Chapter 121: It Was an Egg
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Lin Xu could feel that Heinrich was even more nervous than himself; his back was taut and stiff. To distract him and ease his tension, Lin Xu placed the gift box into Heinrich’s hands. He didn’t want to scare Heinrich any further, nor did he want to expose Guy’s clumsy cover-up.
“It’s very cute. I’ll try it on Blackie and Snowy,” Lin Xu said calmly.
“Okay, okay…” Guy rubbed his nose and leaned against Alonso’s arm. Alonso said, “We won’t disturb you any longer. We’ll take our leave.”
“Alright,” Heinrich responded, still maintaining his usual professional tone, “Please, fly safely.”
Once the two shuttles and the mecha moved out of the S297 shield’s influence, Heinrich needed to head to the bridge console to adjust the starship’s operational parameters. Seeing him walk as if his hands and feet were tied, Lin Xu decided to give Heinrich some space—to let him think things over and gather his thoughts.
But even after Lin Xu emptied three magazines at the shooting range, Heinrich hadn’t come to talk. Setting down the machine gun, Lin Xu went to the sink to wash off the lingering smell of gunpowder from his palms. Then he asked, “297, where is Marshal Chu on the starship right now?”
“The Marshal returned to the bedroom three minutes ago.”
Lin Xu slowly dried his hands and walked toward the bedroom. After Guy and the others had left, only Lin Xu and Heinrich remained on the starship. The silvery-gray corridors were empty and cold. The air circulation system hummed smoothly, but apart from the vents, there was no feeling of moving air.
Everything was quiet—only the faint buzzing of mechanical parts breaking the silence. But the moment Lin Xu pushed open the bedroom door, a sharp, piercing scream shattered the stillness.
“Waaaaahhh!!!”
Startled, Lin Xu rushed inside. Snowy was being held down on Heinrich’s knee, dressed begrudgingly, crying pitifully. Her glassy blue eyes pleaded for help, “Waaah…”
At Heinrich’s feet, Blackie was already clad in a soft green outfit. It was a two-piece suit with a crotch opening perfectly cut to expose the rabbit-cat’s short tail. But now, Blackie’s short tail and long ears drooped helplessly, looking utterly resigned.
Snowy was still struggling against Heinrich’s firm grip, but four paws were no match for two hands. Heinrich succeeded in slipping Snowy’s paws into the sleeves of the clothes, smoothing out the wrinkles before releasing her.
Snowy immediately leapt off Heinrich’s knee but staggered unsteadily as she tried to walk. The clothes completely restricted her movements, and she collapsed onto the floor just like Blackie, quietly whining in defeat.
“What are you doing…”
“Trying on the gift Alonso sent them,” Heinrich said matter-of-factly, looking at Lin Xu as if to say he was only following what Lin Xu had told Alonso earlier and didn’t realize he was the cause of the rabbit-cats losing their mobility.
Lin Xu blinked, looked at Heinrich, then at the two collapsed rabbit-cats on the floor. He sighed, walked over, picked them up, and sat down on the edge of the bed beside Heinrich.
The two pitiful little creatures squirmed and rubbed against Lin Xu’s palms. They nudged his belly with their heads and even licked his fingers and palms, all while crying softly, expressing their fear.
Lin Xu found it a little funny—he hadn’t expected he’d have to be the one to bring this topic up.
“Heinrich.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you and Guy think I’m pregnant?”
“I…” Heinrich stared into Lin Xu’s smoky gray eyes. His voice faltered for a few seconds as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Yes. Guy thinks you’re showing signs of pregnancy. He told me.”
“Why didn’t you ask me?”
“I knew what your answer would be.”
Lin Xu hadn’t expected that answer. He poked Heinrich’s cheek with his finger. Though his face looked cold and serious, his cheek was soft and elastic beneath the poke.
“Tell me.”
“You don’t think it’s possible.”
Lin Xu’s finger paused. Heinrich was right. He didn’t believe he was pregnant. During their ancient Earth voyage, his false pregnancy symptoms had been too severe to deny, but now—there was nothing happening in his body.
“There’s no way it’s real.”
“What if it is?”
“What if…” Lin Xu smiled and began gently pinching Heinrich’s cheek. “Heinrich, do you want a child?”
“No, I don’t.” Heinrich’s face briefly flickered with confusion and panic. As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt awkward about how poorly he was expressing himself and hurried to clarify. “Not… no, I mean… I never thought about it. I know… you haven’t either.”
Otherwise, neither of them would have ignored Zhou Pingbo’s earnest lectures on safety measures.
“I thought about it once,” Lin Xu said as he withdrew his hand and started removing the restrictive clothing from the two rabbit-cats. Blackie and Snowy looked so moved they nearly cried.
“Really…”
Lin Xu continued, “It was back at the base. I was about to undergo gene modification, and the chief medical officer handed me a consent form to sign. It basically said I voluntarily gave up the right to reproduce, to prevent human gene pools from being contaminated by artificially altered genes. I wasn’t the first subject—those before me had all signed it too. And it was originally used with my consent, the lab confirmed it.
