Chapter 237: Do You Like Hatchlings?: If you leave prison, would you consider having a hatchling?

An Ruo went with Ulysses to visit Enzo.

In fact, as early as the day Axel hatched, Enzo had already shared the good news with all his friends and family.

This Female Zerg, who had all the makings of someone obsessed with hatchlings, had even taken adorable pictures of the little hatchling and posted them on social media.

He had only run into a little trouble when trying to inform the Lord at the prison.

First of all, he did not have that Lord’s private terminal number.

Soothing Specialists in the Military Regions had a special status. Unless those Lords voluntarily gave out their terminal numbers, asking a Soothing Specialist for his terminal number while being both a military female and a commanding officer was a serious disciplinary violation.

Of course, there were other ways to solve the problem. Although Enzo himself was no longer at the First Military Region Prison, the troops he had brought there were still stationed there, so passing along a message was not difficult.

But his subordinate hesitantly told him that, aside from the scheduled soothing sessions, the Lord had not appeared at all over the past two days.

At first, Enzo thought the Lord had simply shut himself inside his room and refused to see anyone. But after noticing his subordinate’s strange reaction, he realized it was not that simple.

He had not appeared... because the Lord had gone out.

He had left the prison.

That was a major event.

Because Axel was about to hatch, the Marshal had forcibly put Enzo on leave, with Major General Iso temporarily taking over his duties and managing the prison alongside Major General Uriel, including responsibility for that Lord’s safety.

It could be said that the entire First Military Region Prison currently existed to serve that Lord.

That Lord was the very center of the prison.

For him to go out was a major event concerning the entire prison, perhaps even the entire Military Region.

Although Enzo was on leave at home, his troops remained in the First Military Region, and he was still one of the Zergs responsible for the matter. Yet something this significant had completely bypassed him without the slightest word reaching him.

That was highly unusual.

Unless...

The Zerg who had authorized the Lord to leave possessed higher authority than Enzo, had no obligation to report to him, and did not even need to notify him.

Remembering the Marshal’s unusual behavior at the Military Region Prison, Enzo formed a suspicion.

Therefore, when he received a visitation notice from the Marshal stating that he would be coming with a Male Lord, Enzo was not surprised.

He deliberately cleared the visiting schedule, declined every other visitor for the day, and even gave all the other Zergs in the household who helped care for the hatchling the day off, leaving no one else behind.

When he saw the Psychic Soothing Specialist accompanying the Marshal, Enzo quietly breathed a sigh of relief. There was a sense of everything finally falling into place, and he was glad he had sent everyone else away beforehand.

Still, he could not help wondering.

Wasn’t the Marshal supposedly dating that “An-shen”?

He had even specially renovated the Marshal’s residence according to a Male Zerg’s preferences, so why... was he still so close to his “ex-husband”?

The Marshal did not seem like the kind of scumbag who would string one Male Zerg along while being ambiguous with another.

Unless...

Enzo looked at the beautiful Male Zerg standing beside the Marshal. For a moment, his figure overlapped with that of the masked Male Zerg who had walked beside the Marshal at the Legion Celebration.

Enzo’s eyes slowly widened as an almost absurd suspicion occurred to him—yet upon closer consideration, it was the only reasonable explanation.

Perhaps the two Male Lords were actually the same Zerg.

One was the Soothing Specialist at the Military Region Prison, while the other was mysterious, his identity unknown. In an interstellar era where information was so readily available, there was inexplicably no information whatsoever about him.

If they were the same Zerg, then everything made sense.

Enzo knew that if this information ever got out, it would cause a massive uproar.

Although he did not know what purpose the Marshal and the Lord had in doing this, Enzo tactfully kept silent.

Do not investigate things that should not be investigated. That had always been his philosophy in life. Less trouble was always better than more trouble. He was not a particularly curious Zerg, and he hated complications.

Moreover, this Lord had done both him and Axel a great kindness.

The fact that he had provided pheromones for Axel alone was enough for Enzo to give him his utmost goodwill and support.

Enzo led the Male Lord and the Marshal toward the hatchling room when he suddenly remembered something else.

If his guess was correct, then that novel...

Outside the Male Zerg’s field of vision, Enzo’s expression stiffened slightly.

Why had the Lord written a novel about him and Axel?

And that novel had even been published before they met, before Enzo had brought the egg to the First Military Region.

At the time, only a handful of Zergs had even known the name “Axel.”

Was it a coincidence?

The entire situation was utterly baffling.

Enzo could not understand the Male Lord’s interests.

In the end, Enzo could only put aside his complicated thoughts and say to the Male Lord and the Marshal:

“We’ve arrived at the hatchling room. Please come in.”

The little hatchling had been a premature egg and was naturally frail. Although he had successfully hatched, he still looked noticeably smaller than an ordinary hatchling.

It was Enzo’s first time caring for such a tiny hatchling, and he was extremely nervous about everything. He had kept Axel in a room with an environment specially customized for hatchlings and did not dare take him out casually.

Even An Ruo and Ulysses had to wash their hands and undergo a full-body medical scan and sterilization before entering.

Ulysses glanced at Enzo.

Under the pressure of his gaze, Enzo said, “The little hatchling is frail. This is a necessary procedure...”

An Ruo cooperated readily. Seeing that, Ulysses said nothing and followed him inside to see the precious little “protagonist.”

When the automatic door opened and they entered the hatchling room, they saw a soft little hatchling sitting on the hatchling bed.

The adorable little hatchling had golden hair and snowy, pinkish-white skin, making him look like a tiny ball of snow. His huge pale-purple eyes were bright and clear, filled with the innocent purity unique to hatchlings. They looked like a pair of purple grape-shaped gemstones.

He was exceptionally adorable.

