The Savior’s Awakening and the Chain of Existence

“He… he really always liked me?” Zhuo’s red eyes sparkled with hope.

“Zhuo, you’re too easily deceived.” Yuan Anqing’s wariness toward the faceless entity hadn’t fully subsided, yet Zhuo was already surrendering faster than he could intervene.

“But he said you always liked me!” Zhuo pointed at the translucent humanoid. “I don’t know where he came from, but he looks super impressive and wise.”

Yuan Anqing was momentarily speechless.

“Yes. Your Savior just has a few more mental barriers to break down. He lacks some things, too,” the translucent figure smiled, his voice echoing without a mouth.

“Can he become like you?” Zhuo asked again, suddenly worried. “You said you’re also a Savior, right?”

“He cannot become like me.” The translucent figure tried to touch Zhuo’s head, but Zhuo immediately swatted his hand away.

Zhuo stepped back protectively. “No touching. If you want to talk, stand over there and talk properly.”

The translucent figure withdrew his hand sheepishly. “He can’t become like me.”

“Why not?” Zhuo asked.

“Because I don’t have anyone I love tying me down. I had no need to maintain my original human form,” the translucent man smiled. “Do you know what a Savior truly is, little monster?”

“It’s Yuan Anqing,” Zhuo answered immediately.

“…Yes, and no.” The translucent man coughed lightly. “A Savior is itself a rule of the universe. It has never come to this world from another Earth; yet it understands this world better than anyone.”

Saying this, the translucent man floated over to help the stunned Chen Jiao up from the floor.

The surrounding scene shifted instantly, transitioning from the claustrophobic faculty office to a vast, starry night sky above a dead ocean. “I once discussed this topic countless times with Yuan Anqing in his dreams, but he chose to forget.”

“He has his own worlds?” Zhuo inquired, looking up at the stars.

“Exactly.” The translucent man pointed to the twinkling stars in the night sky. “Those worlds—he has existed in all of them. They were all evolved from the minds of Saviors.”

“There are that many Saviors?!” Zhuo was shocked.

“No, those are Saviors who have already died.” The translucent man shook his head, then floated over to Yuan Anqing and lifted his hand.

A star fell from the sky, landing gently onto Yuan Anqing’s palm.

The translucent man said, “This is me.”

Yuan Anqing stared at the glowing orb intently, but found he couldn’t see through its blinding light.

“You still can’t understand the existence of a Savior; you can’t see through this shell yet,” the translucent man explained patiently. “It’s very, very small—so small it’s only the size of a ping-pong ball.”

“But it is also very, very large—it is a whole world that once existed and still runs within it. It has time; it has life.” The translucent man reached out and poked the small ball in Yuan Anqing’s hand. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Zhuo also leaned in to look. “So this is your corpse?”

The translucent man nodded. “My corpse is the foundational rule that operates the physics of the real world.”

Yuan Anqing was stunned.

“And I have already died. If no new Savior had appeared before then, this world would have slid into complete chaos.” The translucent man gently flicked the ball, and it flew back into the sky to join the constellation. “Eventually, time will disappear from this world, and everything will simply stop.”

He added a dramatic tone word at the end, and Zhuo frowned. “You’re copying how I talk.”

The translucent man ignored Zhuo. He flew back in front of Chen Jiao and cupped her face. “How do you feel?”

“Pretty shocked. Like suddenly learning a terrifying, universe-breaking secret,” Chen Jiao answered truthfully, her voice trembling.

The translucent figure smiled. “This isn’t a big secret. Even if you know it now, it’s useless. It’s not a secret—it is your inescapable future.”

“Cheng Yu… the student who jumped. Is she me?” Chen Jiao was still stuck on her trauma.

“It is you. Or rather, you are everything: time, sky, earth, plants, animals, bacteria, all living beings.” The translucent figure didn’t care about the horrified expressions of those around him. He just smiled. “Only when you become them—become every person, every leaf, every living being—and operate alone for billions of years, can you become the true ‘rule’ and continue running the simulation.”

“Like a computer simulation algorithm, but real enough.” The translucent figure tapped Yuan Anqing’s chest. “And what came here—what you consider ‘you’—is merely the computer’s ‘host.’ The processing core.”

“Wow!” Zhuo exclaimed.

“Wow!!” Zhuo continued to marvel. He wasn’t terrified; he just felt this identity was incredibly awesome.

Yuan Anqing composed himself. He had already suspected this point, but the thought that the ‘boss’ who had been ruthlessly exploiting him his whole life was actually himself still made him uncomfortable. “What about the laptop I brought from my world to Zhuo’s world?”

