[System Reminder: Please take the Shape-shifting Pill in time. Turning into a beastman will help with childbirth!]
Zoey quickly grabbed the pill and swallowed it with her last bit of strength.
Fykes, who was right next to her, wanted to ask what she just took, but before he could speak, he froze in place.
All this time, it was the first time he had seen Zoey's transformed form. Even though she was struggling through childbirth with a big belly, she looked so beautiful that he couldn't look away.
He just stared blankly, not reacting, until the sound of a little fox crying pulled him back to his senses. The baby was born.
Seeing the rough cloth beside Zoey, Fykes's ears turned red as he quickly covered her with it, then placed a large leaf over her.
When he looked at the tiny newborn fox, he felt both shocked and overjoyed. He reached out and touched it lightly, not daring to hold it, only feeling as if he were dreaming.
Normally, when a baby fox is born, the male immediately takes it away because there is a special plant juice in the tribe used for feeding. After about twenty days, the cub can start eating live prey.
Fykes had prepared plenty of that juice, but it was all used up during Zoey's labor.
He should go down the mountain to get more now, but when he looked at the weak Zoey, he hesitated.
At that moment, when the baby was born, Zoey also received a childbirth gift package from the system. Inside were two Energy Pills. She swallowed both right away.
Her strength recovered fully in an instant, as if she had never gone through childbirth. She really liked these Energy Pills.
Fykes didn't know her body had already recovered. He carefully helped her sit up.
Zoey gently took the newborn fox cub into her arms and looked closely. Just like Fykes, its fur was brown. Small, soft, and very cute. At the same time, the system gave a scan result:
Attribute: Female fox
Name: None
Parents: Mother Zoey (heaven), Father Fykes (earth), born from their union
Talent: Illusion (unlocked after maturity)
Rank: High-level
Shape-shifting: Can freely transform into a beastman after adulthood
Fykes pulled Zoey against him from behind, looking at the mother and child in her arms. His body suddenly reacted in a strange way, the same as when he first ate the red pill she had given him.
He knew exactly what was happening. His ears turned bright red, but he held himself back, knowing it was impossible for Zoey right after giving birth.
"It's a daughter," Zoey said softly.
"Huh?"
Fykes was so overwhelmed that his voice came out too loud, startling the baby fox into a shiver. Luckily, Zoey wasn't upset. Fykes quickly lowered his voice and confirmed nervously,
"A female? We had a daughter?"
"Really a daughter?"
"Yes, a daughter."
Zoey didn't say more. She knew what it meant to give birth to a daughter in the tribe, and even across the entire Beast Continent.
She also knew Fykes's status would rise higher than ever because of this daughter.
Fykes hugged Zoey tightly, looking at the little fox in her arms.
Just now he was confused, because in the clan, females usually gave birth to two or three cubs, sometimes even five or six. But Zoey only had one child.
It turned out to be a female! He had a daughter! In the past ten years, he was the first male in the clan to have a daughter.
Zoey told Fykes what the system had shown about the little fox. After hearing it, he was shocked and took a long time to calm down.
He never expected that his daughter was not only a high-level fox, but she also inherited his high-level illusion from birth. His eyes suddenly filled with tears.
Feeling the wet drops on her shoulder, Zoey turned to see him crying again.
Such a sentimental fox. Their child must not be like him in the future.
She couldn't stand seeing a big male cry in front of her, so she quickly drove him out to fetch fresh juice.
"Alright, go find some fresh juice to feed her. I want to drink some too. I'll rest until you return."
"Okay, I'll go now!" Fykes carefully let go of her, glanced at the mother and daughter, then changed into his beast form and ran outside.
After he left, Zoey realized she still wasn't wearing clothes. She felt embarrassed but still put the rough cloth clothes away.
The time for the Transformation Pill hadn't come yet. She looked at the beginner transformation pill she had just gotten from the system. If she ate it, she would return to fox form.
But after waiting a while, nothing happened. She thought maybe it needed time to digest, so she didn't care and slowly fell asleep.
When Fykes came back with fresh juice from the foot of the mountain, he entered the cave and saw only the little fox lying on the grass mat. Zoey was gone.
He thought maybe she had gone out to look for him. He hurried outside to search, but after looking everywhere he didn't find her. He also couldn't smell her scent.
The fox clan had very sharp sense of smell. They could detect scents from far away. But there was no trace of her anywhere around the mountain.
Thinking of the hungry little fox inside, Fykes wiped his tears and quickly went back to feed her fresh juice.
The little fox fell asleep, but Zoey still didn't return. Fykes grew anxious and restless, pacing back and forth with the cub in his arms.
He remembered that before leaving, he had used illusion outside the cave. Even high-ranking males of the clan couldn't discover this place.
Unless a strong male from another clan with high-level skills came here, or unless Zoey had walked out on her own.
But she had just given birth, and their relationship had always been loving. Why would she leave?
Fykes was sure it must have been a high-level beast from another clan. With tears in his eyes, he looked down at his daughter. They hadn't even given her a name yet.
He searched outside several times but couldn't find Zoey. Looking at the little fox in his arms and the spicy grass Zoey left on the stone—she had wanted to use it to cook fish, her favorite—his heart ached.
Finally, with tears streaming down, Fykes walked down the mountain in despair.
He had to take their only child back first. While raising her, he would search for Zoey. Maybe she would go back to the clan to find him.
If not... then after their child grew up and settled, he would go search for Zoey himself. Even if he had to search the whole fox clan and the entire Beast Continent, he would find the mother of his child.
Fykes touched the mark on his chest. No matter what, in this life until death, he would only recognize Zoey as his mate.
