In a bright, sterile room lay a male Zerg cub whose face was as white as paper. His chest rose and fell in intermittent, shallow breaths—weak, like an exquisite doll that would shatter at a touch.
Kale stood in the hallway, gazing at the sleeping cub inside, his eyes unmoving for a long time. Time ticked away second by second, yet he remained like an emotionless statue. The overhead lights tilted down, illuminating every inch of the corner. In his light gray eyes, one could find no emotional ripples other than a profound stillness.
The laboratory was cold, and Kale wore only a thin shirt. A guard standing not far away worried that the Master might fall ill. One female Zerg grew bold enough to step forward and advise: “Excellency, the little Prince likely won’t wake today. Perhaps you should head back first, and we will keep watch.”
The female Zerg swallowed the rest of his words. His entire body suddenly shook uncontrollably as a suffocating mental power bound him tightly.
Kale’s gaze shifted slightly, looking down at the female Zerg kneeling at his feet. His voice was as calm as still water: “Do you think because I have a mild temperament and haven’t punished you before, you can ignore the boundaries of rank and tell me what to do?”
His breath stolen, the female Zerg couldn’t utter a word; he had overstepped and forgotten his place.
Not a single guard dared to plead for mercy; they hung their heads and knelt on either side. The mental power didn’t last long, receding like a tide. Guards who hadn’t been targeted stepped forward to drag the barely-breathing female Zerg away. It was at this moment that Jing arrived.
Jing brushed past the half-dead guard, swallowing nervously. He clutched a stack of documents and stopped fifty meters away, afraid to take another step.
…Really not the best time to show up.
Jing wanted to turn and flee, but the male Zerg was already staring at him. His legs felt a bit weak. Helplessly, he used one hand to brace himself against the wall as he walked over. Steadying his voice, he spoke cautiously: “Good evening, Excellency.”
The hostility on Kale had not dissipated. He went straight to the point: “When will he wake?”
Jing felt guilty. “Possibly…”
Kale interrupted him: “I’ve lost my patience. A week ago, you said he’d wake on the third day. Then you told me he’d wake two days later.” At this, Kale checked the time on his optical computer. “There is one hour left until midnight.”
Jing stuttered, unable to give a definitive time. Seeing this, Kale walked past him toward the exit, leaving behind a biting remark: “The Research Institute is truly something. Sending a rookie to play me for a fool.”
Kale had seen through him long ago; this sub-female was clearly a fresh graduate, reeking of the classroom. The old fogies at the Institute were stumped by Li He’s condition and could only offer trivial excuses to placate him. He had thought this sub-female might have a fresh perspective, but it turned out he was just as useless.
Jing was so frightened by those words he nearly fainted. He had indeed only recently started his post. He specialized in male Zerg mental power at school and, due to his excellent grades, was fortunate enough to receive an offer from the Home Star Research Institute. He had been so happy he couldn’t sleep for days.
Now, his regrets were turning his stomach! Thinking of those “smiling” senior employees who pawned this job off on him, he wanted to grind his teeth to dust!
Jing slapped his cheeks, trying to wake up. He changed into sterile scrubs and walked inside, heading straight for the cub on the bed. After checking the vitals and seeing no abnormalities, he began to mutter: “Little friend, please wake up. If you don’t wake up, your Male Father is going to kill me… I’m still young, I have no savings, I haven’t even married a Zerg yet…”
The slender sub-female leaned over the bedside, alternating between checking the time and sobbing his grievances, wishing he could just shake the cub awake.
In his subconscious, Li Xi only felt that this Zerg was incredibly chatty; in a short time, the Zerg had spoken as many words as Li Xi usually spoke in five years.
The sub-female eventually seemed to tire of talking, and the voice gradually faded from Li Xi’s ears. After an unknown amount of time, his thick eyelashes trembled slightly, like a butterfly gathering strength before flight.
Li Xi slowly opened his heavy, aching eyelids. The bright overhead lights were piercing. His body felt as if it were floating on clouds. It took a while before he could move, and in doing so, he accidentally tugged on a thin tube. A clatter echoed as something was knocked over.
Jing followed the sound, his eyes tracing the path of the rolling IV bottle to the bed. Seeing the cub’s eyes open, he ignored the documents in his hand and dashed to the bedside. He stared wide-eyed in excitement: “You’re finally awake!”
Jing added, feeling like he’d narrowly escaped death: “My life is saved!”
The sub-female left after those two sentences, hiding to one side to whisper into his optical computer, his eyes bursting with newfound vitality.
