Chapter 58: The Injured Omega

“Heng Qi.” Shi Chan called out the boy’s name and signaled toward the female landlord with his gaze. “Where does she live? Lead the way, and I’ll take you both back.”

Once he had dropped them off, Shi Chan planned to erase the little guy’s memory as well. That way, no one would know they had ever been here.

Heng Qi led the way in front, while Shi Chan used a concealment technique on the three of them, carrying the unconscious woman as he leisurely followed behind.

As he walked, Heng Qi kept glancing back at the young man following him. Even though the man had injuries on his face, Heng Qi instinctively felt that he was very powerful.

And then there was the little gray fluffball—Huihui—who had refused to let Heng Qi approach for days but turned out to be this man’s pet. Heng Qi’s eyes kept sneaking looks at the fluffy creature.

“You know it?” Shi Chan noticed the child’s gaze lingering on Rong Feifei and struck up a casual conversation. “Has it been living here all this time?”

Back when they had lost Rong Feifei on the Swift Eagle’s starship, the creature had somehow managed to end up on this planet. That meant the Swift Eagle must have visited this place.

Unfortunately, Rong Feifei was just a regular pet, not even a spirit beast, so it couldn’t talk or explain what had happened over the past two years.

“Huihui appeared here about a year ago.” Heng Qi looked at the animal in Shi Chan’s arms, his eyes brightening slightly. “It used to scavenge for food in the junkyard, so I brought it water and food. But it never let me get close.”

Hengqi looked up at Shi Chan, cautiously asking, “Big Brother, are you its owner? Why did you abandon it?”

“I didn’t abandon it.” Shi Chan stroked the now-skinny Rong Feifei. “We got separated.”

“Oh… that… that’s good, then.” Heng Qi looked at Shi Chan’s hand on Rong Feifei, a little envious. “Now that you’ve found it, it won’t go hungry anymore.”

Owning a pet was a luxury for the wealthy. Even if Heng Qi wanted one, he didn’t have the means to keep it. He had originally planned to win the little creature over with food so he could pet it, but even after a year, it hadn’t trusted him.

So it had an owner all along. Heng Qi felt disappointed but also a little jealous—at least it would have a good life now.

There weren’t many people on the street. Heng Qi led Shi Chan to his neighborhood and pointed from a distance. “That’s her house.”

“Alright.” Shi Chan dropped the woman off at a street corner and cast a spell to alter her memory, making her believe she had simply tripped and fallen that day.

“She’ll wake up soon.” Shi Chan then turned his gaze toward Heng Qi, intending to use the same method on him.

Sensing danger, Heng Qi suddenly lunged forward and tried to grab Shi Chan’s leg. “I don’t want to go back! I have nowhere to live! Big Brother, let me follow you! I can do anything!”

Shi Chan, with his skills, easily avoided the attempt, sidestepping so that Heng Qi threw himself forward and fell hard.

To his surprise, the little guy stayed on the ground and didn’t get up. A few seconds later, he even started crying. “Wuuu… wuuu…”

Shi Chan felt a little guilty and turned back to look at him. “What’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself?” Rong Feifei, nestled in Shi Chan’s arms, also poked its head out to watch.

Heng Qi looked at the fresh blood in his palm that had come from his mouth, his eyes red and tears streaming down. “I’m gonna die… wuuu…”

Shi Chan squatted down, scanning Heng Qi with his spiritual senses. Amused, he pinched the boy’s chin. “Stop crying. You’re not dying—you’re just losing a baby tooth.”

“R-really?” Heng Qi sniffled and looked up at him.

“Really.” Shi Chan glanced around, then unbothered by the dirt and blood, picked up the fallen tooth and showed it to Heng Qi in his palm. “See? This is your tooth. A new one will grow in its place soon.”

“Teeth… grow back?” No one had ever told Heng Qi about this before. His teary eyes blinked as he hesitated between crying and believing Shi Chan.

“You’re still young, so they’ll grow back,” Shi Chan reassured him. “Here, keep it. You can save it as a memento.”

“Oh.” Heng Qi’s dirty hands took the tooth from Shi Chan’s palm and carefully tucked it into his pocket.

“Big Brother, I don’t want to go back. I want to follow you,” Heng Qi quickly grabbed Shi Chan’s hand again, his face streaked with dirt, blood, and tears, looking utterly pitiful.

“You don’t even know who we are, and you want to follow us?” Shi Chan squatted down and met his gaze.

“I… I can be a star pirate too!” Heng Qi’s mind raced when he saw Shi Chan wasn’t immediately agreeing. “Or… an Empire spy!”

“A spy?” Shi Chan repeated, amused. But after thinking about it, he nodded. “Not too far off, actually.”

Heng Qi’s eyes widened in excitement.

“You can stay,” Shi Chan decided casually. “But you can’t contact anyone outside. Once you come with me, you’re not leaving.”

Heng Qi had looked delighted at first, but when he heard the last part, he hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” Shi Chan asked, puzzled. Based on what Heng Qi had shared about his past, Shi Chan didn’t think the boy had any significant connections outside.

“…I rescued an injured big brother. He’s hurt, and I’ve been bringing him food every day,” Heng Qi explained. He had hidden all his food with that brother, planning to live with him in the future. But now that he had found a “new big brother,” he had no hesitation about leaving.

“You sure have a lot of ‘brothers,’ huh?” Shi Chan glanced at Heng Qi. The kid was actually kind of cute—just way too skinny, clearly malnourished. “Take me to him.”

If Heng Qi had no outside ties, taking him away wouldn’t be an issue. But if someone knew of his existence and interacted with him regularly, Shi Chan couldn’t just make him disappear without a trace.

Heng Qi hesitated. “Big Brother, do you have medicine for injuries?”

Despite everything, Heng Qi trusted Shi Chan. After all, when the landlord had tried to hit him, this big brother had swooped in like a hero to “save” him. More importantly, he hadn’t “conveniently” killed both the landlord and him to keep them quiet.

Heng Qi’s own mother’s brother had once been randomly killed by star pirates just for witnessing something.

In Heng Qi’s mind: Big brother didn’t kill people = Big brother is a good person.

Even though the Federation constantly preached about its hatred toward the Empire, it clearly hadn’t left much of an impression on an uneducated street kid like Heng Qi. To him, the real threats were the murderous star pirates and the flesh-eating insectoids.

Shi Chan still had some leftover medicine from treating Xi Ming, so he nodded and followed Heng Qi.

When they reached the injured “big brother” in a corner of another junkyard, Shi Chan was taken aback.

Hengqi’s so-called injured brother… turned out to be an omega.

Omegas were rare in both the Federation and the Empire. Even those in the slums could usually marry into better lives. But this one—lying here, wrapped in filthy blankets, clearly attacked—was an exception.

Shi Chan had always been somewhat lenient toward omegas.

After confirming that the person hadn’t been in regular contact with Heng Qi, Shi Chan decided not to leave him behind.

If he stayed here, he would either die from his injuries or be discovered and meet an even worse fate.

When Shi Chan lifted the blankets, he saw a large, dark bloodstain near the person’s neck.

He hesitated before pulling the fabric back further.

Then his breath hitched.

This omega’s gland had been forcibly gouged out.