Chapter 27: Talking Business

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Talking Business

Liam was helped out of the hyperfrequency scanning pod for pregnancies in a complete daze.

He still could not accept the fact that he was pregnant. Somewhere along the way he had acquired a child whose father he didn’t even know.

"Gestational age four weeks, the fetus is healthy, and there’s already a heartbeat. The current pheromone balance is very stable, so keep it exactly as it is."

The female doctor finished reviewing the results and delivered her final assessment. That said, she turned to Benjamin: "The pregnancy is still very early, so marital relations should be kept to a minimum at least until week twenty-four."

Benjamin scratched his head in confusion, his face flushing red: "Doctor, ah, doctor. I’m his older brother."

The doctor’s mouth fell open in shock, and then she apologized in a great flustered rush. Benjamin kept assuring her it was fine. Isabella laughed and said: "Our brother-in-law is away on business, so the two of us brought our younger brother in for a checkup. We never expected good news. Thank you so much, doctor. Is there anything else we should be careful about?"

The doctor nodded and asked Liam: "Have you had any pregnancy symptoms yet?"

Liam was still adrift and had no idea at all what she was asking. Isabella laughed awkwardly to cover for him: "My brother is still too surprised to have gathered himself. Doctor, would it count as a pregnancy symptom that he’s suddenly been eating a great deal more lately? He’s also been sleeping very well."

Hearing that, the doctor smiled: "No morning sickness is a good thing. Even so, you must all be careful not to let him overeat." She wrote out a menu designed specifically for pregnant Omegas and instructed Isabella: "Nothing too salty, nothing too sweet, and not too much spicy or heating food either. If the family can afford it, try to give him fresh food once a month. Mainly greens, things like Jade greens and Crystal Coral greens. And if you can manage it, let him have a little fruit as well..."

The doctor was a Beta who had given birth herself, and her experience ran deep. Besides prenatal supplements, she also shared a number of practical tips. Isabella and Benjamin were afraid they wouldn’t remember it all, so they fumbled their smart watches open and took it down.

Somewhere in the middle of the doctor’s instructions, Liam’s mind gradually came back to him. He looked down at his stomach with something complicated in his eyes, and quietly started talking to the blue cat inside his head:

[You knew I was pregnant, didn’t you? Why didn’t you tell me?]

The blue cat answered lazily: [I only knew you were pregnant. I can’t scan the fetus’s readings, so it was better to let you go to the hospital yourself.]

[The pheromone readings are stable because I’ve been eating Grass Worms, aren’t they? So they help balance pheromones during pregnancy too?]

[That’s correct, host. However, Grass Worms only balance your pheromones and keep the fetus developing steadily. If you want the child’s body to reach its best possible state, in physical constitution and in mental power both, you’ll still need the pheromones of your Alpha.]

Liam’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and then he sighed inwardly: [I don’t even know who that bastard is.]

The blue cat was puzzled: [What exactly happened to you before I arrived?]

Liam stayed silent and didn’t answer, his mood turning somewhat bleak. Seeing him like that, the blue cat didn’t press any further. It thought for a moment and then asked: [In this world of yours, how many months until a birth?]

[Nine months and ten days, same as anywhere.] Liam answered flatly.

The blue cat immediately opened its system and searched its memory. After a while it spoke up: [It’s fine even without an Alpha. There’s a medicine at level four called the Child-Nurturing Elixir, from a cultivation world. All you have to do is trade for it.]

Liam laughed harshly: [You think I’ve got the money to upgrade the stall to level four inside eight months?]

The blue cat shut its mouth. It was only making a suggestion, so why did the host have to snap like that? Truly, one should never provoke a pregnant person.

By now the consultation slot was over, and Isabella and Benjamin had to close their smart watches with some regret and say goodbye to the doctor so the next patient could have the room. Seeing that, the doctor held out her own smart watch and said: "You can add me as a contact. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just message and ask. I’ll advise you whenever I’m free."

Isabella was overjoyed: "That would be wonderful. Thank you, doctor!"

She hurriedly opened her watch and saved the doctor’s number, and only then supported Liam out. Liam blinked, looked left, looked right, and had absolutely no idea what to say.

These two had already decided he was made of fragile glass, and each of them had taken an arm to help him along. Liam laughed: "Could the two of you please not do this? I feel like someone in the middle of labor who can’t walk anymore."

Benjamin glared and scolded him: "Bite your tongue, the things you come out with. From today on you’re sitting quietly at home for us, and no more running out into the fields to bake in the sun at the first opportunity."

