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PTGWD Chapter 77: Gears

"Its eager to come out."

Both the big and little monsters were stunned.

Dozens of eyes stared at their lover in shock. The egg immediately darted out from the depths of the sac, excitedly pushing against its father a few times to express its eagerness.

Lu Jianchuan hesitated, a mix of uncertainty and faint excitement in his voice. His vocal cord vibrated as he murmured, “This… is this really okay? Like in those TV shows, where we wear black hoods, hold a gun to Officer Li’s head, and storm in, demanding they hand over the special items or we’ll shoot?”

Fang Xingzhou fell silent for a moment.

He straightened the vocal cord and asked, “Deer, what exactly have you been watching when you’re home alone?”

Lu Jianchuan wriggled his tentacles, clumsily moving closer to him. His vocal cord wrapped tightly around Fang Xingzhou’s forearm as he whispered, “Wife, this idea is really good. I know the Institute still has several A-level special items, and some of them look absolutely delicious…”

As he spoke, Fang Xingzhou could clearly feel his mouthparts growing moist, as if he couldn’t control the secretion of digestive fluids.

“One of them I remember very clearly, labeled A0009, codenamed Nightmare Serpent. I was there when they captured it, helping the Institute control its true form. It was so… plump, its scales a golden yellow, its tail thick and powerful, capable of knocking down a tree ten people could barely wrap their arms around! That day, when I coiled around it, I secretly took a bite. Its flesh was firm and delicious, with a subtle sweetness, and it wouldn’t break apart even after chewing a hundred times…”

The digestive fluids in his mouthparts grew increasingly abundant, almost dripping onto the bed.

The massive sac rippled with waves, the egg inside jumping up and down in excitement, letting out strange cries mixed with a few unclear “papa”s, begging its fathers to bring it the feast.

After reminiscing about the delicacy, Lu Jianchuan swallowed the digestive fluids, forcing himself to calm down. He continued, “But it really is a tricky one. The Institute has it suppressed in an old oil rig deep in the ocean, using the drumbeats of A0018 to keep it asleep. Even if we held Officer Li hostage, I doubt the director would dare release it.”

Fang Xingzhou pondered for a moment.

He reached out to stroke the excited sac and said, “Of course, we can’t take Officer Li hostage. Maybe we can discuss it with him.”

Lu Jianchuan was stunned.

His eyes blinked in unison, filled with confusion.

“Robbery… and we’re telling them in advance?”

Fang Xingzhou smiled: “Yes, perhaps the Institute has a procedure that can directly meet our needs without us having to actually rob them.”

Lu Jianchuan was stunned for even longer, sensing that there was more to his words.

Fang Xingzhou added, “Your eyes are beautiful. When I look into them, it’s hard for me to refuse your requests.”

Inspiration struck.

Lu Jianchuan finally understood his lover’s meaning and nodded, his brain matter glowing with excitement.

His eyes turned to the window, gazing at the pouring rain outside, thinking of the golden Nightmare Serpent. The digestive fluids in his mouthparts soaked the pillow…

Fang Xingzhou took a sleeping pill and managed to nap for a while, but his ears were filled with incessant cries, sometimes calling him “mama,” other times “papa,” leaving him with dark circles under his eyes when he woke up.

Officer Li arrived at Xiangxing Street at noon to deliver a B-level special item.

Lu Jianchuan, who had been craving food all night, swallowed the item whole, then enthusiastically ushered Li Xuan to the sofa, offering him hot tea and fruit.

Li Xuan noticed the digestive fluids between the mouthparts and immediately thought Lu Jianchuan was so hungry he might eat him.

He nervously scooted back, not daring to drink the tea “Jellyfish” had personally brewed. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he asked softly, “Where’s Dr. Fang? Why isn’t he here?”

Fang Xingzhou had deliberately stayed out of the living room.

Lu Jianchuan forced a smile from his brain matter and said, “Zhou Zhou didn’t sleep well last night and is resting upstairs. Officer Li, you’ve been working hard lately. Just hang in there a bit longer. I think I’m about to give birth.”

Hearing that Fang Xingzhou wasn’t around, Li Xuan immediately backed away several meters.

Even though Lu Jianchuan was being exceptionally gentle, his presence still exerted immense pressure, making Li Xuan fidgety and causing his eyes to ache, even with two pairs of protective glasses on.

“Uh, I have things to do at the Institute,” Li Xuan said uneasily, eyeing the visibly agitated sac. “The food has been delivered, so I’ll… take my leave now?”

Lu Jianchuan dragged his sac and slowly moved closer, trapping Li Xuan between his tentacles and the kitchen door.

He amiably patted Li Xuan’s shoulder with his vocal cord and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

“We’ve known each other for two years now,” Lu Jianchuan said, remembering his wife’s advice to ease into the topic. “Time flies.”

Li Xuan felt even more uneasy: “Y-yes… So when exactly will the little jellyfish be born?”

Lu Jianchuan: “I think it’ll be tomorrow.”