The little hatchling was hugging a milk fruit almost as large as himself. The tiny baby teeth of a Male Zerg hatchling could not bite through its skin, so all he could do was hug the milk fruit and roll around with it.

Hearing the door open, he keenly raised his head.

When he saw his “Female Parent,” his eyes lit up. Then he noticed the beautiful Male Zerg entering with his “Female Parent” and looked confused for a moment. But immediately afterward, he sensed that familiar, reassuring scent coming from him.

Little Axel’s eyes lit up again. He raised his short pink-and-white arms and babbled, asking to be held.

In the “dream,” An Ruo had accumulated plenty of experience caring for hatchlings. Picking up a little hatchling had become routine, and he was no longer as awkward and helpless as he had been in the beginning.

He walked over and steadily lifted little Axel with both hands, habitually testing his weight.

So light.

Much lighter than little Ulysses.

Although Male Zerg hatchlings and Female Zerg hatchlings could not be directly compared, and there were also differences between Tianjia hatchlings and Zerg hatchlings, An Ruo still felt that the hatchling he had raised had been sturdier.

A point for himself.

The little Male Zerg hatchling laughed happily as soon as An Ruo picked him up, waving his tiny arms around in delight.

When An Ruo tried to put him down, he refused and merely burrowed farther into An Ruo’s embrace.

An Ruo had no choice but to keep holding him, indulging the little hatchling.

Enzo had been somewhat worried at first. Only after seeing that the Male Lord did not reject interacting with the hatchling and that the hatchling was also very affectionate toward him did he finally relax.

Watching the heartwarming scene, Enzo’s expression softened.

“Little Axel really likes you.”

“Does he? Maybe little Axel still remembers me.” An Ruo played with little Axel.

Hatchlings instinctively felt close to Male Zergs who provided them with pheromones and psychic soothing, just as they instinctively felt close to the Female Zergs who incubated them.

It was a survival instinct engraved into their genes.

Ulysses stood nearby, watching the hatchling burrow into the Male Zerg’s arms without showing any displeasure.

He was not petty enough to compete with a tiny hatchling.

The Director had held him far more times than this.

Ulysses knew perfectly well that it had only been a “dream” given to him by his god, yet there were still moments when he uncontrollably treated it as reality.

Everything in that dream had been far too beautiful. Compared with his other set of bleak and lonely memories, he willingly allowed himself to sink into it.

Illusion and reality, similar yet opposite, intertwined yet separate, wove themselves together, leaving him both clear-headed and immersed within them.

An Ruo held little Axel up for Ulysses to see. Taking Axel’s tiny hand, he waved it at Ulysses in greeting and asked with a smile:

“Isn’t he adorable?”

“Mm,” Ulysses replied cooperatively, reluctantly sparing the Male Zerg hatchling a little of his attention.

“Eeh...”

Little Axel was still somewhat afraid of unfamiliar Female Zergs—or more precisely, of “females.”

He buried most of his face in An Ruo’s embrace, leaving only one eye visible as he stared curiously yet uneasily at the “female” who looked extremely powerful.

He possessed inherited memories. Although he still had the intelligence and mentality of a little hatchling, he already knew many things.

For example, he knew that Enzo, who had incubated him, was not his real “Female Parent,” and that the nice-smelling Male Zerg in front of him, who had provided him with pheromones and psychic soothing, was not his Male Parent either.

And he also noticed that the scent of the nice-smelling Male Zerg holding him was somewhat similar to the scent of the extremely powerful and frightening female standing beside him...

Their scents mingled together, leaving little Axel confused, yet he vaguely understood their relationship.

They belonged together.

The beautiful Male Zerg was that powerful female’s... Male Lord?

But something about that seemed wrong too.

Little Axel became completely confused by his inherited memories and his own understanding.

Seeing the little hatchling staring curiously and blankly in Ulysses’s direction, An Ruo chuckled and said to Ulysses:

“Little Axel seems curious about you too.”

Ulysses thought “afraid” would be more accurate.

But he did not say it and ruin the Male Zerg’s enjoyment.

He had never been particularly popular with hatchlings. It had been that way when he was young and living in the orphanage, where his greater talent and solitary nature had caused him to be excluded. After adulthood, he became far too imposing, and hatchlings regarded him more with awe than affection.

But that was fine.

His Director liked him.

He had the Director’s unique and incomparable favoritism.

Yet sometimes, Ulysses still could not help thinking...

If he had a hatchling connected to him by blood, perhaps it would be different.

A hatchling born from him might be able to overcome the awe and distance created by status and strength and become close to him.

An Ruo played with little Axel for a while and left behind the hatchling toys and gifts he and Ulysses had prepared before finally saying goodbye.

On the aircraft returning home, An Ruo noticed that Ulysses was quieter than before.

Although he did not know what was wrong, under the influence of the “dream,” he had already developed the habit of hugging Ulysses to comfort him after interacting with other little hatchlings.

Even though he felt that the grown-up Ulysses could hardly be childish enough to need this, An Ruo still habitually leaned over and hugged the oversized Ulysses, resting his face against his shoulder as he asked what was wrong.

“Do you... like hatchlings?” Ulysses asked tentatively.

Because the Male Zerg had said that he did not intend to have a hatchling while in prison, Ulysses did not even dare ask the question directly. Afraid of provoking his dislike, he could only probe indirectly.

An Ruo thought about it seriously before slowly nodding.

Originally, he had actually been the type to respectfully keep his distance from hatchlings. It was his experience as the director of an orphanage in the dream that had changed him.

Or rather, it was personally raising Ulysses that had changed him.

“If one day... you leave prison, would you consider having a hatchling?”

Ulysses asked.

“?”

For a moment, An Ruo was surprised and confused.

He... actually was not entirely certain whether he was human or a Male Zerg.