After absorbing enough vital essence in the Captain's office, it was already noon.
Jun An emerged from the office, clutching his waist, looking almost like a dried corpse. It seemed Himeko had actually held back considerably the previous night; Jun An's human body simply couldn't withstand this kind of torment.
When Yalina saw Jun An appear from the office clutching his waist, she trembled, her face etched with guilt, before quickly leaving. Clearly, she had misunderstood something yet again.
In truth, because Cocolia's contributions had essentially cleared Himeko's workload, leaving her mostly free, she had spent the morning basically just squeezing him dry. Only after noon did the rest time begin.
After an afternoon of contemplation, Jun An made a decision. He had to find Mobius first, preparing to join the other side if he couldn't beat them.
At dinner time, Jun An explained his thoughts.
"Himeko, Theresa, I've decided to stop being human. I want to become a MANTIS!"
Jun An spoke with utmost seriousness while eating from a table laden with virility-boosting supplements.
Himeko poured Jun An a cup of goji berry tea, saying seriously, "Captain, are you serious? Have you forgotten what Theresa said? If you become a MANTIS, you won't be able to grow up anymore. I still want to experience the feeling of raising you from a boy to a man, you know."
Jun An was speechless. "This isn't some kind of raising sim. Besides, don't you usually 'play from small to big' anyway?"
Himeko dissatisfactorily placed a piece of deer blood curd into Jun An's bowl. "I wasn't talking about a certain part of the body. And there are many downsides to never growing physically. If you don't believe me, ask Theresa."
Jun An looked down at Theresa, who was currently under the table extracting white Honkai energy. He felt the necessity of becoming a MANTIS growing ever stronger.
Theresa seemed to sense their gazes and stopped her ingesting mouth. "Mm, it's true that always looking like a child causes many problems. For example, I often get treated like a kid, I can't press the brakes all the way down, I need Judah to help me get snacks from the top of the fridge... Even this has to take the Captain's size into account. It's already getting a bit hard to swallow."
Theresa looked at Jun An with some resentment; the enormous thing blocked half of his face from her view. "This isn't the size a normal child should have, right?"
Although Theresa hadn't seen others, she had seen plenty of Jun An's little books. Already middle-aged, she still had an idea of normal adult dimensions.
Theresa resumed her meal, mumbling indistinctly, "If it gets any bigger, I feel like I won't be able to fit it in."
But then Theresa had a sudden thought. "Speaking of which, wouldn't it be better if the Captain never grew up? After all, if the Captain grows up, then... maybe there won't be a share for me?"
After all, the Captain's current body already provides a tight fit. If he gets bigger, wouldn't that mean...
Himeko continued placing food into Jun An's mouth while saying, "I heard a girl's body can stretch. What are you afraid of, Theresa? As long as the Captain stays with you from small to big, you'll still be able to take it."
Theresa still looked worried. "But what if my body can't change along with the Captain's changes? I heard it hurts a lot if the size isn't right."
Although Theresa's recovery ability was much stronger than ordinary people's, she wasn't an M; she still longed for a more normal form of courtship.
Meanwhile, Jun An thought: If it never gets loose, wouldn't that be fantastic?
"Theresa, we're the parents here. We can't just think about ourselves at a time like this." Himeko continued feeding Jun An. "If the Captain stays so young-looking forever, although it really hits my preferences, it will also bring a lot of unnecessary trouble to his life. You know this best, right?"
Theresa spat out the food in dissatisfaction, using her hand while retorting, "You clearly just want to experience the feeling of being filled up! Why don't you just use your own toys!"
Listening to their argument, Jun An felt like ten thousand Grass Mud Horses were stampeding through his mind.
"I think the issue right now shouldn't be whether I should grow up, but whether I can grow up." Jun An put down his chopsticks and pressed down Theresa's head punish-ly. "I feel like I'm about to die, okay?"
