After Becoming a Zerg Larva - Chapter 2

Zerg Era Year 3020, five years later.

The shadows of the trees were mottled, and a bird with beautiful tail feathers perched on a branch, chirping softly.

A soft, chubby cub was lying on a thick branch fast asleep, covered with a sky-blue bear blanket. As the shadows shifted, a piercing beam of light hit him. Sensing the light, the cub pulled the blanket over his head, turned over, and continued to sleep.

As the sun dipped and the horizon turned a rosy red, the cub, who had slept all day, stirred as if about to wake.

“Big Dantuan, are you awake?”

With bits of debris stuck in his fluffy hair, Li Xi sat on the branch bleary-eyed and let out a lazy “Mm.”

Li Xi bundled the blanket into a ball, cradled it in his arms, jumped onto the balcony, and flopped onto the bed, casually opening a bag of matcha-flavored biscuits. There was tiny text on the back of the snack bag, but Li Xi couldn’t read it. Most humans in the post-apocalyptic world were illiterate; as long as you knew how to stay alive, it was enough.

This body was only five years old. It hadn’t undergone its childhood awakening yet, so he couldn’t go to school. Breaking the shell had consumed too much of the “Little Ball’s” energy, leaving it unable to control the body, so Li Xi had no choice but to take over for now.

He lived in a two-story villa far from the main residence. The wall paint was peeling, but the interior was exquisitely decorated and cozy. Aside from the Little Ball’s parents, few Zerg ever set foot here. Outside the window grew an ancient tree of unknown age; its leaves remained lush year-round, never withering. It provided shade and shelter from the rain in summer and protection from the snow in winter.

It suited his tastes perfectly.

Ever since he took over the body upon hatching, he felt as if he had been forgotten. The information he gathered while inside the eggshell was slightly different from reality. His two fathers should have cherished the Little Ball. However, the one he was supposed to call… “Male Father” rarely appeared before him. Meanwhile, the Little Ball’s “Female Father” was a military Zerg; once a mission started, he wouldn’t be seen for ten days or half a month.

“Big Dantuan…” The soft, childish voice rang out in his mind again.

Li Xi swallowed the biscuit in his mouth and gave a single-syllable “Mm.”

“I really miss Female Father and Male Father,” the Little Ball said aggrievedly, lying in the safe zone Li Xi had partitioned off.

Li Xi finished the last biscuit and said briefly, “The day after tomorrow.” Based on past experience, the female Zerg would come to visit them then.

The Little Ball jumped excitedly, bounced off the mental barrier, and tumbled back. “Mm! Thank you, Big Dantuan.”

Holding a plush doll, Li Xi suddenly said with an ambiguous tone, “Male Father is fierce. You miss him?” Li Xi still found it a bit awkward and difficult to say “Male Father” and “Female Father.” He had never even called anyone “Mom” or “Dad” before, yet now he suddenly had two fathers. Well… one of those fathers had given birth to him, which was quite bizarre.

It was natural for a cub to be close to its parents, but Big Dantuan seemed dissatisfied with the Male Father. The Little Ball cleverly found a logical excuse: “Male Father has mental power!”

Li Xi: “Oh…”

Li Xi probably couldn’t understand the emotional bonds of blood relations. Whenever the Little Ball was happy, it wanted to run around wildly. For safety, Li Xi had set up a mental shield to block out the “hurricane” (the Little Ball’s chaotic energy). The Little Ball couldn’t get out, but that didn’t dampen its enthusiasm at all. It rolled all over the floor.

In the evening, Li Xi found a thick branch to sit on, facing the dark fence. Seeing this, the Little Ball asked, “What is Big Dantuan looking at?”

“The outside.”

Since birth, they had stayed in the villa, rarely even visiting the main house. They only saw the same few living Zerg over and over. Their understanding of the Zerg race was limited; they roughly knew this body was a male cub who had been rather neglected since the day he hatched.

Li Xi didn’t care, but the Little Ball was very sad.

The Little Ball’s attention shifted to the “outside” Li Xi mentioned, and it asked in confusion, “Outside? Aren’t we already outside?”

Li Xi didn’t explain. He plucked a lush green leaf. The Little Ball wasn’t wrong; they were indeed outside the house. But he… wanted to go out and see the world.

Early the next morning, Li Xi was walking on an empty street.

His clothes were roughly made and covered in mud; his face was smeared with black and grey patches, the filth hiding his fair skin. His clear black-and-white eyes were hidden under a large hood. At first glance, he looked like a child scavenging for trash.

