Always Ending Up as an Animal Cub

It turns out that Yu Tong’s guess was correct—there are indeed some mysterious forces in this world.
As the boy prayed, the little yellow chick's body grew brighter, and its size rapidly increased at a visible rate.

Chenxi was stunned by its transformation, the prayer halting abruptly. Yu Tong's transformation also came to an abrupt stop.
By this time, he had already transformed from a palm-sized ordinary little yellow chick into a golden bird the size of an adult eagle.
It was completely golden, with each feather emitting a pure golden light.

The sudden turn of events made Chenxi forget his sorrow. He stood dazed for a while, staring in disbelief, and said, “After you grew, you don’t look like… wait, you’re not a chicken.”
The system in the space was chattering loudly, drowning out all the external sounds.
Yu Tong could only see Little Chen’s mouth moving back and forth, but he couldn’t make out what he was saying.

The system pulled up the background and excitedly gestured back and forth, 【Little Yu, Little Yu, my system shows that, due to absorbing the novel world’s special power, the host will enter a 20-minute invincibility state.】
【During this period, all your item effects will receive a significant boost. There will no longer be time limits or cooldowns for items. The "Eagle Catching the Chicken" item also allows you to freely choose your transformation targets.】
Yu Tong furrowed his brows slightly, ‘Is that all? What does the invincibility state mean?’

【You thought there would be an immunity buff to damage?】
‘Isn’t there?’
【Hehe, nope! You were thinking too fancifully! Hurry up, you’ve got 27 minutes left. Quickly go do something!】

Though the sacred little chick had grown very large, it still had some soft down feathers, clearly not fully mature.
Chenxi stared at the golden, shining sacred little chick, feeling like he had seen a similar figure in a book somewhere.
His academic progress had been neglected recently, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember.

In any case, he was sure of one thing: the sacred little chick wasn’t a chicken; it was a sacred bird.
As he continued to struggle to recall, his solar god bird suddenly broke free from his embrace.
The golden bird flapped its wings and flew above his head, grabbing his arm and lifting him into the air.

Suspended high up in the air, at least a hundred meters above the ground, the boy didn’t struggle.
Although the sacred bird seemed a bit unsteady in its new body and flew erratically, he still obediently tilted his head, full of reverence, and asked, “Solar God, are you taking me to avenge Father?”
Yu Tong was busy controlling his wings, distracted, and answered vaguely, “Did you finish assembling your little flying chicken controller DIY? The skills in it are quite useful. I’ll need you to control me later.”
Chenxi nodded, looking at Yu Tong with bright eyes. “Are you really a god?”

“Mm, I guess I just became one.”
“My prayer made you stronger?”
“Temporarily stronger. In 23 minutes, I’ll return to my previous state. I’m not that powerful. Are you disappointed?”

Chenxi shook his head seriously, then quickly furrowed his small face and fell into deep thought.
After a while, he quietly asked, “Since faith can make you stronger, the orphanage shouldn’t have insisted that a god can only have one believer.”
A complicated emotion passed through the communication tool, silently transmitted to Yu Tong.

Yu Tong looked down and saw that Chenxi had his eyes lowered, his cracked, dry lips pressed tightly together.
“Solar God, can you only have me as your believer? I swear I’ll trust and serve you for life. I’m sorry, I’m so selfish. A god like you must have many people who like you.”
“If you have many believers in the future, can I be your most special and most important believer? Can our relationship still be as close as it is now?”

Yu Tong didn’t expect that the ten-year-old little Chenxi would have such strong possessiveness, just like the adult version of Chenxi.
“Don’t think too much. You are, of course, the most special.”
Chenxi was overjoyed, a blush rising on his face.

The system, having snapped out of its sadness, was now peeking out while mumbling, 【Little baby, you’re not only the most special, you’ll also be the solar god chicken’s most cherished!】
【The little puppy turns into a little wolf with extreme possessiveness, the believer top x powerful and gentle male god bottom, it's so spicy.】
‘Eight Bro, get a grip, he’s only ten.’

【He’s not going to stay ten forever, I’m shipping the grown-up believer x god, it’s so sweet.】
【Your mouth’s so quick, like you’re not looking forward to him growing up. Since both of them are Chenxi, do you think Little Chenxi will grow up to be like Yun Mingchen from the previous world?】
Yu Tong remained silent.

