After the Ice-Cold Strongest Picked Up a Clingy Little Monster

Cold on the outside, warm within; broken but always in control; the pinnacle of humanity, the strongest, the top

Naturally obedient; delicate but greedy; devoted only to his husband, the little monster, the bottom

As the strongest evolved being in the apocalypse, Lu Xinzhou had a secret.

His right arm had already been contaminated, and he was on the verge of mutation.

Lu Xinzhou's response to this was no response at all.

Just as he had for over a decade, he fought bloody battles as a pillar of support. The only difference was that he had prepared to perish together with the source of the contamination.

If he could live, he would. If he couldn't, well, he would just blow everything up.

With that thought in mind, Lu Xinzhou grew increasingly numb, until he picked up a beautiful young man with no sense of personal boundaries.

"Hello, strange gentleman. You smell delicious."

At their first meeting, the young man wore a shy smile, but his eyes were full of greed.

In his twenty-four years of life, Lu Xinzhou had never encountered anyone brazen enough to flirt with him. It wasn't until the young man licked the blood from his wound that Lu Xinzhou realized this little monster really wanted to eat him.

With little time left, Lu Xinzhou had no desire to grow close to Yue Mian, but he had vastly underestimated how clingy the little monster could be.

Lu Xinzhou executed an infected person in front of Yue Mian, thinking Yue Mian would be afraid. But he wasn't. He clung tightly to Lu Xinzhou's clothes, determined to follow him back to base;

Lu Xinzhou deliberately tried to intimidate Yue Mian, thinking he would back down. But he didn't. Thinking he hadn't been obedient enough, he blinked his dark eyes and smiled sweetly at Lu Xinzhou;

Even when Lu Xinzhou lost control of his powers, he thought Yue Mian would finally keep his distance. But he didn't. Without a second thought, he charged into the very center of the storm, discovered Lu Xinzhou's secret, and glimpsed the shattered state of his heart.

The little monster was naive and clueless about human feelings, yet he alone noticed what no one else had: the unspoken struggle and self-loathing beneath Lu Xinzhou's steadfast, stern exterior.

Bad news: the strongest human, an iceberg for ten thousand years, couldn't withstand the onslaught. He fell in love for the first time, with a little monster.

Yue Mian had originally thought that he pursued Lu Xinzhou relentlessly because he considered him precious prey, and only wanted to satisfy his uncontrollable appetite and possessiveness.

But why did tears fall when he learned of Lu Xinzhou's pain?

The little monster, lacking empathy, didn't know what love was. He only knew that for the first time, his desire to save another person outweighed his instinctive desires for pleasure and food.

Yue Mian no longer wanted to eat Lu Xinzhou.

He remembered Lu Xinzhou holding his hand and teaching him to write his own name. He remembered Lu Xinzhou crossing the ruins in the rainy night to give him a cold, rain-soaked, profound embrace. He remembered Lu Xinzhou's deep eyes always gazing at him with indulgence.

So the little monster learned to replace biting with kissing, clumsily returning the feelings Lu Xinzhou had once given him.

If you insist on saving other people,

then at least, could you teach me how to save you the way you save others?

Reader's Guide:

1. Lu Xinzhou x Yue Mian. The story is told mainly from the top's point of view. They dote on each other, with an overwhelmingly mutual attraction. Not suitable for readers who are particular about top and bottom roles. One-on-one from beginning to end, happy ending;

2. Many original worldbuilding details. The story takes place after order has been established in the apocalypse. There are supernatural abilities, but no hoarding and no System;

3. The top is no saint, but has an overly strong sense of morality and a self-destructive streak. The bottom is completely devoted to his husband and very much a clingy accessory, but the top is happy to let him cling. Please skip this if you can't accept these character types;

4. The plot isn't exactly a power fantasy, but the romance is a sweet story of mutual salvation. Happy reading!

Here's an upcoming novel: After Winning Over the Top A's Campus Heartthrob, I Played with His Feelings and Dumped Him

Fake schemer, truly obedient, delicate omega x Seemingly gentle, secretly calculating, heaven's favorite alpha; a campus romance about rekindling an old flame

In Chi Yu's first seventeen years, there was only one thing that could be called good luck:

He had secondarily differentiated from a beta into an omega.

