Chapter 208: Ulysses and An in His Cutest Stage [2]: Meeting Him Was the Greatest Stroke of Luck in His Life

Zerg possessed inherited memories, and even while Ulysses was still inside his egg, he could vaguely perceive certain things.

He realized that his Female Parent's mental state was very poor, which made him extremely worried.

He did not know where his Male Parent was. Perhaps once his Male Parent came, everything would get better.

But even by the time he was born, his Male Parent never appeared. Instead, some Zerg came to forcibly take him, still an egg, away from his Female Parent.

This further agitated his Female Parent, whose condition was already poor after giving birth. His Female Parent fought with them, while Ulysses was still taken away amid the chaos.

He was desperately anxious, but as nothing more than an egg, there was nothing he could do.

Suddenly, he sensed another pull of blood kinship. His body's instincts and inherited memories told him that this was his Male Parent.

He wanted to call to his Male Parent for help, but all that fell upon him was an icy gaze, so cold that he could feel the chill even through the eggshell.

An indifferent voice sounded.

"A female Zerg egg. Send him to the orphanage."

It took Ulysses quite a while to confirm that those words had truly been spoken by his Male Parent.

Even the Zerg holding him hesitated somewhat and tried to persuade the male Zerg, saying that this female hatchling egg had quite good potential.

But no matter how talented a female hatchling was, he could not bring his Male Parent any benefits. He was not even as useful as a capable Female Attendant.

The male Zerg did not want to spend any resources raising a hatchling, especially a female hatchling who would eventually marry out of the family.

"Then... what about General Selerus?"

Amid his grief and shock, Ulysses heard his Female Parent's name.

"He's already gone mad. Isn't the First Military Region building a prison to house female Zergs who suffer Psychic Riots? With my signature as his Male Lord, they can send him in there, can't they?"

The male Zerg's indifferent voice sent a chill through one's heart. By the end, it even carried a hint of mockery and schadenfreude.

"Perfect. He personally oversaw the construction of that prison, so let him be its first prisoner."

"A General of the First Military Region, imprisoned in the First Legion's own prison. How amusing."

Ulysses was taken away and sent to an orphanage.

Even now, he could hardly believe those words had truly come from his Male Parent.

He had been abandoned, while his Female Parent was also in danger.

He would be... sent to prison with that male Zerg's signature.

Placed inside an incubator at the orphanage, Ulysses was extremely uneasy. He wanted to find his Female Parent, wanted to return to his side, wanted to save him.

But he was still only an egg. There was nothing he could do. He could not even move.

If only he could hurry up and break out of his shell.

His inherited memories told him that breaking out prematurely would damage his body, cause irreversible harm to his future, and might even kill him.

But he could no longer care about that.

Inside the egg, he accumulated his strength and searched for an opportunity to break out.

From time to time, caregivers or doctors would come into the incubation room and talk about various things.

Ulysses was still far too young, and he also needed to conserve his strength to break out of his shell. He frequently fell into deep sleep and spent little time awake, leaving him with little energy to pay attention to the outside world. He only vaguely understood that the orphanage was running short of male Zerg pheromones and might not have enough to sustain him until he hatched.

He would have to break out of his shell by himself, without male Zerg pheromones assisting his development.

He might die inside the egg.

Ulysses spent an unknown amount of time in anxious, uneasy darkness. Then one day, a pleasant voice suddenly appeared outside.

From the sub-female caregiver's words, he vaguely understood that a male Zerg had arrived.

The incubator was opened. He was lifted very gently and brought into a warm embrace.

It was as warm as the embrace a hatchling might imagine belonging to his Male Parent.

But Ulysses knew this was not his Male Parent. There was no bloodline resonance between them, and his Male Parent would never come to see him or hold him like this.

The male Zerg held him and put something on him... something that seemed like clothing or a protective cover.

It carried a scent he knew.

His Female Parent's scent.

Ulysses was confused.

The male Zerg gently stroked him and called his name in a voice filled with affection—the name his Female Parent had given him.

He said that his Female Parent had asked him to bring this to Ulysses, and that Ulysses should grow up peacefully instead of rushing things.

Had his Female Parent escaped danger?

But then why had he not come to see him personally? He must still be restrained by something.

The male Zerg's embrace was extraordinarily warm and possessed a power that made a Zerg feel safe. Beneath his gentle caresses, Ulysses's tense mind gradually relaxed, and before he knew it, he fell asleep.

...

When he woke again, he was still being held. Something as soft as a blanket covered his body, and from above came the sound of pages turning.

"You're awake?"

The pleasant male Zerg voice he had heard before sounded again, carrying a trace of laughter. To Ulysses, it was the most beautiful and pleasant voice he could possibly imagine.

For a moment, he simply froze there blankly, not knowing how to react.

Fortunately, the male Zerg would not expect an egg to react anyway.

An Ruo gently stroked the Ulysses egg in his arms.

He sat on the bed with his knees bent, the egg nestled between his thighs and abdomen. A warm blanket covered it, with a book resting on top.

"Want to hear a story?" An Ruo asked the egg in his arms.

