The bitter wind, carrying shards of ice, lashed the bare treetops and let out a wail like a vengeful ghost.
When Luo Dong woke, he felt cold all over. His limbs flailed uncontrollably a few times.
Something was wrong.
This didn't feel right.
He snapped his eyes open.
A gray sky filled his view. Leaden clouds hung low overhead, and fine snowflakes landed on his face, icy to the bone.
At the edge of his vision, dead-yellow grass swayed violently in the wind.
He tried to turn over, but his body wouldn't obey him at all.
He looked down.
A pair of soft, chubby little hands waved helplessly before his eyes. Their fingers were so short they looked like five shelled peanuts.
These were... a baby's hands?
"What the hell?"
A buzzing filled Luo Dong's head, but all that came out of his mouth was a baby's wail.
He remembered that just a moment ago, he'd been sitting in front of his computer, playing Valorant.
The Jett on the other team had been charging at him like a mad dog. He'd just been about to flick his aim, thinking, "Fuck your mother—"
And then, nothing.
He was here now?
Reincarnated?
And turned into a damn baby?
Luo Dong forced himself to calm down.
The situation was bad.
Never mind the temperature in this frozen wasteland; he couldn't survive it.
The wild beasts out here alone could treat him like a snack, gobbling him up in one bite.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a burst of golden light exploded inside his head.
[Ding--] [Many Mothers Many Blessings System activated...] [Host confirmed: Luo Dong] [Many Mothers Many Blessings: as the name suggests, the more mothers you have, the greater your fortune] [Mothers can earn rewards through daily feeding and care] [The host can also earn rewards, points, and so on by simply enjoying and cooperating with the mothers' feeding and care] [Points can be used to purchase items, or to issue tasks to the Subsystem's mothers] [Scanning for eligible mother candidates...]
Luo Dong froze.
A system? Wasn't this the standard golden finger for someone who'd crossed into another world?
Before he could react, the system's alerts rang out like a string of firecrackers:
[Compatible candidate detected--] [Name: Bibi Dong] [Relationship designation: adoptive mother (pending activation)] [Binding condition: the target has a deep-seated lack of maternal love, an emotional void that needs to be filled] [Installing Subsystem...] [Subsystem installed successfully!] [Congratulations, host! You have received ×1 Newbie Gift Pack]
Luo Dong felt a light screen appear in his mind.
The Subsystem's interface was clearly displayed on it.
A pale golden panel now hovered in the depths of his consciousness, showing several lines of text:
[Many Mothers Many Blessings · Subsystem] [Bound user: Bibi Dong] [Current task: None] [Current points: 0] [Parenting level: Lv.0]
There was also an interface for Luo Dong's main system, with his points balance, task list, and full monitoring access to the Subsystem.
He could see every operation inside the Subsystem.
"So I bind her as my backer, and she binds me to grow stronger?"
Luo Dong quickly digested the information.
Just then, the Newbie Gift Pack opened by itself.
[Opening Newbie Gift Pack--] [Passive skill obtained: Mother-Child Bond] [Effect: slowly influences the bound target's emotions and strengthens their fondness for the host. The effect is maximized upon first meeting] [Note: this skill does not affect free will; it only amplifies genuine emotional inclinations]
Luo Dong felt a little more reassured.
With this passive skill, as long as Bibi Dong saw him, there was a good chance she wouldn't leave him here to feed the wolves.
The catch was—she had to pass by.
A gust of cold wind slipped through a gap in his swaddling clothes. Luo Dong felt his body heat ebbing away little by little.
He summoned all his strength and let out a baby's wail.
His cry sounded especially weak in the vast, empty wilderness.
Footsteps crunched through the dead grass.
Luo Dong's crying abruptly stopped.
Someone was coming.
The newcomer's footsteps were light, almost inaudible. Only the sound of dry grass being crushed grew nearer.
A figure stopped in front of him, blocking the snow falling from the sky.
Backlit, Luo Dong saw a woman's face.
She looked young, somewhere in her early twenties.
Her features were delicate and well-defined. She should have been beautiful.
If not for the cold exhaustion in her eyes.
She wore a fitted purple outfit, snow dusting her shoulders and blood staining her cuffs. She had clearly just come from a battle.
Her Soul Rings had already vanished, but the aura of slaughter had not yet fully faded.
Bibi Dong.
Luo Dong recognized her.
The beautiful Pope of Douluo Continent, the story's ultimate antagonist—and one of its most tragic figures.
Her teacher had defiled her, and she had given birth to a daughter. With nowhere to vent the hatred filling her heart, she had eventually walked a path toward destruction.
But now, it had only been three years since she gave birth to Qian Renxue.
She was twenty-three.
She had yet to become the lofty Pope.
Her gaze met Luo Dong's.
There was no softness at the sight of a baby, no instinctive tenderness in her eyes—only a desolation that was almost complete indifference.
She looked at the baby on the ground as if he were a lifeless stone.
Luo Dong's heart sank.
Bibi Dong looked down at him. Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, then moved away.
She turned to leave.
Just then—
[Ding--] [Bound candidate detected!] [Subsystem activating--]
Bibi Dong suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Luo Dong saw her freeze with her back to him, her shoulders trembling slightly.
A few seconds later, Bibi Dong slowly turned around. The look on her face shifted from indifference to incredulous shock.
She raised a hand and tapped the empty air in front of her.
Luo Dong knew she was looking at the Subsystem panel.
The pale golden interface must have been hovering before her now, its words displayed clearly:
[You have been selected as this system's bound user] [Complete parenting tasks to receive various rewards, including Soul Power, Soul Rings, Soul Bones, and more] [Bound relationship: adoptive mother] [Adopted son: Luo Dong]
Bibi Dong's gaze fell on the baby again.
This time, her eyes had changed.
Complex emotions stirred in their original emptiness.
Shock, suspicion, wariness, and a trace of... wavering that even she had not noticed.
She crouched down and reached out to loosen the swaddling wrapped around the baby.
A small wooden tag was tied to it, with two words carved into it: Luo Dong.
Bibi Dong's hand paused.
The name Luo Dong matched the "adopted son" displayed on the system panel.
Her expression turned exceedingly complicated.
She thought of someone else.
Qian Renxue.
The daughter she had given birth to three years ago—the child whose very sight reminded her of that nightmare.
That little face and those eyes silently reminded her of her unbearable past.
She hated that child.
She hated the man who had made her pregnant, too.
But now, this baby in her arms—
The system's prompt still echoed in her mind.
The instant her consciousness touched the system, she sensed an aura that defied description.
It surpassed every form of power she knew.
The Angel God's inheritance, Spirit Hall's secret arts, even the legendary ascension to godhood at level one hundred—all seemed so insignificant before this system as to be unworthy of mention.
What was this thing?
Bibi Dong didn't understand, but she understood one thing.
This child could make her stronger.
Strong enough to kill that man.
Strong enough to return every humiliation she had suffered.
Bibi Dong lowered her eyes to the baby, her gaze still cold.
She reached out with her other hand and picked him up.
Her movements were awkward and stiff, nothing like those of a woman who had given birth before.
Held in her arms, Luo Dong felt uncomfortable all over, but he didn't dare move.
He could feel how rigid Bibi Dong's body was, as if she were holding an unfamiliar weapon.
"Very well," Bibi Dong murmured.
Then she stopped hesitating, turned around with the baby in her arms, and headed toward Spirit City.
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