“Ah, Saviors have absolute creative power. You can create an entire world out of nothing. Making a laptop that crosses dimensions is perfectly normal,” the translucent figure explained. “It was a prop you created to comfort your human ego.”

“Hey! Then—” Zhuo raised his hand to ask, getting more excited. “Can he make a PlayStation 5?!”

“If he can become a true, fully Awakened Savior, yes,” the translucent figure nodded.

“Awesome!” Zhuo raised his hands in cheer.

“After becoming a true Savior, will children like Cheng Yu disappear from the simulation?” Chen Jiao suddenly asked, bringing the mood back down.

Zhuo’s cheering stopped.

“Will they?” Chen Jiao pressed.

“Unfortunately, no,” the translucent figure shook his head. “No world is without pain. You can’t force everyone to grow up well and become good parents. The algorithm requires variables.”

“Saviors are just bystanders,” Chen Jiao finally understood her helplessness.

“You only need to manage the unbalanced, apocalyptic forces—like Zhuo—not individual people. People have their own futures, their own ways out,” the Savior said softly. “Our duties are fundamentally different from humans’.”

“Oh! So they never cared about actually saving individual people before!” Zhuo got it. “Saviors really aren’t saintly parents?”

“No, they aren’t.” The translucent figure tilted his head at Zhuo. “Our relationship with humanity is more like that between a construction company and an interior decorator. They seem related, but they aren’t really.”

“We need to ensure the building’s foundation is stable. How the humans decorate the inside is none of our business.”

“Then what are humans?” Chen Jiao asked again.

“One day, they will become us,” the translucent figure explained.

“They?”

“Humans,” the translucent figure said. “They cycle through generations until a certain moment when they accumulate enough spiritual power, and then they will evolve their own world. If they succeed, they will become new Savior candidates and return to this land that nurtured them for one last, mortal life. If they survive to the end of that life without dissipating, they can become Saviors.”

“The probability is extremely low, however,” the translucent figure added.

This time, Chen Jiao was completely silent, absorbing the weight of existence.

Zhuo raised his hand. “I have a question.”

“Hmm?”

“Can’t there be two Saviors running the world?” Zhuo asked, pointing between Yuan Anqing and Chen Jiao.

“Of course not. Doing the same job, two people will inevitably conflict and cause the simulation to crash,” the translucent figure explained.

Zhuo breathed a massive sigh of relief and aggressively patted Chen Jiao’s shoulder. “You made it through alive, old lady. Time for you to retire!”

“…If only one Savior can exist, what were you planning to do to me, you monster?” Chen Jiao sensed the lethal threat in his tone.

“That question is already invalid since you’re retiring. Don’t worry about it,” Zhuo comforted Chen Jiao with a terrifyingly fake smile. “Are you out of your Awakening now?”

“Almost. Your last sentence almost sent me back into a panic attack,” Chen Jiao said through gritted teeth.

“Hey, really? Aren’t you feeling bad anymore?” Zhuo asked, acting pleasantly surprised, as if he had been caring for Chen Jiao for a long time.

Chen Jiao reached out to hit Zhuo, but the giant quickly jumped back behind Yuan Anqing, dodging her attack. “You’re so mean! I was caring about you!”

“Take your ‘caring’ and get lost!” Chen Jiao clicked her tongue. “Go care about your Yuan Anqing!”

“I’ve always cared about him!” Zhuo retorted proudly.

Yuan Anqing stepped forward to help Chen Jiao fully stand up. “Feeling any better?”

“A bit more normal, but there’s still some reluctance to let go,” Chen Jiao said, gently pressing her chest where the anxiety lingered.

Yuan Anqing reminded her, “Your emotions shouldn’t be this intense. It’s probably the desires of the corrupted Savior remains trying to seize your body while you’re vulnerable.”

Those desires only possessed the physical corpse of a dead Savior; what they wanted more was a living body to corrupt.

“Then send me back,” Chen Jiao said firmly.

“Where?” Yuan Anqing asked.

“Back to the school.” Chen Jiao exhaled slowly. “I need to go back to the school.”

Cheng Yu sat in the faculty office. The large room was empty except for Teacher Chen.

Cheng Yu was very afraid of Teacher Chen and only dared to look down at her own scuffed shoes.

“I talked with your parents. No results,” Chen Jiao said softly.

She tried to make her voice gentler, but she wasn’t a monster like Zhuo who naturally manipulated desires; she couldn’t fake warmth well.

