In the afternoon, the sun shone brightly, and the air was hot and dry, yet one spot remained exceptionally cool.
The land near the contracted beast's lodging area had changed. Lush, tall trees stood along the walls, their shadows casting long shadows on the ground, where a layer of green grass covered the landscape—a verdant expanse as far as the eye could see.
At this moment, the contracted beasts lay neatly on one side of the artificial river, leisurely swishing their tails and whispering.
Not far from the river stood a gigantic sunflower, its blossoms acting as a natural parasol, casting the entire river in its shade.
In the river, a massive seashell opened its two halves at a ninety-degree angle, revealing a large, round white pearl. The pearl illuminated the surrounding area brightly, the white light and the colorful light within the shell reflecting beautifully in the water.
Near the edge of the shell, lying horizontally on the water's surface, lay a delicate, fair-skinned doll. It had black hair and black eyes, and was exceptionally beautiful and adorable, with long, brush-like eyelashes that fluttered with every blink.
A small section of the python's tail lay in the water, swaying gently. The seashell bobbed gently like a boat, and the baby lying inside felt very comfortable, letting out a small yawn.
"Baby, do you want to sleep?" asked the tiger lying on the shore. "I went to find Asen, but Asen said he won't let you sleep by the water, or you'll catch a cold."
The baby rubbed its eyes, sat up, and tried to open its big eyes, saying in a childish voice, "I'm not sleepy, I want to hear your stories."
The lion said, "You don't want to leave us, and you want to stay with us a little longer, right?"
The elephant put its trunk in the water, then lifted it up and sprayed water mist in front of the baby. The mist looked especially beautiful under the colorful light, and the baby reached out to touch it, its hand getting wet.
Erxiang said, "You're still young. We'll have to hear the stories we know for a long time. As for your father's story, Jinyao will have to tell it. He was the first to know Asen."
The giant python said gently, "That's right. Haven't you been looking forward to going to Brux? Asen said you'll only stay for a month at most. When you come back, you'll be able to see us."
Xiaoyin softly persuaded, "Big Crab and I will go together too. Blue Whale will definitely like you. It's really, really big. Haven't you always been curious about it?"
Baby rubbed his chubby cheeks, "But I'm so reluctant to leave... Where's Big Crab?" He looked around but couldn't see him.
The giant crocodile swished its tail: "It's excited! We're going to Blue Star tomorrow. It started pruning the branches this morning. Asen said he'd hire someone to trim them, but it's completely unnecessary. The big crab has already finished."
The baby giggled and clapped its little hands: "The big crab is awesome!"
"Why are you so energetic?" Xie Sen walked to the shore and smiled. "I thought you'd fall asleep. It's almost three o'clock. Aren't you sleepy?"
The baby is over a year old and usually goes to bed at 1:30 every day. This is the first time it hasn't taken a nap.
The baby excitedly reached out to him: "Daddy, hug me! Big Tiger and the others are telling me stories."
The giant python lightly swept its tail, pushing the seashell to the shore. Xie Sen reached out and hugged the baby, rubbing its little hands. They weren't cold, so he felt relieved: "Are you reluctant to leave?"
The baby hugged his neck and nodded: "Yes."
Big Tiger and the others comforted it again. Xie Sen smiled and pinched the baby's nose: "Don't you want to go to Blue Star anymore?"
"Yes," the baby said in a childish voice.
"Big Tiger and the others are all here. You'll see them when you come back. You'll go back to many places in the future, and you'll have friends in many places. You don't need to see your friends every day. They are things you care about, but not things that bind you," Xie Sen said gently.
Baby blinked in confusion.
Xie Sen smiled: "If you're unhappy, your father will worry, and Big Tiger and the others will worry too. Do what you want to do, be happy, okay?"
Baby nodded: "Okay." He waved to his contracted beasts, "I'll miss you."
The contracted beasts: "I'll miss you too."
Xie Sen chuckled: "We'll see each other again tomorrow morning, it's not like you're leaving now." He called back Little Sunflower and said to the contracted beasts, "Thank you for your hard work, go and have fun."
He never expected that the contracted beasts would be so good at taking care of a child.
He had planned to go to Blue Star for a long time, but something had kept delaying him. After confirming that he would go tomorrow, he had some more things to take care of. He had to help deliver the planting data of various plants from the research institute to Lanny, and the horse herd also had some planting ideas that he wanted Lanny to test.
