79: Aww, talent awakening!

Tu Nan restrained all her emotions.

Only those who are favored can be fearless; Tu Nan had long understood this. She had always performed according to the expectations of others, whether it was being expectant, sensible, well-behaved, or longing for all kinds of affection.

Living with a mask was the norm for Tu Nan since she was a child.

Only when facing the Children was it different.

Tu Nan gently said to the Two Children through the mental link, "Sleep, Mama is here..."

"...Mommy." The two little ones tried to respond to her while half-asleep.

See, this was different.

***

Even if Li was unwilling to say much, Tu Nan still obtained a lot of information through Gaia regarding the Sheng Family's twisted Gu-rearing system.

What was Li thinking? Tu Nan smiled.

She no longer wanted to know; her focus was on when the Children would reach the Childhood Stage. No matter what plans she had, the Children in the Cub Stage were too small.

She was worried.

It was coming soon. Normally, at six months, the Children could switch from the Cub Stage to the Childhood Stage. At that time, they would be able to run and jump, becoming little kids about three heads tall.

The Children were already five months old, and they still couldn't control themselves as they shifted randomly between their Beast Form and human form.

Tu Nan and Lisa sat under the corridor in the small courtyard.

Lisa was talking to her about the same topic. Mothers' conversations always involuntarily focused on their Children.

"Miao Miao looks a bit sturdier; could it be that she'll reach the Childhood Stage first?" She teased Ao Ao, who looked like a black puppy. "Will the big brother Ao Ao be unable to compete with his younger sister?"

"Me first! Me first! Then Ao Ao has to call me Big Sister!" Miao Miao was overjoyed to hear Lisa's words. She suddenly realized that she could seemingly reverse the disadvantage from her birth through this kind of competition.

Ao Ao didn't say a word. He crouched gracefully at his mother's feet, whining softly, his round, dark brown eyes looking at Tu Nan moistly.

Tu Nan scooped him up and held him in her arms, saying to Lisa disapprovingly, "The Children will reach that stage eventually anyway; a bit earlier or later is fine." She kissed Ao Ao's small pointed ear, stood up, and put him back in the nest. Then she fairly dropped a light kiss on Miao Miao's cheek.

Miao Miao had almost been jealous because her mother kissed her brother, but her emotions were immediately smoothed over by Tu Nan. She sucked her finger and started laughing happily.

Lisa put down her knitting and shook her head.

"I said the wrong thing. Oh, I only have Owen, so I didn't pay attention to these things." She looked at the two babies and asked Tu Nan, "Have you thought of their formal names yet? Haven't you gone to register their identities?"

"Mm... no rush." Tu Nan's gaze was distant. "It won't be too late to take them to register when they reach the Childhood Stage. By then, Li's military Rank will have increased, and we can go to the Military District's First Testing Center to measure their Rank."

"True." Lisa agreed with Tu Nan's idea. "The precision there is high and can measure percentages. We can see what their initial level is then. But from what I see, the levels of these two are definitely not low, so don't worry too much."

Tu Nan wasn't worried. After all, the System had clearly told her: two mutation genes, one of which was Divine-Grade. It was unlikely to mutate from a low-level gene. Instead, she had always been afraid that the Children's special nature would be detected, which was why she kept finding ways to delay the registration.

Although she had discussed with the two of them when they were born not to show any abnormalities, she later found that she had overthought it.

The little guys couldn't even control their transformations well, but fortunately, the mutated characteristics wouldn't show up at all during the Cub Stage.

Her previous worries were for nothing.

"Miao Miao!" The young boy Owen finished school at the training camp and rushed to Tu Nan's place without even going home. Without stopping to greet his mother, he lunged for Miao Miao.

"Stupid Owen is here again!" Miao Miao hid behind her brother, while the little wolf cub Ao Ao pricked up his ears and tried his best to hide his sister behind him.

