"Zoey, don't worry and don't be scared. Right now, I'm the strongest and most powerful on the grassland. I'll keep training until no male can beat me. I will protect you and the baby for sure!"
After hearing Lex's promise, Zoey felt relieved. She reached out and gently tapped Lex on the head to show she was very happy.
Lex was happy too. Then he led Zoey into the cave.
"Don't worry. My father will protect you too. You don't need to take what the other males said seriously. As the clan leader, he will care about the big picture but will never let anyone hurt us."
Zoey nodded and followed Lex into the cave, but she didn't fully agree with what he said.
Before, when those male dinosaurs said they wanted to share her, the clan leader, Carbon, didn't react immediately. That meant he agreed with them.
Also, as the clan leader, he naturally wants his species to reproduce more. Even if he disagrees now, it's only temporary because she's pregnant. After she gives birth, he will care about the big picture and want her to bond with more males.
As soon as they entered the cave, before she even sat down, she heard Lex's father advising him:
"Lex, your female is so sensible. Don't be stubborn. Our clan is getting smaller. This is a good opportunity."
Especially since she's a winged female. If she has a winged baby, it would be a first, and as clan leader, he would feel fulfilled.
"Father, even though you are the clan leader, you are also my dad. How can you not think about me?"
Lex said, looking annoyed. Carbon scolded him with a stern face:
"Just because I'm your father, I speak nicely with you. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't even discuss it. As the clan leader, I must think about the big picture. Even if you are my son, that doesn't change it!"
The father and son were tense and about to fight, so Zoey quickly spoke:
"Lex, don't make your father angry. We can talk about this later. Right now, I have something else to discuss with him."
Seeing Lex quiet down, Zoey turned to the clan leader, Carbon, and said:
"Clan leader, I…"
Before she could finish, Carbon interrupted:
"Huh? Clan leader? You should call me Father, just like Lex does. Call me Dad!"
Zoey was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded and said, "Father!"
"Good, good!"
Hearing Zoey call him father, Carbon shouted happily to the sky. He had waited fifteen years for this moment. In five more years, he could hear the baby call him grandfather.
"Ha ha ha, roar, roar, roar!"
Just when Zoey thought the whole cave might collapse from his shouting, Carbon stopped. Then, he pulled out a bone about her height and placed it beside her.
"…"
Zoey looked at Lex confused. What did his father mean by giving her a bone?
"Father is happy. This is his gift for you. He has kept this bone for almost twenty years!"
Zoey just stared.
A twenty-year-old bone! What would she even need that for?
Keep it? She had never heard of that before!
At this moment, Tanku's voice came over, "Zoey, if you have anything to say, just say it. As long as it is something I can do as the leader, I will do my best to help you!"
Zoey pushed down her doubts. She would ask Lex later what this bone was for.
Looking at Tanku, she said, "Father, there are fewer and fewer dinosaurs on the grasslands. Even though pregnancy takes a long time and females are rare, the biggest reason is that they fight and eat each other. That's why their numbers are going down."
Tanku nodded, not surprised, and told her, "Of course I know that. But it has always been this way in the tribe, from the past until now. The strong eat the weak, and the weak eat grass. How can this be changed? As long as you work hard, find more partners, and give birth to more children, that's better than anything!"
He didn't say the last part out loud because he was afraid his son would get angry. But he knew this female called Zoey understood things clearly, maybe even more than he did, so he felt relieved.
"You must make rules to stop them from eating each other, especially the middle and high-level dinosaurs. They should not be harmed casually!"
Tanku nodded again. "Setting rules is possible. Then they can eat the lower-level plant-eating dinosaurs."
"But even if that happens, they will still die of old age, including the females. When the time comes, they will all die. Right now, I only hope the baby in your belly is a female, so our tribe will have hope."
Zoey was speechless.
Not only was she being dragged in, but now even the baby in her belly was being dragged in too?
She ignored his words and continued with her own thoughts, "Father, as the leader, you can't let things go on like this. You must assign them!"
This time, Tanku did not nod. He stared with his big round eyes, thought about it, but still didn't understand.
"Assign them? As the leader, do you mean I should fight on their behalf and help them grab a male?"
As expected, Tanku didn't get it. Zoey quickly explained, "No, father, listen. I mean you should assign males directly according to age. Let each female be matched with a male. They can stay together until the set number of days passes. If the female isn't pregnant, then she changes to another male."
"This way, there will be less fighting and eating among them. It will also save a lot of time, and females won't go so long without getting pregnant."
As soon as Zoey said this, Tanku jumped up and rushed outside.
The cave shook again, almost collapsing. Zoey pulled in her short legs and spread her wings to protect her head.
It was fine if the cave collapsed. She was immortal anyway. As long as her head wasn't hit and made stupid, she didn't care.
"Zoey, don't worry! This cave is very strong, it won't collapse!"
Seeing her so scared, Lex quickly reached out to protect her at his side.
At the same time, he raised his other hand and punched the cave ceiling twice to show how solid the cave was.
Who would have thought, with a loud crash, the cave broke open with a huge hole. Many stones fell onto Zoey's back.
Luckily, her beast form had thick skin and tough flesh. If she had been in human form, she would have been badly hurt.
She was so angry at this fool. His father had never made the cave collapse, yet Lex had gone and smashed a giant hole in it on purpose…
Looking through the hole in the cave roof at the blue sky outside, Lex grinned foolishly, then pulled Zoey toward the cave entrance.
