IBO – Chapter 23 Awooo, the Cub is Angry

This novel contains sensitive and taboo content like R*pe, Mu**er etc. Read only if you are comfortable.

Song Yiran lifted the little tiger by the arms, holding him up. “From today on, your name is ‘Song Fu.’ Your nickname will be ‘Fufu.’”

Even though the surrounding environment was noisy—filled with the rustling of trees, the chirping of insects in the grass, and Song Buli and Song Xiuhu’s teasing voices—Song Fu could hear his own heartbeat clearly.

“Thump, thump, thump.” His heart seemed to grow louder with every beat. He wanted to respond, but when he opened his mouth, nervousness left him speechless.

Why did it have to happen right now, making him so anxious that sweat nearly broke out? Then he looked up and met Song Yiran’s eyes. Song Yiran was smiling gently, with not a trace of impatience.

It was as if courage suddenly returned to Song Fu. He realized he wasn’t so nervous anymore. “Mm! I really like this name!”

[The Collapsed Timeline]

On a certain planet in District D, a small starship descended into a suburban area under the cover of night. “Click—” The ship’s door slowly opened, kicking up a cloud of dust.

As the dust settled, a young man stepped out. His orange-red hair shimmered faintly in the dark, and his orange-red eyes gleamed with sharp determination.

Song Fu checked the locator on his holo-device; he was getting closer to the red dot indicating his target.

Squinting, a cruel smile spread across his lips. “You’ve got guts, stealing my stuff. I want to see which rat dared to make trouble.”

He arrived at the planet’s largest black market. Following the locator, he found a shop and went straight to the owner. “I heard you found something a few days ago.”

The owner immediately saw Song Fu’s wealthy appearance and thought of making a profit. She fawned, “Sir, are you interested in it?”

Song Fu didn’t want to play along. He looked at the owner as if she were nothing but trash in a sewer.

The owner wanted to curse but knew better than to provoke him. She bit back, then cautiously held up a hand, signaling a number.

Song Fu smirked. “I’m not buying it with money.”

The owner quickly said, “You can trade something instead.”

In a flash, Song Fu drew the particle gun at his waist and aimed it at the owner’s forehead. “Then—trade it for your life.”

The owner still hoped her accomplices would save her—but when she turned, they were all just watching, eating their metaphorical popcorn. None of them came to help.

Resigned, the owner knelt, begging pathetically, “N-no, sir! Let’s talk! The item is right there, take it! Please spare my life! I have an elderly parent and young children depending on me. If I die, they’ll starve! Sir, please, spare me!”

Song Fu raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you have a family?”

The owner didn’t know whether to retort—it sounded awful. But with a gun pressed to her forehead, she wisely stayed silent. Fine, as long as she survived.

Song Fu casually holstered the particle gun. “I’ll let you off this time. A piece of advice—don’t pick up things where you shouldn’t.”

Feeling the danger fade, the owner looked up and saw Song Fu already gone. She exhaled in relief. “Phew—thank goodness, today I didn’t die here.”

She also scolded her idle accomplices loudly. “What’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you save your boss this time? We’ve been together for so long, and now this?”

“Boss, it’s not our fault. Even if we all went together, we couldn’t beat him,” one said, shrugging helplessly.

The owner was furious. “He just moves faster, looks bigger, more dangerous—are we too weak to handle him together?”

The accomplices sighed. “Boss, haven’t you noticed something special? His hair and eyes are orange-red.”

“Oh my god, no way! It’s him! That SSS-level combat freak who loves to toy with people! And here I am, alive because of luck. I’ll brag about this forever!” The owner went from fear to an odd excitement.

The accomplices could only facepalm. How did they get such a boss? At this rate, when will their shop become an interstellar chain?

Song Fu cherished the silver bell in his hand—it was a gift from Song Yiran, made silent to avoid affecting his hearing.

After years of searching, he was finally about to find Song Yiran. He had invented a machine: placing anything related to Song Yiran onto it would locate him. Soon, they would meet again.

His hand trembled as he placed the bell on the machine, nervously awaiting the result.

Finally, the machine displayed the scene. Song Fu leaned closer, only to see Song Yiran holding a miniature version of him, with tiny Song Xiuhu and Song Buli beside them.

“Heh, finally found you, big brother.” Song Fu gritted his teeth at the screen. He had been risking his life to find him, and yet he had been raising other cubs. Truly, what a big brother.

[The Collapsed Timeline’s Nursery]

Song Buli was in the kitchen preparing dinner when Song Fu barged in.

Song Buli tasted the soup without a change in expression. “Fourth brother, you’re just in time. Dinner’s almost ready. Go call the others to eat.”

“Do you know where big brother is now?” Song Fu cut straight to the point.

The soup ladle slipped from Song Buli’s hands. With Song Fu’s personality, he wouldn’t ask unless he had found big brother.