Theresa's small mouth was very soft. Having the Overseer of Schicksal serve him like this was also quite gratifying for the Captain. After about ten seconds, the Captain's punishment of Theresa finally ended.
Theresa helped the Captain clean up the mess, then got up, took a napkin to wipe her mouth, savored the aftertaste for a moment, and said awkwardly, "Well, Himeko and I are getting on a bit in years, after all. Please be understanding, Captain."
Himeko immediately became unhappy. "The only one getting on in years here is you, Theresa. Over fifty! I'm only in my twenties."
Although Himeko's demeanor was more mature than her age, she was undoubtedly still a woman in her prime. And because of the Jizo Mitama genes, she would remain in her prime far into the future.
As for Theresa, she was simply a century-old virgin.
Jun An instantly understood. They were venting decades of pent-up desire onto him, weren't they?
"You still can't abuse me like this! During the day, Himeko uses me up, and then you come along, Theresa. This body of mine is going to break down sooner or later, right?" Jun An was an ordinary person now; carrying on like this would inevitably lead to disaster.
"Who asked the Captain to take so long to resurrect? That's why, as soon as we saw the Captain, we couldn't help but want to stick close to him." Theresa sat down next to Jun An, switching from mouth service to using her hand to beg for forgiveness. It was just that her hands were too small to grasp him completely.
She added cutely, "But the Captain will definitely forgive the adorable Theresa, right?"
Himeko deeply sympathized. Seeing someone she thought had been dead for so long appear before her again, her heart, which had already grown half-cold, was thrust back into the fire. No one could resist.
A year, for Himeko who had just become a MANTIS, was truly too long.
If not for work, if not for Theresa being nearby, Himeko really wanted to cling to Jun An all day long, tie him up so he couldn't go anywhere, just stay by her side forever.
But this was now a matter of the Captain's survival, not just about who loved whom.
Everyone knew, if the Captain was gone, their Public Grain would be gone too.
"Theresa, stop acting cute." Himeko said helplessly. "How about we cut back by two rounds each day? You three times, me three times, that should be enough."
"Wait, your original plan was ten times a day?!" Jun An was shocked. He thought this was just the heightened passion after a brief separation, like sweet rain after a long drought, so they indulged a bit. Turns out they really didn't see him as human!
Himeko and Theresa averted their gazes again, feeling somewhat guilty about this point.
Himeko coughed twice. "Anyway, Captain, we've received your complaint. Both Theresa and I will restrain ourselves somewhat. As for the MANTIS matter, I hope you'll consider it carefully, Captain. Not being able to grow up really isn't a small thing."
Becoming a MANTIS truly meant no longer being human. The body would basically be fixed at the state it was in when the transformation occurred. Liliya and Rozaliya were more or less in that situation.
"That doesn't matter. Besides, a MANTIS's body doesn't truly remain unchanged forever. Although the cycle is longer, they still grow."
Theresa's eyes instantly lit up. "Meaning, I can still grow up too, right?"
"Yes, but it takes at least ten thousand years." Jun An's words shattered Theresa's dream of enjoying driving a small car like Himeko anytime soon.
Jun An remembered Griseo took fifty thousand years to grow bigger, while Pardofelis took ten thousand. Although it was hard for someone like Jun An to comprehend a lifespan of ten thousand years, it at least showed that MANTIS do experience aging and death to some extent.
"Alright, since you've decided, Captain, Theresa and I won't stop you." Himeko started piling large amounts of deer penis onto Jun An's bowl. "Eat up. Once you're full, in three days, Theresa and I will take you to the Elysian Realm."
"Three days? Why three days? Can't we go tomorrow?" Jun An felt Himeko's gaze was somewhat terrifying.
"Oh, because Theresa is only staying here for three days. The free time I squeezed out of Cocolia is also about that much." Himeko walked behind Jun An, pressing down on his shoulders to prevent escape, and licked her lips. "Captain, I guess this trip of yours will definitely take a long time. So let's just use these few days to hand over all the remaining Public Grain at once."