"Wh-what do you mean, 'Mama-form Lynelle'?!"
Only then did Lynelle notice the Cake Cat being nearly smothered between the two of them, so she quickly scooped it out from their chests.
"Not sure… but Lynelle in this form really does give off mom-energy." Stelle nodded seriously.
"You… isn't having Kafka and Himeko enough? Have you been sneaking around on the Interastral Network again lately?"
Lynelle pinched Stelle's soft cheeks and stretched them sideways.
"I haven't! But hey, why did you suddenly switch to this form, Lynelle?"
Stelle shook her head, then looked at the pink Cake Cat in Lynelle's hands. "Or… is it because of this?"
"That's a long story… If you'd come just a bit earlier, you might've seen me fighting a swarm of True Stings. The number of bugs here is about the same as the number of Cake Cats."
"Uh…" Stelle glanced around.
Counting the previously leaked Cake Cats she'd just brought back, there were already close to twenty Cake Cats in her line of sight.
Add in the other zones… probably nearing fifty.
To think, even back when they were swallowed by that giant True Sting, the number of eggs cleaned off the Express hadn't reached this many.
"Wait, that doesn't make sense. I remember Stings have really strong reproductive abilities. If there were fifty of them here, shouldn't the entire station be overrun by now?"
"Oh? You actually remembered that… not bad, better than March."
Hearing Stelle's question, Lynelle showed a flicker of surprise, then explained, "If these True Stings were normal bugs, then yeah, that's exactly what would've happened. Unfortunately… these bugs aren't normal."
"What I mean is, their reproductive ability has been neutered—their splitting efficiency is greatly reduced. Plus, due to some reason, these bugs' bodies can't handle the Path energy inside them."
"After splitting once, the original body will most likely self-destruct… So, it's not that they aren't reproducing—it's that their numbers are being artificially controlled."
"You don't mean…" Stelle's mouth twitched. She could think of one person.
"Probably exactly that." Lynelle nodded. "I just sent a message to Ruan Mei, but she hasn't replied yet."
"Usually, she's pretty free. If she suddenly goes radio silent, she's probably in a meeting with Herta and the others, discussing the Simulated Universe… So, we can slack off a bit—oops, I mean, play with the Cake Cats a bit."
"Ah, speaking of which…" Stelle immediately looked at the pink Cake Cat in Lynelle's arms, curious.
"I wanted to ask earlier… Lynelle, why does the Cake Cat you're holding look so… much like you?"
"Does it?"
Lynelle tilted her head, the feather-like ornament on her hair swaying slightly.
The Cake Cat in her arms seemed to sense Lynelle's puzzlement and wriggled a bit, the feather decoration on its crust swaying along.
"It's exactly the same!" Stelle nodded emphatically, then took the Lynelle Cake Cat from Lynelle's hands.
"How did you make this little cutie?"
"Over there." Lynelle pointed at the nearby Lifeform Oven. "Ruan Mei's Lifeform Oven. You can select parental traits to breed the next generation of Cake Cats you want… But remember to hold back a bit. Don't make too many."
"Yay!" Stelle cheered, plopped the Lynelle Cake Cat on her head, and hurried over to the incubation pod.
"Don't worry, I won't cause a Cake Cat infestation!"
Honestly, even though Stelle usually seemed a bit scatterbrained, she always showed remarkable talent in all sorts of odd areas.
For example, to breed this Lynelle Cake Cat, Lynelle had spent nearly half an hour filtering traits before she got this one. But once Stelle took over the Lifeform Oven…
"Uh…"
Looking at Stelle, who'd produced over a dozen strangely familiar-looking Cake Cats in less than half an hour, Lynelle's face was full of self-doubt.
"What's wrong, Lynelle?" Stelle, who'd been playing without a care, tilted her head slightly.
"Nothing much. I was just thinking… before you lost your memory, maybe you were actually a little Cake Cat raised by the Stellaron Hunters? Otherwise, your mass-production speed of one per minute can't just be explained away as 'natural talent,' you know."
Lynelle wore a thoughtful expression.
"Heheh, back when I was running the museum in Belobog, someone said the same thing about me!"
Stelle immediately puffed up proudly, hands on her hips, then led Lynelle over to the area she'd assigned for the Cake Cats.
"Look—this zone is for the Express crew's Cake Cats, and this one's for the Stellaron Hunters. Over there is Belobog's section… Huh? Lynelle, what are you doing?"
Lynelle, who'd quietly just tucked the newly made Firefly cake and Evernight cake into their respective zones, guiltily shifted her gaze away.
"Just… adding a 'dark version' for little March… ehehe~"
"Oh…" Stelle didn't seem suspicious at all, instead eagerly switching to camera mode and sending a link to the Express group chat.
--+--
[Stelle: Look, look! A new lifeform bred by Ruan Mei—Cake Cats!]
[March 7th: Wow, what's this? They're so cute! But that little blue-shelled one… kinda looks like me? Wait, no—two of them?]
[March 7th: Hold on, these are totally modeled after everyone on the Express, aren't they! I already see a Lynelle cake and a Dan Heng cake, and a Himeko cake is still licking coffee from a cup!]
[Dan Heng: That is not me. Also, please record the characteristics of this lifeform. I will file it in the Data Bank when I return.]
[Welt: Although they share the same basic shape, everyone's distinct features are quite recognizable… but I have one question.]
[Welt sent a screenshot.]
[Welt: Why… do these Cake Cats like to stack on top of each other?]
Looking at the screenshot where the Lynelle Cake Cat was buried under a pile of Stelle, March 7th, and Evernight Cake Cats, Lynelle immediately covered her face.
[Lynelle: Ahem, that's… just how these creatures are. Cake Cats love stacking together for fun.]
[Welt: I see… but why are they so determined to keep the one that looks like Lynelle on the bottom?]
[Lynelle: That's because the bottom cake has to bear the weight of the ones above, so they choose the most trusted Cake Cat to lie underneath. Yeah, that's how it is.]
--+--
Watching as the Ruan Mei cake and the Herta cake were already rushing to the scene to fight over the Lynelle cake—and the Dan Heng cake hissing because other Cake Cats had entered the Express zone—Lynelle hurriedly ended Stelle's video livestream.
"Heheh… the Lynelle Cake Cat really is adorable though…"
Seeing the circle of Cake Cats currently licking the Lynelle Cake Cat, Stelle sneakily glanced at Lynelle, whose face had flushed pink.
"What are you looking at? Don't you dare try licking me!"
Lynelle quickly made a big 'X' with her arms, stopping a certain Stellaron gremlin from attempting to give her a lick.
"Don't go corrupting these cute little Cake Cats, you!"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.