Little Pink Starfish

After Rebirth, I Became the Fated Omega of the Scumbag Gong’s Uncle

“Attendees of the banquet are expected to have very stereotypical kinds of relationships.”

Lu Taipan quickly regained his usual composure and began explaining to Su Liang in a meticulous tone.

“Generally speaking, two people attending a banquet together are assumed to be in one of two categories—partners or relatives.”

The Lord of the Serpent Pit casually glanced at the invitation, purposefully omitting the fact that, as the hero who killed the Canaan Emperor, he had the privilege to attend unconditionally.

“If we’re not ‘partners,’ then what should I tell the organizers? That I’m your uncle, and I plan to bring my younger relative as my plus one—”

At that, Lu Taipan’s gaze flickered slightly, obviously thinking of the times Su Liang had called him “Uncle Lu.”

However, by the time he finished explaining, Su Liang still hadn’t responded.

The delicate young man just stared silently at a certain Alpha—saying nothing, but his silence spoke volumes.

This was the same man who had led the vipers in slaying the Canaan emperor without flinching, yet now, under the clarity of Su Liang’s gaze, he was swiftly defeated.

“…I’m sorry,” Lu Taipan said, quietly. “In truth, it doesn’t matter what label you carry—you can attend with me either way. But I do want everyone at that banquet to know… you are my partner.”

As he spoke, Lu Taipan raised a hand and gently stroked Su Liang’s cheek.

In that moment, all pretense and restraint vanished from his face, revealing the most sincere version of himself.

“You’re hesitant to attend as my partner because you’re afraid, aren’t you?”

“Mr. Si, actually…”

“You already suffered so much just from dating Lu Zhizhao, and now you’re with me—his uncle. I’m older, and people will talk. There will be more nasty rumors, more gossip that will probably drown out everything else. People might even come up to you on the street and ask how you seduced me, how you lured me in…”

At this, Lu Taipan’s voice suddenly turned serious—steadfast and firm.

“But I promise you, none of that will happen. I won’t allow history to repeat itself. Lu Zhizhao couldn’t protect you—but I can.”

“No one will hurt you again. No rumor will trouble you. They can think what they like, but they’ll never dare speak it aloud or write it down.”

You never have to be afraid again.

Lu Taipan said that silently in his heart.

Su Liang held his gaze for a few seconds, then finally let out a helpless sigh.

“I’m not scared of their gossip. I don’t care what people say.” The boy said lightly. “What worries me is that the whole banquet is live-streamed. My sister will definitely be watching. Once she sees us together, I’ll have to explain.”

He looked distinctly troubled.

“My sister never supported me dating an Alpha—especially someone from your Lu family. Especially someone with such a high status. You know what Lu Zhizhao put me through. She saw it all. She’s practically developed PTSD from it. And based on the list she gave me, my ideal partner is supposed to be someone from a modest background, a gentle, normal Beta—ideally a student at Xingchuan University or something.”

Su Liang ticked off the points on his fingers, listing out Su Nuan’s expectations.

• Gentle personality
• Ordinary family
• No hidden baggage
• No ties to powerful clans
• Honest
• Takes good care of people
  …

Listening to the criteria, the once-cold and powerful Lord of the Serpent Pit froze completely.

Su Liang, seeing this, peeked up at Lu Taipan from beneath his lashes.

The Alpha’s expression was rigid, eyes frozen like ice. Su Liang could practically hear his brain short-circuiting.

Eventually, the boy couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

He laughed so hard he fell into Lu Taipan’s arms.

“But it’s okay. My sister loves me. Once she finds out, I’ll say lots of nice things about you. I’ll tell her… mmm, that I like Alphas who are tall, older than me, high-ranking in the Lu family, and super strong. She’ll have no choice but to accept it.”

His curved eyes shimmered like starlight, and Lu Taipan couldn’t help but take a deep breath, trying to suppress the rising heat within him.

