Chapter 174: I Can Bang All I Want!

The room fell into complete silence.

The system’s explanation lingered in everyone’s minds like the final page of a surprisingly educational textbook. Silas slowly lowered his head.

The girls quietly watched him. Anna wondered if he was reflecting on the responsibility of one day becoming a father. Chloe thought he was processing everything logically. Gromda just waited for whatever her mate was thinking.

Silas’s head suddenly snapped upward, his pink eyes sparkling enough to light up the room. He shouted.

"I CAN BANG ALL I WANT!"

Anna blinked once, Chloe blinked twice, Gromda blinked... very slowly. Silas shot to his feet on the mattress, raising both fists triumphantly toward the ceiling.

"NO MORE RANDOM PANIC! I’M FREE! I CAN STOP OVERTHINKING!"

The room became unnaturally quiet. Anna smiled. It was a beautiful smile. It was also the exact smile she wore whenever she caught one of her patients lying.

"Girls."

Chloe calmly placed her phone on the bedside table.

"Mhm."

Gromda slowly cracked her knuckles.

"Mate... Very loud."

Silas’s celebration came to a gradual halt.

"Why do I suddenly feel like I’ve made a mistake?"

Anna folded her arms.

"So..."

Silas swallowed. "So?"

"That..." She pointed at him. "Is what you concluded from everything the system just explained?"

Silas pointed toward the floating screen.

"It literally said pregnancy isn’t something we have to worry about right now. It also explained biology. It explained evolution. It explained races. It explained compatibility. It explained the future."

Chloe calmly added, "And somehow your biggest takeaway was..."

She looked him directly in the eyes. "’Freedom to fuck.’"

Silas scratched his cheek.

"When you put it like that..."

Anna sighed. "You hopeless man..."

Gromda climbed off the bed. Even at her reduced height of seven feet, she still cast a shadow over nearly half the room.

Silas looked up.

"Mate?" She smiled. "Correction."

"Correction?"

"Mhm."

Silas instinctively scooted backward.

"I suddenly support freedom of personal space."

But it was too late. Anna grabbed one of his wrists, while Chloe quietly took the other. Silas looked between them.

"Girls?"

None of them answered. Gromda effortlessly wrapped both arms around him from behind, and up he went.

"WAAAH!" His feet left the mattress. "I OBJECT!"

"You have the right to remain silent," Anna said with an amused smile.

"I waive that right!"

"You don’t get to."

"I absolutely do!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"System!" Silas pointed dramatically toward the floating screen. "Tell them!"

The pink interface flickered.

[Analysis complete.]

[Conclusion: The user has entered what humans refer to as ’digging his own grave.’]

Silas stared.

"You could’ve helped."

[I am helping.]

"HOW?"

[Entertainment improves household morale.]

Anna burst into laughter, while Chloe covered her mouth, although the tiny curve at the corner of her lips betrayed her. Even Gromda laughed so hard the entire bed shook.

Silas sighed dramatically.

"I live with bullies."

"No," Anna corrected. "You live with women."

"Worse."

Anna pinched his cheek.

"What was that?"

"I said..." He smiled innocently. "Wonderful women."

"Better."

Gromda finally set him back onto the mattress, causing Silas to immediately scoot to the opposite side of the bed.

"I’ll be staying over here."

Chloe looked at him.

"Scared?"

"No."

"A little?"

"Maybe."

Anna tilted her head.

"We weren’t actually going to do anything."

"I know. I just didn’t want to find out where this was heading."

Gromda raised one hand.

"I know."

"No."

"I sit."

Silas immediately pointed both hands toward her.

"Exactly! You were going to sit on me!"

"I wasn’t!"

"You thought about it!"

"Little."

"I KNEW IT!"

The room exploded into laughter again. After several moments, everyone finally settled down. Anna leaned comfortably against Silas’s shoulder.

"You know..." She spoke softly. "I actually found your question sweet."

Silas blinked.

"Really?"

She nodded.

"You weren’t worried about yourself. You were thinking about us, and about the future."

Chloe nodded in agreement.

"You panic in strange ways."

"I do?"

"Mhm."

"You always think ten steps ahead."

Silas scratched the back of his head.

"I guess. I just realized we’ve never actually talked about it. We’ve talked about surviving, training, the apocalypse, the future of the estate, but not that future."

The room became quiet again. Anna intertwined her fingers with his.

"If one day it happens..." She smiled warmly. "...we’ll figure it out."

Chloe nodded.

"We always do."

Gromda grinned.

"Family."

Silas looked at the three women around him, and his chest suddenly felt warm.

"Yeah. Family."

Nobody spoke after that. The silence wasn’t awkward. It was comforting. Outside, the wind gently rustled the trees surrounding the Ashard Estate.

Somewhere in the distance, one of Raymond’s newly hired gardeners accidentally shouted after stepping into the estate pond.

"I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE PATH!"

Another voice answered.

"IT WAS YESTERDAY!"

Silas chuckled.

"Poor Raymond."

Anna laughed.

"He’ll survive."

The room gradually relaxed once more. The pink interface returned, causing everyone to instinctively look toward it.

Silas sighed. "Here we go."

[The user’s emotional stability has increased.]

"That’s good."

[Unfortunately...]

Silas frowned. "Unfortunately?"

[The user’s intelligence remains unchanged.]

"..."

Anna bit her lip; Chloe looked away, and Gromda blinked.

Silas slowly looked at the screen.

"Excuse me?"

[Evidence: Statement made less than five minutes ago: "I CAN BANG ALL I WANT!"]

"..."

Anna failed first. She laughed so hard. Chloe tried to remain expressionless for almost three seconds before quietly burying her face in a pillow, her shoulders shaking.

Gromda laughed so loudly the windows rattled. Silas pointed accusingly at the screen.

"You’re bullying me."

[I am documenting.]

"There’s a difference!"

[There is.]

"So stop documenting!"

[Request denied.]

Silas dramatically fell backward onto the mattress.

"I’ve lost all authority in this house."

Anna smiled mischievously.

"You never had it."

"I thought I did."

"You were mistaken."

Chloe calmly added, "The system outranks you."

Silas gasped. "Traitors..."

Gromda proudly raised a fist.

"System strong."

"I created this problem."

[Confirmed.]

Silas closed his eyes.

"I miss when you only gave quests."

[I have evolved.]

"I regret everything."

The room filled with laughter once again.

Even the system remained silent for a few seconds, almost as though it were allowing them to enjoy the moment.

Then, the pink interface brightened. This time no jokes appeared. The playful atmosphere vanished. The air itself seemed to grow heavier.

Everyone immediately noticed the change.

Silas slowly sat upright. Anna’s smile faded. Chloe put away her phone, and even Gromda’s ears twitched as she became serious. The system’s voice echoed calmly throughout the room.

[Now then. Another matter requires your attention.]

Silas’s expression sharpened.

"What is it?"

There was a brief pause.

[Your first wing has fully stabilized.]

Another line appeared beneath it.

[Which means the next stage of your evolution can now officially begin.]