45: Chapter 45 Ufu Opens Her Eyes

The white veins had just split when the entire incubation pool suddenly sank. The Red-Eyed Rats behind the line of fire all raised their heads in unison; even Grey Pupil tightened his grip on his ritual staff.

The white crack at the bottom of the pool grew longer and wider.

It didn't explode.

It was just a shell, being slowly pushed open from the inside.

The White-Bellied Mother Rat retreated half a step, but the crystal core floated upward. The white shadow curled in the center of the pool finally moved. First, a slender white claw pressed against the edge of the pool, followed by shoulders, long ears, and the three translucent nest threads trailing from behind its tail, rising bit by bit from the white-veined pool.

She was not tall; even standing straight, she only reached Grey Pupil's chest.

Her entire body was grayish-white, with slender shoulders and back, long limbs, and a ring of un-shed egg patterns still clinging to her lower abdomen. Her facial features were near-human, but the tips of her ears were thin like translucent membranes; her eyes remained closed, with two faint white lights pressing beneath her lashes.

As soon as she emerged, the entire pool went quiet for half a breath.

The next instant, the outermost ring exploded again.

Three Red-Eyed Rats, as if driven mad by some scent, lowered their heads and charged toward the edge of the pool. This time, they didn't even fight for the secondary troughs; their target was entirely Wu Fu, who had just emerged from the pool.

"Stop them!" Grey Pupil stepped forward to intercept.

"Wait." Lu Jin raised a hand to stop him. "Don't move yet."

Grey Pupil didn't move forward again but held his ritual staff horizontally, blocking the space between the line of fire and the center of the pool with his body.

Those three Red-Eyed Rats were already halfway there.

Wu Fu, however, didn't even raise her head; she simply pressed her slender white palm gently against the edge of the pool.

Hum.

A circle of milky-white patterns spread out along the edge of the pool, passing the secondary troughs, then the nest chambers, and finally crawling along the ground to the outer ring. The moment those three Red-Eyed Rats stepped onto the white veins, their bodies stiffened abruptly, as if someone had pressed down on their heads from the front. The red in their eyes didn't vanish; it simply shifted from a wild blaze to a heavy, deep glow beneath their pupils.

With a thud, all three rats collapsed.

The group of Red-Eyed Rats behind them, who had been gnashing their teeth, also lowered their heads one by one.

Grey Pupil stared at the outer ring, his expression changing slightly.

"They've stopped going mad."

"The fire is still there." Lu Jin looked at the hand Wu Fu had pressed on the pool edge. "It's just been suppressed by her for now."

Wu Fu still didn't speak.

She released the pool edge and began walking toward the side chambers. The newly born brood rats followed her immediately, running quickly and quietly.

They seemed to know instinctively who to follow.

Wu Fu stopped in front of the first side trough and glanced down at the feeding tray.

There was half a tray of bone powder left, a bit of soft ash, and two pinches of grey fire fungus powder.

She reached out and gently swiped her finger along the edge of the feeding tray.

The next instant, three side chambers bulged simultaneously.

The white membranes expanded and contracted; after a few breaths, the chamber openings split open in unison. A dozen or so small grayish-white rats crawled out, milky-white viscous paste hanging from their mouths, a soft sac bulging on their chests, swaying as they ran. They didn't squeak upon landing; they scattered toward various cracks, applying the white paste from their mouths bit by bit.

The cracks on the pool edge were patched.

The gaps in the secondary troughs were patched.

Even a Fire Oil Thrower with a burnt and cracked front claw was chased down by two small rats and coated in a layer of white paste. That Fire Oil Thrower had originally been trembling in pain, but once wrapped in the white paste, its breathing actually began to stabilize.

Grey Pupil watched the group of fast-working small rats and finally spoke.

"Are this batch for work?"

"Yes." Lu Jin stared at the layer of milky-white paste. "They can secrete nest paste. They can patch troughs, repair walls, and also keep injured rats alive for a while."

These were Nest-Paste Worker Rats.

