When the Major General Omega Picked Up a Little Snake Alpha - Chapter 6

Luo Qi returned to the Luo estate and took a day to rest.

Luo Xiaoyu and Jiang Luoyi ran into a mountain of paperwork, and it wasn’t until late that they finally finished purchasing the decoy snake. Luo Qi told them to head home and sleep, instructed them to find him at the estate the following day.

As a General’s residence, the mansion was nearly as grand as a palace. He, Xiaoyu, and their father each had their own separate two-story wings, and the gardens featured flower sheds along with a few workers’ cottages.

However, since his mother passed away, the estate had been largely neglected. Luo Qi treated his battleship as his home, and Luo Xiaoyu had his own small apartment in the city. As for the elder Luo, after being stationed at the North Star, he couldn’t even be bothered to visit once a year.

He had even abandoned the school-aged Luo Xiaoyu, acting as if neither of them were his biological children. Luo Qi occasionally suspected the man had a secret second family out at the North Star.

But Luo Qi didn’t care enough to investigate, he preferred it if his father didn’t come back at all. The man never had a kind word to say anyway.

In the activity room adjacent to his bedroom, Luo Qi cleared out a large space to set up a glass enclosure. It measured about four and a half meters in length and width, when the little snake was placed inside, it occupied only a pitifully small corner.

The glass enclosure was a modified greenhouse shed with a small door for a person to enter and exit, though the pheromone filter holes hadn’t been completed yet.

“You shouldn’t have let it out yet, the workers for the filter holes aren’t arriving until tomorrow,” Fang Xi said from outside, offering a useless bit of persuasion.

He had slept in the guest room next door last night, but with the constant banging and clanging outside, it was clear Luo Qi had been tinkering with the glass room all night. It was as if he were possessed, refusing to rest until it was finished. Eventually, Fang Xi had to get up and help. The two of them worked until three in the morning to get the snake’s home ready.

Luo Qi was currently crouching inside the glass room, feeding the snake a small mouse. It was a fresh, frozen-thawed mouse. The moment it dropped, the snake slid out of its isolated transport case and coiled tightly around it.

It looked famished, snapping its jaws and engulfing the mouse in a few quick gulps. After swallowing, a small bulge appeared in the snake’s neck. It rippled its belly, pushing the food down for a bit, then huddled in the corner to rest.

Seeing it settle down, Luo Qi reached out with his uninjured hand and poked the bulging stomach.

The little snake seemed stimulated, its head tilted toward him, tongue flickering rapidly as its body curled into a tight, difficult ball.

“Full now?” Luo Qi asked with a smile in his eyes. “Let me give you a little massage.”

He used two fingers to gently squeeze the snake’s body, stroking its scales.

It was a novel sensation, not the cold, slimy feeling one might expect, but dry and silky smooth, with a slightly cool body temperature.

“Xizi, go grab me a self-heating blanket. It’s in the bottom drawer of the dressing room.”

As Fang Xi walked out, he cautioned, “Be careful… actually, never mind.”

“Don’t worry, it’s full now, it’s even less likely to bite,” Luo Qi waved him off. “Hurry up.”

Snakes are ectotherms. Luo Qi planned to set up a heated blanket so it could lie on it whenever it felt cold.

He held the small snake’s body, moving his fingertips down inch by inch. The coiled snake was smoothed out by his touch, its tail restlessly wrapping around his wrist.

Having removed his jacket, Luo Qi’s left forearm was mostly exposed. The snake’s soft underbelly pressed against his skin, slowly tightening. However, only the back half of its body was coiled around him. The front half was much clumsier because of the mouse it had just eaten.

Luo Qi really wanted to pick up the whole thing and knead it in his hands. The little snake felt incredibly good to the touch.

He stroked down the scales as if he were petting a cat. Under this enthusiastic petting, the little snake grew flustered. While its tail was still wrapped around Luo Qi’s hand, its upper body tried desperately to move away.

Its rut wasn’t over yet. The human’s fingertips were supple and warm, and this kind of handling was becoming a bit too much to handle. Moreover, the person was getting more enthusiastic by the second, with no intention of stopping.

The little snake started to regret its earlier playfulness with the beauty.

Straining its head forward, it finally dove into the hole of the isolation box, attempting to escape the human’s “clutches.”

Luo Qi gave a light tug, pulling the snake’s head back out of the box.

“Don’t be nervous, you need to digest well after eating. Relax,” he soothed in a soft voice, his hands never pausing for a moment.

