A classic-brand merman charging station

Thanks to the precedent set by the Raven, Bai Ling had been stuffing himself with vegetables for a while, so his first time laying an egg went quite smoothly. He didn’t suffer much; his body was just a bit weak, and he needed to rest for a while before he could get up and move around.

Bai Ling wiped the shell clean with a tissue and stared at it expressionlessly.

The egg was only about the size of a chicken egg. Eggs of the Peregrine Falcon bloodline are light brown and covered in small spots, looking a bit like a brown sugar bean bun covered in sesame seeds.

I just don’t know what it tastes like…

It should be about the same as a regular chicken egg, right?

[Big Blue Tail]: Want to eat tomato and fried eggs tonight? Good. I’m right outside the mecha now.

Bai Ling’s heart skipped a beat. He leaned against the porthole and took a peek, and sure enough, he saw that tall, slender figure.

He hurriedly wrapped the egg in a rag, stuffed it haphazardly into his bag, and hopped off the mecha in three quick steps. But he forgot he had just finished his laying period; his knees buckled, and he nearly knelt on the ground.

A hand, as firm as a marble sculpture, reached out from the side, accurately catching him and pulling him into a firm embrace.

“You’ve been so clumsy lately.” A deep, magnetic voice gently brushed past his ear.

The tips of Bai Ling’s ears turned slightly red. He was about to say something when a sudden gust of cold wind swirled into his collar. He couldn’t help but shrug his shoulders, his nose turning red as he let out a small sneeze.

Yu Chen’s brows knit together. He reached out and felt the little bird’s clothes. The overcoat was worn properly, but underneath was only a thin, skin-tight combat suit, a backless one at that.

The bird was tall with slender limbs. Wearing an overcoat two sizes too large over a tight suit, he didn’t look like the muscle-bound pilots on the field; he looked more like a sweaty dancer who had just stepped off the stage.

Yu Chen imagined this for a moment and couldn’t help but smile, finding him exceptionally refreshing and lovely.

“Let’s go. We’re going home.” Yu Chen took his hand and tucked it into the inner pocket of his cloak.

“Home…” Bai Ling repeated the word blankly, stumbling for a couple of steps as he was led away by the merman’s warm, thick palm.

The merman couldn’t see the path, but his spatial memory was superb; he never forgot a road he had walked once. He was tall enough to firmly shield the drooping-headed little bird behind him, blocking out all prying or curious gazes.

Bai Ling traced the lines of the merman’s palm with his fingertips, silently chanting his name in his heart.

Yu Chen, Yu Chen… my old man…

After a tiring day, I’ve been picked up by my beloved guardian.

It feels like… I have a home.

Yu Chen rubbed the young man’s finger bones inside the pocket, his movements gentle and affectionate, filled with an unspeakable tenderness.

“Your hands are so cold today. Are you tired? Go back, take a bath, and get to sleep early.”

Bai Ling looked up at the sliver of his profile visible beneath the veil and answered softly, “I know.”

Bai Ling quietly felt his bag, not telling him that it was precisely because of his care that he had laid an egg.

Sub-species of the Avian order are like this.

When the environment is stable, the sunlight is sufficient, and the warm little nest is full of food, the little birds comfortably feel like laying eggs.

Bai Ling had never had an egg before.

He lived in high-pressure, stressful environments for a long time, often going hungry, with one wound healing only for the next to appear. He had never tasted the flavor of stability.

It was the merman who had personally nurtured him back to health.

Only a recovered reproductive cavity would tremblingly and laboriously develop an egg, just to convey a single message:

You took such good care of me. The little bird likes you.

Bai Ling bit his lip, his eyelashes trembling as he turned his face away. He knew his sudden surge of emotion was mostly due to the hormonal changes of the laying period, but as soon as he looked at that steady, walking silhouette leaning on a cane, a sense of soreness welled up in his heart for some reason.

“Automatic time announcement: It is now 6:00 PM.”

The mechanical clock in the venue’s waiting area rang out.

Yu Chen seemed to sense something, and his footsteps faltered for an instant. But he quickly refocused his attention on Bai Ling, accurately distinguishing the heavy, nasal breathing of his own omega from the noisy background.

Is the cold getting worse?

Yu Chen knew there were vending machines nearby with hot drinks, but he didn’t know their exact location. He let go of the child’s hand, pulled a piece of paper currency from his twill leather wallet, stuffed it into the sick child’s hand, and warmly said:

“Go buy a cup of hot milk.”

“…I have my own money.” The little bird’s voice was muffled, his nose completely blocked.

“You’re treating me to tomato and fried eggs; I’m treating you to milk. Deal?”

Since the merman put it that way, how could Bai Ling refuse?

