Chapter 92: Pregnancy

When Xie Sen heard Adam’s voice, he immediately smiled. “I just activated 60 kinds of plants. How do you feel now?”

Adam’s voice rose sharply, “60 species? Let’s see…I can’t believe it’s true!” His voice stopped for a moment, and then he shouted, “Sen, you’re so great! I feel so good, I couldn’t be better.”

His voice was excited and obviously full of energy. The corners of Xie Sen’s mouth curled up. “That’s good. All this energy is because of the chili, so you’re the one who got it.”

Adam felt the energy that came from the plant, and sounded cheerful, “No, no, no. It’s Sen who is the best. You activated the chili too. That’s great. I’ll try to sense the remaining water energy.”

He quieted down, and Xie Sen did not disturb him. After a while, Adam was surprised, “How can this be!”

Xie Sen hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong?”

Adam sounded vague, “No, it’s nothing. I might have had an illusion.”

Xie Sen raised his eyebrows. A System and an illusion?

Adam used his own energy to maximize the strength of his senses. He didn’t sense water energy, but he was prepared for it, and mobilized the activated plant energy, which increased his senses.

When he was mobilizing energy, he had that feeling again, as if there was a pull on the plant energy. There was a reverse suction that prevented him from using the energy. He carefully felt the source of the resistance, and still came to the same conclusion as before. It was a weak energy body that belonged to a human.

But how could that be? How could there be another human energy body inside A’Sen’s body!

Adam felt that something was wrong with him.

After he thought it over, he said to Xie Sen, “A’Sen, I’m going to turn on the self-test mode. The whole process is about fifty hours, so after the self-test I’ll find the water energy.”

Xie Sen asked in concern, “Is there something wrong with you?” Under normal circumstances, there was no need for a self-test.

Adam said, “Well…There’s something wrong with my senses. Don’t worry, the whole system is normal. It’s just a little problem. I should’ve checked myself once I came to this world. I couldn’t do it before because of the lack of energy in my body, but now that most of the energy is back, I can check myself.”

Xie Sen smiled, and breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. The energy is still increasing, so when you finish the self-test, I can activate some plants again.”

Adam, “Sen is great! I’ll look for the energy when I finish the self-test.”

Xie Sen smiled and answered, “Okay.”

Just as the words left his mouth, he was suddenly picked up by someone. He opened his eyes and saw Maine was looking down at him. “Tired?”

Xie Sen was a bit surprised. He just had been focused on energy and Adam, so he wasn’t aware that he had closed his eyes. When he thought about it, closing his eyes was the most natural thing to do, otherwise he would’ve had a strange expression when he looked at the System panel and communicated with Adam.

“Not tired.” He shook his head, and patted Maine’s shoulder. “I’ll walk by myself.”

Maine didn’t let go, just took him straight to the bathroom, put him in the hot water and rubbed his waist. “Soaking in hot water will help relieve the tiredness.”

Xie Sen’s mouth deflated. With that action, it was obvious he didn’t believe it when he said he wasn’t tired. But the hot water was indeed very comfortable, and in a short time he became sleepy. In a daze, he felt himself being picked up by Maine. He turned his head, and buried his face in Maine’s chest. The familiar scent relaxed his whole body, and he soon fell asleep.

Maine dried him off, and put him under the soft quilt. He looked gentle and doting, as he lay down on his side next to him, as his hand continued to rub his waist.

The next day, Xie Sen woke up refreshed. After he exchanged good mornings with Maine, he washed up and had breakfast. He opened his System panel, and saw that he had more than 7,000 energy left. That was an increase of 2,000 overnight.

He was in a better mood. When he thought about it, he had also activated a lot of plants. Two days later, when Adam finished his self-test, he would likely be able to sense the location of the remaining water energy. Then Sen would need to go out again.

So he decided that the contract beast meeting would be held first.

He opened his bracelet, made a rough plan, and discussed it some more with Maine.

Maine, who was wearing a smart suit, kissed him on the cheek. “Very good. I have to go to Guangyao today. Hold the meeting tomorrow and I’ll accompany you.”

Xie Sen nodded. “Mn. I’ll go talk to the contract beasts later, select the contestants in the afternoon, and hold it tomorrow. I don’t want to procrastinate.”

