Chapter 109: Movie Premiere: As Expected of You Zergs—Far Ahead of Everyone Else When It Comes to Getting Steamy

#An-shen#

#An-shen'sTrueAppearance#

#TheMarshal'sCurrentPartner#

A video less than a minute long shot straight to the top of StarNet's trending topics, spawning countless discussions.

An-shen appears at the Legion Gala, true appearance revealed—he's actually a Male Zerg!

The Male Zerg standing behind the Marshal is suspected to be An-shen. The two appear extremely intimate.

Lord Annor and An-shen seem to have a subtle relationship. Former and current partners face off.

Top Five Must-Eat Gossip in the Zerg Empire—the Marshal has already tasted two of them.

...

Nothing on StarNet's gossip boards was guaranteed to be true, but it was guaranteed to be exciting.

The netizens were like weasels running wild through a melon patch, bouncing from one rumor to another.

Soon, some of the more outrageous topics were deleted by StarNet moderators, but that did nothing to dampen everyone's enthusiasm for gossip.

[An-shen looks like a god who stepped straight out of ancient mythology. I could spend my whole life worshipping that face!]

[I could worship it for two lifetimes!!]

[I could—]

[He's so divine. What rank is An-shen? With that face and that aura, he's at least S-rank, right?]

[S-rank? You're dreaming. The Zerg don't even have S-rank Male Zergs.]

[Lord Annor: ?]

[Lord Annor probably counts as one... His rank is still debatable. After all, ancient A-rank Male Zergs could also perform Psychic Soothing.]

[You can actually look at Lord Annor's face and say his rank is debatable? (Old Zerg staring at terminal aboard a starship)]

[That's true. Higher-ranked Male Zergs are naturally more attractive. But once you reach the absolute peak, it's hard to tell who's actually better-looking. For example: who's more handsome, An-shen or Lord Annor? What about compared to the Marshal?]

[Holy crap! That's a death question!]

[It's already been over an hour! Hasn't anyone figured out An-shen's identity yet?]

[It's really strange... None of An-shen's information matches any high-ranking Male Zerg on Capital Star. Is he from another planet? But his location has always shown the First Military Region, and he doesn't match any of the military Male Zergs either.]

[Maybe he's conducting some classified research for the military. An-shen really has that scientist vibe.]

[Honestly, since his identity hasn't been released, it's probably something highly classified. Better not dig into it. Otherwise the Heavenly Garuda spies might notice.]

[Heavenly Garuda: ?]

Some conspiracy theorists even suggested that perhaps An-shen was actually the Male Zerg secretly kept by the highest-ranking nobles, and that the one doing it was the Marshal himself.

The Heavenly Garuda firmly believed that theory.

After all, their own aristocrats loved doing things like that.

The related discussions were quickly deleted.

With the Legion Gala currently underway, StarNet was enforcing particularly strict moderation against negative discussions involving the military.

The Zerg, however, didn't really believe those theories.

Just look at the sweet science-fiction romances An-shen wrote.

If he had truly suffered abuse or imprisonment by a Female Zerg, how could he possibly write stories like that?

[So are An-shen and the Marshal actually a couple? The Marshal is still listed as divorced and unmarried. It's obvious he's become very cautious about marriage. He probably won't rush into another one.]

[But that's An-shen! If he lets him slip away, he'll regret it for the rest of his life!]

[Let me see An-shen one more time. I'll do anything.]

[The Marshal has gone too far. The day before yesterday Lord Annor got twenty-eight whole minutes of screen time, but An-shen got less than one minute. That's outrageous!]

[So this is how you treat your ex versus your current one?]

[Don't jump to conclusions. The Marshal might not have won An-shen over yet. They're not even married. How does that make him the current one?]

Among the Zerg, there had never been such a thing as a "dating relationship."

Only "courtship" and "marriage."

Either you were already married, or you were still pursuing the other party.

At most there was the comparatively rare engagement.

No one could find An-shen's personal information, but the Marshal's marital status was clearly listed as unmarried.

Whatever reason he had for not marrying immediately, he still wasn't An-shen's Female Lord.

