When the Major General Omega Picked Up a Little Snake Alpha - Chapter 8

Luo Qi noticed the little guy had stopped moving, so he reached out his index finger and gently stroked its head.

“What’s wrong? Is my drawing not good?”

He turned the sketchpad over and over, checking it repeatedly. The lines were a bit uneven, but it shouldn’t be that ugly, right? Xiao Yu always praised his drawings as being “vivid and interesting.”

“You don’t like it?” A hint of disappointment flickered across Luo Qi’s face.

The little snake didn’t know how to respond. First, he couldn’t speak, and second…

He really didn’t want to admit that this was supposed to be him. Was this how he looked in the eyes of his Little Fruit?

With a swift whoosh, the little snake darted away, vanishing into the rows of display shelves.

“Wait, where are you going?” Luo Qi stood up in a hurry to chase after him, glancing left and right to make sure all the screen windows were locked.

After weaving through several rows of shelves, he found the little snake at the very back. On this wall hung a four-meter-long yoga mirror, and the little snake was perched right in the center of it. A tiny black line, it looked like a crack on the mirror’s surface.

It was looking at its own reflection.

Luo Qi walked up behind it cautiously, afraid of startling it. He quietly lifted his left wrist and snapped a secret photo.

So, it was a vain little snake who liked looking in mirrors.

He couldn’t help but want to laugh, his lips curving into a slight arc. After chuckling to himself for a moment, he realized something was off.

How did Xiao Hei know there was a mirror back here?

The little snake wasn’t actually being vain. He just wanted to confirm his current appearance. Fortunately, he was still as handsome as ever. He had almost thought that upon arriving in this galaxy, he had mutated into an entirely different species.

The little snake tilted his tiny head and came to a conclusion.

Little Fruit’s artistic skills were deeply concerning. And he wasn’t even self-aware about it. All the models in the display cases looked perfectly normal, so why did everything become so peculiar when it came to him?

The little snake grew gloomy again, and that was when Luo Qi knelt behind him and scooped him up by his belly. The little snake followed the motion, curling his tail and forebody around Luo Qi’s forearm.

Little Fruit’s arm emitted a faint fruity fragrance, like a sweet and sour berry. Apparently, it was cherry.

The little snake rubbed his head against the back of Luo Qi’s hand. He casually flicked his forked tongue a couple of times, tasting the flavor of his Little Fruit.

Luo Qi felt a damp, itchy sensation on the back of his left hand. The snake’s tongue tickled him so much that his palm clenched tight.

“Alright, stop running around,” he said, using his bandaged right hand to touch its head, gently straightening it. “When you’re wrapped around me, don’t move so much.”

The little snake became obediently still, resting its head back on its own body.

Luo Qi brought him back to the sketchpad. He had thought of a method and was ready to test it.

“If you think my drawing is okay, use your tail to draw a circle on it,” Luo Qi demonstrated by gesturing at the board. “If you think this one is ugly, draw an X,” he lowered his gaze, “and I’ll draw a new one.”

The little snake raised its head to face him, as if observing him.

“Do you understand what I just said?” Luo Qi asked, picking up the sketchpad and resting his left arm on top so the tip of the snake’s tail could reach it. “If you understand, draw something with your tail.”

The little snake hesitated, the tip of its tail pressing against the “head” of that fat caterpillar on the board. He really didn’t want to admit that was the head of a living creature. The worms on his home planet looked better than this.

However, if he drew an X, Little Fruit would have to draw another one for him. He shifted his eyes back a few degrees to observe Little Fruit’s expression.

Luo Qi’s lips were pressed tight, his face a mix of anticipation and nerves. It seemed Little Fruit cared a lot about his opinion.

His tail tip moved sluggishly across the board, and then, slowly… he drew a circle.

Forget it, he didn’t want to be drawn a second time.

Luo Qi let out a soft sigh of relief and stroked the little snake from its neck down.

“Good boy,” he praised, his fingertips feeling the snake’s warmth.

