Chapter 107: "God": Creating a Persona Based on the "Gods" of Ancient Times

The release of the hatchling tutorial successfully redirected public attention.

There were fewer Zerg condemning the Military Region Prison and Major General Uriel. Now, the Female Zerg wanted to meet that Lord even more, while the Male Zerg were eager to find out whether such an unbelievably futuristic tutorial could actually be put into practice.

After posting the tutorial, An Ruo stopped paying attention to it.

He simply waited in his room.

But after waiting for quite a while, no one came to escort him to the treatment room.

Confused, he sent Uriel a message asking about today's Psychic Soothing schedule.

[Uriel]: Lord, the Military Legion Festival is followed by a seven-day holiday. Today is the second day. There are no Psychic Soothing sessions scheduled.

After seeing that Lord perform Psychic Soothing on so many Zerg yesterday, Uriel wouldn't dare arrange another session for him for at least a month.

He only wanted the Lord to rest properly.

Psychic recovery medicine was delivered to him without regard for cost.

Tonics and medicinal herbs were incorporated into every meal.

Top chefs personally prepared every dish to ensure it suited the Lord's tastes.

Reading the message, An Ruo looked rather lost.

But...

He was a doctor.

If doctors were on holiday, what would happen to patients desperately in need of treatment?

Severe psychic disorders genuinely threatened the lives of Female Zerg.

They really could die from Psychic Riot.

He shared his concern with Uriel.

Uriel replied:

Please don't worry, Lord. Every Female Zerg scheduled for treatment during the coming month had already come to Capital Star to attend the Military Legion Festival. In other words, your Group Psychic Soothing yesterday already treated all of them.

Only then did An Ruo finally relax.

He also realized that if he insisted on performing more Psychic Soothing now, the military would have to temporarily transfer the next group waiting in line.

Making everyone run around during a holiday would only inconvenience them.

So he simply gave himself a few days off.

He spent the entire day in his room doing absolutely nothing.

Browsing StarNet.

Eating.

Sleeping whenever he felt like it.

Remembering the income from his third novel, An Ruo withdrew the Star Coins and, as usual, transferred them to Ulysses.

This novel was even more popular than the previous two.

Its earnings were correspondingly higher.

An Ruo also noticed that many accounts from IP addresses outside the Zerg Federation were following his novel.

They even tried every possible method to send him tips.

Many of those accounts had already been banned.

They were Heavenly Garuda.

As the absolute villains in Zerg stories, An Ruo found it difficult to understand why they could become so obsessed with a Zerg novel—

To the point of willingly sending money to an enemy nation.

Was it because the protagonist this time was a Heavenly Garuda male?

An Ruo quietly made a note of that.

If he had the opportunity...

He would give the Heavenly Garuda more chances to appear.

Including, but certainly not limited to, appearing as villains.

Having already decided not to write tragic villains anymore, An Ruo reflected for exactly one second.

He could simply write villains...

Who weren't tragic.

...

Ulysses had long since grown accustomed to receiving transfers from that Lord.

As always, he deposited the money into that special account.

It really did resemble a married couple's shared account.

Though among the Zerg, most joint accounts consisted of money earned by the Female Zerg, provided for the Male Zerg to spend freely.

Sometimes, if the Female Zerg wished to withdraw some of their own money, they even had to ask permission from their Male Lord.

This account was different.

Every Star Coin inside had come from a male.

Ulysses' expression softened.

One day...

He would return every last Star Coin.

Along with a gift expressing his gratitude.

The General of the First Military Region happened to notice the Marshal looking at his light screen with unmistakable gentleness in his eyes.

Slightly surprised, he asked,

"A message from a Male Zerg?"

"Mhm."

Ulysses responded, his mood fairly pleasant.

"A date tonight?"

The General asked again.

The question was practically equivalent to asking whether he was going to sleep with a Male Zerg.

Ulysses: "..."

No.

He had really picked the worst possible subject.

...

Though tomorrow he did.

The Lord had exhausted himself yesterday.

He probably wouldn't want to see him again so soon.

He could only wait for tomorrow's appointment with "An."

Tomorrow...

He would finally be able to spend time openly with the Lord.

There would be no need to avoid other Zerg because of their assumed identities.

...

