Just as the wild beasts were about to reach Yu An, a thick Qing Teng appeared. It quickly wrapped her into a tight ball for protection, looking at first glance like a giant green egg.
Sensing that the Qing Teng meant no harm, Mo Yan focused his attention entirely on dealing with the beasts. Soon, the attackers either lay dead or had scattered.
Wiping the splattered blood from his face, he was just about to go check on Yu An when cries of pain suddenly echoed from within the "giant green egg."
Shortly after, the Qing Teng unwrapped, revealing Yu An and three... eggs?
Mo Yan looked at Yu An, then at the three eggs, and exclaimed in shock, "Why did you give birth to eggs?!"
Yu An, having just given birth, was too exhausted to speak. She also wanted to know why she had given birth to eggs.
On the Beastman Continent, a Zaizai's beast form was inherited from its Beast Father, but the method of birth depended entirely on the Female Mother. Only if the Female Mother was an oviparous Beastman would she lay eggs.
Although Yu An couldn't transform into her beast form, her Beast Father was a black panther. Therefore, she should also be a black panther, which meant she should give birth to live young. What exactly went wrong?
As the original owner's memories flashed through her mind, Yu An suddenly realized something. The original owner's parents had been incredibly cold to her, yet they lavished affection on her twin sister. The original owner had always believed her parents disliked her because her ugly appearance and zero Fertility brought them shame.
But thinking about it now, a bold speculation crossed Yu An's mind.
The original owner wasn't their biological child!
But was it the Female Mother who had an affair, or did the Beast Father cheat? Or perhaps, both of them had secrets?
While Yu An was deep in thought, Mo Yan sniffed the three eggs one by one.
Mating with three males at the same time... made it possible to conceive three different Zaizais. Seeing the three eggs, Mo Yan was highly surprised.
The highest known Fertility was Heavenly Level, but even then, a female could only give birth to a maximum of two Zaizais at once, and the chances were extremely slim. For Yu An to actually have a litter of three Zaizais—could she possess the legendary Divine level fertility?
At the same time, Mo Yan felt a deep sense of disappointment. He had sniffed them out; not a single one of the three Zaizais was his.
Before setting out for the exiled land, he had made it perfectly clear: if the Zaizais belonged to the other two males, he would escort Yu An to Han Ling City, and in return, she would break their contract and set him free.
Mo Yan turned his head, wanting to confirm this with Yu An to prevent her from backing out at the last minute. But when he saw her pale face, he reconsidered and decided to bring it up later.
"Get some rest. I'll go take care of the beast carcasses."
Quite a few dead beasts were piled up at the cave entrance. If stored properly, they would provide enough food for a long time.
Only after he left did Yu An have the chance to speak to the Qing Teng. She said excitedly, "Lu Lu, I thought you didn't follow me here!"
Lu Lu was her Companion Spirit Plant, which had grown from her Dantian after she awakened her Wood Element Ability in the apocalypse.
A thin, weak Qing Teng popped out of the dirt, gently wrapped around the three eggs, and placed them in Yu An's arms.
"An'an, I've been here the whole time. It's just that I exhausted all my superpower during the transmigration and have been slowly recovering."
However, just now, in order to protect Yu An, it had drained itself once again.
"Also, the Origin Core shattered. Five-sixths of it was lost..." The Qing Teng sounded on the verge of tears. "Without the Origin Core, how are we supposed to cultivate?!"
The Origin Core was the vessel for storing superpower. Once shattered, their superpower would cap at a certain level and never grow further.
Yu An comforted it, "Don't cry, don't cry. Isn't there still a little piece left? We just need to find the missing fragments and bring them back. By the way, is my Chef God Space still around?"
The Chef God Space was something she had stumbled upon in her fifth year of the apocalypse. Inside, there was a recipe book and a task-issuing station. Every seven days, it would issue a culinary task and provide the corresponding food cart and cooking utensils. Upon completion, she would gain permanent usage rights to those tools.
Unfortunately, the tasks always involved selling food. On the very first day of the apocalypse, ninety-nine percent of the world's creatures instantly mutated into zombies. She couldn't find a single customer! In the later stages, even ingredients were almost impossible to find. Because of this, she had yet to earn a single cooking utensil produced by the space.
But the Beastman Continent was different. Resources were abundant here, and the population was large. She could absolutely complete the tasks! Furthermore, Yu An's superpower was a bit special—it required devouring gold and silver to cultivate. It was like killing two birds with one stone!