“Some thought it was inhumane and unreasonable, a hindrance to human evolution. But weighing all the consequences, I thought the consent was necessary. So I thought about it once—whether I would have a child who carried my bloodline.
“In the end, I signed the form.”
Heinrich reached out to tap Blackie’s forehead, but the spiteful rabbit-cat looked up and bit his fingertip. The slight sting made Heinrich frown softly.
“If you really had a child this time, would you keep it?”
Lin Xu thought for a moment, then pinched Blackie’s chin to make it release Heinrich’s finger. “The base is destroyed. That consent form lost all legal force long ago. In the interstellar era, humanity’s genes have gone through several rounds of mutation—I think people have gotten used to it. If there really was a child, I’d keep it—but it’d have to be talented.”
He still didn’t believe he had another egg. After a moment of silence, Heinrich heard Lin Xu say, “Are you that curious? Then let’s get tested. We’ll have the answer soon.”
Lin Xu felt that only black-and-white facts on paper could dispel Heinrich’s doubts.
—
There was no doctor on S297. The nearest human-inhabited planet was poorly developed, and its medical technology was far from reassuring. However, the starship had a medical bay equipped with a medical pod and intelligent diagnostic devices.
Heinrich and Lin Xu followed the AI’s instructions to activate the diagnostic equipment. It was a military-grade medical product; the initial interface had no quick access for reproductive tests. The AI guided them to the basic programming menu, where they unearthed a deeply hidden reproductive screening mode.
First, the AI drew three vials of blood from Lin Xu for lab analysis. Then it had him lie down in the diagnostic pod, where green and red specialized rays scanned his abdomen.
The machine beeped steadily. Lin Xu insisted he wasn’t pregnant but couldn’t help feeling nervous, subconsciously controlling his breath. Heinrich watched the numbers flicker on the screen, waiting for the AI to synthesize the data and give an answer. He recalled the faint heartbeat he had heard earlier on the bridge…
“Testing complete. Please, rest briefly,” the robotic voice announced. Lin Xu rolled out of the pod and joined Heinrich, both staring at the screen. Seconds later, the results loaded:
“Scan comparison shows no signs of embryo development.”
Lin Xu exhaled and nudged Heinrich’s arm. Heinrich was about to say something when the blood test results came through:
“Blood analysis indicates abnormal hormone elevation. Possible embryo implantation detected.”
Lin Xu and Heinrich exchanged a shocked glance. Immediately after, the pod spit out more results and recommendations:
“A shadow detected in the lower abdomen. Suspected internal tumor. Please, contact a specialist physician for further examination promptly.”
Heinrich froze. “?!”
Lin Xu frowned, suddenly struck by a possibility. He stepped forward and pulled up the final scan image from the diagnostic pod. In the video, there was indeed a shadow inside his abdomen—an oval shape, fairly large, like… An egg.
The last egg that Zhou Pingbo himself had scanned was just as impenetrable to the detection rays. It had blocked every prying gaze outside its shell. Heinrich realized it too. There really was an egg inside Lin Xu’s belly.
“Heinrich…” Lin Xu’s voice trembled slightly for the first time. “Do you think it’s the same unfertilized egg as last time? Or… is there really life inside?”
“What do you want it to be?”
Lin Xu looked at Heinrich. “Can my wishes decide that?” No, they couldn’t.
Heinrich saw Lin Xu’s eyelashes flutter gently, the delicate shadow falling across his smoky gray eyes—impossible to tell whether it was hope or confusion. He pressed his lips together and said, “When I was holding you earlier, I heard a heartbeat.”
“Really?”
Heinrich couldn’t confirm that to Lin Xu yet. Then a spark of insight flashed through his mind. “I remember this machine has a part like a stethoscope. We can detach it and use it.”
A good idea—simple and effective. Lin Xu and Heinrich immediately agreed. They pulled up the machine’s disassembly diagram and brought over a toolbox to begin taking apart the medical equipment. AI297’s voice repeatedly warned over the speakers: Do not dismantle professional equipment yourself. But nobody listened.
An hour later, the diagnostic machine was completely dismantled. Heinrich found a component extremely similar to a stethoscope—functionally close too, except it had only one earpiece, so it could only be used with one ear. AI297’s warnings finally ceased.
Lin Xu sat amid the heap of machine parts, breathing a little hard. He undid his shirt buttons and let Heinrich press the stethoscope’s metal end against his lower abdomen. He was skeptical. Could what they heard really be anything other than his own breathing and the involuntary movements of his organs? After all, there was still an eggshell barrier. Could a heartbeat really be heard through it?
The metal end of the stethoscope felt cold against his skin, making Lin Xu shrug slightly. Heinrich raised his hand to steady him, signaling not to move. His brow furrowed, his expression serious and focused. After a moment, he silently handed the stethoscope to Lin Xu. He had heard it.
Lin Xu slowly took the device. At that moment of confirmation, a nervous tension gripped him—the anxious feeling of approaching home after a long journey. He brought the stethoscope to his ear.
Thump. Thump. Thump. He heard it too.