It had rained during the night. When he snuck out, he had accidentally slipped and unfortunately fallen into a mud pit. These rough clothes were something he had exchanged with a blue-haired female cub for a large bag of food. It wasn’t that he had nothing to wear. His wardrobe was stuffed with clothes featuring cute cartoon patterns but the colors were so bright and eye-catching that Li Xi couldn’t bring himself to wear them.

Couldn’t the Male Father buy him some normal children’s clothes?

“Wow, Big Dantuan, it’s so big here!”

“Mm.”

“There’s a cute doll there, can we take it home?” the Little Ball asked innocently.

Li Xi remained silent.

“Something is flying in the sky!”

“It’s so high! Higher than where we live!”

“Big Dantuan…”

The Little Ball found everything novel and commented on everything. Li Xi found it noisy: “Don’t be loud.”

Those three words took him four or five seconds to say. The Little Ball waited quietly for Li Xi to finish before saying obediently, “Mm-hmm, not loud, not loud. Little Ball will be quiet. Please don’t hate Little Ball.”

Li Xi avoided a Zerg and walked silently along the roadside.

“I love Big Dantuan the most.” The Little Ball was used to Big Dantuan’s silence and cheerfully expressed its affection.

Li Xi: “…”

The Little Ball said this every time it woke up. Li Xi still didn’t understand what “love” was or what there was to love. Aside from the battlefield, the place he spent the most time was the research institute. They performed various experiments on him, gathering complex data in an attempt to crack the secrets of the mental power in his brain. He possessed a rare dual-system mental power of both healing and attack. He didn’t even know the limits of his own power, so what could those people possibly hope to find?

Li Xi exposed his fingertips to the sunlight. The cub’s hand was fair and tender, without a single scar, clean and untainted.

The Little Ball spent most of its time sleeping. Occasionally, Li Xi would let the Little Ball take control of the body, but it would get tired and shrink back in less than five minutes, rubbing against him and sobbing as if it had suffered a great grievance. Today, the Little Ball had been awake longer than usual. After watching the outside world for a while, it fell back into a deep sleep.

Li Xi sat under the cool shade of a tree, feeling the bustling street as people passed by. In front of him was a cozy shop. He didn’t know what it sold, but children were laughing in a long queue; business was incredibly good.

Skyscrapers reaching the clouds emitted a quiet, cold light, and flying vehicles darted between them, disappearing into the light white clouds. The streets were lined with a dazzling array of shops. Children in uniforms walked past Li Xi with their arms around each other’s shoulders.

The male cubs were surrounded by a faint ripple of mental power, while the female cubs had none. The Little Ball’s mental sea was chaotic, and with Li Xi’s consciousness present, the two mental powers formed a subtle existence. Consequently, Li Xi didn’t show any external mental power, making it easy to mistake him for a female cub.

Some female students stopped in front of Li Xi and kindly asked if he needed help. Li Xi was simply too dirty; he wouldn’t have looked out of place in a trash heap. After asking for a while, the cub only shook his head silently, and they eventually left awkwardly.

Bang—

A very faint sound came from an alley diagonally across the road.

The children in line showed no reaction, continuing to buy ice cream in an orderly fashion. That was what Li Xi had heard from them. This shop sold ice cream, and it was very delicious.

Clang—

Another faint sound.

Li Xi turned to look. Several small figures were standing in the alley. They were surrounding a blonde female child. One of the sturdier children raised a hand and slammed the blonde child against the wall, saying something.

Li Xi watched them quietly. This scene was very common in his world among children and adults alike. The blonde child didn’t look much older than him and didn’t seem panicked even when pinned to the wall. He looked at the bullying female Zerg calmly.

The child was facing Li Xi, so he could see his lip movements: “I don’t want to fight. You can take whatever you want.”

A black schoolbag was rummaged through by the other children, and items tumbled out onto the ground with a clatter. They didn’t seem to find what they wanted. A red-haired female child, frustrated, kicked a book into the muddy water.

The blonde child froze for a moment, then suddenly started laughing. To Li Xi, this smile was somewhat dazzling. He had never seen such a bright, radiant smile, especially while being bullied.

Dust swirled in the alley, blurring the figures. Li Xi tilted his head, his eyes full of confusion. The movements of those children showed they had undergone formal combat training; although they were clumsy and unrefined, the foundations were visible. This world seemed very peaceful—no wars, no roaming monsters, no cannibalism—so why were such young children learning formal combat techniques?

