The little girl eventually woke up in the wars.h.i.+p, her little nose flaring up slightly as she smelled something good. Her legs unknowingly took her in the direction of the aroma.

She crossed several doors until she arrived in the kitchen.

This room wasn’t too big, but there was everything one would need. The transparent kitchen cabinet near the wall was lined with various wine gla.s.ses and high-cla.s.s tableware. The cabinet doors had beautiful patterns carved into them, glowing faintly from the flow of origin power. Even though the entire wars.h.i.+p had crashed, the cabinet was protected by the array and its contents were intact.

Nighteye was busy cutting up roasted beast meat in front of the counter. There was another big piece of meat roasting in the oven. It was already golden brown and almost done.

The little girl’s eyes immediately landed on the roast meat, and then at Nighteye. Zhuji’s expression was filled with delight as she jumped into the latter’s arms and snuggled up against her.

Smiling, Nighteye plucked the little la.s.s down and said, “How many times have I told you not to pounce at people, you’ll kill people.”

The girl shrunk her neck and said sheepishly, “I’ve learned to control my strength.”

Nighteye knocked on her head. “You called that control? Other people can’t take that kind of impact. See? The person I sent to pick you up was injured.”

The little la.s.s looked rather guilty. “You can’t blame me for that. He immediately reached out to grab me without telling me who he was. I gave him a kick out of fear, but I didn’t kill him. Besides, he’s really too weak. I didn’t even spray him with poison.”

Nighteye shook her head. “Have you forgotten the things I taught you?”

“I haven’t!” The girl shook her head, saying as quickly as she could, “I remember everything! It’s just that… I’ve grown stronger, so those things aren’t good to use anymore.”

Nighteye placed the meat she had cut in front of the la.s.s. “Eat!”

The girl cheered loudly before picking up the plate. She then tilted her head back and poured everything into her mouth. Her eyes went wide as she swallowed all the food in one gulp.

“Is it good?” asked Nighteye.

“Eh… I didn’t taste it.” The little fellow spoke the truth.

Nighteye wanted to be angry, but she also wanted to laugh. She brought out another big chunk of meat from the oven and tossed it to the little fellow. “Here’s more.”

Only then did the girl learn how to bite and swallow little by little. Her eyes lit up as she ate faster and faster. Eventually, she devoured a piece of meat half her size in mere moments. However, her tummy only bulged up slightly. It truly made one wonder where all the food had gone.

Nighteye touched the girl"s head with an expression full of love. “You grow really fast, do you want more?”

“I want…” She let out a satisfied burp mid-sentence, despite her eyes sparkling in antic.i.p.ation.

Nighteye smiled. “You can’t eat more today. This food was supposed to last three days, I guess your appet.i.te has grown even bigger.”

The girl looked puzzled. “I ate very little today!”

“How can things I make be the same?”

“Ah, what was that? It was really appetizing.”

“Of course the meat of a void colossus is delicious. Even a glutton like you will feel bloated.”

The amount of energy contained in the meat of a void colossus wasn’t something ordinary beast meat could compare to. Be it in the Empire or Evernight, this rare commodity would be sold in finger-sized strips and was worth more than its weight in gold. This little fellow had eaten close to five kilograms of it, so it was only natural that she would feel full.

Zhuji had grown up quite a bit during this period. Currently, she was starting to look like a mischievous girl who would cause a lot of trouble.

Nighteye cleared away the cutlery and sat down beside the table. “What have you been doing all this time? Why aren’t you with Papa?”

“Papa is always busy with work. He won’t play with me or sleep with me. I was really bored, and I can’t approach other people, so I went out to play...”

The girl’s narration wasn’t entirely coherent, but she was definitely more knowledgeable and clearer than when she was younger. The basic logic behind her language and movements was no longer based on her instincts.

Nighteye inquired about the entire process in detail.

Back then, Qianye had left Zhuji on the Northern Continent despite his concerns that she would accidentally hurt other people. Especially that extremely powerful toxin of hers that might kill off all life in a segment of the continent...

Later on, Qianye was out fighting everywhere and didn’t really have time to look after her. The little girl spent her days eating and sleeping, so Qianye felt rather a.s.sured. However, a group of natives appeared suddenly and kidnapped her while she was sleeping. The entire process was carried out quietly, and no one knew what had transpired.

This tribe traversed great distances to the depths of the Eastern Sea Continent. Little Zhuji struggled after waking up, but she was fed with the juice of a strange fruit that numbed her entire body and rendered her immobile. Soon, a shaman-like character appeared and wanted to draw her blood. In the end, the girl’s body was so tough that it took great effort just to open her skin and let some blood out.

The most terrifying thing was what followed. Zhuji wanted to spray poison, but for some reason, the blood which flowed out turned into a powerful venom that killed the entire tribe.

