Chapter 266: Chapter 177 The Reproductive Ability of the Witch
"I always thought such a thing would only exist in jokes, but who would have thought it would actually appear in the form of a Talent...
Being favored by fate, the one being blocked should be some God of Destiny.
And being even luckier, thatâs pretty much standard for a Protagonist, right?
Having the fortune to study Spells under Bai Fa is another testament to that...
And being able to escape malice, Iâve already experienced that.
Though itâs not compulsory, as long as I truly wish, I can still forcibly take action against him.
However, just trying to read his thoughts directly today ended up impacting the Beast Kingâs transformation by my seashore, causing an anomalyâif I took further action, who knows what other trouble could arise.
Luckily, this is easily avoided, as long as there is no subjective âmaliceâ, even if itâs something done with his best interests in mind, this influence can be easily circumvented.
It even seems that simply interviewing him as a potential future subordinate, to conduct certain tests and investigations, passes this judgment, showing its leniency...
Eh? No, thatâs not right. Could it be seen as a Grandpa taking in an apprentice?
Many grandpas put their disciples through trials and even create crises, could it be that because of this, the restriction is lifted?
Oh no, how did I go from being the appreciative Grandpa-figure who discovered the Protagonist to being the grandpa-type teacher who sees the Protagonistâs Talent...
No, thatâs not right, Iâm not some grandpa!"
But since this is potentially avoidable, itâll be much easier to do something to him later on.
Of course, necessary experiments are still essential; I need to find an opportunity to throw him into the Battle Zone for a... trial.
And for tomorrowâs rewards for Hong Chao, Bai Yi already has a plan.
A residence in the Upper City District of Eternal Life City, a Magic Power Crystal for cultivation, a Space Ring as a "reward," and an opportunity.
The first two are material rewards Hong Chao urgently needs, similar to money, only exchanged for what seem to be more precious resources.
The Space Ring, naturally, is one of Bai Yiâs means of monitoring Hong Chao, distributed as a reward, to also circumvent any potential evil intent judgments.
As for the last opportunity...
Bai Yi hasnât fully decided yet but is prepared to offer several options.
One is the chance of "connection to the Witch Network," or in other words, the assimilation of Swarm Consciousness.
This is also Bai Yiâs method to exert further control over this "Protagonist."
Itâs better to proceed with caution; initially, Bai Yi worried about negative outcomes due to his suspected Protagonist identity.
But since the confirmation of his Protagonist identity and the Aura through the panel, and finding an avoidable method, it should be arranged at the earliest opportunity.
The second choice is the opportunity to obtain an Avatar of a Witch linked in consciousness...
Undoubtedly, thatâs further control.
The Lord of the Golden Ship who also resides in Eternal Life City has long validated this approach; this method can subtly and more swiftly influence the original being, nudging it closer towards being a witch.
In the end, smoothly transitioning into becoming one of her subordinate witches, for her use.
After all, Hong Chao truly has something special. Although Bai Yi only skimmed Hong Chaoâs theoretical writings, it would undoubtedly bring immeasurable benefits to the territory.
And even if this seems like deeper control, in some sense, this Avatar of a witch is indeed also a reward.
It meets his desire to maintain his Human identity, while also allowing him to enjoy the benefits of a witch, to utilize the witchâs powerful Talent and strength.
Bai Yi feels the likelihood of Hong Chao choosing this isnât small.
After all, Hong Chaoâs resistance to transforming into a witch isnât that strong, even showing signs of wavering.
However, his reason for not wanting to become a witch truly gives Bai Yi a hard time...
But this also serves as a warning to Bai Yi.
While witches can increase their numbers through assimilation, she has overlooked the Witch Clanâs own reproductive ability.
Itâs about time to ponder this...
Even if, theoretically, as long as witches continue conquering new worlds, they can always expand their numbers.
But thatâs no reason for the Witch Clan to lack reproductive capabilities.
In fact, the reproductive organs of the Witch Clan have not been removed today, but were transformed by Bai Yi into oviparous organisms, to avoid the trouble of menstrual cycles.
Although the consequence is that occasionally witches lay a useless egg, itâs still much better than the original menstrual period.
However, when Bai Yi was making this transformation, she didnât design a more advanced reproductive mechanism for them.
This results in the current witches theoretically still being a sexually reproductive species.
ââ Even Bai Yi didnât design a "Demon Man" race.
There was no such design in the past, and naturally, there wonât be in the future.
The true pinnacle of biological entities is the ability for any two individuals to reproduce together and, in necessary circumstances, to breed offspring on their own to expand their population.
This is not difficult for Bai Yi, as both the Insect Swarm and the Sea Sons, and even the cats possess this capability.
