Chapter 64
The sudden change in weather caught them off guard. Shi Nuo looked outside through the window. Unlike the previous thunderstorms and hurricanes, this was just wind, a powerful, relentless wind.
He placed Wu Wu on the sofa and gently stroked its head. “Don’t worry. I’ll go check on things outside.”
Wu Wu whimpered, its fur still standing on end, and nuzzled its head against Shi Nuo’s hand.
The wind howled like a wild beast, the grass swaying wildly, some of it, its roots shallow, torn from the ground, sending dust and dirt swirling into the air.
The trees bent, their branches swaying, their roots holding firm, anchored in the earth.
Shi Nuo felt a warmth against his leg and looked down to see Wu Wu, standing on its hind legs, its front paws on the window, looking outside curiously.
The cub’s fur had been standing on end earlier, and he had been worried it might be frightened by the strong wind, so he hadn’t brought it near the window, but it seemed to have calmed down.
The house was safe and warm, the wind and its fury kept outside, and any cub with a bit of courage wouldn’t be easily frightened.
Reassured, Shi Nuo played with Wu Wu in the living room.
The wind howled relentlessly outside, but Wu Wu, imitating the sound, seemed unfazed, even amused.
The wind lasted for a day and a night, the doors and windows remaining tightly shut. They didn’t go outside.
The next morning, the wind had lessened, though it still blew steadily. Fortunately, it hadn’t caused any significant damage.
In the kitchen, Shi Nuo opened the refrigerator. There were still some vegetables left, enough for today, and some eggs, but they had finished the meat yesterday.
Since building the greenhouses and raising their own livestock, they rarely stored frozen meat, preferring fresh meat, which the robot in the livestock greenhouse would slaughter and process for them.
He looked out the window. Only the tops of the trees were swaying now, their trunks no longer bending as they had yesterday.
The wind had definitely lessened.
He opened his optical brain and sent a command to the livestock greenhouse robot: slaughter a chicken. After washing the vegetables, he dried his hands and went outside.
He opened the door slightly, and a gust of wind blew in, pushing his hair back, revealing his forehead.
“Wu Wu, go to the sofa. Papa will be back with meat soon,” he bent down and patted the cub, which was walking beside him.
Wu Wu’s fur was also ruffled by the wind. It made a soft sound of agreement and trotted to the sofa, climbing onto it and settling down obediently.
Shi Nuo used his optical brain to control the door, keeping it open just wide enough for him to pass through, several anchoring devices securing the heavy metal door against the wind.
“Master, venturing outside is not advised,” the household robot said.
“It’s alright. The wind doesn’t seem that strong, and the chicken is already prepared,” Shi Nuo replied, stepping outside, only to be almost knocked off his feet by the wind, his clothes billowing around him.
He quickly stepped back, and the household robot, reaching out, helped him back inside.
“Awoo?” Wu Wu, its head resting on the armrest of the sofa, looked at its father, puzzled by his quick return.
The wind didn’t look that strong, but the force was considerable. The weather was strange.
Shi Nuo sighed. The livestock greenhouse didn’t have a refrigerator, and the meat was always freshly prepared. He didn’t know when the wind would stop.
It was a shame to waste a chicken, but he wasn’t going to risk his safety for it.
“I’ll retrieve it, Master,” the household robot said.
Shi Nuo looked at it. “The wind is too strong.”
The robot demonstrated its enhanced anchoring ability, its leg and foot mechanisms shifting and extending, the heavy metal claws gripping the floor securely.
It lifted one leg, demonstrating its stability, then slowly moved forward, its movements slow but steady.
It stepped outside and remained standing, unmoved by the wind.
Its heavy metal body and internal framework made it much heavier than a human.
It reached the livestock greenhouse and, taking advantage of a brief lull in the wind, quickly opened the door, took the basket containing the chicken from the other robot inside, and closed the door again.
The wind blew into the greenhouse, but it wasn’t strong enough to cause any damage, the structure sturdy.
The robot, protecting the basket, returned to the house, its heavy steps slow but steady.
Shi Nuo waited at the doorway and quickly opened the door as the robot approached.
The strong wind lasted for three days before finally subsiding. Shi Nuo, after opening the door, secured Wu Wu in the baby carrier and went out to check on the greenhouses and ponds.