They didn't fight on the front lines; they specialized in repairing the nest, sealing openings, and nursing the injured. Simply put, they plugged every small wound in the Court to keep this whole system running longer.

Once the Nest-Paste Worker Rats emerged, the Brood Nursery Court began to run even faster.

The white veins in the secondary troughs brightened, and several newly opened transport channels smoothed out as well. Wherever the Cart-pulling Rats dragged the bone powder, the Nest-Paste Worker Rats followed, applying paste as they went, gradually solidifying the previously flimsy trough walls.

But it wasn't over yet.

Wu Fu walked two more steps inside and stopped in front of two adult mother rats.

Those two mother rats had only had bulging abdomens initially, but after one look from her, they both prostrated their entire bodies. Wu Fu raised her hand and pressed it onto each of their backs; white veins immediately crawled down their spines, wrapping the two mother rats entirely.

It was not fast.

But it made one's heart tighten.

The two masses of white veins first wrapped around their abdomens, then bulged toward their backs. After a few breaths, the white membranes split, and two new things crawled out bit by bit.

They were a size larger than the adult mother rats, with lower abdomens, but with an extra grayish-white soft sac on their backs. Masses of unformed spores bulged within the soft sacs, swaying gently as they moved. Their front claws were not thick, but their tails were long, with fine forks at the tips, as if specifically for organizing the nest and sorting seeds.

As soon as they landed, they crawled into two deeper nest chambers on their own.

Soon, faint, dense squishing sounds came from the nest chambers.

When they emerged again, both new units had grayish-white spore threads trailing from their tail tips, and the layer of white veins beneath their abdomens was brighter than that of the other mother rats.

Grey Pupil watched those two nest chambers, his voice very low.

"What are these two?"

"Spore Nest Breeders." Lu Jin stared at the two new units carrying spore sacs. "If we want to raise fiercer lines later, we have to get the seeds from them first."

These were Spore Nest Breeders.

They didn't enter the fight now, but the spore sacs on their backs contained the foundation for further lineage branching later. Whether to head toward explosive rats or large-bodied nest beasts in the future, it all depended on what seeds they could produce.

Wu Fu brought up the Work Rats and Breeders in one go, and the Brood Nursery Court changed completely as a result.

The Red-Eyed Rats in the outer ring no longer lunged chaotically, each lying lower than the last.

The feeding troughs in the middle ring were organized by the Work Rats, and the Cart-pulling Rats moved in and out without Grey Pupil needing to point them out one by one.

The two deepest nest chambers were taken over by the Spore Nest Breeders; soon, a layer of fine white spore membrane appeared at the entrance, and even the scent was different from everywhere else.

Grey Pupil looked inside and outside the pool and slowly took half a step back.

This wasn't yielding his position.

It was that the work on both sides was separated from this moment on.

The outer ring was still for it to guard.

The pool and the nest chambers, from this moment on, belonged to Wu Fu.

Lu Jin saw this scene clearly and noted it in his mind.

But the next moment, new trouble arrived.

A rush of hurried rope-dragging sounds came from the rear warehouse.

The Cart-pulling Rats dragged the last half-trough of soft ash into the secondary trough; the moment the bottom of the trough brightened, the entire tray of material was empty. Following closely, the grey fire fungus powder also bottomed out.

Two Nest-Paste Worker Rats were still applying paste to the edge of the feeding tray, but as they worked, there was nothing left to consume.

Grey Pupil looked back and scanned the area; his expression sank instantly.

"The rear warehouse has hit rock bottom."

"The iron sand is gone, the bone powder is gone, and the soft ash is nearly empty."

"There are only two clusters of grey fire fungus left."

Lu Jin's eyes darkened slightly.

He had just gotten the Brood Nursery Court running, and it immediately began consuming material desperately.

The Nest-Paste Worker Rats needed paste.

The Spore Nest Breeders needed spores.

After the dozen or so adult mother rats in the outer layer stabilized, they were also waiting for the second round to enter the chambers.