Cheng Yu had probably already guessed this outcome. “Teacher… you don’t need to bother with me anymore.”

Don’t need to bother?

Chen Jiao pulled a red pen from the holder. She opened the exams she had collected and began checking them expertly. “I don’t understand the things you like—those young pop stars, their loud songs. I’m not used to them, and I don’t think they sound good.”

Cheng Yu silently picked at her cuticles.

“And those romance novels I confiscated do absolutely nothing to improve your academic writing.” Chen Jiao continued marking papers, the harsh scratch of the ballpoint pen making Cheng Yu even more nervous. “But I don’t care about that. I just think kids your age need something to motivate themselves, otherwise life is too dull and painful to endure.”

“You too,” Chen Jiao finally looked up at Cheng Yu. “You just have to find a way to relieve the tension and oppression at home.”

Chen Jiao felt that the children she encountered were like flowers about to bloom. Some, after a certain night, would bloom brilliantly, attracting countless gazes. Others were eaten by bugs early, their stems withered and lifeless. And some were diseased, only able to open half a bud, unable to fit into the garden or bloom for long.

Cheng Yu didn’t speak; she kept her head down, sobbing intermittently.

She knew her situation well—her oppression, she understood better than anyone. After all, those were sleepless nights, eyes wide open crying in the dark, with no expectation for the so-called ‘tomorrow.’

Because she knew that opening her eyes meant arguments. Endless screaming, as if there was no end. This pain bound every part of her soul, jumping out at happy moments to show its existence, triumphant and indifferent to Cheng Yu’s fate.

“Life is long, and you’ve only walked less than a fifth of it,” Chen Jiao said. “You haven’t yet lived to have absolute freedom with your own voice.”

“…Teacher,” Cheng Yu choked on a sob. “I want to run away.”

Chen Jiao nodded. “Then run. Run to a place you feel comfortable, lie down, and sleep well. When you wake up, plan your future. Your future is long.”

She remembered the news report about Cheng Yu’s eventual suicide. Chen Jiao said, “Have you ever thought about what you’ll be like as an old lady?”

Cheng Yu: “Huh?!”

“Becoming an old lady. Your hair will turn white. It’s very suitable for dyeing all sorts of bright colors,” Chen Jiao said casually. “I’ve seen graduated students always try new things, but dyeing hair too young makes it fall out easily. When you’re older, there are no worries.”

“Teacher… do you want to dye your hair when you’re old?” Cheng Yu wasn’t used to discussing this mundane topic with her serious, scary teacher.

“I don’t. I’ll just wait to die,” Chen Jiao handed Cheng Yu her exam paper—90 points, just passing. “But you have to live until it’s time to die, right?”

Cheng Yu took the paper with trembling hands.

Chen Jiao said to her, “Do better next time.”

“Mm.” Cheng Yu nodded, sniffling.

She held her exam paper, wiped the still-damp tears from her face, turned, and walked out of the office door.

Chen Jiao watched the child’s back slowly disappear down the hall. Occasionally, Cheng Yu’s steps would slow down, as if she still had something to say, but she never turned around and just left.

Chen Jiao sighed softly and closed her eyes.

Zhuo’s annoying voice sounded at the exact right moment, interrupting Chen Jiao’s melancholy. “If she is a projection of you, why are you doing all this? It’s inefficient.”

“Mind your own business,” Chen Jiao clicked her tongue. “If I don’t untie this knot in my own timeline, I’ll be done for.”

“You haven’t untied it. How do you know what she’ll be like when she grows up?” Zhuo muttered. His voice was suddenly muffled afterward, probably because Yuan Anqing had covered his mouth, but even that couldn’t shut Zhuo up completely.

“I don’t need to know what her future will be like… because her future is me.” Cheng Yu was just a splash of water that flew out, and eventually, she would merge into the sea—into Chen Jiao, the essence.

The office scene disappeared again, and Chen Jiao returned to the starry void.

“Why me? Why Chen Jiao, and not Cheng Yu?” Chen Jiao asked the sky. She wanted to know why she was the main body chosen by the system and not that child.

But the translucent figure of the Previous Savior had already vanished.

“Where is he?” Chen Jiao blinked in confusion.

“No idea. He was just here,” Zhuo hadn’t noticed when the man left either.

“Strictly speaking, if you eventually obtain all memories of the universe, then you are also ‘Cheng Yu’,” Yuan Anqing reminded her.

“Makes sense.” Chen Jiao stroked her chin in thought.

