Chapter 123: Male Zerg Book Club: (Philor + Aira) In Undercover, Avis Is the Undercover Agent Everyone Sees, While Uriel Is the Undercover Agent Hidden in the Shad

Ever since his Female Lord had moved into prison, poor Philor had fallen into the hands of a gang of star pirates, who took turns mercilessly tormenting him.

Yes.

There were quite a few "star pirates" in his household.

Those military female Zergs had spent so many years strictly following regulations that they had been suppressing themselves for far too long. Now that they finally had a chance to play star pirates, they threw themselves into the role with abandon.

Poor Philor was picked up and "fed on" over and over again until he was practically bald.

Good heavens.

He had actually started shedding hair.

To keep his beautiful pink hair from being completely "fed away," Philor took advantage of a Male Zerg Book Club gathering and slipped out of the house.

This gathering was held in the evening.

Night had just begun to fall.

The nightlife of Male Zergs was only just getting started.

Compared to everything else...

A book club was an exceptionally wholesome and refined form of nightlife.

Philor rarely attended gatherings like this.

The main reason he had come this time was because An-shen's newest novel had unexpectedly mentioned his own hatchling—and Iso.

Hill's ship had been hijacked by star pirates?

Major-version Iso was going to rescue him?

When had something like that happened?

Philor couldn't make heads or tails of it.

But for some reason, he couldn't help worrying.

He wanted to hear everyone's opinions at the book club and see if they could figure it out together.

He'd heard that Aira would be attending as well.

That was An-shen's number one fan.

Among the Male Zergs on Capital Star, Aira's rank wasn't particularly high.

But within An-shen's readership, his influence was enormous.

While waiting for the meeting to begin, Philor stumbled across an enormous piece of gossip.

Apparently...

Aira had recently been fiercely criticizing the Marshal.

Philor covered his mouth in shock, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

According to rumor...

In a fit of anger, Aira had joined the Male Zerg Association specifically to publicly criticize everything related to Marshal Ulysses.

Not only did he criticize military strategy...

He criticized policies.

Military operations.

The Marshal for refusing to hurry up and get married.

For deliberately stringing a Male Zerg along (meaning An-shen).

For interfering too much in a Male Zerg's affairs (also referring to An-shen).

For overstepping boundaries.

For trying to control a Male Zerg before they were even married (again referring to An-shen).

Things others dared to mention...

He criticized.

Things others didn't dare bring up...

He criticized those too.

To the Male Zerg Association...

He was practically a priceless treasure.

These days...

Finding someone willing to publicly criticize Marshal Ulysses wasn't easy.

The Association President happily supported him, backed him up, granted him tremendous autonomy, and clearly intended to cultivate him as a key figure.

Philor practically choked on such a huge piece of gossip.

Like the other Male Zergs nearby, he couldn't stop marveling.

Male Zergs greatly admired individuality.

Being too conventional wasn't interesting.

Standing out from the crowd was what earned admiration.

Someone like Aira, who challenged authority...

Whether they agreed with what he said or not...

Everyone thought he was incredibly cool.

None of them would dare openly criticize the Marshal like that.

At most...

They'd quietly grumble in private.

But Aira actually dared.

He was unbelievably cool.

"Does this mean the military and the Federal Council have fallen out? What did Speaker Cassian say?"

"What else could he say? Since when has a Female Lord ever sided against his Male Lord?"

"When it comes to Male Zergs, female Zergs have never been rational."

Cassian had been in an awkward position recently.

Whenever he faced Marshal Ulysses...

He genuinely felt somewhat guilty.

But the moment he returned home and saw his Male Lord...

His heart unconditionally took Aira's side.

Lord Aira's fierce criticism of the Marshal had drawn everyone's attention.

Yet the Marshal had simply tolerated it without taking any action whatsoever.

That astonished everyone just as much.

Thus...

The public reached the following conclusion:

Lord Aira offered constructive criticism.

Lord Aira is wonderful.

The Marshal is broad-minded and tolerant.

The Marshal is wonderful.

Aira: "?!"

Pah! Pah! Pah! Pah!

The moment Aira arrived at the book club, every Male Zerg present turned to look at him.

He greeted Philor and several Male Zergs he knew before taking his seat.

The book club never discussed unrelated topics.

Mainly because An-shen's most devoted fan, Aira, refused to discuss unrelated topics.

