Chapter 15

The cub is so soft and adorable, he doesn't even know how to resist. What if he encounters bad people?
The more Tao Shushu thought about it, the more she pitied Nan Yuan.
Watching the little lion happily eating the green fruits, she gathered a handful and placed them into Nan Yuan's arms.
Nan Yuan had no choice but to hold the pile of fruits.
He knew it, she had already noticed.
This time, Tao Shushu noticed that the fruits had slight differences: some were round, while others were flat.
The little lion particularly liked the flat ones, so Tao Shushu picked out the flat fruits and fed them to the cub.
He was being fed.
Nan Yuan instinctively took a bite, it was very sweet.
His ears felt warm again. Even though he knew the little lion couldn't see him and didn't understand human behavior, he still guiltily took the fruit and ate it himself.
That person... fed him directly into his mouth.
He wasn't a child anymore, so why were they being so intimate...
The heat in Nan Yuan's ears never subsided.
After this small incident, Nan Yuan quickly accepted the "outdated autopilot system" that Tao Shushu had found.
He didn't know where she had found this driving system. She didn't seem familiar with the current fruit flavors, yet she was so knowledgeable about the origins of this soon-to-be-obsolete driving system.
Perhaps she really was a ghost from many years ago.
After switching to the autopilot system, the cub could finally rest and didn't have to drive continuously.
Tao Shushu watched as the cub lay down to rest, then got up to wash up.
Nan Yuan didn't know what was wrong with him.
At first, it was just his ears feeling hot, but later, even his head started to feel dizzy.
He thought he would feel better after sleeping.
As soon as he closed his eyes, he fell into a bizarre and chaotic dream.
Perhaps stimulated by the little lion's frantic search for the big lion's skeleton, Nan Yuan also dreamed of his parents.
Back then, artificial intelligence had just rebelled. Humans, who had become overly reliant on AI, were caught off guard. The military, as humanity's main combat force, suffered especially severe attacks.
Nan Yuan's father, as the leader of the military, was injured in an AI ambush at the very beginning of the conflict.
His father forced himself to act as if nothing was wrong to maintain control of the situation while arranging for Nan Yuan and his mother to be evacuated.
At that time, Nan Yuan was just a few days away from adulthood. Due to his age, he had not yet joined the military, which coincidentally allowed him to avoid the crisis within the ranks.
Nan Yuan deeply hated his own weakness. He could only flee like a coward, far from the capital planet and far from his family.
But before their ship could reach its destination, tragic news arrived.
After his father was injured, his once-loyal deputy seized the opportunity to seize power.
Nan Yuan's brother was forced to resist but was infected with the zombie virus during the struggle.
Nan Yuan could only helplessly watch the final footage left by his father and brother. Before he could even grieve, the subordinates arranged by the deputy on their ship began to hunt down him and his mother.
In the final moments, Nan Yuan awakened his light-based abilities and managed to protect his mother.
However, the deputy's ship and the warships dispatched by the AI were still in hot pursuit.
Nan Yuan deviated from the course and landed on this barren planet.
He still had to protect his mother and fulfill the mission his father had entrusted to him, to reverse the actions of the artificial intelligence.
But how to reverse it? Nan Yuan had forgotten. He desperately tried to recall, but all he could remember was his father in military uniform, calling him over and saying that he was about to come of age, that he was a man now and had to take on responsibilities.
His father gave him something, what was it?
Nan Yuan felt as though his head was about to explode.
He suddenly realized that his father in front of him was walking away into the thick smoke. He tried to chase after him but couldn’t catch up.
He turned back to look for his mother, only to see her resolutely piloting a spacecraft, crashing into the pursuing enemies.
Amid the fiery explosions filling the sky were the smiling faces of his father, mother, and older brother.
Nan Yuan desperately ran toward them, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t run fast enough...

