137: Confession and Speculation

Tu Nan thought Lance would be angry about her concealment and deception, or at least upset, and she was prepared to endure it all.

After all, she hadn't told Lance the truth, and had only confessed bit by bit, like squeezing toothpaste, when she wanted her help.

Her face felt hot and she felt uneasy, realizing she actually cared so much about Lance's opinion and attitude toward her.

Lance finally found her voice and spoke with difficulty: "Tu Nan, you've been carrying this alone until now?"

Tu Nan looked up in disbelief, only to see Lance's eyes slightly red, looking at her with a face full of pity.

"You must have been suffering for a long time... is it because... you've suffered so much that you don't dare to trust others?"

Tu Nan's lips trembled; she wanted to cry but couldn't.

"It's nothing, the Children... are fine. They have always been with me."

Lance shook her head gently and patted the space beside her. After Tu Nan tentatively sat on the ground with her, she pulled the head of this seemingly impeccable and audacious Female Beast onto her shoulder.

"Nonsense," she scolded Tu Nan.

"The Children love you, but that only makes you feel a greater sense of responsibility." The cynical Lance now seemed possessed by a gentle figure who had once accompanied Tu Nan as she stroked Tu Nan's hair.

"You still need a companion.

This is different... You need me, you know? It's my fault for meeting you so late."

Tu Nan's throat tightened; she didn't want to cry at this moment. She nodded vigorously! She let herself enjoy this long-overdue relaxation.

"So you had two Genius Children all at once."

After both of their emotions calmed down, Lance's straightened back slumped again. She lay back on Tu Nan's lap and began to discuss things with her.

"One can control fire, and the other can move through shadows."

Tu Nan nodded and told Lance how she had used the Children's abilities and the identity Hain gave her to board the spaceship from Sand Star.

Including... "Oh... the name Tu Nan sounds much better. 'With the blue sky on its back... And then, only now, does it set its sights on the south.' Just hearing it makes one feel you're destined for great things. A name like Pearl is probably only something Male Beasts would like," Lance teased. "But so I don't say the wrong name, should I still call you Pearl for now?"

Tu Nan nodded, grateful that Lance's tolerance for her seemed endless, but at the same time, she noticed something strange.

"Where did you hear that line, 'And then, only now, does it set its sights on the south'?" This was the origin of her name. A researcher on Blue Star had also casually praised her, saying she had a good name and that it came from the 'Zhuangzi: Carefree Excursion.'

Could it be that the same book existed here too?

Lance thought for a moment. "I don't know, it just sounds a bit familiar, but I can't remember clearly. I'll check later. It must be some ancient book I scanned through at some point, but I'm not very good with that sort of thing."

Tu Nan didn't dwell on this for now; she had completely opened up.

Except for the existence of the System and related content, she told Lance everything she could.

The most important thing now was her thoughts on whether there was content that could be replicated between the System's tasks and reality.

"Anyway, for other reasons, I have two Children who will become S-Rank, and I have some speculations of my own. I need someone to do some research in this area."

These were some thoughts Tu Nan had come up with while pondering the System's tasks lately.

For example, the candidates the System currently pointed out for tasks were very iconic. They were all high-Rank: Li was A-Rank, while Kong Jiamu and Hain were both S-Rank.

In short, the high-Rank individuals Tu Nan had met so far were more likely to be pointed out by the System, but whether all high-Rank individuals received such treatment... remained to be verified.

For instance, Green Fox? He was also A-Rank; she could take a look if she had the chance.

Or she could go for a stroll; there must be other high-Rank beastmen on Xiuyin Star.

The direction and abilities of the Children's Awakening also gave Tu Nan much to think about. With both a White Tiger and a Phoenix... she felt the System was trying to assemble the Four Divine Beasts.

Once Tu Nan figured these things out, she would be close to the System's purpose. That was her own judgment.

As for the method the System gave to deepen the Children's genetic Awakening, although it sounded ridiculous... something about increasing the Children's Rank through caressing, kissing, and deep contact.

However, if understood from the simplest and most basic path.

Wasn't it essentially saying that a deeper and more stable relationship between parents could result in a better Physique for the Children? That was exactly what she needed to ask Lance.

"What I want to ask is... um... after pregnancy is confirmed, do people usually continue to stay by the Female Beast's side? For companionship, caressing, or... more intimate things?"

Lance looked at her strangely.

"They just do whatever they usually do?" she answered as if it were a matter of course.

"Foster Mothers, you know, as long as they can get pregnant, it's fine. They only care that it's their own child and that it's born smoothly. Who cares about the Foster Mother?

As for Female Beasts... they just don't get pregnant easily, but once they are, their bodies are incredibly strong. They don't need special care either."

Tu Nan thought for a moment and asked Lance: "I know the Foster Mother System was created to increase the birth rate, but... after that, what was the ratio of the Ranks of the Children born? Did it increase?"

Lance paused and scratched her hair.

"Everyone feels like the number of high-Rank individuals has increased."

"The total number increased, which is logical. I'm asking about the ratio," Tu Nan emphasized.

"Then I'm not sure... no one has discussed it, and I don't know if anyone has compiled those statistics. But there are too many people on various planets, and the front lines always need people, so these statistics are hard to do." Lance thought carefully. "Is it important? Then I'll find a way to get some local data."

"It's very important." Tu Nan requested Lance solemnly. "This is related to the inference I'm about to make."

She told Lance her guess.

"I suspect that the feelings between parents need to deepen, maintaining enough intimacy so the child grows up under love.

Only then can they Breakthrough the Rank limits of their parents and climb upward."

Using the attitude of someone conducting academic research, Tu Nan explained her situation with Li to her.

"Look, Li, the father of the Children, is A-Rank, but I haven't told you that he is actually a Chaotic Beast.

You should understand, right? For a Chaotic Beast to reach A-Rank by himself is already incredible, yet his pair of twins can reach S-Rank. This is definitely rare. And as for my own genetic Rank, you can tell just by looking."

Tu Nan looked very weak at a glance now. She was never afraid to admit this.

"When I was pregnant, it was when his feelings for me were at their deepest.

We... we were together almost every night... at that time... I also felt he could provide me with the stable life I wanted."

Lance considerately didn't ask why Tu Nan stopped believing in all that later.

She was more focused on the strange operation Tu Nan mentioned.

"Indeed, no one treats a Foster Mother with care; a Foster Mother stays alone as soon as she becomes pregnant."

This was exactly what Tu Nan was thinking; she had seen that the pregnant Ji Yu never lived with Ken.

"So I suspect that although the birth rate increased, the Rank of the Children at birth decreased. If we can get the ratio of Children born to Female Beasts whose parents are in love..."

Tu Nan's eyes sparkled.

"If that's really the case, then treating Foster Mothers this way is definitely even more wrong, isn't it!"

This might truly shake the Foundation of the Foster Mother System.

Moreover, if this theory held true, it would also make it easier for her to continue seeking things from Kong Jiamu or others in the future.

[This time, am I guessing correctly?]

Tu Nan asked the System. She felt that this time, the System would answer her.