As soon as Zoey finished speaking, Lex proudly patted his chest and said,
"Catching it is easy! Zoey, I have plenty of strength, it won't take much effort at all!"
"I just swam around it a few times and knocked it out. Then I turned into my beast form, stepped on it a few times until it passed out completely, and dragged it up!"
Zoey: …
She was being bullied badly, just by listening to him!
She realized that when talking to Lex, she couldn't be vague or indirect. She had to say exactly what she meant.
"Anyway, you're not allowed to catch anything that big in the future. The biggest should not be bigger than the ones we cooked now!"
If she didn't warn him in advance, what if she actually became a female beast in the water someday and he accidentally caught her to cook? That would be terrible.
"Don't worry, Zoey, I remember!"
Hearing that, Zoey relaxed. But when he said the next line, she panicked again.
"Zoey, as soon as it's morning, I'll go into the sea and catch all the big fish for you! Not a single one will be left!"
Lex patted his chest and promised.
Zoey was shocked.
"No, no! Don't do that!"
"Fish taste best when they are freshly caught and cooked. If you catch them all at once, they'll go bad. We can't eat spoiled fish, and it would be wasted. Wait until I want to eat before catching more!"
"If there's enough to eat, don't catch more. Just enough is fine. Don't catch them all at once!"
She wasn't sure if this "ancestor" would listen to her.
"Okay, fine. I'll catch when you tell me to. If there's enough, I won't catch more. I'll listen to you!"
Finally, Zoey let go of her worry and fear…
She breathed out slowly and nodded at Lex. At least this time, he listened.
After eating and drinking enough, Zoey lay on the beach and asked the system a question: how long would this pregnancy last?
[System check: This pregnancy will last three years and eight months. The system will remind you when the due date is near.]
"How long?" Zoey shouted.
Three years and eight months? Was this a joke? Was she carrying a Nezha?
No, Nezha's mother was pregnant for only three years and six months. What exactly was she carrying?
This was going to kill her!
At that moment, Lex came running over, making splashing sounds.
"What's wrong, Zoey? What happened?"
"Are you okay? Do you feel sick?"
Earlier, he said he was hungry but didn't want grilled fish and insisted on eating low-level beasts.
Zoey guessed he was going to catch more low-level beasts. The one he caught before had somehow escaped.
She decided to keep Lex at a distance. As long as he didn't eat in front of her, he could eat whatever he wanted.
Seeing the blood on his hands, Zoey frowned. She felt a wave of nausea.
Noticing her expression, Lex quickly hid his hands behind his back and wiped his mouth. He looked worried and asked again,
"Zoey, what's wrong? Are you feeling sick? I can take you back to see a healer."
"Now that you have a baby inside, you can't take risks. You should come back to my clan with me."
Lex tried to persuade her, but Zoey didn't answer. She just thought to herself…
If we calculate three years and eight months, the baby in her belly would probably be tiny, like a sesame seed…
"I'm fine. Lex, come over. No! Go wash up first, then come back. I need to ask you something."
Zoey had wanted Lex to sit beside her and answer a few questions, but then she remembered how bloody he could get, so she quickly told him to go wash up.
Lex hurried to the beach, splashing as he went, and soon returned, quietly sitting beside Zoey. "Zoey, ask me anything you want!"
"I know everything about our tribe! And if I don't, I can find out. After all, I'm the smartest male in the tribe!"
Zoey nodded along, not caring whether he was exaggerating. She focused on the question in her mind.
"Lex, do you know how long it takes for the females in your tribe to give birth after getting pregnant?"
Lex nodded and answered quickly, "All the males in the tribe say that every female has roughly the same pregnancy period, about five years."
"…"
Zoey shivered. Five years… roughly?
Thinking she might be cold, Lex quickly pulled her into his arms. Then, realizing something, he let go for a moment. Just as Zoey was puzzled, she heard his voice above her head.
"Zoey, can I hold you? You look cold, and I want to warm you up!"
The beach was cold at night. Sand wasn't as warm as Lex's body, so Zoey nodded.
She would have to stay with their dinosaur tribe for three years and eight months. She couldn't spread fire-making skills, and stone utensils probably wouldn't help them. She had to wait until the baby was born to reduce her "rank." What else could she do to achieve that?
She had no idea. After a moment, she asked quietly in Lex's arms, "Is there anything your tribe can't solve, or something even the chief can't handle? Tell me."
Helping solve their problems would benefit the tribe, and the system would likely lower her rank.
Lex didn't know why Zoey asked, but he thought and answered honestly, "There's nothing the tribe can't solve. But my dad said the only thing he can't handle is the females. They always fight over males instead of sharing them fairly. Some females never get pregnant, and because many males get injured often, a few females reached the end of their lives without giving birth. Over the past fifteen years, only one baby was born because the number of males has been dropping each year."
Zoey, who had been feeling sleepy, was instantly wide awake.
This was a lot of shocking information. Lex's dad was the chief! There were multiple females in his tribe, some dying without ever giving birth! And the females competed for males instead of pairing based on numbers.
Seeing Zoey's confused face looking up at him, Lex looked down and said firmly, "Do you have more questions? I know everything about the tribe. If I don't, I can find out for you. Just ask."
"Heh."