Maine's new design had just been produced, and the maintenance department had some problems with him, so he went out after lunch.
Knowing he wouldn't see Da Hu and the others for over a month after tomorrow, the baby asked to play with them. Before Xie Sen could finish his business, he entrusted the baby to his contracted beasts.
This wasn't the first time the contracted beasts had looked after the baby; previously, he had worried about the baby falling into the water and had always stayed by their side. The contracted beasts had even demonstrated how to quickly rescue someone from the water. Seeing their patience, the baby's ease in communicating with them, and his enjoyment of their stories, he would entrust the baby to their care when needed.
Maine returned shortly after and kissed Xie Sen on the cheek: "Where's Baby?"
Xie Sen sighed: "He just fell asleep. He was playing with Da Hu and the others. I'll wake him up in half an hour. Is everything settled?" Maine nodded:
"Yes, I told Huo Feng. He'll take care of Da Hu and the others."
Baby was groggy for a while after waking up before fully waking up. He drank his juice, his eyes darting around. Seeing the fruit pit on the table, he snuggled up to Xie Sen: "Daddy, when is Tuan Tuan coming back?"
Tuan Tuan is now almost the size of the Flying Eagle Beast, incredibly sharp. Since reaching full size, he's been obsessed with hunting and training himself, often going out and then returning after a while.
Xie Sen thought of the information he'd read about bird-type contract beasts before. They rarely form contracts with humans because they are naturally inclined towards freedom.
In fact, it's quite rare for Flying Eagle Beast and Tuan Tuan to stay with him for such a long time.
"I don't know, but he'll definitely come back. Maybe he'll even bring you a gift." Xie Sen ruffled his hair. Every time Tuan Tuan came back, he would bring something small for Baby.
It brought back colorful stones, beautiful or strange flowers, delicious fruits, and so on.
Baby held a fruit pit: "Hmm, Baby hopes to see Tuan Tuan as soon as it comes back."
The next day, after everything was prepared, Xie Sen and Maine said goodbye to Baby and their contracted beasts, put the big crab and little silver into their space lock, and then boarded their private spaceship to Blue Star.
This time, besides the three of them, there were two pilots, both military personnel, recommended by Yan Qi.
Baby was very excited along the way, and after getting tired, it started thinking about Da Hu and the others, and soon fell asleep.
"I heard Yan Qi say that they are building a jump point connecting to Blue Star. Once it's built, it will be much faster to get to Blue Star, right?" Xie Sen asked, leaning against Maine.
Maine: "Hmm, at least another year, the distance is too far."
On the morning of the fifth day, the spaceship landed at the Blue Star spaceport. Lanny sent Ximai to pick them up, and they smoothly exited the port, directly checking into the Youhai VIP Suite. The pilots stayed next door to them.
Ximai remained as serious as ever: "The eldest prince said your journey has been tiring, so please rest first. He'll treat you to lunch at noon."
The long journey was indeed tiring. Xie Sen and the baby took a bath and went to sleep, while Maine was in good spirits. She was wearing pajamas and sitting on the sofa organizing the photos she had taken on the way here. She would look up at them from time to time, her eyes full of warmth.
The baby woke up earlier than Xie Sen, climbed out of bed, first rested his chin on his hands and looked at Xie Sen for a while, then crawled towards Maine, opened his arms, and after sitting steadily on Maine's feet, he pointed a finger and shushed him.
Maine smiled and kissed him, then looked at the photos together. The baby was overjoyed when he saw the photos, tapping around on the screen.
When Xie Sen woke up, he saw the father and son looking at the photos, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face: "What time is it?"
"11:20, still early," Maine said.
"Daddy, did you sleep well?" the baby asked in his childish voice.
Xie Sen smiled and got up to change his clothes: "Yes, I slept well. When did you wake up, baby?"
The baby looked at Maine, who turned off his bracelet and stood up: "Half an hour ago." He changed the baby's clothes first, put the baby on the sofa, and then started changing his own clothes.
Sherson, now dressed, stood to the side, admiring the baby's physique. Seeing the baby curiously fiddling with the shell buttons on his clothes, he reached out and touched Maine's waist, then tiptoed and kissed Maine's chin, exclaiming, "So handsome!" before quickly pulling away.
Maine's eyes darkened dangerously.
