Chapter 209: Ulysses and An in His Cutest Stage [3]: "Did You Go... on a Date?"

Dressed in little hatchling clothes, Ulysses looked soft and cuddly.

An Ruo's heart overflowed with affection at the sight, and he took photo after photo of him.

The incubator had real-time surveillance recording, so the entire process of Ulysses breaking out of his shell had been captured.

An Ruo exported the video and saved it to his terminal, planning to enjoy it privately in the future. He could also share it with Selerus, who had been unable to personally witness the hatchling breaking out of his shell.

Ulysses despaired and lay motionless on his little hatchling bed.

Having never raised a hatchling before, An Ruo watched him worriedly and turned him over. Ulysses still looked utterly listless.

An Ruo thought about it and understood.

He must be hungry!

The little hatchling had not eaten anything since breaking out of his shell. He must be starving. How negligent of him.

An Ruo hurriedly took out the milk fruit he had prepared in advance, picked Ulysses up, held him against his chest, and began feeding him.

Ulysses's face instantly turned red.

He was not his Female Parent, so why was he holding him against his chest to feed him? This was strange.

Only a Female Parent would hold a hatchling this way, but he was a male Zerg.

And he was still wearing pajamas. The milk fruit had a rich fragrance that could easily cling to his clothes, leaving him smelling entirely of milk.

An Ruo brought the opened milk fruit to Ulysses's lips, only to discover that he refused to open his mouth no matter what.

"You don't like milk fruit? But your Female Parent isn't here, so you can only drink this..."

Hatchlings who could not drink their Female Parent's milk always seemed rather pitiful.

An Ruo had also prepared some Zerg infant formula. He had originally intended to let Ulysses try everything and see which one he preferred.

Seeing that he would not eat the milk fruit, An Ruo put him back in his crib and prepared to make him some formula.

When he turned around, he saw Ulysses holding the milk fruit by himself and sucking on it.

An Ruo: "?"

He would not drink it while An Ruo held him, but the moment An Ruo stopped holding him, he was willing to drink?

An overly independent female Zerg hatchling could make one feel somewhat defeated.

But the sight of the hatchling holding a milk fruit as large as his own head and sucking on it was adorable. An Ruo secretly took another photo, earning a puzzled upward stare from Ulysses.

An Ruo stroked his little head. Once Ulysses finished drinking, he wiped his face and hands clean, rubbed his little belly, and tucked him under the blanket.

Ulysses's little crib was placed right beside An Ruo's bed.

An Ruo was afraid he might crush the little hatchling, so he did not dare bring him into bed to sleep with him. Keeping the crib beside the bed also meant he could watch over him during the night.

"If you're hungry or need anything else, call me, okay?"

An Ruo lay on his stomach on the bed with half a shoulder hanging over the edge as he instructed little Ulysses in the crib.

Ulysses obediently nodded and buried half his face beneath the blanket, with no intention of disturbing the Director.

As a physically robust female Zerg hatchling with inherited memories, he could do many things, including but not limited to eating by himself, sleeping by himself, climbing up and down, and washing himself.

At night, after the male Zerg had fallen asleep, Ulysses quietly climbed out of his crib.

He clung to the edge of the bed and poked his head up to look at the Director.

He was extraordinarily beautiful.

He embodied everything Ulysses could imagine beauty to be.

And being around him felt incredibly safe.

As long as Ulysses could see the Director and remain by his side, it felt as though no danger could ever come again.

If only he were his Male Parent.

Ulysses thought somewhat forlornly.

But he quickly shook his head and threw the thought out of his mind.

The Director was the best, kindest Zerg in the world. Ulysses could not selfishly try to possess him with thoughts like that.

Besides, he did not particularly want to associate the Director with the term "Male Parent."

Perhaps because of that male Zerg, Ulysses did not think it was a very good term.

Ulysses returned to his little bed and, surrounded by the sense of security brought by the Director's protection and companionship, peacefully fell asleep.

The next morning, he was awakened when the Director picked him up.

