Switch Mode

PTGWD Chapter 50: Punishment

...his tail reflexively began to ache

On the ship.

Lu Jianchuan, with his enormous belly, paced back and forth on the deck, greeting the familiar special agents. Because he was well-fed and content, he was in an exceptionally good mood, appearing unusually approachable.

However, every time he greeted someone, the person would instinctively take a step back, their eyes wide with shock as they stared at his belly.

Lu Jianchuan’s belly had grown so large that it made his movements awkward. It had even burst out of his shirt due to its size, and the skin on his stomach kept wriggling, as if something was about to burst out at any moment.

The ship’s crew, who weren’t used to direct contact with mysterious creatures, were terrified. One of them stammered, “M-Mr. Lu, are you… are you about to give birth? Dr. Yan! Dr. Yan! Come take a look!”

Yan Xin poked his head out from behind Lu Jianchuan: “Shh, don’t make a fuss. It’s still too early for that.”

The crew member’s eyes widened like saucers, and he stared at the bizarre belly, unable to speak.

Lu Jianchuan politely exchanged a few words with him, then, holding his belly, turned to walk back. Yan Xin, worried he might accidentally fall, followed closely behind, asking warmly, “Mr. Lu, are you full? How’s the baby?”

Lu Jianchuan smiled, his eyes curving: “I’ve never been this full before. Freshly caught fish really is the best.”

Yan Xin clapped his hands: “That’s great. What was that monster that ambushed you earlier? We were too far away and only caught a glimpse of it escaping. We didn’t manage to get a clear picture of it.”

“It’s nothing,” Lu Jianchuan said. “It’s – just an oversized clam.”

Li Xuan, who had just walked over, froze: “?”

“A clam?”

You call that thing, which created a whirlpool like a tsunami, a clam? They had almost sounded the A-level alarm on the ship earlier.

Lu Jianchuan nodded: “Yes, aside from its size, it doesn’t have much offensive power. Otherwise, it would have attacked while I was devouring the blind Eunice. Thanks to your missiles, it got scared, quickly closed its shell, and sank back into the sea.”

At this, he licked his lips regretfully.

“I saw the tender clam meat… It’s a shame it ran away so fast.” Lu Jianchuan sighed. “What a pity.”

Li Xuan: “……”

Yan Xin, still worried, added, “You can’t keep binge-eating like this! The baby isn’t even six months old yet. Eating so much contaminated food at once might cause it to develop too quickly and harm you…”

Before he could finish, Lu Jianchuan’s belly was kicked into a shocking shape, the embryo expressing its displeasure with Dr. Yan in the most direct way possible.

Yan Xin was startled and instinctively took a step back, almost stepping on Li Xuan.

Lu Jianchuan frowned slightly at the kick. A tentacle slipped out from his sleeve and swiftly, quietly slapped his belly, causing it to dent inward significantly.

The embryo, still defiant, squirmed a bit more, letting out a few grumbles before finally settling down, no longer causing trouble, and focused on absorbing nutrients from its host.

Lu Jianchuan looked up and smiled at Yan Xin: “You’re right. Prenatal education is important.”

Yan Xin, heart aching as he watched the punished belly, couldn’t find the right words. His lips moved, but in the end, he closed them helplessly.

Li Xuan glanced at his watch and kindly reminded, “We’re about to return to shore, Mr. Lu. I suggest you shrink your belly back to a more appropriate size as soon as possible.”

“Why?” Lu Jianchuan asked, letting the dented belly swell back up. “It’s too focused on eating right now. Shrinking it would reduce absorption efficiency.”

Li Xuan coughed softly: “Just take my advice.”

Lu Jianchuan’s monster instincts kicked in, and for some reason, he felt Li Xuan was right. Without hesitation, he immediately shrank his massive belly back to a normal size.

Even so, after devouring the blind Eunice, his belly still looked larger than it had at five months, closer to the size of a human pregnancy at seven or eight months.