Toward evening, An Ruo remembered the military Female Zerg confined inside the prison cells.

While everyone else was immersed in the festive atmosphere of the Military Legion Festival...

These Zerg, unable to leave because of their psychic disorders, felt like lonely elderly people abandoned by society.

He made his usual rounds.

At the same time, he intended to visit these lonely elderly Zerg.

The lonely elderly Zerg he had imagined were living miserably.

But when An Ruo arrived outside Cell No. 1...

He discovered that the room had been fitted with an ultra-luxurious holographic entertainment system that was currently broadcasting the Military Legion Festival.

An Ruo: "..."

He didn't even have equipment that nice in his own room.

Were these Zerg living this comfortably?

No. 1 was sprawled across the sofa hugging his "egg," watching the festival.

Upon seeing An Ruo, he happily wagged his tail and invited him inside to watch together.

An Ruo turned to look at Major General Uriel beside him.

Uriel frowned toward the Zerg inside.

After recalling the latest psychic evaluation report—which indicated stable emotions—he finally nodded in approval.

The prison cell opened.

An Ruo stepped inside.

The room contained a long sofa.

No. 1 was lying across it without the slightest concern for appearances, his wings and tail occupying most of the space.

There was also a separate armchair.

That was actually rather strange.

A prison cell occupied by only one Zerg had no reason to contain two sets of furniture.

That meant someone visited him frequently.

Someone who was permitted to enter the prison cell.

Was it one of No. 1's family members?

"You can sit there."

"That's his seat."

Selerus said.

Most of the Female Zerg imprisoned here had gone for years without interacting with others.

Combined with their fragmented memories, they often spoke with confused word order and muddled logic.

An Ruo could only rely on guesswork to understand them.

He sat down in the separate armchair.

The moment he looked up...

He found himself facing Ulysses.

Or rather—

A holographic projection of Ulysses.

The equipment really was top-of-the-line.

After adjusting it to full scale, the hologram looked exactly like a real person standing in front of him.

If someone wasn't paying attention, they could easily mistake it for the real thing.

An Ruo quietly watched Marshal Ulysses delivering his speech, becoming completely absorbed.

His great villain really was handsome.

Not merely in appearance—

Everything from his bearing to his commanding presence was magnificent.

That was why he had so many followers.

Why so many Female Zerg would willingly lay down their lives for him.

"Is he handsome?"

Selerus suddenly asked.

An Ruo nodded instinctively.

Only afterward did he realize what he'd done.

Surprised, he turned toward No. 1.

Holding his own "egg," No. 1 said with obvious pride,

"He'll become that outstanding too."

An Ruo: "..."

So...

He was using Ulysses as a role model for the "egg."

Looking at the egg that would never hatch, An Ruo immediately stood up for his great villain.

"But there's only one Marshal Ulysses."

"He's the very best!"

Ulysses was, of course, the very best.

But...

Selerus looked at the "big Ulysses" in the hologram.

Then at the "little Ulysses" he was holding in his arms.

His expression gradually filled with confusion.

"Only one?"

There was clearly no reasoning with a foolish Zerg.

After checking Selerus' mental condition and confirming it remained relatively stable, An Ruo left behind a gift, said goodbye, and headed toward the next "patient room."

The gift consisted of a fruit basket and fruit milk.

A perfectly ordinary present for visiting elderly people.

Selerus picked up the fruit basket in confusion.

Then looked at the fruit milk beside it.

Weren't these things only hatchlings ate?

Fortunately...

There happened to be a hatchling at home.

But...

Was there one hatchling...

Or two?

Selerus remained deeply puzzled.

...

A new day arrived.

An Ruo got up early to prepare his appearance.

He needed an image completely different from that of the Psychic Soothing specialist "Annor."

Fortunately...

The third day of the Military Legion Festival featured a masquerade ball.

He planned to create a persona based on the "gods" of ancient times.

The gods worshipped by the Zerg had, in truth, simply been extraordinarily high-ranking Zerg.

They possessed power far beyond ordinary beings.

So powerful that they seemed no different from true deities.

He chose clothing with a more ancient aesthetic.

His hair needed to be braided.

It would be paired with ornaments.

He also needed suitable makeup.

Then an exquisite mask...

And finally—

The core piece of the entire ensemble—

Psychic suggestion.