"Miao Miao, you're not allowed to call people names like that." Tu Nan pressed her hand to her forehead and lectured her. For some reason, Owen was especially fond of the sister next door and had to rush over to see Miao Miao every day when he got home.

Then the two little ones were annoyed by him. When facing the outside, these two were particularly united.

Seeing Owen bending over to scoop Miao Miao out of the nest, Miao Miao was desperate but couldn't successfully switch to her cat form. The baby appeared extremely clumsy trying to crawl out of the nest. She screamed frantically in her mind, "Ao Ao, help me!"

Ao Ao bared his teeth and growled threateningly at Owen. But Owen, whose Beast Form was a fox, didn't take the little milk wolf's threat seriously. He chuckled and, with a flick of his hand, grabbed Ao Ao by the scruff of his neck.

"Bad Ao Ao, off you go~"

He tossed the furball into his mother's arms.

Lisa caught the tossed Ao Ao with her skirt, laughing as she hugged him and teased, "Oh dear, little sister has been snatched away by the bad boy again."

Tu Nan and Lisa didn't stop the Children's play-fighting. A beastman's defensive power in their Beast Form is multiplied, and besides, Owen knew his limits. This kind of play-fighting was very beneficial for the Children's growth.

By the time Ao Ao struggled out of Lisa's skirt, he already saw Owen happily holding Miao Miao, constantly nuzzling the baby's fair and tender cheeks.

Miao Miao pushed back with her hands, but it was useless. She didn't actually hate Owen, but! She was just Life Qi that she was being grabbed and moved around at will!

Even if there was to be nuzzling, it should be her doing it. Why should she "be" nuzzled?

"Let... let go!" The baby's speech wasn't fluent yet, but that didn't stop her from cursing and howling in her mind.

"Bad Owen! Dummy brother! Dummy! Brother, come save me!"

Oh no! Tu Nan's heart skipped a beat.

Miao Miao rarely called him "Brother," usually just calling him Ao Ao. But once she called him "Brother," the calm Ao Ao would often lose his mind... "Miao Miao!" She opened her mouth to tell Miao Miao not to order her brother around recklessly.

Unfortunately, she was a step too late.

Sure enough, Ao Ao's fur stood on end. He stared intently at Owen, his eyes almost spitting fire.

"Oh, don't be Life Qi, I'll make Owen let go." Lisa also noticed that Ao Ao was Life Qi. She held him while scolding her son.

"Your sister is unwilling, let go!"

Ao Ao's four legs kicked wildly in mid-air, but he was still restrained and couldn't rush to his sister's side. He was worried sick.

Suddenly, Lisa's hands were empty; Ao Ao's figure had vanished.

The cup in Tu Nan's hand hit the ground as she suddenly stood up.

Under the shadow of the veranda, a spot of shadow seemed to deepen for a moment, and then a black shadow pounced onto Owen's hand, re-condensing into the shape of a little wolf.

The little guy viciously opened his mouth and bit down on Owen's arm with an "Aowu."

"Ah! Ow, ow, ow!" Even milk teeth were powerful. Ao Ao hung onto Owen's hand with his teeth. Owen almost dropped Miao Miao, but the boy actually endured the pain and scooped her back up.

"What's going on, ahhh!" Owen was in so much pain that tears welled up.

Tu Nan hurried forward to pull Ao Ao off.

"He's bleeding; I'll go get the healing spray." She felt very apologetic.

Lisa walked over with a look of shock. She glanced at the small wound on her son's arm and waved her hand dismissively.

"Sigh, it's a minor injury. If left alone, it'll heal on its own in two days."

She stared at Ao Ao curiously for a long time and said hesitantly to Tu Nan, "But this little guy... this is a special Talent."

"Not simple~ This son of yours is going to shake the entire Sand Star."

Tu Nan looked down at Ao Ao; the little guy was still baring his fangs and brandishing his claws.

This outburst of his was too poorly timed... What should she do?

Lisa and Owen were both staring at him with great interest.