Li Xuan slowly let out a sigh of relief and stood with him at the bow of the ship, gazing at the mysterious ocean in the rain. “Even though you call that thing a clam, a creature like that appearing in the coastal waters of City C means we’ll need to conduct a detailed investigation and decide whether to hunt it down. Mr. Lu, do you have any suggestions?”

Lu Jianchuan replied, “You probably won’t find it. It spends most of its time in the deep sea. It only took the risk today because it was tempted by the embryo’s flesh.”

Li Xuan frowned and nodded, carefully considering Lu Jianchuan’s words.

As they chatted, the ship approached the port.

Lu Jianchuan, eager to get home and confirm that his wife was still asleep, couldn’t wait for the ship to lower the gangway. He jumped straight off the deck. Li Xuan was startled and shouted, “Don’t rush! Come back first, we still have things to discuss. Fang Xingzhou, he—”

His words trailed off.

He saw Fang Xingzhou standing at the port with an umbrella, his expression cold as he watched the man who had just jumped off the deck.

Li Xuan closed his mouth and silently drew a cross over his chest for their A+ special agent.

Below the deck.

Lu Jianchuan landed on the ground and turned around… only to come face to face with a pair of sharp, familiar eyes.

He froze, his first thought being that he had eaten too much and was now hallucinating.

The two stared at each other for half a second as the rain poured down between them, hitting the ground with a noisy clatter.

Fang Xingzhou’s gaze slowly swept over Lu Jianchuan’s soaked hair, radiant face, and increasingly exaggerated belly, back and forth, confirming that he wasn’t missing any limbs. Then, he pressed his lips into a thin, displeased line.

“Come here,” he said.

Hearing the familiar, cool voice, Lu Jianchuan instantly turned into a petrified statue.

It was Zhouzhou.

And… an extremely unhappy Fang Xingzhou.

Lu Jianchuan stared in disbelief at the person who should have been sound asleep in their bedroom. His pupils trembled violently, and his lips moved, but no words came out.

Why was Zhouzhou here?!

The confidence he had while battling Eunice and toying with the giant clam vanished without a trace. Lu Jianchuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously, wishing he could drop to his knees and cling to Fang Xingzhou’s leg.

But with a crowd of onlookers from the Special Research Institute behind him, he could only stiffly take a step forward, moving slowly toward Fang Xingzhou, a cautious smile on his lips as he whispered, “Honey, why are you… why are you here in this rain?”

Fang Xingzhou’s gaze shifted past him to Li Xuan and Yan Xin, who were following closely behind.

“Did anyone get hurt?” he asked Li Xuan.

Li Xuan replied, “No one was hurt. There were a few hiccups, but everything turned out fine.”

Lu Jianchuan quickly turned his head, staring at Li Xuan in shock, his eyes practically screaming, “What’s going on?”

Li Xuan covered his mouth with a fist, hiding a smile, and coughed lightly before explaining, as they had agreed, “Well, Dr. Fang woke up in the middle of the night and found you weren’t home. In a panic, he called the police. And, well, you know how it is—we happened to be the ones on duty.”

Lu Jianchuan: “?!”

How was that possible? Before he left, he had made sure his wife was successfully hypnotized and sleeping soundly. He should have slept until dawn without any issues. Why had he woken up so soon?

Li Xuan sympathetically patted the stiff Lu Jianchuan on the shoulder, then turned to Fang Xingzhou and said, “When we found Mr. Lu, he was fishing, and he had quite the haul. He said he was just too hungry and couldn’t resist sneaking out to fish. It’s almost dawn now, so take him home and let him rest.”

Lu Jianchuan: “…………”

He stared in horror as Fang Xingzhou walked over to Li Xuan, calmly shook his hand, and said politely, “Thank you so much.”

Li Xuan, pretending not to know him well, replied courteously, “It’s our duty.”

After shaking hands with Li Xuan, Fang Xingzhou turned to Yan Xin: “Dr. Yan, thank you too.”

