Chapter 127: Male Zerg Star Pirate × Female Zerg Undercover Agent (11): The Protagonist and the Villain Really Are Treated Completely Differently

One moment earlier:

[The undercover guy got abandoned... Just as expected. His Male Lord was never sincere. How could a star pirate ever truly love a military female?]

[Poor Avis, wuwuwuwu. Look on the bright side—at least he got to spend one... no, several wonderful nights with a high-ranking Male Zerg.]

The next moment:

[...Sticky notes? What's that supposed to be?]

[There's no way anyone could leave such adorable messages. I refuse to believe it!]

[How many did you say? Thirty?! His Lordship covered the place with thirty sticky notes. He practically would've plastered one right onto your forehead. Avis, are you blind???]

The readers in the comment section instantly felt as though all the emotions they had invested before had been completely wasted.

[I actually pitied Avis for 0.1 seconds just now. Who's going to pity me?]

[His Lordship left because he didn't even have Federal citizenship. The moment he went through customs, his identity would've been exposed, right?]

[Leaving was inevitable. The only question is how His Lordship is going to come back.]

[You people seriously believe a Male Zerg would come back? (Heavenly Garuda question-mark face)]

[If it had all been fake, there'd have been no reason for him to spend so much effort putting on an act. Avis was practically exhausted to the point of passing out. His Lordship could've simply tied up the undercover agent and dragged him back for interrogation.]

[A marked female has virtually no ability to resist in front of a Male Zerg. If His Lordship had ever intended to kill the military spy, Avis would've died hundreds of times over during that journey.]

[I don't care about any of that. The moment I saw those thirty handwritten notes from His Lordship, all the cute little emoticons, and all those kisses, I knew he was sincere. Forget waiting one month—even if I had to wait a lifetime, I'd do it. (Heart) (Heart)]

[You female Zergs...]

[His Lordship even left behind pheromones! My heavens! Those are the pheromones of a high-ranking Male Zerg! You can't buy anything like that on the market. They're nothing like those synthetic substitutes! If something like this ever appeared at an auction, everyone would fight over it!]

[Why would Avis need those tiny collected traces of pheromones for comfort? He's already been filled with so many pheromones personally given to him by a Male Zerg that they could practically overflow.]

[Exactly. The moment I got to that part, I couldn't bring myself to pity him anymore. (Eye roll)]

[Whether His Lordship comes back or not, Avis already has everything anyone could possibly wish for during this period. Even one experience like this is enough for a lifetime. He'll be able to treasure those memories forever.]

Late that night, at the Marshal's residence.

After finishing the latest chapter, Ulysses glanced through the comments.

His expression darkened.

His Lordship truly could never bring himself to be ruthless toward his protagonist.

The story should have ended the moment the female awoke, discovered the Male Zerg had left, and fell into despair.

Instead, unable to bear it, His Lordship forced in a twist and placed those sticky notes before him.

One wasn't enough.

Like colorful butterflies drifting through the air, countless sticky notes fluttered into his sight.

Every one of them was filled with sweet words from the Male Zerg, leaving the already hopelessly lovestruck female even more completely out of his senses.

How could a star pirate possibly shower an undercover agent with tenderness?

The moment Avis confessed that he was a spy, he should have been staring down the barrel of the Male Zerg's gun.

No.

He had already been exposed long before that.

The Male Zerg's appearance had merely been another step in the trap laid specifically for him.

The one who had been exchanging messages with Avis all that time had never been the military.

Those messages had long since been intercepted.

And the one intercepting them...

Was very likely that Male Zerg himself.

That night, Avis had transmitted three separate reports.

"The military" replied twice, instructing him to continue lying low and wait.

The third message never received a response.

When Avis returned to his room, however, the Male Zerg was already in heat, the room saturated with pheromones.

Since he himself was a star pirate, there was no possibility he'd been drugged.

This had likely been yet another move in the Male Zerg's carefully prepared scheme.

But...

There had been no need.

Avis had already been exposed.

He no longer possessed enough value to justify such a sacrifice.

The more likely explanation was simply that the Male Zerg's mating period had arrived.

He happened to choose Avis.

The heat had been genuine.

So genuine that later that night, he had been unable to continue replying to Avis's messages.

That had been the closest the Male Zerg ever came to losing this game of unequal information.

But in the end...

Avis still pushed open that door.

He walked straight into that room overflowing with intoxicating pheromones...

...and allowed himself to be captured by the Male Zerg.

Originally, it had been nothing more than a game.

The Male Zerg merely needed someone to help him through his mating period and casually picked a convenient female.

There had been no sincerity.

