In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 162: The Ruthless Marshal Father (5)

Early the next morning, after finishing breakfast, Qi Sheng headed straight for the Federal Central Academy. There were many materials he needed to investigate as soon as possible. If he could find a solution to the little tiger’s situation sooner, he’d feel more at ease.

The library at the Federal Central Academy wasn’t open to the public, but Qi Sheng had a special status and wasn’t bound by that restriction.

Dressed in casual clothes, he greeted the principal and then went directly to the top two floors of the library. These floors held all the historical records of ancient Blue Star beastmen up to the present. Thanks to the original body’s memories, Qi Sheng knew a bit about ancient history, but certain secrets—or rather, unofficial histories—weren’t within the scope of standard education.

Qi Sheng quickly flipped through the related records and found that some of the unofficial histories weren’t taken seriously for good reason.

Since entering the interstellar era, few beastmen had continued to believe in deities. The Beast God, once widely worshipped during ancient Blue Star times, had long become a mythological figure in the beastmen’s collective memory. With the tangible benefits brought by technological advancements, the elusive Beast God rarely even made appearances in bedtime stories for cubs anymore.

The Federation valued visible, tangible power. That’s why they loved mecha competitions and battles, and idolized the invincible strength of piloting a mecha. Mechas had become their new faith.

Qi Sheng read those unofficial histories as if reading mythological tales. Based on his experience traversing multiple worlds, some of them indeed seemed quite unreliable.

For example, tales of romantic escapades between Beast Gods, or that Blue Star’s intelligent beings transformed into humanoid forms due to the Beast God’s blessings…

However, some parts piqued his curiosity. Legends said that ancient Blue Star beastmen had peerless experts capable of moving mountains and controlling the elements. While those descriptions read like mythological novels, they reminded Qi Sheng of the star-grade exotic beasts with special abilities—spitting mist, manipulating wind, cutting thunder—those didn’t seem entirely fictional either.

Qi Sheng spent the entire morning poring over those long-forgotten unofficial histories, until the timeline reached the first century of the interstellar great voyages. That’s when he noticed inconsistencies in the records. In all the historical accounts of battles against alien species, each victory seemed suspiciously flimsy.

Take, for instance, the silicon-based beings, whose technological development far exceeded Blue Star’s at the time, yet they lost repeatedly. Or the iron-based beings, whose physical durability was a hundred times that of Blue Star’s, yet their conflict with Blue Star ended inconclusively.

The historical records claimed that the beastmen of Blue Star won the dawn of victory through bravery and courage in the face of powerful enemies. But the more Qi Sheng read, the more dubious it seemed. In the face of overwhelming power, spiritual courage sometimes felt more like empty rhetoric.

Still, Qi Sheng didn’t completely deny the truth of the records. Despite flipping through every book, he couldn’t find a cultivation method suitable for the little tiger. Feeling a bit disappointed, he even began to suspect he was overthinking things. Yet he didn’t lose hope—if the methods of this world didn’t work, he could always turn to the system for help!

The library trip hadn’t yielded much. After returning home, Qi Sheng originally planned to head to the training room, but then recalled what he told the little tiger the day before. On a whim, he went back to the bedroom instead.

After all, he had promised to train with the little tiger in his beast form. Since the words were already spoken, Qi Sheng wouldn’t go back on them. However, he had never been a demon beast nor entered an animal’s body before, so transforming into a big tiger all of a sudden felt a bit awkward. Thus, Qi Sheng decided to secretly practice on his own first.

Fortunately, his wife had gone back to her family’s home today and wouldn’t return for a while. Qi Sheng shut the door, stood in front of the mirror, and with a flash of consciousness, the next second, a majestic white tiger full of royal dominance appeared in the mirror.

Qi Sheng examined himself carefully and realized the little tiger was practically a miniature replica of his own original form—just much smaller and way cuter!

