Chapter 171: Wild Pregnancy Imagination

Ace was also staring at Sora.

The usually composed leopard beastman’s eyes held a barely concealed excitement.

He, too, had already started calculating the possibility.

This pregnancy should belong to him.

There was no doubt about it.

His tiger lineage was known for its strong reproductive ability. If Sora had become pregnant after being with him, it would hardly be surprising.

Ace’s gaze softened as he imagined tiny tiger cubs following Sora around.

Perhaps they would inherit his white fur.

Perhaps they would inherit Kaelira’s eyes.

The thought made the corners of his lips rise.

Lukan was quieter.

He didn’t show as much emotion as Xavier or Ace, but even his normally calm expression had changed.

His eyes remained fixed on Sora’s stomach.

There was a possibility.

A very real possibility.

After all, he and Sora had visited the Temple of the Gods together.

That memory immediately surfaced in his mind.

The holy son had said that couples who visited the temple had a higher chance of being blessed with cubs.

At the time, Lukan hadn’t thought too deeply about those words.

But now, with the possibility of Sora being pregnant, they suddenly seemed significant.

He remembered how well Sora had cooperated with him that day.

Could the gods truly have blessed them?

Lukan’s heart began to race.

Maybe the little cub inside Sora was his.

He secretly clenched his fist.

He had been waiting for this possibility ever since they returned from the temple.

Perhaps the gods had really answered his prayers.

Ryan, who was sitting nearby, also fell silent.

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

Although he was the last among them to be with Sora that particular day, he wasn’t willing to completely give up hope.

He remembered the hot spring.

The warm water.

The time they had spent together.

His fish-beast lineage had different reproductive characteristics from land beasts.

Their bodies were adapted to water, and under the right conditions, conception could happen much more quickly.

Their gestation period was also significantly shorter.

Therefore, it wasn’t impossible for the child to be his.

Ryan’s eyes gradually brightened.

Maybe he would be the father.

The possibility made him almost unable to sit still.

Unfortunately, Lucas had a completely different reaction.

He stared at Sora’s stomach with a complicated expression.

He felt as though he had been left behind.

One step.

He had been one step too late.

And now it seemed that one step had cost him everything.

If he had known Sora would become pregnant so quickly, he would never have wasted so much time trying to create their supposed "private world."

He should have acted sooner.

Instead, he had proudly believed he could wait.

Now look at him.

Everyone else had a chance.

He might have already missed his.

Lucas’s expression darkened.

More importantly, if Kaelia was truly pregnant, would she still allow him to get close to her?

The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became.

His brown eyes narrowed.

He glanced at Sora again.

She looked completely unaware of the silent competition happening around her.

Lucas sighed internally.

Why did she have to become pregnant so quickly?

Meanwhile, Sora was still desperately trying to convince herself that the female had simply misunderstood.

She slowly pulled the chicken leg back toward herself.

After a moment, she forced a faint smile.

"No way."

The female blinked.

Sora gave a small laugh.

"I probably just ate too much meat recently."

She gestured toward the food surrounding them.

"Yesterday, I ate roasted suckling pig, and today we’re having another barbecue. Eating this much meat every day can make anyone feel sick."

The female considered this and nodded.

"That is possible."

She smiled.

"I only thought your reaction looked similar to mine when I was pregnant."

Sora’s smile froze.

Her heart tightened.

Why did this woman have to say that?

The female continued chatting.

"But your situation is different from ours."

Sora looked at her.

"How so?"

The female pointed subtly toward the surrounding beastmen.

"Most of the females in our tribe mate with wolf beastmen. So we know what pregnancy usually feels like with them."

She then glanced toward Sora.

"But you..."

Her eyes traveled around the gathering.

"A snake beastman. A phoneix beastman. A tiger beastman. A bear beastman. A merman beastman..."

She paused.

"And a wolf beastman."

Sora’s expression became increasingly complicated.

The female shook her head.

"Your situation is much harder to judge."

Sora swallowed.

That was exactly what she was afraid of.

She had six beast husbands besides the wolf beastman Lukan, each from a completely different species.

Different species.

Different bodies.

Different reproductive systems.

Different pregnancy periods.

Different methods of giving birth.

How was she supposed to know what was happening inside her body?

Sora lowered her eyes.

Her thoughts began racing.

If ordinary human biology applied, Xavier and Ace were probably among the more likely possibilities based on timing.

But even that didn’t make sense.

It hadn’t been three months.

How could she already have symptoms?