"Did you faint from hunger?" An Ruo looked at him nervously.

Ulysses: "..."

No.

From what An Ruo had learned, newborn Zerg hatchlings needed to be fed once every two to three hours. Ulysses had broken out of his shell in the middle of the night, and after feeding him once, An Ruo had gone to sleep and slept straight through until morning.

For some reason, the alarm he had set had not gone off. When An Ruo woke up and saw little Ulysses lying there completely motionless, he nearly died of fright.

Seeing him wake up and confirming that he was still alive, An Ruo let out a long sigh of relief and hurriedly gave him a fresh milk fruit.

From now on, he needed to leave several milk fruits beside Ulysses's bed, set several alarms, and add a robotic Zerg monitor before he could feel at ease.

As a first-time hatchling caretaker, An Ruo was constantly afraid he might somehow raise the hatchling to death.

Ulysses still refused to eat milk fruit in his arms and insisted on holding it himself.

An Ruo could only let him have his way.

...

Ulysses was the only hatchling in the orphanage personally incubated by the Director.

The caregivers could all see how much the Director valued and adored this hatchling, so they were very friendly toward Ulysses.

The hatchlings did not understand these things very well. Since they had often seen the Director carrying the egg around, they assumed it was the Director's own hatchling.

After Ulysses broke out of his shell, they were even somewhat confused about why his hair and eye colors were different from the Director's. A female hatchling's coloring would generally resemble his Male Parent.

But they did not care much about that.

Before, when the Director carried the egg into the courtyard to bask in the sun, they would go to the Director for hugs, head pats, and cuddles.

Now that the Director carried little Ulysses, they continued going to the Director for cuddles, hugs, and head pats.

An Ruo could not hold all of them at once, and he was also afraid they might accidentally hurt little Ulysses. So he first placed Ulysses in a small crib nearby, then stroked each hatchling's head one by one, casually giving them Psychic Soothing at the same time. It felt so comfortable that they ended up huddled around his legs like little fluffy animal balls, scattered all over the ground.

The older hatchlings were more reserved and too embarrassed to ask a male Zerg for cuddles, but An Ruo always gave each of them Psychic Soothing as well.

There were far too many hatchlings here.

Ulysses became so anxious that he climbed out of his crib, crawled onto the Director's lap, seized the best possible position, and wrapped both arms around his waist.

"Oh, little Uly wants some too."

An Ruo smiled, stroked his head, and gave him some Psychic Soothing as well, making him hum softly in comfort.

An Ruo always gave Ulysses more Psychic Soothing than anyone else. Ulysses was not lacking in Psychic Soothing at all.

He simply wanted An Ruo's attention.

An Ruo knew that perfectly well, and every time, he still gave it to him.

A whole courtyard full of hatchlings nestled around a male Zerg.

It was an extraordinarily heartwarming sight.

Forget the crowd of female Zergs who came under the pretense of visiting the hatchlings when their real purpose was to see the male Zerg—even the orphanage employees could not tear themselves away from the sight.

More and more Zerg were now coming to volunteer at the orphanage, to the point that they had to queue, make appointments, and take numbers.

All kinds of donations also poured into the orphanage like flowing water.

The supplies were all used for the hatchlings. As for things obviously meant for an adult male Zerg, such as clothing, the orphanage refused to accept them. Jewelry and accessories were exchanged for money and used to renovate the orphanage.

There were also many monetary donations. After thinking about it, An Ruo decided to expand the orphanage and add more dormitory rooms for the hatchlings.

The orphanage hatchlings currently lived in shared rooms, with many hatchlings crammed together in a single room. They had no privacy and did not even have little desks of their own, which made daily life inconvenient.

With An Ruo's expansion, every hatchling received a private room of their own.

Once Ulysses stayed with him until he was weaned, he would also have to move out.

It was unsuitable for a female Zerg hatchling to continue living with an adult male Zerg indefinitely. He needed his own independent space.