He then lifted his thick forepaw and thought: in human form, his figure was obviously well-proportioned. Was it just his imagination, or did his tiger legs seem a bit… chunky?

Although the bedroom was quite spacious, it still wasn’t large enough for a big tiger to move freely. So, Qi Sheng decided to change locations.

He reverted to human form, got dressed, and piloted his mecha out of the Qi residence once more. Meanwhile, the two little ones who had been waiting to impress their father with their training could only watch their big brother leave, feeling both disappointed and aggrieved.

“Big brother, do you know where Father went? He’s not going to be away for a long time again, is he?” The little white tiger still wanted to watch her father fight, and she especially liked it when he smoothed her fur.

The little white fox also looked at his big brother with eager eyes, hoping to hear some good news—he loved being in their father’s embrace!

The little tiger’s expression dimmed a bit too, but seeing his younger siblings looking so upset, he comforted them, saying, “Father probably won’t be going on any long trips for a while. The frontlines of the Federation are stable now, so he’ll be spending most of his time working here on the central star.”

The three little ones were still worried that Qi Sheng would be gone again soon, completely unaware that at this moment, Qi Sheng had already arrived at the largest Dark Domain Forest on the central star. He piloted his mecha straight into the heart of the forest to avoid being discovered by explorers on the outskirts.

Transforming once again into a large tiger, Qi Sheng felt much more comfortable in this environment. He began to slowly get used to the form of a beast. Fortunately, in this world, the beast form was embedded in their genes, and the feeling of transforming into a big tiger became second nature to him rather quickly.

He ran through the forest, trying to find prey to get some practice, but something puzzled him—everything here was unusually quiet. Relying on his instincts, Qi Sheng didn’t sense any danger, but the silence was far too unnatural.

So, he summoned 277, intending to have it scan the surrounding lifeforms.

277 delivered results in less than a minute.

“There’s a very powerful giant beast nearby?”

“Yes. Its strength far surpasses your current level.”

“Is it hostile or dangerous?”

277 thought for a moment before replying, “Under normal circumstances, it should have already noticed you. Since it hasn’t come out, its hostility is likely minimal.”

Qi Sheng understood and was about to leave. It was best not to provoke a powerful being on its own turf. However, the mention of the giant beast suddenly reminded him of a possibility.

Qi Sheng then asked 277, “If I go pay a visit and accidentally offend it, what’s the likelihood that I could still escape?”

277 was silent for quite a while before replying, “Don’t ask for trouble. The likelihood is zero.”

Qi Sheng marveled at the beast’s strength, but when he thought of the little tiger cub at home, he couldn’t help feeling a bit unwilling to give up. So, he changed back into his human form, returned to the mecha, and began writing a message.

If a face-to-face meeting might get him beaten up, why not try becoming pen pals?

Qi Sheng briefly explained his child’s situation in the message and sent it via a small drone. Worried that the giant beast might not be capable of transformation, he even included an unbound optical computer.

After finishing everything, Qi Sheng piloted his mecha out of the heart of the forest. Unfortunately, even after waiting for nearly two hours, there was still no response.

Although the appearance of this giant beast was strange enough, the fact that its strength far exceeded his own was even stranger. And this was the central star—how had no one noticed its presence?

Qi Sheng truly felt that this world harbored secrets waiting to be uncovered. But with his current status, investigating such hidden truths was difficult. Who knew how long it would take to find real answers? Counting on others was never reliable, so when he returned home, he shut himself in the study. He summoned 277 again and opened the system’s store interface to search for cultivation techniques suitable for his current level.

Anything from the system was guaranteed to be high-quality. Even though it cost Qi Sheng thirty points in the end, since he’d barely used any points until now, he felt it was totally worth it.

Cultivation wasn’t something that could be achieved overnight, and since Qi Sheng planned to go ahead and test the waters first, he spent the next month doing exactly that. Aside from his daily training sessions with the furballs, he locked himself in the study to quietly cultivate.