After Maine left, Xie Sen thought about it, and contacted Sun Mao to offer his official resignation. His working hours were too erratic, and it wasn’t good to always be taking such long leaves of absence.

Sun Mao was prepared for it, and laughed. “It’s much later than I expected. You’re too good for Gold Medal.”

Xie Sen ignored his jokes, and said sincerely, “Thank you for taking care of me. If there is anything I can do for Gold Medal in the future, don’t hesitate to contact me.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t be polite.”

After he ended the communication, Xie Sen was deep in thought. Although the energy he had was sufficient now, to activate and redeem plants required energy. Now, he had no method to increase the energy, so the energy would always run out.

The impact of the launch was getting smaller and smaller, so the rate of energy increase was obviously slowing down. It would probably be gone in a few days. He pondered, his chin in his hand, and remembered the moment when he cooked boiled fish at the launch event. When the fragrance wafted to the audience, the energy increased.

He could get energy through food!

Especially now that the onion, ginger and garlic were all together. Although the seasonings were still very minimal, the food he made now would definitely taste better than the boiled fish from before.

If he just wanted to get energy, it was best to do it in person. After all, the aroma was very important, so those not on the scene couldn’t smell it. He would also let the crowd try it, so they could eat something they hadn’t eaten before. That also had a higher chance of gaining energy.

It would cost some plants, but it was completely negligible compared to the energy he would obtain.

The details still needed to be thought through. He considered the remaining energy, and wasn’t anxious. There was enough energy to use in the System for the time being. As for the lack of the water energy, he would wait until Adam finished his self-check to figure that out.

The idea of making food to get energy was put aside for the time being. He stood up to go visit the contract beasts, and discuss the meeting with them.

Most of the contract beasts were outside the residence. Except for when they were resting, they were now outside most of the time. They preferred the open spaces. Right now, the flying eagle beasts were hovering in mid-air, as they occasionally flew down to chat.

He turned off the live broadcast for the time being, greeted the contract beasts as well as Big Pincers and Little Silver, then gathered everyone together and asked them what requests and suggestions they had for the meetup.

The giant black leopard beast, as their representative, told Xie Sen the results of the contract beasts’ discussion. Xie Sen listened to the suggestions, and praised them, “Great idea. Let’s do as you say.”

“Twenty four, excluding Little Silver. We can only manage two people each. Too many won’t be fun,” the giant black leopard beast said.

Xie Sen thought about it. If they added in the flying eagle beast, there were a total of eleven contract beasts, plus a crab, to make twelve. So if there were exactly one pair per beast, it was indeed more convenient for playing.

Little Silver opened its shell. “I’ll be your cheerleader! You see…” it said, and the speed of the opening and closing suddenly changed. The silver and colored light wavered, and was comparable to the stage lighting. “It is more powerful than the glow stick!”

Xie Sen hid his smile. “Yes, yes. Much more powerful.”

After the discussion, he reopened the live stream.

[What’s going on? Did the starnet just go down?]

[It seems this new place is not working either. Why is the starnet always fluctuating?]

[Anchor, which district are you in? I’ll help you complain about that district’s network operator!]

Xie Sen saw this and said, “The starnet is fine here. I turned off the live stream.” He smiled. “Haven’t people been wanting to hold a fan meeting on the live stream? I have a good plan.”

The pop-ups immediately exploded. They praised Xie Sen for his speed, and there were a bunch of requests for votes.

Xie Sen smiled. “The meeting will be live, but because the identity of the contract beasts are special, there can’t be a large number of people. Of course, it’s still more than last time. Twenty-four.”

The system gift broadcast almost jammed as soon as his words fell, while the live screen was swept by watermelon rains, and the platform broadcast announcements were continuous.

Xie Sen quickly said, “Don’t rush to brush gifts. This time the guardian ranking won’t be involved. Later, I’ll open a small watermelon raffle, and the winner of the drawing will get meet and greet tickets. This time, as long as you are a loyal viewer of the live stream, and like the contract beasts, you can participate by spending 1 star coin.”

[The anchor is awesome!]

[The student party is shedding hot tears!]

Xie Sen immediately explained the rules, “In order to avoid people swiping tickets, only viewers who have watched the live stream for more than 50 hours can participate in the lottery. In addition, for the sake of fairness, each ID can only participate in the lottery up to ten times. The winner can give up participating, but they cannot resell the tickets. This will be strictly checked when entering the venue. If anyone violates the rules, the lottery will be banned in the future.”

