Unwanted Fatherhood

Chen Jiao had always considered herself a retired high school teacher nearing old age. As a Savior herself, she possessed a fairly high resistance to mental attacks and psychic manipulation.

As for the other three teenagers currently causing a ruckus in the hallway…

“They share a common biological trauma,” the base doctor explained to Yuan Anqing in his office. “They are all orphans, and quite young. To varying degrees, they have a deeply repressed, subconscious yearning for what is commonly considered a ‘normal’ family environment. Your Savior energy merely triggered that longing, making them regress.”

These three had caused such a loud, physical brawl earlier that Zhuo had been forced to knock them unconscious and carry them to the medical wing for examination.

“Then why us?” Zhuo didn’t understand the logistics, crossing his arms. “Do I really look like the kind of species that can lay eggs and hatch teenagers?”

“You don’t look like it physically, but your energy signature is highly compatible with the Savior’s remains. The only difference is that you possess a physical body of your own, while the deceased Saviors are just fragmented ghosts,” the doctor explained. “Hence, the three teenagers feel a natural, instinctual affinity for you as a protector.”

“And what about me?” Yuan Anqing asked. “I have no desire to participate in this.”

“The power of a living Savior is the ultimate source of their stabilizing energy. You are infinitely stronger than Miss Chen,” the doctor said. “Zheng Xiao’an is already familiar with your presence, but the other two are simply drawn to your absolute strength. They view you as the patriarch.”

“I have no biological relation to them whatsoever,” Yuan Anqing immediately took a step back, his corporate neutrality returning. “I have no legal responsibility or moral obligation to raise these children.”

As he spoke, he held up the small lockbox containing the finger joint. “And until your team can actively control that strange, chaotic energy, I need to keep a close eye on this thing.”

Unlike Yuan Anqing, who used logical arguments to distance himself, Zhuo simply looked deeply aggrieved. “I don’t want to be a father. I am not their mother, and I am definitely not their father.”

“But they became like this precisely to cooperate with your previous experiments,” the doctor looked at the Savior. “You should at least take minimal responsibility for their recovery.”

Yuan Anqing remained silent. He didn’t mind temporarily supervising teenagers at a desk, but the mental development of these three was currently highly unstable. Putting them together in the same room would only lead to non-stop noise and physical fights. Yuan Anqing could not tolerate such a chaotic environment.

“I refuse,” Yuan Anqing said directly. This was his first time flatly denying an official request.

“Mr. Yuan, if you do not accept temporary guardianship, we will have to heavily sedate them through this differentiation period,” the doctor said helplessly. “The oldest among them, Qin Xiao, is only nineteen. And there is also Zheng Xiao’an to consider.”

“Zheng Xiao’an has never tried to attack you; they trust you completely,” the doctor pleaded, trying to appeal to his non-existent Savior compassion. “You don’t have to go home. The military base will provide a secure, private suite for you. Just stay for a few days, monitor their aura, and that’s it.”

Late that night, in their private suite.

Yuan Anqing placed his hand on the back of Zhuo’s neck, gently stroking down along the monster’s spine. When his fingers reached the sensitive lower back where the tail connected, Zhuo couldn’t help but lift his hips slightly.

“Do you like it like this?” Yuan Anqing asked him.

“I love it,” Zhuo let out a soft, pleased breath, his eyes half-closed. “Keep touching me there.”

“Mm.” Yuan Anqing leaned down, intending to kiss the warm skin at the nape of Zhuo’s neck, but a series of loud, heavy banging sounds from the living room corridor violently interrupted his movement.

Yuan Anqing: “…”

He silently got up from the bed, adjusted his clothes, and pushed open the bedroom door. He found Qin Xiao locked in a vicious hair-pulling match with his own Reproductive Body.

“What is all this noise?!” Yuan Anqing demanded in his cold, authoritative voice.

“Big Dad!” Qin Xiao, his silver hair completely disheveled, was the first to look up in panic. “This bastard has a major brain problem! Lock him up!”

“Your brain has a problem, you academic snob!” the Reproductive Body retorted, trying to claw at Qin Xiao’s face.