An Ruo reserved the room closest to his own for Ulysses ahead of time, personally decorated it, and asked Ulysses for his opinion on many things.

No matter what An Ruo asked, Ulysses obediently nodded, so sensible that it made one's heart ache.

As a result, An Ruo felt so sorry for him that he nearly emptied his own room and moved everything into Ulysses's.

Ulysses actually thought it was already far too much.

This did not resemble an orphanage hatchling's room at all. Instead, it looked like the room of an exceptionally pampered female hatchling from a family on Capital Star.

While staying by the Director's side, Ulysses had never lacked anything.

Yet the Director always looked as though Ulysses had suffered some terrible grievance, his face filled with heartache and pity.

No matter what, receiving a male Zerg's care and attention was a good thing for a hatchling.

Ulysses was also very grateful.

There were many hatchlings at the orphanage, and all of them were close to the Director.

But Ulysses knew that the Director liked him best.

The Director had personally incubated him and personally fed and raised him. To the Director, he would always be special.

Now, all he wanted was to hurry up and grow, protect the Director, and save his Female Parent.

...

An Ruo had already investigated Selerus's whereabouts early on.

He was still in the First Military Region Prison.

Unlike before, however, this was a newly constructed prison, and there were still very few prisoners inside.

Selerus was the most important prisoner among them and the one kept under the strictest control.

Previously, An Ruo had needed to incubate Ulysses's egg and care for him before he was weaned, so he could not get away. Now that he had time, he personally made a trip to the First Military Region Prison.

"Hello. I'm the Psychic Soothing Specialist here."

An Ruo almost wanted to take out his prison identification badge and show it to the guard, but after searching for it, he realized it was not on him. It was not in his spatial button either.

The guard was equally confused.

He had no idea where this male Zerg lord had come from.

Their First Military Region Prison did not have a Psychic Soothing Specialist yet. Other prisons did, but those specialists were male Zergs who had committed crimes.

Since when did a male Zerg voluntarily show up at a prison entrance and announce that he was the Psychic Soothing Specialist here?

This lord had been able to enter the Military Region and even make his way here, so his identity definitely could not be ordinary.

And one look at his face was enough to tell that his rank was very high.

Even without pheromones, the guard was left somewhat dazed by his beauty and decided to contact his superior first and ask what was going on.

An Ruo waited for the dream to fill in the logical gaps for him.

Not long afterward, an unfamiliar Warden personally came out and invited him inside.

"Respected Psychic Soothing Specialist, we only have prisoners suffering from Psychic Riots here... Are you certain you haven't come to the wrong place?"

Even after they entered the prison, the Warden still looked somewhat doubtful and uneasy.

"No," An Ruo said. "I'm General Selerus's attending physician."

The Warden's expression immediately turned solemn.

"I understand. Please follow me."

An Ruo had no idea what exactly he understood.

Whatever. The dream would fill in the logic for him.

Besides... it was still early in the timeline. General Selerus had only been imprisoned for half a year. Given everything he had accumulated in the First Military Region over so many years, it was impossible for him to have no contingency plans whatsoever, nor could everyone have abandoned him so completely in such a short time.

An Ruo was confident that he would be able to get inside and see Selerus.

But when he saw Selerus again, his condition was far more miserable than An Ruo had imagined.

His body was partially insectoid. He was restrained on an electroshock rack, unconscious and completely unaware of his surroundings. Only his tightly furrowed brows suggested that he was struggling against something. His body was covered in countless wounds that were slowly healing.

The Warden could not bear to look and turned his head away, explaining in a low voice,

"Only by injecting a large dose of anesthetic directly into his spine and forcing him into deep sleep can we prevent his consciousness from deteriorating further. But that also suppresses a female Zerg's self-healing ability, and the process is extremely painful..."

An Ruo had worked in the Military Region Prison before. He knew all of this.

But the patients under his care had all recovered very well. They could chat, watch the news, play games, and handle many things independently. Seeing Selerus in such a state once again still made An Ruo feel terrible.

