ARIWLBBC Chapter 109

Human cubs can usually be weaned around the age of two, while beastman cubs are weaned once they can shift into their humanoid form.

Bo Ge sat on the bed, holding a small “fuzzy kiwi” (a nickname for the baby beast cub). The little kiwi was noisily suckling on a bottle, its four tiny paws tucked together obediently. Its big round golden eyes stared intently at Bo Ge.

So soft, so well-behaved, its fur was fluffy like a little black kitten.

Such a good little cub.

“Aw aw~”

The other three little kiwis were starting to get impatient. They reached their paws up to tug at Bo Ge’s clothes, trying to climb onto him.

The baby, dressed in a pink onesie, wobbled as she stood up on the bed and walked over. She lifted the three little kiwis one by one by the scruff of their necks and set them aside, then gave the fourth kiwi a firm pat.

“An An,” Bo Ge turned his head at the commotion and saw that the baby had woken up and was already helping him take care of her older siblings.

“Ba ba~”
The little one hugged Bo Ge’s arm, nuzzling against him.

Even after two years, Bo Ge could still remember the moment he and Lei Beishuang’s five cubs were born. After their birth, a naming campaign was launched across the star network. In the end, the three male and one female black leopard cubs were named: Lie Xing, Lie Meng, Lie Wan, and Lie Sui—together forming the phrase “Long Live the Interstellar Alliance”.

Regarding beastmen’s naming abilities, Bo Ge just smiled politely.

In contrast to the black leopard cubs’ “glorious mission,” the human baby shared Bo Ge’s surname and was named Bo An An. As long as she could live safe and sound, that was all the happiness he wished for.

Two years had passed, and although An An was the youngest of the bunch, she had become the most sensible. Not only could she dress and feed herself, but she could also help Bo Ge take care of her older siblings.

In the morning, An An ate porridge and steamed egg custard, while her four siblings drank milk.

At lunch, An An had soft steamed rice and stir-fried veggies, while the four cubs still drank milk.

In the evening, An An enjoyed nutritious porridge with mini cakes, while her siblings drank milk again—so much that they often overdid it and ended up spitting some out, crying for Dad.

Compared to her hyperactive older siblings—who bounced around nonstop and couldn’t even be caught by a dozen robot helpers—An An preferred to quietly listen to books.

She loved listening to Lei Beishuang’s collection of paper books, followed by all kinds of audiobooks from the star network.

Bo Ge wasn’t even sure if she understood any of it, but seeing her sit so quietly and attentively made him think: even if she was just listening for fun, it would still help develop her listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.

While her four siblings wished they could go out every single day, An An disliked leaving the house. Only when tempted with delicious food would she agree to get in her baby hover stroller and go outside.

Among Lei Beishuang’s five children, his favorite was An An. Every day after coming home from work, he would first kiss Gugu, then kiss An An, before transforming into a black leopard and dragging out the four mischievous cubs who had disappeared somewhere—lining them up and giving them a good scolding.

Currently, Lei Beishuang was patrolling the outer edges of the interstellar regions and hadn’t been home for half a month. The four cubs were nearly going wild.

Every morning when Bo Ge opened his eyes, four little milk leopard cubs were sitting neatly by his head, eight round golden eyes staring at him. If Bo Ge tried to sleep in, his face would get smothered with fluffy leopards until he gave up and got up to feed them one by one with their milk bottles.

Each of the four leopard cubs had their own room, but their favorite place was Bo Ge’s sock drawer. The drawer was divided into compartments—one pair of socks per slot—but sometimes when Bo Ge opened it, he’d find not only socks but also four compartments stuffed with furry mochi balls.

Even with the help of robots, taking care of five cubs was exhausting—especially with Lei Beishuang not around. No matter where Bo Ge went, there were always four little leopards at his feet. Every step had to be careful to avoid stepping on their tails.