Yun Mingchen had to wear various masks to survive, constantly testing and guarding against the people around him.
He felt insecure, always mentally tense, and had developed psychological issues.
If possible, Yu Tong hoped that this little Chenxi would never turn into someone like Yun Mingchen.

The woman behind the tavern had told him that the person who killed Chenxi’s father was a noble illegitimate child who had murdered the former town mayor.
They had lived in the mayor’s house. The former mayor was a devout believer of the goddess, and in front of his courtyard stood a statue of the goddess with a fountain.
The architectural features were very distinctive. Yu Tong used the "Eagle Catching the Chicken" item to gain the eagle ability. From high up in the air, he easily located his destination.

The new town mayor seemed to be hosting a party. The villa was brightly lit, and he could see the moving figures through the windows.
The person who killed Chenxi’s father, besides the new mayor, included his friends and a bunch of servants.
Yu Tong couldn’t figure out who exactly he wanted to kill, so he decided to eliminate everyone at the party.

After all, none of the outsiders in this town were good people.
The golden light on his body automatically disappeared as he left the alley.
Yu Tong was preparing to land in the villa’s courtyard and sneak inside.

At that moment, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of two figures sneaking around the back door of the villa.
Yu Tong narrowed his eyes.
It was Lily and her little bear warrior.

Oh, he knew what they were planning to do today.
The new town mayor was the illegitimate son of a large family, and according to the empire’s laws, he had no right to claim inheritance.
His father had said that to make up for it, he would find him a comfortable job.

That comfortable job was to send him to this godforsaken place to be the town mayor, in cooperation with the Divine Cultivation Institute’s work.
To avoid him throwing a tantrum, his father secretly told him that the empire had abandoned the town, and the law no longer applied there.
The new town mayor felt better after hearing that.

Once he arrived at the town, he immediately killed the former mayor and his family, taking over the entire town.
Anyone who didn’t please him was sent to the dogs. As for the beauties in the town, he picked whoever he wanted.
At first, he thought it was quite fun, but the town had very little entertainment.

After finally capturing a beautiful woman from a fallen family, before he could even take a bite, she committed suicide.
After the novelty wore off, he and his friends grew tired of this life.
Just now, his friend had given him an idea. The Divine Cultivation Institute opened once every ten days, and at that time, the children would leave the orphanage and go to the market to exchange things to eat.

Last month, his friend had tried giving a fruit cake to a seven or eight-year-old girl, and that girl immediately regarded him as a great person.
When he kissed her, she didn’t resist.
Besides him, a few other friends had tried the same.

A cake no bigger than the size of a palm could make a child lie on the ground barking like a dog, using their tongue to clean their shoes.
If they encountered a greedy child, a piece of soft candy would make them do whatever they wanted.
The best part was that the orphanage didn’t care about the children’s well-being. If they died outside, no one would care.

After hearing his friend’s words, the new town mayor immediately came up with a brilliant idea.
“How about this: next time when the market starts, we set up a charity event on the children’s usual path, inviting them to my house to taste some small cakes.”
His friend clapped his hands, “The little ones taste small cakes, and we taste the little ones?”

“No, no, no, my dear friend, how can you think with only the lower half of your body? Have you ever heard of a setting from some novels, where using a young girl’s blood can make someone eternally youthful, or sacrificing a child’s pure body and soul can summon demons?”
The new town mayor elegantly sipped his red wine, “But what you said isn’t wrong, we do indeed have to taste those children. I wonder if children’s fresh blood is really as magical as the novels say.”
His friends laughed and teased him about his heavy taste, not even worried about catching diseases.

A few young men and women, captured from the town and used as servants and tools for release, were walking around the guests in aprons, their bodies bruised with various wounds and their delicate faces twisted into stiff smiles.
One of the male servants, as he passed the back door, noticed the door cracked open slightly.
A toy bear, covered in dust, was peeking inside.

Staring at the snarling toy bear for a while, the male servant blankly walked away.
It was the first time he had encountered someone who wasn’t afraid of him, and the little bear warrior tilted its head in confusion, hiding its steel knife behind its back.
After confirming that there were no monitors around, it gestured for Lily to hide and not come out. It grabbed the steel knife and quietly slipped into the villa.