Yan Xin, feeling embarrassed, said, “No, no, I didn’t do much.”

Fang Xingzhou: “I’m sorry for disturbing everyone tonight. In a few days, I’ll bring Lu Jianchuan to the police station to formally express our gratitude.”

The staff of the Institute, who were used to dealing with monsters, were taken aback by the politeness of the monster’s family. They quickly waved their hands, saying it wasn’t necessary.

Only Lu Jianchuan, filled with anxiety, watched as his wife calmly handled these social interactions. His hands and feet turned cold, and his brain, still in human form, was working overtime, practically turning into porridge.

What should he do?

Why was Zhouzhou’s resistance getting stronger?

Would his excuse of sneaking out to fish in the middle of the night get him sliced into pieces and used as bait?

Was it too late to give birth to the egg and have it beg Zhouzhou for mercy on his behalf?

Li Xuan might as well have just said he was involved in something illegal and had him arrested…

In the midst of his panic, Fang Xingzhou had already finished thanking everyone and finally turned his attention back to Lu Jianchuan.

Lu Jianchuan stiffened and quickly forced a smile: “Honey, let me explain…”

Fang Xingzhou: “Get in the car.”

Lu Jianchuan: “Yes sir.”

Under the sympathetic gazes of the Special Research Institute staff, Lu Jianchuan nervously wrung out the rainwater and seawater from his clothes, opened the car door, and sat in the passenger seat.

The passenger seat was adjusted too narrowly, and Lu Jianchuan’s belly was too big tonight. As soon as he sat down, he got stuck, not daring to ask for help from the person beside him. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he hesitated, wondering if he should use a tentacle to adjust the seat.

Fang Xingzhou fastened his seatbelt, then glanced over and saw Lu Jianchuan awkwardly wedged in the seat, the embryo inside expressing its extreme displeasure by making the belly bulge in various shapes.

He sighed inwardly, unfastened his seatbelt, and leaned over to adjust the seat to its maximum space for Lu Jianchuan.

After finishing, he was about to sit back in the driver’s seat when Lu Jianchuan suddenly reached out and pulled him into a tight hug.

Fang Xingzhou’s chest pressed against Lu Jianchuan’s belly.

Feeling the presence of its other father, the embryo immediately calmed down, gently nuzzling against Fang Xingzhou through the belly, as if trying to help its host plead for mercy.

Fang Xingzhou stared at the noticeably larger belly for a few seconds, then looked up into Lu Jianchuan’s damp, panicked eyes.

“Baby, I’m sorry,” Lu Jianchuan said sincerely, taking the initiative to apologize. “I was wrong. I just… I just…”

He couldn’t find a suitable excuse.

“Just too hungry?” Fang Xingzhou finished for him, his tone flat as he pulled away and started the car.

Lu Jianchuan: “…Yes, just too hungry. For some reason, I really wanted fresh fish, and I didn’t want to disturb your rest, so I couldn’t help but sneak out to the sea…”

Fang Xingzhou pressed the accelerator to the floor, his expression blank as he stared at the road. “Was the fish good?”

Lu Jianchuan: “Ahem, yes.”

“Are you full?”

“I’m full. I won’t be hungry for a while!”

Fang Xingzhou nodded, then fell silent.

The car was filled with an oppressive quiet.

Lu Jianchuan cautiously glanced at his lover’s tense profile, the sense of impending doom growing stronger. He hugged his belly, at a loss, and in the five minutes it took to drive away from the port, he imagined a hundred different ways he might be turned into a specimen.

Finally, he mustered the courage to speak softly: “Xingzhou…”

Fang Xingzhou cut him off: “Don’t talk for now. I need to calm down.”

Lu Jianchuan: “…”

He quickly closed his mouth.

It’s over.

Tonight, he was truly done for.

Lu Jianchuan thought despairingly.

