Pregnant With the Villain Boss’ Baby - Chapter 9

“Baozi, why are you buying so much stuff?”

By now, Yun Mu had purchased a new mimicry bracelet. It was similar to her original one—a fox—but a bit larger. The fiery red fur remained eye-catching, but this time, the fox was drawing stares for another reason: it was practically buried under a mountain of food.

Hanging onto the fox’s back were various snacks that almost obscured its fur, and bouncing on the fox’s head was a “steamed bun” about the size of two palms. It had a round, fragrant body, large watery eyes, and—if one looked closely—tiny, thumb-sized white arms that were currently busy stuffing a piece of cake into its mouth.

Food eating food?

That was why most people were stopping to stare. Yun Mu could even hear the click-click of virtual cameras and felt a row of black lines cross her forehead.

She had worried that Yun Lan’s real appearance would cause trouble—the Cloud World was a melting pot, unlike the tiny social circle they lived in back in reality. So, she’d let Yun Lan pick her own disguise. Who would have thought the girl would pick a steamed bun? And she had the nerve to claim she wasn’t a “Baozi.” Talk about being in denial.

“Mommy, Mommy! The food in the Cloud World is so good! We have to come eat here all the time!”

The Cloud World had a rule: children under ten had to be accompanied by an adult to prevent them from picking up bad habits. In the past, it was almost always Yang Chen who brought Yun Lan here. Even though Yang Chen was like a sister to her, Yun Mu felt bad about troubling her constantly, so Yun Lan’s visits had been infrequent. Clearly, coming with Mommy was the best thing ever.

“Ah! Mommy, I want to eat that too!”

“Fine, fine. Whatever you want.” Yun Mu sighed. She resigned herself to her fate: a fox with a bun on its head, running back and forth to buy snacks on the way to the Mecha Tournament!

By the time they bought their tickets and reached the arena plaza, the competition was nearly starting. For Yun Lan’s sake, Yun Mu used the lithe, flexible body of the fox to squeeze through the crowd. She finally broke through to a decent spot near the front.

Her fur was a mess, and even Yun Lan’s round body was slightly squished out of shape. Worried the kid would fall off, Yun Mu had eventually resorted to carrying the “bun” in her mouth during the worst of the crush.

Looking at the plaza, she saw countless circles, each about a hundred meters in diameter, spread across the massive floor. The arena was so vast she could barely see the spectators on the far side. Given the sheer volume of people, it was clear that mecha combat was a huge draw.

Setting the bun down in front of her, she saw the large eyes fill with tears. “Wuuu… that hurt.”

“It’s your own fault for spending so much time buying food.” Yun Mu gave the bun a playful tap on the head. To her surprise, the bun was incredibly elastic and boinged back under her paw. Finding it fun, she tapped it a few more times.

“Wuu… waaa!” Yun Lan waved her tiny arms, but they were too short to reach Yun Mu. Since a bun doesn’t have legs, she couldn’t escape. When Yun Mu finally stopped, the kid was so dizzy she would have fallen over if her mother hadn’t steadied her.

“So fragile?” Yun Mu teased.

Yun Lan: Mommy, watch your words! I’m not a toy!

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do. She could only puff out her cheeks as Yun Mu batted her round body around like a ball with her front paws.

Beep—! A loud signal echoed, and a thin, semi-circular dome rose before them, encasing the central plaza. Curious, Yun Lan used her tiny, fleshy arms to form a circle and pressed against the barrier.

“Whoa, it’s hard.”

“That’s a specialized material,” a voice chimed in. “Mecha battles are intense; it wouldn’t do to have the audience getting hit by stray fire.”

A man with a bear-head avatar had joined the conversation. He had been watching the strange fox-and-bun duo for a while. Seeing both pairs of eyes turn to him, he gave a friendly, honest-looking smile.

“Do you come here often, Uncle?” Yun Lan asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

Uncle…! The bear-man clutched his chest as if he’d been stabbed. He gave Yun Lan a slightly strained smile. “Little Bun, your ‘big brother’ here is only twenty-eight.”

“Uncle, I’m only five. You’re twenty-three years older than me.” Yun Lan looked at him as if to say, Don’t think I’m uneducated; I’m very smart. The bear-man felt like he’d been struck by ten thousand arrows and, worse, he couldn’t even argue with her logic.

“Ahem! Anyway, the match is about to start. They say there are about a hundred thousand participants this time.”

