David slowly awoke to find himself in a vast, gloomy chamber, his skin pierced by delicate tubes that incessantly infused a mysterious, translucent fluid. His head reeked of a relentless hangover, and just as he struggled to cry out for help, the door creaked open—and in stepped Sophia.

  In an instant, memories flooded back: a town populated solely by women, men who bore children through caesarean incisions, and the bizarre eccentricities of his employers. The mere recollection of that grim delivery room sent a fresh, harrowing shock through his psyche.

  “Why must this be my fate?” he rasped, dismissing the disturbing visions from his mind as Sophia silently regarded him.

  With the nonchalance of casual banter, Sophia replied, “Why else? It is, of course, to prepare you for conception. The nutrient solution being infused is entirely benign—designed to render your body in robust health while preventing any bouts of fasting.”

  Conception?

  David’s head began to throb anew; every word she uttered was clear, yet their collective meaning eluded him entirely. The only certainty was that he had been deceived—the recruitment of a male attendant was nothing but a fa?ade concealing a vast, insidious danger.

  “…So, the child residing within that steward—is it the progeny of him and your mother?”

  Drawing a deep, trembling breath, David voiced this absurd conjecture in a grave tone.

  Sophia murmured a casual “mm” and replied, “Indeed, though you need not envy—soon, you too shall become a father; this, after all, is the true purpose behind our recruitment of you.”

  Father?! Am I… to become a father?!

  Under normal circumstances, such tidings would evoke joy in any man. Yet David’s heart harbored no such elation; it was as if he had been struck by a sudden, thunderous bolt. Not that he was an irresponsible scoundrel—he was utterly baffled as to the identity of the corresponding “mother.” And more horrifying still—the prospect fell upon him, the very one who was to bear the child!

  “You’ve lost your minds! How can a man such as I possess the organs to bear a child?!” David roared after a pause. The absurd challenge to both nature and reason was nearly unbearable, and he feared that if it persisted, he would soon be driven to madness alongside them.

  At these words, Sophia’s expression twisted into something peculiar. “Men giving birth—is that not the natural order? My sisters and I were all born of our father. Tell me, aren’t you likewise fathered?”

  David was rendered speechless, utterly dumbfounded. After a long, silent moment, he murmured inwardly, “I was born of a mother… born of a mother…” He repeated the phrase as if to anchor his identity, lest he forget or falter in comprehension. This town—and the entire Bai family—had succumbed to madness… I must flee this accursed place…

  In a fleeting moment, despite knowing the hopelessness of his plea, David implored, “Let me go. I vow never to speak of this place—I have a sister to care for, and you, too, have a sister; surely, you can understand…” Before he could finish, Sophia interjected, “Why leave? Is it so detestable to become one of my family?”

  With a puzzled look, she continued, “You may opt to sire a child with either me or my mother, and thereafter dwell in Eden, where comfort and abundance are assured—indeed, we could even bring your sister into our fold without hesitation.”

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  Though the offer seemed almost idyllic, a chill ran through David’s heart—how could he ever allow his sister to be consigned to a life among such lunatics? Then she added, “Moreover, you are mistaken—I abhor my sister; she has even attempted to annihilate our entire family.”

  Realizing that Sophia would not permit his departure, David suppressed his turmoil and, in a chilled tone, inquired, “And what of the steward named John? After last night’s ordeal… is it conceivable that he might survive to luxuriate in comfort with you?”

  Sophia replied serenely, “Ah, him? He has been whisked away to the town’s physician for emergency treatment due to excessive blood loss. Childbirth, after all, is fraught with peril—if he dies, then so be it; at least he leaves behind a child.”

  It appeared that the man, who had borne a child for her mother—enduring immense suffering—was nothing more than a mere vessel for procreation.

  “But why me? Aren’t you afraid that kidnapping someone would not go unnoticed?” David suddenly asked, raising his eyes.

  “Given your status as an orphan from the slums, your disappearance would scarcely attract notice, let alone investigation,” Sophia remarked, pacing nonchalantly. “Furthermore, along the route between the main city of the ‘Stability Zone’ and its satellite town, it is not uncommon to vanish amidst the enigmatic dangers beyond the wall. And, of course, the more pivotal reason is that you are one of the ‘innately inspired’; I eagerly anticipate the exceptional offspring you shall beget for our esteemed Bai family.”

  They had scrutinized him meticulously—it was a premeditated recruitment—and David’s heart sank further, for he was, indeed, an orphan. At the tender age of eight, his parents had evaporated into thin air one afternoon, later branded by the authorities as cult members implicated in sinister rites. Thankfully, he and his congenitally blind sister had survived unscathed, clinging to each other with their lives sustained by federal and social welfare aid.

  His sole hope of rescue now lay in his sister, for Qiu Li was aware of his arrival in this Eden-like town. Yet, the brazen audacity of the Bai family suggested they possessed some potent advantage. Sophia had even seized his phone while feigning conversation with her own sister—by the time her sister discerned any anomaly, it would be all too late.

  Then, with a subtle smirk, Sophia continued, “If you refuse to comply, I shall have no alternative but to summon your sister to cajole you. Conversely, if you cooperate meekly, I might even fund her surgery, leaving her life undisturbed.”

  Faced with such unabashed coercion and enticement, David’s anger surged as if to burst forth; he could only grit his teeth and ultimately acquiesce. If escape was impossible and he could no longer protect her, then at least he must not allow her to be ensnared as well.

  “Hehe…” Sophia nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly sighed, “Alas, if only my sister—ever entangled with different men—could display even half as much concern for our sister as you do.”

  In the span of three fleeting days, from the hushed exchanges between Sophia and the maidservants, David gleaned that this family worshipped a nefarious, clandestine entity they called the “Mother Goddess.” Yet David had never heard of such a being; in the ‘Stability Zone’ where mankind dwelled, any veneration of deities or hidden forces was strictly forbidden.

  Besides his regular rations, they force-fed David a greyish-green earth, its taste faintly bitter and brackish, yet otherwise not wholly intolerable. But that earth held transformative, addictive properties, capable of swiftly remolding him into a subservient instrument of reproduction. The former male steward, having ingested countless quantities until his body became dependent, was seen—right before David’s eyes—scraping and consuming a similar substance from the flowerbed.

  At that moment, the chamber’s door was flung open. Trailing behind Sophia, two blonde maidservants entered, and as usual, they compelled David to ingest the grey-green earth.

  “The time has come,” Sophia intoned meaningfully, offering no further explanation.

  Under the influence of the grey-green earth, David’s faculties dulled, and he soon sank into the same state of languor and dizzying disorientation that had overcome him during afternoon tea. Indeed, it appeared that the tea from three days past had been similarly tainted.

  As the restraints and slender tubes embedded in his skin were removed by the maidservants, he knew that the inevitable had come.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “To the altar—the site of our conception rite.”