Unless...

The beastmen’s bodies were fundamentally different from humans.

That possibility suddenly seemed increasingly reasonable.

She remembered that some beast species had extremely short gestation periods.

Fish beastmen in particular could have a very different reproductive cycle.

That meant Ryan’s chances couldn’t be dismissed either.

And if the Temple of the Gods really did have some mysterious effect, Lukan could also be a possibility.

Sora’s head began to ache.

The more she thought about it, the more complicated everything became.

A child could potentially be growing inside her right now.

But what kind of child?

A wolf?

A snake?

A tiger?

A fish?

Or something else entirely?

Her face slowly turned pale.

Then another terrifying possibility entered her mind.

How many?

Sora suddenly remembered the pigs from the apocalypse.

Back then, she had once watched a sow give birth.

One after another, tiny piglets had tumbled into the world.

There had been so many that she had lost count.

And when they became hungry, all of them had rushed toward their mother at once.

Dozens of tiny bodies.

Dozens of mouths.

All fighting for milk.

The memory made Sora’s stomach twist.

What if beastwomen also gave birth to many offspring?

What if she ended up with an entire litter?

Her hand unconsciously moved toward her chest.

Her expression became horrified.

No.

Absolutely not.

She was human!

Not a mother pig!

She couldn’t possibly feed an entire group of cubs at once.

Even if her body had developed differently in this world, there had to be a limit.

She had worked so hard to lose weight after arriving here.

She had finally managed to transform her body from the original owner’s enormous figure into something closer to the appearance she was accustomed to.

What if pregnancy made all her hard work disappear?

What if she became round again?

Sora’s face fell.

She had only just managed to become somewhat human-looking.

She didn’t want to return to being overweight.

And her mission wasn’t even complete yet.

She still had to win the affection of her beast husbands.

If she became pregnant now, wouldn’t everything become much more difficult?

Sora lowered her head and stared at her stomach.

Her expression changed several times.

Shock.

Denial.

Confusion.

Fear.

Then finally, reluctant acceptance of the possibility.

Perhaps she really was pregnant.

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The beastmen around her were secretly celebrating, each believing the unborn child might belong to him.

Sora, meanwhile, was already imagining the worst possible outcome.

She pictured herself waking up one morning to find a dozen tiny cubs crawling all over her.

One with wolf ears.

One with tiger stripes.

One with a snake tail.

One with fins.

Her imagination became more absurd with every passing second.

She shuddered.

"No..."

She covered her face.

"This is too much."

The female beside her looked confused.

"Kaelira?"

Sora slowly lowered her hands.

"Nothing."

She forced a smile.

"I’m just... thinking."

Thinking about her future.

Thinking about her body.

Thinking about cubs.

And most importantly—

Thinking about how on earth she was going to survive if she really was pregnant.

She had survived the apocalypse.

She had survived transmigration.

She had survived an enormous amount of trouble since arriving in the beast world.

She had even survived being surrounded by several powerful beast husbands.

But for the first time, Sora discovered that something as small as the possibility of a baby could make her more nervous than any monster she’d ever faced.

Her hand remained protectively over her abdomen.

Deep inside, beneath all the panic, there was another unfamiliar emotion.

Warmth.

If there really was a little life growing inside her...

Then perhaps it was no longer just about survival.

Perhaps she had finally found something worth protecting for an entirely different reason.

But before Sora could sort out her feelings, a low voice came from beside her.

"You should let the shaman examine you."

Sora turned.

Lukan was watching her seriously.

Xavier immediately nodded.

"A shaman can tell whether you’re pregnant."

Ace also spoke.

"And if you are, we’ll find out how far along you are."

Ryan leaned forward eagerly.

Lucas remained silent, though his eyes were fixed on Sora.

Sora looked from one beastman to another.

Suddenly, she had a strange feeling.

Why did they all look so excited?

She narrowed her eyes.

"Don’t tell me..."

The five beastmen immediately looked away.

Sora’s suspicion deepened.

She sighed.

"Forget it."

Whatever they were thinking, she didn’t have the energy to deal with it tonight.

First, she needed confirmation.

Only then could she worry about the rest.

She looked once more at the roaring bonfire.

The laughter of the tribe continued around her.

For now, the night was still peaceful.

But Sora had a feeling that if she really was carrying a child, this peaceful life was about to become much more chaotic.

And judging by the expressions of the beastmen surrounding her...

They were already preparing for war over a child who hadn’t even been confirmed to exist yet.