The Male Zergs reluctantly extinguished their burning curiosity and shifted the conversation toward An-shen's latest novel.

"Everyone's read the newest chapter of Undercover, right? It revealed so much information that I'm completely confused."

"What information? Wasn't it just caressing, touching, nibbling, and kissing? I've already learned all that. It's not difficult."

The speaker immediately received countless admiring looks.

"Uriel's technique is genuinely sophisticated. That way you can prolong a female Zerg's dissatisfaction, make him crave you even more, and feel a greater sense of accomplishment from keeping him under control."

The Male Zergs enthusiastically exchanged opinions.

Even Philor felt he'd learned quite a bit.

Aira, whose attention had initially been elsewhere, now listened seriously as well.

Every Male Zerg had his own unique interpretation of novels.

Previously, Aira had paid little attention to these aspects.

He had been far more interested in the hidden information and subtle foreshadowing scattered throughout the story.

But after hearing everyone else's discussion...

He realized these details were useful too.

As expected of An-shen.

Every sentence in his novels served its own purpose.

Aira's rank wasn't high.

Compared to S-rank Cassian...

The gap between them was enormous.

His pheromones simply weren't that attractive to Cassian.

If he wanted his partner to be happy...

He would have to work harder in other areas.

Thoughtfully listening, Aira quietly memorized everyone's discussion, planning to put it into practice once he got home.

"By the way..."

A Male Zerg suddenly asked Philor,

"The Male Zerg artist mentioned at the end of the chapter... that's Hill, isn't it?"

Every gaze in the room immediately focused on Philor.

He was just as puzzled.

This had been the main reason he'd come.

"Although An-shen never explicitly says so... judging from the description, it really does seem to be Hill... But how could Hill possibly have been kidnapped by star pirates?"

Philor genuinely worried as though it had happened to his own child.

"Don't worry. It's only a novel."

The other Male Zergs comforted him.

"Appearing twice in an An-shen novel is already something countless people dream of."

"Hill hasn't appeared twice."

"He's the protagonist of one entire novel! A role created specifically for him! That's a one-of-a-kind honor!"

The Male Zergs couldn't hide their envy.

After hearing that...

Philor felt a little better.

Though he still couldn't completely stop worrying.

Besides...

Iso was there.

Surely everything would be fine?

In the novel, Iso was still only a Major.

But military ability had never depended solely on rank.

Iso was an S-rank female Zerg.

The same rank as his own Female Lord.

Philor didn't really understand how powerful an S-rank female Zerg actually was.

But the moment someone mentioned his Female Lord...

He instinctively felt he was unbelievably powerful.

Invincible.

The safest person in the universe.

Since Iso shared the same rank...

Everything would definitely be all right.

Though Philor privately believed Iso was probably still just a little weaker than his Cyril...

He was certainly more than capable of handling a few pirates.

The Male Zergs also noticed Iso's rank.

"A Major?"

"Major General Iso was granted the rank of Major immediately after graduation. If the novel takes place at this point in time..."

"It should be around fifteen or twenty years ago."

"Has Hill ever encountered star pirates?"

One Male Zerg asked.

"Of course not!"

Philor answered without hesitation.

What kind of joke was that?

How could his precious Hill ever have encountered star pirates?

If something like that had really happened...

Wouldn't his Female Lord have skinned Iso alive?

Hill married Iso while they were still at university.

Only a few years after graduation, they had Isidore.

If Iso couldn't even protect his own Male Lord...

There'd have been no point getting married in the first place.

Even though he knew perfectly well this was only a novel...

Completely unrelated to reality.

Perhaps because An-shen's previous novel about Hill had felt so incredibly real...

Seeing Hill appear again in this new novel made Philor instinctively immerse himself in the story.

He couldn't help thinking Iso had arrived far too late.

Inwardly...

He even began blaming him.

He only acted after Hill's ship had already been hijacked!

That was a complete failure to fulfill a Female Lord's duty of protection!

Condemn him!

He absolutely deserved criticism!

Aira, however, drew an entirely different conclusion from Philor's words.

"Perhaps..."

"An-shen isn't writing about this timeline at all."

"Perhaps he's writing about another parallel world."

"A parallel world?!"

The other Male Zergs stared in astonishment.

Aira nodded.

"In that world..."

"Hill was unfortunately captured by star pirates."

"And judging from the unfamiliar way the protagonist refers to Hill and Major Iso..."