Learning that the Chef God Space was safe and sound, Yu An rubbed her hands together, gearing up to give this culinary desert of a Beast World a massive shock of deliciousness!
But before that, she needed to fill her stomach.
Her gaze swept over the three eggs in her arms, and she suddenly had a craving for egg fried rice. There just happened to be some steamed rice ready in her space.
"Here are some eggs. You just gave birth to Zaizais, so you need to eat something." Mo Yan knew Yu An couldn't stomach raw meat, so he had found a nest of wild bird eggs from who-knew-where.
Yu An's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Mo Yan. I'll make you some delicious food."
The Wood Element Ability also served as a Healing Ability. Females naturally recovered quickly postpartum, and Yu An had used her little remaining energy to accelerate the healing process. She was already able to move about freely.
She had also detected that the birthmark on the original owner's face was actually the result of poisoning, though she couldn't cure it at the moment.
With a wave of her hand, a stove, a wok, and a spatula appeared out of thin air in the cave, giving Mo Yan a start.
"Wh-what is this?"
Explaining it would be too troublesome, so Yu An didn't answer and got straight to work.
She set up the wok. Once it was hot, she added cold oil. When the oil came to temperature, she poured in the beaten eggs. With a loud SIZZLE, the rich aroma of eggs instantly burst into the air.
Yu An quickly scrambled the eggs, then tossed in the rice. She used the spatula to press and break apart the clumps. As she stir-fried, the fragrance of the rice mingled with the aroma of the eggs, creating a mouthwatering scent that filled the cave.
Next, she added a pinch of salt for seasoning and tossed everything rapidly to mix it evenly. Finally, she sprinkled some chopped green onions as a garnish. A masterpiece was complete!
When the sweet and savory egg fried rice, with every grain distinct and perfectly coated, was presented to Mo Yan, he couldn't help but swallow hard.
It smelled so good.
"Is this the delicious food you mentioned?" Mo Yan couldn't resist asking, "I've never seen anything like this. Not even in Beast Emperor City."
Yu An had already prepared an excuse. "I am a female with the legendary Divine level fertility. To help me raise my Zaizais, the Beast God bestowed these upon me."
Whether cooking or doing tasks, there was no way to hide it from Mo Yan. Knowing that Beastmen worshipped the Beast God, Yu An simply pushed all the credit onto the deity.
It had been a long time since Yu An had eaten a proper meal. Without caring whether Mo Yan believed her or not, she scooped a bowl for him and eagerly took a bite herself.
Mmm, it was the taste of happiness!
She was just about to continue eating when one of the eggs placed in the corner suddenly twitched.
The very next second, under Yu An's watchful eyes, the eggshell cracked open, and out wriggled a...
"Cat?"
"It's a tiger," Mo Yan said, walking over to pick up the little Zaizai by the scruff of his neck. "Here. Your cub, your responsibility."
Flustered, Yu An hastily caught the golden tiger cub. The little guy wasn't shy at all; he cried out "Female Mother" in a sweet, milky voice.
"So cute!"
Yu An's heart practically melted from the sheer adorableness. Surviving in the apocalypse was hard enough, let alone welcoming new life. Because of this, people who had lived through the end of the world cherished cubs even more.
"Zaizai, I'll call you Da Hu for now. As for your formal name... Female Mother will have to think carefully about it."
"Yeah, my name is Big Axe!"
Though the tiger cub slurred his words, his teeth were perfectly fine. He could eat egg fried rice right after being born. Once the cub was fully fed, Mo Yan coughed to clear his throat.
"Since you've recovered, we'll set out for Han Ling City tomorrow. When we get there, you must break the contract as agreed."
Yu An thought for a moment. Han Ling City protected females, and now that she had her superpower and her space, there was no need to force Mo Yan to stay.
"I will. Don't worry."
The little female smiled exceptionally brightly, as if she were heading off to live some wonderful life. Mo Yan twitched the corner of his mouth, secretly looking forward to tomorrow.
Han Ling City was no paradise. After breaking the contract, he would personally send Yu An to Paradise. For the sake of the egg fried rice, he would make it quick.
Having endured the entire journey, he finally had his chance for revenge.
As for the Zaizais...
Mo Yan's gaze turned apathetic as it swept over Da Hu and the two unhatched eggs.
They weren't his Zaizais, so what did they matter to him?