When Bo Ge was resting, the teething leopard cubs would bite his fingers and toes. The bolder ones even gnawed on his ears. Bo Ge, exasperated, would open his eyes and lift the cub up to bite back, which would make the cubs excitedly squeal, “Awooo!”

Rough play and biting were normal behavior for leopards. When Bo Ge tried to play-bite the cubs back, they would obediently shove their heads into his mouth, leaving his mouth full of fur.

The little leopards loved climbing. When they got to high places, they’d howl proudly—but once up there, they couldn’t get down. So they’d spin in circles in place, screaming, calling for a robot or for Bo Ge to rescue them.

Lei Beishuang had once planted a tree near the lawn and padded the ground beneath it with safety mats so the cubs could practice climbing. The little leopards would hang from the branches like unripe kiwis. Bo Ge would worry and crane his neck up to watch. After less than a month, Bo Ge developed intervertebral instability, and Lei Beishuang immediately removed the tree that same day. The four cubs sat around the tree pit, heads lowered, staring at it with wide, confused eyes.

Bo Ge felt like he was constantly surrounded by four leopard cubs. He used to be monitored by a single big black leopard even while using the bathroom—but now it was leopard surveillance times four. The eldest cub, Lie Xing, would seriously observe Dad’s expressions and considerately help Bo Ge press the “finished” button.

Recently, a restaurant catering to human dietary habits had opened on Abel Star. Bo Ge quickly handed the four leopard cubs over to Madam An Mei for temporary babysitting, then dashed out with An An to enjoy some fresh and free outdoor air. He couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

“Baba, hungry hungry, food~”
An An, wearing a pink baby hat and sitting in her hover stroller, waved her little hand at Bo Ge.

“Good girl, An An. We’re almost there.”
Bo Ge put on sunglasses, pulled out a weaning bottle, and popped it into her mouth.

The restaurant had a great location and had just opened with promotional discounts. It was packed with beastmen, and even the waiting area was full of people.

Bo Ge and An An waited in the lounge. Quite a few beastmen noticed the human father and daughter duo and greeted them with polite, friendly smiles.

An An saw all the people looking at her and wasn’t shy at all. She lowered the shield of her hover stroller and curiously examined all the different kinds of people in the waiting area.

“Baba~” An An tugged on Bo Ge’s sleeve.
“Why does that cub have antennae on their head and wings on their back?”

Bo Ge looked over—it was a family of three. The father had soft, translucent antennae on his head, and the mother had gray wings on her back. Their child had inherited both traits: antennae on their head and a pair of fluffy wings on their back.

“That’s a mixed-blood cub from an Anroni and a beastman,” Bo Ge explained. “Anroni people have antennae on their heads that can secrete nutrient mucus to feed their offspring. The wings come from the beastman bloodline.”
Bo Ge had learned a lot recently—as the chief consort, he could now recognize over 80% of the species in the Interstellar Alliance.

Just as Bo Ge finished speaking, the Anroni father lowered his antennae to connect with his child’s. With a gentle rhythmic motion, he began transferring nutrient mucus.

An An stared unblinking at the scene in front of her. Then she turned to Bo Ge and said,
“Daddy, I haven’t seen Papa in a long time… where is he?”

“He’s in a place really far away from us,” Bo Ge replied helplessly. The edge of the Alliance territory—there had been reports of recent supernova shockwaves, disrupting communications. Lately, there had been no contact at all. All they could rely on now was the resonance equipment Lei Beishuang had left behind, which at least confirmed that the big cat wasn’t in danger.

Beastmen have much sharper hearing than humans, so many nearby beastmen had overheard the conversation between the human father and daughter and looked over with sympathetic expressions.

Feeling the need to explain, Bo Ge said,
“It’s not that Papa’s in any danger—it’s just that he’s too far away and can’t come back for now. It’s like he’s away on a business trip.”

“But if it’s just a business trip, why hasn’t Papa contacted Daddy and An An?”
An An pouted slightly.

“He… there’s bad signal where he is.”
Bo Ge tried to keep the explanation simple.

