Chapter 6: But It Can Say ‘Mama’ and ‘Papa’.
Xue Yu packed the tent into the back of the SUV, then joined Zhou Siyan to eat. Breakfast consisted of a small compressed biscuit and a tube of energy supplement.
After the cataclysm, the planet’s land had become riddled with contaminated zones, making it difficult for edible green plants to survive. Even a high-ranking manager like Zhou Siyan only received a quota of fresh fruits and vegetables once a month. As a low-level miner, Xue Yu wouldn’t see a single vegetable leaf all year round.
After breakfast, the sun had fully risen. The orange glow on the horizon turned to a brilliant white, and the temperature climbed rapidly. Xue Yu took a sun hat from her backpack. It was washed-out and faded, with a frayed, unstitched brim.
Zhou Siyan was tidying up the ration wrappers, folding them neatly before placing them in the car’s trash can. He glanced at the hat on her head.
“What happened to the money I left you before we broke up?”
“Uh… I spent it all,” Xue Yu said.
“What did you spend it on?”
“Tutoring classes.” Xue Yu touched her face, embarrassed. Before they broke up, Zhou Siyan would give her extra help with her physical training. After he left, she had no one to tutor her, and her grades plummeted even faster. Desperate, she had used the money Zhou Siyan left her to sign up for a cram school. She had thought that by paying the tuition, she could escape the humiliation of being dead last. In the end, after six months of grueling study, the money was gone, and her grades were still atrocious.
Zhou Siyan didn’t say anything more. He finished cleaning up and got into the car.
Now that they were outside the White Tower, he no longer needed to hide the abnormality of his abdomen. He wasn’t wearing his jacket, just a white shirt. However, the buttons were still fastened all the way to the top, resting just below his Adam’s apple. This was the typical style for extreme sexual conservatives: buttons always done up to the last one, collar perfectly neat, the entire look severe, rigid, and screaming “celibacy.”
They set off again, heading south. Xue Yu was still driving, and Zhou Siyan sat in the back seat.
Half an hour later, Zhou Siyan suddenly told her to stop, saying he didn’t feel well. He moved to the passenger seat.
Xue Yu, hands on the steering wheel, asked, “Is the baby acting up again?”
Zhou Siyan held out a hand toward her and uttered a single word: “Hand.”
Xue Yu understood perfectly. She drove with one hand and placed the other on his stomach. Her palm began to heat up again; the thing in Zhou Siyan’s belly was transferring spiritual power to her once more. Xue Yu worried that if this continued, she would drain all of Zhou Siyan’s spiritual power.
However, Zhou Siyan didn’t seem to mind. He sat calmly in the passenger seat with his eyes closed, resting.
Xue Yu had assumed the area outside the safe zone would be deserted, but to her surprise, they encountered scattered pedestrians and vehicles.
“Don’t interact with them. Steer clear,” Zhou Siyan said.
Xue Yu turned the steering wheel, avoiding the group of people ahead. “Who are they?”
Zhou Siyan raised all the car windows. “They’re abominations.”
It clicked for Xue Yu. Some people in the White Tower had been contaminated by pollution factors after venturing out without authorization, causing their bodies and spirit bodies to mutate. These people were collectively known as “abominations” and would be exiled from the White Tower. Judging by the direction they were heading, these abominations were probably also on their way to the South Continent to seek treatment at a black clinic. If an abomination could be cured of its mutation, it had a chance to return to the White Tower.
Soon, their car was blocked by five abominations—two women and three men. Their faces were severely deformed; nearly half of each face had melted away, revealing blood-stained, sinister white bone.
One of the men knocked on the window. His one good eye was pressed against the glass as he shouted, “Are you guys going to the South Continent too? Give us a ride!”
Zhou Siyan pressed down on the hand Xue Yu had on his stomach. He kept his voice low. “Don’t make a sound. Ignore him.”
Xue Yu nodded.
When the people in the car didn’t respond, the five abominations started throwing rocks at the vehicle. Fortunately, Zhou Siyan’s SUV was military-grade and sturdy enough that they couldn’t break the glass.
Seeing they couldn’t break the windows, the five abominations moved to the left side of the car and tried to push it over.
They couldn’t just sit and wait. Zhou Siyan grabbed a portable submachine gun from the back seat, skillfully loaded a magazine, and tossed it to Xue Yu. He whispered, “I’ll open the window. You shoot.”