The bodyguards were patrolling the yard, and Lily was occasionally shifting her position.
When she moved to one of the gardens, she saw the body of a young master lying quietly on the grass not far away.
The body’s head had a hole in it, and the death was gruesome.

A few leaves fell on Lily’s head, and she looked up in confusion.
Through the layers of branches, she saw that Chenxi was squatting in the tree, holding a glowing orb.
Their eyes met, and Lily softly called out, “Chenxi, are you playing a thief game? I want to play too!”

Chenxi furrowed his brows. “Where’s your little bear?”
“In the villa! It’s helping me avenge Mom! I also want to climb the tree, can you help me?”
“I can’t carry you. Find a place yourself…”

Before Chenxi could finish, he noticed from the corner of his eye a bodyguard, leading a big dog, approaching.
The dog sniffed the air and started jumping excitedly.
Seeing that Lily was still standing near the body, Chenxi gritted his teeth and jumped down from the tree, pulling Lily along the small path.

The dog’s barking grew louder, and Chenxi pried open the lock of a small outdoor shed and dragged Lily inside.
The girl, mostly sensible, covered her mouth and didn’t make a sound.
When the barking faded, Chenxi finally relaxed.

A few seconds later, Lily’s quiet voice broke the silence. “There are so many books here. What’s this? Ah! Little toys! ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) If no one wants them, I’ll take them.”
Chenxi turned his head and saw piles of books, newspapers, and other miscellaneous items.
This was probably the former mayor’s stuff, which the new town mayor had just thrown into this room as junk after taking over the villa.

Lily, still young and poorly educated, couldn’t read many words. She wasn’t interested in the books, excitedly playing with the dusty little trinkets.
Chenxi organized the old newspapers and found a few books. Using the outside light, he began flipping through them.
The newspapers said that after the defeat, the empire entered an economic depression. Strikes occurred all over the country, and in order to get the empire back to normal, the royal family decided to take extreme measures.

The royal family signed many humiliating treaties, and large portions of land were divided. The people of the region were then enslaved by the beastman tribe.
Had he seen this news before, Chenxi would have felt very sad. But now, he felt nothing.
The survival of the empire had nothing to do with him.

As the domestic situation worsened, the empire desperately needed a war to shift domestic conflicts and boost the morale of the people to calm the internal strife.
The empire implemented two plans.
First, the Divine Cultivation Plan.

The empire established eleven Divine Cultivation Institutes within its borders, training eleven gods.
The state was willing to buy children aged five to ten from the people for a gold coin each, regardless of gender or quantity.
Second, the Mechanical Kingdom.

Besides the Divine Cultivation Institutes, the empire decided to heavily invest in alchemy and scientific research to build a mechanical army.
To speed up the process, the empire forcibly drafted all adult men under fifty who were not nobles to contribute to the rise of the empire.
After reading the newspaper, Chenxi couldn’t help but sneer.

The empire really knew how to make plans—during the economic depression, they grabbed the husbands to work and left the wives to earn money and take care of the family.
There was only one human kingdom in the world, and humans had nowhere else to go. To survive, they had to consider selling their children.
Just as Chenxi was about to put the newspaper away, his eyes caught sight of a dusty letter on the floor.

He opened the envelope and pulled out the paper.
【Dear Father, I hope you are well. I’m not sure if the nuns at the Divine Cultivation Institute are still meeting daily needs. I regret to inform you that we were unable to acquire more ghouls. However, we found something smarter and more suitable for the task.】
【They don’t even need to eat corpses, which means you no longer need to risk taking food from monsters. They only need to recharge after a full day of work...】

The letter had been in the warehouse for a long time, and the paper was stained. The rest of the content was completely obscured.
Chenxi was about to go back and discuss things with the sacred little bird, slipping the letter into his pocket and turning to look at little Lily not far away.
The girl had found a small gun in the pile of junk.

Chenxi took it and examined it.
The little handgun was real, and it had seven bullets inside.
He exchanged the music box for the small gun with Lily.

Lily was mesmerized by the music box, twirling around.
She was so easy to deceive.