Passersby acted as if they didn’t see anything.

The outnumbered child won.

Now, the child was sitting on a trash can like a leader surveying his kingdom, high-spiritedly directing the losers to clean up the mess in the alley. The schoolbag was presented back respectfully. With a wave of the child’s hand, the group of children with various hair colors scrambled and scattered in a panic, as if a monster were chasing them.

This sudden reversal caught Li Xi off guard, leaving him staring in that direction, forgetting to look away. The child sat on the trash can for a while longer, checking the contents of the bag. He brushed the dust off his bag and clothes before jumping down. As he stepped out of the dark alley, his eyes happened to meet Li Xi’s, who had watched the whole show.

“…”

After staring at each other for a moment, Li Xi realized a beat late that this was probably impolite. He calmly turned his head and stared at the ice cream shop as if nothing had happened. Li Xi really wanted to eat ice cream; otherwise, he wouldn’t have sat there until the afternoon. But the tragic part was that he had no money.

Just as he was thinking this, a grimy hand suddenly appeared before his eyes. Along with it was a creamy-white ice cream stick emitting a faint chill, followed by a crisp voice: “Do you want to eat?”

The fingertips were carefully pinching the red wrapping paper at the tip, avoiding the exposed brown cone. Seeing that Li Xi didn’t take it, the voice spoke again: “It’s for you.”

Li Xi stared at the creamy-white ice cream but didn’t reach for it. He didn’t have money to exchange for it.

“It’s going to melt if you don’t eat it soon.” Yun, without taking no for an answer, stuffed the ice cream into the pitiful-looking cub’s hand.

This cub had been sitting there since he was cornered in the alley. Even after the fight was over, the cub was still sitting there, looking a bit silly and dirty, like an unwanted female cub. No unwanted cubs ever appeared in the Zerg race; the law mandated that male Zerg must raise their offspring until their adult awakening. Otherwise, they faced heavy fines or even imprisonment, and no male Zerg wanted to be locked up in a poor-quality prison.

This cub’s female father was likely unloved by the male Zerg, which had affected the cub. As for why he thought it was a female cub, the reason was simple: this little dirty child had no mental power fluctuations. Every male Zerg possessed mental power. Therefore, this cub was either a little female Zerg or a little sub-female. It didn’t matter.

Li Xi blinked. The coldness of the ice cream seeped into his fingertips through the cone. The fierce sun hung high, and even in the shade, the heat was stifling. A drop of creamy-white liquid fell onto his plain clothes, leaving a dark stain. Li Xi silently moved the ice cream away; this was the only outfit he could wear out. The ice cream happened to be in a beam of sunlight, melting even faster.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Yun jumped onto the bench holding his schoolbag, swinging his legs. He said, “The flavor is pretty good. I eat it often.”

Whether on Earth or in this world, Li Xi didn’t interact much with the outside world. His interpersonal skills were a blank slate. No one had ever taught him, so he could only act on instinct. They didn’t know each other, yet this female cub had bought him ice cream. …Was this “hush money” for seeing them fight?

Li Xi pushed the ice cream back. They didn’t know each other. He wouldn’t talk.

“Hmm?” Yun looked at the ice cream that had returned to him, his tone puzzled. “For me?”

Li Xi nodded. It was yours to begin with.

Yun refused with a hint of disdain: “I won’t eat it. I’m tired of it.” He wasn’t lacking for food. “Eat it quickly. It’s hot; in a moment, it’ll melt all over your hands and be sticky.” Seeing the cub looking dazed, Yun’s tone took on a childish threat: “Male Zerg don’t like dirty cubs, you know. If they don’t like you, they won’t hug you!”

Cubs had a natural affection for their Male Father. This threat should be very effective. Sure enough, the dirty child froze for a moment before taking the spoon and eating the ice cream bite by bite. He ate elegantly and quietly, his deep blue hair swaying under his hood, his eyes and face hidden.

However, since the child hadn’t spoken a word, Yun wondered if he had a disability. Yun glanced sideways uncertainly.

