Yunyang nearly toppled off the bathroom counter.
Qin Mo, you really will say anything, won't you?
"No need, I'll handle it myself."
Yunyang snatched the set of new clothes from his hand, hopped off the counter, and darted into one of the shower stalls, shutting the door before she started changing.
Watching her flustered silhouette disappear, Qin Mo let out a pleased laugh.
Mm, he could be certain now—his female mate didn't hate him. She was just a bit shy.
That was fine. Some females were naturally more reserved. He could take his time. As long as she didn't call off their engagement, he'd be patient.
In a good mood, Qin Mo headed into the adjacent bathroom to wash up.
He'd injected another suppressant that morning, and the workout had helped calm the restlessness inside him, so his contamination level was still stable.
Before long, he finished showering, changed into clean clothes, and stepped out—only to find that Yunyang was nowhere in sight.
Had she already gone downstairs?
Just as he was wondering, the door of the neighboring bathroom cracked open from inside.
"Hey, Qin Mo... could you grab me some clothes?" Yunyang, wrapped in a bathrobe, tried to keep herself hidden behind the door, only her head peeking out as she spoke to him.
She'd only meant to change clothes, but once she'd taken off her outfit, she realized she was sticky with sweat, so she'd gone ahead and taken a full shower.
But after washing up, she discovered that the clothes Qin Mo had prepared didn't include any undergarments.
The wearable tech regulated body temperature on its own, so the clothes in interstellar space were similar to the spring and summer outfits from her last life—thin and light.
Without anything underneath, certain outlines might become... visible in ways she'd rather avoid.
Qin Mo asked, "Did I forget to prepare something?"
Yunyang was tactful. "Just... nothing to wear underneath."
Fortunately, the male academy had covered this sort of thing. Qin Mo caught on quickly.
"My apologies, mate. That was my oversight. I'll go get it for you right away."
·
Once changed into proper clothes, Yunyang and Qin Mo headed downstairs together to eat.
Naturally, Yunyang ate while Qin Mo sat and kept her company.
Still thinking about last night, Yunyang took a couple of bites before asking, "Qin Mo, hypothetically—if a female had another energy inside her besides psychic power, what could that be?"
Qin Mo's chopsticks paused mid-reach for a dish, then he placed the food into her bowl.
"In Federation history, females with S-rank psychic power have a higher-than-average chance of simultaneously awakening an ability. Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
Yunyang chewed on her chopsticks.
She felt that the extra energy in her body was oddly familiar, but if it were an ability, wasn't it a bit too weak?
After a moment, she set down her chopsticks. "Qin Mo, can you show me your ability?"
"Of course."
He suddenly clasped her hand—the one holding the chopsticks. The warmth of his palm was a touch higher than normal, and Yunyang's fingertips trembled slightly, but she didn't pull away.
It was just her legally bonded beast-husband holding her hand. No harm in that.
But wait—wasn't he supposed to be showing her his ability? Why—
Just as she was thinking, she watched the chopsticks in her grip instantly transform into gleaming metal.
She pulled her hand back, staring in amazement at the now-metallic chopsticks, and even tested them with a bite.
"That's one of my ability's effects—I can turn any object within a certain range into metal, including..." Qin Mo glanced at Yunyang and wisely left the sentence unfinished.
Yunyang looked at him, then at the chopsticks with her teeth marks pressed into the metal, and drew in a sharp breath.
An ability that could turn everything into gold? If she took Qin Mo to Earth, she'd be rich beyond her wildest dreams!
"Is it permanent, or temporary?"
"Temporary."
Qin Mo took her hand again, releasing the ability, and the chopsticks returned to their original state. Even the bite marks vanished.
Hearing that, Yunyang felt a twinge of disappointment.
Though, come to think of it, gold wasn't exactly valuable in the interstellar age anyway.
Realizing that, she quickly got over it and pressed on. "Can all of you manifest abilities like that?"
"Most, except for some special ones."
Seeing that Yunyang was about to keep asking questions, Qin Mo loaded more food into her bowl. "Mate, eat first. We can talk about this after the meal."
Fine.
Yunyang turned back to her food.
After eating, she sank into the sofa and scrolled through the star-net while Qin Mo cleaned up the table and kitchen. Only when he came over and sat down did she pick up the thread again.
"Qin Mo, the special abilities you mentioned—what kind are those?"
Instead of answering directly, Qin Mo asked in return, "Mate, do you suspect you have an ability?"
The flicker of surprise in Yunyang's eyes told him his guess was right.
From his storage device, he pulled out an instrument she'd never seen before. "Would you like to run a test?"
Yunyang hesitated a little.
As if seeing through her caution, Qin Mo added, "This is military-grade testing equipment. The results won't be uploaded to the ability testing center."
"Really?"
Qin Mo raised one hand with three fingers pressed together. "I swear by the Beast God."
Yunyang relaxed then. It wasn't that she feared others finding out she had an ability; it was more that the extra energy she'd felt stir in her body yesterday might not even be an ability.
If it turned out to be a false alarm, she'd look ridiculous.
Besides, with all the "golden finger" novels she'd read in her past life, she had a sneaking suspicion that even if she did have an ability, it wouldn't be something ordinary.
Maybe that was just the confidence of a transmigrator?
She shook off the thought, asked how to use the ability detector, and pressed the start button.
The test was simple; in less than ten minutes, the result appeared on the display screen.
Except, the result was odd.
—F-rank, unknown ability.
Yunyang turned her head. "Qin Mo, what does 'unknown ability' mean?"
That question stumped Qin Mo. But he couldn't admit ignorance in front of his female mate, could he?
So he carefully recalled the training he'd received when he joined the Federation military.
"The 'unknown' likely means this is an ability that has never appeared in Federation history before—or one that has appeared but was never recorded. The specifics might require consulting the ability testing center."
"If you're willing, I can help you get in touch with the testing center on star X92."
It was basically saying he didn't know, though at least it sounded more credible than three flat words.
Yunyang hesitated for a moment.
Would investigating an unknown ability risk exposing the fact that she was a transmigrator?
Even though females were rare and precious in this world, Yunyang still felt that revealing her true origins wouldn't earn her any favors.
But if she didn't go to a testing center, she'd never learn what her ability actually did.
This gave Yunyang a headache.
She wished she'd been given some kind of "system" when she transmigrated, like in the stories she used to read. Then she could just ask it and know the answer immediately.
Fine—her other four beast-husbands also seemed to have complex backgrounds. She'd ask around for now and only consider visiting the testing center as a last resort.
With her decision made, Yunyang shook her head at Qin Mo. "Not for now."
Qin Mo respected her choice entirely.
Seeing that she'd just finished her meal, he extended the same invitation as he did last night. "Would you like to take a walk outside with me, mate?"
Yunyang was about to nod when Steward One chimed in with an alert: "Master, there's a guest at the door."
This time, before Yunyang could ask, Steward One began identifying the visitor.
The next second, the mechanical voice sounded again: “Gene recognition successful. Visitor Xuan Yu, planet of origin unknown, S-class ice-type ability user, confirmed as host’s beast husband. Open the door?”
