After returning, Zoey instructed Sinek to turn the stones, sticks, and wooden branches they had brought back into usable tableware.
Once done, Sinek held the finished set, unable to put it down, flipping through it again and again.
"Zoey, are these the tableware you mentioned? That one is called a pot, this one is a bowl, but what are these?"
Sinek pointed at some long, well-crafted branches.
"Those are chopsticks. You'll need them when we cook with this pot. And that one is a wooden spoon—you'll see how useful it is when we use it."
Zoey stacked stones to make a simple stove. When the fire was ready, she asked Sinek to put the pot on it.
She poured the water they had collected with leaves into the stone pot and sighed, watching it heat up: finally, she could drink hot water.
"Zoey, what are you doing?"
Sinek carefully put the other portion of water aside. If he spilled it, he'd have to go back to the river to fetch more.
Seeing how cautious Sinek was, Zoey reminded him,
"Pour that water into these bowls first, so it won't spill. Later, we'll make some wooden barrels, and then we can carry a lot of water at once."
"Okay."
Sinek agreed and carefully poured the water into the stone bowls, but he was curious about what wooden barrels were.
While handling the water, he suddenly had an idea. "I'll go to the forest for a bit and come back," he said to Zoey.
She nodded without asking more. Sinek left quickly, planning to hunt fresh meat since Zoey had complained that the meat he had prepared wasn't fresh.
Zoey sat on a rock, heating water, when she heard loud noises from the forest. Rocks were falling, trees were breaking—it was very loud.
Standing upstream, she looked toward the forest and froze.
She couldn't believe her eyes—a huge python, as thick as a tree trunk and almost as tall as the trees, was slithering there.
Its tongue flicked out, its eyes glowed green, and its fangs looked longer than her height.
"My God!"
Zoey looked around for a place to hide. Even Sinek's cave wouldn't be safe—the giant snake could crush it.
What if this massive creature came toward her? Sinek wasn't around.
Knowing that all beasts on this continent feared fire, Zoey quickly made the flames bigger.
But then she realized the fire might attract the snake. She quickly removed some logs she had added—the bright flames could draw it closer.
Watching the water boil in the stone pot, she couldn't even think about drinking it.
She ran to the side of Sinek's cave but didn't dare go inside, afraid of being crushed.
When she carefully looked again, the giant snake was gone.
It disappeared so fast? Zoey shook her head, as if the whole thing might have been an illusion.
Either way, she stayed behind the rock, too scared to show herself.
After a while, when the snake didn't appear, she finally came out. She saw Sinek returning from the forest.
"Sinek!"
Zoey ran to the fire, ready to tell him what she had seen. She also wanted to ask if he had seen it, but then she saw him use his skill.
With a loud "bang," a huge wild boar appeared in front of them, already dead.
"Did you hunt this?"
Zoey stared in disbelief at the giant animal—it was several times bigger than Sinek.
How did he do it?
Sinek nodded, waiting for Zoey to praise him.
"Awesome, really awesome!"
Zoey didn't hold back and gave Sinek a thumbs-up.
Hearing Zoey praise him, Sinek looked very proud and happily circled around the big wild boar twice.
Zoey shook her head helplessly. Even though he was over 300 years old, sometimes he acted like a child.
Thinking about the huge creature from earlier, Zoey was about to speak, but Sinek, looking excited, grabbed her and said,
"Zoey! Zoey! I have great news! I don't know why, but my talent suddenly got much stronger!"
"Really! I was already one of the most talented in my clan, but when I went hunting just now, I got way stronger than before!"
Sinek said proudly, showing off his muscles and using his hands to measure his height.
"Not only has my strength increased many times, but I also got a new skill! My beast form can now grow as tall as a mountain!"
Sinek wanted to transform into his beast form immediately to show Zoey, but she held back, scared.
"Many of the male snakes in the clan saw this, so it's probably already spreading. This has never happened in the snake clan before!"
"Zoey, am I too amazing?"
Sinek spoke quickly, full of excitement, and waited for Zoey's praise.
When Zoey heard him say his beast form could grow taller than a mountain, she jumped back in shock.
"You… you…"
Zoey felt completely unsettled. Could the huge creature in the forest earlier have been Sinek?
She quickly opened the system and saw that Sinek's attributes had indeed changed:
Species: Male snake
Background: Father Mutado is Heaven, Mother Tuanna is Earth, born from them
Name: Sinek
Talent: Innate ability (from birth)
Level: Advanced
Shapeshift: Can turn into a beast-human anytime
New skill: Beast form can grow at will, strength can crush anything
After seeing the system test results, Zoey was certain that the huge creature she saw before was Sinek in his beast form.
"Zoey?"
Sinek saw Zoey take two steps back, then two more, looking terrified. He was confused.
"Zoey, what's wrong?"
"You…" Zoey swallowed hard, feeling every hair on her body stand on end.
Just as she was about to explain, she heard a commotion behind her, with many voices shouting:
"Clan Leader!"
"Hurry, the clan leader is there!"
"Clan Leader!"
Her words were interrupted. She turned instinctively and saw groups of snakes of all shapes and sizes moving toward them quickly.
Zoey shivered on the spot, her eyes rolling back, and she fainted…
"Please wake up, host!"
"Please enjoy yourself. You have one hour left, or you will feel the pain of being burned alive!"
"Please wake up quickly. Friendly reminder: you have half an hour left to enjoy yourself, or you will feel the pain of being burned alive."