Once Li Xi was fully awake, the sub-female asked him some questions about his body and performed numerous checks before finally catching a breath. Midway through the exam, Kale appeared outside the massive transparent glass. Li Xi noticed the sub-female’s movements become more cautious; he was on high alert, stealing glances at Kale every so often.
What did Kale do to him? Li Xi wondered.
Half an hour later, the check-up finally ended. Li Xi sat on the bed, slowly sipping warm water. As the cup emptied, his stomach felt a bit warmer, but his face still carried a sickly pallor.
“We have to wait an hour. If the results are fine, you can transfer to a regular ward,” Jing said. Since the observation period still had a while to go, he tried to liven the mood, fearing the cub might be bored: “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Jing.”
“I’ll be responsible for your health from now on,” he shook the documents and added, “but only for matters regarding mental power. If you get a common cold, that’s not my department!”
Li Xi nodded slowly. Jing rambled on for a bit more, then looked at the results and muttered to himself: “It really is a miracle.”
The cub’s mental sea was beyond terrible; the results were all below stable levels. To have lived this long and even survived the childhood awakening… a miracle.
His research had hope!
Outside, Kale was growing irritable. Ren was apparently on another classified mission and couldn’t be reached. The optical computer in Kale’s hand was nearly crushed. The atmosphere around him was gloomy; the guards silently retreated three meters away. It wasn’t that they were afraid of him, but rather that Excellency Kale was unconsciously leaking mental power filled with displeasure. To avoid losing their composure, it was better to stay away.
Li Xi only spared one glance at the male Zerg before looking away, as cold as if he were looking at an insignificant stranger. The male Zerg’s face darkened further, his surrounding mental power growing heavier.
No one noticed that within this mental power, there was not only displeasure but also desperately hidden fear and self-reproach…
Only he himself knew.
Jing checked the time, stood up, and intended to carry Li Xi out, but Li Xi dodged him. Stunned, Jing withdrew his hand sheepishly, rubbing his nose to hide the awkwardness: “First, congratulations. You’ve officially survived your awakening period.”
“Thank you.”
Li Xi was carried by the male Zerg to a bright, cozy room. There was no heavy smell of disinfectant, nor any swaying white coats. His anxious heart finally settled.
However, a certain male Zerg’s disdain was palpable.
“This is too small.”
“There’s no sunlight at all.”
“It’s filthy.”
“…”
Kale complained about every spot he touched, hesitating to place the drowsy Li Xi onto the small bed.
“Excellency, this is the best room we have,” Jing said with a helpless smile.
Kale’s germophobia kicked in: “I don’t want it. Someone has clearly lived here.”
Jing explained patiently: “Excellency, everything is new and has been disinfected.”
Kale didn’t buy it: “Not staying. Change it.”
Jing wanted to say, You’ve already rejected every single room. But because the other was a dignified S-rank Excellency, he didn’t have the guts to say it aloud. He wanted to live a few more days.
The scene froze, and the atmosphere solidified. The polite smile on Jing’s face almost cracked; a deep sense of powerlessness rose in his heart. He regretted taking on this cub; he wouldn’t have a moment of peace from now on.
“Sleepy,” Li Xi interjected timely to break the deadlock.
This was the first time Li Xi had given Kale a “good” reaction after ignoring him for so long. Usually, the cub’s personality was very cold and he didn’t speak much, but after the ordeal of nearly losing him again, Kale’s heart was exceptionally sensitive.
Kale took the opportunity and asked softly, “Will you be uncomfortable sleeping here? Why don’t we go home instead?”
“No need,” Li Xi refused flatly.
“Alright then.” Kale didn’t dare cross his cub now; if anything else happened, he truly wouldn’t be able to bear it.
The room wasn’t as bad as Kale made it out to be. Li Xi had experienced far worse conditions; to him, this was high-end. Only this nitpicking male Zerg remained unsatisfied, fussing for half the day.
Having just gone through the awakening, Li Xi’s body was still extremely fatigued. He fell asleep the moment he hit the bed. When he woke, the sky was pitch black. Rain “pattered” against the glass, and the room was empty.
Li Xi lay in the bedding, staring at the starless night for a long time. He seemed to be listening to the rain. A flash of lightning revealed a military cap on the nightstand, and a flicker of confusion crossed Li Xi’s eyes.
Has Ren returned from the battlefield?
Slight footsteps came from outside the door, accompanied by faint voices.