Zoey gave a cold laugh. She didn't know what else to ask. What else could she even ask…
Just now, Lex said that in their tribe, only one baby was born in fifteen years. He hadn't realized it at first, but now he suddenly understood.
Lex is exactly fifteen years old, which means in the past fifteen years, only his father and mother had a child.
No wonder she is considered the smartest in the tribe!
After a short silence, Zoey asked again,
"Are there many males in your tribe?"
There should be more than in the Sinek tribe. In the Sinek tribe, there were many males but only one female. In Lex's tribe, if there are a few females, there must be a lot of males.
"Our tribe has many more males than females. There are four females in total, and over ten males."
"Over ten? Your tribe only has a little more than ten males?"
Zoey got up from Lex's arms, stood in front of him, and asked to be sure.
Ten-something males and four females? In Sinek, it was hundreds of males for one female. This beast world is so strange…
With so few of them, and they still want to eat each other? What are they thinking? Do they want their tribe to go extinct faster?
"You okay, Zoey?"
Lex looked at her, surprised by her reaction, and asked.
"Lex, is your father the tribe leader?"
Lex nodded truthfully. "Yes. My father was the tribe leader when I was born."
Zoey decided she must go back to their tribe and talk to his father. Killing each other will only speed up their tribe's destruction.
"Lex, at dawn, I'm going back with you. I want to talk to your father."
Lex didn't know why she wanted to see his father, but he nodded in agreement.
"I can carry you and leave now. We could reach the tribe before dawn if we cross two mountains," Lex suggested, pointing ahead.
Zoey couldn't see, but she guessed he meant two mountains in the distance.
She refused. She couldn't handle that bumpy ride—it would shake her insides badly.
"No need. We'll go together at dawn. You run, I fly, and we'll get there fast!"
"Alright, whatever you want," Lex said, seeing she didn't want to go now. He sat with her again by the fire.
"Zoey, I need to tell you something, but you have to promise me first!"
Just as Zoey was about to sleep, Lex spoke again. She was annoyed but said "okay."
"Did you promise?" Lex shook her while holding her.
Zoey almost threw up, and her sleep was gone. She was pregnant and couldn't even have a peaceful rest. This fool was really annoying.
"Yes! I promise. Now just say it!"
"Lex, I'm pregnant and need to rest. After you say it, I want to sleep!"
Thinking of something, Zoey reminded Lex seriously again.
"By the way, you're not allowed to run off while I'm sleeping. Sit here quietly and wait for me to wake up!"
Lex nodded obediently, which was rare for him. Then he started pleading with Zoey,
"Zoey, when we go back to the clan, if you want to talk to my dad about sharing the males in the clan, can you take me with you?"
"Huh?"
Zoey looked at Lex, confused. She didn't understand what he meant.
"I ran away because I didn't want other females to share me. But when we go back, my dad will let those four females choose me again. But now it's different. I've already bonded with you.
Before, I didn't want them to share me because I didn't like those four females. They're not as pretty as you and they don't have wings.
But when you go back to the clan, if you talk about sharing other males, please keep me by your side. We already have our mark."
Lex showed the mark on his arm to Zoey. She understood what he meant and patted him to make him feel better.
"Don't worry. When I go to your clan, I won't talk about that. I just want to discuss how to prevent your dinosaur species from decreasing.
I will only choose you, the male, in the clan. I'm not interested in the others. You're the smartest in your clan, and I definitely won't pick the rest!"
Hearing this, Lex smiled happily.
He knew the female he liked was completely different from the ones in the clan.
Lex hugged Zoey and swung her back and forth. Zoey almost got dizzy.
She didn't understand why his ears sometimes worked and sometimes didn't.
Earlier, during the conversation, he heard everything clearly and answered every question. But when he swung her around and almost made her sick, he couldn't hear her even after she called many times.
It wasn't until Zoey changed back to her human-like form that he realized he was too excited and hadn't waited for her permission to swing her.
Looking at the few remaining transformation pills in the system, Zoey felt too sad to say anything. She didn't use them anymore. She just knelt on the sand and decided to sleep there.
The next morning, Zoey ate some grilled fish. Even if she wasn't hungry, she had to eat because flying with those big wings would take a lot of energy.
Even if she was tired, she didn't want Lex to carry her and run fast. It was too uncomfortable, and she didn't want to waste her transformation pills.
Soon, Zoey followed Lex back to the clan. From behind the mountain, she saw a wide grassland with a dozen dinosaurs that looked as ugly as her beast form.
Some were fighting in pairs, some were yelling to the sky, and some were tearing each other apart.
As soon as Zoey landed, she collapsed from exhaustion. Lex quickly helped her up.
"Zoey, are you okay? What's wrong?"
Zoey shook her head and rested for a while. Then she took a transformation pill. She was fine; she was just tired.
From the moment she landed, she needed a pill. Without transforming, her short legs would tire her out quickly.
Lex also changed into his beast form and walked with her across the endless grassland.
Seeing Zoey change back to her human-like form again, Lex was confused. He seemed to not like his beast form. After hesitating, he finally asked,
"Zoey, why do you always hurry to change back when you're in your beast form?"
Zoey smiled awkwardly,
"I once saw my reflection in the water. I thought I was the ugliest female on this beast continent, so I took a transformation pill…"