Though he was only an ordinary omega, and his pheromones smelled like nothing special but peaches, Chi Yu was content.

He was tired of being poor. Being an omega offered far more chances to change his fate than being a beta, and he was determined to seize this opportunity.

Because of his omega status, Chi Yu transferred to the best high school.

He cut his hair short, no longer hiding his delicate face, and wore a clean, inexpensive white shirt. On the day he introduced himself, he shyly smiled at every alpha from a wealthy family seated below the podium, a smile he'd practiced countless times.

He said, "Hello, everyone. My name is Chi Yu. You can call me Xiao Yu."

The adolescent alphas grew restless at the sight of the pretty, unfamiliar omega, and all eyes gathered on him. Chi Yu lowered his head bashfully, but in truth he was checking the logos on everyone's sneakers. He had memorized the prices of every luxury brand from fashion magazines.

Chi Yu spotted the most expensive pair of shoes. They were a limited edition, labeled in a magazine feature as not available for sale.

He composed his expression, then looked up into a pair of dazzling, sharp amber eyes devoid of emotion.

At first glance, Chi Yu knew that Gu Yixing, a top-tier alpha, could never be interested in an ordinary person like him.

But Chi Yu was greedy. He wanted the best.

During PE, Chi Yu deliberately fell in front of Gu Yixing. The omega gland of this newly differentiated omega was still unpracticed at covering itself, and the fresh, sweet scent of peaches "accidentally" escaped.

The heaven's favorite, who topped the grade rankings, saw through Chi Yu's clumsy act with ease. But he didn't call him out. He simply handed Chi Yu a whole bottle of the most expensive pheromone blocker on the market.

The alpha's polite manner was like a thorn thrust straight into Chi Yu's self-conscious heart. Gu Yixing said:

"Sorry, it's nothing personal. I'm allergic to peaches."

The alphas left in a crowd around Gu Yixing, and Chi Yu heard someone ask him how he could remain unmoved when an omega was throwing himself at him.

Gu Yixing didn't answer. His friend spoke for him:

"You think everyone's in a hurry to start dating? He's rich and has no shortage of love, of course he's going to wait until he's an adult to find an omega from a family like his, have his first love, and get married in one go!"

Did he have lots of love?

That was the only thing Chi Yu heard.

Watching the handsome, aloof profile of the boy, the sourness in Chi Yu's heart swelled. He felt like a rotten peach pickled in seawater.

Since he didn't lack love,

why couldn't he spare some for me?

After becoming the heaven's favorite's first love, Chi Yu played with his feelings and dumped him. He had never imagined that one day he would see Gu Yixing again.

Five years was neither a long nor a short time, but it was enough for the once gentle, sunny boy to transform into a ruthless rising star in the business world. Watching the suited alpha approach him step by step, Chi Yu could hardly recognize him.

The alpha's fierce, overwhelming pheromones wove into an airtight net, tightly ensnaring one disobedient little fish.

The sound of a foil pill packet breaking reached him. Chi Yu's entire body tensed reflexively, and he looked at Gu Yixing in alarm. Under his gaze, the alpha swallowed a newly unwrapped allergy pill.

"I thought that after abandoning me all these years, you'd have forgotten me completely."

Gu Yixing caught the sweet, cloying scent of peaches wafting from the omega. The gloom in his eyes eased slightly, and he drawled,

"Looks like at least your pheromones still remember what I'm about to do."

How could he possibly forget?

Back in high school, Gu Yixing had taken countless allergy pills just to get close to Chi Yu, despite being allergic to peaches. They had kissed so many times behind the classroom curtains that the rustle of pill foil had become a signal that made Chi Yu release his pheromones.

Theme: Faith never dies; may the world be at peace.