When the Major General Omega Picked Up a Little Snake Alpha - Chapter 3

Luo Qi slept for a few more hours in his room, only to be awakened at dawn by a faint vibration.

The warship had taken off.

He draped a soft, white fleece robe over his shoulders and headed to the main cabin. Outside the glass balcony, the isolation layer had already sealed the view, leaving only a small circular window that revealed the boundless expanse of the universe.

The snake’s enclosure sat on a small table near the balcony, a portable medium-sized tank with transparent acrylic panels on all four sides. The interior arrangements had been moved in exactly as they were before.

There was a pile of crumpled newspaper, a small bowl of water, and a wooden tag pressed under some cork shavings with “Os” written on it in elegant cursive.

The snake lay beneath the paper, its curved body coiled partially outside while its head and tail remained hidden.

Luo Qi tried to open the tank, but the top lid was locked.

It was a combination lock. He tapped his wrist communicator and called Fang Xi.

“Xizi, what’s the code for the snake tank?”

Fang Xi stared at the light screen with bleary eyes. His hair was a mess, and his jacket collar was rumpled, he clearly hadn’t slept well.

“It’s your birthday,” Fang Xi said, the screen shaking on his end. “General, don’t open it yet. That snake bites. I’m coming over now.”

“Someone got bitten?”

“Adjutant Jiang was bitten while trying to catch it. It’s nothing serious, no poison, and the wound is tiny.”

“How is he now?”

“Resting,” Fang Xi replied. “He’ll be coming by to report later.”

“Understood. Have you had breakfast?”

“I have. I’m bringing some porridge for you.”

“Good, I’m hungry.”

Luo Qi’s stomach began to growl. Heat cycles naturally consumed a lot of energy, he had no appetite last night and only managed some vegetables and eggs, but his hunger had returned in full force.

Fortunately, after the “pheromone mingling” with the little snake, his fever had subsided. His heat lasted only three days in total, which was far shorter than his usual average of eight.

Luo Qi touched the back of his neck on the left side. Beneath the thin, soft skin, the gland was no longer hard, and its temperature had dropped.

What a miraculous little snake.

He fiddled with the combination lock and entered 0301. With a click, the alloy plate at the top loosened.

This was a sealed box designed to isolate pheromones, relying on filter holes to maintain oxygen levels.

Luo Qi grabbed the small metal ring on top and lifted the alloy door just a crack. A faint scent of red wine wafted out.

It seemed the snake’s rut wasn’t entirely over. However, the concentration had dropped enough that it no longer triggered Luo Qi’s physical reactions.

It actually smelled quite nice. Luo Qi leaned in toward the gap, inhaling the little snake’s scent deeply.

His long hair fell from the side of his face, brushing against the transparent walls of the tank. The little snake poked its head out from the pile of newspapers to look around.

Its tiny, oval head pressed against the glass, and its small, forked tongue flicked out, appearing as if it were licking Luo Qi’s hair through the barrier.

“I heard you bit someone last night,” Luo Qi whispered to the crack in the door. “Are you a little troublemaker?”

Only docile snakes could be kept as pets. If it was too aggressive, it wouldn’t matter how good it smelled.

“Or perhaps, you’re just hungry,” Luo Qi murmured to himself. “What do you like to eat? Little white mice?”

As if it understood him, the snake slowly raised its head and began to climb up the inner wall.

The snake’s head reflected a dark, iridescent glow that spread down its body. As its belly undulated, the light flowed along the patterns of its scales, subtly shifting.

Its eyes were larger than those of a typical pet snake, golden and transparent with vertical pupils like those of a venomous python, yet it was only a twenty to thirty-centimeter harmless snake.

The snake’s head continued to draw closer, nearly reaching the edge of the gap, and the frequency of its tongue-flicking increased.

From Luo Qi’s perspective, it looked like a black, soft little bun gradually growing larger, embroidered with two golden beans on either side.

Thump. He dropped the lid, hitting the snake right on the tip of its nose.

The little snake tumbled to the side, falling clumsily back to the bottom of the tank.

“You aren’t allowed out. Stay put.”

He had never raised a snake, but he knew very well that if a snake escaped, catching it would be a massive headache.

Once the door was shut, the red wine scent dissipated within seconds.

Luo Qi pulled the small ring and lifted the door again, taking a few more breaths of the air.