Li Xi savored the taste carefully. It was cool and invitingly sweet. …It was delicious. Zerg snacks were all very tasty. Even better than the exquisite-looking food the researchers prepared for him. Li Xi squinted his deep eyes in satisfaction, biting the spoon and refusing to let go, with a bit of white cream on the corner of his mouth. He swallowed the last bite, and his body instinctively shuddered from the cold. He wanted more…

Li Xi ate quietly without making a sound. Yun sat beside him, examining his broken optical computer (Guang-nao), wondering how to tell his female father about it. He would definitely be scolded; it had just been replaced not long ago. He slightly regretted letting those female Zerg go so easily. He should have squeezed enough money out of them to buy a new one—a reverse robbery.

He suddenly remembered something, his eyes brightening. His brother had money!

He turned around only to see that the cub had finished the ice cream at some point. He was holding the red wrapping paper, biting the spoon, and looking at the ice cream shop again.

Yun: “…” He didn’t have any money left either.

Yun coughed, trying to draw back that look of intense expectation. Li Xi bit the spoon he had been holding for a while, reluctantly withdrew his gaze, and looked at the coughing child with confusion.

Yun began to talk nonsense with a straight face: “Children shouldn’t eat too much cold food. You’ve already had some. If you eat more, your Male Father won’t like you.” This rule was actually for male cubs, who were always delicate and weak. Female cubs didn’t have so many messy precautions. This cub clearly hadn’t been to school, so he likely didn’t know the rule yet.

Whether the blue-haired cub believed him or not, he slowly nodded, jumped off the bench, threw the wrapping paper in the trash, and walked back to stand in front of Yun.

The dark alley was far away, and with flying vehicles whistling past, Li Xi hadn’t seen the child’s face clearly. The child was very refined, Li Xi thought silently. The children he usually saw were either dusty or emaciated, forever carrying the aura of decay and death, without a hint of vitality.

A head of blonde hair sparkled in the sunlight. His brow was filled with inadvertent smiles, and his purple pupils were flecked with a pale gold light, bright and clever. Li Xi saw a small reflection of himself in them.

Yun felt more and more that this little female cub was a bit of a “silly bubble.” He just stood there after throwing away the trash without saying a word.

He asked tentatively, “Do you… have an optical computer?”

The cub didn’t speak, just tilted his head as if thinking about the question.

Yun spoke again: “Can I borrow it to make a call?” This time his voice was intentionally softened, for fear of startling the cub. This cub didn’t even look like he had passed his childhood awakening; he was so dazed. It was clear how miserable his life at home must be. No wonder he was sitting here all alone.

So pitiful! He had already imagined a scene of the cub being bullied, shrinking into a corner and hugging himself for warmth.

Li Xi guessed that an optical computer must be something like a communication device. That “Zerg” hadn’t given him such a thing. So, he shook his head.

Then he heard a mumble: “So pitiful.”

Li Xi: “…” Was he talking about him?

“It’s okay!” Yun brushed aside his complicated emotions, stuffed the broken computer into his bag, and was instantly revitalized. “Stay here and don’t move. I’ll go borrow an optical computer.”

Yun picked up the cub, who was slightly shorter than him, and sat him on the bench. A milky fragrance wafted over, causing Yun’s mind to wander for a moment, as if he had smelled rich milk candy. Li Xi, caught unaware, was equally stunned by the sudden action.

Dazed by the candy scent, Yun quickly snapped out of it and released the cub. He warned seriously, “Don’t run off! I’ll be back in a bit. When I get back, Big Brother will take you to buy clothes!”

Li Xi, just having recovered his senses, was caught off guard again by the word “Big Brother.” By his count, he was over a decade older than this child. This gap in seniority was a bit ridiculous. The kid was quite practiced at taking advantage of people.

“Sigh, why are you so silly?” Yun muttered again. “But so well-behaved.” He stood on his tiptoes and patted the small head covered in dry mud, his sympathy overflowing. “Be good, you can’t run away.”

Li Xi’s lips moved as if to say something, but remembering his own faltering speech, he ultimately chose silence. Leaving his schoolbag aside, Yun’s figure quickly disappeared into a shop. He moved with the familiarity of a regular.

Li Xi looked at the black schoolbag, then turned to look at the child talking to the shop assistant. After a while, he took the heavy bag and placed it on his knees. He reached out to pat off the dust and used his sleeve to rub away the mud that was about to dry on it.

He couldn’t just eat the kid’s food for nothing.

When Yun came out with some paper bills, only his bag remained on the bench. The little female cub was nowhere to be found. The bag sat on the bench, with only a tiny bit of dust left in the narrow seams. The cub had cleaned his bag very thoroughly.

He stared at the bag for a while before skipping away from the ice cream shop toward the sunset.