Chapter 64: Thunderstruck

"Ah Ye..."

On the edge of despair, Shao Ye's mind conjured up a blurry silhouette of a man.

He didn’t know who the hell it was. All he knew? This phantom felt like salvation wrapped in flesh, someone he could trust without a second thought.

But reality didn't give a damn about comfort. The pain in his gut tore through him like a jagged blade, relentless, merciless. Wave after wave hit, each one more brutal than the last. He bit down on his lip hard enough to draw blood, the world around him blurring into a dull, washed-out haze. Like a broken projector, the scene faded to black as his consciousness nosedived into oblivion.

Who knows how long he was out?

When he finally surfaced from the dark, a voice dragged him back.

"Hey! Wake up! Are you dead or what?"

His eyes cracked open, sluggish and hazy, until the face of an older woman sharpened into focus—late forties, maybe fifty, and looking at him like she’d just found a lost puppy.

She gave him a smile so warm it felt out of place. Gently propping him up, she tipped a cup of water to his lips. "Here, drink this. And take your meds while you’re at it."

No room for argument. She shoved a pill into his mouth, followed by water, and he swallowed it all down in one go. The bitterness jolted some life back into him.

"Where...where am I? Is this home? Did I make it back?" he croaked.

The woman raised a brow like he'd just sprouted a second head. "Home? Kid, did they fry your brain back at the Forced Breeding Center?"

Breeding center?

The nightmare wasn’t over. Not yet.

Shao Ye wanted to scream, but his body barely had the strength to shift. Clenching his jaw, he inspected himself. His abdomen was still wrapped in fresh bandages, no longer soaked with blood from the tortures of that greasy bastard.

He scanned the room—or rather, the cave. It wasn’t large, but definitely no cozy hideout. Around him sprawled nearly a hundred people, most of them looking half-dead, sickly, or completely out of it. A handful were outright insane: staring blankly at the walls, muttering nonsense, or screaming, "Don’t touch me! I’m not having your damn babies!"

Where the hell was this?

An asylum escape party?

Or maybe refugees from some twisted dystopian war zone?

The woman answered, like reading his mind. "You’re in the Fifth Star System’s Uncharted Zone—one of our Omega Alliance's hideouts. I’m Lu Yan, an Omega like you. What about you? Got a name, kid?"

His brain stalled at "Fifth Star System."

What the hell was that? And "Omega"?

The hell kind of sci-fi was this?

"I’m... Shao Ye," he rasped, like he had to remind himself. Yeah, that was his name. No family. No baggage. Just some college grad scraping by back in Rongcheng.

"Shao Ye, huh? Not bad," Lu Yan said, her smile softening. "Now, about Lu Zhanxing—what’s he to you?"

Shao Ye blinked. "Who?"

"Lu Zhanxing," she repeated, frowning. "You don’t know? When we dragged your half-dead ass out of Breeding Center 45, you were burning up, out cold, and mumbling his name in your sleep."

That froze him. His mind reeled, but the name didn’t ring any bells. "I don’t know him. Never heard of him," he said, deadpan.

Lu Yan’s expression shifted—half doubt, half concern. "You sure you’re not missing memories? Maybe some trauma knocked your brain loose."

Shao Ye thought hard, replaying the fragments of his miserable life. No, his memory was intact—he remembered everything right up to being kidnapped and gutted for his kidney. "Nope. I’m all here," he said firmly.

"Alright, alright," Lu Yan sighed. "So, where were you from? If your family’s out there, we can help get you back."

As she spoke, her hands moved with practiced efficiency, hooking him up to an IV like it was just another day at the office.

Family? What family? He scoffed. "I’ve got no one. I’m an orphan. Just graduated and lived alone in Rongcheng."

Lu Yan froze for a split second, his words cutting deeper than he intended. When she looked back at him, her eyes were heavy with pity.

Damn it, he hated that look.

But then she crouched beside him, her touch surprisingly tender as she stroked his hair, like a mother soothing a wounded cub. Her voice dropped to a murmur, as warm and steady as a lullaby.

"It’s alright, kid. If you want, this place can be your home now."

The unexpected kindness hit him like a sucker punch. His throat tightened, tears threatening to spill from eyes that hadn’t cried in years. It was a warmth he didn’t know he’d missed—a warmth that somehow made the hellish world feel just a little less cold.

Lu Yan arched a brow, her expression tinged with confusion. "Rongcheng? Never heard of it. Which planet is that on?"

Shao Ye’s face dropped faster than a stone in water.

What kind of sick joke is this?

Did humanity leap into interstellar colonization while I was asleep?

Did we conquer planets now?

“It’s on Earth,” he replied, trying to keep his voice steady. “A coastal city in the south of Da Xia.”

“Earth? Da Xia?” Lu Yan frowned, reaching out to press her hand against Shao Ye’s forehead, her touch clinical, almost dismissive. “You’re not feverish anymore, so why’s your brain still fried?”

Shao Ye: “…???”

Before he could respond, chaos erupted deeper in the cave. A young girl came sprinting toward them, panic written all over her face. “Doctor Lu! Something’s wrong! There’s an Omega about to give birth, but we don’t have the proper setup here! It’s dangerous—please come quickly!”

Lu Yan’s expression hardened instantly. She turned to Shao Ye, voice brisk. “Lie down and stay put. I’ll handle this.”

