Chapter 1024: Chapter 1024: Sudden Mutation or Omen? Cynthia came, and both Father God and Hila left immediately—honestly, it felt a bit strange at first. According to reason, these two big shots don’t usually have a strong presence at home. They usually keep to themselves, spending their days discussing knowledge in the Void—half of which I can’t even understand. Plus, our household is already bustling to an unusual degree, so adding or losing a couple of people makes no noticeable difference. Father God and King Huron haven’t even stayed here as long as Bingdisi… But once they left, I suddenly felt a bit lonely. This abnormal phenomenon puzzled me until Lin Xue provided a rough explanation: The resonance between the Void Creatures has already begun to take effect. This is a vague concept, meaning that after spending over a month together, Father God, King Huron, and I have entered a state of resonance. As a special race, we will resonate as long as we are near each other. This resonance goes unnoticed when present, but is quite noticeable once we are apart. Lin Xue saw these strange events with her own eyes, but she couldn’t comprehend their principles. However, I think this might explain why King Huron is insistent on Father God having a child; how many years did they fight back then? Perhaps due to being filled with knowledge by Father God and King Huron every day, I sometimes involuntarily study my own life form and its more advanced mysteries: what exactly is this Void thing? Of course, the Empire’s database contains many related records, but I’m now vaguely sensing that any form of record is meaningless, both to me and to Father God and King Huron. The state presented by the Void to other races is subtly different from that presented to Void Creatures; understanding that Source of All Things seems to be achievable only by Void Creatures themselves. Father God mentioned a few days ago that he never reads the Life Temple’s research notes on the Void, despite them being the most correct answers derived over countless years by his “children,” but he hasn’t read a single word. Perhaps I should try not to get bogged down in the complex materials of the Empire’s database, but instead head into the Void a few more times to feel the most genuine scene my soul can touch? “Hey, Dad, spacing out early in the morning?” Suddenly, Xiao Xue’s voice came from behind, snapping me out of my daze…ahem, deep thought. I put on a serious expression: “Don’t joke around, your dad is contemplating world peace… can’t you stop tormenting that fox all day?!” Xiao Xue stood behind me coquettishly, holding a furry tail tip in her hand; it was one of Yakumo Lan’s tails. The poor Nine-tailed Fox was clearly dragged by her by the tail all the way here and was now sprawled on the floor, scratching at it. This damned sight is becoming a daily occurrence! Xiao Xue grew up with the habit of grabbing her “Sister Fox’s” tail and running around. Upon hearing my voice, Yakumo Lan immediately twisted her head with effort to seriously retort, “My name is Yakumo Lan, not ‘Fox’.” Then she went back to scratching the floor and squirming around, while Xiao Xue giggled, holding Lan’s tail: “Hehe, Sister Fox is the best!” “Had enough? Now it seems to be my turn!” Yakumo Lan pulled out a small pocket watch and glanced at it before suddenly spinning around, retracting her tail, and using her nine large tails to skillfully bundle Xiao Xue securely. Then she darted outside, bouncing around, leaving me dumbfounded beside them. “They agreed to take turns dragging each other around, ten minutes per person.” My sister covered her forehead, explaining with a mix of amusement and annoyance, “Xiao Xue and Lan have been getting along great.” Me: “…How am I supposed to explain this phenomenon to Purple later?” My sister replied quite seriously: “Just say Lan picked up something strange outside and ate it.” I thought maybe I wouldn’t be able to continue pondering the Void question, so I stretched and stood up, glancing around: “Hmm? Where’s Anwina? Isn’t she supposed to be cleaning the living room by now?” My sister pointed through the window: “The crow couple in the yard finally hatched a baby bird, and she’s hanging out on the tree to observe the child…” Holy crap, Anwina has successfully evolved into integrating into the crow society now! Now is the cold winter season, with snow about to fall. I know under normal circumstances this isn’t a good breeding season for birds; it’s too cold, and food is scarce, making it impossible for hatchlings to survive, especially crows. They normally lay eggs in May! But the two crows in our yard are definitely abnormal—in fact, they’ve lost all sense of the seasons. With Lilina and Dingdang around, everything in the yard is thriving, and those crows have no idea what month it is. Moreover, their physiological states are affected by Dingdang’s powers, keeping them feeling like it’s early spring all year round… They never fly outside; they can feel the cold air outside the yard. Fortunately, with Anwina taking care of them, the pair of crows can have enough food in the yard. Sometimes I wonder if I should count this pair as part of our family, as Anwina treats them like neighbors, and perhaps the Little Ghost can really communicate with crows. The latter have become so accustomed to our household that I’ve seen pigeons hopping into people’s hands for food on the square, but never before with crows… There was a bright yellow figure running around the yard, with all nine tails spinning like a wind-and-fire wheel. That was Lan, and her speed on all fours wasn’t slow, though she didn’t look particularly graceful, and behind her was Xiao Xue, waving