“Okay.”
However, before Zhou Siyan could open the window, a thick, reddish-white substance splattered across the glass, followed by a series of gunshots from outside. He looked out again and saw that all five abominations had been shot in the head.
A fully armed figure was walking toward them from a distance. They were dressed like a special forces sniper, carrying a long sniper rifle with a scope and another one slung over their back. They had an excellent physique and wore a dark green helmet, their face covered in camouflage paint. The lower half of their face was concealed by a dark brown cloth, making them completely unrecognizable.
The person walked up to the passenger side window, knocked, and made a gesture indicating they were a White Tower soldier.
Zhou Siyan lowered the window. “Thank you,” he said.
The person’s voice was deep and seemed intentionally raspy. “Are you going to the South Continent? Can I catch a ride?” As he spoke, his dark eyes flickered, and he recognized Zhou Siyan. “Director Zhou?”
Zhou Siyan remained composed. “I am. And you are?”
The person glanced inside the car and saw Xue Yu in the driver’s seat. He seemed about to say something but then changed the subject. “There are a lot of abominations up ahead. Be careful.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
“Aren’t you catching a ride?” Xue Yu called out.
The person didn’t answer.
Zhou Siyan immediately closed the window, his expression serious as he looked at Xue Yu. “We are going to the South Continent for a secret abortion. The fewer people who know, the better.”
Xue Yu obediently admitted her mistake. “Sorry. I keep forgetting you’re pregnant. I’ll be more careful next time.”
She started the car again and drove at high speed to prevent anyone else from trying to hitch a ride.
They drove in silence for a long time. Unable to stand the tense atmosphere, Xue Yu finally spoke up. “Speaking of which, after we broke up, I dated a guy from the sniper class. His grades were pretty good. He should be a really skilled sniper by now.”
“And then?” Zhou Siyan replied nonchalantly.
“We were only together for a month before he broke up with me and joined the extreme sexual conservatives, just like you. It’s so weird.”
Zhou Siyan asked casually, “Did you knock him up too?”
Xue Yu shook her head. “Definitely not!”
“Did you sleep with him?”
Xue Yu’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Just once, and it was an accident. We only got together because we accidentally had sex.”
“How can something like that be an accident?”
Xue Yu slapped the steering wheel. “Okay, it wasn’t exactly an accident. The main thing was, you had just dumped me, my grades were terrible, and people were making fun of me every day. I was in a slump and just drifting.”
“And now?”
“Now what?”
“Are you still just drifting now?”
Xue Yu said earnestly, “Not anymore. I’m going to be very responsible and go with you to the South Continent for the abortion. I’ll take good care of you until the baby is gone.”
After driving for two hours, the grassy plains ahead gradually turned greener, and a river flowed through them. They decided to stop there for lunch and to test if the water was potable.
Lunch was another compressed biscuit and a can of vegetables.
Xue Yu ran to the riverbank and was surprised to see fish in the water. She went back to the car to get the pollution detector and tested the river water. The pollution level was within the normal range.
She waved at Zhou Siyan. “Zhou Siyan, there are fish here, and the pollution level is low! Can we catch some to eat?”
Zhou Siyan, fiddling with the can, said, “We need to test the pH level of the fish meat first.”
Xue Yu plunged her hand into the water and caught a fish barehanded. She couldn’t believe it herself—her reflexes were incredibly fast! She suspected it was because of the spiritual power being transferred to her from the fetus in Zhou Siyan’s belly.
She pulled out two fish in a row and, using the hem of her shirt as a makeshift bag, ran back. “Zhou Siyan, look! I caught fish! Quick, get the test strips!”
Watching her run toward him with the fish in her shirt, Zhou Siyan couldn’t help but smile. He turned and got the toolbox from the car.
He cut open the fish and used a test strip on the flesh. The pH level was within the edible range.
Xue Yu’s eyes were wide, and she was practically drooling. “Well? Can we eat it?”
“We can.”
Xue Yu held the fish, grinning from ear to ear. “Great! Let’s grill it.”
Zhou Siyan gathered some dry branches and built a simple fire pit, placing the fish over the flames to cook. The smell made Xue Yu’s mouth water. For a moment, she thought she had transmigrated back to Earth. She missed Earth so much—its hot pot, grilled fish, spicy soup, teppanyaki…
“I saw more fish in the river. I’ll go catch a few more later. We can keep them in a bucket in the car and eat them on the road,” Xue Yu said excitedly.