After Fang Xingzhou’s car left the port, Li Xuan and his colleagues finished cleaning up the scene and held a brief meeting on the deck. They decided to increase patrols along the coast during this period. If they spotted the “clam” again, they would immediately sound the alarm and prepare to hunt it down.

After the meeting, the rain finally began to let up, and the horizon glowed like the belly of a fish as dawn approached. Exhausted, the group steered the ship back to the base, waiting for the next shift of colleagues to take over the patrol.

Soon, the seaside fell quiet again.

Waves rolled in one after another, washing over the damp white sand. In an unnoticed dark corner, an unremarkable “ordinary clam” was carried ashore by the waves. Its dull shell color helped it blend in as it hid in a shallow pool.

After confirming that no one was around, the clam silently opened a tiny crack. A deep red eye peered out from within, staring intently in the direction where the enticing scent had disappeared…

By the time they got home, the sky was beginning to lighten.

Fang Xingzhou opened the door and saw the roses in the entryway blooming gloriously in the faint light of dawn. Dozens of small buds had blossomed into new roses, and even the dried branches had sprouted green leaves, a sign that the other man of the house was in excellent condition.

He turned around and glanced at Lu Jianchuan, who was nervously trailing behind him.

Having been drenched in rain and seawater, Lu Jianchuan was soaked from head to toe, reeking of the sea. With his large belly, he stood in the entryway like an unlucky pregnant man who had accidentally fallen into the water.

Fang Xingzhou plucked a slimy piece of seaweed from his hair and gave him a gentle smile: “Go take a hot shower first.”

Lu Jianchuan stood frozen, unable to believe what he was seeing. He blinked, his voice filled with emotion as he said, “Honey… you’re not mad anymore?”

Fang Xingzhou simply replied, “We’ll talk after you shower. I need to shower too. My clothes are wet.”

Lu Jianchuan nodded repeatedly, took off his seawater-soaked boots, and left wet footprints on the floor as he walked barefoot into the living room. He turned back again, looking at Fang Xingzhou, and took a few hesitant steps toward the bathroom.

Fang Xingzhou closed the door, changed the water for the exceptionally vibrant roses in the entryway, gently rubbed the petals, and then went into the other bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, the two of them had cleaned up and returned to the warm bedroom.

The rain had stopped, and the sky was almost fully lit. After a sleepless night, Lu Jianchuan was full of energy from his feast, while Fang Xingzhou was wide awake.

Lu Jianchuan, feeling guilty, climbed into bed first to warm it up for his lover: “How about a nap? You have the day off today, so you should rest. I’ll handle the cooking and cleaning. You just need to eat.”

Fang Xingzhou stood at the foot of the bed, looking at his increasingly bulky lover under the covers, and remained silent for a long time.

Lu Jianchuan’s hair stood on end under his gaze.

“…Zhouzhou?”

Fang Xingzhou asked softly, “Do you like eating mosquitoes?”

A random, out-of-nowhere question. Lu Jianchuan’s lips parted slightly, his expression blank: “…Huh?”

Mosquitoes? Those flying pests in the summer?

Not getting an answer, Fang Xingzhou instead smiled, trying to push the image of the “Venus flytrap” out of his mind. He pulled out a pair of unused latex gloves from the bedside drawer and carefully put them on.

“I don’t feel like sleeping right now,” he said. “Since you’re full, let’s do some training.”

The moment Lu Jianchuan saw the gloves, his heart began to pound. Painful yet pleasurable memories flooded back, and his human tail reflexively began to ache .

“Maybe… we can do it tonight?” he offered a forced, pleading smile. “Honey, you didn’t sleep last night. You must be exhausted…”

Fang Xingzhou’s smile didn’t reach his eyes.

He leaned down and pressed a cool kiss to Lu Jianchuan’s forehead, his gloved hand slipping under the covers.

Comment

  1. Tyler says:

    The background characters praying for Mr. Lu killed me

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Options

not work with dark mode
Reset