"Perhaps, in that world's timeline..."

"Hill and Iso never got together."

"They never married."

Philor gasped, covering his mouth.

How could that be?

If Hill didn't marry Iso...

Then who did he marry?

Those two were destined to be together!

Hill only wanted Iso.

He'd never even look at another female Zerg.

"Of course..."

Aira continued.

"This is only my speculation."

Yet his tone left no room for doubt.

Aira firmly believed in every story An-shen wrote.

Since these events hadn't occurred in this world...

Then they must have happened in another.

His own ability—something akin to glimpsing the future—allowed him to perceive strange fluctuations across different realities.

Although that power had become increasingly unreliable ever since An-shen appeared...

As though a thick mist now covered the world.

Still...

Sometimes there was no need to "see" anything directly.

The extraordinary intuition possessed by Male Zergs would quietly tell him the answer.

The entire room was stunned.

They trusted Aira's interpretation of An-shen's novels.

In this field...

He was the unquestioned authority.

As expected of An-shen.

Simple stories about the past, present, and future were no longer enough to satisfy his science fiction imagination.

Now...

He was writing about parallel universes.

Having suddenly received such explosive information...

The Male Zergs were already thinking about how they would rush home afterward to post their theories online.

Only Philor remained sincerely worrying about Hill's love life in another universe.

"Besides all that..."

"There's one more thing I'd like to share."

Holding a virtual copy of the novel, Aira opened it.

"Has anyone noticed how unusual Uriel's identity really is?"

"His behavior."

"His thoughts."

"Everything about him feels... strange."

Philor blinked in confusion.

"Uriel?"

"What's strange about him?"

"Isn't he just a poor Male Zerg kidnapped by star pirates?"

Having personally experienced being kidnapped by a whole household full of "star pirates,"

Philor sympathized with him deeply.

"He certainly behaves exactly like a poor kidnapped Male Zerg."

"Or perhaps..."

"That's precisely the image he's deliberately trying to create."

"My goodness..."

Every Male Zerg present was stunned by the suggestion.

"You mean..."

"He's pretending to be kidnapped?"

"Exactly."

"If you carefully examine every reaction he has throughout the novel..."

"You'll notice obvious traces of performance."

Aira continued,

"Female Zergs are idiots."

"They can't see through a Male Zerg's acting."

"But we're all Male Zergs."

"We should all be able to sense something is off."

Once he put it that way...

Everyone immediately nodded.

Whether they truly agreed or not...

They wholeheartedly agreed with that particular statement first.

"The inconsistencies in his performance have existed from the very beginning."

"Besides that..."

"The newest chapter reveals many more clues."

Aira expanded the virtual pages, highlighting passage after passage and projecting them into the air for everyone to examine.

"He has lived among wolf beastmen."

"He understands their customs intimately."

"How they lick their partners."

"How they mate."

"In fact..."

"He understands wolf beastmen better than he understands Zerg society."

"Even his view of marriage mirrors wolf traditions."

"Wolves are strictly monogamous."

"They only ever have one partner."

"And from the very beginning..."

"Uriel has repeatedly said he wants a Female Lord who'll stay by his side for life."

"That isn't necessarily just something he says to deceive Avis."

"It also reflects his genuine beliefs."

Aira concluded,

"If you want a lie to sound convincing..."

"It has to be half true."

"Only then will others believe it."

Avis had fallen for it.

Even though he clearly knew much of the Male Zerg's behavior was an act.

Even though he knew he couldn't trust everything the Male Zerg said.

He still sank deeper and deeper into it.

He had even reached the point of abandoning his undercover mission...

Attempting to secretly escape with the Male Zerg.

What he would never realize...

Was that even the Male Zerg's original identity had been a lie.

Aira sighed.

"This is a Male Zerg who was raised among wolf beastmen from childhood."

"He's one of the Wolf Crew's core members."

"He may even occupy an extremely high position within the crew."

"He is..."

"...the star pirates' undercover agent."

In Undercover,

the female Zerg protagonist Avis is the military's undercover operative planted within the pirate crew.

He is the obvious undercover agent.

Everyone naturally assumed the novel's title referred to Avis.

No one had expected...

There was another undercover agent hiding in the shadows.

The star pirates' own operative...

Placed right beside Avis.

Uriel.

This...

Was a battle between two undercover agents.