Perhaps because of the self-heating mat, the snake’s body temperature was now slightly warmer than his own, making it feel especially comfortable to the touch. Its belly wrapped around his arm with soft strength, and where it met his skin, it felt cozy and warm.

Luo Qi pulled his left arm toward his chest and took a small device out of the soft block box with his right hand, recording the pattern from the sketchpad.

With a click, a wobbly, fat worm appeared on the exterior mold of the block maker. After a few minutes, that eyesore of a pattern finally vanished, replaced by the words “Completed.”

Luo Qi carefully removed the mold. The soft blocks had taken shape inside; now he just needed to break them apart and reassemble them. Although these blocks appeared in a complete form initially, they had to be reassembled to connect the internal nodes.

“Alright, let’s begin,” Luo Qi said, picking up the blocks to inspect them. “Strange, why did it turn out so chubby?”

Xiao Hei: “…”

“It’s fine, this will do for now. It’s better than the ones made by the auto-shaping feature anyway.”

Xiao Hei: I highly doubt that.

Luo Qi placed the little snake back on the floor and knocked over the soft blocks, starting the assembly from the snake’s tail. Because he had selected the “snake” option, the texture of these blocks was very close to serpentine scales.

The touch was realistic, but compared to the actual little snake, it still fell quite short.

The snake coiled by his feet, its body sliding restlessly against the foam mat. Like a thick leather cord, it moved until Luo Qi looked up and saw that the snake had bundled several blocks together in its coils.

Those happened to be the pieces for the snake’s head. Since Luo Qi wouldn’t need those for a while, he lowered his head and continued working, assuming Xiao Hei just wanted to play.

He assembled them very seriously. When putting blocks together, his mind was clear of distractions, focusing only on the work at hand. The specialized blocks provided various tactile sensations. Luo Qi was sensitive to touch; he enjoyed using his palms to feel the different block types.

Furry animals, cold mechs, and soft, smooth snake skin.

He was immersed in the task of building the little fat snake, and soon, only the head remained.

“Xiao Hei, give me those blocks.” He held out his palm toward the snake, but heard no movement. Looking up, he saw that the little snake had somehow slipped back into the glass house and was watching him through the glass.

Those blocks were still tightly coiled within the back half of the snake’s body.

“What did you take those for?”

Luo Qi stood up to catch him. Seeing him approach, the little snake scurried into his box with the blocks, leaving a “snake nose” piece rolling on the floor.

“What are you running for?” Luo Qi was amused; this little guy was quite agile.

He leaned over to pick up the lonely snake-nose block. “There’s only one step left. If you don’t give them back, your model won’t have a head.”

Xiao Hei curled up on his mat, clenching the last few blocks with a look of “give me liberty or give me death,” refusing to let go.

Luo Qi reached out to lift him, but the snake squeezed tighter, forming several overlapping loops with the blocks wedged in the middle. When Luo Qi tried to grab a piece with his other hand, the snake flicked its tail against his finger a clear gesture of refusal.

With a clack, another block from the eye section fell out.

“What’s going on?” Luo Qi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “You want these blocks?”

The little snake hooked its tail, wobbling as it hugged the remaining three pieces.

“But if you do that, the model won’t have a head,” Luo Qi tried to reason with him. “A snake without a head doesn’t look good.”

The little snake ignored him, acting small yet stubborn.

“Alright then,” Luo Qi didn’t have the heart to take them by force, so he gave up. “I’ll let you have these for now.”

He’d just wait until the snake got bored of them to take them back. Luo Qi did recall the “Care Manual” mentioning that snakes often needed to coil around objects to feel secure. He had forgotten to prepare toys for the little snake, so these blocks would have to serve that purpose for now.

He set the snake down and placed the headless, fat snake model on the display shelf. It wasn’t just headless; the body was crooked and uneven, and at a glance, it looked like it had been chewed on in several places.

The little snake rested its head on the edge of the box, using its enhanced vision to observe that weird black blob of a creature on the shelf.

Good. Without a head, no one could guess it was supposed to be a snake.

Luo Qi tidied up the activity room, changed the snake’s water to a fresh bowl, and locked the glass house once more. He found two “surveillance beetles” and installed them in the room.