Liam was lost for words: "It really isn’t that serious. Pregnant people are allowed outside for fresh air, aren’t they?"

Isabella frowned: "Then only once the sun is down. And no more livestreaming, and no more heavy work either. Anything that needs doing, tell us and we’ll do it for you."

Liam opened his mouth to ask something, then closed it again and said nothing. What he had wanted to ask was, aren’t either of you going to ask whether I want to keep this child? There was no telling how much those words would hurt Benjamin and Isabella, and he couldn’t bring himself to say them anyway.

In his last life he had been alone, no spouse and no children, and his family had grieved over it endlessly because of that. In this life, against all expectation, there was a child. He didn’t know who its Alpha father was, but he found he didn’t much care. This child was perhaps heaven’s way of making something up to him, and he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away.

Thinking about the problems that arise when a child lacks the pheromones of one of its two fathers, a spark of resolve lit in Liam’s chest. On the ship home, he messaged that top gifter of his.

"I’ve got a small quantity of the goods you wanted, but there isn’t much and the price isn’t cheap. Do you want to talk business now?"

Half an hour later the reply came: [What price exactly? How much are you selling?]

"Five thousand silver stars for ten. No haggling."

The blue cat: "..."

The top gifter: [...]

The top gifter had been soaking in his bath, and slid straight down and dunked himself under the water. He grabbed the rim of the tub in a hurry and coughed hard several times to get the mouthfuls of soapy water out.

He sent a voice message straight over: [Five hundred silver stars for one worm? Why don’t you just go and rob someone?]

Liam hadn’t switched on sound blocking, so this shriek, like a pig being stuck, made Isabella and Benjamin jump where they sat talking quietly. It was fortunate they had the ship on autopilot, or it would have gone off course and flown straight into the meteor belt.

Liam smiled at them and waved a hand to say he was fine. He sent a voice message back without the slightest hesitation: "This thing is called Cryomollis, and it isn’t ordinary food. It’s medicine."

The other side was silent for a long time, apparently off looking up information. A long while later he simply placed a call.

Liam wasn’t worried about showing his face. If he and this person were going to do business together long term they would have to meet sooner or later, and sooner made no difference to later.

The screen connected, and on the other side was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes, his small face still carrying a childish roundness. He had a bathrobe on, so he had clearly only just climbed out of the bathroom.

But this was absolutely not the young man who had knelt to apologize to him the other day. This person was an Omega, and a famous one at that.

"Why is it you?" Liam blurted out.

"You know me?" the other asked.

Liam frowned slightly: "Your pictures are all over the network, it would be difficult not to recognize you. But have you even reached the age of majority? This business is not a game for children." There was no information about this person’s age online, so Liam had to ask to be sure.

At that the other bristled: "I am twenty-six years old! I came of age ages ago! It’s you we should be asking. Have you come of age?"

Liam nodded: "A month ago. But you’ve been following my channel long enough to know what I’m capable of. The depth of my experience is equal to my age."

The Omega on the other end considered this for a moment, then asked: "I couldn’t find a single piece of information about this worm of yours. And there has never been any research proving that insects can cure disease. Don’t try to swindle me."

Liam leaned back into his chair and said unhurriedly: "When I sent you the food last time, you said your household chef ate the whole lot, didn’t you? The hospitals are still open, take him in and have his pheromone stability index and mental power grade tested. But!" He put weight on it: "If you dare reveal anything at all about me or about Cryomollis, this chance to get rich stops including you."

The Omega drew a deep breath and said in a low voice: "My household has its own doctor and its own measuring equipment. I’ll have someone check his condition right now. What you’ve said had better be true, or else..." He gave a short snort: "You will die very badly."

Liam curved his lips into a smile: "Mm. Be my guest."

The other side hung up quickly.

Isabella and Benjamin were not looking pleased. Benjamin growled: "Who was that ill-mannered little brat? Tell me his name, I’m going to give him a beating."

As for any business about not hitting an Omega, Benjamin didn’t care. Anyone at all who went after his younger brother would be beaten into pulp, or he would not be carrying the Martinez name.

Liam propped his chin on his hand, narrowed his eyes at Benjamin and smiled with a great deal behind it: "Daniel Mason. Third son of the main line of the Mason family. He’s fourth on that ranking of the ten most beautiful Omegas in the Polaris star system that you look at every single day. You sit there gazing at his photographs for an hour at a time, and then you tell everyone how gorgeous your ’wife’ is and how she makes your heart flutter, and that if he asked you to kneel down and lick his shoes you’d do it."

Benjamin: "..."

Ah. From today on, just call him Benjamin. He has no family name.