“They are no different from us. They are part of us, and what we need to do is just remember,” Yuan Anqing had already experienced an Awakening once; he saw the mechanics of it more clearly than Chen Jiao.

“But only we two came to this specific world to be Saviors,” Chen Jiao said. “Why us?”

“That, I’m not sure,” Yuan Anqing shook his head. They couldn’t figure it out just by guessing.

“By the way, since you feel better now, can you help us take care of those kids at the base?” Zhuo immediately proposed. “I’ll give them to you to fulfill your teacher dream! Okay?”

“If you hadn’t mentioned it, I’d almost forgotten about those three menaces,” Chen Jiao looked helplessly at Zhuo’s deliberately pitiful expression. “I can help, actually. I still have some questions that need answers from them.”

“Awesome!” Zhuo was delighted, heaping praise on Chen Jiao. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen!”

“I’m serious! The more I look at you now, the more I think you’re super pretty!” Zhuo gave Chen Jiao a thumbs up.

Yuan Anqing was helpless against his boyfriend’s sudden sycophancy. He slowly ended the mental link with Chen Jiao’s void.

After the mental link was severed, the three finally returned to the real world in the basement facility. Yuan Anqing’s face was pale; after all, he had forcefully invaded the consciousness of another Savior.

And Chen Jiao—

Thump!

Chen Jiao collapsed straight backward onto the concrete.

Yuan Anqing was momentarily startled by the sound of metal colliding. The floor under them was reinforced alloy, but how could Chen Jiao’s head make such a loud noise without cracking open?

After a moment of shock, Yuan Anqing quickly reacted. “Chen Jiao?!”

A red light flashed in the monitoring room, and a siren sounded. The facility staff who had been moving around nearby collapsed one after another, clutching their heads.

This commotion… her First Awakening! Chen Jiao was having her first real Awakening!

Yuan Anqing glanced back at Zhuo, and found him still perfectly fine, though his expression was deeply aggrieved.

“She promised to help take care of the kids! Liar!” Zhuo was in despair over having to parent again.

“Quick! Drag the unconscious staff out of Chen Jiao’s influence range!” Yuan Anqing waved at Zhuo urgently. “Call the authorities! Have them prepare a room for isolation! I’ll take Chen Jiao inside!”

“How long will she be out?” Zhuo complained. He took off his shirt, revealing more scaled hands from his back to efficiently carry the unconscious people in the monitoring room.

“Not sure. Every Savior’s Awakening is definitely different.” Yuan Anqing lifted Chen Jiao into his arms in a princess carry.

“Oh… She looks really small and delicate like that,” Zhuo noted. He was currently carrying six grown men under his arms. When he turned his head and saw Yuan Anqing princess-carrying Chen Jiao, his expression was less than pleased. “Can you even hold her up? You’re weak.”

“Don’t ask for too much,” Yuan Anqing grunted. He couldn’t hold an adult woman with his arms straight out for long. “But I can hold you like this when we get back home.”

Zhuo was instantly satisfied. “I’ll use my tail to support my weight so you don’t strain yourself.” He grew another hand, took out his phone, and dialed Bai Tian’s number.

“I don’t want you to be too tired. I just want you to hug me,” Zhuo’s tone softened romantically amidst the unconscious bodies.

“I know. I want to hug you too,” Yuan Anqing curved his lips at Zhuo.

“Whoa!” Zhuo exclaimed, blushing, but was interrupted when the call connected.

Bai Tian on the other end was startled by Zhuo’s strange shout. “Are you… crying?” Did he need to provide a friend-chat service again?!

“You’re the one crying! Tell the people here that Chen Jiao started her first Awakening! They need a room to isolate her!” Zhuo hung up after yelling that, then belatedly thought of a question.

“Will Chen Jiao die?” Zhuo asked.

“Probably not. Chen Jiao just experienced a huge emotional upheaval and untied a psychological knot. She shouldn’t suddenly feel everything is meaningless and dissipate,” Yuan Anqing waited in place for someone to unlock an isolation ward.

“Can you intervene to help her?” Zhuo asked again.

“I can’t intervene. Not only can I not intervene, but that so-called Previous Savior probably can’t either. Otherwise, the original four candidate Saviors wouldn’t have died out.”

Now the Previous Savior could probably only contact Yuan Anqing, and through him, reach others. A Savior’s Awakening should be something that couldn’t be interfered with by outside forces.

“But I interfered with you,” Yuan Anqing looked at Zhuo. He still remembered how annoying young Zhuo was when he had no memories.

