S-level, Zhan Xi knew that his actual level was S+. The people on this barren planet were all strong, and their mental power was also very powerful.

If they didn’t have issues with using their mental power, these insects would not have been able to push them to this extent.

They dared not use their mental power recklessly.

Using mental power recklessly would result in losing control. Once they lose control, their attacks would be indiscriminate, showing no mercy even to their own people.

At present, many people were on the verge of losing control.

“Boss, I can’t leave,” said Zhan Xi, his hands trembling and his voice shaking. He had reservations in his heart, so he didn’t overuse his mental power just now.

However, the boss’s mental power had lost control...

He was affected.

Jian Ning, who was clinging to the window, searched eagerly with his eyes and finally found his father’s figure. He shouted loudly, “Daddy!”

After calling several times, his father ignored him.

Although his father did not turn around, a wave of his own mental power attacked him, as well as those of the other uncles.

Jian Ning’s chubby face turned pale, and he instinctively released his own fledgling mental power.

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