Which meant...

Everything was still possible.

...

While StarNet argued without end, the atmosphere at the venue was even more enthusiastic.

The moment word spread that An-shen had appeared, every Zerg rushed over.

The second floor wasn't open to the public, but everyone could still enter the first floor to buy books or wait nearby.

Those who couldn't squeeze inside simply remained outside.

If the military females responsible for maintaining order hadn't been watching so closely—and if rumors hadn't said that the Marshal was accompanying An-shen—some particularly bold Female Zergs might already have spread their wings and flown directly to the second floor.

After appearing for less than a minute, An-shen never showed himself again.

Instead, employees occasionally carried stacks of books downstairs.

Signed copies.

Personally signed by An-shen!

They were immediately snatched up.

Some Female Zergs even started fighting over ownership of a single book before being dragged away together by military females.

After witnessing that example, the remaining Female Zergs simply found open ground and held fair, officially witnessed duels instead.

Since that fell within the rules, the military females maintaining order didn't stop them.

Instead, they supervised the matches to make sure no one went too far.

The movie premiere wasn't until the afternoon.

An Ruo spent the entire morning signing books on the second floor of the bookstore while occasionally being fed by Ulysses.

"Mmm... thank you. I can actually do it myself."

It was the first time anyone had fed him like this.

And the one doing it was the Marshal.

An Ruo felt rather embarrassed.

"This one's difficult to hold. It'll dirty your hands."

Ulysses had deliberately chosen fruit that was troublesome to peel.

He didn't prepare it beforehand or place it neatly on a plate.

Instead, he insisted on feeding each piece to An Ruo personally.

Unaware of the Female Zerg's little scheme, An Ruo simply considered that his hands really couldn't get dirty while signing books.

So he could only open his mouth and accept each bite Ulysses held out to him.

It was sweet.

The sweetest fruit he had ever eaten.

He just felt a little uneasy being looked after like this.

This was a side of Ulysses he had never seen before.

He had never imagined that the great villainous Marshal would do something like this...

Would personally take care of another Zerg.

But if it was Ulysses...

Then somehow everything about it felt perfectly natural.

As a commander whom countless Zerg trusted and willingly followed, he possessed extraordinary personal charisma.

Perhaps on the battlefield...

He cared for wounded soldiers this way as well.

An Ruo imagined [N O V E L I G H T] that scene and felt Ulysses' image become even taller and more admirable.

Then he imagined himself as the "wounded soldier."

Pretending both his hands were completely useless, leaving him dependent on the Marshal to feed him.

That's right.

He was just that fragile.

The immersion was perfect.

An Ruo opened his mouth wide and happily swallowed another bite from the Marshal.

Ulysses: "..."

The male accepted every bite he fed him with obvious happiness.

Although this atmosphere wasn't quite what he had originally imagined...

As long as the male was enjoying himself, that was enough.

Compared to the divine being...

The one he had met first was actually the male who hadn't wanted to see him and had hidden away in the garden to secretly eat.

Back then...

He had regarded this mysterious outsider with nothing but vigilance.

He had never imagined...

That one day he would personally hold food to the other's lips.

...

The movie premiere began that afternoon.

Too many Zergs had gathered downstairs.

Going out normally would cause chaos.

Using that as his excuse, Ulysses proposed transporting An Ruo away with his space ability.

An Ruo agreed.

This time he was prepared.

He stood firmly without stumbling into Ulysses' arms.

Praise himself.

Passing through the spatial passage, An Ruo and Ulysses appeared together inside a massive open-air theater.

Their arrival immediately drew countless sideways glances and brief gasps of surprise.

Ulysses quietly withdrew his hand and guided the male toward his seat.

The lighting in the open-air theater was excellent.

An Ruo spotted several familiar faces.

Xi'an.

Claire.

Hill.

Iso.

Isidore.

Enzo.

Axel's egg...

Since this was the premiere of the movie adapted from his novel...

Every one of his protagonists had come.

His disguise was simply too effective.

Xi'an and Claire failed to recognize him at first.