It really did smell wonderful. He began to suspect there was poppy in this “wine.”

Seeing the door open again, the little snake’s eyes brightened, and it began to move upward once more. This time, it pressed itself tightly against the right-angled corner, moving quickly and steadily.

Click. Luo Qi dropped the door, tapping the snake down. The snake’s head retracted, then stubbornly surged upward again.

“You’re quite playful,” Luo Qi couldn’t help but chuckle. “Can’t you just stay down there?”

He used his free hand to grab a small set of feeding tongs from the table, pressing them gently against the snake’s nose.

The snake’s head moved to the side, and the tip of the tongs followed. It struggled to climb up, attempting to coil around the tongs, but Luo Qi gave them a couple of sharp shakes, making the snake lose its grip and fall.

Luo Qi was having a great time playing with the snake when Fang Xi arrived. Holding breakfast in his left hand and a thick Guide to Snake Husbandry in his right, Fang Xi unlocked the door with an iris scan, only to witness this scene.

Their respected, beautiful, and dignified General was currently huffing snake pheromones while poking a snake’s head for fun.

“Sir, what are you doing?” Fang Xi’s lip twitched. “Didn’t I say not to rush into opening the tank…”

“You’re here, Xizi.” Luo Qi snapped the lid shut and locked it. Deprived of its audience, the little snake held its head up in a daze.

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” He sat cross-legged on the floor by the marble table in the center of the room, patting the fabric cushion next to him. “Come, sit.”

The room was climate-controlled, warm and comfortable. Luo Qi wasn’t wearing socks. His white fleece slippers were placed neatly to one side, and his legs were tucked to the side, sinking into the beige plush carpet, revealing half of a pale, supple foot.

His feet were slightly longer than those of a typical Omega, with slender, well-shaped toes. There were calluses on his joints and his ankle bones were clearly defined, with a faint burn scar on the top of his foot.

Fang Xi caught a glimpse of the General’s foot in his peripheral vision and forced himself to look away, walking around the table to sit on a cushion further away.

“This is the beginner’s book,” Fang Xi said, placing the book on the table and pushing the bowl of porridge forward with his left hand. “And here is breakfast.”

“Thank you.” Luo Qi picked up a spoon, scooped some porridge, and blew on it at his lips.

“It’s a bit hot. You shouldn’t eat cold things right now,” Fang Xi glanced under the table again. “Your feet too, you need to keep warm.”

“Relax, I’m already recovered.”

Luo Qi opened his mouth and took a sip of the porridge. He ate with elegance, the rising steam misting his eyelashes.

The General was someone who cared about quality of life, even if he was just eating hardtack on a march, he would chew slowly and carefully. The soldiers often watched him eat in secret. Whether he was naturally oblivious or simply used to being the center of attention, he never showed any sign of discomfort.

Like those soldiers, Fang Xi enjoyed watching the General eat, it brought him a sense of inner peace.

Luo Qi held the spoon in his right hand and pulled the book over with his left to flip through it. “Where did this book come from?”

“Adjutant Jiang borrowed it from someone. But don’t worry, no one knows about last night except for the soldiers who were present.”

That was hard to guarantee. With so many people there, even if they were tight-lipped, there would always be someone who loved to gossip.

Luo Qi, however, didn’t much care.

He pushed the book aside and went back to his porridge, only to feel a physical gaze landing on the top of his head.

Inside the tank, the little snake was staring at him through the glass with an expression of longing.

Luo Qi seemed to find something amusing, as the corners of his eyes crinkled involuntarily.

“Tell me, is a snake’s eyesight really that poor?”

“It’s very poor, especially for a small snake like this.” Fang Xi followed his gaze. Good grief, the man and the snake were actually staring at each other from across the room.

“At this distance, it shouldn’t be able to see you clearly.” Fang Xi couldn’t help but sigh. Normally, crowds of people looked up to the General, but he had never seen the General return a gaze so tenderly.

The power of pheromones was truly too strong.

Luo Qi bit the tip of his spoon, observing the snake’s movements with interest. The little creature was wriggling in the tank, its body pressed against the glass, coiling itself around and around until it had three tiers.

Its head was pointed directly toward Luo Qi while its body remained still. If not for the tiny tongue flicking out, it would have looked like it was carved from stone.