The baby looked up and echoed, "So handsome!" Sherson smiled, and Maine looked at him for a moment, then sighed softly.
Lunch was a lavish seafood hotpot with juice, which excited the baby. However, he couldn't eat any of that, only formula and fruit puree. He liked the fruit puree and didn't fuss.
He developed a strong interest in Lanny; it was the first time he'd seen someone with blue hair, blue eyelashes, and blue eyes. Lanny liked him very much, hugging him and letting him carefully touch his eyelashes and hair.
Lenny pinched the baby's soft, white arm: "So soft."
Xie Sen asked curiously, "Aren't your mermaid babies soft?"
Lenny replied, "I've never held one, but they're definitely not this soft. They couldn't live in the sea if they were this soft."
"But you also have human forms, don't you?"
Lenny looked at him. "Don't you know mermaids give birth to mermaid babies?"
Xie Sen genuinely didn't know.
Lenny held the baby, poking his soft arm, and explained, "Female mermaids choose to give birth in the water. Since the baby is a mermaid, he'll stay in the sea for at least a week, making him stronger."
Xie Sen couldn't help but marvel at the rich diversity of species in this world.
After dinner, Xie Sen and Lenny discussed business, finishing all the necessary discussions before the family headed to the Sea of Death.
The aircraft stopped at the edge of the Sea of Death, and they transferred to a flying lion beast to proceed into the interior.
Shortly after entering the Sea of Death, a wave nearly thirty meters high suddenly surged up, a warning sign.
The baby giggled incessantly, clapping his chubby little hands excitedly.
The Flying Lion nimbly dodged the waves, and Xie Sen shouted down, "Little Blue Whale! Tell them I'm looking for Little Blue Whale!"
The water's color deepened, and something large rose from below, though it didn't show its head. It swung its tail, leaving a white line of water behind it, before suddenly darting forward.
The Flying Lion flew through the air, roaring and calling out the Blue Whale's name. Its voice was very penetrating; at least all the creatures in the nearby waters could hear it. Given the vast area covered by the water energy, theoretically, many creatures should have been able to understand it.
Soon, a long, drawn-out whale call grew louder as it approached. Xie Sen looked in the direction of the sound and saw a strangely shaped, enormous black shadow reflected on the water, rapidly approaching them from afar.
"So big, Daddy, is it a Blue Whale?" The baby stared wide-eyed at the water.
"No, it's more than that." Xie Sen squinted for a moment, confirming that he saw tentacles waving in the air.
When the strangely shaped, enormous black shadow moved below, Xie Sen finally saw what it was.
A blue whale and a megalodon swam side by side, each entangled by a giant octopus and a squid, dragged along and distorted, yet each still managed to leave a tentacle waving in the air.
"Ah Sen~" several different voices came from below.
The winged lion landed on the blue whale's back, and Shesen summoned vines, forming a staircase shape. He handed Baby to Maine, and the two descended the vine staircase to the blue whale's back.
The blue whale exclaimed in surprise, "Is this Ah Sen's child?"
"Baby is Daddy's child," Baby replied earnestly, looking at the blue whale with curiosity.
The sea monsters' surprised voices came again simultaneously: "He can understand us?"
Shesen smiled, "Yes, he can. I can understand you all directly now. Are you playing together?"
The blue whale replied, "No, some friends said someone was looking for me, and then I heard the winged lion's roar, so I knew you were coming. They also heard the commotion and came over. We met on the way."
Shesen crouched down and stroked the blue whale's smooth back: "Thank you for the wedding gift, I love it." He then released the giant crab and Little Silver.
Little Silver immediately burst into tears, "Big Tail, I missed you so much!"
The Blue Whale also cried, "I missed you all too!"
The giant squid lashed out with one of its tentacles at the Blue Whale, "Don't cry! You were swimming with the Megalodon yesterday, laughing like a fool."
The giant crab said slowly, "Don't get too excited, we should be happy."
The Blue Whale exclaimed admiringly, "Big Claw, you're still so calm, amazing!"
Xie Sen suppressed a laugh; if he hadn't seen the neatly trimmed branches, he probably would have believed it too. The giant crab's way of speaking was a masterful art of feigning calmness.
After meeting, the Blue Whale had endless things to say. They were in the middle of the sea, with sea monsters swimming around, making it hardly a good place to talk. Eventually, they moved to a secluded island to chat.