His voice trembled. “How do you know to ask…? Did you find big brother?”

Song Fu chuckled as if telling a joke. “Yeah, and I found something interesting. While we were tirelessly searching for him, guess what he was doing? He was raising more cubs. And he even took Song Xiuhu with him! He left all of us here, but took Song Xiuhu along.”

Song Fu showed the machine screen to Song Xiuhu as well.

When Song Buli saw it, his eyes widened. He was on the screen too, but miniature. Yet he had a question. “How did you recognize Third Brother?”

“I wouldn’t make a mistake. Song Xiuhu has a small scar on his left hind leg from when we fought as kids. No young Song Xiuhu would have that scar.” Song Fu explained.

He muttered almost nervously, “I should have noticed earlier. Big brother really favors Song Xiuhu! His name is different, and his fur is fiery red—no wonder he took only him.”

“Snap out of it. Don’t overthink. Each of our fur patterns is unique, and our names are different. There’s no favoritism. He probably just took him by coincidence.” Song Buli shook Song Fu hard, trying to clear his mind.

Song Fu pulled away. “Coincidence? Then why only him, not us? And he’s raising a bunch of cubs. He doesn’t care about us anymore! Stop clinging to illusions about him!”

“It’s only three of them, and that was us in the past anyway. They were still the younger versions of us—so don’t be so angry.”

Song Buli tried to reason with him, appealing to both emotion and logic, but he forgot that his slightly chuunibyou younger brother answered to no one but their eldest brother.

Song Fu slammed his hand forcefully on the dining table, trying to vent the turmoil inside him. “If that really was us in the past, then why am I still so furious about this now? If that really was us back then, our memories should connect, but instead, we can only sit here and watch them live happily, day by day.”

“Did he ever truly care about us? Why didn’t he come back to find us? He left without a word, and we’ve been searching for him all these years. Meanwhile, he’s out there happily raising kids, completely forgetting we even exist! Did he ever really care about us?” Song Fu’s anger boiled over as he slammed his fist on the table.

Seeing Song Fu getting more and more unreasonable, Song Buli grabbed his collar and looked at him with righteous eyes. “Song Fu! How can you think like that about big brother! If it weren’t for big brother picking us up back then, we would have starved to death by the roadside. He worked so hard to raise us to this age—how can you think like that about him?”

“Yes, if he hadn’t picked me up back then, I would have starved by the roadside! But I would have rather starved than go through this!” Song Fu met Song Buli’s gaze without backing down.

Song Fu’s voice trembled with anger as he questioned, “Have you ever thought about what he actually sees us as? Don’t you feel like it’s all just a game? Raise us until we’re grown, then leave without a word, and go raise the next ones—he’s playing a raising game, isn’t he?”

Hearing this, Song Buli felt his blood boil.

He wanted to hit Song Fu, but in the end, he tried to reason calmly. “Song Fu! You know very well how big brother has treated us all these years. When you were sick, it was big brother who stayed up day and night taking care of you. He tirelessly raised us to this age—how could it be just a game? He took care of us day after day for over ten years! Who plays a game like that?”

Song Fu sneered and then challenged him, “Then how do you explain his behavior now? Don’t tell me he accidentally ended up in another world, couldn’t return, and so decided to stay there while conveniently picking up a few kids to raise. I don’t buy it! If it really was an accident and he couldn’t come back, how could he even have the heart to raise kids there? Don’t tell me he’s ‘adjusting his mood,’ or that it was all part of some long-term plan!”

Song Buli also found it strange, but he knew big brother was not that kind of person.

To ease Song Fu’s thoughts, he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. “But those were us as children… maybe seeing that scene just stirred memories, and you know, big brother has always liked taking in kids.”

The moment Song Fu heard this, he exploded. He grabbed Song Buli’s collar in return and shouted angrily, “But that wasn’t us!”

Song Buli tried to explain, “But that is us—even the scars we had as kids are exactly the same…”

Before Song Buli could finish, Song Fu interrupted him. “If those little brats are supposed to be us, then what does that make us? I’m right here! I’m in front of you, haven’t gone anywhere! What does that so-called ‘childhood me’ even mean? I’m right here, haven’t gone anywhere!” Song Fu yelled hysterically.

Song Buli released his collar and gently patted his shoulder, trying to soothe him. “Fourth brother, calm down, you first—”

Song Fu waved him off and roared, “How am I supposed to calm down? We met big brother first, didn’t we? Those little brats are just parallel versions of us, they’re not really us! We’re right here, and our good big brother is over there taking care of those little brats—he left us behind…”

By the last sentence, Song Fu’s voice began to break with tears.

His hands dropped limply, and his voice carried quiet sobs, “He left us behind… We’re right here! We haven’t gone anywhere, those little brats are not us…”