Pregnant During An Apocalypse [BL]

Chapter 322: Chapter 323 - He was simply... him

Chao Wan.

That was his name.

At least, that was the name his human parents had once called him. He didn’t remember much about those days anymore. It had been long—so long since anyone had called him by that name, years since anyone had spoken to him with warmth or affection. Eventually, even the name itself had begun to feel unfamiliar.

So he went by no name now.

He was simply... him.

A being abandoned by others.

The last human interaction he could remember was with his so-called parents. Though, whether he should even call them parents anymore, he didn’t know. They had abandoned him so coldly that the word itself felt almost meaningless.

Those humans had abandoned him simply because he looked different.

His skin had been unusually pale, and his eyes had been red. His so-called parents had looked at him with fear and disgust, saying that he looked like a devil.

But he had only been a little child then.

How could a baby look like a devil?

That was the only reasonable excuse they had been able to come up with before throwing him toward a horde of zombies and running away to save themselves.

He had been barely more than a little thing at the time, not even as tall as a suitcase. He had been small, helpless, and completely incapable of understanding why the people who were supposed to protect him had suddenly left him behind.

The zombies had immediately tried to eat him.

But he had been saved.

Saved by his new family—the red butterflies.

They had appeared in a swarm, fluttering around his tiny body before attacking the approaching zombies. The butterflies had chased them away from him, protecting him despite having no reason to do so.

As a young child, Chao Wan had been fascinated by them.

He had followed those butterflies wherever they went.

And somehow, from that day onward, he had lived peacefully with them.

He ate whatever human food he could find in the abandoned places around him, sharing his surroundings with the butterflies as though they had always belonged together. He didn’t know exactly how long he had lived that way. Time had always felt strange around him, and he could never properly understand its passing.

He simply knew that he grew much faster than an ordinary human.

Within only a few days, he had become as tall as a table.

It was around that time that his strange power awakened.

He discovered that he could create portals.

Portals that could take him from one place to another.

At first, he was curious about the ability and occasionally used it to explore different places. But he never liked venturing too far from his home. The familiar abandoned building and his butterflies were enough for him.

So time continued to pass.

Eventually, Chao Wan grew until he was about as tall as the mannequins scattered throughout the place he lived in.

A normal human height.

By then, the world around him had changed even more.

The place he called home slowly aged and decayed. Dust covered everything, the walls deteriorated, and the once-familiar surroundings gradually became filled with nothing but decay and death.

Even the human food left behind eventually became impossible to eat.

That was when the butterflies came up with a plan.

They would travel great distances on their own, searching for wild animals and hunting them for him. Whenever they found something, Chao Wan would simply use his void ability to create a portal and bring their food back home.

Somehow, over all those many times, they had formed a strange bond.

He could feel them.

And they could feel him.

It was almost as though the butterflies lived inside his mind, their emotions brushing against his own. He could sense when they were happy, frightened, excited, or agitated, even though he couldn’t explain exactly how it worked.

It was difficult to put into words.

After all, no one had ever taught him anything.

There had been no one to explain what his powers were, why he could create portals, or why he could somehow communicate with the butterflies without words. He had simply learned everything by himself, slowly figuring out the strange world around him.

But today, something felt different.

The butterflies were restless.

Chao Wan could feel their emotions more strongly than usual. Their excitement seemed to spread through his mind, accompanied by an unfamiliar agitation.

Something had caught their attention.

Something had made them excited.

And Chao Wan could feel it too. He simply didn’t know what it was yet.

He waited for the butterflies to call him back, as they usually did, but whatever had fascinated them so much seemed to be keeping them away from him.

As more time passed, his heart became increasingly agitated.

What if they left too?

What if they abandoned him here in this ruined home, just like the humans?

The thought alone filled him with panic.

Without thinking any further, he immediately used his power.

A huge black hole suddenly appeared in front of him, its dark surface twisting strangely as it opened into the void. He quickly reached through it and dragged the thing that had caused all the commotion into his home.

The moment he pulled it through, the butterflies followed.

They fluttered excitedly around him, circling his head and shoulders as though they had brought him some kind of wonderful gift.

It was a human.

A young human who was almost as tall as him.

He stared at her curiously, studying her unfamiliar face and frightened expression.

”You...” it stumbled backward and fell to the ground, staring up at him with wide eyes.

Chao Wan blinked.

Was he that scary-looking?

His gaze slowly traveled over his own pale hands before returning to the frightened human.

Do I look like a devil?

The thought quietly crossed his mind.

”You’re the one who brought me here...” The human slowly backed away from him, her voice trembling. ”Who are you?”

He didn’t know how to answer.

After all, he hadn’t spoken to anyone in a very long time. He could barely remember how talking were supposed to work.

”Why did you bring me here?” the human asked again.

He looked at her.

My friends like you. He said through his thoughts just as he conversed with his friends.

The human didn’t seem to hear him though. He didn’t understand why.

But he could understand why his friends liked this thing. It was because of its scent

It was strange.

It reminded him of soothing rain falling after a long, dry day. It was fresh and clean, almost calming, and he found himself wanting to breathe it in again.

He tilted his head slightly and moved closer.

He simply wanted to take a proper sniff.

But the human clearly didn’t like him being so close.

It backed away from him, shouting one word after another, its frightened voice echoing through the abandoned place.

Chao Wan only stared at her in confusion.

He didn’t understand what he had done wrong.

He wasn’t trying to hurt her.

He simply wanted to smell her.