Xi'an stared at him in confusion for several seconds before suddenly realizing something.

His eyes widened as his gaze darted repeatedly between An Ruo and Marshal Ulysses, his face full of astonishment.

An Ruo took the initiative to greet him.

Xi'an's expression became even more exaggerated.

Claire, meanwhile, simply looked between him and the Marshal before giving him a polite nod.

As for Hill and Iso...

This was their first meeting.

Since the movie was about to begin and there wasn't much time, they merely nodded politely in greeting.

Little Isidore was secretly sending messages on a terminal operating in private mode.

An Ruo always kept his own terminal on silent, but its indicator light was blinking normally at the moment.

He had a feeling he knew exactly who Little Isidore was messaging.

Whenever he stood before Hill and Iso...

An Ruo always felt guilty, as though he had secretly lured away someone else's hatchling.

Quietly, he clasped his hands behind his back.

As if sensing something, Isidore looked up at him.

The little one froze briefly before lowering his head again in confusion.

Ulysses stepped half a pace forward, blocking An Ruo's view of the protagonists before inviting him to take his seat.

An Ruo settled into the highly futuristic chair.

Originally, he had been wondering how anyone was supposed to watch a movie without a screen, especially in broad daylight.

Then he realized...

He had seriously underestimated Zerg technology.

The moment he leaned back in the chair, he felt his consciousness pulled into another space.

When he opened his eyes again...

"Claire" was standing right in front of him.

He blinked.

Looking around, he found that the surrounding audience and open-air theater had completely disappeared.

He was now inside a restaurant overflowing with flowers.

Only then did he realize...

He had already entered the movie.

And the perspective he currently occupied was...

Xi'an's.

The first-person immersion was overwhelmingly realistic.

Whenever "Claire" spoke to him, he could clearly feel the excitement surging through this body's emotions.

Could Zerg movies actually let audiences experience the actors' emotions themselves?!

But the socially anxious An Ruo only wanted to run away.

After fumbling around with the controls, An Ruo switched himself into Claire's perspective.

A beautiful red-haired Xi'an now sat directly across from him.

Those vibrant emerald-green eyes truly resembled a fresh little strawberry.

Still...

The immersion remained far too strong.

After another series of operations, he finally switched into God's-eye view.

An Ruo let out a long sigh of relief.

Now this was much more comfortable.

In God's-eye view, he could freely switch between angles and positions while watching the two protagonists interact.

An Ruo chose a nearby table and quietly watched them from there.

Only then did he notice that the viewing interface also offered three options:

"Single Viewer."

"Two-Viewer."

"Multi-Viewer."

He was currently in "Single Viewer" mode.

An Ruo stared at those words for quite a while before finally realizing what they meant.

Those modes allowed multiple Zergs to enter the movie together.

For example...

A couple could enter together, with one taking the Male Zerg protagonist's perspective while the other experienced the Female Zerg protagonist's perspective.

It actually sounded pretty interesting.

Very immersive.

You could experience the romance of the movie together with the Zerg you liked.

But...

If there were intimate scenes...

An Ruo imagined that situation.

Then quietly embarrassed himself for a while.

Immediately afterward, however...

He realized that was probably exactly what the Zerg wanted.

As expected of you Zergs...

When it comes to getting steamy, you're far ahead of everyone else.

Meanwhile.

Looking at the two protagonists he found thoroughly unpleasant, Ulysses had absolutely no interest in the movie itself.

Watching coldly from third-person perspective, he observed the interactions between the two Zergs.

He couldn't help wondering...

From what perspective would the divine being be watching?

The divine being had always cherished his protagonists.

Would he personally immerse himself in one of them?

Xi'an's perspective?

Claire's?

Or perhaps alternate between both?

Though...

If it was the divine being...

He would probably choose an even higher-dimensional perspective.

Whenever it involved the divine being's affection for other protagonists, Ulysses found himself incapable of making an accurate judgment.

His gaze shifted to the viewing mode panel.

After thinking for a moment...

He raised his hand and sent an invitation for "Two-Viewer Mode" to the divine being seated beside him.