Qiao Suisui woke up, feeling cold all over.
It was pitch-black around her, and she seemed to be lying inside a coffin-sized enclosed space. She tried to break free, but found that her arms and legs were all restrained, with countless thin tubes connected to her body.
"Is anyone there!"
"Ruka... Ash..."
[System, where is this place?]
The system did not respond. No matter how loudly she called, there was no reaction from the outside world.
She grew afraid, struggling even more violently.
Suddenly, the hiss of the air bladder releasing sounded, and the hatch above her opened mechanically. A silver-haired man pushed his glasses up, silently observing her.
"Who are you? Can you let me go?"
The silver-haired man didn't reply or act; instead, he recorded with interest: Language systems normal, terrestrial language.
"Where is this? Are you the one who locked me up?"
Zong Fang glanced at his wristwatch, continuing to record: Heart rate 180, emotional shifts can trigger physical changes, indices under various emotions pending observation.
Qiao Suisui bit her lip, stared at him, then changed her attitude, trying to play on his sympathy.
"My hand is a bit numb. Can you help me?"
Zong Fang's left hand paused with the pen, looking at her misty eyes and the softened tone in her voice, a spark of interest flickering in his gaze.
"Which hand?"
Seeing the man finally speak, Qiao Suisui's brows furrowed slightly, soft and pitiful enough to make anyone ache for her.
"Right hand. Can you undo this thing for me?"
Zong Fang curled his lips, jotting down: Sly personality, adept at exploiting male weaknesses for her own ends.
Finishing, he traced the inside of Suisui's arm down to her wrist with his pen cap. The cold pen felt like a scalpel, sending a shiver wherever it touched.
"This line here is a vein... I wonder what would happen if it got sliced open."
Hearing his muttering, Qiao Suisui's pupils dilated, biting her lower lip hard.
Zong Fang suddenly chuckled, bending forward. His silver hair slid down his back, with a few strands falling on her cheeks, tickling her.
The man tapped her lips with his pen, saying, "No biting."
Suisui felt a chill shoot up her spine.
"What's your name?"
Actually, Zong Fang had already mastered her basic info before arriving. Asking now was just a compliance test.
"...Qiao Suisui."
"Age."
"Eighteen."
"Gender."
Suisui frowned, paused, then realized why he was asking these questions now. Instantly, a rebellious urge rose up, so she met his gaze and said, "What's your name?"
The man was startled, his smile widening, eyes alight with amusement.
"Zong Fang."
"Age."
"Eighty-three."
Beastmen live longer as they continue to evolve; males typically survive over 200 years, females about 150. In terms of age, Zong Fang was in the prime of male adulthood.
"Gender." She bit the word out clearly and slowly, as if silently striking back.
He laughed, captivatingly, then leaned closer to Suisui, his lips brushing her ear, warm breath making her shrink away.
"Don't you know what gender I am? Can't you tell, little thing?"
He stuck out his tongue, licking her earlobe, voice low: "Male."
Qiao Suisui's skin crawled, goosebumps breaking out everywhere, as thick terror flooded her heart.
This guy isn't normal!
She immediately turned her head away, her face full of rejection.
Zong Fang chuckled, jotting down: Strong competitiveness, very good at pretending.
For the rest of the session, no matter what Zong Fang asked, Suisui stayed silent. She lowered her gaze, ignoring him, letting him squeeze and prod at various parts of her body.
When he reached her abdomen, Zong Fang's hand paused, then pressed down lightly again. Her flat stomach suddenly bulged slightly and calmed, and Suisui felt something move inside her.
Zong Fang was stunned, checking her abdomen up, down, left, and right three times, disbelief thick in his voice: "You're pregnant?"
Qiao Suisui froze, too.
"You didn't know?"
He squinted in suspicion, but quickly dropped the issue, calling for his assistants in a hurry.
Soon, seven or eight people clustered around the observation pod, using all sorts of instruments to run full-body checks on Qiao Suisui.
She looked up at the heads and serious faces above her, feeling like a frog tied to an operating table waiting for dissection. But there was no time for emotion—she hollered to the system in her mind: [What's going on? Am I pregnant?]
[Yes. Test detects first pregnancy has successfully implanted. Species: Lion. Gene: Superior. Quantity: Four.]
Qiao Suisui's mind exploded.
[Gestation period three months. Do not attempt any abortion behavior, or you will receive an electric shock penalty.]
The system seemed to read her thoughts and hit her with a preemptive warning.
Qiao Suisui felt utterly hopeless; the idea of having children was instinctively repulsive to her, and though she had to compromise to survive, now that it was actually happening, her mind couldn't accept it.
[Can you help me get out of here?]
After this question the system went silent again. She realized that the system only answered pregnancy-related questions, anything else was ignored.
While she communicated with the system, Zong Fang was already peering through the instrument at the life inside her belly. The display showed four sprout-like forms. The assistants crowded around, covering their mouths in surprise; some males were so moved they wept.
"It's a natural pregnancy... with lion genes—my god, and four at once."
"With beastmen cubs like lions, usually having one safely born is already a stroke of luck, but this little female is carrying four!"
"She's an Ancient Human, an Ancient Human! Don't compare her with those artificial females you've collected."
"This experience is simply precious. I need to record every detail."
The assistants' excited chatter was nonstop. Meanwhile, Zong Fang's hand came to rest gently on her belly—not wantonly pressing anymore, but stroking lightly, his expression complicated.
"You're pregnant, and you still dared to do such dangerous things?"
He'd witnessed Suisui leaping out from the flying ship. If the lion hadn't saved her, all he'd have to study now would be a corpse.
Qiao Suisui flicked her eyelids, staying silent.
To beastmen, cubs are the most precious thing—they carry the burden and hope of survival. Especially in the current Interstellar era, Qiao Suisui is the only one able to naturally conceive and deliver.
Now, not only her, but her unborn cubs have become a matter for the entire Federation's eyes.
"If you ever pull something like that again, I'll make you into a specimen and put you on display at the Interstellar museum." He snarled in her ear.
For the next several days, Zong Fang kept Qiao Suisui locked in the observation pod. Every function was attended to by others, and he ordered cameras installed for round-the-clock monitoring. Qiao Suisui felt stripped of all dignity.