Chapter 105

Chapter 105

The egg is currently in good condition, but he had previously reviewed the parents' information, and both were pure humans. However, in the genetic data they submitted, the mother of the egg indeed possessed zombie genes.

The zombie genes ranked among the last few in the mother's numerous rare racial genes, having been passed down for countless generations. Now, a zombie offspring has actually been born. If it weren't for the fact that Star People can instantly recognize their own eggs, there would have been quite a commotion.

Bai Xiaoyu discovered from previous records that the number of zombies was continuously decreasing, making them one of the rarest races with the least population. Bai Xiaoyu wasn't surprised by this; they inherently carried too much death energy, making it difficult for new life to be born.

However, zombies naturally tend to be somewhat brutal and prefer battlefields, so many armies have zombie warriors. They look like pure humans, but both their physical constitution and mental strength surpass those of pure humans, making them comparable to beasts in terms of abilities.

Battlefields are always cruel, compounded by dark matter pollution, leading to a low birth rate, causing the zombie population to dwindle further. Fifty years ago, they established a rule that no newborn offspring could join the military. If necessary, two zombie offspring must be born before one can go to the battlefield.

This rule has remained dormant because there were no eligible offspring.

Bai Xiaoyu continued to examine the next egg, which had an extremely small yolk and had been in hibernation for ten years.

After probing with his mental power, he saw that the yolk inside had already developed.

Initially, the yolk of this egg was only the size of a grape, leading him to think it might be due to poor development during incubation or within the mother. Later, he realized that the yolk of their race was naturally this small.

Their eggs themselves are smaller, but the human genes provide enough space without affecting the egg's development.

Probing with his mental power, he saw a curled-up, fist-sized offspring that hadn't fully differentiated yet, still in a semi-formed state. The offspring looked small, but its skin and blood were no different from those of the half-beast offspring. The only difference was that it had a tail three times longer than its upper body. The tail didn't grow from the spine but connected below the abdomen and legs.

Bai Xiaoyu carefully examined the offspring wrapped in its tail, noting that despite its small size, it was healthy, with tiny transparent scales starting to grow on the tail.

It is said that the scales on a mermaid's tail only start to show color after the offspring becomes fully formed and mobile within the egg. Before that, the scales remain transparent.

Indeed, this egg with an extremely small yolk is a mermaid egg. Mermaid eggs are usually not large, and Bai Xiaoyu checked the records, finding that they are slightly larger than when Xiao Dian was unhatched. Newly hatched mermaid offspring are also very small, fitting in the palm of a hand. Mermaids grow rapidly after hatching and require an ocean environment.

Since Bai Xiaoyu learned that the offspring in the egg was a mermaid, he changed the herbal concoction in the incubation fluid, replacing many herbs with those collected from the deep sea. The energy and marine scent in these herbs are suitable for the offspring's growth.

Bai Xiaoyu had more of these herbs collected, all gathered by the mermaids in the two armies from the deep sea.

Wondering why so many were needed, Bai Xiaoyu finished examining this egg and turned to the next one.

This egg, with a large yolk, was sent by one of the fathers, Xiao Yue, and had been in hibernation for twenty-one years.

Bai Xiaoyu cautiously probed into the egg with his mental power. The yolk, which initially resembled a jellyfish, had not changed much in shape. However, a layer of shimmering gossamer now covered the surface of the yolk, tightly enveloping the offspring inside, acting as an additional protective shell.

Bai Xiaoyu did not probe through the gossamer with his mental power, as he had previously discovered that it blocked mental power. While this level of gossamer couldn't completely block his mental power, he could roughly gauge the condition of the offspring without needing to force entry.

Mental power is aggressive and could damage the incomplete gossamer, which is a natural companion to the young offspring throughout its life. It must not be destroyed because of him.

Bai Xiaoyu recognized the race of the offspring in this egg even earlier than the mermaid, as he had encountered a mermaid before the apocalypse, while mermaids appear in the West.

He couldn't see the full appearance of the young mermaid offspring protected by the gossamer, but Bai Xiaoyu wasn't in a hurry. He had seen the appearance of mermaids and decided to wait for the young offspring to develop slowly.

As Bai Xiaoyu continued to examine the next egg, three elderly men with white hair and youthful appearances were drinking together, sharing their grievances.

"Our clan hasn't had a newborn in a hundred years."

"Our clan is similar; we haven't seen a mermaid offspring that fits in my palm for eighty years. How nostalgic."

After saying this, they looked at each other and sighed. Finally, they turned to the silent man beside them, suddenly realizing that his clan might be better off, as the mermaid clan hasn't had a newborn for over three hundred years.

The elder in black spoke, "Our youngest is a hundred years old and still single. We keep urging him to find a partner and have offspring, but he shows no interest. He only likes battles and tells us to stop nagging and have our own if we want offspring. Look at what he says! When the offspring grows up, they don't let us hold them, and I can't even hug a little zombie because he won't find a partner!"

As he became agitated, the elder's nails gradually changed color.

The elder in blue also sighed, "Our youngest is in the medical department of the frontline army and is eighty years old with no partner. Why don't we introduce them? Maybe we can hold our grandchildren in a few years."

The elder in red, who had been silent, was intrigued and coughed lightly to get their attention, but the two were engrossed in conversation.

The elder in red couldn't help but speak up, "Include my clan's offspring too."

The other two elders looked at him suspiciously and said in unison, "Your clan's three-hundred-year-old offspring still doesn't have a partner?"

Before the elder in red could answer, the elder in black said, "Our offspring is only a hundred years old; a three-hundred-year-old partner is too old."