Su Liang, thoroughly pleased by the Alpha’s rare expression of defeat, felt some of the frustration he’d built up over being deceived by low-grade tricks finally melt away.

In that moment of levity, he didn’t realize—

As an Omega, the subtle stirrings in his body were growing stronger.

A bit like the dizzy warmth of being drunk, tonight he was particularly reckless.

He even boldly reached up, hooking his arms around Lu Taipan’s neck to pull him down.

Then, through the bite inhibitor, Su Liang deliberately left a phantom kiss.

“Mm~” he winked, “…Uncle Lu.”

The flame inside Lu Taipan finally erupted.

“Crack—”

It was the sound of metal breaking.

Su Liang’s eyes widened in shock as Lu Taipan raised a hand and ripped off the supposedly unbreakable bite inhibitor.

His smile froze.

“Don’t be scared,” Lu Taipan said softly—an unnatural kind of gentleness. But his eyes gleamed brighter than ever.

Su Liang was pushed onto the sofa and immediately immobilized. A semi-manifested serpent made of spiritual energy slithered joyfully around his wrists and ankles, binding him.

“I’ll make you feel… very, very good.”

The powerful, cold Alpha whispered hoarsely by his ear.

---

“Ah, look at this—”

In the Leia Plant Research Room at the medical center, an observer rubbed his eyes and stared at the vividly colored alien flora behind the glass.

“Hurry, record this! Leia plants transitioning from flower to fruit is ridiculously rare!”

Once he registered the change in the greenhouse, the observer raised his voice excitedly.

Though, truthfully, the AI systems had already begun recording the transformation the moment the change occurred.

The flowers were secreting a sweet, fragrant, sticky nectar from their delicate centers. Tests revealed it was Leia flower nectar—something never recorded before.

The secretion started small but quickly increased at an alarming rate, some of it dripping onto the growth substrate.

After the nectar surge, the small, plain flowers began to change shape.

Their sepals swelled, petals turned deep pink and thickened with absorbed nectar. Soon, ovules resembling Earth fruits developed visibly fast.

The sweet scent in the air grew even stronger.

Structurally, the Leia fruiting process resembled Earth’s—but far faster. And during the ovule’s growth into full fruit, the exposed stigma continued to excrete thin nectar.

Compared to the flower nectar, this fruit-phase nectar was much more diluted, likely because the plant’s nutrients were being channeled into the developing fruit.

Within minutes, the once-leafy Leia blooms had transformed into pale pink fruits—plump and heavy, bending the branches they hung from.

Even without tasting them, just looking at the juicy sheen and the nectar seeping from between petal seams, one could imagine how succulent and fragrant the ripe fruits would be.

But…

“They’re still not ripening properly. Just like before—they stay under-ripe. It must still be related to Young Master Su Liang not having fully completed his differentiation.”

The observer sighed as he logged the data for each fruit.

“At this point, all we can do is hope Young Master Su Liang fully differentiates soon. Otherwise, this research might not progress.”

A fellow medic sighed too.

Then both of them noticed a rookie standing frozen at the observation window, staring at the fruiting Leia plants with a red face.

“Hey, newbie! What are you spacing out for? Have you finished reviewing the experiment logs?! Can’t believe you’re slacking off right in front of us!”

The senior observer scolded.

The rookie jumped and came back to his senses, flustered.

“S-Sorry! I wasn’t slacking off—I was just… thinking.”

“What were you thinking about that had you so entranced? Your face is red.”

A kind colleague tried to smooth things over, but the rookie replied honestly:

“I was thinking… since the Leia blooms are nurtured by Young Master Su Liang’s mental power, they probably share a special resonance. But just now, they all bore fruit without warning.”

His eyes flickered, sheepish.

“I was wondering… what on earth happened to Young Master Su Liang just now, to cause such a massive fruiting event?”

Observer A: “…”

Observer B: “…”

The plant lab fell into awkward silence.

After a long beat, someone coughed.

“W-What are you imagining, seriously! Get back to work!”

“Yeah yeah, back to work…”