He needed to leave before his father came back. Otherwise, his father would not let him off easily. As long as he was not there, no one could say it was him…
"Where are you taking me? I'm hungry!"
Zoey's short legs could never keep up with Lex. He was holding her tightly, she could not even fly away.
After walking tens of meters and finally breaking free of his grip, Lex stopped and pointed into the distance.
"Over there! Behind that place! There's another cave, it's much safer and stronger than this one."
Zoey looked at where he was pointing, then spread her wings and flew straight over.
Walk there with short legs? She would be exhausted.
Seeing her fly to the cave, Lex quickly turned and ran off in another direction.
He needed to catch fish for Zoey. She would not eat the low-level grass-eating beasts here, her favorite was fresh roasted fish.
Zoey landed at the cave entrance, folded her wings, and stood there.
But when she turned around, Lex was gone. She looked around. Where did that guy run off to again?
She had just told him she was hungry. What an unreliable partner!
And an even more unreliable father! He was starving the baby in her belly too!
As Zoey complained in her heart, suddenly she heard Lex's excited voice from not far away.
"Zoey! Look! Zoey!"
She looked over and saw Lex running toward her, holding a big fish with both hands, smiling happily.
"Wow! What a beautiful fish!" Zoey said in surprise.
It was a colorful fish. The system did not give any warning, which meant it was just an ordinary fish.
But looking at the fish jumping around on the ground, Zoey still hesitated. Could something this pretty be poisonous?
Lex did not think about that at all. Excited, he quickly cleaned the fish, started a fire, and kept glancing at Zoey.
If she praised him at the right moment, he would be endlessly motivated.
Lex followed the way Zoey had once taught him. He put the fish on a branch and set it over the fire to roast.
Soon the fish was ready, giving off a delicious smell.
Zoey could not wait to take a bite. The meat was tender and juicy, and surprisingly, the colorful fish was sweet.
While she was busy eating, Lex went behind the mountain to fill his own stomach.
Zoey patted her belly with satisfaction. She did not plan to change back to her beast form, just sat beside Lex.
They looked at each other and smiled.
This guy might be clumsy, but he learned quickly, and sometimes he could be thoughtful too.
Leaning casually against Lex, Zoey enjoyed the short moment of peace.
"Zoey, it's dark now. Let's go inside and rest," Lex asked, looking at her. Lately he did not know what was going on, maybe it was because of the mating season?
After eating and drinking, the fire in his body only grew stronger…
"Wait a bit longer, I still want to look outside."
Zoey did not notice any change in Lex. She thought about waiting until the stars appeared in the sky to look at them again.
"Let's go, rest inside the cave," Lex urged her once more.
Sensing something, Zoey turned her head to look at him. Even though he was in his huge beast form, his voice sounded especially gentle and soft.
"Lex, are you…" was he going into heat again?
Before she could finish asking, the ground shook violently. It turned out that Lex's father, Tanku, was running over from afar.
"Father, it's already getting dark, why are you running here instead of resting?"
Seeing his father rush over, Lex asked unhappily.
"Out of the way!"
Tanku did not even give Lex a glance. He pushed him aside and sat directly next to Zoey, grinning widely at her.
Zoey: "…"
She knew this smile was normal for Lex's father, but with his bared teeth and all that drool dripping down, the fire in front of them was about to be extinguished.
"Father, do you need something?"
Before the fire went out, Zoey quickly asked Tanku.
Tanku nodded. "Zoey, earlier you asked me to assign males to those females. I already arranged it. Just as you said, based on the age of each male, I gave every female one partner."
Zoey nodded, confirming it was fine. Tanku then continued,
"But just now, some males asked. They said, what if the time comes but the female does not get pregnant? What should happen to the first male that became her mate? Should he be torn apart and eaten?"
Zoey: "…" Then what is the point of setting such a rule? Wouldn't that only speed up the extinction of the dinosaur tribe?
"Dad, you're so stupid. The others in the tribe are even dumber!"
Lex muttered on the side, making Tanku's eyes widen in anger.
"Shut up!"
He knew his son was the smartest on the plains, but he had no plan to ask him.
Just as he was about to continue asking Zoey, he felt his son was in the way, so he hurriedly urged him,
"Zoey is already pregnant. At night, she needs to eat two extra meals. You, as the father of the baby, as her male, instead of preparing food for her, you're still lazing here?
If Zoey and the baby in her belly go hungry and become thin, I'll drive you out of the plains! I don't care if you're the smartest one here!"
Hearing this, Lex looked at Zoey.
Zoey quickly nodded to him, signaling that his father was right. With her large body, one fish was not enough. Besides, she was pregnant.
Seeing her nod, Lex believed his father's words. He quickly stood up and ran off into the distance.
Without Lex bothering them, Tanku turned back to Zoey and asked again about the matter.
"Zoey, don't you know? After a male and female become mates, if the female never gets pregnant, the male loses all hope. Even if he isn't eaten by others, he will eventually die of old age, and he can't hold his head up in the tribe."
Zoey thought for a moment. She could not let the male switch to another female, because betrayal meant the most serious punishment.
But she also could not let the male live in shame, or worse, be eaten by others. Suddenly, she remembered that a female could sometimes be pregnant for years before giving birth. With this thought, she came up with a good solution…