[This rule is good!]

[Ten star coins I’m ready. Hurry up and open the lottery, I’m definitely an emperor!]

[Like the anchor. Finally not an expensive game.]

Xie Sen swept a glance at the screen and continued, “The lottery ends at twelve o’clock tonight, when the tickets and specific information will be sent to the lucky audience members’ bracelets.  The meet and greet with live synchronization is tomorrow morning at 9:30.”

[So soon?]

[Ahhhhh, I need to hurry up and take my leave!]

Xie Sen cut to the anchor operating interface, wrote down the meetup announcement and the relevant rules, set up the 24 lucky spots for the small watermelon lottery, and clicked start. Xie Sen looked at the rapidly rising account balance, and sighed at the power of so many people.

Even if one person used 10 star coins, the amount of money accumulated from a large number of people was amazing. This time the schedule was too tight, so some viewers might not be in the live room. He thought about it, then copied and pasted the announcement and rules to the contract beast live room post.

Someone soon posted back, [Oh my god, what if I’m not in Star City? Even if I win the lottery, I can’t make it there!]

[I’m crying in the toilet from traveling back from Planet Blue!]

[Ahhh, I found that my live time is too short. Not enough time to watch, not even eligible for the lottery. Anchor, when will the next meeting be? You say in advance, I will brush up the time!]

Xie Sen saw, and replied to the post. [Sorry, this time the arrangement was really last minute. In the future, if there is time, it will be held once a month. At the end of the month there will be a lottery for an early meet, so that all friends who like the live room have the opportunity to participate.]

[Capture the anchor, fantastic! I decided, from today onwards, to hang in the live room!]

[Sit and wait for next month.]

Xie Sen smiled, closed his bracelet, played with the contract beasts for a while, then set about preparing for the meetup.

The next day while Xie Sen and Maine were eating breakfast, a lot of people were gathering outside the gate.

Xie Sen looked at it and laughed. “There are more young people this time. They are really active, there are still two hours before the meeting starts!”

Maine put down his chopsticks. “I’ll go verify their identities. Don’t go out yet.”

Xie Sen finished his last mouthful of porridge, and cleaned up the dishes. “If their identities are okay, let them come in. There must be others coming besides them, and it’s too messy to mix them together. We’ll close the door when they are all together.”

He put the dishes away, and sat on the sofa in the main room to watch the surveillance video. Seven people had already entered, and were curiously surveying the beasts’ dwelling area, while there were five others at the door, whose identities Maine was verifying.

An eagle’s call came from above, and when the seven people looked up, they saw the flying eagle beast, with its wings spread out as it soared over their heads, while its round beady eyes sized them up.

“Chirp.” Tuan Tuan stood on Xie Sen’s right shoulder, and gave a crisp cry at the video.

Xie Sen reached out, and rubbed its fluffy head feathers. “You can go out and play with the flying eagle. There will be a lot of people coming today, so be safe.”

Tuan Tuan nodded, rubbed its head against his hand, and flapped its wings as it headed out.

Xie Sen looked at its bulbous, fat body, and was very curious about what it was eating every day. It seemed to have gained another round of weight.

By 8:30, all twenty-four visitors arrived. There were also many others who came, and were shut out. Maine turned on the protective mode, and the surface of the courtyard emitted a faint blue light. If someone tried to cross the wall, they would be subjected to an electric shock.

Xie Sen was worried about the land where the seeds were planted getting destroyed. Since the indoor equipment was good, the meeting was arranged inside. The contract beasts were all in the accommodation area doing preparatory work and didn’t come out.

The lucky fans knew the start time hadn’t come yet, and didn’t wander off. Xie Sen sized them up. They were all young looking, though their true age might not be the same as their appearance.

Two looked very small, probably only 14 or 15 years old, and their expressions were much more animated. One of them suddenly reached out, full of surprise, and pointed to the man-made river not far away. Instantly, all eyes turned in that direction.

Little Silver was swimming along the water, from the living area to the outside. Originally it wanted to sneak a look at today’s visitors, only to appear and be discovered. Under so many eyes, it darted back into the accommodation area.

“It’s even bigger than it looks in the live room!”

