"Is this the water you boiled in the stone pot before?" Zoey asked before drinking.
She drank all the water from the stone bowl, and Sinek quickly poured another bowl.
Zoey pressed her lips together. Sure enough, this water tasted much better than the raw one.
"Zoey, just tell me what you need. Don't worry, I can do it!"
Sinek put the water aside and looked at Zoey, waiting for her to speak. She trusted his ability and nodded before saying,
"I want you to teach the males in the tribe how to make fire by drilling wood, so they can all use fire and eat roasted meat."
Sinek hesitated. Earlier, when some of the males came to him and saw the fire, they were really scared. Teaching them would be difficult.
"It will be a bit difficult, but we can try to teach them slowly so they accept it."
Zoey nodded. First, they had to accept it, then it could spread. Thinking about this made her a little hungry.
She looked at the wild boar lying at the cave entrance and suddenly remembered that she was pregnant.
"Right now I'm still male. How did you explain my pregnancy to the healers?"
"I told them the truth. I said you are a new female from the mainland, and you are carrying my baby."
"Your current state is because of your natural changing ability. I told them to come back tomorrow to see you in female form."
Zoey nodded. Telling the truth was fine. She didn't have to hide anything. Also, with how strong Sinek was now, no male in the tribe would dare offend her.
"I'm hungry. Let's roast some meat!"
"Okay, leave it to me!"
Sinek took out some fresh fruits for her to eat while resting. Then he ran to the cave entrance to handle the wild boar.
Watching him busy at the entrance, Zoey thought he was a good male—responsible, capable, and high-ranking.
She remembered the system's suggestion: after these snake eggs hatch, she could get pregnant for him again.
She quickly shook her head. She liked Sinek, but she had ruled out his original self.
Sinek marinated the boar meat with spicy herbs from the river, following Zoey's instructions. Then, using sharpened sticks like she taught him for fish, he skewered the meat and slowly roasted it over the fire.
Soon, the smell of roasting meat reached Zoey as she ate her fruits. It had been a long time since she smelled something like this.
She swallowed and went to the cave entrance, seeing many snake tribe beasts standing nearby, watching.
Zoey glanced at Sinek. He seemed to already know.
"Don't worry. They won't come closer."
Sinek thought she was scared and explained. Actually, without the chief speaking, no male dared approach. Plus, they were all afraid of fire.
"It's fine. If they want to come, let them. They can learn from you."
Zoey voluntarily suggested letting the males come, which surprised Sinek.
He raised his hand, and three males ran over from nearby. Zoey noticed they were high-level beasts.
"Chief, this is water I fetched for you. I heard you went to the river yourself. It's our mistake."
"Chief, these are fresh fruits, the best ones. I picked them for you too."
"Chief, I found this bead in the forest. I offer it to you."
Sinek listened to their responses, his phoenix-like eyes flashing with a satisfied green light.
Then he taught the high-level beasts the method Zoey had taught him for roasting meat.
After that, he just sat nearby, watching them handle the meat. He waited calmly until it was cooked, then brought it into the den for Zoey to enjoy.
"I'm full. Don't bring any more!"
Zoey looked at the more than ten large skewers in front of her. She really couldn't eat any more.
The system's storage space hadn't opened, so even if she wanted to save some, she couldn't.
"Take these out and share them with the others."
"Leave them for now. Eat them later if you get hungry."
Sinek didn't plan to share them. This wild boar was hunted by him and was meant only for Zoey.
"Drink some water. Eat a little later."
Sinek quickly handed Zoey a stone bowl filled with water, which was already cool.
Zoey didn't drink immediately. Instead, she instructed Sinek,
"Go teach them how to make stone pots, stone bowls, wooden chopsticks, and wooden spoons too."
Sinek frowned. Did she really want to share all this with other males? He wasn't very willing.
Seeing his unwilling expression, Zoey smiled and said,
"Sharing these things will help the beasts and make the snake tribe stronger. Isn't that a good thing? As the leader, you should be happy to see it too."
Zoey was right. Sinek nodded and went out.
Zoey looked at the pile of meat next to her. She really couldn't eat more. She thought if she got hungry later, she could ask Sinek to warm it up again.
Maybe because of her pregnancy, she felt sleepy after eating. She walked to the soft grass, curled up lazily, and rested.
Listening to Sinek explain things to the other males outside, she gradually fell asleep…
[Congratulations! The host promoted fire-making, benefiting eleven beasts.]
[Rewards: Three Transformation Pills, One Pregnancy-Protecting Pill, One Hidden Pill. Level decreased by 1. Current level 987. Points remaining: 99,984,000.]
[Congratulations! Human civilization promoted, benefiting thirty beasts.]
[Rewards: Two Transformation Pills, Two Pregnancy Pills, Two Vitality-Boosting Pills. Level decreased by 3. Current level 984. Points remaining: 99,981,000.]
[Vitality-Boosting Pill effect: When the body is weak or injured, taking this pill instantly restores initial physical condition.]
[Congratulations! Host received an extra reward: due date moved up by 30 days.]
[System tip: Countdown time changed, 15 days remaining.]
Zoey, half-asleep, hadn't expected the system to give extra rewards. She suddenly woke up, thrilled with happiness.
Now she had to think about how to promote and develop human civilization. This was her best skill. It was even more fun than being pregnant.
"Hahaha!"
Zoey laughed joyfully, forgetting everything. Hearing her laughter, Sinek instantly appeared in front of her.
"Zoey, what's wrong? Were you dreaming?"
