It was a dead fetus.
Yu Sheng did not know how to explain this judgment—he had no corresponding knowledge or experience with which to determine whether the grotesque lump of "flesh" before him was dead or alive, and no one knew what physiological traits an Angel's Fetus ought to possess. If he had to put it into words, the answer had simply appeared in his mind the instant he saw the lump of flesh.
He knew this thing was dead. It did not breathe, had no blood flow, no thoughts, and no soul. From the very beginning, it had never possessed the possibility of being "born and growing into a living being."
Yet this thing was slowly growing. It was difficult to see with the naked eye, but it truly was growing. Yu Sheng even felt that he could hear the faint "sound of growth" within it, like tiny bubbles popping. This dead Angel's Fetus grew a little larger with every passing second, preparing itself for birth.
Yu Sheng observed both the strange entity's state of death and its process of growth. He felt deeply conflicted and bewildered, unable to understand whether the information flooding into his mind was a "truth" he had perceived himself or "knowledge" Ankaela had forcibly poured into him. He stood there in a daze for a long time, trying to process the contradictory information clashing within his consciousness, until Ankaela's voice once again intruded into his mind—
"I can't see her very clearly. This has been going on for a very long time."
Yu Sheng raised his head and looked at the severed umbilical cord extending from the dead fetus and floating in midair.
The voice in his mind continued, calm and gentle, without the slightest trace of violence or malice: "The connection between us...