He had no choice but to take the bill, grumbling in his mind that only an old guy would use paper money these days. He wondered if the vending machine would even give change…

Bai Ling walked to the machine and looked down at the denomination: it was 20 credits.

His heart rate accelerated slightly, and a sense of déjà vu flashed through his mind. A feeling seemed to tell him that once upon a time, he had also taken a piece of old paper money from someone’s hand to buy something he liked.

“Did you get it?” the merman softly called to him from a short distance away.

“Oh, almost, just a second.” Bai Ling hurriedly stuffed the money in, watching as the bill was swallowed whole.

It was as if the sunset was being devoured by darkness.

---

Bai Ling sat in the aircraft holding the milk, looking somewhat distracted.

Yu Chen had given advance notice, and Uriel had already raised the partition to give them privacy.

Bai Ling stared at the scattered evening glow outside the window, his mind a mess. He aimlessly sipped the hot milk, but his heart didn’t feel any warmer for it.

As they flew over the slum district, he didn’t know what he saw, but for a split second, he actually felt like jumping out of the hatch and flying off to some unknown place.

Yu Chen keenly sensed the emotional shift in his pheromones. “In a bad mood?”

“No…” Bai Ling tilted his head to finish the milk, set the paper cup down, and turned to lean against the merman’s shoulder. Resting his head in the crook of the other’s neck, he whispered:

“I’m just tired. Don’t worry.”

Yu Chen’s palm covered his back, feeling a layer of cold sweat. He frowned slightly. “Why so much cold sweat?”

The little bird rubbed his nose against the pulse in the man’s neck. “Mhm.”

Yu Chen gripped his wrist. “Lie down. You need to recharge for a bit.”

“My prosthetic still has 30% battery.”

“I’m not talking about the prosthetic; I’m talking about you. I saw your mental stability test; your rate is only at the passing line.” As Yu Chen spoke, he patted his thigh, gesturing for the child to lie down there.

Bai Ling raised his grey eyes and reluctantly lay down on his lap. “Fine, bring over the charging plug then.”

Yu Chen wrapped an arm around the bird’s slender waist, pulling him closer into the seat to prevent him from falling, while gently chuckling:

“There are no ‘plug-in’ connectors for now, only a high-power wireless charging base. High energy, zero radiation, charge as you go.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his palm pressed against Bai Ling’s forehead like a warm winter sun.

The composition of the surrounding air changed quietly. The soothing pheromones were warm and moist, like hot spring water flooding over his waist, silently flowing into his breath, soaking into his bones, and seeping into his weary heart, thoroughly washing through every organ.

A classic-brand merman charging station.

Mature, stable, and comfortable…

Bai Ling couldn’t help but relax his body, indulging himself in the alpha’s pheromones and enjoying this airtight care.

If pheromones were divided into [Offensive] and [Soothing], then the former was a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, while the latter was a warm blanket.

In this era where alpha supremacy was prevalent, very few alphas were willing to master and release soothing pheromones.

This type of pheromone required extremely high control over mental power; the alpha had to cast aside all distracting thoughts and retract their claws, which was a massive suppression of the aggressive alpha nature.

Generally, only professionals in mental therapy or family members of those with chronic mental disorders would bother to learn it.

Bai Ling hugged the merman’s waist, lost in though.

With a guardian like this, it’s really hard not to lay an egg…

Yu Chen slid his fingers down the child’s smooth back, stroking him again and again.

The bird comfortably closed his eyes, a soft hum vibrating in his throat from being rubbed.

From the back of the neck to the shoulder blades, and from the slightly protruding ribs down to the waist dimples. Bai Ling unconsciously pulled up his knees and comfortably arched his waist, trying to follow the path of that moving hand.

Yu Chen sensed the arch of that high waist and hip, and a dark wave surged in his eyes.

The little bird is wagging its tail.

This meant the mating season is approaching.

After a while, Yu Chen heard steady, rhythmic breathing. Bai Ling had drifted off into a daze.

He felt somewhat relieved and was about to recline the seat back to lie down himself when the aircraft hit a pocket of air and shook suddenly.

With a thud, the backpack resting at Bai Ling’s feet fell over.

Yu Chen bent down to feel for it and pick it up. As he lifted the bag, he felt a smooth, round shape through the canvas.

Without any hesitation, he opened it to check.

It was an egg. A fresh, smooth, and hard egg.

Suddenly, Yu Chen understood why Bai Ling was reacting so abnormally.

The little female at home had quietly laid an egg but was too ashamed to say it plainly, so he had smuggled it home in his bag… Perhaps this is the ingredient for scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

His poor child.

Always quietly offering something, then leaving without asking for anything in return.