“Commander, a snake needs to stay still and rest right after eating,” Fang Xi’s voice came from behind, “not be squeezed and rubbed around.”

“Oh, is that so?” Luo Qi reluctantly let go of the snake. “Then you should rest for a while.”

The moment the snake hit the ground, it vanished back into the box with a whoosh.

Apparently, it didn’t care much for this luxury glass palace.

Luo Qi took the small blanket, cleared the wood shavings out of the isolation box, and tucked the blanket into a corner. He also pulled out the filter plugs of the box so the little snake could move in and out freely.

While cleaning the shavings, a small piece of paper caught his eye, it was the tag printed with “OS.”

“OS… is this its name?”

“Not sure. It was in the box from the start. I didn’t see cards like this in the other animal cages,” Fang Xi replied.

Luo Qi put the card back into the box. The little snake was now coiled on the blanket, looking like a knotted metallic hose.

“Do you have a name?” Luo Qi asked the snake. “Let’s give you one.”

The snake didn’t move, its head resting on its coiled body, rising and falling with its breath.

“I’ll call you Little Black,” Luo Qi poked its body again. “Simple and easy to remember. What do you think?”

The tip of the snake’s tail hooked lazily around his finger in response.

Luo Qi was delighted. A little snake that understood human nature was practically a miracle. However, this secret had to be kept well. He didn’t want to attract too much attention.

“Fang Xi, don’t tell anyone that this snake understands human speech, not even Luoyi.”

“Understood.”

Luo Qi crouched by the snake box, watching the little snake sleep for another half an hour.

The General really likes this snake, Fang Xi couldn’t help but sigh. The last time he had seen Luo Qi this invested was when he was building models.

His General had a strange, childlike side. He was decisive and ruthless on the battlefield, but his hobbies were identical to those of his ten-year-old nephew.

The activity room was massive. On the other side of the room stood rows of display cabinets filled with hand-assembled models. There were cannons, spaceships, battleships, and yachts. Occasionally, one could see animal models, but no kittens or puppies, only fierce creatures like crocodiles and bears.

Fang Xi had a premonition that a row of model snakes would soon appear here.

“Commander, Adjutant Jiang and the others are about to arrive,” he reminded Luo Qi.

“Right,” Luo Qi stood up lingeringly. “Let’s go down and prepare.”

They still had a lot to handle. The battleship was docked at the capital planet for only a month. Once the paperwork was approved, they would be transferred to the South Star.

Not all crew members would be going. Luo Qi needed to gauge the intentions of his subordinates and confirm who would follow him to the South Star. Additionally, there were countless meetings to attend this month. Reporting combat results and handling necessary social engagements were all waiting for him.

Luo Qi brewed a pot of tea in the study to process documents, while Fang Xi acted as a temporary butler, operating robots to clean the house.

When Jiang Luoyi entered, Luo Xiaoyu followed close behind. They placed a small box by the door containing a dark snake that looked very similar to Little Black.

“Brother!” Luo Xiaoyu lunged at Luo Qi’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around his neck. “You finally decided to come back! Did you miss me?”

Luo Xiaoyu carried a milky, sweet scent of perfume, and his entire person felt “milky” too. His skin was fair with a rosy tint, his voice was soft and waxy, and his round eyes shared the same color as Luo Qi’s hair and eyes, though his hair was kept short.

He was a head shorter than Luo Qi and hung off him entirely.

Luo Qi ruffled the boy’s short hair. “I did.”

Aside from their father, Xiaoyu was his only family. Having spent years drifting in space, whenever he thought of home, he only thought of Xiaoyu.

“Come in, both of you,” Luo Qi led them inside. “How long has it been since you lived here? There’s dust everywhere.”

“I’ve been staying over there the past six months because work was busy,” Xiaoyu grumbled in explanation. “Uncle Shen went back to his hometown. I told him, and he’ll be here to clean up in a couple of days.”

Uncle Shen was the Luo family’s old butler. However, since the masters of the house were rarely around, his job was quite leisurely.

“Hmm…” Luo Qi thought for a moment. “Is Uncle Shen afraid of snakes?”

“That… I’ll have to ask him.”

“It’s fine. Just tell him not to go into the third-floor activity room.”

“Is the snake on the third floor?” Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up. “I want to see!”

He started running toward the door, bumping into Jiang Luoyi, who quickly stepped aside.

“Wait a second, Xiaoyu,” Luo Qi hurriedly chased after him.

In the blink of an eye, only two people remained in the study. Fang Xi was still fiddling with the robot’s remote control, while Jiang Luoyi sat on the sofa, staring blankly at a pile of folders on the table.

