The air in the Advanced Bio-Molecular Research Wing usually smelled of ozone and expensive filtration. For Lu Ran it was the scent of home—more familiar than his sterile apartment that he rarely visited.
Lu Ran was twenty-seven. He was an oddity in academics. He had a mind that could map sequences like a chess grandmaster. His face belonged on a high-fashion runway. His sharp features and cool obsidian eyes often made people mistake him for a visiting celebrity rather than the youngest senior fellow in the university's history.
He didn't care about the stares. He cared about the data.
"One more sequence," he whispered. His voice was raspy from hours of silence. He adjusted his glasses. The blue light of the monitor reflected in his lenses. His thesis—a groundbreaking study on regeneration—was nearly complete. It was his masterpiece.
The heavy security door hissed behind him.
Lu Ran didn't look up. "I told you, Professor, I don't need coffee. I need three hours."
"I'm not the professor,"a nervous voice replied.
Lu Ran froze. He turned slowly. A man in a hoodie stood by the centrifuge. He gripped a heavy-duty wrench and a bag of stolen electronics. He looked desperate.
"You shouldn't be here,""u Ran said. His voice dropped into his authoritative tone. "The silent alarm triggered when you bypassed the lock. Security is on the way."
It was a lie—the secondary lock was under mmmaintenance. Ran hoped the bluff would send the intruder running.
InInstead,he thief panicked.
"You saw me!" the man screamed. "I can't go back! I won't go back!"
Lu Ran was a man of logic, not violence. He reached for the desk phone. The heavy iron wrench swung with a thud against his temple.
The world didn't go black immediately. It turned white. Lu Ran felt the linoleum floor against his cheek. He felt the warmth of his blood pooling around his ear. He thought, with an irony, never got to click 'Save.'"
Then the darkness won.
Death wasn't a tunnel of light. For Lu Ran it felt like being submerged in ink. There was no pain. There was a sound—a digital pinging.
[...Initialization Sequence Starting...]
[Target Soul: Lu Ran]
[Compatibility Check: 99.9% (Optimal Host Detected)]
[Soul Binding in progress... 3... 2... 1...]
Lu Ran tried to think. His thoughts felt sluggish. Who was speaking? Was this a -dedeath hallucination?Binding Complete. Welcome, Host 001001, the 'Infinite Lineage: God-Tier Childbirth System.'
Lu Ran's mental "eyes" snapped open.
"Childbirth... What?" he thought. "I am a man. A PhD. A cellular biologist. I am not a vessel."
[System Note: The host's gender is irrelevant to the mandate of the 'Infinite Lineage.' In Aethelgard magical bloodlines are thinning. The world is dying. You have been selected to repopulate the realm with stastrong,gically gifted progeny.
" NoNo," Ran retorted. "Send me back to the void. I'd rather be non-existent than an incubator."
[Warning: Refusal results in soul dissipation. Acceptance grants a healthy body and potential immortality.
Lu Ran couldn't argue. A violent tug pulled at his navel. The ink-black void shattered.
Lu Ran gasped. His lungs burned with the breath of air that didn't smell like a laboratory. It smelled of jasmine, old stostone,d incense.
He tried to sit up. His limbs felt heavy and soft. He wasn't wearing his lab coat. InsInstead, felt silk against his skin. His hands were still his—long-fingered and pale—but the calluses from his pens were gone.
He lay on a bed draped in crimson velvet. The room was cavernous. It was built of polished wood. Floating crystals lit it. They hummed with a magical resonance.
"The Consort is awake!" a voice chirped.
Lu Ran turned his head. A young boy in a tunic stared at him with fearful eyes.
"Consort?" Lu Ran's voice was melodic. He looked down. He wore a white robe cinched at the waist with a golden cord.
[Ding! Current Location: The Jade Palace, Kingdom of PerPerezCurrent Status: 'Gifted Consort' to the Dragon-Blood Emperor.]
[Mission 1: Successfully conceive a 'Grade-A' magical heir within three months.]
[Reward: 1,000 Life Points, Unlock 'Basic Alchemy' skill tree.]
[Penalty for Failure: infertility and exile to the Cold Palace.]
Lu Ran stared at the floating text box. He felt cold. He didn't scream. He didn't cry. He analyzed the variables.
First, I am in a world with magic.
Second, I am in a position of subservience (Consort).
Third, my survival is tied to a function I am physically unequipped for... Or am I?
"System " ," Ran thought. "Provide a scan of this body."
[Scanning... The host body has been reconstructed using the 'Aethelgard Primordial Vessel' template. While externally malmale,ur internal physiology has been magically modified to support gestation.
Lu Ran's eyes twitched. "I am not a laboratory. I am a scientist."
[Correction: You are both. Would you like to view your current 'Fertility Stat'? ]
"No, " " Ran snapped.
"My Lord?" The servant boy approached. "The Emperor has heard of your recovery. He intends to visit the pavilion tonight for the 'Bloodline Ritual.'"
Lu Ran sat up. His lonlong,lken black hair spilled over his shoulders. If he was going to sursurvive, needed information. He needed to know the politics and the biology of this "Dragon-Blood."
"Tell me, " " Ran said. His voice was cold and precise. "This emperor—does he value the child or the person who provides it?"
The servant bowed low. "The Emperor values strength, My Lord. Our kingdom hasn't seen a Golden-Tier heir in three centuries. If you provide oneone,u will be more powerful than the High Priest."
Lu Ran looked at his hands. In his world he was a master of cells and DNA. In this world those cells were infused with magic.
"A Golden-Tier heir " ," Ran mused. "I am being asked to engineer a biological specimen."
A sloslow,ngerous smile spread across his face. If this "system" thought it could treat him like a breeding anianimal, was mistaken. He was an academician. He would optimize this process. He would turn this "childbirth" mandate into a ladder to power.
" WeWell," Ran whispered. "If I must play the part of the motmother,will be the most efficiently calculated mother this world has ever seen."
[Ding! The hoshost'smbition Stat' has increased by 50 points! ]
Lu Ran watched as the man clad in armor stepped into the light. His eyes glowed with an amber slit.
Lu Ran didn't bow. He watched. His mind already calculated the potential of the man before him.
Target acqacquired, Ran th.tLet'se if your 'Dragon-Blood' stands up to a peer-reviewed analysis.