“I wasn’t wrong! After all, you guys are so big, of course, you wouldn’t fit on the bed. I can become small! Sleeping with Baobao only takes up one spot, and Baobao can even hug me! Oh, he smells faintly of sweet milk, so cute.”

“Hey! You guys are definitely just jealous of me.”

“I was wrong! I won’t do it again next time.”

“Alright, alright, no next time.”

“Let me down already!”

“Help!”

Over the fire pit in the main hall, a blue hide was stretched out and roasting. The hide still had eyes and a mouth, and the mouth was chattering incessantly.

Bode had been caught red-handed at the scene of the crime early that morning and subsequently sentenced to the roasting rack by the other demons, who said they wanted to test if a dried-out slime could still survive.

The cub watched the commotion from behind the railing, his big golden eyes curiously observing the misshapen slime, sucking on his tail tip while drooling.

“Baobao’s hungry! Let me down, I need to feed him!” Bode rolled his eyes sideways to look at the cub, trying to force a smile, but the effect was utterly terrifying.

The cub thought Bode was making a funny face and obligingly giggled twice.

Bazel had gone out hunting.

Nick sat on a stool, studying a piece of cloth, trying to figure out how to make baby clothes.

Lance held the cub in one arm, a bowl in the other, completely ignoring Bode as he headed to the side hall to get food for the cub.

The side hall had been cleaned thoroughly. The white Hellhound lay dozing lightly in a corner. Three chubby pups climbed all over their mother, biting ears and pulling at white fur. Noticing movement at the entrance, they all looked over simultaneously.

Lance walked over to the Hellhound, placed Baobao on the ground, and then started milking the mother.

The little demon, still a bit dazed from being put down, looked up and met the gazes of the three small Hellhounds. He seemed to remember their previous grudge, immediately wrinkling his nose and frowning. “Aya!”

The three pups: “Woof-oof!”

“Aya ya, da!”

“Awoo!”

After the two sides traded insults for a bit, the three pups were the first to charge their enemy, pouncing on the little demon, hissing and biting at him.

The little demon let out furious cries, biting back at the pups. He was slightly larger than the pups and cleverly used his weight advantage to pin them down.

The battle raged fiercely.

The bowl was already full. Lance glanced at the cubs and saw the four toothless little ones huddled together, licking each other. Baobao’s fuzzy baby hair was licked into a complete mess.

“Baobao, come eat first. You can play after you finish eating.”

Hostilities paused briefly. The little demon was picked up and sat on Lance’s lap, eating milk spoonful by spoonful, all while watching the pups milling around his feet.

Once full, the cub was placed back on the ground. The three fluffy white pups immediately mobbed him, licking the little demon all over.

Lance had been watching the four little ones play together, but Nick came over to consult him on how to make baby clothes. The two demons stood there, gesturing with a piece of cloth for a long time.

Suddenly, the sounds of the cub playing stopped. When Lance and Nick looked over, the little guy was lying on his stomach on the floor, bottom stuck up, fast asleep. The three chubby pups were also sleeping soundly right beside him.

The four adorable little ones were snuggled together in a heap.

The female Hellhound glanced at her children, then leisurely licked her own fur.

The two demons watched with faint, mysterious smiles for quite a while before snapping back to reality.

Lance: “What were you asking just now?”

“Baby clothes.”

“Right, baby clothes. I’ve never made clothes before either. We can only try. Anyway, we have so much cotton cloth; maybe after a few tries, we can make a decent baby outfit.”

The two demons agonized over the cloth, trying to figure out how to make baby clothes. Bazel returned to the underground palace carrying a dead demonic beast, directed a barrage of sarcastic remarks at the slime on the roasting rack, and then tossed the beast to the Hellhound.

After that, the number of demons studying baby clothes became three.

Bode: “Hey! I’m still on the rack! Help!”

–

While the demons in the underground palace lived a warm and uneventful life, far, far away from the Forest of Calamity, in the Demon King’s Palace, the storm caused by the theft had yet to subside.

“All towns in the Demon Realm have been searched. Demon eggs yet to hatch and recently born little demons have also been investigated. No trace has been found.”

A goat-headed demon was reporting to the Demon King. Since the egg’s theft was discovered, they had spent the past few months searching almost the entire Demon Realm.

“Only the Desolate Lands, the Forest of Calamity, and the Dark Abyss remain. However, there are almost no demons in these three places. I await your command on whether to continue the search there.”

The Desolate Lands were devoid of any demonic beasts or animals, so naturally, no demons lived there.

The Forest of Calamity teemed with demonic beasts and various plants, making it extremely dangerous; even high-ranking demons couldn’t guarantee they could escape unscathed.

The Dark Abyss, on the other hand, was a forbidden zone in the Demon Realm. It was highly mysterious, and few demons knew what lay within because no demon who entered had ever returned. Over time, it became a place of taboo.

None of these three places was suitable for demon survival. Moreover, if the demon egg were truly in any of these locations, it likely would have met with misfortune long ago.

