"Is she pregnant with a Nezha?"

"But this is good news for us," Yang Qi said. "It means we have enough time to research it and come up with the most comprehensive response possible."

"Does this mean I won't be able to see her for these four years?" Sun Hang asked.

"Not necessarily. It's just that she just learned of this news and her emotions are still unstable. After she calms down, I'll arrange for you to meet her," Yang Qi said. "You need to help her channel her negative emotions. Given her current mental state, you might be more suitable for this task than me."

"Uh... I'll try my best," Sun Hang thought to himself, maybe the next time he meets up, he'll just bring Xue Yue along. However much negative emotion Yang Lian has, let Xue Yue absorb it all; that would be the safest.

"But I can still let you see her, come with me."

Yang Qi led Sun Hang to a one-way glass, through which he could see Yang Lian lying on a bed in the observation room. Various monitoring devices surrounded her—she was sleeping, her closed-eye corners bearing a trace of tears, face pale as paper.

Both of her arms had IV needles inserted, and dozens of bottles of intravenous drip medication hung from the ceiling. Sun Hang glanced up; besides the sodium chloride solution used for hydration and the glucose for nutrition, he didn't recognize any other medication.

"We injected her with 1.5 units of sedative, she just fell asleep," Yang Qi said softly, looking at her sister.

"I can sense the mysterious creature meme in her body," Sun Hang nodded, "indeed, it resembles Chimera 17 quite a bit... but there's something that feels a bit different, not sure if it's due to that 0.173% difference."

"Hard to say." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"What about the plaque?"

"It's been sent to Dubhe Tower," Yang Qi said. "There's another blank plaque added to the underground ice vault, do you want to see it?"

"Forget it."

"Elena Demoshena... does this name ring a bell?" Yang Qi asked again.

"If it did, I would've said so when I first saw the plaque," Sun Hang shook his head. "Sounds like a Siberian name."

"I've looked up the Demoshena surname, there are 757 people registered in the federation, with 22 named Elena Demoshena," Yang Qi said. "I've thoroughly checked these 22 people and can basically rule out their relation to the plaque."

"Elena... it's a super common name in the Siberian Federation, isn't it?" Sun Hang casually remarked, "Just like John, Paul... Anna, those types."

"Yeah." Yang Qi nodded, "The material, craftsmanship, and design of this plaque are identical to the one found on you. If we can find this Elena Demoshena, your past secrets might get unraveled as well."

"That would be great," Sun Hang responded calmly.

Unravel a hammer... Sun Hang thought sarcastically, even if you find something, the Three Apes would likely erase it. That thing would even alter humanity's collective memory to prevent the truth from being uncovered, further on they might need to edit the timeline...

Thankfully, Sun Hang was certain Yang Qi wouldn't find anything following this lead, otherwise he would've had to find a way to persuade Yang Qi to give up this idea.

If it caught the attention of the Three Apes, that would be trouble.

This news was only meaningful to Sun Hang in confirming Chimera 17's "true name."

It seems... Anna and her are really "sisters," huh?

"Oh, and one more thing," Yang Qi said.

"What is it?"

"My parents found out about Yang Lian's situation."

"Your parents..." Sun Hang initially didn't react, but then suddenly realized, Yang Qi's parents are Yang Lian's parents too?

"My dad initially wanted to grab a knife and come after you, but my mom talked him out of it," Yang Qi said.

"Please thank Auntie for me when you have the chance," Sun Hang felt somewhat helpless.

"I'm planning to arrange for you to meet them," Yang Qi said. "In case... I mean in case, my dad does something extreme, please don't hurt him, okay?"

"How could I dare?"

"Actually, my parents aren't biased against infectees... They know your achievements and previously held a good impression of you. They just care too much about Yang Lian, after all, Mysterious Creature Hunters are a high-risk profession, they'd prefer Yang Lian and me to live a simple life," Yang Qi said. "The main reason my dad is angry this time is because the embryo in Yang Lian's womb tested positive for a mysterious creature meme, he initially thought Yang Lian had turned into an infectee too..."

"That's understandable," Sun Hang nodded. "Parental love... most people admire the heroes who sacrifice in wars, but most don't want their daughters to marry such heroes only to become widows, let alone lose their lives."

"It's good that you understand," Yang Qi's gaze moved away from Yang Lian. "I know about your relationship with Wang Xiyi, but my parents are quite traditional, if you come to an agreement, they'll likely want you to give Yang Lian a title..."

"I don't think Mr. Wang cares much about such things..."

"Thinking like that means you don't understand women well enough," Yang Qi said, giving Sun Hang a sideways glance. "In my opinion, you could take them to those city-states that permit polygamy and marry there..."

Commonly known as legally opening a harem.

...

...

Sun Hang left the Mysterious Creature Research Institute just in time for the institute's end-of-workday. Yang Qi, who had stepped down from her role as "Insecticide Program Supervisor," unusually didn't work overtime and went home with Sun Hang.

The previously destroyed Hunter Villa District had been rebuilt, even the interior decorations were restored as much as possible.

Having returned first, Wang Xiyi laid on the sofa in a sprawling position, carelessly exposing herself in loose clothing. Zhong Ling was busy in the kitchen, while the newly joined "family member" Xue Yue sat somewhat awkwardly in a chair, silently staring at the TV.

"Yo, back already?" Wang Xiyi waved at Sun Hang with the remote, "How's Yang Lian?"

"Everything's good," Sun Hang replied while taking off his shoes and walking inside, "what's for dinner tonight?"

"You should ask Zhong Ling," Wang Xiyi sighed. "Honestly, I still can't forget the roast meat out in the Gobi Desert... it's really a steal for those who took over."

"There'll be plenty of chances for roast meat in the future."

...

...

After dinner, Sun Hang initially planned to go online and play some games—Tianfu City had just restored civilian internet, and various game official websites had offered compensation packages for Shuzhou Region's IPs, now simply creating a Shuzhou IP account meant fun play—but no sooner had he settled in than Yang Qi also pushed the door open and entered the study.

"Uh... Mr. Yang, your study's on the other side," Sun Hang pointed in another direction. "Did you take a wrong turn?"

Yang Qi's heartbeat was fast, her breath somewhat rushed.

Sun Hang suddenly noticed Yang Qi seemed to be wearing just a thin white shirt, and underneath was just a set of underwear... the style being a rare sight in Yang Qi's wardrobe, that of black lace sheer type.

"I did not take a wrong turn," Yang Qi said while walking forward, undoing the shirt buttons one by one.

"Mr. Yang, what do you want to do?" Sun Hang immediately became alert and slid the chair back.

"What you did with my sister earlier, do with me now," Yang Qi said expressionlessly, but her reddening face and increasingly urgent breathing revealed her real thoughts. "My genetic makeup is probably the closest to Yang Lian's in this world. Subsequent research requires a control subject, and I'm the most suitable person to be that control subject."

"Control subject?"

"If you can make me pregnant too, I could study my body and the embryo more quickly to find the solution," Yang Qi said seriously. "I'm not joking."