“Adjutant Jiang,” Fang Xi tilted his head toward him. “The General hasn’t finished the detailed registration forms for the South Star transfer yet.”

Jiang Luoyi glanced at the documents on the table.

“In a few days, Governor Xue is having a birthday party. The Commander has already received an invitation,” Fang Xi continued to hint. “He can bring someone along.”

Jiang Luoyi hadn’t received such an invitation. Although he was a Major General, he wasn’t high-ranking enough for a private birthday banquet.

“Are you saying?” he asked tentatively.

“Help the Commander share his burdens. I can’t handle it all by myself,” Fang Xi said, disappearing behind the bookshelf to tinker with a robot.

Jiang Luoyi took the hint and opened the folder, resignedly beginning to study the tables. Then, halfway through, he felt something was off.

Wait, isn’t making tables the job of a military assistant??

Upstairs, Luo Xiaoyu followed Luo Qi into the activity room with nervous anticipation.

In the vast glass room, the transport box sat in a corner. The snake hadn’t come out yet, likely still resting.

Luo Qi quietly opened the glass room, and as the two stood by the small box, Luo Xiaoyu whispered excitedly, “Wow, its skin is so beautiful! It glows!”

“His name is Little Black,” Luo Qi introduced. “He’s a naughty snake, he’s already bitten two people.”

Little Black, the naughty snake, shifted slightly on the blanket.

“Bitten people? Did he bite you?” Luo Xiaoyu noticed the gauze on Luo Qi’s right hand. Since Luo Qi was wearing a long-sleeved casual shirt and had his hand tucked in his sleeve earlier, it hadn’t been obvious.

“No, he bit Luoyi and Xue Ying. This is a different injury.” Luo Qi pulled his sleeve down further. “He likes to bite Alphas, but you still need to be careful. You aren’t allowed in here alone.”

“Okay, I got it,” Luo Xiaoyu agreed obediently, looking around. “Brother, why is this room so big? Little Black shouldn’t need all this space, right?”

“This way I can fit a rockery and a pond.”

“A rockery? A pond?” Luo Xiaoyu looked suspicious. Since when did keeping a tiny snake require all that?

“Yes,” Luo Qi nodded. “I plan to hire an ecological designer to style the glass room. I want it fitted with wheels so it can be disassembled and moved.”

“Oh, well…” Luo Xiaoyu scratched his head. It sounded like a bit much, but it was exactly the kind of thing his brother would do.

“Little Black, you’re so lucky,” he couldn’t help but sigh. “Brother has never been this nice to anyone.”

“Am I not nice to you?” Luo Qi pinched his cheek. “Didn’t I buy that apartment for you?”

Luo Xiaoyu pouted. “You never even visited! You bought it and then left me here all alone, just like Dad, never coming back all year round”

“Alright, alright. I’ve been transferred back, I’ll be around often from now on,” Luo Qi patted his head to comfort him.

The digesting little snake, hearing the commotion, quietly poked its head up to peek. It saw another human, one who looked very similar to the “little fruit,” but with short hair. However, this human didn’t smell like fruit, so it wasn’t interested.

Flicking its tongue, the snake turned its gaze back to the long-haired little fruit.

The little fruit walked over, and as the snake looked up, it saw the hand that had been petting it earlier reaching out again. The snake curled its head back, retreating onto the blanket, looking small and helpless.

Unfortunately, it had nowhere to run.

“His temperament isn’t actually that bad, he’s quite easy to handle,” Luo Qi said, pinching the snake’s body and lifting it up. “He’s pretty cute.”

The snake frantically wrapped itself around his fingers, its small head darting back and forth as its forked tongue flickered rapidly.

“But he recognizes scents. Only I can touch him, you mustn’t handle him,” Luo Qi said, his fingers holding the snake while his other hand stroked its head. “Understand?”

“Fine, fine,” Luo Xiaoyu stared huffily at the snake. “He’s your exclusive little snake, happy now?”

“Yes.” Luo Qi kneaded the snake, his palm cupping its wriggling belly.

The snake’s stomach twitched under the touch, and the scent of red wine began to diffuse into the air again.

Only then did Luo Qi remember that the snake was still in its rut and might not be suited for too much physical contact.

Had he overplayed his hand?

Luo Qi carefully put the snake back. The little creature lunged into the padding, its tail slapping against the wall of the box with a sharp thwack.

“Brother, it smells so good in this room,” Luo Xiaoyu sniffed the air. “Did you just have some wine?”