“Because I’m special!” Zhuo said proudly.

Yuan Anqing nodded. “Yes. You’re special.”

Zhuo’s cheeks flushed slightly. Then he remembered something and smacked his forehead with the hand holding the phone.

“By the way… can we lock these two kids in with Chen Jiao?” Zhuo enthusiastically dragged Zheng Xiao’an and Qin Xiao out from behind a desk. The Breeding Body was out on a supervised blind date with Senior Qing and wasn’t affected by the blast radius.

“When Chen Jiao wakes up, we’ll let her take these two brats away,” Zhuo couldn’t wait to clear all obstacles from his and Yuan Anqing’s two-person world.

“We don’t know when Chen Jiao will wake up, or if she’ll feel unwell after waking up,” Yuan Anqing shook his head. “That’s not appropriate.”

Zhuo slumped a little, dropping the teenagers. “But Chen Jiao herself promised to help!”

“Plans always fail to keep up with changes.” Yuan Anqing wanted to soothe Zhuo, to pet his horns and head, but he only had two human hands, and they were occupied holding Chen Jiao. He couldn’t free a hand to touch Zhuo.

Zhuo noticed Yuan Anqing’s dilemma. He took the initiative to step close and rub his face affectionately against Yuan Anqing’s cheek. Yuan Anqing could hear a very low, happy growl from Zhuo’s throat.

He felt Zhuo was a bit like a massive cat. A cat that only had scales and didn’t shed fur.

The authorities called back. Since they couldn’t enter the Awakening Savior’s range without passing out, they only provided a digital map for Yuan Anqing to deliver Chen Jiao to the marked location.

Zhuo dragged the pile of unconscious staff behind Yuan Anqing as they walked. Yuan Anqing warned Zhuo not to follow him into the isolation zone, but Zhuo said he wouldn’t feel at ease letting Yuan Anqing go alone.

The poor souls being dragged by Zhuo groaned. Luckily, the floor here was relatively smooth linoleum; otherwise, their clothes and pants would have been worn through to the bone long ago.

After Yuan Anqing placed Chen Jiao securely inside the room, Zhuo began dragging the staff completely out of the influence range. The base medics also needed to check their physical condition.

“Look on the bright side. They won’t wake up for a while,” Zhuo put his hands on his hips, standing outside the isolation synthetic glass, his tail almost sticking up over his head in satisfaction.

“There’s still the Breeding Body,” Yuan Anqing reminded Zhuo. “The Breeding Body is the most troublesome.”

“How is the Breeding Body the most troublesome?” Zhuo thought Zheng Xiao’an and Qin Xiao’s constant quarreling was more annoying.

…

“WAAAAH! Second Dad! Wuwuwu!” The Breeding Body suddenly ran down the hall, hugged Zhuo’s leg, and cried loudly.

It startled both Zhuo and Yuan Anqing.

The Breeding Body was an absolutely emotional entity. Once emotional, they could do anything, even though they knew exactly how dangerous Zhuo was.

“Second Dad, wuwuwu! What do we do, Second Dad?!” The Breeding Body refused to let go, even as Zhuo’s joints popped in warning.

Zhuo tried to pry the Breeding Body off, then started jumping left and right, running back and forth down the hall, but the Breeding Body stuck to his leg like a stubborn patch of Velcro.

The red light in Zhuo’s eyes grew brighter in fury. He even started doing backflips to dislodge him. Zhuo leaped into the air, spun three and a half times, and landed flawlessly—but the Breeding Body still didn’t let go.

A female lieutenant colonel watching from behind the blast doors commented over the intercom, “Zhuo looks just like my cat when it gets a piece of tape stuck to its paw.”

“Yuan Anqing! Yuan Anqing!” Zhuo had no choice but to come to Yuan Anqing for help. “He’s grabbing me!”

Yuan Anqing soothed Zhuo with one hand while gently patting the Breeding Body with the other, hoping he would let go. “Speak properly. Let me pour you some tea, and we can sit down and talk, okay?”

The Breeding Body glanced at his cold Second Dad, who clearly wanted to murder him, then at his gentle First Dad. He immediately let go of Zhuo’s leg and rushed to Yuan Anqing, hugging his waist tightly.

“Wait!” Yuan Anqing didn’t react in time.

This Breeding Body was only about 1.7 meters tall. Originally, when he was stuck on the two-meter tall Zhuo, he looked like a silver ribbon. Now, the height difference with Yuan Anqing was much smaller—Yuan Anqing was only a head taller. It actually fit quite perfectly for him to bury his face into Yuan Anqing’s chest.

