52: Trust needs to be verified.

Everyone fell silent.

The resonance of Ji Yu's words seemed to still echo within the small tent.

Ji Yu's summary stirred up too many memories for Gaia, making him feel increasingly indignant on Tu Nan's behalf.

Li's eyes lost their focus; he didn't dare look at Tu Nan.

Tu Nan shifted her feet slightly, drawing the attention of all three. Everyone thought she was about to flee this suffocating tent.

Tu Nan did not.

To everyone's surprise, she didn't head for the exit; instead, she stepped toward Li.

Li almost wanted to hide away, but he was completely drained of strength and could only watch nervously as Tu Nan approached.

Tu Nan knelt beside him. Her hands unfastened Li's dry, knotted collar, brushing lightly against his Adam's apple.

A layer of muddy yellow sand stained her hand.

Li didn't know what Tu Nan was thinking. He followed her gaze to her fingers; the smudge of filth on her snow-white skin was exceptionally jarring.

Just like himself, Li thought.

Just like this tattered Chaotic Beast he was. He cursed himself wildly—damn it, he was Tu Nan's greatest calamity! If anyone else had bought Tu Nan, they surely wouldn't have let her suffer a second trauma after everything she'd been through.

Tu Nan cupped Li's face with both hands.

This was practically the first time since seeing her again that Li fully felt Tu Nan's warmth. Every pore on the skin she touched opened up, crying out in longing for her.

"Li..."

His Foster Mother... no, his Tu Nan.

She was still willing to call his name.

"Why don't you believe me?" Tu Nan asked. Li wanted to open his mouth to argue, to say he understood now, that he was wrong and wouldn't do it again.

But Tu Nan didn't give him the chance to speak; she leaned in.

She kissed him.

Li's eyes flew wide! Tu Nan's face magnified before him. Were her eyelashes always so long and curled?

They brushed against his face as she drew close, soft and ticklish.

Her lips were so tender. She first tentatively took his upper lip in hers, giving it a gentle nip. Li opened his mouth in a daze.

Tu Nan's tongue immediately pushed into his mouth without reservation, swallowing all the words he was about to say. Yet, the moment she touched him, she shyly retracted.

She went back to licking his lips.

It was truly... torture, Li thought. Was this Tu Nan's punishment for him? So severe, yet so sweet.

He let out a sigh of bliss, finally willing to close his eyes and fully experience it all. He waited until Tu Nan let her guard down, and when she invaded his mouth once more, he sucked on her fiercely.

He couldn't let her go.

Li's life force flared up again. He was wrong this time, but because of that, he couldn't let Tu Nan leave.

He wanted to stay by Tu Nan's side forever to atone for his mistake. He would show Tu Nan his sincerity.

He would never doubt Tu Nan again; he would only love her, trust her, and... protect her forever.

And their Children.

Tu Nan drew enough saliva from his mouth. The room was quiet; Ji Yu and Gaia had likely slipped away the moment she started kissing Li.

The two of them probably didn't understand Tu Nan's behavior and had filled in the blanks with their own imaginations.

But in reality, Tu Nan was simply conducting an experiment.

Amidst this nearly suffocating kiss with Li, she could still spare the focus to query the System that might be watching everything from some corner.

"Can this kind of behavior extract genes?"

[Yes.]

Tu Nan breathed a sigh of relief. She had verified several things at once.

First, intimacy indeed came in various degrees; it wasn't just that one kind. But that wasn't her primary goal.

A deeper question she harbored was verified simultaneously.

The System wasn't incapable of answering her; it simply only answered key questions related to completing the mission.

And the most important point: the Rank of the Children was not unrelated to the System as it claimed, nor was it just a friendly reminder. On the contrary, this might be the one thing it cared about most.

Had it not realized? It was currently answering questions that weren't about Tu Nan herself, but only questions concerning the Rank of the Children.

To test this, Tu Nan continued to ask.

"Can kissing alone satisfy the requirements?"

Sure enough, the System answered almost without delay.

[No, unless you can keep kissing until birth. A more efficient method is recommended.]

A cold smirk played on Tu Nan's lips.

System, you've exposed yourself. Why do you care so much about my Children?

Everything remained a mystery, but at least for now, the System and she shared a common goal:

To ensure the child in her womb received the very best of everything!

The two of them continued to exchange breaths gently in that thick atmosphere for a long time until Tu Nan finally pushed Li away.

The gaze she turned on Li once again held attachment and trust.

"You believe me now, don't you?" Tu Nan asked, knowing the answer.

"Mm." Li hummed the word. He watched Tu Nan sit up and move away from him with reluctance. After a brief pause, he admitted seriously,

"I was just so afraid of losing you that I made you suffer."

Tu Nan looked at him tenderly and shook her head slightly.

"As long as you are good to him." She touched her belly. "I want to raise him myself."

Li wondered why she was saying this.

Tu Nan suspected that Li truly didn't know these things. After a moment's hesitation, she chose to share part of the information she had gained with him.

"Ji Yu, the Female Beast from earlier, is also a Foster Mother. I learned quite a bit from her."

Tu Nan sighed.

"She's had several Children, but not one of them was allowed to be raised by her. Only one child is with her now, and even then, he cannot recognize her as his mother."

Li thought back and realized it was indeed as Tu Nan said. He had only ever seen pregnant Foster Mothers; he truly hadn't seen any with Children.

"A Foster Mother's only use is her womb. I don't want that." Tu Nan brushed her hair aside to let Li see the back of her neck. Under the cover of the synthetic skin, the numbers there were invisible.

"I want to be a normal Female Beast. I want to raise our child myself. I don't want to be passed from hand to hand."

Tu Nan pleaded with Li.

"Don't let the child be taken from me. No one will treat him better than I will."

Li agreed almost without thinking.

He didn't understand why a child should be snatched from its mother either... this was simply because he had grown up as a wanderer and never cared for these established "rules."

Tu Nan wanted to raise their child? That was only natural. Just thinking about it gave him a sense of happiness.

If his own mother had treated her child like Tu Nan back then, what would he be like now? Li's thoughts drifted for a moment before he cut them off.

He looked at Tu Nan, who was smiling sweetly because of his answer.

Tu Nan had already forgotten her previous displeasure. She said happily to Li,

"I knew Li would agree! I also have a small thing to tell you~"

She played coy for a moment before speaking bashfully.

"To stop the caravan from reselling me, I made up a lie..."

"Um... I'm currently a noble Young Miss, and Gaia... he's my guard."

There was no need to tell Li about the 'lover' persona; best not to provoke him further.

Tu Nan held Li's hand earnestly.

"The caravan is going to Mata City. We originally planned to follow them there and see. For now... can Li... just recover in the tent and not go outside?"

She looked at Li pitifully.

"I want to settle down safely in Mata City and have the baby there."

"Ah?"

Li... just nodded inexplicably, accepting the arrangement without a single complaint.

There were still seven days of travel left until Mata City.