He was now certain the little snake had escaped last night. Otherwise, it couldn’t have found the mirror behind the display shelves so skillfully. Though the floor-to-ceiling mirror was large, it was at the opposite end of the activity room from the snake house, separated by five rows of staggered display shelves. A person standing here couldn’t even see the mirror, let alone a tiny snake.

But it was truly bizarre. How on earth did it unlock the cage and then get back in?

After finishing these tasks, he moved the snake’s box to another room temporarily, waiting for the designer of the ventilation holes to arrive.

The designer installed the pheromone isolation vents and advised him to reinforce the entire glass house, charging him for several “large reptile pet design blueprints.”

Luo Qi didn’t want the designer to know about the little snake. Although this man had been to the Luo estate before, Luo Qi didn’t know him well.

By the time everything was finished, evening had passed. Once the person left, Luo Qi moved the snake back into the glass house. He pulled up a chair and spread the blueprints on the floor for the snake to choose from.

“Which one do you like?”

The little snake slid over to the drawings, tilting its head back and forth to study them, finally stopping at the simplest one. No rockery, no pond—just a single imitation tree trunk, a water purifier by the door, and a pit for feeder mice next to it.

Luo Qi cupped the snake in his hands, stroking its head with his other hand. “So simple?”

It seemed his little snake didn’t like overly complex designs. Luo Qi made a mental note of it.

As night fell, Luo Qi, having played with the snake all day, began to handle other matters. There was a pile of unread messages on his phone, work-related and private—that he hadn’t had time to check.

Luo Qi returned to the study and fed a small frozen mouse to the ordinary snake, observing it for a moment. Although this snake looked very similar to Xiao Hei, they were fundamentally different.

Luo Qi could tell at a glance; this one lacked that intelligence and mental presence, and it certainly couldn’t understand human speech. This was a true pet snake with a brain the size of a walnut.

So, what kind of creature was Xiao Hei exactly?

He had planned to find a vet to take a look. But after today, he changed his mind. If Xiao Hei really was a rare, highly intelligent mutant, the fewer people who knew, the better. After all, there were many people with ill intentions, and too many eyes were fixed on him.

He opened his computer to browse the news, and a headline among the trending topics caught his eye:

[The Luo Starship Has Landed on the Home Planet, Personally Received by General Xue Ying of Dongwei.]

The article featured a photo of him just as he stepped out of the waiting hall, holding the snake carrier, with Xue Ying standing right at the entrance. He read the news several times, confirming there was no mention of the word “snake.”

It seemed he had been photographed after leaving the building.

Luo Qi sat in the study until late into the night. When he finally returned to his bedroom, he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

When he woke up, he first went to the training room to hit the sandbag for a while, then dove back into the activity room to play with the new blocks with the little snake.

Three days passed quickly. On his display shelf, there was now a row of strangely shaped, black, long-bodied creatures, all of which were missing heads.

On the fourth day, the Governor’s birthday banquet arrived.

When Luo Qi came out of the training room, he didn’t go back into the activity room. Instead, he took a shower and changed into a long suit, tying his hair back loosely.

The outfit was custom-made, with a jacket similar to a black tailcoat, silver embroidery on the shoulders and collar, and a hem that hit just above the knees. The white shirt and trousers underneath made his legs look exceptionally long and straight.

Luo Qi adjusted his collar absentmindedly, picked up his small travel bag, and headed out. As he passed the activity room, he took a peek inside.

The little snake had been sleeping a moment ago, but now it held its head up, watching him.

“I have to go out, I might not be back today,” he said, standing before the glass house and confirming the door was locked. “Wait for me at home, don’t go running off.”

The little snake gazed at him expectantly, arching its body as it crawled out of its box. It slithered forward until it reached Luo Qi, its belly pressing against the glass door as it tried to climb. However, the door was too slippery, and after a few wriggles, its belly slid back down.

“What are you trying to do?” Luo Qi knelt by the door to tease it. “You don’t want to come with me, do you?”

The little snake pressed its nose against the glass, and its tail drew a circle on the ground.

