Chapter 191: Birth of Ant Assasins.

Before Hunter could answer, a high-pitched, mischievous squeal echoed from his side of the call. A tiny child darted past the camera, giggling hysterically while holding a handful of small sticky fruits. One hit Hunter on the head and stuck to his hair.

"You little menace!" Hunter barked, though there was no real anger in his voice. He jumped up, knocking his stool over, and chased the kid right out of the camera’s frame.

Zyra couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips. She watched as Hunter ducked and darted in the background, finally scooping up the rogue toddler and lifting him into the air until the kid burst into breathless giggles. A moment later, Hunter returned to his seat, dusting off his pants, that bright, boyish smile still hanging on his lips.

"A date seed," Hunter muttered, rubbing the side of his head. "Right on the sweet spot. The kid has good reflexes, if trained well, he could grow to be a great sniper." He was already considering the idea of having Bullet teach the kid.

Zyra rested her chin in her hands, grinning. "I didn’t know you liked kids so much."

Hunter scoffed instantly, waving his hand in denial. "Kids are lovable_ as long as they belong to someone else."

Zyra’s eyes went wide, and she let out a dramatic gasp. "Why wouldn’t you want to have your own? You’d be a great dad!"

Hunter’s smile faded a bit, replaced by a softer, more somber expression. "I’d love to, honestly. But in a world like ours? It feels selfish." He sighed, looking off to the side. "It’s too unstable. Too unpredictable. Imagine bringing a child into a world where people are treated like less just because of class differences. Do you know how many low-born children can’t go to school or get health care or sleep hungry? Clans rise and fall all the time, sometimes ending in class demotions. Life is unpredictable. What if someday I become a low-born? Wouldn’t my children suffer such a fate? I couldn’t bear watching a child of mine suffer through that."

Zyra felt a quiet ache in her chest. His words hit surprisingly close to home. "That_ actually makes some sense," she murmured.

"What about you?" Hunter asked, tilting his head. "What’s your take?"

Zyra winced slightly, a wry smile touching her lips. "Well, my view is pretty much the same as yours. I’d love to have them, but honestly right now, the safest way to protect my kids is to just leave them right inside my ovaries. I am a hunted woman. A child would just be a target for my enemies or leverage to be used against me."

Hunter stared at her for a split second before bursting into a loud, booming laugh that echoed through the link band. "Leave them in your ovaries?! Heavens, Zyra, I love the way your brain works. I didn’t take you for a joker."

Before Zyra could laugh along, a loud, sharp beep cut through the air.

Her wrist band was flashing red. A frantic prompt popped up in her field of vision: [Host, the queen ant is in severe distress!]

Zyra’s heart dropped straight into her stomach. "Hunter, I have to go! Snowy is in distress." she blurted out, slamming her hand on the icon to cut the call before he could even answer.

She leaped out of her chair and sprinted out the door, making a mad dash toward the Beast Pavilion. Her heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped bird. Please be okay, Snowy, please! I risked my life under a frozen lake to evolve you.

Halfway across the courtyard, her personal phone chimed again. It was Scotty.

"Divine maiden! Where are you?!" Scotty’s voice was borderline hysterical. "Something is really wrong with Snowy! She’s thrashing around and_ "

"I’m running as fast as I can!" Zyra panted, her lungs burning, but the beast pavilion was still too far. She couldn’t waste seconds like this. Frustrated and terrified, she snapped in her mind, "System! Teleport me to Snowy right now!"

[Understood, Host.]

In the very next second, the scenery shifted violently. The outdoor breeze vanished, replaced by the warm, earthy smell of the beast domain and then, Zyra appeared out of thin air, standing smack-dab outside of Snowy’s abode.

"WOAH!" Scotty, who was standing nearby holding a bucket of water, jumped three feet into the air and dropped the bucket with a loud clang. The people around the enclosure gasped in pure horror, clutching their chests and staring at her like she was a ghost.

"Ma’am?!" Scotty squeaked, his voice cracking violently. "Did you_ did you just teleport?! I have never seen you do that."

"Shut up, Scotty! She is the Divine maiden; all Soul maidens can create portals." Xavier shouted.

Scotty nodded, "of course."

Zyra ignored them completely, shoving her way past them to get to the huge form lying on the ground.

Snowy was squirming in agony. Her long, elegant white carapace was slick with sweat, her legs twitching rhythmically. She emitted low, pitiful clicks that sounded like crying.

"System, what’s happening to her?! How do I help?!" Zyra asked frantically.

[The Queen Ant is in labor.]

Zyra nearly stumbled over her own feet. Labor?! Already?! "How do I help her through this?!"

A soft, glowing blue rectangular pad materialized directly into Zyra’s hands. It hummed with a gentle, soothing vibration.

[This is a Labor Vibration Pad,] the System explained coolly. [Have the Queen Ant lie flat on it. It will relax her muscle contractions and make the egg-laying process much smoother.]

"Scotty, move your butt and help me!" Zyra yelled.

Scotty, still looking pale from the teleportation stunt, snapped out of his daze and rushed over. "What is that thing? Is she going to be, okay?!"

"Just grab her back end! Gently!" Zyra ordered.

Together, grunting and sweating, they carefully shifted the heavy, writhing body of the giant ant queen onto the vibrating pad. The moment Snowy’s lower abdomen touched the blue light, her violent twitching slowed down. She let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief through her mandibles.

Ten minutes later, Snowy’s body contracted one final time, and a cluster of eggs began to slide out smoothly onto the mat.

Zyra leaned in close, her jaw dropping in awe. The eggs were almost transparent, shimmering like wet pearls under the pavilion lights. Inside the clear shells, tiny, fully formed baby ants were already squirming around.

"Whoa_ " Scotty whispered, his eyes wide. "Are those..."

[Species identified: Assassin Ants,] Beauty chimed merrily in Zyra’s head. [Congratulations, Host, on a successful egg-laying assist! You have been rewarded with 4000 Resonance Points and 1 Human Egg.]