After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 140

Chapter 140: Birth
The medical women stayed in the room to guide Althea through her birth, while the rest waited in the lobby restlessly.

Oslo was walking back and forth outside of the room, Harold’s feet were continuously tapping, while Eugene was scratching his scalp too often…

It was hard to watch. With a sigh, Mathilda spoke up. “Althea is a strong woman. She’ll be fine.”

“Will she be really okay?”

“Premature birth at this place—”

Everyone paled at the unspoken thoughts and they all looked at the locked door with eyes filled with concern.

Although they were outsiders, Helios couldn’t help but add. “A few days ago, I was on the verge of dying. My wounds were bleeding nonstop, some of my innards could be seen.” They stared at him, as if wanting to see his point. “I upgraded, and now I’m fine.”

The team stared at him, wondering what he was blabbering on about.

Mathilda—who had known Althea for many years and had an instinct for her abilities—was relatively calmer and helped him out, “It meant the upgrade alone could guarantee her life.”

This made them relax a little, but their worried expressions didn’t subside.

In the end, Harold sighed, “No one noticed?” He asked, feeling incredibly guilty. They lived together but none of them saw it. Were they too busy that they ignored such details? What kind of teammates were they??

Mathilda shook her head, stopping such negative thoughts from permeating. “The stomach doesn’t change much after the 8th month. Don’t blame yourself.”

Silence echoed along the waiting room, the only sound they could hear were the murmurs and hums inside the room. They would also occasionally hear Sheila’s reassuring voice, followed by Althea’s pained groans.

It took many hours of silent tension before they heard Althea’s desperate cries again. Each tone gritted in their hearts, and the women felt teary.

Palpable unease occupied the air and they could only pray as they listened to the intense suffering going on inside.

Fortunately, it didn’t last long because they could soon hear a baby’s cry.

Then…, came another.

But they still did not breathe. It was only when Sheila came out of the room very sweaty and bloody, but with a relieved smile on her face. “Both mother and children are okay!”

A wave of relief and happiness flowed in the room and they simultaneously heaved the breath they had been unconsciously holding back.

Finally!

…

Althea was taken out of the ‘operating room’ a few minutes later, to one of the private rooms. The people immediately converged to see but when they saw Althea was asleep, they did not bother her.

However, they couldn’t help but take a look at the babies. The two babies were wrapped in the comfortable baby clothes Althea took a while back.

They had prepared it for this day, they just didn’t think it would be so early.

They were gorgeous babies, plump and white. Their eyes were large and wise, and their smiles were infectious.

They didn’t have the usual wrinkled face of newborns, and looked incredibly beautiful from the get-go. It was as if they had been completely nourished in the womb.

Betty said they might be able to see already.

“Pretty!” Maya said and little Theo nodded in agreement. Harold had only brought the two children in the past hour or so, not wanting them to suffer too long with them. “Daddy, Daddy, are they my new brothers and sisters?”

Harold patted the children’s head with a smile.

The two children grinned and ran back to the bed, watching the babies’ every movement with apt fascination. One baby—the boy—blowed a saliva bubble and it popped a few seconds than it normally would.

This was enough to impress the children. “Wowwww.” Maya said, awed, then she turned to the other baby who was giving her a toothless smile.

“Hey, she laughed at me!”

“Wooowwwssoooocuteee.”

The innocence of the children let them let out a breath of relief, and they looked at each other.

After so long, they finally found smiles on their faces.

…

Sometime later, after seeing the situation stabilize, neither uncle nor nephew could stay. They politely said goodbye to the others.

“Are you sure you won’t stay? I’m cooking a celebratory dinner tonight.” Harold said as he accompanied them out the door. The pair looked at each other and smiled, but shook their heads in the end.

They were not so thick-skinned as to join such a tight-knit party on such an intimate occasion.

“Well, thank you. We owe you.”

“We didn’t do much. We only took her in because she and Oslo saved our lives and did our jobs.”

Harold nodded, “Well, if you need anything, just knock on our doors.”

“Thanks.”

On the other side, Althea was moved to one of the two private rooms of the clinic. Seeing her peacefully asleep, the team took turns holding the children.

They just couldn’t stop staring.

How could children be so beautiful like angels the moment they were born?

As she carried one of the children, Sheila couldn’t help but recall the mysteries from earlier. Now that she had regained some calm, she had finally remembered these issues. She turned to the NPCs, especially Betty.

“Does this happen all the time? I mean pregnant women’s gestation period shortening due to upgrades.”

Betty was taken aback at the question and shook her head, “Of course not. Although not unheard of, it’s quite rare. In the town I lived in, I only heard of it happening once.

“In my knowledge, it wasn’t to this… degree either. At most, just one or two months advanced.” Betty told them, “There were rumors that they simply got pregnant before marriage.”

The Terrans looked at Betty in curiosity. “Then can you tell us more?”

“Yes, because it was such a rare case, it was studied by experts.” she said, carefully remembering what she knew, “It was found that certain children growing up during upgrades could absorb energy—aether.”

“How does it affect Althea?”

“Had Althea not been pregnant, her upgrade would be even more pronounced. Not in terms of level, because experience gained from monsters is constant, but in attributes.”

“Her physical improvement could’ve been stronger?” Sheila voiced out a bit shocked.

You must know that although Althea never told them of the attribute she got, the fact that she was so much stronger than them meant that she was getting higher attributes for the same level.

“Are there conditions when this happens?”

“The cases are too few to make a conclusion. However, there is a hypothesis.

“The case from my old town was the case of the lord’s daughter, who was a rare talented woman. She got married to one of the princes of Holt City, a known genius in his generation.

“They were quite famous as top talents of their generation.” She said, “So it could be related to this.”

“Hence, the consensus was that this probably happens when both parents have excellent genes.” She paused, looking at their lord’s first companions before her eyes shifted to two of the most angelic little babies she had ever seen.

She was very curious.

“May I ask?” She began, “Who’s the father?”