Chapter 21

The gray wolf Wolberly and the golden lion Beriman halted the moment they heard the beast’s roar. Both high-level beast clans turned their heads simultaneously toward the depths of the dense forest—the direction of the Bandasia Shrine.

Bandasia is the name that the advanced beast clans of Dimension 12768 have given to their homeland. It signifies the birthplace of the Beast God, a land blessed and watched over by the divine beast.

At the very heart of the Bandasia forest stands the Bandasia Shrine—a place steeped in legend as the original birthplace of the Beast God, and the most secretive location within Bandasia.

Near the shrine’s deepest reaches dwell the mightiest S-class beast warriors of this land. They are the most steadfast guardians of Bandasia’s sacred faith.

Typically, the shrine’s horn would sound only on the Beast God’s sacred birthday, calling all beast clans to gather. Wolberly and Beriman both clearly remembered that this year’s celebration had just concluded not long ago.

Both high-level S-class beasts fixed their gazes toward the shrine’s direction. Their warrior instincts compelled them to answer the call, yet at the same time, their eyes flickered toward the playful cub nearby.

—Could the summoning from the Bandasia Shrine be connected to this little one?

After all, not long ago, this cub had devoured the sincere faith energy of that half-orc.

As the two high-level beasts rose to their feet, the cub remained oblivious to their sudden change. He was still struggling with the towering tree before him.

To Beriman, the golden lion, the giant tree was a mere few steps to climb. But to Su You, the cub, it seemed like an endless summit to conquer. The poor little one simply could not climb it. He tried hugging the massive trunk, only to realize it was far too wide for him to grasp.

Finally, the little cub sat down beside the giant tree, resting his hands on his knees and cupping his cheeks in disappointment. He sighed, “Tongtong, You You can’t climb the tree. What should I do? Am I really dumb?”

System 001 remained silent for two seconds before soothing him in its gentle, magnetic voice: “You You is still young. Climbing trees is not something you need to learn right now.”

The cub’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. “Then what should You You learn now?”

System 001 fell into silence. Despite being a powerful combat system, it could only quietly acknowledge the fragility of Su You’s body. His physical coordination, endurance, and strength were far weaker than those of typical cubs of other races.

Even simple movements risked clumsiness, like tripping over his own feet. Under such circumstances, any combat training modules embedded within System 001 would be far beyond the cub’s current capability.

For Su You, the best “training” might simply be engaging in light activities under the watchful eyes of these two high-level beasts.

At the very least—

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...some gentle exercise to strengthen his body wouldn’t hurt.

Of course, when faced with Su You, System 001 did not voice this thought outright. Instead, it calmly advised in a mellow tone: “You You’s recent training was already very tiring. Now you should learn to balance work and rest. After a good rest, you’ll be able to train and play even better, okay?”

“Huh?”

The cub tilted his head in confusion, not understanding the concept of balancing work and rest. But since Tongtong told him to rest, he blinked and happily agreed, “Okay.”

Nearby, the only other combat system present, System 098, who alone could hear the system’s voice besides Su You, cast a deep, sidelong glance at System 001 and chose to remain silent.

Balance work and rest?

What a ridiculous remark!

Judging by that tiny amount of so-called “training,” how did System 001 jump to the conclusion that rest was necessary?

Still, despite the snide thoughts, System 098 had no better training schemes for such a fragile cub. This little one seemed so weak that anyone could kill him with a finger poke—but in truth, he possessed a spirit force so powerful it could suppress everyone present.

Considering the cub’s overwhelming spiritual strength, System 098 pondered another question—did this child really need a combat-oriented system like this to develop his strength?

Across the cosmos, races with strong spiritual power often have frail physiques. Such groups tend to live hidden lives, avoiding exposure because revealing their presence often means mortal danger.

In the mainstream universe, even systematic training struggles to improve the physical resilience of such spiritually powerful clans. Some Black Universe Group research institutes even theorize an inverse relationship between spiritual power and physical strength in certain extreme races.

For the combat systems deployed in this competition, information below S-level secrecy within the Black Universe Group was common knowledge.

System 098 figured that since it had reached these conclusions, System 001—with its main god-level power—should have long since considered these factors.

In short... from System 098’s initial assessment, a cub with such spiritual power at this early stage likely belonged to one of those extreme spiritual clans. The only mystery was how System 001 had bonded with this cub.

What a colossal blunder this was.

As System 098 boredly mulled over these matters, it suddenly sensed another massive threat originating from the same source as before.

System 098 quickly turned its alert gaze to the cub sitting beneath the giant tree—and sure enough, the cub was rubbing his small belly, looking at it imploringly.

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Beneath the giant tree, Su You absently touched his little stomach and then looked up at System 001 with a pitiful expression: “Tongtong, I’m hungry again...”

After speaking, perhaps realizing his hunger was coming on quickly, the little cub sat under the tree with a gloomy pout: “Tongtong, You You’s tummy gets hungry so fast. You You really is a little glutton...”

System 001 hadn’t anticipated the cub’s sudden self-awareness. At this moment, the system truly felt it needed to study more about raising a cub.

Just as System 001 was debating whether to explain hunger after exercise, the little cub wobbled to his feet.

At the same time, the instincts within Wolberly the gray wolf and Beriman the golden lion compelled them to let out beastly howls in response to the summons from deep within the forest.

Two seemingly unrelated actions—but System 001 faintly sensed that Su You’s hunger might be linked to the beastly roar echoing from the depths of the Bandasia forest.

“So fragrant...”

At that moment, the little cub rubbed his belly, staring eagerly in the direction where the beast’s roar had come from.

System 098, initially tense due to the cub’s gaze, soon realized that the immense threat it sensed was not from the cub’s spiritual lock-on—it was merely that its own position coincided with the forest’s direction.

Realizing this, System 098 quickly shifted away from the cub’s line of sight—and the overwhelming sensation of impending death immediately eased.

Feeling as if freed from mortal peril, System 098 glanced once more at the cub, who was still rubbing his belly. It felt as though its entire worldview had been shaken within such a short time.

What race could this cub possibly belong to?

Merely being aligned in the same direction as the cub’s focus was enough to evoke such a terrifying threat...

The gray wolf Wolberly and golden lion Beriman, who had risen intending to leave, suddenly tensed, growling low in their throats.

“Fragrant?”

They both understood exactly what the cub’s words meant.

For a moment, both beasts hesitated, unwilling to depart.

As denizens of the Bandasia continent, every beast bore the sacred duty to protect the Bandasia Shrine’s faith.

They could not discern whether obeying their current master’s command to send this cub—who seemed connected to the Beast God’s bloodline—toward the shrine would lead to good or ill.

The air hung heavy with uncertainty.