This scared them all badly; even Bode turned pale from fright.

It was Lance who realized the little one had simply fallen asleep—and was sleeping very soundly, at that—allowing everyone to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Lance was a Nightmare Demon; if he said so, it must be true.

“So what’s going on with Baobao? I’ve never heard of any demon race that can absorb magic elements from the air,” Bode asked quietly, watching Lance carefully place Baobao back on the bed.

Nick: “Could it be because of Eris? After all, Baobao’s father is the Demon King; naturally, he’d be different from ordinary demons.”

Besides, no one knew what race Eris belonged to. Maybe this was a racial trait? Every demon race had special abilities unknown to outsiders. To figure out what was going on with the little guy, they might actually have to ask Eris.

However, no one voiced this suggestion. They were wanted criminals being hunted by him, and they had stolen his child. They could barely hide fast enough; how could they possibly seek out Eris?

As the little demon slept deeply, the magic elements in the air gradually faded back to normal levels. The little demon lay peacefully on the crude bed, eyes closed, sleeping soundly. Absorbing various magic elements didn’t seem to burden him at all; in fact, the little guy looked rosy-cheeked and quite healthy.

Two more new sets of clothes were “confiscated” from Bazel—one placed underneath Baobao, the other covering him. This time, Bazel truly looked like he was about to cry. He grabbed Nick’s hand, begging him to go to an outside town and buy clothes specifically for the little one, pleading not to be tormented further.

However, Nick had already planned to go out and buy various supplies for the cub anyway. They had nothing here, which was indeed very inconvenient.

After wheedling a gemstone out of the stingy Bazel and making a shopping list, Nick set off.

The location of this underground palace was well-hidden, with only one exit. This exit happened to be directly beneath a Withered Bone Tree. The large, greyish-white tree looked sickly, all its white branches and leaves drooping downwards.

When Nick appeared, these white branches instantly perked up. The sharp branch tips and leaves covered in sharp bristles shot towards Nick with a swoosh.

Nick stepped onto the Withered Bone Tree’s shadow, habitually immobilizing it, checked his direction, and then disappeared into the tree’s shadow on the ground.

The Forest of Calamity was densely vegetated, with overlapping tree shadows. Nick transformed into a shadow and zipped rapidly through the shadows on the ground. He was truly in his element here. As long as he didn’t encounter those few demonic beasts whose power rivaled Greater Demons, he wouldn’t be discovered.

Even though Nick’s speed was incredibly fast, the Forest of Calamity was vast. It still took him several hours to leave the forest.

The closest settlement to this forest was a very small town. This was Nick’s destination.

The town wasn’t particularly bustling. After all, the Forest of Calamity was right next door, and some ravenous demonic beasts would occasionally come looking for a lucky winner to feast on.

Although Nick was a wanted criminal, he didn’t need a disguise. The Shadow Demon race were all pitch black; only members of the same race could distinguish one another. To other demons, all Shadow Demons looked identical—just black blobs.

Upon entering the town, Nick noticed something unusual. Normally, the streets would have demons walking arm in arm, gossiping, or brawling and shouting curses. Today, he barely saw anyone. The entire street felt strangely deserted.

Nick hurried to the town’s only shop selling clothing and fabrics. As he entered, he saw the owner lounging lazily on a recliner, yawning. It was a one-eyed demon, a huge vertical pupil in the center of his face staring at Nick as he walked in. “Buying something?”

“I’ve been hunting on the outskirts of the Forest of Calamity recently, just got back today. Did something happen in town?”

Although most demons wouldn’t venture into the Forest of Calamity, some, known as hunters, would capture beasts and plants on the very edges. Nick usually used this identity to buy food.

Demons love to gossip. The previously listless shop owner immediately perked up upon hearing this, flipping up from his recliner. “You must have been gone for months, haven’t you? No wonder you don’t know! Come, come, let me tell you—a few months ago, the Demon King’s Palace was robbed!”

The culprit, Nick, feigned shock. “The Demon King’s Palace was robbed?! Was anything stolen?”

“Well, they’re searching everywhere across the entire Demon Realm. We’ve got lots of soldiers searching here, too. No idea what precious thing was lost.”

The one-eyed demon glanced towards the door, then leaned closer to Nick furtively, whispering, “I heard on the grapevine that Demon King Eris’s cub was kidnapped! Tsk tsk, don’t know which demon was bold enough to dare kidnap the Demon King’s child.”

“Are you sure that’s not fake news? Since when did the Demon King have a cub?”

“I’m not sure either, but that’s the rumor spreading among many demons. Probably had one long ago, just never announced it.”

Nick remained calm on the surface but was panicking slightly inside. Even a remote place like this had soldiers searching for the cub; it seemed the entire Demon Realm knew.

Still, he didn’t regret his actions; life was much more interesting now. Anyway, Baobao was in their hands now. Worst case scenario, they’d just hide with Baobao in the Forest of Calamity for another few hundred years.

After chatting with the talkative shop owner for a while, the owner finally remembered to ask what he wanted to buy. Nick had originally intended to buy baby clothes and diapers, but at a time like this, buying such items would be far too conspicuous. So, in the end, he bought large quantities of cotton fabric and clothes he could wear himself.

The gemstone he’d finagled from Bazel was of excellent quality—after all, it came from the notoriously greedy Bazel. One stone was enough to buy all the fabric.

Seeing the one-eyed demon grinning from ear to ear as he held the gemstone, Nick also smiled. “Change, please.”

Shop owner: “…”

The shop owner couldn’t make change. So, Nick swept his arm wide, grabbing a huge pile of things from the shop to offset the gemstone’s value: clothes for humanoid demons, clothes for slimes, clothes for pets, baby clothes, various accessories, and more—basically taking some of everything the shop had.