Zoey wasn't woken up—she was annoyed awake by the system. She was already a living person…
Oh no! She was technically dead, but this system in her mind controlled her every moment. Just thinking about it made her angry.
"Host, please don't be mad. If you bravely work to downgrade, you will get what you want!"
She knew that, but downgrading was so slow. She really couldn't wait, and now she was a snake. She just couldn't accept it.
She heard Sinek calling her and some rustling sounds, plus faint whispers that reached her ears.
Zoey knew those snakes were nearby. She closed her eyes and asked the system when her current pregnancy would end.
"System check: Host has seventy days until delivery."
Seventy days? Oh my God! Her shape-changing pills wouldn't be enough! Who could save her?
"Friendly reminder: The system checked. This male is the best high-level beast for you. After giving birth and the baby hatches, you can have another batch of snake eggs and get a satisfying reward."
A whole batch of eggs!
Zoey wanted to scream, but she refused to open her eyes. Not seeing anything felt safer.
"You're awake now, Zoey."
"You can open your eyes. It's okay."
Sinek's voice came near her ears again. Zoey frowned slightly to show she heard him.
"Please enjoy yourself. You have twenty minutes left, or you will feel the pain of being burned alive."
Damn it! She cursed silently. That stupid system was reminding her again.
Zoey gritted her teeth. She would rather die in pain than open her eyes and get scared to death.
Then the system spoke again:
"Congratulations, host! You started a fire by drilling wood and promoted the welfare of twenty beasts."
"Reward: 1 assistance pill, 1 shape-changing pill, 1 treasure crystal pill. Downgrade two levels. Current level: 989. Points remaining: 99,986,000."
"Congratulations, host! You started a fire by drilling wood and promoted the welfare of eighteen beasts."
"Reward: 1 assistance pill, 1 shape-changing pill. Downgrade one level. Current level: 988. Points remaining: 99,985,000."
Listening to the system, Zoey thought: This fire-starting was just learned by Sinek recently, so he probably didn't promote it yet. It must have been that old fox, Fykes. She didn't expect his actions could cause her system to downgrade. She had never downgraded two levels in a row before.
But the system was unfair. Promoting twenty beasts caused a two-level downgrade, but promoting eighteen only downgraded one level? Even rounding should be two! Why just one? Zoey was very unhappy but didn't dare complain to the system, afraid of punishment.
"Congratulations, host! Reward for benefiting beasts: your due date is moved up five days, and your enjoyment time is now five days left."
Ah! That's great!
Hearing this, Zoey happily opened her eyes and sat up. She smiled, wanting to say something, but saw she was surrounded by… snakes! No, not snakes—beasts.
She had thought she saw all snakes before, but now, looking carefully, they were all beast-men.
"Zoey! Zoey, you're finally awake. How do you feel?"
Sinek looked at her anxiously. He knew that Zoey had already woken up, but she didn't want to open her eyes.
When she fainted, he had set a rule in the clan: no one is allowed to turn into a snake in front of Zoey, or they would be expelled from the snake clan.
Also, lower-level snakes or those who couldn't transform temporarily were strictly forbidden from appearing in front of her.
After giving the order, Sinek sent a few males into the forest to spread the rule, warning that anyone who broke it would face severe punishment.
"They…"
Zoey looked at the seven or eight males around her. They stared at her eagerly. Even though she wasn't the original person, it still felt a little uncomfortable to be watched like that.
"You can go back for now. Thank you for your help earlier. Keep an eye on the clan matters. If anything can't be handled, leave it for now. I'll take care of it after I give birth."
The seven or eight males quietly glanced at Zoey and then left the cave.
Sinek then told Zoey that they were all healers of the snake clan and all high-level beasts. After she fainted, he had called all the healers of the clan.
Zoey nodded. She understood that by "healers," he meant something like doctors.
Seeing the fear on her face disappear, Sinek held her hand excitedly and said,
"Zoey, the healers said you're pregnant. You'll give birth in about two months."
Zoey nodded again. She had wanted to tell him at some point but had forgotten while dealing with the utensils.
Thinking about the utensils, Zoey had an idea. If the method of making fire by rubbing wood could lower her level, then she could ask Sinek to spread this method in the snake clan. Later, she could also promote the stone utensils. That way, her own level would drop quickly without the system constantly reminding her to enjoy herself.
"Hahaha…" Zoey laughed happily.
Sinek, who had been holding his breath, finally relaxed.
When he told her about the pregnancy, Zoey had been stunned and just sat there. Sinek had been worried but didn't dare disturb her, afraid of startling her. After a while, she suddenly laughed, and he felt completely relieved.
She was probably surprised by the pregnancy at first, then realized it and became happy.
Zoey didn't notice his thoughts and told him the results detected by the system.
"You have a new skill. Your beast form can grow huge at will, and your strength can destroy anything."
"Ah? How do you know that, Zoey? Amazing!"
Sinek looked at her in shock. Everything she said was correct.
Zoey nodded and explained honestly,
"When a male mates with me and I become pregnant, his level increases. If he is already a high-level beast, he gains a new skill."
"Oh…"
Sinek nodded thoughtfully. He remembered an old fox, who probably became high-level because Zoey was carrying its child.
"Sinek, I want to discuss something with you."
Zoey planned to have him promote the fire-making method in the snake clan.
"Go ahead, Zoey!"
As he spoke, Sinek brought over a cup of water in a stone bowl at a comfortable temperature and handed it to Zoey.