The baby was extremely curious, listening intently with his little face in his hands, seemingly fascinated by everything he heard.
In the days that followed, Sherson and Maine took the baby all over Blue Star, exploring various waters of different depths and seeing many beautiful corals and aquatic creatures of all shapes and sizes.
During this time, they even saw a newborn mermaid, a silver one, exceptionally beautiful. The baby, wearing a life ring, stayed near the little mermaid for over an hour.
They also often went to play with the blue whales and other marine life. The giant squid and octopus were very interested in the baby and always wanted to take him out to play.
Sherson remembered that they were poisonous and was hesitant to let them wrap their tentacles around the baby, only letting him stand on the back of a megalodon or a blue whale to chat with them.
The megalodon was the oldest and knew many stories of the sea. Usually, when he tried to chat with the giant squid and other marine life, he would try to tell them stories from his memories, but he would often be interrupted after only a few sentences and then inexplicably start fighting.
This time, however, the baby was a great listener, tirelessly telling one story after another. The baby might not have understood everything, but he was exceptionally patient, clapping and cheering when he heard an exciting part that he could understand.
Xie Sen sat on the beach with Maine's arm around him. Little Sunflower stood at the edge of the sand, blocking out a large patch of sunlight. He took a sip of watermelon juice, looked at the baby sitting on the Megalodon's head, and nudged Maine with his elbow.
"He's like you in that respect—patient. If it were me, I would have gotten restless long ago,"
Maine said indulgently. "Yes, he's very smart and very curious."
Xie Sen put the watermelon juice aside, resting his chin on his hand. "According to the blue whale, the Megalodon lived for a very, very long time. How long do you think its story would take?"
Maine: "No matter how long we can stay, it'll be at most a month here. We'll come back later. It'll be much easier to come over once the jump point is built."
Xie Sen nodded: "Baby will definitely be very reluctant to leave."
After staying on Blue Star for half a month, Xie Sen received a communication from Long Teng. Long Teng's voice was particularly excited: "Ah Sen, come back quickly, it's my birthday!"
Xie Sen raised an eyebrow: "Don't you usually not celebrate your birthday?"
"Hehe, this year's birthday is different. I have something very important to announce, so you have to come back soon."
Xie Sen calculated for a moment: "Okay, I'll be back before June 1st."
Long Teng said happily, "That's great!" Then he couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you curious about what I'm going to announce?"
Xie Sen: "What is it?"
Long Teng chuckled: "I can't tell you, I'm going to give you a big surprise, hahaha."
After hanging up the call, Xie Sen couldn't help but laugh. He put his arm around Maine's arm: "Long Teng is having a birthday party and wants us to come back. He says he has a big surprise to announce."
Maine said: "Announcing the wedding date?"
Xie Sen laughed out loud: "Shh, pretend you don't know."
He knew what it was when Long Teng said he had something to announce. Before coming to Blue Star, Long Teng asked him every day for advice on proposing to Bai Jiao. Long Teng's excitement made it clear that the proposal was successful.
When leaving Blue Star, Bao Bao was indeed very reluctant, but knowing that they would see each other again, and being attracted by Uncle Long's birthday, she quickly cheered up.
When they returned to Brant Star, it was June 1st. After resting at home, they went straight to Long Teng's birthday party that evening.
Long Teng smiled broadly, his white teeth particularly dazzling, and announced the happy news that he and Bai Jiao would be getting married on August 8th.
After the announcement, he ran to Xie Sen and Mei Yin, laughing and asking, "Hahaha, are you surprised?"
Xie Sen, Mei Yin, and Bao Bao nodded in unison, "Extremely surprised."
Long Teng said, "The beer you mentioned before, Jiao made it. I'll go get it in a bit."
After Long Teng left, Bai Jiao chuckled helplessly and asked, "Did you guys already know?"
Xie Sen laughed, "We guessed, after all, Teng was so happy, it wasn't hard to guess."
Bai Jiao glanced in the direction Long Teng left and laughed, "That silly guy, he thought no one else knew."
Long Teng quickly brought over the beer. Xie Sen took a sip and gave Bai Jiao a thumbs up, "That's the taste, amazing!"
The four of them poured a glass each, raised their glasses, and clinked them together, making a crisp sound. Xie Sen laughed, "Happy birthday!"