An An looked at Bo Ge, eyes a bit sad, and turned her head away.
“Daddy, I understand now.”

Seeing her expression, Bo Ge wanted to explain more, but before he could speak, a restaurant staff member came over and warmly invited the two of them into the dining area.

Seated inside, Bo Ge opened the menu. Thinking about how he’d be picking up the leopard cubs later and how Madam An Mei would certainly insist they stay for dinner—meals at the Lie residence were so rich that Bo Ge always had to hold onto the wall when leaving—he decided to just order a light portion of soup dumplings for himself.

He slid the menu over to An An. There was a special section just for human toddlers. An An already recognized quite a few words, and Bo Ge wanted to build her independence, so he let her look and choose for herself.

An An immediately spotted the item her daddy had ordered in the “Already Selected” section—just a measly little bowl of soup dumplings.

Before, when Papa was home, Daddy always ate the best human food. But now… Papa clearly didn’t want Daddy or An An anymore.

An An thought of her four useless older brothers and let out a soft, childish sigh.

What was going to happen to them now?

Bo Ge heard her sigh and assumed she couldn’t read the menu, so he pointed to each item and read them aloud:

“Assorted vegetable puree, mo’er melon meatball soup, egg custard, stir-fried minced meat with qin greens…”

“An An wants bean-bean mash.”
An An pointed to the cheapest item.

“Alright. Anything else?” Bo Ge patted her head gently.

“Just bean-bean mash.”
An An closed the menu, full of stubborn determination.

Once the menu was submitted, Bo Ge found it a bit odd. An An usually had a bigger appetite compared to other kids her age—she always wanted to try a bit of everything. Normally, whenever they went out to eat, An An would order a bunch of dishes, and anything she couldn’t finish would be eaten by Lei Beishuang or himself.

So why did she only want bean-bean mash today?

When the food was served, An An looked at the tiny cup of bean-bean mash—barely the size of her little fist—and nearly burst into tears.

She had already figured it out: Daddy takes care of the cubs, and Papa earns the money. Usually, whenever Daddy had free time, he’d lie in the game pod and play games—he had no financial power at all. So now that Papa was gone, the family clearly had no money.

An An clenched her little fists and made a silent vow:
She had to help Daddy become independent.
Even without Papa, they would still eat well every day.

Bo Ge quietly observed An An eating her bean mash with tears in her eyes, feeling puzzled.
What in the world had happened?

“Daddy, if you were to get a job… what would you want to do?”
An An suddenly looked up and asked seriously.

“A… job?” Bo Ge was caught off guard.

In the Second World, Bo Ge already had more than enough on his plate—illegal consciousness trying to break through singularities into the real world, NPCs demanding retirement pensions…
He had just recently established a robot guild, transferring awakened robot consciousnesses into the Second World. Bo Ge was already so exhausted he felt like a used-up Gugu, and every night he needed to snuggle against the big cat to recharge.

Now, even snuggling the four little ones didn’t work anymore.

Why was An An asking about this?
Was she worried that he, like Lei Beishuang, would leave on a business trip and not return?

After thinking it over, Bo Ge replied seriously,
“Daddy wants to do a lot of things. But right now, Daddy’s most important mission is to accompany you five little treasures.”

As soon as she heard that, An An knew getting Daddy to work was hopeless. That meant—she had to rely on herself now.

Looking around, An An began scanning the room for business opportunities.

Beastmen in the restaurant couldn’t help but sneak glances at An An. Human cubs were just too adorable—her skin was soft and fair, her little round face looked like it would bounce back if poked, her big black eyes sparkled like they had stars in them, and her tiny button nose and pink lips made her look like the cutest creation of the gods.

Feeling the attention from all directions, An An suddenly had a burst of inspiration. She turned her sparkling eyes toward Bo Ge and said,
“Daddy! I want to start livestreaming to make money!”

Bo Ge nearly spit out his soup dumpling.

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