“His head is full of nothing but base desires! He only wants to find a mate and have babies!” Qin Xiao screamed in despair.

Their subspecies would physically differentiate into a Reproductive Body after a certain number of years. The original, intellectual body and the physical Breeding Body often couldn’t understand each other’s priorities, even though they shared the same source and loved each other deeply. The original body, lacking active reproductive organs, couldn’t empathize with a Breeding Body whose primary biological task was to propagate the species, and vice versa.

Now, with their minds in chaos from the Savior’s energy, they had forgotten they were essentially the exact same person, and a violent, domestic conflict had broken out.

Zheng Xiao’an, meanwhile, was sitting cross-legged on the floor, watching the fight with a look of pure, teenage amusement.

When they saw Yuan Anqing step out, Zheng Xiao’an immediately wiped the smirk off their face, putting on a serious, dutiful expression. “Big Dad, those two went too far. Just now, the original Qin Xiao tried to punch the other’s lower region, only to find out that the Reproductive Body has completely different anatomy. Then the attacked one retaliated, and the other one screamed in pain.”

Qin Xiao and his Reproductive Body shared the exact same name, as most of their species did, only distinguishing them in the gender column of their IDs.

Yuan Anqing took a deep, exhausted breath. “If you two keep this up, I will have Zhuo come out here and ‘reason’ with you.”

Qin Xiao and the Reproductive Body instantly froze, slowly releasing each other’s hair. They knew very well what Zhuo’s ‘reasoning’ involved.

Yuan Anqing stopped paying them any attention, turned, and went back into his room, shutting the door.

“Are they fighting again?” Zhuo sat shirtless on the bed, looking at him.

“Don’t worry about them.” Yuan Anqing stepped forward, gently stroking Zhuo’s head, then firmly grasped his crystalline horn. “Just look at me.”

Zhuo’s tail started wagging happily against the sheets.

Yuan Anqing climbed back onto the bed. Zhuo sat up, rubbing his forehead affectionately against Yuan Anqing’s waist and stomach. Then Yuan Anqing reached up, his fingers beginning to stroke Zhuo’s lips.

Knock, knock, knock.

A sudden, polite knocking interrupted them again.

Zhuo’s smile vanished instantly. His tail went rigid.

Yuan Anqing took a deep breath, got off the bed, and opened the door. “What now?”

Standing in the hallway was the Reproductive Body, fidgeting with his hands nervously. “Um… Father? Could you please arrange a blind date for me?”

Yuan Anqing stared at the nineteen-year-old, his face a mask of absolute disbelief. “With whom?”

“I want someone as impressive and powerful as Big Dad and Second Dad,” the Breeding Body continued to squirm, his eyes shining. “I want a strong partner.”

Yuan Anqing thought for a moment, then concluded, “Chen Jiao?”

“No, no, no! Not the scary math teacher!” the Breeding Body quickly refused, a look of genuine trauma on his face.

“Then who do you want?” Yuan Anqing pressed.

“Well… that Senior Qing we met the other day,” the Breeding Body twirled a strand of silver hair on his head, blushing. “He’s handsome, seems extremely reliable, and he’s very capable.”

Yuan Anqing: “Okay. I’ll arrange it. Anything else?”

“Huh? You… you actually agree?!”

“Why wouldn’t I agree?” Yuan Anqing was eager to get rid of these troublemakers. Senior Qing was rooted in the basement of this very base. Since the Breeding Body wanted to meet him, it would be a perfect idea for the immortal plant-man to help “babysit” the teenager. Senior Qing could never fall in love, nor did he possess reproductive organs anymore, so the Breeding Body couldn’t possibly harm him.

“Thank you, Big Dad!” the Breeding Body was deeply touched by the patriarchal support. He reached out to hug Yuan Anqing, but Yuan Anqing slammed the bedroom door shut in his face.

Zhuo stared at Yuan Anqing, his red eyes blinking in confusion. “Can we continue now?”

“Let’s continue,” Yuan Anqing said, his tone carrying a rare hint of irritation.