The terrified little fellow couldn’t move, and all she could do was call out to Qianye, Nighteye, and Song Zining in her heart. Nighteye was the only one who had sensed her and sent Jared to pick her up.

Several days had pa.s.sed by the time the marquis arrived, and the poison had largely dispersed. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t be able to return.

It took a pretty long while for little Zhuji to finish everything she wanted to say.

Nighteye remained silent for a while before asking, “Who do you want to follow now?”

The little girl thought about it seriously. “Everyone!”

“Everyone?”

“Yes, Papa, you, and Mama.”

“Mama…” Even someone of Nighteye’s composure couldn’t help but feel her expression turning odd. She chuckled, saying, “I told you he’s not your mama.”

“He is!” The little girl was oddly persistent. The first person she had seen after breaking out of her egg was her mama. This knowledge was deeply imprinted in her bloodline and couldn’t be changed.

Nighteye was clear about the race’s characteristics. She said helplessly, “You’ll understand once you grow up.”

Thinking about the past, she chuckled while shaking her head. “That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is actually quite crafty when it counts.”

Back when Zhuji had just broken out of her sh.e.l.l, Qianye had dragged Song Zining to the front, thereby turning him into Zhuji’s mama. It was useless no matter how Song Zining and Nighteye tried to explain to her later on.

After a while of idle chatter, the little fellow started to yawn. She was clearly sleepy, but she still held on.

Nighteye nodded. “You’ve grown up a bit more.”

“Of course!” Little Zhuji waved her fists proudly. That little swing of her fists actually produced the sound of rolling thunder, and there was a faint glow of lightning lingering around her hands. Everything in the kitchen started to vibrate, and a delicate-looking plate shattered into many pieces.

A subconscious wave of her fist actually produced such power. No wonder Jared was caught off-guard and injured.

The strange phenomena in the kitchen disappeared following a faint sanguine glow from Nighteye’s pupils. The lightning on the la.s.s’ fist was gone, and all that was left was her small fist swinging about.

A bewildered Zhuji glanced at her fist, and then swung it a couple more times. However, she couldn’t even produce a whistle.

Nighteye smiled. “The things in here are very expensive. I’ll feel pained if you break them. Enough, since you’re not sleeping, then it’s time for us to go.”

“Are we going out to play? Where are we going?” The girl was excited.

“The Great Maelstrom.”

Zhuji was puzzled. “Where is that? Is it fun?”

“It wasn’t before, but it’s fairly lively now.”

“Then what are we going to play with?” The girl kept asking.

“We’re going to meet some people.”

“That’s all? Do we have to fight? Do I need to unleash poison? How many people do I need to kill? Maybe I should acc.u.mulate some venom first.” The girl came up with an entire array of questions.

Nighteye chuckled lightly. “There’s no need for you to do anything with me around. I’m not that fellow, I won’t use you to fight.”

Nighteye was referring to Qianye ordering Zhuji to destroy the invading mercenaries with poison, thereby claiming victory.

The little girl, however, had a different opinion. “Those are bad guys who want to bully us. We naturally have to kill them all and not leave any survivors.”

Unknowingly, the cruelty and ruthlessness of the arachne were starting to show.

Nighteye didn’t argue. “You’re still too young to understand certain things. Come with me first.”

Zhuji grabbed Nighteye’s hand as instructed. The latter produced a spatial rift with a slash of her palm and entered with Zhuji in tow.

...

At this moment, Qianye was in the northwestern part of the Great Maelstrom, gazing at the boundless body of water. “This is the Pond of Life? It’s more like a Sea of Life!”

There was no visible end to this sea—there was a thin mist hanging on the surface, through which one could vaguely see the outline of some islands. Meanwhile, the water over yonder had merged with the horizon, making it impossible to see the borders.

Qianye was an expert with visual prowess far superior to his peers. He could see almost a hundred kilometers away, but he still couldn"t see the other sh.o.r.e. Such a large body of water could easily be called a sea.

Instead of a beach, the water was surrounded by tall precipices and cliffs, also some lowland, valleys, and dense forests. There was even a volcano near the distant waterside, spouting clouds of steam from its opening.

Basically, every type of geography could be found near the water. This was inconceivable.

The region near the waters was filled with crazed beasts, either killing or mating with one another. The smaller ponds there weren’t clean, either, as one could see numerous amphibians in the rolling waters.

The strip of land closest to the Pond of Life was drowned in silence and devoid of all beasts. It was almost as though an invisible line had blocked all the beasts outside.

These creatures possessed sharp instincts that might be superior to humans in certain cases. Seeing this, Qianye knew that there was something dangerous in the pond, otherwise, the beasts wouldn’t act like so.

At this moment, the ground began to tremble as the six-armed giant appeared over the distant horizon.

Hesitating no longer, Qianye made a beeline for the Pond of Life.