Chapter 12: There Can’t Be

After who-knows-how-long, I finally regained consciousness.

“Hiss—my eyes hurt! My mouth’s so dry!”

The moment I came to, I felt intense discomfort—my eyes stung from being open too long, and my mouth was painfully parched from lack of saliva.

I swallowed hard several times and rubbed my eyes, easing the discomfort a bit.

But then I bolted upright, warily scanning the room.

It was quiet, no signs of intruders.

“…Weird. I only took out four with my mental attack… How did the other two die?”

I extended my mental energy slightly, quickly sensing six bodies at the door—and then I felt something odd.

The way the last two died was similar to my method, but while I simply destroyed their nervous systems, these two had their brains turned to mush, clearly obliterated by a far more brutal force.

“Who helped me?”

I wondered, puzzled, but as I moved to get out of bed, my thigh suddenly bumped into something round.

“Eek!!!”

Startled, I saw it was one of my egg babies—I reacted instantly, catching it as I tumbled off the bed onto the floor.

“Hiss… you little rascal, what’s going on?”

Clutching my aching head after hitting the ground, I rolled a few times. When the pain subsided, I looked at the red egg in my arms.

“Strange, I’m sure I tucked you deep in the backpack. No way you rolled out.”

I touched the shell, confirmed it was fine, and stood to place it back on the bed—only to freeze when I saw the pale purple egg had rolled out too, sitting quietly by the bed’s corner.

“???”

Staring at the two eggs, I knew something was off.

I clearly remember tucking them securely in the backpack! I was out cold from brain damage, so I couldn’t have moved them.

…There’s only one explanation!

The egg babies rolled out themselves!

“Is… that possible?”

I stared at the eggs, incredulous, feeling a mix of awe.

I gently touched their shells and sensed faint emotions from them.

Concern, fear, confusion… even a hint of hostility toward others. I didn’t expect these unhatched babies to have such complex thoughts.

The eggs twitched slightly, then went still.

“Looks like it was you two.”

I grinned at them.

“You’re some impressive little ones—mental energy stronger than your mom’s.”

Legends say high-tier species’ offspring are powerful even at birth, capable of killing average adults. These unhatched babies are clearly extraordinary.

Their power doesn’t come from me—it’s from their father.

My Phoenix bloodline only awakened yesterday, and while my former family was unique among humans, their kids couldn’t kill adults so easily.

So, the only possibility is their father’s lineage—which piqued my curiosity about him… but I quickly pushed that thought aside.

I concluded it was the eggs’ power for a simple reason—no one would save me.

No one would.

I’m Su Mengmeng, a disgraced noble with nothing but this body.

My family disowned me after this body was defiled by some unknown man. There’s no secret guard watching over me.

If there were, they’d have shown up during my childbirth.

Malnourished, frail, and alone, childbirth was a death sentence.

Yet no one helped.

So, I don’t expect anyone to save me now. I have only myself and my egg babies to rely on, no one else to trust.

Just us. So, it wasn’t someone else—it was my egg babies, each taking out one of the remaining two with a mental attack mimicking mine.

It all makes sense—

The babies don’t understand much, but they sense my actions and the six threats at the door.

They didn’t know what to do at first, but they noticed my attack and saw I missed two. Instinctively, they copied me, taking out the last two, but it left them weakened… I can feel it.

“It’s okay, Mommy’s fine… Don’t do that again, though. Using mental energy before hatching can hurt you. Mommy will protect herself and you two from now on.”

Sensing their concern, I smiled, hugging the eggs and gently stroking their shells as I spoke softly.

Their consciousness faded, and I couldn’t feel their emotions anymore—they must’ve “fallen asleep.” They’d been holding on, protecting me and themselves while I was out.

I looked at them fondly, my heart warming at their tiny, brave efforts.