The goat-headed demon kept his head bowed, awaiting the Demon King’s command. No matter the place, as long as the Demon King ordered it, they would go without hesitation.

High upon the dais in the resplendent golden palace, the current Demon King sat on his throne.

He was a black-haired demon with thick black horns curving inwards. His dark golden vertical pupils stared expressionlessly down below. His features were more human-like, extremely handsome, yet exuding a defiant aura.

Ever since learning the egg was missing, this Demon King had dispatched nearly all his subordinates to search every corner of the Demon Realm.

As for those ambitious demon nobles who had instigated rebellions or harbored such thoughts, without exception, they had all received a “personal visit” from the Demon King in recent months. Although the entire process was hardly pleasant for the nobles, it at least cleared them of suspicion regarding the cub’s kidnapping.

The demon whose rebellion had led to the cub’s disappearance was said to have been utterly obliterated due to the Demon King’s redirected anger—not even dust remained. Compared to that, they had gotten off lightly.

Demon King Eris looked down at the black goat demon, Baph, awaiting orders. His tone was chilling. “Go to the Forest of Calamity first. I will have Roan take the crow flock to search the Desolate Lands. If nothing is found in these two places, I will go to the Dark Abyss myself.”

Baph, the black goat demon, looked up in astonishment. No demon had ever returned from the Dark Abyss! As subordinates, it didn’t matter if they couldn’t return after entering, but the Demon King could not take such a risk.

But seeing the King’s aura grow increasingly icy, and remembering that His Majesty hadn’t slept a wink since the egg disappeared—that egg held extraordinary significance for him—Baph finally lowered his head again, responding respectfully, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Just as the black goat demon was about to leave the palace to issue the command to head to the Forest of Calamity, Demon King Eris stood up. His pure black cloak trailed down from the throne, his dark golden vertical pupils holding a trace of anxiety. “I will go with you. That place is too vast; I do not have much time to wait.”

Constans, a Greater Demon under the Demon King’s command, received the order. He led the skeleton soldiers scattered across various locations towards the Forest of Calamity.

The Demon King and the black goat demon, Baph, set out at the same time.

–

Just as countless demons began converging on the Forest of Calamity, the little demon in the underground palace found a new source of amusement.

He could fly!

It started when the little guy, crawling around, happened to see the exit of the underground palace. It was an opening like a skylight in a corner high above.

Although the demons hadn’t gone out recently, they occasionally opened the exit mechanism to let in fresh air. Since acquiring the Hellhound, the smell in the underground palace had become quite complex.

The cub sat directly below the exit, looking up at the bright space outside. At the very top, he could just see a few greyish-white branches of the Withered Bone Tree dancing in the wind against the backdrop of a deep blue sky.

Even with the many magic lamps in the underground palace, the brightness was completely different from the real outside world.

That patch of clear blue sky was reflected in the cub’s eyes. The little one stared blankly at it, mouth agape.

For once, the four demons weren’t hovering over the little fellow. They had been thoroughly stumped by the task of making baby clothes recently.

Having wasted a lot of cotton cloth without producing a single acceptable garment, the four self-proclaimed powerful demons were feeling quite defeated and were currently sulking in various corners.

Intense curiosity made the little demon want to go outside and see, but he was too small and too far away.

He tried to stand up by bracing against the wall, but having hatched not long ago, he simply couldn’t support himself. After trying for a long time, he was still sitting in the same spot.

The little one blinked, looked up at the outside again, then suddenly turned towards a certain direction and shouted loudly, “Abu abu abu!”

Shortly after, three chubby, white-ball-like pups ran over. They could walk quite steadily now, and ran quickly, though occasionally they would tumble into a roll while running.

After numerous great battles, the little demon and the three pups had finally reconciled. And the little demon, having repeatedly “overpowered” the pups with his weight, had successfully become the leader of these three little Hellhounds.

“Pup pup pup!” The little demon stared wide-eyed, solemnly explaining his plan to the three pups.

Somehow, the three little white balls understood. Obediently and quickly, they stacked themselves one atop the other. The little demon crawled over and climbed up the pup stack, finally reaching the top layer.

The four-cub-high tower swayed precariously. The little demon quickly reached out, trying to grasp the edge above, but he had misjudged the distance—it was still too far.

The three pups couldn’t hold the weight any longer and tumbled crookedly to the ground, rolling around. Only three fluffy white balls were rolling on the floor.

The instant he started falling, the little demon instinctively flapped the small wings on his back.

The black wings propelled the little demon upwards.

He let out a surprised “Wah!”, watching the three pups below grow smaller and smaller as he flew higher and higher, happily squinting his eyes.

Because his wings were still too weak, the exhausted little demon finally managed to land… on a palace beam.

Little demon: ?

He looked up; the exit was still quite a distance away.

He looked down; the three pups had become tiny white dots, and the ground looked like a bottomless abyss.

The little demon, lying on his stomach and trembling on the beam, couldn’t go up or down.

Finally, he burst into tears with a loud “Waaah!”