Sinek reached out to touch Zoey's forehead. The cool touch made her even more awake.
"Did you dream about something happy?" Sinek asked softly. Zoey smiled and replied,
"I'm even happier than if I had dreamed about something happy!"
Zoey got down from the soft pile of grass and stood in front of Sinek, excited. If her body allowed it, she would have jumped up and down on the spot.
"Oh! I have good news! My due date has been moved earlier. If I calculate, there are about forty days left."
"Forty days!"
Sinek widened his eyes. Forty days? As far as he knew, female snakes of their tribe usually take almost three months from pregnancy to giving birth.
Zoey nodded. "My body might be different from your female snakes. Anyway, there are about forty days left until I give birth."
Sinek nodded again, thinking to himself. He needed to prepare more food and daily necessities.
When Zoey gives birth, he would need to turn back into his beast form and stay in the cave to incubate the snake eggs. In their tribe, snake eggs are always incubated by males.
During the incubation, he could not leave, or the eggs would die. He needed to make sure there was enough food and water.
There were still many things to arrange, and he would have to tell the higher-level beasts in the tribe.
Seeing Sinek silent and lost in thought, Zoey wondered if he knew that he would leave after she and Fykes had the babies.
Could it be that he just didn't want to leave her? She felt a little sad.
Thinking of how carefully he had taken care of her these days and how everything had been satisfying, she couldn't help but reach out and wrap her arms around his cool neck. She asked softly,
"What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"
Sinek snapped back to reality, seeing Zoey clinging to him. The green light in his eyes changed color, his male instincts flaring up.
Before Zoey could react, he lifted her back onto the soft grass pile.
Sinek bent down and kissed her, his hands starting to wander.
Zoey was startled by his sudden action. Feeling his restlessness, she realized what was happening.
She tried to resist at first, but Sinek was too strong.
At that moment, a low, restrained voice sounded in her ear:
"Zoey, I can't calm down. What should I do? Is it okay?"
Zoey looked into Sinek's crimson eyes. He had already reached his limit but still wanted her permission. A strange feeling rose in her heart. Without thinking, she nodded slightly.
Sinek acted like he had been freed. Excited, he started, and Zoey followed her own feelings, cooperating little by little.
Zoey knew her ultimate goal after being downgraded and why she had come to this beast world. But right now, she didn't reject Sinek at all… not even a little.
When Zoey came back to herself, it was already dark outside. She didn't know when the snake beasts had left.
This time, for some reason, the system didn't disturb her rest. The moment she woke up, the system's voice sounded slowly:
[System detected: Host's due date has been moved forward by thirty days. Please prepare in advance.]
"How many?" Zoey shouted in shock.
It had been more than forty days before, but now it was shortened by thirty. That left only about ten days. Oh my God…
Next to her, Sinek woke up from his dream and quickly sat up, asking,
"Zoey, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
In the dark, Zoey glanced at Sinek. It was probably scarier than a nightmare.
The problem was that she wasn't mentally prepared—this time she was going to lay a whole batch of eggs.
She hadn't even taken the pregnancy or embryo-nourishing pills yet, so how did it suddenly speed up like this?
Could it be that her feelings for Sinek somehow made her body start producing eggs faster?
Zoey slapped her own face twice to wake herself up.
Seeing this, Sinek quickly grabbed her hand and asked worriedly,
"Zoey, what's happening? Are you okay?"
"It's nothing. I just needed to clear my head!"
Zoey turned to Sinek and said something that immediately made him realize the situation.
"Sinek, I'm going to give birth in about ten days. You need to get ready."
"What! Ten? Only ten days?"
Sinek suddenly became fully alert. He remembered that earlier, Zoey had told him there were still over forty days left.
How did it suddenly drop to just ten days after a short sleep? Sinek was now fully awake.
"Zoey, what's going on?"
The problem was that he hadn't prepared anything yet. Ten days wasn't much time, and he had to act quickly.
Thinking of this, Sinek got up from the soft grass nest. Zoey saw him about to leave and asked,
"It's pitch dark. Where are you going?"
"Don't worry. Rest first. I'm going to prepare food and water. I'll go hunt some wild boars in the forest."
Zoey hurriedly grabbed him, saying, "Wait until daylight. There's still time."
"It's not enough! Only ten days left!" Sinek's voice was tense.
"I also want to organize this den, and I have to tell the other males in the tribe some things."
"And there's that other female in the tribe. I need to have someone watch her. The healer said yesterday that she will give birth in less than ten days. I have to arrange everything for her. And there are more males waiting… and…"
"Sinek!"
Seeing him so tense that he was starting to ramble, Zoey interrupted him,
"You don't need to be so nervous! There's enough time. Besides, this isn't my first time giving birth. I've raised a Fykes before—you know that."
Although she didn't want to mention it, Zoey said it to calm Sinek.
Hearing that it wasn't her first time, Sinek's eyes showed a brief flash of cold light.
Zoey noticed it, but when she looked again, it was gone, and she wondered if she had imagined it.
"I know, but I'm still worried. After you lay the eggs, I have to incubate them. I can't leave your side for even a moment. I can't take care of you if something goes wrong, and I don't trust the other males in the tribe. If I don't prepare in advance, I'm afraid you'll be in danger."
Thinking of Fykes, he quickly added,
"Zoey, don't worry. Even after you give birth, I will stay with you. I will never leave you. You are my one and only female, forever."
Zoey was unexpectedly touched by Sinek's words.