“His Excellency seems very angry…”
“I don’t know how the Female Monarch provoked him.”
“Sigh, those two…”
“Shh, don’t wake the little Prince.”
The moment the voices stopped, the closed door opened silently. The female Zerg who had been talking stood frozen at the sight of the small figure hidden in the darkness.
One female Zerg reacted quickly: “Little Prince…”
Li Xi placed a finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture: “Shh—”
Those pitch-black eyes seemed to possess magic; they didn’t dare speak again. Li Xi stepped out of the darkness into the dim light. The empty corridor held only a few sentries. A cold draft blew through, ruffling Li Xi’s deep blue hair and revealing his entire face. His eyes had returned to black.
Li Xi stood for a moment, locked onto a target, and walked over slowly. The sentries looked at one another, but not a single one dared to stop him. The female Zerg left behind were anxious. One of them pulled out an optical computer, wanting to tip off Excellency Kale around the corner.
Just as he pulled it out, his companion pinned his hand down before he could act.
“What are you do—mph…” Halfway through his sentence, his mouth was covered by the other two.
“Don’t shout! Don’t shout! The little Prince is watching us!” one of them whispered rapidly.
The Zerg looked up and saw that the little Prince, who had been walking away, had turned around at some point and was staring at him with a heavy gaze. He froze instantly and tossed his optical computer away with a bit too much force; it slammed into the wall and shattered into pieces.
These Zerg had been chosen to serve by the Excellency’s side since childhood to handle security. While the outside world didn’t know the Excellency’s attitude toward the little Prince, they knew it all too well. He truly wished he could hand the finest treasures of the Zerg race to the little Prince. But he couldn’t show such blatant favoritism.
The last time he handled the incident where the Myrick family’s little male cub was bitten by a snake, the Excellency’s protection of the little Prince had sparked the Family Head’s dissatisfaction. He had been hauled into the study and scolded ruthlessly. He was so angry he didn’t go home for a month.
Sigh…
Seeing the female Zerg behave, Li Xi withdrew his gaze and walked toward the end of the corridor. He stopped just before the corner, looking at the reflection in the glass as voices reached his ears clearly.
“I told you, I didn’t ignore the comms on purpose!” Kale lowered his voice, growling at the silent female Zerg, the words squeezed through his teeth. “What exactly do you want?!”
Ren was still wearing his combat uniform from the battlefield, the pitch-black fabric making the lines of his face look cold and hard. He lifted his eyelids, but his gaze only fell on the male Zerg’s jaw. He said calmly, “I want to take Li He away.”
“Impossible.” Kale’s tone turned icy, his gaze like shards of frozen glass.
Ren pursed his lips, his eyes churning with indistinguishable emotions. Finally, his throat moved: “We should div—”
Before the word was finished, a cold touch suddenly wrapped around Ren’s neck. A powerful mental power enveloped him like water, airtight, as the air for survival grew thinner. Kale looked at the female Zerg coldly.
The theft of his breath caused oxygen deprivation in his brain. Ren couldn’t support himself and fell to his knees, his eyes gradually losing focus. Yet, he showed no intention of compromising.
“Divorce? Do you naively think that divorce will let you take Li He away?” Kale sneered. “Ren, you truly dare to dream. Your mental sea riot is coming soon, isn’t it? How long could you survive if you left me?”
Kale leaned down, gripping that stubborn face, his lips twitching into a smirk. “Have you forgotten? You were the one who approached me first all those years ago.”
The mental power loosened slightly, and air rushed into Ren’s lungs. He began to cough violently: “I’m sorry…”
“What right do you have to take Li He? I spent so much to save him,” Kale laughed mockingly. “Now you tell me you want to take him away from me? Do you think that’s possible?”
Kale straightened up, too tired to look further, fearing that in the next second his heart would soften and he would actually agree to Ren’s request. He gazed into the silent long night, his eyes as deep as an abyss, his tone flat: “You discard me after you’re done using me? Ren, am I someone you can just use?”
“I didn’t use you…” Ren offered a weak, pale explanation.
“Whatever.” Kale interrupted him. “I remember you said that as long as the egg lived, you would be willing to do anything?”
“…Yes,” Ren trembled, answering in a low voice.
Kale: “First, strike that thought from your mind. If I ever find out you still have thoughts of taking Li He away…”
The rest of the words seemed to be choked off as he suddenly looked toward the quiet corner. Ren also keenly sensed the anomaly and murmured: “Zai-zai (Little One)”.