Chapter 501 - 427: A Nightmare, Not a Foal (Part 2)
Chapter 501: Chapter 427: A Nightmare, Not a Foal (Part 2)
"If she were alive, it’d be one thing to try and save her. But she’s already dead—cutting her open won’t help!" If Shadow came back and saw her dissecting his mate’s corpse, he would probably never trust her again.
She was, after all, planning to take Shadow and his herd into her space.
Suddenly, a burst of thunder energy shot from Polly toward the mare’s belly. Although the newborn’s Thunder Ability was barely at level two, the element’s unique explosive property detonated on contact with the mare’s corpse. A sharp crack echoed as a charred black mark appeared on the animal’s abdomen.
"Polly Cross! Are you not going to listen to Mommy...?!"
Perhaps the sharpness in Flora Bloom’s voice startled Polly, because the baby froze for a moment, forgetting to cry.
But she was still kicking her little arms and legs, and then she suddenly broke into a giggle.
At first, Flora Bloom was just confused. Then, the feedback from the spiritual power she had extended into the mare’s belly brought her a startling piece of information: there seemed to be a breath of life within.
It started as a faint flicker, then grew stronger and more vigorous. Accompanying it was a strange form of energy that Flora Bloom couldn’t identify.
"Did you... did you do that on purpose, or was that a lucky accident? Some kind of shock therapy...?"
Though she had a million questions about what Polly had just done, Flora Bloom knew there was no time to waste. If the foal inside the dead mare didn’t get out soon, it would suffocate.
The mare was dead and couldn’t give birth on her own. It was up to her.
A C-section.
Flora Bloom took out a pair of scissors—the same ones she had used to perform a C-section on the mother monkey.
Being something of a germaphobe, Flora Bloom rinsed the scissors with her Water Ability and some spiritual water before beginning the clumsy C-section.
The monkey’s corpse back then had been soft and thin-skinned. Besides, it wasn’t an evolved creature, so an ordinary pair of scissors had easily cut through her belly to save Monkey One.
This mare, however, had been an evolved creature before she died. On top of that, a horse’s hide is naturally thick and tough. Flora Bloom had to reinforce the scissors several times with her Gold Ability before she finally managed to cut an opening in the mare’s abdomen large enough for a cat-sized foal to pass through.
As fresh air streamed into the mare’s belly, the foal inside seemed to catch the scent and began to struggle toward the opening Flora Bloom had made.
Flora Bloom watched as a small, spotlessly white foal struggled out from the corpse’s abdomen, and she quickly fed some spiritual water into its mouth.
Polly frantically waved her arms and legs at the little white foal in a show of welcome.
"Hey, Polly Cross, just hold still, you know? It’s exhausting carrying you around!"
Flora Bloom gave Polly Cross a light smack on the bottom, hoping to quiet her down. It had the opposite effect. Not only did Polly not settle down, she got even more excited, managing to wriggle free of her baby carrier. In the blink of an eye, she was tumbling down.
She landed right on top of the foal that had just struggled free.
Flora Bloom’s heart leaped into her throat. She was fast, but not fast enough to catch Polly in time.
The baby fell, landing on the little white foal. The foal, unstained by blood or dust, let out a small whimper from beneath her.
Flora Bloom’s mind instantly conjured images of the foal with broken bones, coughing up blood. After all, a horse the size of a house cat couldn’t possibly withstand the full weight of a human baby falling on it like a ton of bricks.
And yet, the cat-sized white foal wasn’t just fine—it was completely unharmed. It used its head to gently nudge Polly’s little body over and then stretched out its long tongue to lick her smooth, pale, round face.
"Hee hee hee hee..." Polly Cross, also completely unhurt, thought the little horse was playing with her. Once she was righted, she boldly flopped onto the foal’s back, grabbing its two ears with her little hands and laughing with delight.
Seeing that the little white foal wasn’t harming Polly—and was, in fact, playing with her gently—Flora Bloom finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She walked over to the black foal, which didn’t look to be in very good shape. Its constitution seemed so poor that it would be safer to let it recuperate in her space for a while.
But as Flora Bloom held the cat-sized black foal in one hand and tried to send it into her space, she released her will... and nothing happened. The black foal remained in her hand.
Flora Bloom’s lips twitched in annoyance. Lex had told her before: if a creature’s life level was too high—on par with her Divine-level space—it couldn’t be branded by the space.
Not unless it signed a Soul Contract with her, the host, first.