With that, she bolted toward the commotion, a crowd forming in her wake.

Now, Shao Ye knew better than to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. Watching someone give birth wasn’t exactly on his bucket list. But the unrelenting screams echoing from that direction? Those weren’t just screams—they were raw, gut-twisting, and unmistakably… male.

Curiosity gnawed at him until he caved. Dragging his IV stand along, one hand clutching his stomach, he shuffled toward the scene like some out-of-place spectator.

And then it hit—the sharp cry of a newborn slicing through the tension. The gathered crowd exhaled as one, their relief palpable. Smiles broke out, hands clapped, and the air filled with murmurs of congratulations.

But Shao Ye? His chest tightened, his gut churned, and out of nowhere, tears started streaming down his face. It wasn’t just a little moisture; it was an unrestrained, uncontrollable flood. He quickly wiped at his eyes, his own bewilderment mixing with a creeping sense of dread.

Why the hell am I crying over someone else’s kid?

What’s wrong with me?

As the crowd dispersed, Shao Ye caught sight of Lu Yan still bustling around, tending to the aftermath. He hesitated, then decided to take a closer look.

What he saw nearly knocked him off his feet.

There, lying pale as death, drenched in sweat, and cradling a tiny newborn to his chest, was a man.

A. Man.

The guy looked like he’d been dragged through hell and back, barely clinging to consciousness. But there was a strange serenity in his face as he gazed down at the baby in his arms, a weak but genuine smile breaking through his exhaustion.

Shao Ye’s jaw hit the metaphorical floor. His brain stalled, static buzzing in his ears.

Lu Yan passed off her tasks to a few younger assistants before noticing his slack-jawed state. She walked over, tilting her head as she studied him. “What’s wrong with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Wrong? Everything was wrong.

Shao Ye’s hands trembled as he pointed at the man lying on the floor, still holding the baby. His voice cracked, equal parts horror and disbelief. “H-He’s the one who… just gave birth?!”

Lu Yan glanced over casually and nodded, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. “Yeah, of course. Why are you freaking out?”

Shao Ye couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

How were these people so casual about the fact that a man had just given birth?

Wasn’t that wrong?

“He’s a man, right?” Shao Ye asked again, his voice shaky but demanding.

“Of course, he’s a man. Why ask such an obvious question?” Lu Yan replied, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

“And how the hell did he give birth?” Shao Ye's voice unconsciously rose, making the freshly delivered male Omega glance over at them, his attention piqued.

Lu Yan sighed, her voice heavy with a mix of sorrow and resignation. “Once they’re in the reproductive center, all an Omega’s life amounts to is popping out kids until they can’t anymore. When we found you, you hadn’t been sent for breeding yet. You probably just got to the center, not realizing the hellish situation waiting for Omega inside.”

Her gaze lingered on Shao Ye’s bandaged stomach as she continued. “I’ve checked your injuries. Your child... wasn’t full term, was it? Don’t worry, I’ve re-treated the wound. Once it heals, you’ll still be able to get pregnant again.”

The words hit Shao Ye like a freight train, leaving him dazed and paralyzed in shock, his mind going blank.

“Wait... you’re saying... my injury was from giving birth?” Shao Ye barely managed to force the words out, the sheer disbelief almost spilling over from his eyes.

“Yeah, don’t you remember?” Lu Yan studied his face carefully, before adding, “It’s probably for the best if you don’t. It wasn’t a pleasant memory, was it? Let it go. Life’s about moving forward.”

Shao Ye felt his legs give way beneath him, nearly collapsing before Lu Yan caught him just in time, guiding him to a seat. “You’re not fully healed yet. Sit down.”

Sweat beaded on Shao Ye’s forehead. Every time the newborn cried, a chill ran down his spine, his mind spiraling. “This... this can’t be real. I’m dreaming. This is all a lie. How could a man give birth? How could I have—"

Lu Yan just sighed, giving a quiet instruction to her assistant to slip some calming agents into Shao Ye’s medicine.

She was a doctor, and she knew better than anyone that an Omega’s mental state was fragile. Clearly, Shao Ye had suffered unspeakable trauma not long ago—losing his child—and the mental strain was taking its toll. It was no wonder he was so broken, unable to process such an impossible reality.

All she could do was try to help this poor Omega forget those terrifying memories and find hope in life again.

Days passed, and eventually, Shao Ye was forced to face the harsh reality: He was on a completely alien planet now.

Here, the concept of countries didn’t exist anymore; everything had already entered the Galactic Alliance. People had their beast forms, and aside from the usual gender difference at birth, adolescents underwent a second sexual differentiation. If someone ended up as an Omega, whether male or female, they'd still have to bear children.

And, as it turned out, Shao Ye was one of those unlucky Omega.

Each morning, he woke up cursing the sky for his miserable fate, his voice bitter and hoarse as he railed against the universe.

Once he was done cursing the heavens, he started laying into the Alpha responsible for knocking him up.

Because he’d heard, of course, that Omega pregnancies also involved the Alpha’s contribution.

This body of his had clearly gotten entangled with a heartless scumbag—someone who got him pregnant and then had the audacity to tear out the premature child from his body. Just thinking about it made his stomach churn.

He cursed that vicious bastard Alpha, praying for a bolt of lightning to strike him down.