“So beautiful. I wonder if I can touch it!”

“Hahahaha! It looks like it’s scared of us. So funny!”

Xie Sen smiled helplessly, got up and headed out. There was nothing else to do, so he might as well let them get acquainted with the contract beasts first. He walked over to Maine, who took him by the waist, and glanced at the lucky visitors with a less than kind look.

“Hello anchor,” the crowd greeted. Someone said, “Sorry, we’re too early, anchor. Go rest first!”

“Right!” they said, as they peeked at Maine’s expression.

Xie Sen laughed, “It’s okay. Let’s go and introduce the contract beasts to you first. You don’t have to be afraid of them. As long as you don’t mean them any harm, they will never attack you.”

The youngest boy said, “I’m super fond of them. I’m not afraid.” 

Many people echoed.

Xie Sen smiled, and turned on the live stream as he entered the accommodation.

[I knew it was going to be early! Smart as I am, I was already on guard!]

[Ahhh, these twenty-four, I remember you guys!]

[In advance? I was ready to hang out for a long time, but I didn’t miss it.]

Xie Sen scanned the pop-ups, and greeted everyone with a smile.

The contract beasts saw the group of people come in, so they immediately approached and sized them up.

The lucky fans looked excited, and someone asked, “Anchor, can I touch them?”

“Yes you can!” Xie Sen said.

The giant black leopard roared softly, and the contract beasts moved to the middle, then lay down, as they waved their tails and looked at the fans. The fans were stunned. “So smart!”

The viewers in the live room were howling, [I want to touch it too!]

[This is too smart to want to go live. I’m too dark, oooooooh…]

Xie Sen led the fans to the center, and took the lead by rubbing the neck of the giant tiger beast. When the fans saw this, they immediately touched the contract beasts carefully. Their movements were particularly light, as if they were air to the contract beasts, who leisurely waved their tails and chatted.

Xie Sen looked over, and saw that the giant armored beast was backing up with its head down, while a young man stood in front of it.

Maine said, “beast master.”

Xie Sen nodded. When he saw the reaction of the giant armored beast, he had guessed that. He walked towards the giant armored beast, reached out and stroked its long pointed muzzle. “Don’t be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid.” The beast’s voice was soft as it looked up at the youth. “He’s fine. I just can’t help it.”

Xie Sen reassured it. “This is the normal reaction of contract beasts when facing their beast master.”

“Beast master?” The giant armored beast sounded puzzled. “There are very few beast masters in our clan. I’ve heard many stories of beast masters from Big Black and Python, but I know very little about the beast masters of the giant armored beast clan.”

The youth kept his distance, and said gently, “Sorry, it’s my first time seeing a giant armored beast and I wanted to say hello. There’s no malice.”

Xie Sen nodded, “It’s okay, I can understand. Are there very few giant armored beast clan beast masters?”

The youth smiled regretfully. “Yes. The giant armored beast is too rare, and they are usually in the deep underground forest, so they are difficult to encounter. I’m very lucky.”

“I…can I make a contract with him?” The giant armored beast whispered.

Xie Sen was a bit surprised, this giant beast was shy, so he hadn’t expected it to initiate a bonding, especially when it was the first time it had met the other party. He asked, “Do you like him a lot?”

The beast nodded, “Mn, I like him a lot. He’s very gentle, not instinctively repulsive, and I feel very comfortable looking at him from afar. Just like being next to you.”

Xie Sen looked at the youth. His eyebrows were warm, his mouth had a gentle smile, and the whole person was indeed like a spring breeze. “Can I ask your name and occupation?”

The youth said, “My name is Lu Qingxing. I am an archeologist. A visiting professor from Star City University.”

Xie Sen thought about the giant armored beast’s hobby and ability to dig holes, and suddenly felt that it was indeed a good match for an archeologist.

Xie Sen said, “Are you willing to make a contract with it?”

Lu Qingxing’s eyes widened slightly, as he gave him a surprised look. “Can I?”

The fans on the scene, and the viewers in the live stream had been paying attention to Xie Sen. They were shocked to hear his words.

Just like that, they agreed to make a contract?

Xie Sen nodded. “It likes you a lot, if you’re willing. Just to be safe, we’ll measure the synchronization rate first.”

“I’m willing.” Lu Qingxing’s tone was firm. No beast master would refuse to make a contract.