Zhuo, who had been fussing, froze. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Don’t hug me.” Yuan Anqing’s expression darkened. “I don’t like such close contact.”

“But First Dad—”

“If you hug me again, I’ll send you to a maximum-security orphanage,” Yuan Anqing glared coldly at the Breeding Body. The harsh indoor light reflected off his glasses, making them flash with a cold, terrifying gleam. “Let. Go.”

The Breeding Body retreated silently, terrified.

“What are you crying about?” Yuan Anqing asked him again, adjusting his suit. “Hold it in.”

The Breeding Body sniffled. “First… First Dad.”

“What are you crying about? Isn’t it just lacking reproductive function?” Yuan Anqing massaged his temples. “There are plenty of people with reproductive ability in this world. Just go on another blind date.”

Zhuo silently stepped between Yuan Anqing and the Breeding Body, separating them entirely like a brick wall.

“Can anyone go on a blind date?” the Breeding Body asked hopelessly.

Yuan Anqing emphasized, “Anyone except me, and except Zhuo. Others are up to you.”

“Are there many powerful people here?” The Breeding Body looked at the unconscious men and women in uniforms on the floor.

“Many,” Zhuo patted the Breeding Body’s shoulder forcefully. “Except those who are in relationships and very busy, you can try the others.”

“Try… meaning seduce?” The Breeding Body was a bit shy.

“You should at least get to know them first and find common topics. People seduced entirely by your looks aren’t good people. They want your body, not your soul,” Yuan Anqing replied helplessly. He was truly terrible at giving parental advice.

But the Breeding Body accepted it well. “I don’t have a soul for them to understand! My soul is very hollow!”

Yuan Anqing: “…”

He finally understood why the original Qin Xiao was so averse to his own Breeding Body. The Breeding Body really didn’t consider consequences, logic, or the future at all.

But these weren’t things Yuan Anqing needed to manage. He also needed some alone time with Zhuo.

So Yuan Anqing said, “Anyway, it’s safe here. The military will watch over you.”

“This… Lieutenant Colonel.” Yuan Anqing didn’t know the female officer’s surname. “Could you take the Breeding Body for a tour of the base?”

“Huh? Sure,” the lieutenant colonel nodded through the intercom. “Want to come along? Go skydiving?” She had heard from the Colonel that Zhuo liked skydiving.

“No, I need to rest.” Yuan Anqing pressed his temples. “I’m very tired. Invading Chen Jiao’s consciousness wasn’t easy on my stamina.”

Seeing Yuan Anqing lightly bite his lip, Zhuo quickly supported his arm. “Have you been feeling bad all along?”

“Not bad, just tired.” Yuan Anqing sighed. “I want to go back to our room and rest first.”

“I… I’ll carry you!” Zhuo immediately tensed up.

“No need.” Yuan Anqing patted the back of Zhuo’s hand.

“Don’t keep forcing yourself!” Zhuo’s tail drooped anxiously.

“Then you should go back quickly!” the lieutenant colonel said hurriedly, opening the security door. “I’ll take good care of the Breeding Body.”

“Thank you.” Yuan Anqing managed a polite smile at the lieutenant colonel, then walked back down the hall supported by Zhuo.

The VIP quarters where they lived were still quite far across the base. Zhuo was nervous the whole way, afraid Yuan Anqing might faint at any moment. Yuan Anqing’s head wasn’t as hard as Chen Jiao’s; if he hit the ground, the floor wouldn’t be the one injured.

Zhuo carefully supported him all the way. Finally back in their room, Zhuo wanted to ask if Yuan Anqing needed to lie down, saying that he would make something to eat and Yuan Anqing should just sleep well.

But before he could say it, Zhuo suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed to the carpeted floor.

Zhuo’s mind went blank. His physical strength was formidable. Logically, he shouldn’t have been pushed over so easily.

But the force came from Yuan Anqing. Zhuo’s mind hadn’t caught up before his submissive habits made him follow the force and lie down. “Why did you push me?” Zhuo didn’t understand.

Yuan Anqing straddled Zhuo’s lower back, pinning him. “I need to rest.” His expression and tone remained entirely calm.

His hand slid down from the back of Zhuo’s neck. Zhuo shuddered, but immediately understood what Yuan Anqing was going to do. His red eyes lit up. “This… this… this is the living room!”