a hairdryer and screaming—I probably know what’s going on here again. “Hey, dummy…” A soft little body suddenly landed on my shoulder. The Mercury Lamp completed its newly favorite post-breakfast high-altitude dance routine and came over to rest by holding onto my head. Then she pulled out a colored small cube from her pocket and stuffed it into my mouth, “Eat this, I hid it away; Lilina keeps pestering me for it, it’s so annoying.” I was taken aback, suddenly remembering it was a small gift Cynthia gave to Mercury Lamp yesterday: a pile of snacks children in the Divine Realm eat. Who knew Mercury Lamp cherished them so much, saving a portion just for me? This unprecedented blissful feeling, what is it? “Speaking of which, Cynthia seemed to give Lilina a gift yesterday too, didn’t she? Why is she insisting on taking your stuff? I remember after dinner, you kids exchanged gifts…” I was only halfway through speaking when Mercury Lamp hastily interrupted: “What do you mean by ‘a bunch of kids’! Don’t treat me like a kid! Height has nothing to do with maturity, alright? I’m an adult…” There was a clattering sound by me, and I turned my head to see Visca looking at the Mercury Lamp with a face full of newfound camaraderie. Mercury Lamp quickly ducked behind me: “Who knows what that guy is thinking, always opposing me. I never provoked her!” The source of thɪs content is 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✦𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✦𝓷𝓮𝓽 The bickering between those two little ones has been ongoing for ages. Though it feels a bit strange, I can’t help but feel it’s mostly because Lilina is jealous of Mercury Lamp’s treatment, being able to openly act spoiled with “the boss.” I pinched Mercury Lamp’s ear: “Save a piece for Lilina, she’s family too.” The little doll immediately turned her head away in disdain: “No way! She’s already taken lots of my stuff usually!” It seems I’ll have to find some time to release some loving-kindness to Lilina. Just then, a shimmer suddenly crossed beside me—it was Anwina, rushing back, and she seemed to be holding something, saying urgently to me: “Master…look at this!” I curiously asked because she was holding a rather ugly little bird, looking like it had just hatched from an egg a few days ago. Its feathers weren’t even fully grown yet. I don’t know much about birds, but I could guess that this was the little crow that had hatched out of season in the yard: truly ugly! Speaking of which, why would Anwina, with nothing better to do, hold such a hideous little crow chick? Could it be… I glanced at the ghost maid with a look of horror: “Are you planning to adopt it as your godson or do you expect me to give it a royal surname?!” It’s not unreasonable for me to think this way. As a ghost maid continuously devolving towards a crow, Anwina might actually have such an idea! Furthermore, we have too many abnormal people in our family, which causes me to always associate any incident related to those around me with schizophrenia… “Uh, this is a crow chick…” Anwina hadn’t expected my thoughts to jump so wildly, and she was temporarily stunned. Then she carefully placed the little bird on the table. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem timid at all; instead, it hopped twice on the table, stared around with its small beady eyes, then opened its mouth and called out to Anwina, “Not exactly normal.” I could tell it wasn’t normal either: is this a behavior that a chick should have? “That pair of crows has laid five nests of eggs this year,” Anwina said, carefully teasing the bird on the table, stunning me with her words, “They may have been influenced by Dingdang and Lilina. They are rather… excitable.” So, instead of doing anything else all year, they just made children? Have you ever heard of crows having five breeding seasons a year! “But none of the chicks hatched from the previous four nests.” Anwina shifted the topic while stopping her hand movements, “I’ve been observing them for a long time, since they first laid their eggs, constantly keeping an eye on them, and found something unusual. This courtyard clearly has Life Power supporting it, yet their offspring have repeatedly perished. Until now, only one chick from the fifth nest successfully hatched, and that’s this one. But… it hasn’t eaten for four days.” “Yet it’s as lively as a dragon or tiger…” I finally realized there was more to Anwina’s sudden interest in crows, looking down at the little crow staggering on the table, yeah, truly ugly. “Under the aura of the Life Goddess, four entire nests resulted in stillborn chick eggs, leaving just one deformed survivor… What kind of karma did those two crows have in their past lives?” “I found this egg in the crow’s nest,” Anwina said proudly, pulling out a bird egg to show me and then deliberately knocking it against the table, making a banging sound, “Eggs that don’t hatch into chicks are —hard as stones!” Sandora, who had been watching from nearby, was intrigued and exclaimed, “I’ll try… let me see, let me see.” Anwina handed the egg over to Sandora as if she were sending off a loved one to their doom, knowing this bird egg certainly wouldn’t return. No matter how I explained it, the egg was no match for Sandora’s teeth. Soon, the rock-hard crow egg revealed its true face before us: it contained no normal egg whites or egg yolks inside, not even anything resembling biological tissue—the interior crystallized into something unknown! “It tastes good, but the texture is a bit off.” Her Majesty the Queen gave the new variety of crow egg a fair evaluation, then leisurely left half an eggshell to head to the kitchen for her third breakfast