Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Men Were Just Tools

“Thank you,” Zulu said. “I’ll be careful in the future.”

He let Ashley into the room and stayed outside, a silent shadow in the doorway.

Ashley saw Su Yan lying on the bed, drenched in sweat, and her expression softened with sympathy. Not long ago, she’d been on the same edge, biting down on pain until her teeth ached.

“Why aren’t you in beast form?” Ashley asked. “Human form is easier to give birth in, but recovery is slow.”

She handed Su Yan a cup of warm water. The steam smelled faintly of iron from the pot.

Su Yan drank it down in one go and managed a weak smile. “My beast form is only palm-sized. How tiny would the baby be?”

“That’s true.” Ashley exhaled. “But I’ve never delivered a baby from a human body. We’ll have to feel our way through it.”

“Then do what you need,” Su Yan said, voice thin but steady. “Don’t hold back.”

Outside, rain began as a soft hiss against earth and hide, then thickened into a hard downpour. Water gathered fast in every hollow and rut until the yard turned slick and dark.

Su Yan’s contractions tightened, coming closer together. Each one rolled through her like a wave that left her shaking on the shore.

For a moment, her thoughts drifted to her first child. She wondered how it was now. That black leopard… he should be taking good care of it.

Ashley checked her and shook her head. “Not yet. We still have to wait.” Then she couldn’t help adding, curiosity threading through her nerves. “I really want to see what you’ll give birth to. Little rabbits and mice… or a human-shaped cub?”

“Probably little rabbits and mice.”

The instant she thought of the babies about to arrive, Su Yan’s mind snapped into task mode, clean and cold.

Earn points. Return to Earth. Reborn.

Men here were NPCs. Tools.

Don’t get attached. Don’t cling.

The clearer she forced herself to be, the more she understood how little time she could afford to waste. She still needed a hundred million points. If she didn’t want to keep giving birth nonstop, she needed high-talent males. A Yellow-grade male like Zulu wasn’t enough.

Even her remaining life was counted in points.

She couldn’t afford to linger in the West District.

She had to reach the East District.

“Push,” Ashley urged, voice firm. “You’re almost there.”

Su Yan sucked in a breath and clenched the beast-skin blanket under her fingers. She gathered every last scrap of strength, let out a low cry, and the weight in her belly suddenly vanished.

Then the world went dark.

Zulu, waiting outside, heard her voice and glanced into the room. Surprise flashed in his eyes.

She’d given birth in human form. She hadn’t shifted.

Could the babies be human too?

Curiosity drew him closer.

Ashley looked up and smiled through her exhaustion. “Congratulations. Two females and one male.”

“Thank you.”

Zulu lifted a bunny pup smaller than his palm. A faint red glint passed through his eyes like embers catching in a draft. His voice dropped, almost to himself. “What kind of belly gives birth to a fire-and-water dual-element Profound Rank…?”

“What?” Ashley didn’t catch it.

Zulu smoothed his expression. “Nothing. Let me see the other two.”

“Here.” Ashley held them up proudly. “Two beautiful little females—one mouse pup, one rabbit pup. I’m going to tell Grandmother. She’ll be thrilled.”

Zulu checked them quickly. Both females had Blue-grade wood-element talent.

Not high. But in the West District, most females had no talent at all. By that standard, these two were precious.

Su Yan had no idea he’d already judged their talent—and that his interest in her had deepened.

After every birth, her body fell into a strange suspended state. It was tied to her first pregnancy, when her life afterward had been far too short.

The system had created a pause: the outside world kept moving, but her personal time stopped until she woke.

Now her life-time stalled, and her consciousness drifted back into the childbearing system.

Little Mei’s voice announced the results, cold and exact, each word clicking into place like gears.

“Congratulations, host. Second offspring delivered. Sex: female. Beast form: blue-gray rabbit. Talent: wood-element Blue-grade. Father: blue-gray rabbit beast. Reward: 150 points.”

“Third offspring. Sex: female. Beast form: blue-white mouse. Talent: wood-element Blue-grade. Father: blue-gray rabbit beast. Reward: 150 points.”

“Fourth offspring. Sex: male. Beast form: blue-white rabbit. Talent: fire-and-water dual-element Profound Rank, raised one tier by golden marrow pill. Father: blue-gray rabbit beast. Reward: 1000 points, plus one childbearing gift pack.”

Su Yan didn’t even look at the gift pack. She stared at the points like they were breath itself.

“Little Mei,” she asked, “a baby with Red Rank talent—how many points?”

“50 points.”

Su Yan’s lips tightened. “Then Heaven Rank?”

“100000 points.”

“So if I want more points, I need to give birth to children with better talent.”

“You must produce high-talent offspring.”

“I have one more question—”

Before she could finish, her consciousness was forcefully shoved out, like a door slammed in her face.

Ashley’s voice dragged her back, panicked and sharp. “Su Yan! Wake up—wake up!”

Su Yan opened her eyes, exhausted. “I’m fine… I was just tired. I fell asleep.”

Ashley looked pale, fear still clinging to her. “You stopped breathing. You scared me to death.”

“Did I?” Su Yan whispered. She hadn’t known.

Ashley exhaled shakily. “As long as you’re okay. Look at your babies. They’re so pretty—and strong.”

She placed three tiny bundles in Su Yan’s arms.

Su Yan stared down at the small furred bodies and repeated to herself, almost desperately: They’ll turn human later. They’ll turn human later.

Zulu came in with a bowl of milk, the warm scent rising with the steam. “You’ve worked hard, Yan Yan.”

“It’s fine.” Su Yan’s voice was soft, but her eyes were sharp. “My task is done. Now it’s your job.”

Little Mei had suggested she bear another child with him.

If she didn’t find a better target soon, having another litter with Zulu was still better than letting time slip away for nothing.

As for Rona… what did she matter?

Zulu… Su Yan couldn’t see through him anymore. It felt like there was something hidden behind that face.

“Do you have enough milk?” Ashley asked, practical as ever.

Su Yan touched her chest. There was no fullness, no ache. “Not yet. But I have formula and a baby bottle.”

She hadn’t had milk with her first pregnancy either. And once she took a vitality-restoring pill, she definitely wouldn’t.

That was why the gift pack included formula in the first place—an answer prepared for her body’s limits.

“Formula? Baby bottle?” Ashley looked blank. “What are those?”

“In the kitchen.”

“I’ll get them,” Zulu said quickly.

Oro had mentioned those two items before. Zulu had tucked them away as if they were treasures.

He returned with a neat square metal tin labeled 2.5kg, and the bottle.

Su Yan got out of bed, washed her hands with hot water, then swallowed a vitality-restoring pill in secret. Warm strength flowed back into her limbs.

As she turned to mix the formula, she realized Zulu had been watching her the entire time—eyes steady, a faint red glimmer flashing and vanishing deep within them.