"Sinek, don't leave here. You have to take good care of our baby. This is the first female in the snake clan in a long time. You have to raise her well. I will come back to see you when I get the chance."
Hearing Zoey's words, Sinek shouted and interrupted her,
"Zoey!"
Sinek widened his eyes. He understood what Zoey meant. He would rather give up the snake egg than lose her.
Zoey walked up to Sinek and touched his cold body,
"Sinek, don't give up on our baby. I will be angry and blame you if you do. I will find a way to come back to see you. You must trust me."
"No, Zoey!"
Sinek shook his head hard, wrapping his tail around Zoey, not wanting her to leave.
"Sinek, maybe I can handle that big guy outside. I won't get into danger. I'm only leaving temporarily…"
"No!"
Sinek held her tightly, afraid that once she left, he would never see her again.
Zoey struggled a little and found it hard to breathe, but her hand was still outside.
She had held the transformation pill for a long time. Without hesitation, she swallowed it.
"Zoey, what did you eat? What did you take?"
Sinek asked with fear, his face full of worry.
"Sinek, don't worry. I will find a way to come back. You and the baby must be safe and well until I return."
Zoey felt her body slowly changing. Her muscles started swelling.
"We promised, when I come back, I will give you another batch of snake eggs."
After saying that, Zoey felt her vision blur and slowly closed her eyes, feeling her body transform.
Sinek stared wide-eyed as he watched Zoey swallow the pill, powerless to stop her.
His tail could no longer hold her because she had grown huge. Two large wings appeared on her back.
If the snake cave hadn't been enlarged to fit his beast body, her wings might have broken it. Some stones fell, but Sinek tightly protected the snake egg, afraid it would be hit.
Sinek looked at Zoey in shock. Before his eyes, she had become a giant, ugly beast.
This giant beast looked almost like the one they fought before. If he remembered correctly, that one didn't have wings.
The two male snakes who came to report just now were just as shocked, standing still as they stared at the female beast.
Once they realized, they quickly looked to Sinek for instructions.
Sinek, holding back his pain, said, "This is my female. Her natural skill lets her change into different beasts. She can help you defeat that big guy. Tell them not to harm Zoey."
The two high-level males nodded quickly and flew outside.
Sinek looked at Zoey on the ground, his face full of complex emotions—amazed at her unique ability, but worried for her safety.
He felt mostly sad and scared. He knew that for a long time, he might not be able to see Zoey again.
It was like that fox from the Fox Clan. Since Zoey gave birth, he hadn't seen her either.
But he was luckier than the fox. At least he knew Zoey could change into different kinds of beasts, and her beast form would not change permanently.
Suddenly, loud noises came from outside. The male snakes were screaming in pain, and the situation outside was getting worse. Sinek was extremely worried.
Meanwhile, Zoey woke up and suddenly stood up. Her huge body made her feel unsteady, and she bumped into the stone wall behind her.
The pain made her grimace, which startled Sinek.
Seeing Sinek's frightened expression, Zoey looked down at him and asked, "Do I look very scary now?"
Sinek shook his head. At first, he did think she was scary, but once she spoke, he realized that this ugly giant beast was still his Zoey. Except for her appearance, nothing else had changed.
Sinek wanted to change back into his beast form to hug Zoey and tell her that no matter what she looked like, he would always love her. She would always be his favorite partner.
But even in his current beast form, he was still too small compared to Zoey's massive body.
Zoey took a step forward. The whole cave shook slightly, and she was scared, so she didn't move too forcefully.
She had wanted to go to Sinek and gently touch his snake body. Now that she was taller than him, the snake no longer seemed so scary.
"Sinek, you must take care of our baby and help it grow. I will come back for you when I can. I'm leaving now!"
Zoey gave up her original plan and carefully turned in the narrow cave, then headed outside.
Sinek didn't say anything. He just stared blankly as Zoey walked away.
When she left the cave, Sinek's snake eyes shed two lines of green tears.
He kept stretching his long neck to watch the cave entrance. Though his heart was full of mixed emotions, he knew that even though Zoey had become a huge, ugly beast, she was still his beloved partner—the only one he would ever have. That would never change.
After Zoey left, Sinek no longer heard fighting outside. There were no more screams from the male snakes.
A little later, a strong wind blew through the cave entrance. The clan's males came to report that the two giant beasts outside had left, including the one Zoey had become.
At this moment, Zoey was flying hard with her wings, aimlessly moving through the sky.
The giant beast below, she thought, she had to follow no matter what. Her wings were huge, probably weighing about a hundred pounds each. Just flapping them a little felt like it was draining half her life. But she had no choice—she was short-legged!
The big creature below was even more impressive. Each step was two meters, and it ran faster than she could fly.
The first time she saw it outside the cave, Zoey thought she was seeing a real-life Godzilla. Her system didn't give her any warning.
The creature smelled its own kind and thought the Snake Clan had captured one of its kin. That was why it came to rescue her.
As long as she was freed and followed it, it wouldn't destroy the Snake Clan anymore.