Li Xuan was shocked, momentarily forgetting his fear. He stared at Lu Jianchuan in disbelief: “Tomorrow?! Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Lu Jianchuan said firmly. “Because I’m extremely hungry right now, hungrier than ever before. So hungry that I want to rob the entire Institute to provide the medium for my child’s birth.”

Li Xuan: “!!!”

His lips parted slightly as he searched Lu Jianchuan’s brain matter for any sign of a joke, but no matter how he looked—Lu Jianchuan seemed completely serious.

Li Xuan tensed up, his back pressing against the kitchen door, sweat pouring down his face. He instinctively began assessing the Institute’s current combat capabilities.

Aside from the extremely dangerous A-level items that couldn’t be mobilized, all the human special agents, mechanical firepower, and special items combined probably still couldn’t defeat the A+ “Jellyfish” carrying twelve armors.

He licked his dry lips and forced a strained smile: “…Mr. Lu, please calm down.”

Lu Jianchuan kindly wiped his sweat again, squeezing out a big smile from the grooves of his brain matter. He pressed on, “To prevent your only A+ special item from defecting, Officer Li, as my dedicated handler, perhaps you should do something to avoid a tragedy.”

Li Xuan slowly sensed something was off.

He wanted to think deeper, but the sheer presence of the “Jellyfish” was overwhelming his mind. His thoughts felt sluggish, as if wrapped in layers of invisible gauze, forcing him to accept the information being presented.

He heard Lu Jianchuan continue, “Please help me apply for the use of Special Item A0009. You’re the most senior handler at the Institute. If you submit the application, the success rate will be high.”

Li Xuan instinctively frowned slightly.

A0009… that troublesome serpent.

Capturing it had nearly cost the Institute an entire department. It used to roam human dreams every night, planting “nightmare” seeds in people’s minds like a virus, harvesting their nightmares as food, causing countless innocent people to die of fright in their sleep.

If it were to escape…

He couldn’t finish the thought.

Because more thoughts agreeing with Lu Jianchuan flooded his mind, interrupting his reasoning. Lu Jianchuan was the only A+, and the divine offspring it carried would undoubtedly become the Institute’s greatest asset. Whether based on years of cooperative sentiment or a cost-benefit analysis, this investment was worth it.

It was just a bit dangerous.

The director’s hair might turn a bit whiter.

Hmm… not a problem.

Everything would proceed along its destined path, each person playing their role, and nothing would go wrong.

Li Xuan inexplicably blurted out, “Alright, I’ll submit the application for you as soon as I get back.”

Both Lu Jianchuan and the egg smiled.

The gears of fate seemed to turn another notch. Lu Jianchuan coiled his tentacles around Officer Li and enthusiastically escorted him to the underground garage, even opening the car door for him. He smiled and said, “I’ll be waiting for your good news—remember, it has to be before tomorrow.”

Li Xuan nodded solemnly.

Even after driving back to the Institute, that hazy feeling still hadn’t dissipated.

Senior handlers had the right to report emergencies. He went to the deepest level of the Institute to find the director.

The moment he saw the director, he hesitated for half a second, wondering if this decision was too hasty. A0009 was extremely dangerous. If the pregnant “Jellyfish” accidentally lost control and let the serpent escape from the ocean depths, the consequences would be catastrophic.

Even if they were to use A0009, there should be a more thorough plan… No.

No.

The jellyfish was about to give birth. They couldn’t wait any longer.

The scales tipped once again in favor of Lu Jianchuan’s proposal.

As Lu Jianchuan’s handler, Li Xuan carried sophisticated equipment to monitor whether he was being influenced by the jellyfish’s brainwaves.

All day, the equipment hadn’t sounded any alarms, meaning his thoughts hadn’t been altered.

All his thoughts, whether in agreement or opposition, undoubtedly came from his own heart and aligned with his logic—it was just a matter of two different paths of fate.

With a soft click, an invisible hand turned the gears, pushing fate forward another notch.

By the time Li Xuan regained his senses, he had already reported Lu Jianchuan’s request to the director, even unintentionally making the “robbery of the Institute” sound more serious and the birth more urgent, trying to sway the director’s judgment.

The director pondered for a long time. For the head of the entire Institute, this was an even more difficult decision.

Similarly, his mind seemed shrouded in a hazy veil. The more he thought, the more his conclusion leaned toward “approval”—

Finally, he sighed.

“Over the past twelve years, Mr. Jellyfish has made tremendous contributions to human peace and provided immense help to the Institute. He has become an indispensable colleague. Moreover, A0009 was captured with his assistance.”

Hearing this, Li Xuan let out a sigh of relief.

Then, he heard the director say, “…However, to prevent accidents, special items numbered before 00018 have contractual restrictions and cannot be ‘used’ unless a special alarm is triggered by an emergency.”

Li Xuan understood.

His eyes lit up slightly, and he saluted his superior: “Understood.”

He strode out of the director’s office and called Lu Jianchuan, covering the receiver as he whispered, “Mr. Lu, come ‘rob’ us.”

The “gears” turned another half rotation.

