Chapter Seven: The Trigger.

The sudden exclamation startled Lu Xia, making her question if she had truly heard correctly.

Pregnant?

Her?

The eight people standing before her all regarded her with incredulous eyes, as if gazing upon a rare creature.

“How could you think that way?” Lu Xia asked, her thoughts quickly regaining composure.

The young beastman who had just spoken pointed to the flashing indicator on her wrist. “Isn’t that the pregnancy indicator?”

Though the Empire had not seen a naturally pregnant female in centuries, the meaning of this indicator light was deeply ingrained in every citizen’s mind.

He could not have been mistaken.

After all, the Empire was exceptionally vigilant about the existence of naturally pregnant females.

This small indicator light was now blinking incessantly before their eyes, a symbol of an unbelievable miracle.

Lu Xia paused briefly after hearing the explanation, then laughed softly. “What a joke. Couldn’t it just be a terminal malfunction?”

Well... that possibility did exist.

Not giving them much time to ponder, Lu Xia casually said, “Alright, you can leave now. Once this dormitory is cleaned, if you prefer not to return home, staying here is also an option. You’re dismissed.”

Without hesitation, she turned and quickly exited the conference room.

The old steward, who had been standing outside for some time, was about to ask her where to go next when Lu Xia said, “Go buy several more terminals — the latest models.”

The steward was momentarily stunned, not understanding why she needed so many terminals, but he did not press further. After nodding in agreement, he hurried off to handle the matter.

Having spent these days with Lu Xia, the old steward had finally come to accept her many unusual behaviors.

Perhaps he had been shocked too many times to care about the reasons, and Lu Xia was not one to explain much; she only cared about results.

After the steward left, Lu Xia returned to the hovering vehicle and opened her terminal, searching for what the continuous green flashing light on the terminal meant.

Even though she had appeared calm and composed before the eight people, it did not mean she was indifferent deep inside.

Pregnant?

How could that be?

Wasn’t it said that ‘defective’ males could not impregnate?

Moreover, the Empire hadn’t witnessed natural pregnancies for many years; population growth was entirely dependent on artificial means.

As doubt churned in her heart, the search result came up: the terminal indicator light signified that the female had successfully conceived.

A brief explanation, indicating that the man had not lied.

This indicator, whose function she had not understood, truly signaled a successful pregnancy.

Why was there such a bizarre design?

Could it not be a malfunction? It must be a malfunction!

How could she possibly be pregnant?

Just as Lu Xia was questioning her fate, the old steward returned, carrying several terminals.

“Your Grace, the terminals you requested…”

Before he could finish, Lu Xia reached out and took the terminals from his arms.

“Good, thank you for your hard work.”

“It’s no trouble; it’s my duty,” the steward replied routinely, watching as Lu Xia removed the terminal from her wrist and began trying on each of the new terminals.

Each one she wore flickered the same green light.

Shock was unmistakable in their eyes.

Though the old steward feigned calm, he could not contain his astonishment.

What had he just witnessed?

That indicator, which had always been considered useless, was now flashing!

So it was not merely decorative after all!

What did that mean?

Could it mean that Duchess Lu Xia was pregnant?

After testing dozens of terminals with the same result, Lu Xia resigned herself and looked up at the steward, whose shock was impossible to hide.

“Do you also think I’m pregnant?”

“No... but this...” The steward was at a loss for words, his mind blank, unable to decide what to say or do, only fixating on the terminal on Lu Xia’s wrist.

Every citizen of the Empire knew what that lone, flashing indicator meant.

Perhaps they did not often think about it, but once it blinked, no one could ignore its significance.

Despite the steward’s uncharacteristic reaction, Lu Xia gleaned the answer from his expression.

It seemed everyone now believed she was pregnant.

“Let’s go home,” she said calmly, though inwardly she pondered whether she should find time for a medical examination — even if it were true, she couldn’t trust a terminal’s detection alone.

“Your Grace, the people at the Reproductive Research Institute may be contacting you soon,” the steward finally regained composure and said, causing a jolt in Lu Xia’s heart.

“What do you mean?”

The steward, struggling to calm his shock, explained, “The detection function on the terminal is linked to the Empire’s Reproductive Research Institute. Once triggered, it’s impossible for them not to know. It’s only a matter of time.”

Lu Xia was speechless. So her ‘pregnancy’ had already been made public?

*

At that moment, inside the Empire’s Reproductive Research Institute, the researcher responsible for monitoring ‘natural pregnancies’ yawned out of boredom.

Today happened to be his shift, and to him, this monitoring was equivalent to a ‘stand-in break.’

For centuries, this monitoring system had been in place, with countless researchers rotating through, yet never once receiving any feedback.

Many even believed the system was obsolete and should be scrapped to save funds for other research projects rather than wasting resources on monitoring something that would never happen.

The truth was, no matter how hard they tried, natural pregnancies had ceased to occur in the Empire.

Over the centuries, the female population had evolved; any genes allowing natural conception had long vanished from all beastmen.

Continuing research was pointless.

“Link, are you on shift here today? I ordered takeout; want to eat together?”

Suddenly addressed by name, the bored Link turned his head, smiling. “I won’t refuse; I was just thinking of ordering food to pass the time.”

“Yeah, I think this monitoring should be abolished soon. At this rate, it won’t—” The speaker’s voice suddenly cut off, his calm gaze overtaken by shock.

He had just seen it: the indicator light signaling natural conception had lit up!

Not only that, an ear-piercing alarm blared across the entire institute!