At the end of the first month of spring, on Christmas Day, the weather warmed up, and the temperature was already around 10 degrees Celsius.

The Qin family of four stood outside the palace gate.

"Quickly check if I'm dressed properly."

"Check again to make sure my collar is fixed."

"I haven't seen my daughter for three years!" The two parents of the Qin family were so excited that their hands trembled and they almost burst into tears.

Qin Yiyi had been standing at the palace gate for a long time, waiting to greet her parents.

"Mom and Dad!" A smile involuntarily appeared on her face. She had thought she would feel awkward seeing the original owner's parents, but this was a natural instinct that came out immediately. She called out to her parents, and tears streamed down her face.

"Mom and Dad, I thought you were gone." At this moment, she was no longer the strategist of the land, nor the one with real power behind the queen in the palace; she was just an ordinary little girl.

Mr. Qin opened his arms, ready to give Qin Yiyi a hug, but Ms. Qin was quicker and squeezed out of his place.

"My dear daughter, let Mom take a good look at you. Have you been eating well these days? Have you been resting well?" Qin's mother glanced at her twice and then looked again.

"My dear daughter, you've grown taller!"

"You're right, I've gained weight too, my waist has gotten bigger!"

As Qin's father said this, he chuckled and prepared to pat his daughter's head. Qin Yiyi turned her head away in disgust. She finally understood who Sid had learned to speak from.

"Mom, you said before that Sid was raised by Dad since he was little, and I can see that now!" Qin Yiyi pouted unhappily.

Qin's mother glared fiercely at Duke Ye Qin.

"Alright, sweetie, don't argue with that jerk. None of those jerks are easy to deal with!"

As soon as Qin's mother finished speaking, a damp seawater scent swept over them. The four members of the Qin family were shocked. Qin Feifei and Qin Feng stood in front of their younger sister, while the two parents stood in front of the three children.

Who is it?

One of its tentacles drooped down and gently patted the Duke of Night Watch on the shoulder.

"Hey kid, that gun you've got is pretty good," came the message from the tentacle.

Other tentacles appeared one after another.

[My hands are so hungry! That stupid Kraken can't find the palace kitchen!]

"That's right, after the army left, I didn't know where to eat!"

【Ah! Respected Miss Yiyi, do you know where the palace kitchen is?】

Immediately afterwards, Qin's parents saw an extremely handsome man standing in front of them. They scratched their heads and looked at Qin Yiyi with a confused expression.

"Kraken!" the Qin family exclaimed in surprise.

However, Kraken completely ignored these people.

Qin Yiyi pouted and pointed to the east: "Go straight ahead, the gray building is it. If you still can't find it, go over there and ask other people!"

"Oh~"

"When you're questioning someone, use only a thinner tentacle, and be gentle. With so many tentacles, you might scare them!"

"Oh~"

In a flash, Kraken disappeared again.

"This...this...."

"There's a Kraken inside the royal palace!"

The Qin family was stunned. Qin Yiyi blinked and said, "Sid should have told you that I share the bloodline of the Kraken!"

A small tentacle extended from behind her.

Oh dear, how did I get here? Didn't I just find the kitchen and get ready to eat?

Qin's parents stared wide-eyed at their daughter's dramatic transformation.

Qin Yiyi withdrew her tentacles. The longer she shared the Kraken's bloodline, the more successful the fusion became. If before she could only summon clones, now that the fusion was successful, she could summon several small tentacles of the main body. They were soft and cuddly, and could shatter a person's forehead with a single poke. They were quite cute.

Qin's mother held her daughter's hand and looked her over from left to right.

"Well, thankfully, nothing has gone wrong yet."

"What problems could there be? I've been merging for almost a year!" She remembered that when she merged, it was a hot summer day, and Qin Yiyi didn't experience any aftereffects from the bloodline fusion.

However, Qin's mother looked at her little daughter with teary eyes.

"She's grown up and suffered a lot. She can take good care of herself even without her mother by her side!" Children make rapid progress when they live independently for a period of time. It's a qualitative leap from 0 to 1. But if she could do it all over again, Qin's mother wouldn't want her little daughter to suffer like that.

"Mom, don't worry about me. Although there were some hardships, they are all in the past, which is why I am who I am today!" Qin Yiyi hugged her mother. She had never experienced the warmth of her parents before. She was so happy to have such loving parents and siblings in this world.

"Pah, pah, pah! What's with this 'thank you for the hardships that made you who you are today'? If I could, I'd rather you didn't have to suffer. Your family can support you, why make things so difficult for yourself?" Who doesn't want to be an innocent little princess forever? In today's society, only the sensible ones have to endure more.

Her daughter doesn't need to be so sensible.

Qin Yiyi was taken aback. Few people would talk to her like this. In the past, people only talked about how amazing she was. People often only saw her success and did not see the hard work behind it. How hard one had to work to look so effortless.

The reason she was able to achieve such success in the game was because of her self-discipline and self-control. She did the same tasks every day and controlled herself to reach a certain progress before she could rest. She wouldn't rest until she reached the goal. Self-discipline is a difficult thing. Back then, she would make a plan every day and tell herself that she must complete the progress every day.

Humans have a tendency to procrastinate and a lazy gene. Sometimes she lies down and tells herself to rest for only ten minutes, but once she lies down, she can't get up for an hour. She has overcome all kinds of difficulties to get to where she is today. Success requires a long period of perseverance and constant refinement. Sometimes she doesn't finish her work and stays up all night, and sometimes she can only sleep for three or four hours for a period of time. Some people praise her success, but they have never seen her hard work.

"Mom, I really want to be a mama's girl." Qin Yiyi, having her weakness exposed, pouted and acted coquettishly.

"Hey, she's not just a mama's girl, she's a daddy's girl, a sister's girl, the whole family's little darling!" Father Qin chuckled, finally saying something that made everyone happy.

"Our family only reunites every three years. After we finish our work today, why don't you come home with us? The palace is nice, but it's not as cozy as home! Besides, you'll have more freedom at home. You can sleep however you want, lie however you want, and nobody will bother you if you want to sprawl out!"

Qin Yiyi felt a sense of longing; wasn't this what retirement life was all about? Family was truly the best.

"Then I'll go back for three days, and then I'll be heading back to my territory, Mom!"