Chapter 76 Welcome home, little Pandora!
"Sister Fan, I'm actually already over eleven years old, and I'm only six months away from turning twelve." Pan Duole showed her the information on his watch.
“I’ve heard my mom say before that orphans either die, spend their whole lives mining, or are beaten and insulted by rich people, and when they encounter danger, they are pushed out to be cannon fodder to die in their place.”
None of them had a good ending!
So my mom said that even though she disliked me and raising me was difficult, she still couldn't bear to send me to the charity.
Sister Fan, I'm willing to follow you. From childhood to adulthood, besides my mother, you're the only person who's been good to me.
"From the moment you appeared at my doorstep, I swore that if we ever encounter mutated beasts together, I would willingly die for you if it could give you a chance to live," Pan Duole said earnestly.
"It seems you've made your decision. Now I'll tell you the rules for following me."
I don't want you to die in my place. When danger strikes, who survives is up to fate.
I've already stated my requirements for you: loyalty and hard work. If you can achieve these two things, I promise to do my best to ensure you live to adulthood.
"Once you're an adult, you can choose to leave and live the life you want, but you can never betray me, otherwise I won't show you any mercy. Remember that?" Zuo Shan said earnestly.
“I’ve got it!” Pandora said solemnly.
"Since you've decided to stay, we're family from now on. You're my sister, and I'm your older sister."
Now, let me introduce my family to you. They will be your family too.
This is Xiao Bao, the mutated iron-eating beast cub I adopted. It's very smart and good at protecting me. From now on, all the food in the house will be divided into three portions, one for you and one for it.
This is Chestnut, my most loyal friend. Although he is in cat form, you should treat him with the same respect and care as a friend.
"Come on, say hello to our new family member!" Zuo Shan introduced, then waved to Mao Li and the baby.
Xiao Bao came closer, curiously looking at Pan Duole, and then made a "baa" sound at her, which is the sound a panda cub makes when expressing friendliness.
"Sister, can I touch it?" Pan Duole was clearly charmed by Xiao Bao, and her tearful eyes curved into crescent moons.
"Of course." Zuo Shan said, holding her wrist with one hand and placing it on Xiao Bao's head. Xiao Bao obligingly rubbed against her twice, and Pan Duole's eyes lit up, looking like a fan meeting her idol.
Xiao Bao sensed her affection for it and bleated twice more, appearing very happy.
A human cub had come to their home. Although Mao Li was worried that there wouldn't be enough food, he quickly accepted it. He jumped onto Zuo Shan's shoulder and said to her:
"Welcome home, little Pandora! May I call you by your nickname Lele, just like your owner does?"
Pandora's eyes instantly welled up with tears. From childhood to adulthood, no one had ever called her "little girl" so affectionately. The people in District 50 called her by the most common names: burden, bastard, and money-loser.
"Of course, Mochi, you're so beautiful! I've never seen such a beautiful robot cat! I like you so much!" Pandora boldly touched Mochi's cat ears, and Mochi's expression instantly became shy and bashful, and its cat tail curled up.
**
It was still dark, but no one in District 50 dared to sleep anymore. Pandora quickly went out to scout around and came back to tell Zuo Shan that many people had taken their families to the central square, and most of those who stayed behind were people with injured or sick family members.
"Sister, shall we go to the central square? There are more people there, it might be safer," Pan Duole said.
"We'll hold off for now. If the gold-eating ants attack again, crowded places may not be safe, and could easily lead to stampedes due to panic."
"Let's see what the authorities come up with tomorrow—whether it's reinforcing the hardened layer or completely abandoning District 50 as a defensive line. We'll decide our next move then," Zuo Shan said.
“Okay, I’ll stay here for now. You should get some sleep, sister. You have a baby in your belly, and you’ll get sick if you don’t get enough rest,” Pan Duole said sensibly.
"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce the baby to you. I've already named it Achen."
"Come, come, Aunt Lele, say hello to our baby Achen." Zuo Shan took her hand and touched her bulging belly.
"How amazing! There's a baby in my sister's belly. It'll be very smart and beautiful when it's born!" Pan Duole's eyes shone brightly with anticipation.
"Look, Aunt Lele praised us! Isn't baby Achen happy?" Zuo Shan smiled and gently stroked her belly. Baby Achen rolled around twice in response.
Seeing the bulge moving around on her belly, Pandole's eyes widened: "Sister, baby Achen can really understand what we say!"
"That's right! So you can't say anything bad about it in the future, or it will get angry if it hears it," Zuo Shan teased.
In the end, the two decided to sleep together, but Pandora insisted on sleeping on the floor, directly on the stretcher she had brought back last time.
Zuo Shan didn't insist anymore, after all, it was extremely hot weather, and it was a bit too hot for two people to squeeze onto one bed.
Xiao Bao climbed into the crib to catch up on sleep, while Mao Li took the lead in keeping watch.
**
As dawn broke, in the large villa of the Landun family in the central district, Modi Landun was in a state between sleep and wakefulness. This was a habit he had developed over the years: getting up early every day to exercise.
His senses were sharp, and as soon as he woke up, he removed the soundproof barrier. Then he heard Aunt Laurie and the maid Betty talking in the kitchen: "Aunt Laurie, have you heard? District 50 is about to fall!"
"What nonsense are you spouting? There's an officially set-up energy shield. How could a perfectly good district have fallen?" Old Rui rebuked.
"I'm not making this up. I have a close friend named Huixiang, who is a servant of the Hua family, a reclusive and powerful family. Her family has been servants of the Hua family for generations; they are what they call 'house-born children'."
Huixiang said that her husband had been very worried about the situation in the border areas. Just two days ago, he received news that the North 50th District had been invaded by a third-order mutated python. This morning, he received confirmation that the North 50th District had been invaded on a large scale by gold-devouring ants.
Master Hua said that this was a sign that the beasts outside the outer area were about to launch a large-scale beast tide. If the central area continued to do nothing and turn a blind eye to this matter, sooner or later the beast tide would engulf the ten outer areas.
Without the labor of residents from the ten districts outside of District 40, the normal operation of District 40 will be severely affected, and all resources will become more expensive.
Huixiang said that Master Hua instructed the steward to go shopping early this morning. The Hua family needed to be prepared, stockpiling grain and weapons—it's better to be safe than sorry.
Betty rambled on and on, but Mortilan only managed to grasp the most crucial point—Sector 50 had been massively invaded by Gold-Eating Ants.
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