Apart from his brief foray to retrieve the chicken, he hadn’t been outside in days.
Many weeds had been uprooted, but the forest was mostly unscathed, only a few smaller trees blown down.
Wu Wu, strapped to his chest, its head tilted curiously, observed the unfamiliar scene.
Both greenhouses were intact, their doors and windows securely shut, and Shi Nuo breathed a sigh of relief. After deactivating the protective shields over the ponds, he saw the fish and shrimp swimming actively and, using the automated net, scooped up a handful of fresh shrimp.
He held up the net, the shrimp jumping and flapping inside, and asked Wu Wu, “Do you want some shrimp?”
Wu Wu, its attention no longer on the net, made happy little sounds.
He had made shrimp and egg custard for Wu Wu a few days ago, mincing the shrimp finely, and the cub remembered the taste.
The shrimp pond was furthest from the house, and as Shi Nuo carried Wu Wu back, the cub’s playful whimpers suddenly changed to low growls.
Shi Nuo stopped, also sensing something wasn’t right.
The area around the house, apart from the trimmed lawn near the door and the path, was covered in tall grass.
Usually, small animals like field mice and rabbits would scurry through the grass, insects would jump and flit, and the flowers would attract bees and butterflies.
But now, there was nothing.
He felt Wu Wu tense in the baby carrier, its growls intensifying, a primal warning, though still immature and uncertain.
Seeing the cub’s gaze fixed on something, he followed its line of sight.
He saw a flash of spotted fur, almost invisible against the tall grass.
A cold sweat broke out on his back.
[Warning. Warning.]
The household robot emerged from the house, and as it spoke, metal plates on its back shifted, revealing weapon systems, several barrels aiming towards the spot where the beast was hiding, missiles ready to be deployed.
A sonic weapon was fired first, and Shi Nuo heard a loud buzzing sound, followed by a low, high-pitched whine.
Wu Wu squirmed uncomfortably, and he placed a reassuring hand on the cub’s belly, stepping back cautiously.
The robot’s modified weapons systems were powerful enough to handle even large predators, so he wasn’t too worried.
The grass rustled, and a large leopard emerged, retreating quickly, just as the missiles were fired.
Shi Nuo covered Wu Wu’s ears, and when the smoke cleared, a large, charred crater marked the spot where the leopard had been standing, but there was no sign of the animal.
He knew that the system was programmed to fire only if the predator, after being warned, remained in the vicinity, a clear threat.
The household robot scanned the area, its mechanical eyes changing from red to a calming blue. The threat was gone.
Fortunately, they had ample defenses. Not only was the robot heavily armed, but the house itself had concealed weapon systems, capable of neutralizing even a large group of predators.
Shi Nuo looked down at Wu Wu, relieved that the cub didn’t seem frightened by the explosions.
“Good boy,” he praised, stroking its head.
Wu Wu, no longer tense, relaxed in the baby carrier.
He hurried back to the house, put away the shrimp, and, not wanting to upset Wu Wu further, didn’t cook, instead spending time playing with the cub in the living room.
Hugh had been gone for three months, and although his pheromones still lingered in the house, their scent had faded outside, weakened by the wind and rain.
The beast king’s absence, his weakening scent, made the area less intimidating to predators, and the livestock greenhouse, despite its ventilation and exhaust systems, still emitted a faint animal scent, attracting hungry beasts.
The smell of explosives, however, was a powerful deterrent, and the predators, abandoning their hunt, silently retreated from the plains.
Shi Nuo held the plump white wolf cub close, kissing its head, gently nuzzling its ears, and played with it, using the toys Hugh had brought back.
Wu Wu, growing stronger, could now push and kick the small ball with its nose and paws, sending it rolling across the rug.
Before Shi Nuo could praise it, the cub suddenly frowned, as if uncomfortable, then shook its head, its ears flapping.
“What’s wrong?” Shi Nuo asked anxiously, and before he could reach the cub, Wu Wu opened its mouth and released a burst of white flames.
The temperature in the room spiked, the air shimmering, his skin tingling from the intense heat.
Ten minutes later, Shi Nuo, holding the cub, which had just undergone a full medical scan, breathed a sigh of relief.
Wu Wu was perfectly healthy. He studied the scan results, then concluded that the leopard’s presence, the perceived threat, must have triggered the cub’s latent ability, the white fire.