Naturally, the egg did not answer him.

Compared with male hatchling eggs whose Psychic Power was active, female hatchling eggs appeared much quieter and more silent.

The Axel egg would hook An Ruo's finger with psychic threads.

As for Ulysses... Ulysses was the cutest! Even when he stayed perfectly quiet, An Ruo could imagine an entire collection of adorably blank egg reaction memes.

He was one adorable little egg.

An Ruo began reading him Zerg hatchling stories from the orphanage's books. He had personally screened all of them, and some had even been reworked by him. They were filled with childlike charm and perfectly suited for telling to hatchlings.

His storytelling voice was especially pleasant, clear and clean without being overly sweet, with just a touch of the tone one used to coax a hatchling.

Ulysses became immersed in his voice and almost forgot where he was.

It was only when the male Zerg carried him outside and he heard other Zerg calling him Director that realization finally dawned on him.

Oh.

They were still at the orphanage, and this male Zerg was the newly appointed Director.

He wondered how his Female Parent was doing.

It seemed his Female Parent had not asked the male Zerg to take him home. He had merely entrusted the male Zerg with taking care of him.

Ulysses was worried, but he still abandoned his plan to break out of his shell prematurely.

The male Zerg Director was right. As a newborn hatchling, there was nothing he could do. Even if he broke out of his shell, it would accomplish nothing and change nothing. He could only accumulate strength and grow. Only once he was older would he have the ability to do something.

The male Zerg seemed to be his Female Parent's friend.

And a very close friend at that.

Because of that relationship, the male Zerg kept Ulysses by his side and personally cared for him.

He became the only egg allowed to live in the Director's room and be personally incubated by the Director.

It took Ulysses several days to confirm that the male Zerg really was incubating him.

Very few male Zerg would ever do something like this.

More accurately, almost no male Zerg would.

They would not even incubate their own hatchlings.

Much less a friend's hatchling.

Ulysses could not understand it.

But judging from the male Zerg's kind attitude toward the orphanage's hatchlings, he probably simply loved hatchlings very much.

Ulysses was unfortunate, yet he was also fortunate.

Meeting him was the greatest stroke of luck in his life.

The male Zerg often talked to him.

Sometimes he called him "Uly," sometimes "Ulysses Egg," and sometimes strange names like "Baby," "Eggy," and "Little Cutie."

From the male Zerg, he learned his name.

His name was "An Ruo."

An.

He liked telling Ulysses stories and would sometimes make up stories of his own.

Recently, he seemed to be planning some sort of novel, and every now and then, he would call Ulysses the "Great Villain."

Ulysses was rather unhappy about that. He silently sulked inside his egg and decided not to pay attention to him for one whole second.

He was not the Great Villain.

He was the knight in his book who would protect the male Zerg.

...

Members of all walks of Zerg society frequently came to the orphanage to do charity work, spread their love, and cuddle hatchlings. After they discovered that the Director was a high-ranking male Zerg, the situation became even more uncontrollable.

The beautiful, long-haired male Zerg sat on a chair in the courtyard. Sunlight spilled over his platinum-blond hair and fair skin, making it seem as though his entire body were glowing.

The male Zerg had a slender figure and was holding an egg in his arms, his expression affectionate as he stroked it.

He looked exactly like a widower who had lost his Female Lord and was raising his hatchling alone.

The female Zergs who saw him felt their hearts itch, utterly captivated.

They had already asked around. This Director had no Female Lord and not even a Female Attendant, and the egg was not even his own.

Even if it had been his own, it would not have mattered. A male Zerg who liked hatchlings and treated them well had always earned extra points in female Zergs' standards for choosing a mate.

Not to mention that this particular male Zerg was already so beautiful and noble that he hardly needed any extra points to be extraordinarily attractive.

More and more female Zergs and sub-females began using the excuse of visiting the hatchlings and doing charity work to come see the male Zerg Director.

Visiting the hatchlings was secondary. Courting the male Zerg was their true purpose.

And even if they could not successfully court him, simply getting to admire that devastatingly beautiful face was good enough!

It was An Ruo's first time serving as a Director, and he felt a sense of responsibility toward the orphanage, so he treated every visitor pleasantly and amiably. This only made the visitors even more excited and enthusiastic.

He was socially anxious, after all. Once too many Zerg arrived, or he had to talk too much and it exceeded what he could endure, An Ruo would find an opportunity to slip away, leaving communication with visitors to the other staff members.

He himself would take the Ulysses egg somewhere secluded to hide and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Ulysses could vaguely perceive what was happening outside.

This only strengthened his determination to grow up and become strong, protect the Director, and drive away the suitors the Director did not like.

...

During their development, Zerg eggs required male Zerg pheromones and Psychic Soothing.

An Ruo looked it up. For eggs that had already been laid, male Zerg pheromones needed to be provided once every two to three months, which helped the hatchlings grow and develop.

There was no such restriction on Psychic Soothing, but it concerned the hatchling's physical and mental health as well as their sense of security, influencing the formation of their personality. Ultimately, it was better to have it than not, and the more, the better.