“I think it can see me,” Luo Qi said, stirring the hot porridge in his bowl. “Its eyesight must be quite good.”

“It’s likely the scent,” Fang Xi tried to explain. “Snakes identify their environment through smell.”

“But that’s an isolation tank. It shouldn’t be able to smell anything outside.”

“Not necessarily. It is an S-rank snake, after all.”

Luo Qi remained noncommittal. He stopped looking at the snake and went back to his meal.

Seeing that he was no longer paying attention, the snake in the tank seemed to grow anxious. Its tiny tail tip emerged from beneath its coiled body and began to slap against the glass.

Thump, thump. The slapping sound grew louder, finally drawing Luo Qi’s attention.

“Look, it’s calling me,” Luo Qi put down his spoon, interlacing his fingers and resting his chin on the back of his hands. “It really can see me.”

“Sir, its brain is only the size of a walnut.”

“Yes, but it’s a differentiated snake,” Luo Qi said with a smile toward the tank. “It has mental power, it might even have intelligence.”

“Maybe.” Fang Xi’s brow furrowed into a knot.

The General, who had never yielded to any S-rank Alpha, was actually being charmed by a snake.

This monster was truly eerie.

“Actually, keeping this snake here isn’t appropriate,” he tried to bring Luo Qi back to his senses. “It might have a psychological influence on you. Usually, it should be locked in a separate room and only brought out for use during your heat.”

“Am I really that easily influenced?” Luo Qi pursed his lips. “Fang Xi, why are you so fond of contradicting me today?”

The General was displeased. Fang Xi had no choice but to shut up.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. A light screen popped up on Luo Qi’s wrist, showing Jiang Luo-yi.

“Sir, is now a convenient time?” He looked exhausted, as if he were forcing himself to stay alert. “I’m here to report.”

“Come in.”

The circular hatch slid open. Jiang Luo-yi stepped into the foyer, instinctively finding a pair of disposable slippers from the cabinet to change into. His right hand was wrapped in gauze.

“Your hand, was it the snake?” Luo Qi stood up and walked toward him. “Let me see.”

His clean feet stepped across the expensive cork flooring. As they flexed, his small toes flushed red from the pressure.

When Jiang Luo-yi looked up, he saw two long, slender, and powerful legs connected to those feet. The tips of his ears turned red uncontrollably.

“It’s nothing serious,” he said, his expression calm and practiced as he smoothed his hair back with his left hand. “Just a minor wound.”

He held out his right hand, allowing Luo Qi to pull back a corner of the gauze to reveal several puncture marks.

They were tiny holes forming a semi-circle on the web of his hand, and the bleeding had already stopped.

“Come over here, I have some Qingyun Ointment.”

Qingyun Ointment was a precious medicine for external injuries. While the medical bay on the ship had it, they wouldn’t use it for such a small scratch.

Luo Qi pulled a small, blue-black ceramic jar from the safe under the television.

“I only brought one jar this time, so you can’t take it with you,” he said, using a soft spatula to scoop out a small amount of the bitter-smelling white paste. “One application is enough, it’ll be halfway healed by tomorrow.”

“Thank you, General.”

Jiang Luo-yi knelt by the table with his hand resting on it while Luo Qi applied the medicine. Fang Xi watched in silence.

This wasn’t the first time Luo Qi had bandaged a subordinate, but Jiang Luo-yi cherished such opportunities.

For a rare moment, the General’s gaze was focused solely on him.

However, he felt a sudden chill down his spine.

The sharpness honed on the battlefield prompted him to raise his eyes and scan the room, where he met a pair of sinister eyes.

The little snake was coiled in its tank, its golden pupils staring him down. A vicious hissing sound seemed to echo in his ears, and the snake appeared to pass through the glass, flowing down from the table like liquid—

His relaxed palm suddenly clenched into a fist.

“What’s wrong?” Luo Qi noticed his tension and paused with the spatula. “Does it hurt?”

“Sir! That snake” He widened his eyes, his urgent voice causing both people present to whip their heads toward the tank.

But the little snake was merely pressed harmlessly against the bottom edge of the glass, its head buried in the newspaper while its tail flicked upward in a bored manner.

Everything that just happened felt like a hallucination.

“What about the snake?” Luo Qi looked around in confusion. “Luo-yi?”

Jiang Luo-yi’s mouth hung half-open, his handsome face turning a sickly shade of grey.