The flames could only have come from Hugh.
When he left, Hugh hadn’t known their cub also possessed this ability.
He had almost taken Wu Wu to another planet for medical treatment.
Before leaving, Hugh, anticipating potential problems during his six-month absence, had modified the small spacecraft, adding long-range capabilities and programming the coordinates of the nearest safe planet into its navigation system.
Children were prone to illness, and although Wu Wu was healthy, he had still been worried. If either Wu Wu or Shi Nuo became seriously ill, and if the medical devices at home couldn’t treat them, the household robot could pilot the spacecraft and take them to a hospital.
He had also purchased a medical stasis pod, which could induce a temporary state of suspended animation, slowing down cellular activity, for up to twenty-four hours.
Twenty-four hours was enough time to reach the nearest safe planet.
The small white wolf stood on the living room table, its expression still slightly bewildered.
It hadn’t been frightened by the leopard, or the explosions, but the white flames erupting from its own mouth had startled it.
Shi Nuo closed the medical scan display and looked up to see Wu Wu opening its mouth again, trying to produce more flames, its expression confused when nothing happened.
“Do you want some shrimp?” Shi Nuo chuckled, picking up the cub and carrying it to the kitchen. After all the excitement, he was feeling hungry.
Wu Wu, its attention diverted, seemed to have forgotten about the strange fire.
With Hugh gone, his pheromones, his aura of dominance, fading, Shi Nuo, whenever he went outside, now carried an energy weapon, a precaution.
Life returned to its peaceful rhythm. The predator attacks he had feared hadn’t materialized, and one morning, he woke up and instinctively reached for Wu Wu.
Since Hugh’s departure, the cub had been sleeping in the bed with him, rarely using its crib.
Wu Wu was a restless sleeper, often starting the night at the head of the bed and ending up at the foot.
Still half-asleep, Shi Nuo’s hand, searching blindly under the blankets, suddenly touched warm, soft skin, and he was startled, quickly sitting up and pulling back the covers.
A small child with white hair slept soundly, his chubby cheeks rosy, his arms and legs plump and white, like lotus roots.
Shi Nuo stared, his eyes widening in surprise, then a smile spread across his face, and he gently poked the child’s arm. “Wu Wu?”
The soft, plump flesh of a baby’s arm, so delicate that he barely dared to touch it.
Wu Wu, still sleepy, didn’t open its eyes, only whimpered softly and turned over, burying its face in the blankets.
Shi Nuo chuckled and poked its plump little backside. The texture was completely different from the wolf cub’s.
Wu Wu woke up, its mouth in a small pout, as if annoyed, then turned its head, its arms and legs pushing against the mattress, and looked up at its papa.
Papa?
Its sleepy eyes focused, recognizing Shi Nuo, and a wide smile spread across its face, its dark eyes bright.
“Wu Wu’s awake! Do you want some milk?” Shi Nuo asked, his gaze fixed on the child, his heart melting.
He knew this was his child, his Wu Wu, exactly as he should be.
The human baby felt different from the wolf cub, more fragile, and Shi Nuo carefully lifted Wu Wu, sat against the headboard, and settled the child on his lap.
He couldn’t resist kissing Wu Wu’s chubby hands and feet, his joy overflowing.
Wu Wu giggled, enjoying its father’s affection, returning the kisses, its drool landing on Shi Nuo’s cheek.
He didn’t mind. He held his son close, his smile widening.
He remembered he needed to dress Wu Wu, but the clothes he had placed on the chair last night were for the wolf cub.
The clothes for the wolf cub, with its tail, were designed differently. Fortunately, he had also prepared baby clothes for Wu Wu’s human form.
He wrapped Wu Wu in a thin blanket, gathered a stack of baby clothes, and carried the child to the living room, putting the clothes in the washing machine for a quick wash.
The clothes had been washed when they were purchased, but they had been stored away for a while.
He played with Wu Wu in the living room, the chubby baby crawling around on the rug, then, trying to push a small ball with its nose, seemed to realize something was different.
Shi Nuo smiled, picked up Wu Wu, and held him upright.
Wu Wu, now standing on its own two feet, its eyes wide with surprise, looked down at its feet, then up at its father, a delighted gurgle escaping its lips.