The elder in blue nodded, "Exactly, a generation gap of three years. How many gaps is that between my offspring?"

Seeing them dismiss his clan's youngest, the elder in red narrowed his eyes, clearly angry, "Did you forget that our mermaid clan reaches adulthood at three hundred years? He's only been an adult for decades."

The other two elders agreed, thinking it was better to have more options.

Thus, they continued chatting, naming their potential grandchildren even though nothing was certain.

Thinking about the offspring, they began to eye each other warily.

"The offspring will naturally belong to our zombie clan."

"What nonsense. Our mermaid clan provides a better environment."

"Still, our mermaid clan is best suited to raise the offspring."

In the end, the discussion broke down, and the three elders stood with their hair moving without wind. Suddenly, a robot walked by, and the moment it disappeared from view, the three moved.

The elder in black instantly grew ten-centimeter-long black nails, "Let's fight!"

The elder in blue revealed a three-meter-long fish tail, slapping the faces of the other two, "If we knock you out, the offspring will be ours."

The elder in red produced transparent crimson gossamer and attacked.

The scene became chaotic.

This fight even made it to the trending topics, with the reason being the uneven distribution of non-existent offspring.

As for the aftermath, many forces in the galaxy expressed that they had plenty of eligible candidates and suggested introducing them to the younger generation.

These three rare races were all ancient ones, with immense wealth and power accumulated over countless years, extending their influence throughout the entire starry expanse. Even the royal family, which had been established for tens of thousands of years, coveted their wealth.

After Bai Xiaoyu finished checking on Dandan and was using the refining device in the Pharmacy Building to make potions, Tao Limeng was also there. At this moment, he was unusually not studying the refining device but instead staring intently at his optical brain.

After Bai Xiaoyu finished refining a batch of potions, he looked at Tao Limeng and asked Lou Hao beside him, "What's wrong with him? Did he see some high-tech gadget that caught his interest?"

Lou Hao: "The mermaid tribe’s silk gauze. He's been craving it for a long time. Not just the silk gauze, but also the crystal cores from the zombie tribe and pearls from the merfolk tribe—all are excellent materials."

Bai Xiaoyu responded with an "oh," "Those things, they definitely won't give them away easily. Don't even think about it."

Mermaids have pearls, and so do mermaids. But now, in the starry universe, people only seem to know about the pearls of the merfolk and the silk gauze woven by mermaids in the deep sea. If Tao Limeng covets the silk gauze in the hands of that red-robed elder, it would shatter if the mermaid dies unless the mermaid cuts off a piece themselves; otherwise, even killing the mermaid wouldn’t get it. As for the crystal cores of the zombie tribe, would you dare ask before they scoop out your brains?

Tao Limeng lifted his head, "Didn't the star network say that the young members of their three tribes are looking for spouses? What do you think of me?"

Bai Xiaoyu and Lou Hao: "..."

This guy must be crazy, planning to sell his looks for raw materials?

Lou Hao looked up and down at the man with messy hair and dark circles under his eyes, shaking his head, "With your appearance, I can barely stand looking at you, let alone the merfolk and mermaids who judge by looks. The zombie tribe probably wouldn't even consider someone who stays in the lab for days without bathing, smelling like rotting flesh—how could they have any appetite?"

Tao Limeng slumped, seeming very troubled.

Bai Xiaoyu thought Tao Limeng still looked quite decent, not as bad as Lou Hao described.

Suddenly, Tao Limeng looked at him, sizing up Bai Xiaoyu, his eyes growing brighter, "Boss, if I can't do it, you can. You should try; if you can charm all three of them, wouldn't they be at your mercy?"

As soon as he said this, the two eggs and one tiger immediately attacked. The big black egg slammed Tao Limeng into the wall, and as he slid down, the metal egg knocked him down again, rolling over him repeatedly. The little white tiger jumped onto his neck and scratched his head, shaking its paws in disgust while doing so.

Lou Hao looked at the scratched face of Tao Limeng, somewhat gloating, "How dare you say such things in front of these three? Are you obsessed with materials?"

Inside the metal egg, the big tiger continued to roll over Tao Limeng while sending messages to Bai Xiaoyu, "Xiaoyu, the three of them are at least eighty years old, too old for a partner."

Bai Xiaoyu couldn't help laughing and crying, "I don't plan to date them. Let him go."

The big black egg, which had been rubbing against him, perked up. Bai Xiaoyu stroked the big black egg's shell, leaning comfortably against it, watching as the metal egg and Xiaoyu gave Tao Limeng a few more hard hits before reluctantly walking away.

Tao Limeng got up with a scratched face, feeling as if every bone in his body was about to break. Although he still felt tempted looking at Bai Xiaoyu, he was intimidated by the three creatures ready to attack him.

Forget it, he'd dress up nicely and maybe wear a dress if necessary. If that didn't work, he had an unmarried older brother, or even Lou Hao...

Bai Xiaoyu had no idea Tao Limeng hadn't given up. He looked at the star map of the Fireseed. In the past month, several more stars had lit up. Now eleven stars were illuminated. There were also a few new herb acquisition chains.

For now, herbs were sufficient, and Tao Limeng was about to develop a new refining device. The previous refining devices had increased to seven or eight, enough to light up more planets.

There were also the system points. After a month of accumulation, with hundreds of thousands of points entering daily from hatched eggs using their potions, the total had reached over twenty million, and the system had refreshed two new instruments.

Currently, the speed of lighting up stars wasn't enough, but once the supply of herbs and refining devices scaled up, it was believed that several stars could be lit up each day, perhaps even more.