Sinek listened to this and looked proud and a bit spoiled, feeling like he was floating.
Zoey praised him for being strong and brave, especially stronger than that fox! He was very happy.
At the same time, Fykes, in the fox clan forest, had just placed two hunted animals together and hid them using illusions. He still needed to hunt two more to carry back, planning to teach the whole clan how to use fire for cooking and warmth. Suddenly, he sneezed hard, almost twisting his neck.
Meanwhile, Zoey, full from eating, burped and looked at the leftover grilled fish beside her. She asked Sinek, "I'm really full now. What should we do with the remaining fish? If we don't cook it, it will spoil, but if we grill it and don't eat it soon, it won't taste as good later."
Sinek smiled, put the fish into a pouch made of thick leaves, and used his skill to hide them. Layer by layer, the fish were carefully wrapped.
Zoey rolled her eyes, thinking, "Won't this spoil faster? It will probably stink soon."
Sinek gave his charming smile. "Don't worry! Whenever you want to eat, I can take it out and grill it for you. It will taste just like fresh fish."
He reached into the pouch and pulled out a fish that still looked cold.
Zoey was stunned. His skill even preserved food? It was like having a fridge in the forest.
Seeing her curious, Sinek squinted his eyes and smiled, then reached behind him and casually took out some beads.
"Look, these are offered by the clan. If you like, I'll give them to you."
The beads felt cool and had colorful light inside. Zoey didn't know what they were but liked them.
"Are you okay?" Sinek asked when he saw her frown, placing a hand on her forehead.
Zoey shook her head. She had just eaten and was full, but her system suddenly reminded her:
[Congratulations, host has recovered energy. Enjoy freely. Time left: 2 hours, or you will feel burning pain again, double the time!]
Annoying as it was, she had to follow it. Her teammates were waiting for her to downgrade 999 and revive.
"Are you hungry?" Zoey asked Sinek while holding a treasure pill.
"No, I ate while gathering fruit and also ate a lot of fish just now," Sinek answered honestly.
Zoey felt a bit awkward holding the pill. With two hours left, she planned to put it back into the system, but it slipped and fell.
Sinek picked it up and asked, "What's this?"
"Something tasty…" Zoey hesitated.
Without hesitation, Sinek put it in his mouth and swallowed.
Zoey stuttered in disbelief, "Y-you really ate it?"
Sinek smiled. "Yes, I trust you. It doesn't taste like much, not very good."
Zoey thought, Well, trusting me is fine…
After a while, she noticed something different about Sinek. His greenish eyes had turned bright red.
He reached out and touched him, and his body still felt cold.
Zoey knew a fire had started inside him, and it was up to her to put it out.
[System check: The male took the Treasure Crystal Pill successfully. Host is now pregnant!]
[System rewards activated again: granting the host a Hidden Pill, along with instructions and effects.]
[The pill can temporarily hide your gender, including your voice, appearance, and scent, for 24 hours.]
[Keep up the good work, host! Lower your level soon!]
Zoey listened to the system, feeling speechless. She glanced at the Hidden Pill, which looked like a clear glass bead.
She really wanted to ask if in the future she could break the Treasure Crystal Pill in half and let the male take it, because she could barely handle it.
"Zoey…"
At this moment, Sinek still felt a bit hot. If he changed back to his beast form, he might recover faster, but he knew Zoey was afraid of his beast form, so he didn't dare.
"You…"
Zoey wanted to ask how he felt, but saying it as a female felt awkward, so she stayed quiet.
Sinek thought she was shy and pulled her into his arms.
"Don't worry. You are my only female. Now that we've bonded as mates, I will only care for you for life."
"Bonded as mates? What does that mean?"
Zoey didn't understand. She lifted her head from his chest and asked.
Sinek looked surprised. He realized she wasn't pretending and didn't know about mate bonding.
"It means once a female and male are truly together, whether or not they have offspring, they become mates."
He pointed to a small tail mark on the top of Zoey's foot, which represented his mark.
"The female gets a mark that represents the male. The male will only serve and care for that one female. If he betrays her, the mark on her will disappear, and his mark will turn into fire and consume his beast form."
He spoke calmly, but Zoey felt a storm of emotions. It was terrifying, but at least it wasn't aimed at her personally. Otherwise, she might have set herself on fire before the system lowered her level.
She looked at the small snake-tail mark on her foot and instinctively rubbed it, but it wouldn't go away.
Sinek thought she didn't like the mark since she feared his beast form. His eyes dimmed a little, and he said softly,
"Sorry, I can't decide this mark for you."
Feeling his mood, Zoey quickly hugged his neck and rubbed against him affectionately.
"No, you misunderstood. I think the mark is cool. I really like it!"
She was just afraid of his beast form; a small tail on her foot wasn't scary at all. It looked like a tattoo, very cool, with a playful touch.
Sinek's eyes lit up again. Looking at Zoey, he asked again,
"Really! Zoey, you really like this mark?"
Zoey nodded firmly. Sinek's face lit up with a childlike smile.
Behind her, where she couldn't see, half of Sinek's body turned into a snake tail, swinging excitedly in the air.
"Zoey, are you hungry? I'll grill some fish for you in a bit."
