Chapter 210: Ulysses and An in His Cutest Stage [4]: Ulysses in His Youth, the Most Beautiful Version a Zerg Could Be

"A date?"

Hearing such a word come out of little Ulysses's mouth still made An Ruo freeze for several seconds.

The last time he had gone on a date was with adult Ulysses.

If that counted as a date...

An Ruo glanced at the little hatchling in his arms and quietly shifted his gaze away.

Of course, a little hatchling and an adult Zerg could not be treated the same way.

He carried Ulysses back to his room, placed him on a little chair, and explained,

"It wasn't a date. I went to see your Female Parent."

Ulysses's eyes immediately widened, his lips parting and closing.

His Female Parent... was he all right?

An Ruo understood the unspoken question and told him,

"Your Female Parent's condition has basically stabilized, but he still needs to recuperate, so he can't come see you for the time being. But your Female Parent cares about you very much. You're very important to him."

An Ruo was not sure whether General Selerus would ever be able to leave prison. That would depend on the General himself.

But even if he could not get out, once the General's condition improved and Ulysses grew a little older, An Ruo could take him to visit the General.

For now, however, it was better not to tell the little hatchling that his Female Parent was in prison, lest he worry.

"Did you give Female Parent Psychic Soothing?" Ulysses asked.

He knew how terrible his Female Parent's condition had been. That male Zerg... would never be willing to give his Female Parent Psychic Soothing.

It could only have been the Director.

An Ruo nodded.

"I'm a doctor, after all."

The Director certainly had a lot of identities.

He was like an omnipotent god from a story.

Only a god would answer the prayers of his believers, descend into this world, and save every Zerg who needed to be saved.

Ulysses threw himself into the Director's arms and hugged him tightly.

This little hatchling really knew how to act spoiled.

An Ruo sighed inwardly and hugged him back.

A hatchling without his Female Parent by his side could only rely on him.

An Ruo suddenly felt an immense sense of responsibility and duty.

No matter how much darkness and how many storms there were in the outside world, he would spread his wings and shelter his little hatchling from the wind and rain.

As the Director of an orphanage, he had to possess the same sense of duty as a mother duck!

...

As promised, An Ruo went to give Selerus Psychic Soothing once every month.

When he went for the second month, Selerus's condition was already much better.

He wore neat clothes and received An Ruo inside his cell, even preparing tea and snacks for him.

The terrifying electroshock rack had been removed. Selerus wore a real-time monitoring suppressor around his neck, while two long chains were fastened separately to his left and right wrists, their other ends attached to the floor, allowing him to move around inside the cell.

An Ruo felt that those chains were more likely something Selerus had put on himself to reassure him.

Selerus had clearly already gained control over this place. As someone who had been a General of the First Military Region until very recently, accomplishing that was not difficult for him.

All he needed now was an opportunity to get out—a reasonable chance to reappear before the public.

An Ruo naturally helped himself to the tea and snacks Selerus had prepared for him.

His patients all liked feeding their doctor. Every time An Ruo finished making his rounds, every pocket on his body would be stuffed full of things they had given him.

He was quite accustomed to this kind of treatment.

Selerus, on the other hand, was still unfamiliar with him and was studying him with a wary, grave gaze.

"My hatchling is in your hands," Selerus finally said.

An Ruo choked and coughed. He put down his teacup and helplessly looked at the black-haired female Zerg sitting opposite him.

"Don't phrase it so strangely..."

He made An Ruo sound like some kind of Zerg trafficker who had kidnapped his hatchling to threaten him.

"I'm just an ordinary orphanage Director," An Ruo declared.

Selerus did not think he was ordinary in the slightest.

A mysterious male Zerg had appeared and taken over the orphanage only a few days after Selerus's hatchling had been sent there.

He possessed unimaginably powerful Psychic Power, capable of pulling a Zerg trapped in a Psychic Riot back from the brink of being lost.

It was practically no different from bringing the dead back to life.

This male Zerg's identity was a mystery, and there were far too many suspicious things about him.

Selerus should have been wary of him.

And yet... he found it extremely difficult to raise his guard against him.

It was an aftereffect of the deep Psychic Soothing. Even though an entire month had passed, the moment this male Zerg appeared before him, Selerus was still affected.

Instinctively, he wanted to get close to him.

He wanted to trust him.

Selerus closed his scarlet eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

"Fine. Let me put it another way. You're taking care of my hatchling, and you saved me. What is your purpose? What... do you want?"

An Ruo tilted his head in confusion.

