Chapter 5 Fertile Physique
Qiao Suisui sniffed herself.
"I don't smell anything."
"It's light now, probably only... it gets stronger in certain special circumstances," Leberli said cryptically, referring to mating cycles, but Qiao Suisui immediately thought of the passive skill her system had bestowed, and she looked down, lost in thought.
Ruka frowned upon hearing this, "You don't know what consequences your scent could provoke?"
His words sounded like an interrogation but were actually out of concern.
A female's natural attraction to males is already substantial, encoded within their genes. But the fragrance emanating from Qiao Suisui's body is even more potent, capable of making a male lose his reason. Ruka had assumed this was a Talent she had awakened to, but seeing her clueless demeanor, he realized she was oblivious to it and thus could not possibly control this fragrance. Should a similar situation arise in the future, wouldn't she become a sitting duck?
Unaware of his thoughts, Qiao Suisui only felt that her one-night stand seemed quite dismissive of her, so she lowered her eyes to avoid looking at him and remained silent.
Seeing this, Ruka instantly felt a constriction in his breathing.
"Sikoses, you scared her."
Leberli pinched her palm, offered a gentle smile, and delivered a 'fatal' look. "If that's the case, you're even more in need of a guardian." As he said this, he glanced at Ruka and continued, "The person must possess strong spiritual power, low Frenzy factor, the ability to take good care of you and powerful background... like me for instance."
At these words, Ruka's jaw tightened, his hand clenched into a fist, and he ground out the name 'Leberli' with an unmistakable warning in his tone.
Leberli, half-joking yet serious, retorted, "What, is a member of the Royal Family like me not qualified to take care of a little female? Especially since, unlike someone else, I'm not bound by any marriage engagement?"
The atmosphere in the room shifted in an instant.
When it came to a female, even if the males had grown up together, they would not give way to each other; competition is an innate instinct in males.
Ruka, expressionless, tilted his chin upward, exuding the pressure of a male. Leberli's spiritual power was not low either, but his Talent was the Healing Element, and compared to Ruka's aggressive nature, he still fell short.
"Sikoses, it's just a guardianship, why so serious? I'm leaving now," Leberli said, laughing off the tension.
Ruka withdrew his pressure but the warning in his eyes remained.
Qiao Suisui did not understand the subtleties of their exchange, but she was eager to learn more and Ruka's attitude towards her was very cold. Hesitant for a few seconds, she then reached out and gripped Leberli's sleeve.
"May I stay a little longer? I have some questions, will that bother you?"
Leberli was taken aback, Ruka's brow furrowed.
"Of course, it would be my honor."
Leberli raised an eyebrow at Ruka with a smile, then took a seat beside Qiao Suisui like a gentleman.
Indeed, Leberli was an excellent source of information: mild, intelligent, with a sense of propriety, and most importantly, he was well-mannered and didn't create any sense of distance. Through their conversation, Qiao Suisui gained much information about this world.
It turned out that her current location was a planet called 'Lingkong City,' abundant in resources and ninety percent developed.
On this planet, there were three major factions.
The mainstream was the Interstellar Federation, ruled by technology and spiritual power, with the Auslan Empire being one of the Federation Member Countries;
Next was the Freedom Alliance, governed by religion, which advocates for diversity and supernatural powers, with their leaders regarded as Envoys of God;
Finally, there's the Wandering Alliance, a collective of exiles from various backgrounds that congregate in a no-man's-land called the Ruins Eye. It's said that some Beastmen who have entered a state of Frenzy and can no longer return to their senses also go there.
Through her pointed questions, she quickly grasped the status of females' survival in this world. Generally, they were allowed to form families with multiple male spouses, and those without spouses were raised by guardians. Due to the male-to-female ratio, the Federation had established strict and mature preferential policies for the protection, education, marital arrangements, and childbirth of females.
Females inherently have the ability to soothe the Frenzy gene in males, so the Federation mandated that females must take multiple spouses.
An average Artificial Female, in terms of intelligence and appearance, was required to match with at least six or more spouses per year; typically, the poorer the condition of the female, the more numerous and lower the quality of male genes she would have to match. In contrast, females in good condition could freely choose high-gene males without anyone else's arrangement, but the number could not be less than six.
Qiao Suisui inwardly cried trouble.
It was clear what the Federation intended: for the sake of maintaining social stability, a female, whether she liked it or not, had to match with as many males as possible for the sake of soothing them and for the sake of reproduction. Hence, on the surface, females seemed to be maintained and granted all kinds of special treatments, but in reality, they were oppressed without any awareness of it.
What if she didn't like anyone, and didn't want to match with anyone?
When that time came, would she still have a choice?
She thought to herself that only by becoming truly powerful could she have a voice in this world.
At this point, Qiao Suisui remembered she still had a System.
"System, how can I quickly amass 2000 points? Even just giving birth to top-quality genes, I'd have to have 20..."
"Host, your body has been modified to be highly fertile. Additionally, you can give birth painlessly and recover quickly postpartum, so don't worry about that."
"Then how can I have children with top-quality genes?"
"I will assess the qualities of males for you, match with males of superior genes, which increases the probability of giving birth to superior gene offspring, and at that time, it will be up to you to choose."
After listening, she glanced at Leberli, who was speaking with confidence beside her. The System seemed to have an understanding with her and immediately prompted: "Matchable male detected, spiritual power: S-class, Talent: Healing, gene: superior."
"...So, where do you want to go? When you're feeling better, I can take you..."
"Leberli, may I call you that?" she softly interrupted, lifting her eyes to look at him, her eyebrows and eyes gentle, and a faint smile in her gaze.
Leberli, sensing the faint fragrance emanating from her and looking into her dark, grape-like eyes, forgot what he was about to say.
"...Of course, you can just call me Ash. My name is Ash Leberli."
"Ash."
She called out timidly and then lowered her head with a light laugh, appearing like an innocent girl, frail and pure, compelling one to want to cherish and protect her in the palm of their hand.
"You know so much, can I often ask you for advice in the future?"
Leberli stared at her, momentarily losing his usual ease. "I will spare no effort to answer your questions."
He had to admit that although he frequently mingled among females, he had never come across a little female as soft and unassuming as Qiao Suisui. Her cautious expressions and soft-spoken tone touched his heart like a feather brushing against it.
The females here were basically arrogant; they were spoiled by too many people, commanding and unyielding even when in the right, as they knew there were many males lined up to obey them. Leberli, tired of this, had been reluctant to become someone's spouse, but under pressure from the Royal Family, he had to play his part in various social settings, and over time, he became known as a social butterfly.
What he didn't realize was that this level of humility was nothing for Qiao Suisui. She had always lived a life of pleasing others and thus understood human nature deeply.
The two of them chatted happily for a while longer, with Qiao Suisui continuously smiling and agreeing, but a quick glance to the doorway revealed that it was now empty. The man who had been standing there was gone without trace, leaving behind only crushed cigarette butts on the ground.