After a moment, Sinek thought there was still a lot of fish and wanted to grill some for Zoey. After all, she had been the one to take the initiative earlier, so she must have used a lot of energy.
"I don't want fish. I want meat."
Zoey closed her eyes to rest. She had been eating grilled fish for days, and no matter how tasty, she was tired of it.
"Meat is good. I have some ready!"
Sinek used his special skill and brought out several pieces of meat, still a bit cold.
"I don't want cold meat or raw meat. I want it cooked."
Seeing the meat still cold as if taken from a freezer, Zoey complained again,
"This meat is frozen solid. Even if you grill it after thawing, it might not taste good. But I don't want grilled meat either. I just want it cooked!"
"Boiled, stewed, braised, steamed… sigh!"
Zoey was just craving a little taste for fun. She knew on this beast continent, steaming, boiling, stewing, braising, or steaming properly wasn't possible.
Sinek was already confused hearing this. He had never heard of these cooking methods and felt frustrated with himself. The rules on this continent were strict, and crossing boundaries wasn't allowed. Otherwise, he might have asked Fykes; maybe it knew more than him.
Zoey didn't know what Sinek was thinking. She kept feeling annoyed and complaining silently:
Last time, she tried to activate the storage feature of the Cricket System but failed. She didn't know when it would open again. Maybe it had useful items inside, even just a cooking pot would be enough, so she wouldn't have to drink raw water and only eat grilled food every day.
Thinking of this, Zoey remembered the stone pot and quickly jumped out of Sinek's arms, asking,
"I'm not hungry now. How far is it to the river? I want to go see."
"It's not far. You can get there quickly, but…"
Sinek hesitated. Zoey was a female, and an outsider female at that. If other males saw her outside, even though he was the tribe leader, a fight might be unavoidable.
"Can't I go?" Zoey noticed his worry and asked.
Sinek didn't hide anything and told her the situation. Zoey didn't hesitate and immediately took the hidden pill she had just received and swallowed it.
For the first time, she felt the system was helpful. The hidden pill really came at the right time.
Moments later, to Sinek's shock, Zoey changed completely.
She didn't have a mirror, so she didn't know how she looked, but Sinek could see clearly.
The female in front of him, beautiful like a flower, transformed into a beast form, and when she changed back, she became a fully grown male with a scarred face and big muscles.
"You… you… Zoey?"
Sinek stared at the male in front of him in disbelief, trying to call out, "Are you still Zoey?"
"Who else could it be? Look!"
Her voice had changed too, deep and husky, a true male voice.
"Zoey…"
Sinek still couldn't believe it. Zoey didn't expect the hidden pill to be this powerful and explained to him,
"I told you, I come from another continent. This is normal for us, just like your special skill. Don't worry, I'll change back in a day."
"Oh oh..."
Sinek felt relieved when he heard that Zoey would return to her original form in a day. Even the snake gall inside her body seemed to lift back into place.
"So, does this mean no one can recognize me now?"
"Not only that, but it also changes my scent. Even the most sensitive beasts won't be able to detect my female scent."
Sinek stared at the male in front of him with surprise, greatly impressed by Zoey's talent.
Of course, he knew this person was Zoey, but he didn't feel any interest. He then led her into the forest.
Along the way, they met many males, some in beast form and some transformed. They all greeted Sinek, and some even brought him gifts.
Zoey realized that Sinek was the leader of the snake tribe. His position was very high, which explained why he had so many good things. They were probably offerings from lower and middle-ranked members.
Thinking about the sly fox from before, who ate everything and left without care, Zoey guessed that back in his tribe, he would receive the same treatment.
She had given birth to a little fox, but he hadn't even been interested in it before taking it away. Zoey suddenly thought that she should visit the fox tribe one day to secretly see the little fox she had born.
On the way to the river, Zoey stayed close to Sinek, no matter what kind of beast they met, because they were all snakes.
Sinek understood her fear of their true forms. Whenever they saw a male, he would pull her to the side.
At the river, Zoey asked Sinek to search for the items she needed.
"Especially look in areas washed by the water. Make sure to check carefully. The shape should be a smooth depression, and the bigger, the better."
Sinek remembered and started searching along the riverbed, but he kept an eye on Zoey.
"Wow, I found it!"
"Sinek, come quickly! I found a good one!"
Hearing her call, Sinek ran over. He saw her pointing at a large sunken stone in the riverbed, but she couldn't lift it.
Although Zoey had temporarily become male, her strength was still that of her female self.
Sinek examined the spot, reached out, and easily lifted the large stone onto the riverbank.
"Is this the stone pot you want?" he asked. He didn't know what a pot was, but if Zoey wanted it, he would get it.
"Yes, yes! But the edges will need some work later."
Zoey's expression showed how satisfied she was with the stone.
"Sinek, let's find a few smaller ones like this. We can take them back and fix them together. Later, we can use them as bowls."
"Okay!"
Sinek didn't know what bowls were. He just followed the shape and searched for smaller stones with depressions. Without asking, he kept looking.
By the river and riverbank, they found a large stone for the pot and four or five smaller ones for bowls.
Zoey was very pleased. She let Sinek use his talent to store the items safely.
Along the way, Zoey also chose a few suitable pieces of wood and a stick to use as spoons and chopsticks. Then, she happily returned with Sinek.