NOVPUB
Chapter 260: Chapter 260: Space-Time Beast Extra
The dinner table was set with several homemade dishes, no lavish meats, but a balanced mix of meat and vegetables in an appealing array of red, white, yellow, and green colors.
The family sat together for a meal, and Han Shi’an’s small mouth worked diligently; after a few bites, he grimaced in pain. Han Jiaojiao asked him, "An’an, what’s wrong?"
"Mom, my tooth hurts," Han Shi’an said, frowning and poking a chubby finger inside his mouth.
"Don’t touch, let me see." Han Jiaojiao cradled his face, "Open up, open wide."
Something was stuck on his tiny milk teeth.
...It was a piece of milk candy stuck in the crevices of his teeth.
Han Jiaojiao’s face darkened immediately, first glancing at Han Shi’an, then turning towards Han Shixi. The five-and-a-half-year-old girl was eating silently, but her eyes were darting around...
Han Jiaojiao felt it was more reliable to question her own son.
"An’an, did you eat candy?"
Han Shi’an replied with innocent exuberance, "Yes, both my sister and I had some! It was so sweet!"
Han Shixi wished she could bury her face in her bowl. What a... pig of a teammate...
Han Yi put down his bowl, touching the table, creating a soft thud.
Both kids shivered...
"Where did you get the candy?" Han Yi asked them.
Seeing the two children pout and on the verge of tears, Han Jiaojiao couldn’t bear it, stroked Han Shi’an’s head gently, and asked softly, "An’an, listen, eating too much candy can cause cavities. See, your sister Shixi already has cavities..."
Han Shi’an glanced at Han Shixi and muttered quietly, "But sister said... it doesn’t matter if milk teeth rot, they will fall out eventually... when I grow up, I’ll have new teeth..."
Han Jiaojiao: "..."
Han Yi glanced sideways, casually checked his wrist watch, and said, "Han Shixi, you will practice an extra hour after dinner."
Han Shixi’s face fell, her nose wrinkled, and her eyes tearful as she looked at Han Jiaojiao, "Mom..."
Han Jiaojiao felt sorry for her, tugging at Han Yi’s arm, "...she’s still young..."
Han Yi sighed silently, knowing that he couldn’t punish her this time... This daughter was too cunning, wanting to eat candy without being discovered, using her younger brother as cover, always using Han Jiaojiao as a shield...
"Tell me, where did you get the candy from?" Han Yi asked.
"It was..."
Before Han Shixi could speak, Han Yi immediately said, "You be quiet, let An’an speak."
This daughter never spoke a truth.
"An’an, where did you get the candy?"
Han Shi’an looked puzzled and remained silent; Han Shixi quickly interjected, "An’an forgot, that candy was a reward from mom last time."
Han Jiaojiao frowned, somewhat disbelieving. That was last week’s event, how could they possibly still have it now?
Han Shi’an furrowed his brow and said, "I didn’t forget, I was counting."
Han Shixi: "..."
Han Shi’an counted on his fingers one by one, "Uncle Xiao gave me quite a few, Uncle Yan also gave me candy, and so did Uncle Kairui... then we met Uncle Hao... Uncle Zhou... Aunt Liu..."
Han Shixi: "..." Are you really my little brother?
Han Yi didn’t want to listen anymore, "Practice time is increased by two hours. You are not allowed to sleep until your Ability is overdrawn. I will check."
Han Shixi squeezed out a few tears and looked at Han Jiaojiao, who steeled her heart and turned her head aside. It was getting worse and worse, not only egging her brother on to beg for candy but also lying...
Suddenly, the phone rang. Han Yi got up to answer it. Whatever was said on the other end made his brow furrow slightly.
"What happened?" Han Jiaojiao asked him.
"Cotton Candy has attracted a large number of Alien Species, causing public panic. I’m going to check it out," he said as he put on his coat.
Han Jiaojiao stood up, "I’ll come with you."
"Hmm." Han Yi nodded, then glanced at Han Shixi and Han Shi’an at the dining table, his gaze finally resting on Han Shixi, "After dinner, don’t run around. If we come back late, help your brother bathe and put him to sleep. If you do well, tonight’s practice can be canceled."
Han Shixi’s eyes lit up, and she crisply replied, "Yes! Daddy!"
——Outside the city was already in chaos, with countless soldiers and civilians packing the city walls, making it extremely crowded!
What got into Cotton Candy, attracting a whole host of Alien Species to besiege the city?!
The issue was, even outside the city walls, the Space-Time Base now housed tens of thousands of residents. Many people had come because of rumors that Alien Species would not appear around the Space-Time Base. Even though the houses within the city were full, these people refused to leave, spontaneously building houses and pitching tents nearby... Thus, Cotton Candy had scared the people outside the city!
But fortunately... the situation outside didn’t seem as bad as imagined.
Like a sheepdog herding sheep, Cotton Candy drove the Alien Species to the large square in front of the city gate, about three hundred in total. They all stood still, dazed and foolish, as if sleepwalking.
The square was surrounded by people.
Lu Changyuan squinted for a while and then said to the person beside him, "Hold fire for now."
"Yes!"
In the crowd of onlookers, a boy about ten years old broke free from his mother’s hand, ran behind an Alien Species, and quickly touched its claws! He turned around, boasting to his friends in the distance, "I touched it! I touched it!"
His mother ran up to him in a few steps and slapped him hard on the forehead. "Come back here!"
She dragged the child back into the crowd.
The other adults kept a wary eye on their children: Try going there, dare you? Asking for a beating, aren’t you?
A path suddenly opened through the crowd on the city wall—Han Yi and Han Jiaojiao had arrived, followed by Pepper, Xiaogua, and Xiaodou.
As the two climbed the city wall and saw the scene, they were also slightly taken aback.
Space-Time Beasts occasionally captured a few live Alien Species to eat, but it was only ever three or four at a time, never capturing and bringing back hundreds of Alien Species all at once like now.
Although Cotton Candy was the largest among them, controlling so many Alien Species at the same time was still a strenuous task for it. Why would it put itself through such a thankless job?
Pepper, Xiaogua, and Xiaodou sensed the odor of the Alien Species and became a little agitated.
After several years of growth, they had all gotten bigger. Even Pepper, who was originally the smallest, had grown as big as a mobile small building, its purple outer layer more dazzling and eye-catching. Beneath the sunlight, it shimmered like a jewel.
The biggest change since their juvenile stage was the heart of the sea anemone-shaped hair on their heads, which had gone from deep purple to pink, and in which an oval ruby-red bud had grown.
This bud had been growing for over half a year and was getting bigger. It looked like... it was about to bloom.
Han Jiaojiao thoughtfully watched Pepper. The Space-Time Beasts were raised by her hand; no one knew them better than she did. It was since the bud grew on Pepper that Cotton Candy had begun to bring live Alien Species to the Base. Before that, it always ate outside before returning.
So now... was it trying to woo Pepper?
When Cotton Candy saw Pepper, its white silk hair trembled. It called out shrilly, and Pepper responded in turn. Then, Cotton Candy’s vines whipped around swiftly! Whoosh whoosh whoosh, like a harvester, it entangled all the hundreds of Alien Species in the arena! It held up their fresh heads high, presenting them before Pepper...
Hundreds of headless Alien Species bodies collapsed to the ground with a thud, and the entire place fell silent.