Tao Shushu finished her shower and picked up her phone.
As soon as she opened her phone, she panicked.
What was wrong with her cub? He was sweating all over, his limbs twitching, his face burning hot. His mouth was slightly open, murmuring in his sleep, clearly trapped in a nightmare.
Encrypted symbols kept popping up in the dialogue box.
Tao Shushu glanced at the little lion, which was curled up at Nan Yuan’s feet, trembling. It didn’t seem like it had been poisoned from eating the fruit.
Tao Shushu couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her cub. A fever? Poisoning?
This lousy system didn’t even give a hint about what was happening.
Tao Shushu hurriedly bought a bottle of Health Potion from the system shop and clicked to use it.
But after using it, the cub’s twitching only intensified.
The Health Potion actually didn’t work.
Flustered, Tao Shushu opened the status bar and saw that the cub’s health and stamina bars were both full.
Then why was he still like this?
Watching the cub’s face grow redder, Tao Shushu grew increasingly anxious.
In the post-apocalyptic world, any infection or poisoning could take a human life.
She was afraid the cub wouldn’t make it.
While searching for medicine in the system shop, Tao Shushu gently rubbed the cub’s ears.
The cub seemed to be trapped in a nightmare. If he remained stuck in it, he might not survive.
The usually smooth system shop suddenly lagged. Tao Shushu cursed, “Lousy system, why isn’t there a task prompt?”
With no other options, she noticed there was water in the vehicle and quickly grabbed it, trying to feed it to the cub.
But the cub, trapped in his nightmare, showed no reaction, and the water wouldn’t go down.
Tao Shushu painstakingly used two fingers to pinch the cub’s cheeks and used one finger as a pillow to slightly lift his head, slowly managing to pour two cups of water down his throat.
Then, Tao Shushu poured some water and wiped the cub’s face but, because it was burning like a furnace, the moisture evaporated quickly.
She needed to get a damp cloth to wipe the cub’s face properly.
Unfortunately, after searching the entire car, Tao Shushu couldn’t find any fabric other than the cotton quilt. The quilt would fall apart if torn.
Gritting her teeth, she tore a corner off the cub’s clothes.
She didn’t use the right amount of force while tearing and accidentally poked the cub’s stomach.
Tao Shushu quickly rubbed his belly, then hurriedly poured water to dampen the makeshift cloth and began wiping his forehead and cheeks. Both of the cub’s ears were bright red, so she wiped them as well.
She alternated between refreshing the cloth with water, pouring water to moisten the cub’s throat, and constantly monitoring his overall condition.
She was incredibly busy.
After more than ten minutes, the cub finally calmed down.
At that moment, the laggy game system popped up with a task: [Please complete Side Mission 3. The energy of the evolving cub is about to run out. Please help the cub safely evolve to Light Element Level 2. Mission reward: Gold Coins ×100, Memory Fragment ×1, Primary Clarity Card ×1.]
Evolving?
So the cub was evolving. Tao Shushu slapped her forehead in realization. He had always used a particle gun as a weapon and hadn’t displayed any special abilitie, so she had assumed the cub was an ordinary person without any powers.
Seeing Side Mission 3 reminded her that when she first started the game, it was indeed mentioned that the cub’s ability was light-based.
Thinking back now, it seemed the cub had always been able to see in the dark.
It wasn’t poisoning. Tao Shushu felt a slight relief in her heart.
But the system was generously offering a reward of 100 gold coins, which meant the evolution was dangerous.
Tao Shushu observed the cub even more carefully.
The cub’s face was still burning hot, and its limbs twitched from time to time, but it was no longer delirious.
Tao Shushu refreshed the cloth with water and wiped the cub’s forehead and head again.
Remembering that she had poked the cub’s stomach earlier with too much force, she checked the area and noticed it seemed bruised.
Tao Shushu bought some bruise medicine from the system and gently rubbed it.
After waiting a bit longer, the cub suddenly started convulsing violently again.
Its life value kept dropping.
Tao Shushu quickly bought several bottles of Health Potion and fed them to the cub.
But the evolving cub was like a money-devouring beast, within seconds, its life value was nearly depleted again.
Tao Shushu continuously bought over thirty bottles and fed them to the cub before its breathing stabilized.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the little lion huddled nearby, trembling while lifting its head and sniffing the air. The energy from the Health Potions was extremely pure, not only did the lion sense it, but a group of people in the distance also noticed the high-purity energy fluctuations coming from their location.
She poked the lion, and seeing the cub’s life value decreasing again, she bought another Health Potion and used it.
Finally, the cub completed its absorption, and its life value stopped dropping.
Tao Shushu breathed a sigh of relief and opened the system shop again. Earlier, she had torn the cub’s clothes, and coincidentally, she spotted new clothes in the system shop, perfect for dressing the cub.
Perhaps the system had taken her feedback into account, as there was now a wide variety of clothes available.
Tao Shushu first clicked on a pre-matched formal suit and imagined how the cub would look in it. She was very tempted.
But wearing formal attire would hinder combat, so she had to give up the idea.
She saw military uniforms again. The cub seemed to have some military background during combat, but she didn’t know his specific branch yet. She decided to wait until she found out before buying the corresponding attire.
The mall also had extravagant court-style clothing, ancient costumes... an overwhelming array of choices.
When she saw the prices, Tao Shushu fell silent. In the end, she bought a casual cotton-linen hoodie and sweatpants, along with a bulletproof suit made of special waterproof, stab-resistant, and bulletproof material. The total cost was 30 gold coins.
Tao Shushu placed the clothes beside the cub.
A game prompt popped up: [Congratulations on completing Side Quest 3. Rewards obtained: Gold Coins X100, Memory Fragment X1, Primary Clarity Card X1. Your cub is now Light Element Level 2. Wherever there is light, it is his eyes and ears.]
Tao Shushu understood. Previously, the cub could see clearly in the dark. This time, during evolution, his ears had been burning and red because he was evolving his auditory abilities. From now on, the cub’s vision and hearing would reach the peak level.
Wait, no!
After closing the system prompt, Tao Shushu did the math. This time, she had bought 37 bottles of Health Potions for the cub, costing a total of 74 gold coins. The clothes cost 30 gold coins, and the bruise ointment she bought after poking the cub’s stomach cost 3 gold coins. The total expenditure was 107 gold coins, more than the system’s reward.
This damn system, she was at a loss.
Tao Shushu seethed with helpless rage.
She rubbed the little lion’s ears but still couldn’t calm down, so she went to rub the cub’s ears as well.
Unexpectedly, after just a few rubs, Nan Yuan opened his eyes.
He sat up abruptly, staring blankly ahead.
Nan Yuan looked at his hands and twitched his ears.
Someone was approaching, a fair number of people, but they were still quite far away.
So Nan Yuan paid them no mind. He clenched his fist, feeling strength coursing through his bones. He had evolved again.
Then, he noticed a cool sensation on his abdomen. The fabric there had truly been torn away!


Author’s Note:
Shushu: Dressing up (scratched out) taking care of the cub