Normally, he was used to interruptions in his old life, but the current situation was different. He genuinely liked Zhuo, and he really, desperately needed some alone time to indulge with his partner.

“Your eyes are a little gold,” Zhuo pointed out, pleased.

Yuan Anqing often turned golden-eyed during their intimacy, but he rarely showed his golden eyes from the start anymore.

“Is that so?” Yuan Anqing took off his glasses. “Maybe I’m just a little excited.”

Zhuo silently sat up and pulled Yuan Anqing into his embrace, wrapping his massive arms around his waist. “Don’t bother with those kids anymore. I am much more interesting than them!”

Yuan Anqing hummed, resting his chin on Zhuo’s shoulder. “You have a strange fragrance on you tonight, Zhuo.”

They used the same bottle of military-grade body wash. Yuan Anqing remembered that the soap didn’t have this peculiar, exotic scent. It smelled like a rich, sweet blend of tropical flowers and ripe fruit.

“Oh! This is the pheromone scent I use to hypnotize my prey,” Zhuo explained happily, nuzzling him. “This scent normally invades a human’s spirit and fights for control of their personality, making them docile. But because of your Savior immunity, it doesn’t work on you, so you only smell the sweet fragrance!”

“Really? It doesn’t work?” Yuan Anqing squinted slightly, his body relaxing. The exotic scent actually made him feel incredibly pleasant, as if he were lying in a sun-drenched orchard full of blooming flowers and ripe fruit, within easy reach.

Seeing Yuan Anqing’s lazy, indulgent expression, Zhuo’s pointed ears turned a bright, burning pink.

Then Yuan Anqing leaned in and lightly licked Zhuo’s ear. The pink color instantly spread down Zhuo’s neck. “You really are too good at seducing me, Savior.”

Zhuo leaned down to kiss him, but at that exact moment, another soft knock sounded on the wood.

This time, it was Zheng Xiao’an. “Big Dad? Are you asleep?”

Zhuo’s tail began to turn a dark, bruised red. This redness wasn’t from embarrassment—the monster was so angry he was on the verge of reverting to his five-story form.

“I am going to go out there and bite them all to death!” Zhuo whispered furiously.

“Alright, alright!” Yuan Anqing quickly hugged Zhuo’s neck, pinning him to the mattress. “Their minds are unclear. Don’t stoop to their level.”

He could guess what was happening. The Breeding Body’s request for a date had likely been instigated or witnessed by Zheng Xiao’an. The teenager wanted the Breeding Body to fail with Yuan Anqing, to make the other “sibling” realize who was the most favored child of the household. Instead, Yuan Anqing hadn’t refused the Breeding Body’s absurd request at all; he had actually agreed.

This was unacceptable to Zheng Xiao’an’s passive-aggressive strategy.

“Father? I didn’t mean to disturb you,” the teenager’s voice sounded deeply aggrieved through the door. “It’s just… I never expected Qin Xiao’s Reproductive Body would actually bother you with something as ridiculous as a blind date. I wanted to apologize to you on their behalf.”

Father?

From behind the closed door, Yuan Anqing’s voice came through calmly. “I heard you, Zheng. It’s no big deal. Go get some rest.”

“Okay… You fathers rest early too.” Zheng Xiao’an said a shy, respectful goodnight and walked back to the guest room.

In the bedroom, the previously furious Zhuo had completely calmed down. He blinked. “His personality is actually a bit like mine.” Zhuo loved to employ those exact same underhanded, passive-aggressive tricks to get his way.

Yuan Anqing: “…”

Zhuo was surprisingly, terrifyingly self-aware.

“No wonder he’s my most valued child,” Zhuo nodded in proud approval. “He’ll definitely be the best at fighting for the family inheritance in the future.”

“Don’t go adding strange aristocratic settings on your own,” Yuan Anqing said, rolling his eyes.

“It’s just a bit of a shame about his looks,” Zhuo grumbled, looking at his own perfect, handsome reflection in the dark window. “The child didn’t inherit my beauty.”

Yuan Anqing: “And don’t be an elitist about appearance.”