Gurgle~
Gurgle~
The sounds of her stomach rumbling kept coming. No matter how much Zoey wanted to keep sleeping, she couldn't. If she kept sleeping, she might starve to death—not beast death, but real death!
She opened her eyes, stretched, and tried to rub her growling stomach.
But where was her hand? Where were her arms? Was she trapped in a nightmare?
"Fykes, Fykes!"
She called twice but got no reply. Instead, she heard the system's voice:
[Congratulations, host, for waking up again. The transformation pill has taken effect. Reward: one transformation gift pack.]
The gift pack opened automatically. She saw a plain white outfit. She didn't like it at all—it was too white, too scary. She hated it!
Right, where was the little fox?
She didn't know how long she had slept. Fykes hadn't woken her, and now her arms and legs were numb, like she didn't even have them.
Gurgle~
She tried again to rub her hungry belly, but still couldn't lift her hand. It felt like her body wasn't hers. She lifted her head to check and bumped straight into a rock.
Her long sleep left her disoriented. Before she could react, her vision blurred, and she fainted.
[Congratulations, host, for waking up again. Please act quickly. One hour left, or you will suffer the pain of burning flames!]
Zoey: "!?!"
Didn't she just give birth to a little fox? Right, where were the fox and the little one?
She turned her head, and out of the corner of her eye saw a long, thin, white tail.
"Ah!"
"A snake! Help!"
"Fykes! Fykes!"
She shouted while trying to crawl away, but realized she was stuck between rocks and couldn't move. She panicked and struggled to squeeze out.
As she moved, her eyes kept staring at that long white tail. She prayed it wouldn't come closer.
"Go away! Help!"
In this life—no, even in her past life—she wasn't afraid of death or anything else, except snakes!
During a mission, she had been bitten by a poisonous snake and barely survived. Since then, snakes were her greatest fear.
She thought she was done for. That white thing was curving and slithering toward her.
"Ah…"
She finally wriggled out of the rocks but rolled straight onto the ground. After tumbling a few times, she noticed something was wrong.
Her body seemed… tangled. And that white, slender tail wasn't a snake at all—it was right in front of her, swaying.
She fainted again.
[Congratulations, host, for waking up again. Please act quickly. Thirty minutes left, or you will suffer the pain of burning flames!]
[A suitable male has been found for you. Please go forward bravely and work hard to downgrade!]
Zoey had just regained a bit of consciousness when she heard the system's voice again. Forget the suitable male—she had just been scared unconscious by a white snake for half an hour.
Thump thump thump—a heartbeat?
She opened her eyes. Everything around was pitch black. She moved slightly, confused, but before she figured out what was happening, a beam of light appeared. A hand grabbed her and pulled her out.
The rocks were gone. All around were trees. She wasn't in a cave anymore. The environment was strange, and so was the beastman in front of her.
She realized she was being gripped by the neck. Not "like," but really gripped!
Zoey was being strangled by a tall, slender male. His face was pale and clean, long black hair falling loosely behind him. His phoenix-shaped eyes locked straight on her, and his pupils even seemed to glow green.
"You're awake?" His voice was low and deep.
"Let me go!"
Zoey moved, trying to grab the hand that was choking her, but failed.
Where were her hands and arms? She struggled again, and then saw a long, thin, white snake tail.
"A snake! Help!"
"Quick! A snake! Help me!"
This nap was really too much. After the nightmare, her body wouldn't listen to her. She kept glancing sideways, signaling the person in front of her to hurry and chase the snake away. No matter which life she was in, the thing she feared most was this creature.
Her shouting made the beastman freeze for a second, then burst into laughter. "Hahaha…"
"What are you laughing at? Hurry up and chase it away!"
Seeing him laughing nonstop, Zoey widened her eyes and shouted, "Let me go!"
Seeing she was really angry, Sinek quickly released her.
With a thud, Zoey fell to the ground.
Looking around at the thick, slippery, white body around her, her eyes rolled back and she fainted again.
Sinek stopped laughing, picked up the unconscious Zoey, looked at her, then tucked her back into his arms and continued walking. In his 300 years of life, this was the first time a female fainted because of his real form.
[Warning! Warning!]
[System emergency alert!]
[Host, wake up quickly! Enjoy now! Only 5 minutes left, or you will feel the pain of being burned alive!]
The system voice kept repeating until Zoey woke up again.
She opened her eyes and found herself lying on a pile of grass. A beastman sat nearby, his eyes glowing faintly green. When he saw her awake, he spoke slowly,
"Don't faint again! I've lived for over 300 years, and this is the first time I've seen someone faint from my real form."
He tried hard to hold back his laughter, afraid she would get mad.
"Female, what's your name?"
"You're one of my kind, but not from my tribe. Where are you from?"
Zoey didn't answer. The information in his words was too much.
Three hundred years old? Even her ancestors might not have lived that long.
And his earlier words echoed in her ears—she fainted because of her own real form.
Her? Her real form? Wasn't she a fox? A bad guess crept into her heart.
She didn't dare think more and kept asking the system in her mind, but got no reply.
"Hey, I'm asking you something!" Sinek poked her forehead with his finger.
She instinctively tried to bite his finger, but what she saw was a long, white snake tongue.
"Ah…" Zoey was terrified.
And then she realized she had bitten that snake tongue herself.
Instantly, she tasted blood in her mouth. That snake tongue was really hers?
[Congratulations, host, for waking again. Please enjoy now. Only 3 minutes left, or you will feel the pain of being burned alive!]
[A suitable male has been found for you. Please be bold and go forward!]
She forced herself to calm down. So the transformation pill didn't turn her into her real body, but into a white snake?
No wonder the transformation gift pack included a set of plain white clothes.