After Becoming a Zerg Larva - Chapter 3

Li Xi finished cleaning the schoolbag, but the child had not yet come out. He glanced at his own infinitely elongated shadow, lost in thought.

After a moment, he hopped down, landing steadily on the stone path. He returned the schoolbag to its original spot on the bench and walked back the way he came, stepping through the fragmented shadows of the setting sun. His small figure passed one dim yellow streetlamp after another with a steady pace.

The night wind blew the hood off Li Xi’s head, revealing eyes that were devoid of both joy and sorrow. Eventually, his pace slowed, and he sat down under a streetlamp to rest.

Suddenly, several beams of white light hit him, so bright he couldn’t keep his eyes open. An aircraft embossed with dark patterns descended from the pitch-black sky and hovered beside him. The hatch opened, and a figure dressed in elaborate, complex robes walked toward him.

Leaning against the cold lamp post, Li Xi watched the person… no, the Zerg, approaching him.

It’s a Zerg, not a human, Li Xi reminded himself internally.

“Li He, who allowed you to run out?” The newcomer’s voice drifted lazily through the wind, but Li Xi could detect a note of displeasure.

Li Xi sat motionless, watching as the Zerg stepped into the dim yellow glow of the streetlamp.

Li He. That was his new name or perhaps it had nothing to do with him; it was simply the name of the “Little Ball.” He tried to call the Little Ball out in his mind. Although this wasn’t the “Female Father” the Little Ball constantly yearned for, he was, at the very least, a “nominal” father.

Within his mental sea, he gently kicked the ball of light curled up at the edge of the mental barrier. There was no reaction. He kicked it again.

Li Xi gave up.

“You are truly filthy.” Despite the words of disdain, the Zerg’s actions contradicted his speech as he scooped the cub whom he had been searching for all night into his arms.

He had followed the surveillance footage all the way here. In the videos, this cub had nimbly scaled a perimeter wall, leapt down from a height of two or three meters, and was wearing low-quality clothes he had never seen before. At first glance, he had thought it was some agile little female cub from another family.

Kale had almost failed to recognize the delicate cub he had been secretly and meticulously raising for five years!

Could a physically weak male cub truly possess such agility?! Even if Kale tried to climb that high wall himself, he wouldn’t be able to make it over.

His relationship with his “Female Monarch,” Ren, was already delicate. If anything happened to this cub, he wouldn’t hear the end of it. Of course, that was just his own perception of “having a hard time”; a female Zerg wouldn’t dare to openly defy a male Zerg. It wasn’t difficult for a male Zerg to replace a Female Monarch, especially given his S-rank status.

But why should he change! He had always been a rebellious soul.

Hearing the remark about being dirty, Li Xi subconsciously wiped at the grime and remained silent.

“Also, where did these clothes come from?” Kale tugged at the cheap-looking fabric.

Li Xi subtly pulled his hem away, fearing the Zerg might throw the clothes away. He squeezed out a single word: “Exchange.”

He had given that female cub a lot of snacks; it wasn’t a one-sided take.

Kale remarked with slight disdain, “I can barely accept the split personality, but this language barri—”

He swallowed the rest of the sentence. It wasn’t right to speak of his cub that way. Li Xi looked at the male Zerg, waiting for him to finish. Kale felt uncomfortable under the gaze; ignoring the inquisitive look, he carried the cub he hadn’t seen in a while toward the aircraft.

An elderly female Zerg waiting nearby respectfully opened the hatch. “Your Highness, the Little Lord is dirty, perhaps it’s better to…”

Kale didn’t even spare the female Zerg a glance as he stepped onto the aircraft. A fleeting dark light flashed in his eyes.

Li Xi, seeing this clearly: “…”

A bit dangerous.

Kale sat in a chair, pulled a wet wipe from a hidden compartment, and clumsily began wiping the mud off the cub’s face. “Dirty to death! Did you go rolling around in a swamp?!”

