The sudden cry startled Lu Xia. She even began to doubt what she had just heard.
Pregnant?
Me?
The eight people standing before her were all staring with incredulous eyes, as if looking at some rare creature.
"Why would you think that?" Lu Xia asked, quickly regaining her composure.
The young Beastman who had just spoken pointed to the indicator light that was still flashing on her wrist. "Isn't this the light that indicates pregnancy?"
Although the Empire hadn't seen a naturally conceived female in several centuries, the function of this indicator light on the terminal was deeply ingrained in the mind of every citizen.
He was certain he wasn't mistaken.
After all, the Empire placed extraordinary importance on the existence of naturally conceiving females.
And now, this tiny indicator light was flashing incessantly before their very eyes, heralding an unbelievable miracle.
Lu Xia was stunned for a second after hearing the explanation, then laughed. "Are you kidding me? Couldn't it just be that my terminal is malfunctioning?"
Er... perhaps that was also a possibility.
Not giving the group much time to ponder the question, Lu Xia said nonchalantly, "Alright, you can all go back for now. Once the dorms here are cleaned up, you can stay here if you don't want to go back. Dismissed."
Without another word, Lu Xia wasted no time, turning and quickly exiting the conference room.
The old butler had been standing outside the door for some time. When he saw Lu Xia emerge, he was about to ask where she was headed next when he heard her say, "Go buy several more terminals. Get the latest models."
The old butler was taken aback. He didn't understand what Lu Xia needed so many terminals for, but he didn't ask why. He simply nodded in acknowledgment and hurried off to handle the matter.
Having spent these past few days with Lu Xia, the old butler had finally come to accept her various unusual behaviors.
Perhaps he had been shocked too many times, and he no longer felt the initial urge to know why. Besides, Lu Xia was not a female who enjoyed giving explanations; she only cared about results.
After the old butler left, Lu Xia returned to her hovercar, opened her terminal, and searched: "What does it mean when a terminal's indicator light constantly flashes green?"
Even though she had acted perfectly calm and natural in front of the eight people, it didn't mean that deep down she wasn't concerned about it.
'Pregnant?'
'How is that possible?'
'Aren't 'defective' males supposed to be unable to impregnate anyone?'
'Besides, the Empire hasn't had a case of natural conception in who knows how many years. The entire population growth of the Empire relies on 'artificial' means, okay?'
As she harbored these doubts, the search result appeared—Terminal Indicator Light Description: Used to indicate that a female has successfully conceived.
The short description confirmed that the man from earlier hadn't been lying.
This indicator light, whose function she hadn't understood, really was to signal a successful conception.
'Ha, what kind of messed-up design is this!'
'Couldn't it be a malfunction? It has to be a malfunction!'
'How could I possibly be pregnant?'
Just as Lu Xia was questioning her very existence, the old butler returned, holding several terminals in his arms. "Duke, the ones you wanted…"
Before the old butler could finish, Lu Xia had already reached out and taken the terminals from him. "Good, give them to me. Thank you for your hard work."
"It was no trouble. It is my duty," the old butler replied formally. He then watched as Lu Xia removed the terminal from her wrist and began trying on the ones he had bought, one by one. And then he saw that every single terminal she put on uniformly began to flash with a green light.
Uncontrollable shock filled his eyes. Even though the old butler tried to feign composure, he couldn't suppress it. What was he seeing?
The indicator light that existed but had never served any purpose was actually flashing!
So that thing really wasn't just for decoration!
What did this mean? Did this mean Duke Lu Xia was pregnant?
After trying on a dozen terminals with the same result, Lu Xia resigned herself to her fate. She looked up at the old butler, who couldn't hide his shock, and asked, "You also think I'm pregnant, don't you?"
"No, but, this…" The old butler was so shocked he became incoherent for a moment. His mind was a complete blank, unable to think about what he should say or do. He could only stare fixedly at the terminal on Lu Xia's wrist.
Every citizen of the Empire knew what the sole indicator light on the terminal signified. Perhaps they wouldn't think of it on a normal day, but once it started flashing, no one could ignore its meaning.
Despite the old butler's uncharacteristic behavior, Lu Xia found her answer in his shocked expression.
'It seems everyone thinks I'm pregnant now!'
"Let's go home," she said calmly, but inwardly she was thinking, 'I should find time to go to a hospital for a check-up. Even if it's true, I can't just trust a terminal's diagnosis.'
"Duke, people from the Fertility Research Institute will probably find you very soon." The old butler finally came to his senses, but his words made Lu Xia's heart skip a beat. "What do you mean?"
The old butler struggled to calm his inner shock as he explained, "This detection function on the terminal is linked to the Empire's Fertility Research Institute. Once it's triggered, it's impossible for them not to know. It's only a matter of time."
"…" Lu Xia was genuinely speechless now. In other words, the news of her 'pregnancy' had already been broadcast?
*
At that moment, inside the Empire's Fertility Research Institute, the researcher in charge of monitoring 'natural conception' let out a bored yawn. It was his turn to be on duty today, a task that the researchers considered practically a day off.
After all, for the past several hundred years, this monitoring system had been in place, and the researchers in charge had rotated through countless shifts without ever receiving a single alert.
Many even felt that the system was no longer necessary and should be abolished as soon as possible. That would free up a significant amount of funding for other research projects.
Instead of wasting it on monitoring something that was never going to yield results.
The fact was, no matter how hard they tried, it was no longer possible for a naturally conceiving female to appear in the Empire.
Over these centuries, females had evolved and changed. The genes that enabled natural conception had likely vanished from the bodies of all Beastmen long ago.
Continuing the research was simply meaningless.
"Linke, are you on duty today? I just ordered takeout, want to have some?"
Suddenly hearing his name, the bored Linke turned his head and replied with a smile, "Don't mind if I do. I was just thinking of ordering something to kill time."
"Yeah, if you ask me, they should just scrap this monitoring project already. It's not like anything's going to come of it…" The speaker's voice trailed off abruptly. His calm gaze was replaced by shock. What was he seeing? The indicator light signifying natural conception… had lit up!
Not only that, but a piercing alarm blared throughout the entire research institute!