Xie Sen looked at Maine, who took out the instrument and measured their synchronization rate. The measurement result was another surprise. A synchronization rate of 78.

Many viewers remembered the last meeting and reacted quickly, as they posted a series of pop-ups, [Host, don’t turn off the live broadcast. I want to see the bonding live!]

[Yes, don’t turn it off!]

Some people were worried that Xie Sen wouldn’t be able to see the pop-ups, and sent watermelon rains directly to him, asking him not to turn off the live broadcast.

Xie Sen said, “Don’t turn off the live broadcast.” He laughed. “Do some people doubt the live broadcast? It’s good to show them what it means to have a natural bond.”

Maine led Xie Sen back, and Xie Sen asked the fans to stand back as well. The contract beasts got up and moved to the side, as they gave the center of the room to the giant armored beast and Lu Qingxing.

Lu Qingxing smiled gently at the beast. “Don’t be nervous, I won’t hurt you.” 

The beast nodded its head.

The next moment, a gentle but strong aura spread out from the center. The two youngest fans’ faces suddenly went white, and they grunted at the same time.

Xie Sen was also feeling some dizziness, and a bit of tightness in his chest. He frowned and patted Maine’s hand. “Look after them.”

Maine let go of him, and pulled two fans to stand behind him. The other fans saw this, and took the initiative to stand in front of the ill-looking fans.

[Wow, look at the reaction of the audience. The momentum is strong!]

[The giant armored beast is a Class A contract beast. Of course it’s strong.]

As time passed, the one person and the beast in the middle had a subtle reaction.

Xie Sen frowned more and more tightly. He felt like something wasn’t quite right. Even when he’d been at the scene of S class contracts, he hadn’t had such a strong reaction. This was especially true because this bonding was noticeably very mild because of the character of the beast master and the contract beast.

He grabbed Maine’s arm, and was about to say something, but before he could speak, he tilted his head to the side, He was unable to control his dry heaving.

Maine’s expression changed instantly, and he grabbed his body as he started to collapse. “Sen!”

The giant armored beast was sensitive, and when it perceived Xie Sen’s situation, its momentum suddenly weakened. Lu Qingxing also noticed, and used his momentum to immediately overcome it. It fell to the ground, looked at Lu Qingxing and then looked at Xie Sen.

Lu Qingxing lips were white. He looked a little chagrined, but he didn’t react. His voice was gentle, “Go see him, and then later we’ll tie the contract.”

Xie Sen dry-heaved as if he was vomiting out all the stuffy air in his chest. Eventually, he felt much more comfortable, but he had little strength. He smiled, “I’m fine.”

One of the fans said, “I’m a doctor. Let me help you!”

Xie Sen was about to shake his head, when Maine’s face tightened, so he nodded, “Thanks.”

The fan looked very youthful, with only the slightest of wrinkles at the end of his eyes that showed he wasn’t young.

Maine sounded anxious, “What’s going on?”

Xie Sen saw the doctor’s reaction, and couldn’t help but be nervous, “I don’t feel sick. I just got a little dizzy.”

The doctor took out a stethoscope-like object from his backpack, and said to Maine, “Please hold the anchor flat.”

Maine easily held Xie Sen across his arm, and with the stethoscope in place, the doctor put the other end on Xie Sen’s stomach. After a little while, he said excitedly, “Anchor, you are pregnant! Your body is more sensitive to external stimuli during pregnancy. You just got dizzy because you were stimulated by the auras.”

All the people on the scene, and in the live room fell silent.

Xie Sen was also stunned. He thought he had heard wrong. He looked at his stomach, then quickly looked away, as his body trembled slightly. He gritted his teeth and said firmly, “No way!”

Maine, seeing his panicked appearance, hugged him tightly, feeling pained. He looked at the doctor with an unfriendly gaze, “Don’t be ridiculous, I always wear a condom.”

The doctor was puzzled by the two men’s reaction. Anyone else would have cried with joy at this point. He looked cautious. “There is absolutely nothing wrong, are you sure you have been wearing them? What brand are you using? I think it’s time to report it to the quality control department.”

Maine’s gaze changed slightly, “Only once did I forget…”

The doctor’s eyes also changed, and his voice rose abruptly, “Once and you got pregnant?”