However, this ability was classified under the gene for population expansion and Bai Yi thought it overlapped with spore infection, so she didnât fuse it into their genetics.
Moreover, the spores themselves have already proven their ability to develop into a new witch in experiments.
Transforming it into a suitable variant for witches would be quite simple; Bai Yi was even confident she could complete the genetic entry modification and apply the update to all witches before bedtime.
"Plus, who knows? Maybe such a change would even eliminate the last of Hong Chaoâs reservations and he would be willing to transform into a witch?"
Of course, Bai Yi didnât actually have such hopes. Rather than taming Hong Chao more quickly, she valued the impact that providing witches with reproductive abilities would have on the witches themselves.
With the witchesâ curiosity and initiative, Bai Yi had no doubt that once she announced this update, some witches would be eager to personally test out what it felt like to breed offspring.
Once there were Little Witches, the cycle of the Witch Clan could begin to turn, replenishing the structure of witch society, no longer just composed of adult witches.
Although, due to the superiority of the genes and the establishment of structures like Heroic Spirit Hall, witches wouldnât give birth to elderly individuals; but Little Witches were indeed possible.
This also aligned with Bai Yiâs intention of crafting a civilization for the witches, more akin to that of former human civilizations.
Bai Yi was even somewhat looking forward to how much fun it would be to have more Little Witches in her territory in the future.
As for how mischievous the childrenâs minds would be once combined with witchâs natureâwell, Bai Yi wouldnât have to raise them herself; sheâd let the witches figure out the experience on their own~
Kids are always cutest when they belong to someone else!
Thinking this, Bai Yi couldnât wait to get started and immediately polished off the remainder of her dinner before diving into the laboratory to start the modification of the gene entries.
Just as she anticipated, with the example of the Insect Swarm genes, adapting the transplant genes for the witches was straightforward and not troublesome.
Luckily, although the process made Bai Yi blush, the new gene modification went smoothly.
By the next day, she had successfully disseminated the latest genetic update among the witches.
And indeed, as Bai Yi had expected, by the next morning, her overnight update had sparked widespread discussion on the internet.
Plenty of witches, now truly having eggs (they really did this time), and twiddling their thumbs, decided to give it a try and immediately started to put it into practice (not just as a verb) with their besties.
The mating of witches is not the same as that of standard carbon-based life forms; given their unique nature, Bai Yi didnât opt for the primitive method.
After all, the essence of biological mating is to ensure genetic diversityâa type of genetic exchange.
Put simply, as long as the genetic exchange is completed, it can take any form.
Moreover, considering the currently cultivated witchesâ genes are mostly fixed, with only some genes controlling appearance and personality left unrestricted by Bai Yi.
The most critical genes concerned with witch strength and talents are locked, so the necessity for genetic exchange isnât significant, itâs more a matter of ceremony.
To prove the relationship between oneâs self and the child.
The method of genetic exchange chosen by Bai Yi involves the exchange of bodily fluids...
Therefore, under theoretical conditions, after one genetic exchange, an egg could be produced.
And of course, as a signature feature of Bai Yi, these eggs do not require much of an incubation environment.
Generally, unless theyâre purposely thrown into a cold storage to freeze or straight into a high-temperature environment of thousands of degrees to bake, they wonât spoil.
Yep, they can even be tossed into water and boiled without any harm!
As for the hatching Little Witches, Bai Yi also thoughtfully did not add rapid growth genes.
Even while ensuring the power growth remained unchanged, she deliberately suppressed the physical growth rate to allow witches to experience a complete childhood.
But Bai Yiâs job was only to update the genes; Shang Ji would be the one getting busy.
Whether itâs incubating the Little Witches or taking care of them, all these needed new arrangements, along with planning for future education.
This made the already busy Shang Ji even more so.
To soothe Shang Jiâs burdened soul, Bai Yi thoughtfully split off another soul slice to lighten the load.
Indeed, behind every tranquil moment of Bai Yiâs, lies a Shang Ji carrying the weight and pressing forward.
But, there wasnât a moment to spare to feel sorrow for Shang Ji.
On the other hand, Bai Yi was already prepared under the giant tree, ready to meet the human who occupied her focus for the past two daysâHong Chao.
......
Witch Egg (Non-Living Version): An exquisite ingredient for cooking, non-living Witch Eggs lack that powerful life force, allowing for easy cooking through boiling, frying, etc. The texture of the eggs can vary with different Witch Clans, and many restaurants specialize in acquiring them, with the eggs from the Sea Demon Witches fetching the highest prices...
[Note: The eggs of the Sea Demon Witches are indeed delicious! Which justifies the price!]