“In your dreams,” Luo Qi poked at its nose through the glass. “Go back to sleep like a good boy.”

The little snake drew an X on the floor, then started drawing a circle again. The tip of its tail trembled slightly, clumsy yet determined.

“I can’t talk now, I have to go.” Luo Qi stood up to leave, looking back once more before closing the door.

The little snake was still watching from afar, looking like a little puppy whose owner was going out while it was locked inside.

It was so strange. He actually saw the temperament of a cat or dog in a snake.

Luo Qi closed the door and gave a final wave. “Wait for me to come back.”

He left the house and got into an automated car, sitting in the back row. He cracked the window slightly and pulled the small curtain across to hide himself.

A ringtone sounded. He pulled his phone out of his bag; it was a message from Luo Xiaoyu.

[Luo Xiaoyu: Brother, I’m heading out.] [Luo Qi: Me too.] [Luo Xiaoyu: See you soon then. I told Brother Fang and the others, I’ll wait for you in the lobby.] [Luo Qi: Okay.]

He put the phone back in his bag and leaned against the seat for a moment, waiting for the car’s smart voice system to start. However, two minutes passed, and nothing happened.

“Start the car,” Luo Qi called out to the voice robot at the top of the cabin. “Are you there?”

No one responded, making him feel a bit foolish. He hadn’t bought this car long ago; every time he got in, the robot would automatically ask for his destination. This was the first time there had been a problem.

He had no choice but to move to the driver’s seat and fiddle with the control console, trying to wake up the internal robot.

Luo Qi worked at the front for a long time, completely failing to notice anything unusual in the rearview mirror. A small black tail flashed across the spot where he had been sitting just moments before.

Frowning, he waited for the system to reboot until he finally heard a beep.

“Hello, Luo Qi. Where would you like to go?”

“Shelley Gardens.”

Shelley Gardens was the largest resort on the Home Planet. It had everything: hotels, amusement parks, beaches, and restaurants. It was located in the center of Landen City, suspended in mid-air—a massive artificial crystal sphere. The buildings inside were stacked on floating islands, and it required a VIP flyer to reach.

Because of this, the foot traffic wasn’t heavy. The ticket for the flyer alone cost 20,000 star coins, and there were entrance fees once you arrived; ordinary people couldn’t afford it.

When Luo Qi arrived, the sound of lively voices rose outside. He pulled back a corner of the curtain to look out. The parking lot entrance was crowded with people, mostly reporters mixed with fans holding light boards with English letters on them.

It seemed to be the stage name of some star. But Luo Qi hadn’t watched TV dramas in years, let alone followed celebrities. In a way, although he was still young, his lifestyle was as monotonous as his father’s, with only one or two fixed activities on his days off.

The car pulled into a space, and he stepped out carrying his small bag, led by an attendant. There were security controls here, so there were only a few scattered people along the way.

These people were dressed in formal wear. When their eyes met, they would smile and nod at him, and one man even gave him a salute. Luo Qi didn’t recognize any of them, but he knew they had seen his face and would likely be at the banquet, so he returned the smile.

They were all polite smiles, devoid of emotion and even a bit cold.

He reached the entrance to the landing pad, where a familiar figure stood, tall and conspicuous. Xue Ying was wearing a suit, his long, straight limbs and well-proportioned muscles hidden beneath high-quality fabric. He seemed to have been waiting there for a long time and waved at Luo Qi.

“Why didn’t you reply to my messages? What on earth have you been busy with these past two days?”

“Busy being on vacation.” Luo Qi looked him up and down. “Why are you standing here?”

“Waiting for you. I’ll take you to buy your ticket.”

The two of them didn’t say anything more. Luo Qi followed him forward, reflexively reaching into his bag, only to touch something slippery and soft.

“What’s wrong?” Xue Ying, his back to him, turned his head slightly. “Did you forget something?”

Luo Qi looked down into the bag, his hand freezing.

He saw the little snake wrapped around his phone, looking up at him with innocent eyes.

“It’s nothing,” Luo Qi zipped the bag shut with a zip. “Let’s go.”