His tone was full of annoyance and disdain, but his movements were incredibly gentle.

Li Xi found this male Zerg’s behavior quite bizarre. When he was still in the egg, the Zerg had cared for him meticulously; yet once he hatched, he was tossed into a remote villa and ignored for years.

“You don’t take the front gate, you just have to jump off the walls?!” Kale checked the cub over. Seeing his face was a bit pale but free of any injuries, Kale began to scold him with a stern face: “What if you fell? You’re already not that bright; one more fall and your brain would be gone entirely.”

“Both your Female Father and I have such high ranks, why didn’t you inherit even a bit of it?”

“Do you know how much effort I put into finding you?!”

“…”

The Zerg nagged for as long as the flight lasted, while Li Xi silently ate snacks the entire way. He turned a deaf ear to the outside world and buried himself in the pile of food. When the voice stopped for a few seconds, Li Xi kindly handed over a bottle of water before going back to his biscuits.

Kale: “…”

The supply of food around Li Xi had never run out. Li Xi knew it was all secretly replenished by this Zerg. Including the clothes in the wardrobe, the toys…

The aircraft landed under the ancient tree. A white-haired attendant said respectfully, “Your Highness, we have arri—”

Before the sentence could be finished, a water bottle smashed against the windshield with a “Bang.” The bottle was infused with a faint trace of mental power, causing the glass panel to shatter into shards. A sharp piece of glass grazed the female Zerg’s vulnerable neck; blood surged out instantly, and the scent of iron filled the cabin.

Li Xi looked up from the snack pile at the sound, blinked, and then went back to crunching on his food like a cute little hamster. He didn’t forget to hand over a fresh bottle of water.

“…” Kale stared at the new water bottle stuffed into his hand, stunned for a moment. He had been worried about scaring Li He, but who knew this cub simply had no heart!

“Your Highness…” The female Zerg, drenched in cold sweat, fell to her knees and tremblingly clutched her bleeding neck. She said weakly, “Please appease your anger, Your Highness. I await your punishment.”

Kale looked over and sneered, “Who allowed you to make decisions for me? Him?”

“No, no… it was this slave’s own presumption. I thought you wanted to bring the Little Lord here.” Blood stained half her body, yet she struggled to reply.

Kale looked at the bowing female Zerg without a shred of pity. He scoffed, “Speculating on my thoughts?”

In the Zerg race, everything was precious and scarce except for the lives of female Zerg especially those who had served a family for generations. Their lives were worth nothing.

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“Back to the main residence,” Kale ordered expressionlessly.

“No.” Li Xi spoke up to stop him.

He didn’t go to the main residence often, but every time was unpleasant. There was a male Zerg there who wanted to kill him. For some unknown reason, however, that Zerg had yet to act. He glanced at the gloomy-faced Kale out of the corner of his eye.

Li Xi changed into a one-piece pajama set. His small figure crouched in the bathroom, washing the clothes from earlier that day. Summer clothes were thin; the mud came off easily with a simple wash.

After he said “No,” the male Zerg had snapped “Suit yourself” and stormed off, sounding quite frustrated.

“Did Male Father come?”

Li Xi, who was standing on a small stool on his tiptoes to hang the clothes, paused at the voice, then gave a casual “Mm.”

“Big Dantuan…” The Little Ball’s voice sounded hesitant.

“Mm?”

“Do you not like Male Father?”

The question came out of nowhere. Li Xi lay on the bed, thought for a while, and said, “No.”

That male Zerg? He couldn’t say he liked him, but he didn’t hate him either.

In the middle of the night, the bed beside him dipped. Li Xi was gently pulled into a warm embrace, and it felt as if his cheek was lightly touched. A mysterious fragrance drifted from the “female” Zerg, yet even that couldn’t mask the faint scent of blood.

He had seen too much blood today; even his dreams were shrouded in red, as if a mist of blood were coiled around him, impossible to escape.