So Zoey followed it, flying behind. The giant only said one thing: it would bring her back to its clan and ran as fast as it could, probably not realizing she was female.
Zoey checked the system, but it still hadn't given her any hints. Could this huge beast really be Godzilla?
Then wouldn't all the members of its species be huge too?
"Wow!"
Zoey was about to marvel when drool suddenly started dripping from her mouth.
If someone didn't know better, they might think it was raining. She quickly closed her mouth, feeling disgusted with herself. Truly disgusting!
Meanwhile, the big creature running ahead glanced back at her, worried she might get left behind.
They had already run past two mountains, and it showed no signs of stopping. Zoey felt helpless and speechless.
The system started sending constant reminders. Her time was running out.
[System Notice: Host, enjoy yourself. Five minutes left. You will feel the burning pain again, with double the pain and double the duration!]
[System Notice: Host, enjoy yourself. Three minutes left. A suitable male has been found. Move forward bravely and try to downgrade!]
Hearing the system, Zoey gasped for air and flapped her huge wings behind her with all her strength, furious.
Did it expect her to want to feel that kind of pain?
The giant creature was running below, probably too far to hear her even if she shouted.
Why not let her turn into a bird? What kind of curse was this?
[Warning! Warning! Host, enjoy yourself. One minute left. You will feel the burning pain again, with double the pain and double the duration!]
Zoey stuffed a transformation pill into her mouth. She could already feel the pain building in her body, growing more intense.
Next to the land was a huge body of water. If her large body fell in, it could drown surrounding beast tribes.
Helping the beast world might lower her rank, but destroying it would surely anger the system. It was safer to be cautious and stay small as a beast after transforming.
"Ah!"
With a scream, the pain made her lose consciousness. The doubled pain was unbearable.
She didn't even have time to shout to the giant beast below before passing out.
Being knocked out by pain only to be awakened by it again was pure torture. She fell at impossible speed, and with a huge splash, Zoey plunged into the water. She gave up struggling.
The icy water surrounded her instantly. Strangely, she didn't panic or feel fear.
She knew she was immortal; at worst, she would just suffer a little.
The giant beast running on land seemed to sense something. It turned and saw her falling, then ran toward the water, transforming into its beast form mid-stride.
Zoey, swallowed by the water, didn't panic. She opened her eyes and held her breath instinctively.
She didn't struggle, letting her body sink. She wanted to see how far she could fall. The system had said she was immortal, after all.
Might as well give up and see if she would drown in the sea.
In her beast form, her hair floated freely like seaweed. She swished her head and even enjoyed the feeling.
While admiring her messy hair, she noticed a shadow above.
It was a tall, strong beast-person, looking straight at her with deep eyes.
His thin lips were pressed tight, expression firm, and two small ears on his head made him look kind of cute.
He shot toward her through the water like lightning.
Getting closer and closer…
Zoey saw that his muscles were very strong, and he looked even more powerful swimming in deep water.
At that moment, the system suddenly gave a check:
Type: Male dinosaur
Origin: Father: Tan Ku (sky), Mother: Mu Hebei (earth), naturally born
Name: Lex
Talent: Sharp eyes and ears
Level: Medium
Transformation: Can turn into a beast-human during mating season
Skill: Roar and stomp
"…"
A dinosaur!
Zoey got distracted and accidentally swallowed a mouthful of salty seawater. She quickly covered her mouth and nose.
Oh no! Incredible! And she got to see a dinosaur too?
When she saw the system list "roar and stomp" as a skill, she couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Glug glug…"
A few bubbles later, she accidentally swallowed a few more mouthfuls of seawater.
By now, Lex had swum next to her, his eyes wide like big headlights.
Time seemed to freeze. He didn't expect that he had actually saved a female!
Seeing Zoey spit out some bubbles, Lex snapped back to reality and swam straight to her without hesitation.
He grabbed her slim waist. The touch distracted him, and he accidentally drank a bit of seawater too.
Then Lex used his strong arms to hold Zoey tightly and swam upward with all his strength. The water resistance couldn't stop him. His eyes were determined to save her.
Meanwhile, Zoey was already dazed from choking on the water. She only felt a strong arm holding her tightly. His warmth made the cold seawater feel nothing to her.
"Cough cough!"
Spitting out the salty water, Zoey coughed hard twice.
Something felt wrong. When she opened her eyes, she realized the world in front of her was upside down!
Her head was hurting from bumping around, and she realized she had been carried head-down everywhere. She hadn't drowned, but she was about to faint!
Some salty water was still in her mouth. She tried to shout but couldn't, so she kept hitting the one carrying her, hoping he would stop.
Maybe she was too weak. He didn't feel anything and kept running with her upside down.
No choice. Zoey closed her eyes and consciously transformed into her beast form.
Her sudden huge transformation pressed Lex, still in beast-human form, under her.
"No matter how I hit you, you don't feel it! I'm going to get shaken to death! And your talent is supposed to be sharp eyes and ears? Useless!"
Beast Zoey complained fiercely first.
She turned to look around, but there wasn't a single shadow. Where had he gone?
How could he run so fast? Maybe he was born running straight out of the womb.