Even though the gemstone was valuable, the shop owner grimaced in pain watching the Shadow Demon stuffing goods into his shadow like he was stocking inventory.

Besides fabrics and clothes, Nick also bought plenty of food, furniture, daily necessities, etc. It would likely be a long time before he could come out again. He had planned to buy a crib for Baobao, but that was impossible now. Given the Demon King’s apparent concern for the cub, they might track them down soon, so leaving too many traces was unwise.

While shopping in town, he indeed saw several skeleton soldiers patrolling the streets. The strongest Greater Demon under the Demon King was a skeleton named Constans. That Greater Demon-level skeleton commanded hundreds of thousands of skeleton soldiers. They were likely spread across the Demon Realm searching for the cub.

Having bought enough necessary items and substitutes or raw materials for things he couldn’t buy directly, Nick immediately hurried back to the Forest of Calamity, taking a long, roundabout route on his return to avoid being followed.

When he got back to the underground palace, the little demon still hadn’t woken up.

He had been gone for an entire day! It was definitely not normal for a cub to sleep that long. Moreover, the little guy couldn’t be woken up at all.

Bode and Bazel had nearly resorted to beating up Lance several times. After all, he had insisted adamantly that the cub was just asleep, but this situation looked much more like a coma.

Lance was exasperated. He was a Nightmare Demon! If he couldn’t even tell the difference between sleep and a coma, his ancestors would probably crawl out of their graves to beat him up.

Seeing that even Nick, who had just returned, looked ready to join the beatdown, Lance had no choice but to play his trump card. “Alright, alright, let me show you the cub’s dream. Then you’ll believe me, right?”

Bode was curious. “How do you know Baobao is dreaming right now?”

Lance: “…Why do you think our race is called Nightmare Demons?”

Bazel: “Isn’t it because you love sleeping?”

Lance didn’t want to talk to these ignorant demons. He stood by the bed, gently tapped Baobao’s head with his finger, and a white, cloud-like substance emerged from the spot he touched.

Bazel gasped in horror. “Lance poked Baobao’s brains out?!”

A vein throbbed on Lance’s forehead. He was sure Bazel was getting revenge for his ruined clothes earlier.

“Fine, don’t look then. I don’t want to waste my magic either.”

Nick and Bode gave the tactless Bazel a few smacks.

“We want to see! We want to see!” they hurriedly said.

Under Lance’s direction, the white cloud floated into mid-air. Then, a screen-like surface appeared in the middle of the cloud, flickering with greyish-white static.

The four demons tilted their heads up, staring at the flickering static. Soon, the screen turned completely black.

Nick looked at Lance. “Is something wrong?”

Lance: “Impossible. Baobao is just dreaming of pure blackness.”

Even blackness has shades, and there was sound too.

The three inexperienced demons immediately gasped in amazement. They had known Lance for so many years, yet he had never mentioned he could do this, even projecting the sounds from a dream.

However, the sound seemed very distant, making it impossible to understand what was being said. Soon, the image shifted from varying shades of black to a scene of the underground palace. The demons immediately got excited—Baobao was dreaming of this place!

Although the art style was crude, simple, and childish, key objects and their placements were recognizable. It seemed the little guy already remembered what this place looked like. Then, within the rudimentary scene, a strange object appeared.

A pitch-black, upside-down triangle, with two tiny white circles in the middle. Then, this triangle started hopping around the palace on one of its sharp corners.

“Pfft!” Bazel couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

It was such a perfect likeness! Nick’s face, seen from afar, did resemble a triangle. And Baobao even clearly remembered his only distinct feature—the white circle eyes.

Bode and Lance were also stifling laughs.

Nick just snorted lightly, not particularly angry. After all, he was the first one Baobao had dreamed about.

After the black triangle floated past, a blue ball rolled by.

Bode proudly raised a tentacle. “That’s me! Baobao dreamed about me, too!” He felt the dream version was identical to his real self—the round lines, the color, simply perfect.

Next to appear was a stick figure.

This one was harder to identify, as both Lance and Bazel appeared humanoid to Baobao. But soon, a touch of blue appeared atop the stick figure’s head.

Confirmed—it was Lance.

The stick figure was very abstract, walking on line-drawn feet over to the triangle and the circle.

Bazel watched the screen expectantly, waiting for his own appearance.

Soon, the much-anticipated ‘himself’ finally appeared in Baobao’s dream.

It was a golden-yellow, chubby triangle.

It looked… somewhat… like… uh… that thing?

Bazel was utterly devastated. Looking shell-shocked, his lips trembled as he looked at the dreaming cub.

Why?! This was his image in Baobao’s mind?! Why?!

Bode laughed so hard his entire slime body contorted.

Nick was also roaring with laughter.

Lance managed to suppress his laughter and analyze, “It’s probably your hairstyle that left an impression on Baobao.”

Golden hair was already conspicuous, and Bazel’s short hair was always combed upwards. He spent a lot of time fixing his hair every day, even though it quickly got messed up from fighting. But the combed-up hair did, admittedly, look a bit like a lump.

The four bizarrely shaped demons formed a circle, swaying back and forth, looking quite cheerful. The perspective on the screen was Baobao’s, so in his dream, the four demons were surrounding him and happily… dancing? It seemed that way.

Seeing the little one seemed happy in his dream and had even remembered each demon’s characteristics, they stopped caring about their own depictions.

As long as he was happy, that was all that mattered.

The demons patiently watched the cub’s dream unfold, chuckling occasionally. After a while, the cloud with the screen vanished mid-air with a pop.

Lance looked towards Baobao and said softly, “He’s about to wake up.”

The demons gathered around the bed, watching the little one’s sleepy eyes flutter half-open.

Upon seeing the four of them, he instinctively gave a drowsy little smile.