Only deception.

Yet His Lordship refused to let his protagonist lose so miserably.

So he granted him a beautiful dream...

And allowed that dream to continue until now.

As expected of the "protagonist."

The protagonist and the villain truly received completely different treatment.

Ulysses continued turning the pages with a grim face.

No matter how long or absurd a beautiful dream might be...

It should eventually end when confronted with the truth.

Unless...

His Lordship intended to deceive his protagonist for the rest of his life, never allowing him to discover the truth.

Would he cruelly shatter the dream?

Or weave together a lifetime of beautiful lies?

Which would His Lordship choose?

...

【Avis returned to Military Headquarters to report for duty.

Neither his superior nor his fellow officers seemed surprised by his return.

Instead, it was as though they had expected him all along.

They had even prepared a grand welcome ceremony.

"Lieutenant Colonel Avis, welcome back."

His superior patted him on the shoulder with obvious satisfaction.

"Now that you're back, take a proper rest for a while. These past few years, the intelligence you've sent back has helped us eliminate several troublesome star pirate groups. The Zerg Federation's interstellar routes are as peaceful as they are today largely thanks to your contributions. You've earned tremendous merit. It's about time you were promoted to Colonel as well. It's a pity we couldn't take down the Wolf Crew, but the fact that you returned safely matters more than anything."

"...Wait."

Avis froze.

"What did you just say?"

His superior looked puzzled before repeating himself.

"It's unfortunate we couldn't eliminate the Wolf Crew?"

"No... the sentence before that."

"Thanks to the intelligence you transmitted over the years, we were able to wipe out several pirate organizations."

Avis: "..."

His assignment had always been the Wolf Crew.

He had never intentionally sent intelligence concerning other pirate groups.

Even when he occasionally included information in passing, none of it had been important enough to determine the outcome of anything.

Yet his superior claimed those reports had helped destroy several pirate organizations.

Avis immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Even more strangely...

His return had been completely unexpected.

He hadn't had time to submit any report.

Yet everyone at Military Headquarters already seemed to know he was coming back.

Everything had been prepared in advance.

As though someone else had already communicated with the military on his behalf.

Perhaps...

Using his own identity.

A chill crept over Avis's entire body.

"May I review all of my mission reports from these past few years?"

he asked.

"Of course."

Under an officer's guidance, Avis entered the information archive.

Sitting alone at the desk, he began reviewing every mission record...

...every exchange of messages between himself and the military.

At first, nothing seemed unusual.

But beginning in the second month...

Something changed.

Some of the military's messages to him had been intercepted.

There were reports he had never received.

Likewise, the information he had supposedly transmitted back had been altered.

Some of his real messages had disappeared.

In their place were entirely new reports he had absolutely no memory of writing.

It was as though...

An invisible third party had existed between him and the military all along.

Every message passed through that unseen intermediary.

Who then selectively chose what each side would ultimately see.

The operation had been carried out with extraordinary subtlety.

Neither side had noticed anything.

Almost all intelligence concerning the Wolf Crew had been withheld.

Only insignificant scraps had been forwarded to the military.

The newly added reports, meanwhile, almost all concerned other pirate organizations.

Avis continued reading carefully.

The pirate groups supposedly destroyed using "his" intelligence...

...were nearly all organizations that had previously clashed with the Wolf Crew.

That invisible hand...

Had been using the military's strength to eliminate its own enemies.

And afterward...

It credited all of the military achievements to him.

This three-sided exchange of information disguised as communication between only two parties...

Continued until three days ago.

The final message read:

"My undercover identity has been exposed. I have escaped the Wolf Crew. No assistance is required. I will return to the Federation within the next few days."

Looking at the message written in his own voice...

A message completely unfamiliar to him...

Avis felt his entire body turn cold.

There was only one person who knew his movements so precisely.

Someone who even knew exactly when he would return to the Federation.

He picked up another classified file.

It was one Military Headquarters had sent him...

But one he had never actually received.

It contained the profile of the true leader behind the Wolf Crew.

Only a single name was recorded.

Ulrich.

Species: Unknown.

Sex: Unknown.

Age: Unknown.

Rank: Unknown.

Appearance: Unknown.

Identity: Leader of the Wolf Crew / Commander of the Wolf Legion.

The image of the silver-haired Male Zerg smiling at him surfaced in Avis's mind.

Those lively amber eyes sparkled with playful cunning.

Only now did he realize...

The Male Zerg's fluffy silver-gray hair resembled not a swan...

...but a little wolf.

Even his name sounded the same.

Ul.

Ulrich.

Commander of the Wolf Legion.

...】