The journey toward the settlement felt less like a walk and more like a slow, agonizing crawl through a furnace. Every step Lin Wan took sent a fresh jolt of nausea rolling through her stomach, a physical, churning reminder of the "Tier-1 Milestone" she was now carrying. Her body felt heavier, more fragile, as if the secret life inside her had its own gravity.
Around her, the three males moved with the synchronized precision of a hunting pack. Bax, the leader, stayed a half-step ahead, his massive Rhino-beast frame cutting a path through the dense, humid foliage.
Their gazes were a heavy, physical weight on her skin; they were constantly checking the shadows of the treeline for predators, then darting their eyes back to her small, veiled form.
There was a disturbing mixture of religious awe and raw, primal hunger in their expressions that made Lin Wan want to shrink into the earth.