“Is a hundred thousand a lot?” Yun Lan tilted her head.

“How could that be a lot? This is just an amateur tournament, one of the smallest. In the official professional leagues, you’ll see millions, even tens of millions. Now that is a spectacle.” The bear-man looked at the field with longing in his eyes.

Yun Mu wasn’t surprised. The Empire spanned countless planets; a hundred thousand people was indeed a small-scale event.

Her nose twitched. She couldn’t smell any pheromones from the man, so he was likely a Beta. In this world, everyone had mental energy—that was how they entered the Cloud World—but piloting a mecha required at least B-rank mental energy and a certain level of physical stamina.

Alphas were the darlings of the universe; almost all of them could pilot mechas. Betas were different; while they could train their bodies, their mental energy was usually stuck at C or D. Omegas had high mental energy but lacked the physical stamina. To pilot a mecha was a universal dream, but in this world, much of your path was decided the moment you were born.

“Commencing Draw.” An announcement rang out, and a floating screen appeared before every spectator.

“Whoa! What’s this?” Yun Lan poked the screen. It was a holographic interface, similar to a video comms screen; her hand passed right through it.

“It’s a perk for the live audience,” the bear-man explained. “The field is so big it’s easy to get overwhelmed. You can use this panel to track specific matches or look up pilot data.”

He swiped the screen, and the view shifted to a different platform.

“I see!” Yun Lan started experimenting excitedly. Yun Mu nodded toward the bear-man.

“Thank you. We aren’t very familiar with this. I appreciate the help.”

“No problem, no problem! It’s quite intuitive once you get the hang of it,” the man said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

“Draw complete. All participants, please standby. Follow the arena prompts. Match 1: 12 vs 194. Match 2: 4 vs 391…”

A barrage of numbers followed. On each circular platform, two mechas appeared—various models and types. The matches were announced almost as soon as the pilots materialized.

Boom! Crash!

The mechas engaged their opponents with cool, high-intensity moves. Swords, guns, spears—every weapon imaginable was on display. It was a dizzying, spectacular sight.

“Waaaa!” Yun Lan, in her bun form, bounced excitedly on Yun Mu’s head.

She wasn’t the only one. The crowd erupted in cheers, and the air was thick with the sound of shouting fans. Even though Yun Mu had no desire to pilot a mecha, the atmosphere was undeniably infectious. This was the heart of the Empire’s culture.

“Mommy, I’m going to pilot a mecha one day!” Yun Lan shouted.

“Sure, honey. Whatever makes you happy,” Yun Mu replied, shaking her head. She had no doubt that with Yun Lan’s SS-rank talent, the girl would be a star on the battlefield.

The competition proceeded at a breakneck pace. Since the arena couldn’t hold everyone at once, the elimination rounds were fast. Lose once, and you were out. Each match lasted only one minute. The bars at the top of the screens showed damage data; once a mecha hit 100% damage, it was scrapped. It was a brutal test of skill and reaction time.

Three hours passed in a blur of metal and light. The competition had reached its peak. Only thirty participants remained, and the crowd’s fervor was at an all-time high.

“One day, I’m going to be at the top of that leaderboard,” Yun Lan said. She had calmed down from her initial excitement, but her eyes were fixed on the rankings with a burning, quiet ambition.

Rumble—!

Suddenly, the earth shook. While matches were still ongoing on three platforms, the entire plaza began to vibrate violently.

“Aaaah!”

“What’s happening?!”

Even as a first-timer, Yun Mu knew this wasn’t normal. Did the Cloud World even have earthquakes? She hadn’t seen one in five years.

She reached up with a paw, grabbed the “bun,” and—ignoring Yun Lan’s protests—tucked her under her belly, the safest possible spot. Everyone was trying to run for the exits, but Yun Mu knew it was safer to stay put for a moment; she couldn’t guarantee she could protect Yun Lan in a stampede.

“The barrier! The protective shield is gone!”

“Look out!”

“A mecha is flying toward us! What is going on?!”

The protective film separating the audience from the combatants had shattered. Normally, the pilots would have sensed the malfunction and stopped, but instead, five mechas that had been fighting suddenly turned and charged toward the crowd, weapons drawn.

In an instant, cheers turned to screams of agony. The joyful celebration became a living hell.

Yun Mu didn’t have time to process the carnage around her. Her face went pale. One of the five mechas was hurtling toward their section at terrifying speed!

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