of the day. “What is this, a biological mutation?” I felt confused, holding up the half-bitten crow egg in sunlight. The light refracted through its semi-transparent shell and the crystalline structures inside, creating a stunningly beautiful spectacle like a galaxy—if you overlooked the half-bite imprint Sandora left. Even though I’m not a scientist, I’m sure that no normal bird could lay such an egg. I imagined several possibilities, like perhaps the egg-laying crow underwent a sudden genetic mutation, producing an egg with excessive calcium and metal elements, forming a solid. But even I didn’t believe that theory. Ultimately, I called Lilina over and asked her three crucial questions: could a crow from Earth lay a crystal-textured egg; can a newly hatched bird go without eating or drinking for four days and still grow healthy; and could she stop bullying the Mercury Lamp in the future? Lilina’s response was, “Boss, have you taken the wrong medicine?” So, I told Lilina the whole story about the possibility of the crows in the yard becoming sentient. After all, she should be the life expert here by now. Lilina didn’t hesitate, instructing Anwina to bring the pair of crows over… Anwina responded without hesitation, transforming into a crow and flapping off, soon leading in the two robust crows that had grown plump and their feathers shiny under the Goddess’ aura. These creatures constantly watching us come and go, sometimes even landing boldly at the doorstep for food, showed no fear of humans. Moreover, Anwina might have “conversed” with them, as the crows even politely nodded at me and then sat down before Lilina obediently. These two are about to become sentient, right! “Animals’ spirits are closer to the essence of nature than humans’, the pedestrians on the street can’t tell, but the cats and dogs on the roadside can perceive the identity of this Pope,” Lilina proudly proclaimed while lamenting over ordinary people’s ignorance, “Alas, spreading the Life Goddess’s glory is truly a heavy burden for this Pope—what did you two eat before laying this egg?” Lilina posed the latter question to the crows, and they really seemed to ponder it before cawing twice, causing Lilina to cover her mouth in disgust, nearly retching: “Damn it… I forgot about the crows’ diet… Alright, stop it right there, or I’ll flog you two birds!” At first, I didn’t understand what was happening, but when I figured it out, I almost vomited myself. Lilina glanced at the two seemingly abnormal adult crows, whispering, “Boss, something’s wrong. These two seem mutated as well—normal birds can’t develop such complex logic. They can understand the messages I sent with Divine Power, but their responses should be much simpler. Yet, those two not only responded but also recommended several new types …ugh… In any case, they are already several times smarter than normal birds. Furthermore, when I looked at the inside of the half eggshell earlier, I found it is indeed organic matter with traces of life signs remnant, but…” Lilina said as she pinched a small piece from the eggshell and crushed it with her fingers, which then turned into a wisp of green fluorescence dissipating in the air, “I feel this substance isn’t even from the current world. Don’t be surprised, as someone maintaining the temple for the Goddess for a long time, foreign materials sometimes feel off in my hands, and this material doesn’t seem right. It’s… a new biological substance with very active energy reactions, which may have caused all previous bird eggs to miscarry. And the one hatched…” Following Lilina’s gaze, I looked towards the jumping crow chick on the table, which seemed to sense my gaze, chirping away at me before opening its mouth to spit out a small Shadow Arrow. Opened its mouth to spit out a small Shadow Arrow! “Send it to the lab immediately!” Lilina exclaimed hurriedly, “No… Better let me take it to the Life Temple first… Um, on second thought, send it to the lab, have the scientists scan its body structure first—earlier… it had a strong energy reaction!” Anwina was almost brought to tears immediately: “Master, master, do we have to dissect the little bird?” I slapped my forehead, almost forgetting there was still the chick’s godmother here, so I quickly explained, “Don’t worry, don’t worry, it’s just for scanning first. It shouldn’t classify as a dangerous species; I’ll ensure those scientists don’t harm it, right?” With this assurance, Anwina calmed down, bidding a tearful farewell to the chick, then explained the situation to the two crow parents. The crows exhibited signs of anxiety and unease, standing up and pacing on the table before resolutely cawing twice. Without waiting for Lilina to translate, Anwina explained on their behalf: “They say their child is definitely not a danger, and if it must be taken away, they intend to follow…” I glanced at Lilina: “I believe it; these two big crows have mutated too!” Ultimately, everything related to these two crows was sent to the lab, including their nest, that half-crystallized bird egg, the two large crows and one small, along with the eggs from their previous lays (all collected by Anwina—I’m curious what this little maid plans to do with these eggs, practice brooding?). They were all packed in sample boxes and taken away. Once everything was arranged, I finally had time to mull over a question: mutation? Why did creatures in my yard suddenly start mutating? Furthermore, the mutation occurred under the protection of the Life Goddess, with Anwina’s daily care, happening mysteriously! Vaguely, I felt as though something was about to unfold… (To be continued. If you work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)