The White Tiger Legion had won a complete victory, and the Federation government had long been preparing celebratory events. Now that a month had passed, the ceremony was finally ready.

During the day, Qi Sheng gave a speech to the public on behalf of the military to announce the victory. In the evening, a grand celebration banquet was held for the key members of all the major families.

At the banquet, the elite crowd—dressed like business professionals—chatted and laughed as they raised their glasses. Qi Sheng had always treated such occasions like routine check-ins, but he discovered that banquets in this world had their own unique features.

In addition to the heads and madams of each family, the younger generation from both main and branch families often attended as well.

As a result, Qi Sheng noticed that aside from the adults wearing fake masks of politeness, there were also many adorable little ones of various species.

After dealing with a sycophantic official, Qi Sheng casually glanced around at the younglings. Just then, a commotion erupted from one corner of the banquet hall.

Qi Sheng wasn’t the gossipy type, but curiosity still got the better of him, and he glanced over. Then he realized the fuss might actually have something to do with his family.

By the time he walked over, the little ones who had just been tumbling around were already separated. However, the cubs involved were now surrounded by various furballs—two of them being his own children.

Seeing him arrive, the little white tiger was the first to launch a complaint.

“Father, that stinky leopard called Big Brother a useless waste!”

The little white fox knew that in situations like this, having the moral high ground was important, so he quickly chimed in, “He insulted Big Brother, which is the same as insulting our entire Qi family!”

The little leopard, who had just been pinned to the ground and thoroughly roughed up by the two, was now in pain all over. When he saw Qi Sheng approaching with a dark face, he instinctively shrank back. He hadn’t meant to insult the Qi family—he was just repeating what others said: that Qi family’s little tiger cub was a waste because he couldn’t complete his transformation…

Qi Sheng gave the pitiful little leopard—whose fur was missing in patches—a faint glance but didn’t intend to pursue the matter. Young ones being unruly was more often a failure of the adults or their environment. While he couldn’t silence everyone’s gossip for now, taking it out on a few adults was still fair game.

So when the little leopard’s father, Major General Leng Xiupeng of the Blaze Legion, awkwardly rushed over to smooth things over, Qi Sheng generously declared that there was no need to hold the cubs accountable for roughhousing.

Leng Xiupeng hadn’t expected Qi Sheng to be so easygoing. While he was flattering him and feeling secretly relieved, Qi Sheng spoke again.

“If I remember correctly, Major General Leng, you were once my junior disciple? How about we have a sparring session sometime soon?”

Caught off guard by the challenge, Leng Xiupeng thought about the gap in their strength and forced a stiff smile. “Well… Marshal Qi is so busy, I wouldn’t dare trouble you…”

Qi Sheng smiled. “Oh, it’s no trouble. Work is work, but mecha training must never be neglected.”

Then he raised his wine glass and looked around at the crowd, smiling peacefully. “After being away from the battlefield for a few days, I really feel a bit out of sorts. But judging by everyone’s leisure tonight, I assume we can arrange some live combat training in the coming days?”

The onlookers who had been enjoying the show: “…”

If you want to show off your strength, just say it directly. What’s with this “live combat training”? As if we don’t know how strong you are!

People hadn’t expected Qi Sheng to so openly support a cub who couldn’t complete his transformation. But most of them figured it was just to save face for the Qi family. He’d probably go home and scold the cub later.

Among those secretly gloating was a brown bear who had often been pummeled by Qi Sheng in the past. He was quietly fantasizing about Qi Sheng going home in a rage. Unable to hold back his schadenfreude, he even let the corners of his mouth curl up slightly—only to suddenly feel a chill on the back of his neck.

The brown bear thought it was his imagination and looked up in confusion—only to meet Qi Sheng’s cold, piercing gaze.

Brown bear: …Why—why are you looking at me!?

When Qi Sheng finally looked away, the brown bear couldn’t help but want to wipe away the cold sweat. Damn! Why does it feel like this guy’s gotten even stronger?!