A beautiful youth stood in a wasteland littered with thousands of corpses. He was thin, his face very pale, with blue veins faintly visible beneath the skin. Sand swirled through the sky, covering the remains. Before long, the area returned to silence. The youth was clean and untainted, though the blood-red color in his eyes had not yet faded.

Hushted discussions broke out, every word directed at the quiet, beautiful youth.

[In an instant, they all died.]

[Is he a monster?]

[That person wasn’t even infected yet, and he killed them…]

[He shouldn’t have been let out.]

[Be quiet, do you want to end up like them?]

As the youth moved, they all took a step back, their eyes filled with terror, their hands instinctively tightening around their weapons.

When Li Xi woke up again, the sky was just beginning to brighten. Two figures stood on the balcony. The male Zerg seemed furious, glaring at the female Zerg who stood with his head bowed in silence.

Li Xi turned over, burying himself in the quilt. He curled into a ball, his breathing shallow. He felt a wave of heat over his body and his head felt foggy. It seemed he had a fever.

Li Xi sat on a hospital bed, staring out the window. He had been rushed to the hospital; his Female Father had been worried and anxious the whole way. Due to the fever, the mental sea became unstable, and the Little Ball had fallen into a deep sleep again.

Li Xi had overheard the conversation on the balcony. This body showed no detectable mental power fluctuations, which was a devastating blow for a male Zerg. The Little Ball should be glad he had a Female Father who loved him dearly and a Male Father who was “tsundere”—harsh in words but soft in heart.

“Baby, the doctor said you ate something bad.”

A gentle voice pulled Li Xi’s wandering thoughts back. Ren leaned over to touch the cub’s forehead, his voice soft: “It’s Female Father’s fault for not taking good care of you.”

Li Xi shook his head. He really wanted to call the Little Ball out to face this gentle, loving Zerg. If he remained so cold, would the female Zerg be sad? He didn’t want to be this indifferent. Li Xi’s dark eyes dimmed.

Ren, however, seemed not to notice the cub’s coldness. He leaned down to kiss the cub’s cheek and coaxed, “Baby, wait here for a little while, okay? Female Father is going downstairs to pay the fees and get you some breakfast.”

“Okay…” Li Xi said the single word seriously.

Ren smiled at that, though his eyes swirled with emotions Li Xi couldn’t quite decipher—sadness, and something else…

Was it hate?

The complex emotions vanished in a flash, and Ren immediately returned to his kind demeanor. “Then, what does the baby want to eat?”

Li Xi organized his thoughts, trying to make his words as complete as possible: “Anything, thanks.”

Disappointingly, the words were still fragmented, but he hoped the female Zerg would understand.

Ren paused for a moment and said, “Anything is fine?”

Li Xi nodded slightly.

“Good. But Baby shouldn’t say ‘thank you’ to Female Father,” Ren corrected him. “It is Female Father who should say thank you to Baby.”

Thank you for hatching safely.

Thank you for giving Female Father a chance to atone.

His cub was the only child of an S-rank Highness, a direct descendant of the Jonah family. He should have lived a life of glory and honor, but Ren had ruined everything. Being forced to stay at the front lines during pregnancy meant he couldn’t access a male’s mental power, which resulted in the cub not receiving enough nutrition. At that time, he could only perceive a faint trace of life and didn’t even know if the cub would be born safely. It was Kale who had exhausted his own mental power to save the weak cub. Because of that, Kale’s rank had almost dropped to A-rank.

He was not a qualified Female Father.

The aura surrounding the female Zerg was too sorrowful, making Li Xi feel a bit helpless. Li Xi tugged at the female Zerg’s sleeve. Ren instantly snapped out of his trance and knelt down to look the cub in the eye. “Baby, Female Father will be right back.”

Li Xi waited boredly in the hospital room that smelled of disinfectant. He stared at the busy corridor, a hint of restless agitation hidden deep in his eyes.

A small figure passed by the window. Li Xi tilted his head.

It was the child who gave him the ice cream.

Was he injured in the fight yesterday?