“I know.” Yuan Anqing didn’t get up. “But if I’m not a bit eager, you’ll start doubting if I actually love you.” With that, Yuan Anqing sighed softly.

Zhuo felt his pointed ear itch; Yuan Anqing was whispering directly into it. “I like your unrestrained side.”

Zhuo always showed his unparalleled, chaotic view of love to the world every moment, and Yuan Anqing only cooperated when Zhuo pushed him. Yuan Anqing wasn’t used to being so emotionally unrestrained, and Zhuo’s uninhibited manner always made Yuan Anqing’s heart itch.

“I want to rest properly,” Yuan Anqing said, his voice dropping an octave.

“Whoa!” Zhuo felt Yuan Anqing’s hand move below his stomach, then slide to his chest.

Before Zhuo could make a sound, Yuan Anqing covered his mouth with his other hand.

“We were interrupted earlier, and then I spent so much energy,” Yuan Anqing sighed. He asked, “Can I be a bit rough?”

Zhuo couldn’t speak, but he nodded eagerly.

“Don’t be afraid.” Yuan Anqing placed a kiss on Zhuo’s horn.

Yuan Anqing was also a person who needed to vent his desires and stress; he just could bear it until the perfect moment.

Yuan Anqing withdrew his hand, and Zhuo immediately gasped, “I’m not afraid! I’m a monster! I love it!”

Yuan Anqing raised an eyebrow.

…

Three hours later.

Yuan Anqing’s phone rang on the coffee table. He picked it up and saw a message from a high-ranking official at the base, saying Chen Jiao had woken up. Her mental state was a bit dazed, but she was alive, having safely passed the Awakening period.

Yuan Anqing sat on the carpet, exhausted but satisfied, and Zhuo was lying bonelessly beside him. Zhuo hummed, lifting his head lazily.

Zhuo’s tail was curled up contently. Yuan Anqing glanced at it. “Zhuo.”

“What?” Zhuo’s voice was soft, his tone drawn out and lethargic.

“Do you know about cream puffs?” Yuan Anqing asked him.

Zhuo silently lowered his thick tail to cover his vital parts, then turned around and rested his head on Yuan Anqing’s lap. After yawning, he nuzzled against Yuan Anqing’s thigh.

“Chen Jiao is awake,” Yuan Anqing said again.

“She can take care of the kids for us.” Zhuo narrowed his eyes. “So can we go home?”

“Chen Jiao isn’t in a good state,” Yuan Anqing shook his head. “Zheng Xiao’an and Qin Xiao woke up too. They seem to have returned to normal due to the residual influence of the Savior’s Awakening period.”

“Meaning we have no kids?” Zhuo asked hopefully.

“There’s still the Breeding Body,” Yuan Anqing thought for a moment, then said, “But the Breeding Body can be handed to his original body, Qin Xiao. We don’t need to worry about him anymore.”

“Then can we do this every day?” Zhuo asked Yuan Anqing, looking up with bright red eyes.

Yuan Anqing was stunned.

“Even though it’s a little scary at first, and it hurts a bit,” Zhuo’s tail swished back and forth against the carpet. “But after that, it feels really, really good.”

Yuan Anqing patted the base of Zhuo’s tail affectionately. Zhuo simply reached out and hugged Yuan Anqing’s waist, continuing to nuzzle.

“Want to take a shower? We still need to go out and check on Chen Jiao,” Yuan Anqing asked him.

“No. She can take care of herself.” Zhuo let go of Yuan Anqing and stretched like a massive cat. “You’re tired too. You need to rest.”

“I’m okay. Not tired.” Yuan Anqing felt the fatigue from helping Chen Jiao had completely disappeared after his “venting.”

“Want to eat something?” Zhuo staggered to the mini-refrigerator, opened it, and looked inside. “Braised pork?”

“I’ll cook,” Yuan Anqing quickly stood up.

“No. You’re physically weak.” Zhuo rejected Yuan Anqing’s offer of help.

“You’re not exactly in good shape to stand either,” Yuan Anqing reminded him dryly.

“I’m fine!” Zhuo felt as if he had soaked in a hot bath for hours; his whole body was comfortable and a bit blissfully dizzy. “And I’m full.”

“Full?” Yuan Anqing didn’t understand.

“Already digested.” Zhuo touched his stomach proudly.

Yuan Anqing was stunned for a moment. When he realized what biological process Zhuo meant, he asked in horror, “That’s… that’s possible?!”

“Yes,” Zhuo began slowly tying a cooking apron around his naked torso. “So, braised pork it is.”