The injuries on Selerus's body had either been inflicted by himself or caused by weapons during his struggles and escape attempts. The prison was putting him into deep sleep to protect him, but this form of protection was itself unbearably painful.

An Ruo sighed softly.

"Open the door. I'll give him Psychic Soothing."

The Warden was stunned and immediately said,

"No! Absolutely not! We cannot open that door. If anything happens to you, I won't be able to bear the responsibility."

If a high-ranking male Zerg were harmed here, the Warden would inevitably be held responsible. Selerus might also be completely abandoned and executed for injuring or killing a high-ranking male Zerg.

This was not one of the Zerg An Ruo was accustomed to working with. He understood the Warden's predicament and did not insist.

The cell door could isolate energy, so performing Psychic Soothing through it would drastically reduce the effectiveness, but An Ruo could still barely manage it.

He performed Psychic Soothing through the door.

The effect was much worse than it would have been face-to-face. Fortunately, Selerus had not been suffering from Psychic Riot for very long at this point, and his memories had not been damaged as severely as they were in reality. An Ruo was also extremely familiar with his Psychic Domain, making the soothing process easy and familiar.

After a single session of Psychic Soothing, the aura around Selerus became much calmer. It was no longer so dangerous and oppressive, and his condition visibly improved.

Only the large quantity of anesthetic still kept him unconscious, preventing him from waking.

An Ruo was in a hurry to return and take care of the hatchlings, so he could not stay long.

He gave the Warden the video of Ulysses breaking out of his shell along with some photos from their daily life, asking him to show them to Selerus after he woke up.

He also said that from now on, he would come once a month for Psychic Soothing and a follow-up examination.

Going from once a day to once a month really could not be blamed on An Ruo. He was now responsible for the orphanage as its Director, and on top of that, he was personally raising a hatchling. He truly did not have enough time to run to the Military Region Prison every day.

As for Selerus...

An Ruo had originally wanted to take a few photos of Selerus and bring them back for Ulysses to see so that he could feel reassured.

But looking at Selerus's miserable condition...

Better wait until next time.

If he brought back photos of Selerus looking like this, Ulysses would only become even more worried and upset.

The Warden was extremely grateful for An Ruo's treatment. Since his duties prevented him from leaving the prison, he had his adjutant personally escort An Ruo back.

The moment An Ruo stepped out of the aircraft, a little bundle threw himself at his leg and hugged it.

It was Ulysses.

He clung to An Ruo's leg and warily stared at the military female Zerg who had escorted him back.

The military female politely greeted him. Faced with a hatchling who looked so much like their own General, his attitude was particularly warm.

Ulysses gloomily turned his head away and refused to respond.

An Ruo apologetically said sorry, picked little Ulysses up, said goodbye to the military female, and walked into the orphanage.

Ulysses buried his face against An Ruo's shoulder, his adorable hatchling face scrunched up as though something were deeply troubling him.

An Ruo worriedly asked what was wrong.

Ulysses hesitated for a long time before finally asking in a tiny voice,

"Did you go... on a date?"

It was perfectly normal for an adult male Zerg to go out on dates with female Zergs.

Outstanding male Zergs always had many, many suitors.

The Director was exactly like that.

The Director treated every suitor politely but distantly and never gave any Zerg a chance.

But today, on the very first day after Ulysses moved out of his room, the Director had suddenly gone out.

When Ulysses asked the other orphanage employees, none of them knew where the Director had gone either.

Some of the older hatchlings said that this was perfectly normal. Male Zergs often went out on dates, and soon Ulysses would have a new Female Parent.

Ulysses did not believe them.

He had waited on top of the orphanage wall the entire time, only to see the Director return in a female Zerg's aircraft.

That female Zerg had even opened the door for the Director and helped him out, behaving very attentively. The Director had also been polite and friendly toward him.

Ulysses was very upset.

But he did not know why he was unhappy.

Perhaps he was simply a bad hatchling who wanted to keep the Director all to himself.