“Okay.” Zhou Siyan unfolded two chairs, gave one to Xue Yu, and sat down in the other, supporting his belly.
Just as he sat down, a strange, unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke: “Fish…”
Always alert, he looked at Xue Yu. “What did you say?”
Xue Yu was still drooling over the grilling fish. She looked up. “I didn’t say anything.”
Zhou Siyan’s expression changed. He quickly walked to the car, grabbed a pistol, tossed it to Xue Yu, and picked up a submachine gun for himself. They both held their guns, vigilantly scanning their surroundings for any movement.
A moment later, the strange voice spoke again: “Breed…”
The voice was childish, like a toddler slurring its words.
“Did you hear that?” Zhou Siyan looked at Xue Yu.
Xue Yu nodded. “I heard it. It sounded like a child talking.”
The voice continued: “Talk…ing…”
Xue Yu listened carefully and was shocked to realize the voice was coming from Zhou Siyan’s stomach. And… it seemed to be mimicking their speech.
Zhou Siyan noticed it too. He looked up and met Xue Yu’s gaze.
Xue Yu tucked the pistol into her waistband and reached out to touch his abdomen. “I think it’s really the half-breed talking. How can it talk? This is terrifying!”
The voice immediately followed her words, stumbling as it learned to speak: “Half… breed.”
Zhou Siyan’s handsome face turned impossibly dark. His first thought wasn’t that the thing inside him was a monster, but that he was angry at Xue Yu for constantly calling it a “half-breed” and being a bad influence on the child.
“Don’t call it a half-breed anymore.” Zhou Siyan’s tone was serious. He put the submachine gun back in the car, looked down at his swollen belly, and said softly, “Baby, is that you talking?” His voice was gentle, a stark contrast to his usual stern, celibate demeanor.
The voice in his stomach didn’t respond, just spat out words one by one, mimicking his pronunciation: “Ba…by… talk.”
“It really is talking. How strange,” Xue Yu said, both surprised and amused.
The voice from the stomach: “Strange.”
Xue Yu scratched her head and laughed. She leaned close to Zhou Siyan’s belly and said loudly, “You really can talk! What kind of freak are you?”
The voice from the stomach: “You… freak.”
An idea struck Xue Yu. “Mama!”
The voice from the stomach: “Ma…ma.”
Xue Yu burst out laughing. “It even says ‘mama’. Just wait until we get to the South Continent and get you aborted. You can cry all you want then.” She began to analyze the situation herself. “This thing is a freak. You must have gotten pregnant before we broke up, we just didn’t realize it. In that case, it’s been in your stomach for at least two years. After that long, it’s normal for it to be able to talk.”
Zhou Siyan sat on his chair, silent for a long time. He then looked up and met Xue Yu’s eyes. “Do you hate it that much?”
Xue Yu pulled her chair over and sat next to him. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of keeping this freak.”
“Why not?” Zhou Siyan said quietly.
“Definitely not! The White Tower is already hunting you down just for being pregnant. If you actually give birth, we’ll both be executed! And if we’re both executed, who’s going to raise the child?”
Zhou Siyan looked down at his abdomen and didn’t speak for a long time. Instead, the baby in his stomach started mimicking again: “White… you… Mama!”
Zhou Siyan said softly, “Papa.”
As expected, the baby continued to mimic: “Pa… pa.”
He looked up at Xue Yu. “It can say ‘mama’ and ‘papa’.”
Xue Yu was getting anxious. “We still can’t keep it! Besides, you don’t even have a birth canal. How are you supposed to give birth?”
Zhou Siyan was inexplicably stubborn. “But it can say ‘mama’ and ‘papa’.”
“If we keep the baby, we’ll have to leave the White Tower with it. You saw how dangerous those abominations were today. How are we supposed to survive outside the White Tower?”
“But it can say ‘mama’ and ‘papa’.”
Xue Yu shot to her feet in frustration. “You’ve lost your mind. We don’t even know if this thing is a normal child! The fact that it’s a parasite inside you is weird enough. We can’t keep it!”
“But it can say ‘mama’ and ‘papa’.”
Xue Yu: “…”