"Doing those things is what I wanted."

"Stop acting cute." Selerus said with a stern expression, "Every Zerg has a purpose. Tell me what you want. You saved both my son and me. I won't be stingy with repayment."

An Ruo, who had absolutely not been deliberately acting cute: "..."

Sulking.

Fine.

If Selerus absolutely insisted on getting an answer, let him think...

"I want Ulysses to be happy," An Ruo said.

"?"

Selerus looked at him in confusion.

"Male Zergs don't care about hatchlings who aren't related to them by blood," Selerus said in a low voice.

Even when there was a blood relationship, that did not necessarily mean they would care.

Male Zergs had always been like that.

Selerus thought about it, his brows drawing tighter and tighter.

"What do you see in him? His talent and aptitude? Or something else?"

An Ruo did not want to discuss this.

"He's simply the best. I don't need to see anything in him. All right, General, that's enough chatting. It's treatment time now."

"Please cooperate with your doctor's treatment," An Ruo said. "My time is very valuable. I promised Ulysses I'd bring him a present, and I still have to go choose one afterward, so don't waste time."

For a moment, Selerus was speechless.

He hesitated but said nothing more. Only after the treatment ended did he hand over two spatial storage buttons.

An Ruo: "?"

"The black-and-gold one is a gift for Ulysses. Please give it to him for me," Selerus said quietly.

After saying this, he quickly raised his eyes and glanced at An Ruo before continuing,

"The other one is a thank-you gift for you. I'm very grateful for your help. If you ever need anything, please tell me. Although I'm trapped in prison, there are still some things I can do."

An Ruo accepted the two spatial buttons.

One was black and gold, while the other was platinum.

They actually looked quite nice together.

After the male Zerg left, Selerus remained seated at the table, recalling the way the male Zerg had picked up the two spatial buttons and compared their appearances.

A terrible suspicion suddenly arose in his heart.

Doctor An looked dignified and had such a kind face.

Surely he wasn't a pervert?!

Selerus's expression instantly turned horrified.

It was not his fault that his thoughts had not gone in that direction at first. Ulysses was simply far too young. He was nothing more than a hatchling who had only recently broken out of his shell.

Yet the way the male Zerg spoke made it so obvious that Ulysses was different to him.

He said Ulysses was the best, and he was even going to buy him gifts...

What did it usually mean when a male Zerg gave gifts to a female Zerg?

While feeling that his suspicion had to be wrong, Selerus hurriedly sent additional Zerg to keep watch over the orphanage.

After leaving the Military Region Prison, An Ruo wandered around a Zerg shopping mall and bought Ulysses a huge pile of adorable hatchling clothes. He also brought two sets each for the other hatchlings at the orphanage.

When you encountered an adorable little hatchling like Ulysses, it was very difficult not to buy all kinds of clothes and dress him up.

Little animal outfits were the cutest!

He needed several more sets!

When he passed a toy store, An Ruo paused before walking inside to pick out a plush toy.

It had already been a month since Ulysses moved out of his room.

Perhaps Ulysses was not accustomed to sleeping alone and was not sleeping well, because An Ruo noticed that he woke exceptionally early every day. Whenever An Ruo stepped outside, little Uly had already washed up and was obediently waiting outside to say good morning to him.

Zerg hatchlings were also extraordinarily competitive.

At least Ulysses was.

An Ruo discovered that Ulysses had arranged an enormous amount of schoolwork for himself. Every day, he followed lessons on StarNet, exercised, and completed basic training.

An Ruo was stunned.

This was a hatchling who had only broken out of his shell a few months ago!

An Ruo did not even know how to persuade him not to work so hard.

His Female Parent was still in prison. Ulysses might have guessed at least a little of the truth, so he was under tremendous pressure.

An Ruo could not exactly persuade him to stop.

But at the very least, he needed to sleep properly, right?

An Ruo remembered that there had also been a period when the adult Marshal had not slept properly and suffered from insufficient sleep. In the end, An Ruo had given him a little yellow duck toy.

The Marshal said he would keep the little yellow duck beside his bed and sleep with it, and afterward, the Marshal had clearly begun sleeping much better.

So An Ruo decided to buy little Ulysses a plush toy as well.

Something he could hug while sleeping.

After searching for a long time, An Ruo found a hatchling plush toy wearing a little yellow duck raincoat.

The shop assistant told him they could input An Ruo's own appearance into it.

It could only be his own. They had no authorization to use the appearance of another Zerg, as doing so would violate portrait rights.