Completely controlling fate was an extremely difficult task. Even for a future deity, forcibly altering destiny could easily lead to backlash.

Thus, every small matter had to logically progress toward the expected outcome, creating a positive feedback loop. Like a rolling snowball, this would widen the “path,” making it smoother and more accessible.

When Lu Jianchuan hung up Li Xuan’s call, he was momentarily dazed. In that daze, he seemed to see enormous, interlocking wheels turning, carrying the fate of the entire universe, steering the world toward an utterly unknown direction…

He also foresaw the precious critical point that was about to arrive, as if two parallel lines that could never intersect were being twisted by divine power, gradually converging, about to overlap.

Lu Jianchuan’s dozens of eyes turned to his belly.

The egg inside, having received the news, grew quiet instead, rapidly absorbing the nutrient fluid. The sac shrank quickly, returning to the size of a ten-month pregnancy in the blink of an eye.

If this attempt failed, the egg, deprived of the nutrient fluid, might not survive, becoming a dead egg that could never hatch.

Lu Jianchuan, for the first time in a long while, transformed into human form. He took a deep breath and hugged his visibly nervous lover, kissing his lips.

They shared a brief kiss.

Fang Xingzhou placed his hand on Lu Jianchuan’s abdomen, his fingers trembling slightly. He said solemnly once more, “Your safety comes first.”

Lu Jianchuan nodded, still retaining his habit from his true form, rubbing his face against his lover’s. He said excitedly, “I think we can call our parents, big brother, third sister, little Xinning, and your mom now. Let’s tell them we’re about to have a new family member!”

Fang Xingzhou took a long breath and managed a faint smile, though the tension in his eyes remained.

“Alright, I’ll handle those details,” he said. “Let’s go. Without the nutrient fluid, the baby needs to be born quickly.”

They got into the car, with Fang Xingzhou driving. They sped toward the Institute.

The belly continued to shrink. Not only was the nutrient fluid being absorbed, but even the internal organs were melting, being drawn into the eggshell.

Lu Jianchuan began to feel unbearable hunger again, so hungry that he wanted to devour the entire world. Dangerous thoughts assaulted his fragile rationality, especially the moment all the nutrient fluid was depleted—

Fang Xingzhou noticed his discomfort and parked the car at the Institute’s entrance. He reached out and grabbed Lu Jianchuan’s burning hand.

The latter immediately interlaced their fingers, bringing Fang Xingzhou’s hand to his lips and kissing it gently.

But Lu Jianchuan’s eyes were already bloodshot, the veins beneath his skin writhing like snakes. His belly had shrunk to the size of a four-month pregnancy, the scalding eggshell almost pressing against his skin, cooking the flesh from the inside out.

He endured the intensifying pain, gripping his lover’s hand tightly as they got out of the car and walked to the Institute’s entrance.

Half an hour earlier, Li Xuan and Yan Xin had prepared entry permits for them, citing the reason as “awaiting birth.”

Yes, indeed, awaiting birth.

Lu Jianchuan passed through security in human form, walking with difficulty into the Institute, his abdomen feeling unbearably heavy.

Li Xuan and Yan Xin were waiting in the lobby, their expressions equally complex, their voices tense: “Mr. Lu, are you alright?”

“Not well,” Lu Jianchuan’s legs were already beginning to revert to his true form. “I can feel it. It knows what’s about to happen and is eager to come out.”

The last traces of color drained from their faces.

Li Xuan: “Dr. Fang, please come with us immediately to the safe zone!”

Fang Xingzhou could barely breathe, clutching Lu Jianchuan’s hand tightly, unable to move.

His rationality turned to mush. All he wanted was to follow his instincts and stay here, accompanying his lover during the birth: “Lu Jianchuan…”

Lu Jianchuan forced a final smile and said gently, “Honey, wait for me.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, his divine power surged like a sudden tidal wave, sweeping through the entire Institute in an instant.

Li Xuan and Yan Xin immediately collapsed to their knees, their minds blank, blood trickling from their noses. Even Fang Xingzhou struggled to maintain his balance, swaying as his internal organs were jolted out of place.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Jianchuan had fully reverted to his true form. His tentacles coiled around the three in the lobby, shoving them into the safe zone. He kissed Fang Xingzhou’s lips with his mouthparts, then firmly shut the safety door.

Now, he had no more reservations.

The earlier surge of divine power was just an appetizer. His significantly shrunken sac was covered in spiderweb-like cracks. The combined divine power of the two was unimaginably vast, flooding the entire sea and causing the magnetic field monitor’s readings to skyrocket.

The next second, a hoarse, eerie voice echoed in the ears of all the special agents still in the Institute:

“Robbery. Hand over all your delicious special items.”

The conditions were met.

All the special alarms in the Institute blared simultaneously. The Institute automatically locked down, and the contractual restraints on the A-level special items vanished.

The special items numbered before A00018 entered the usable state, their application channels opened.

Comment

  1. mihhooo says:

    the baby’s almost hereee!!!

    1. Raaaeyy says:

      YEESSSSSSSSSS!!!

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