He took the meat out of the fridge and put it in the sink to thaw. But as he waited, he felt someone grab his tail firmly.

“Huh?” Zhuo turned around. Then he felt a sudden weight on his horn; Yuan Anqing grabbed his horn and pulled him down into a deep kiss.

“I am not going to Yuan Anqing’s quarters.” Chen Jiao’s head hurt as if it would explode, but she still vehemently refused the officers’ suggestions to go to Yuan Anqing to help organize her newly awakened spiritual power. “I absolutely! Absolutely! Do not want to be alone with those two right now.”

“Mr. Yuan is quite enthusiastic about helping. Why won’t you trust Mr. Yuan more?” the Colonel said helplessly.

“He’s not enthusiastic. He just doesn’t mind helping when it’s convenient,” Chen Jiao corrected everyone. “And he’s been trapped in my mental world for so long today. He needs to ‘vent’ too.” It wasn’t hard for an adult to guess how someone in a new relationship would vent their stress with their massive partner.

“Mr. Yuan said he’ll come by later to help you,” the Colonel explained. “His physical condition really isn’t great right now.”

Later? Chen Jiao was deeply suspicious. She thought Yuan Anqing would be spending the entire day in bed with Zhuo.

At 7:30 p.m., Yuan Anqing actually came—and he brought Zhuo with him.

Yuan Anqing was the exact same: proper, polite, fully dressed, and no different from before. That was normal.

What wasn’t normal was Zhuo.

Zhuo wasn’t making a fuss, roaring, or asserting his dominance. On the contrary, Zhuo was incredibly quiet. After entering the hospital room, he sat obediently on a stool on the side. When he noticed Chen Jiao’s suspicious gaze, Zhuo smiled at her dreamily, giving her massive goosebumps.

If Zhuo were a child, he’d be the most mischievous and cunning brat in the class. An overly cheerful, destructive kid suddenly becoming quiet was way too weird. Either the kid had developed a split personality, or he had seen the face of God.

Zhuo even picked up a knife and peeled an apple for her.

This big, terrifying guy acting so well-behaved really looked like a simple-minded person… or an introverted, deeply satisfied wife.

“You should take care of yourself,” Zhuo said to her softly.

“How long was I out?” Chen Jiao took the apple cautiously. She began to suspect she had traveled to a parallel universe where Zhuo was docile.

“Just a few hours,” Yuan Anqing adjusted his glasses. “Still in time for dinner.”

“Then what happened to him?” Chen Jiao pointed at Zhuo.

Yuan Anqing looked at Zhuo and understood Chen Jiao’s meaning. “These past few days, things haven’t gone smoothly for Zhuo and me. Zhuo being a bit irritable is normal. Now… Zhuo has calmed down.”

In other words, Zhuo hadn’t suddenly become introverted; he was just sexually sated and completely full, exuding an aura of wishing for world peace.

“You guys just now… was it intense?” Chen Jiao, at fifty-one, fully understood Yuan Anqing’s corporate euphemisms.

Zhuo tilted his head, processed Chen Jiao’s words, then chuckled. He went “hehehe,” which made Chen Jiao even more frightened.

“Are you sure he’s still mentally normal?” Chen Jiao asked Yuan. “You didn’t mess up his brain with your psychic powers, did you?”

Messed up? Zhuo thought about it, silently hugged his tail, and recalled Yuan Anqing’s cold, dominant expression earlier in the bedroom.

If he really did get messed up in the head, Yuan Anqing would be going too far.

Zhuo’s face turned bright red, and he used his big tail in his arms to hide his flushed face.

Yuan Anqing wanted to explain, but Chen Jiao immediately said, “If he’s broken, I’ll introduce someone else to you.”

“I’LL CRUSH YOU!” Zhuo shot up from the stool, his domestic facade shattering instantly. “You’re so annoying!”

Chen Jiao breathed a sigh of relief. Good. The familiar, homicidal feeling is back.

Zhuo’s tail hooked around Yuan Anqing’s wrist, and Yuan Anqing immediately stood up to block Zhuo from murdering the patient. “Alright, alright, don’t get angry.”

“You’re too much!” Zhuo got even more agitated, waving his massive arms at Chen Jiao. “If you dare introduce someone to him, I’ll crush you and that person flat! Flatter than a 2D photo!”

Chen Jiao saw that Zhuo seemed genuinely furious, but couldn’t even break free from Yuan Anqing’s single arm holding him back.

Chen Jiao: “…”

A good, world-destroying monster—what has love turned him into?