An Ruo thought about it and agreed.

And so, his own chibi appearance was entered.

A cute chibi An Ruo wearing a little yellow duck raincoat.

The workmanship was slightly worse than the one Ulysses had custom-made for him in reality, but it was still quite adorable.

An Ruo had the plush toy packaged and brought it back with him.

Ulysses was waiting on top of the orphanage wall. The instant he saw An Ruo, he leaped down toward him.

An Ruo hurriedly caught the hatchling, who clearly had no intention of taking the conventional route.

"That's too dangerous!"

He patted his frightened little heart and scolded the little hatchling with lingering fear.

Ulysses said, "I'm a female Zerg. I have wings. I can fly."

An Ruo thought about it.

That was true.

But climbing so high and flying when he was this little still seemed incredibly dangerous. What if he fell?

He looked disapprovingly at the little hatchling.

There was a kind of danger called "the male Zerg thinks it's dangerous."

Ulysses could only promise that he would never do it again.

He would never do it again in front of the Director.

Only after receiving that promise did An Ruo relax and give him the present he had brought back.

It was a plush toy.

Ulysses looked at the toy and instantly recognized the chibi male Zerg wearing the little yellow raincoat. His face immediately reddened slightly. He hugged the plush toy to himself as though it were a treasure, his eyes sparkling.

"Do you like it?" An Ruo asked.

Ulysses nodded vigorously and refused to let go of the plush toy.

"Then you have to sleep properly from now on," An Ruo told him, before secretly frightening him, "Hatchlings who don't get enough sleep won't grow tall."

Ulysses's eyes widened in horror.

Absolutely not!

He had to grow very tall!

Taller than the Director!

And taller than every single one of the Director's suitors!

Only then could he protect the Director and beat away all the bad Zerg coveting him!

Oh.

And save his Female Parent.

Ulysses secretly swore in his heart that he would grow tall and become strong!

...

Hatchlings always grew quickly, especially once they began attending school.

An Ruo paid all the tuition and living expenses for the orphanage's hatchlings, supporting them through their education.

The Federation also provided generous subsidies in this regard, enough to support the hatchlings through higher education.

Ulysses attended a military school that trained future officers. His goal had been clear from a very young age.

The transformations of Zerg hatchlings occurred in stages. At first, An Ruo did not notice anything in particular. He merely felt that such a tiny hatchling having to attend military school was so difficult and exhausting.

And then, suddenly, one day, the little hatchling in his eyes transformed into the form of a youth.

"Director."

The black-haired teenage Ulysses took the large stack of books from An Ruo's hands.

"I'll carry them. Are you taking them into the courtyard to air them out in the sun?"

Their Director liked collecting physical books and had a strange habit of airing them in the sun. Whenever the weather was good, he always carried his books outside to let them bask in it.

An Ruo nodded blankly and watched Ulysses carry his books away.

He was already as tall as An Ruo.

His features had already begun to resemble those of the future Marshal Ulysses, though there was still a youthful immaturity to him and somewhat less authority.

An Ruo stared in a daze.

How had he...

Gotten this big already?

How had he grown so quickly?

Was he dreaming?

He really was dreaming, wasn't he!

No wonder they said the prime appreciation period of female Zerg hatchlings ended quickly.

This was genuinely too fast!

In what felt like the blink of an eye, he had shot up this tall.

He was only one transformation stage away from adulthood.

Just yesterday, An Ruo had still been buying hatchling clothes for Ulysses on StarNet.

What was he supposed to do now?

An Ruo wanted to cry but had no tears.

The youthful Ulysses possessed a clean, beautiful kind of handsomeness, pure and striking, with a clear-cut contrast of black and white.

When he was alone and expressionless, he already carried the sharp, cold air of a military female Zerg.

But when he turned his head and looked at An Ruo, their gazes meeting, the ice and snow instantly melted away, leaving behind a clarity as refreshing as a sweet spring.

"Director, are you not used to how I look now?" Ulysses asked quietly.

A little...

An Ruo was familiar with the adult Ulysses.

He had also become familiar with the hatchling Ulysses.

But the youthful Ulysses was still unfamiliar to him.

He was like a version of Ulysses who had never experienced any darkness or crushing burdens—or perhaps a version who, the moment darkness arrived, had already been sheltered beneath a pair of warm wings.

The version of himself a Zerg would yearn most to become.

The most beautiful version of himself.

An Ruo could not control the ache in his heart for the Marshal Ulysses he knew.

He almost wanted to cry.