This place was now everywhere opening its mouth to consume material.

What was more troublesome was that Wu Fu hadn't stopped.

She walked to a secondary trough that was already bottoming out, looked down for two breaths, and raised her hand to tap gently on the trough wall. White veins immediately crawled out along the trough wall, actually crawling all the way to the two spare star-pattern bricks nearby.

The corners of the star-pattern bricks lit up, and they began to be slowly drained of heat.

Grey Pupil's eyes went cold on the spot.

"She's gnawing on the walls."

"Not the walls, it's the stored material." Lu Jin stared at those two star-pattern bricks. "If we let her drain it like this, the backup stabilizing materials will also be emptied."

Grey Pupil tightened his grip on his ritual staff.

"Should we stop her?"

As soon as these words fell, the Breeding Cave quieted down a bit.

The Nest-Paste Worker Rats were still running.

The Spore Nest Breeders were also still moving.

Wu Fu, however, seemed to have understood; she slowly raised her head and looked directly at them for the first time.

It was at this moment that she opened her eyes.

It was a very faint, cold milky-white, like freshly congealed nest paste. It looked calm, yet within it was pressed the flow of the entire Brood Nursery Court. Her way of looking at people was also strange; it didn't feel like she was distinguishing friend from foe, but more like she was checking if the material was enough, if the troughs were smooth, and if this system could continue to be sustained.

Grey Pupil didn't retreat; instead, he raised his ritual staff more steadily.

Wu Fu didn't confront it either.

She only glanced at Grey Pupil, then her gaze swept past its shoulder and landed on the group of Red-Eyed Rats lying behind. The next moment, the nest threads behind her tail flicked gently, and those Red-Eyed Rats in the outer ring, who had still been baring their teeth, all lowered themselves even further, their breathing even smoothing out.

Grey Pupil frowned.

But Lu Jin understood.

Grey Pupil could suppress the Red-Eyed Rats by relying on his ritual staff, rules, and beating them one by one.

Wu Fu suppressed the Red-Eyed Rats by connecting this group of rats directly to the entire Brood Nursery Court. Once they were connected, the fire wouldn't burn wildly; it would only follow the pool.

These were two different skills.

One internal, one external.

Neither could replace the other.

But the resources were still equally insufficient.

One of the two spare star-pattern bricks had already dimmed.

One of the last two clusters of grey fire fungus had also been dragged away by the Nest-Paste Worker Rats.

If it kept running like this, there would be no need to wait for tomorrow; the rear warehouse would be completely empty by tonight.

Lu Jin took a step forward and stopped at the edge of the pool; his voice was not loud, but it was steady and authoritative.

"Enough."

"Seal three empty chambers first; the second round is not allowed to open."

"The remaining material is only to sustain this current Court."

Wu Fu looked at him, neither nodding nor shaking her head.

She simply lowered her eyes and scanned the empty feeding tray, the dimming secondary trough, and the star-pattern brick that was losing heat.

Lu Jin also stared at her.

"If you can understand, give me a reaction."

Wu Fu finally moved.

She first raised her hand and slowly retracted the white vein that was draining heat. Both star-pattern bricks dimmed simultaneously, and the secondary trough also settled slightly.

Grey Pupil's gaze flickered.

"She understands."

Lu Jin did not respond to this.

It wasn't just that he wanted to know if she could understand. He also wanted to know if this new core, who had just walked out of the pool, could speak, would recognize people, and would be harder to manage than the entire pool itself.

Wu Fu withdrew her hand, and the nest threads behind her tail also slowly drooped.

Then, she raised those milky-white eyes and truly looked at Lu Jin for the first time.

She didn't kneel, nor did she prostrate herself.

Nor did she recognize a master first, as Grey Pupil had when it was first born.

She looked at the empty feeding trough, at the few glowing nest chambers, and at the entire Brood Nursery Court that had just begun to run but was already nearly hollowed out; her voice was very soft, as if it had just been ground out from a shell.

"The incubation pool is hungry."