Chapter 499 - 498: Spend More Time With Him

Dracula’s identity was a sensitive matter.

Yu Zhizhi was well aware that the fall of the Cangshan Empire was inextricably linked to the other Three Great Empires.

Therefore, she wouldn’t tell anyone what happened today.

She hoped Dracula wouldn’t have to worry about repercussions.

"I’ll come tomorrow. You have to wait for me, okay?"

Yu Zhizhi was afraid Dracula would refuse her, but she was even more afraid he would disappear or move to another location. She gently placed her rabbit paw on the man’s ankle—

The little rabbit was so small that his ankle was the only part she could reach.

The fluffy little rabbit looked up at him, her face full of expectation.

Dracula was extremely uncomfortable. He could discern the meaning behind the little female’s words. She was trying to placate him, hoping to earn his trust and secure future "visitation rights."

She was likely trying to see things from his perspective and wanted to help him conceal his location.

And yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she wanted to hide something else even more—

"Afraid your new Beast Husband will find out?" Dracula’s tone was cold and stiff. "Do you plan on sneaking behind his back to see me every time? Is that it, Lady Lord?"

Yu Zhizhi froze. She hadn’t expected Dracula to say something like that.

’New Beast Husband...’

’Is he talking about Yusen?’

The fluffy little rabbit seemed to be pondering this. Her ears twitched slightly before she lifted her glistening eyes and said with the utmost seriousness, "I will... protect you."

With that, the little rabbit turned and hopped away.

Dracula watched her silhouette vanish through the doorway.

He suddenly realized that the emotions hidden in his words just now were entirely unfamiliar to him... And this little female, she seemed not to have understood any of it, simply insisting on her own that she would protect him.

’...Hah.’

Dracula leaned against the wall. He was the only one left on the dilapidated ship.

He could sense the octopus carrying the little rabbit swimming farther and farther away.

Back in her territory, Yu Zhizhi was still in her rabbit form. She had Ai Xi prepare a large pile of supplies—food, drinks, and other necessities—and loaded them all into a storage spirit card.

Ai Xi asked curiously, "Ms. Zhi Zhi, why are you preparing so many things? Are you going on a long journey?"

’A honeymoon with Prince You Sen would have to wait until after they bonded, though.’

"Oh, no, I... I’m going to see Little Octopus."

Yu Zhizhi’s expression was a little evasive. Ai Xi didn’t press the matter, simply saying gently, "Ms. Zhi Zhi, please be careful."

Ms. Zhi Zhi had always been very close with Little Octopus. After he mutated, his personality had grown a bit strange, and he didn’t let anyone near him anymore.

He used to be seen all over the territory.

He even planted the Divine Tree with his own tentacles.

But now, he always stayed by the sea alone, only allowing Ms. Zhi Zhi to be near him.

The little white rabbit hopped through the territory.

The territory’s guards bowed from a distance.

Since it was rare to see their lord in her Beast Form, the guards couldn’t help but stare a little longer.

To meet with Little Octopus, Yu Zhizhi planned to wait for Yusen’s meeting to finish. She would tell him she was leaving the territory for a few days, and as for the reason... she’d tell him when she got back.

’By then, Dracula will have left these waters and returned to his own lands.’

Little Octopus was still fiddling with his mechanical wings.

They were far too small for him now.

Yu Zhizhi sat on a rock by the sea. She had noticed long ago that Little Octopus truly loved to fly.

"When we get the chance, let’s go to the Underground City again,"

Yu Zhizhi said softly, "We can have them custom-make a new pair of mechanical wings for you then."

Little Octopus was thrilled. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"When are we going to the Vortex Zone?" he asked.

Yu Zhizhi gazed at the calm surface of the sea. "Let’s wait a bit. Yusen’s meeting should be over soon."

"I wouldn’t be so sure," Little Octopus said, folding up his small wings. He squatted next to the rock, towering over it. "The Deep Sea Empire, and especially the Undersea Kingdom’s court, has been very busy lately. They might even try to interfere and stop the Prince Merfolk from bonding with you smoothly!"

A change in royal power involves a complex web of relationships.

Even from as far away as the Beast God’s Homeland, Little Octopus had heard things from the elders.

Yu Zhizhi was a little confused. She thought for a moment, then raised a rabbit paw to tap one of Little Octopus’s tentacles. "We’ve already bonded, you know."

"Huh?" Little Octopus froze.

Yu Zhizhi nodded gently. "Sensen and I."

Little Octopus looked at the tiny rabbit. He didn’t move, letting her little paw rest on his tentacle.

"Oh, okay."

’And here I thought there’d be some excitement to watch.’

"So, are you two going out to have fun? Can I come?" Little Octopus asked eagerly.

"I don’t know," said Yu Zhizhi. "Sensen hasn’t mentioned going anywhere with me."

She felt a little conflicted.

’Little Octopus is so big now; he wouldn’t even fit on the city’s main streets.’

"Oh, right," Yu Zhizhi said, remembering something. "Your spiritual power is so high now. Can’t you turn into a human?"

Little Octopus shook his head. "I don’t know how."

’I’ve only ever had 800 spiritual power.’

’I have no idea how to turn into a human.’

"The elders from the Beast God’s Homeland never taught me, and neither did the High Priest," Little Octopus sighed. "Tutu, you’re starting to despise me. You think I’m too big now, don’t you?"

’You don’t even want to take me out to play anymore.’

"No, no, that’s not it. But... if Sensen wants to go on a honeymoon, I’d like to go alone with him."

Yu Zhizhi felt she needed to spend more one-on-one time with Sensen.

It wasn’t to raise his affection score—

Sensen’s affection score was already maxed out!

She just wanted to spend as much time with him as she could before she had to leave this world.

Little Octopus deflated. "Fine, fine. I’ll just play by myself."

Yu Zhizhi looked at the red octopus beside her. To her in her rabbit form, he was like a small mountain.

"If... one day I’m gone, and you don’t want to go back to the Beast God’s Homeland, you should stay here in Sky Star Territory. This place belongs to me, but it belongs to you, too."

In the beginning, this was just a barren little island.

Then, slowly, bit by bit, it became what it is today.

Little Octopus’s presence could be found in every flowerbed.

Little Octopus looked down at the fluffy white rabbit on the rock. "What do you mean? Where are you going that you can’t take me with you?"

’Haven’t we always been together?’

"A very distant place." Yu Zhizhi lay down, resting her chin on her paws as she gazed at the dark, deep sea. "I’d love to take you with me, but..."

’It’s probably not possible.’

Yu Zhizhi added, "If I suddenly disappear one day, don’t worry. It probably just means I’ve returned to my own homeland."

"Greenfield City?" Little Octopus remembered that Tutu’s home was in Greenfield City in Varolan. The house little Tutu lived in even looked a lot like him.

Yu Zhizhi didn’t say any more.

She suddenly felt a pang of reluctance.

Even though all she wanted was to escape this place, to go home and find her mother—

—every day she spent here felt urgent, yet she had also made some beautiful memories.