Just like a first-time parent, An Ruo was constantly afraid he was not giving the hatchling enough.

He looked up a huge amount of information and gave Ulysses the absolute top-tier treatment.

He gave Ulysses pheromones once every half month.

One had to understand that Axel had only received An Ruo's pheromones twice throughout his entire incubation period.

As for Psychic Soothing, whenever An Ruo had time, he would give Ulysses another round, determined to soothe Ulysses into becoming healthy and confident, with his sense of security filled to bursting.

The male Zerg's pheromones smelled extraordinarily good and felt incredibly comfortable.

Every time Ulysses received them, he became pleasantly woozy, similar to the sensation of drunkenness described in his inherited memories, and would then sleep peacefully for a very long time.

Whenever he woke again, both his body and mind felt refreshed, and even his strength seemed to have increased.

Psychic Soothing was also extremely comfortable.

The only thing troubling him was that the Director treated him too well and soothed him far too frequently.

Every time the Director's Psychic Power soothed him, Ulysses wanted to sleep.

With the two effects combined, he was either sleepy or already asleep. He always felt as though he were missing many opportunities to spend time with the Director.

It was a blissful kind of trouble.

Nourished like this day after day, the date when Ulysses would break out of his shell gradually approached.

Before going to sleep, An Ruo placed the Ulysses egg inside the incubator by his bedside and stared at it for quite a while.

The doctor said he would hatch within the next couple of days.

That made An Ruo carefully inspect the egg every little while to see whether it had cracked yet.

But he did not dare move it too frequently, afraid that disturbing Ulysses inside the egg would interfere with his hatching.

Ulysses still needed to conserve his strength to break out of the shell. What if An Ruo kept turning him over to look at him and made him dizzy?

An Ruo placed the egg inside the incubator and kept watch until midnight. Seeing no signs that it was about to hatch, he finally relaxed and went to sleep.

Only when the night had grown deep and everything was silent did Ulysses secretly begin to act.

He had been waiting for this day for a very long time.

At first, he had wanted to get out so he could find his Female Parent.

Now... now he also wanted to get out so he could meet the Director.

He was not alone.

He was a hatchling whose arrival someone was eagerly awaiting.

Someone cared for him and looked forward to his birth.

Little by little, Ulysses began chiseling through the shell. This was not difficult for a female Zerg hatchling born with sharp claws, especially after he had accumulated strength for so long.

What he needed to do was control his excitement, keep his movements gentle, and make as little noise as possible so he would not disturb the Director's sleep.

With his Female Parent absent to help wash him, he would need to crawl out by himself after breaking through the shell and clean himself up so he could make the best possible first impression on the Director when they finally met face-to-face.

For that, he needed to hurry.

He still had many things to do.

Ulysses chipped at his eggshell quickly and steadily.

The sleeping An Ruo indeed did not hear anything, but the active psychic fluctuations were impossible for him to ignore.

He groggily opened his eyes and turned toward the incubator illuminated by a night-light on his bedside table. On the fluffy cushion, a neat crack had appeared straight through the middle of the beautifully patterned Zerg egg, splitting the entire eggshell in two. He could vaguely see the hatchling's body inside.

An Ruo's eyes instantly widened.

All traces of sleep vanished. He sat up, shifted toward the head of the bed, and held his breath as he watched the hatchling inside break through his shell.

It took Ulysses some effort to completely crack the eggshell open, and he let out a long breath of relief.

He sat inside one half of the eggshell while the other half covered his head.

He was desperate to meet the Director and did not stop to rest. Instead, he stretched his body forcefully inside the egg, pushing the shell completely apart, then raised his hand and removed the half-shell sitting on his head like a hat.

And then...

His eyes met those of the beautiful male Zerg outside.

Ulysses, still covered in undried egg fluid, froze.

An Ruo's heart completely melted.

Chibi Ulysses was even cuter than a doll!

Black hair, silver eyes. Adult Ulysses had deep, handsome eyes, but as a hatchling, he had bright, adorable big eyes. They looked completely different.

And yet, subtle similarities could still be seen.

He was literally an adorably miniaturized version of Ulysses!

An Ruo was beside himself with excitement.

As expected of a female Zerg hatchling in his prime appreciation period. He was way too cute.

Of course, adult Ulysses was also extremely handsome. That was a different flavor altogether—a different style of prime appreciation period! Both were wonderful!

Delighted yet careful, An Ruo lifted little Ulysses out, gently washed him with warm water, dried him with a soft towel, and wrapped him up, his entire heart turning soft.

Ulysses, whose filthy appearance had been seen after all, fell into utter despair. He wanted to cry but had no tears, and his entire little body seemed to lose all vitality.

An Ruo looked at the hatchling's adorable little expression in confusion.

Even after he had worked so hard to give him Psychic Soothing, could the hatchling still become depressed?

He looked again at the hatchling's soft little face. No matter how he looked at him, he was still unbearably adorable, and those huge eyes that followed An Ruo's every movement did not look depressed either.

An Ruo smiled, his heart turning soft and warm.

He must simply be exhausted from breaking out of his shell.

He would be fine after getting plenty of rest.