Chapter 139: Romance-Raising Game: A Virtual Male Zerg Love Interest and a Female Zerg Legion Commander Player

Ulysses made a trip down to the underground level to visit his female parent.

The security outside the cell had been upgraded, obviously Uriel's handiwork.

Inside, however, nothing had changed. Selerus was still comfortably curled up on his sofa, incubating the "Zerg egg."

As soon as Ulysses entered, Selerus looked over and studied him.

He seemed to be in an excellent mood, but there wasn't any Male Zerg pheromone on him.

Well... there was a faint special scent lingering around him. It was hard to tell whether it belonged to that Male Zerg. A male of such a high rank shouldn't have such a weak pheromone.

Selerus frowned in confusion.

"Did you get to taste a Male Zerg's pheromones?"

He asked directly.

"Female Parent..."

Ulysses sighed helplessly. He wasn't accustomed to discussing such matters so bluntly, especially with the one talking to him being his own female parent, his elder.

Besides, his relationship with that male wasn't like that.

As for pheromones...

Ordinarily, since tears were a type of bodily fluid, they also contained pheromones.

By that logic... he supposed he had tasted them.

Only, that Lord was different from ordinary Male Zergs.

If he had no intention of releasing pheromones, then there simply weren't any.

The tears Ulysses had tasted carried only a faint trace of salt and bitterness... along with the dull ache in his heart.

Ulysses chose not to answer.

Selerus, whose thinking had become much more beast-like, had no such reservations.

To him, mating and reproduction were perfectly natural things. There was nothing embarrassing about talking about them.

"You didn't even get any Male Zerg pheromones, and you're still this happy..."

Selerus looked him over in puzzlement. Seeing how good his condition was, another possibility occurred to him.

"Then you received Psychic Soothing?"

To a Female Zerg, Psychic Soothing was every bit as important as pheromones—if not even more so.

If that were the case, then Ulysses' good mood made perfect sense.

This time Ulysses didn't deny it.

"...Mm."

He answered softly.

"He's pretty responsible."

Selerus nodded with admiration.

Ulysses' mental condition had already been excellent before. It was nowhere near the point where he actually required a Male Zerg's Psychic Soothing.

And yet that Male Zerg had still given him a session.

That kind of treatment was normally reserved only for Female Zergs who were exceptionally cherished.

"He is the very best."

Ulysses said,

"He treats the fate of countless Zergs as though it were his own responsibility. Whether something was his fault or not, he accepts all of it without exception."

Selerus used his not-particularly-clever brain to ponder those profound words.

Eventually, he arrived at a conclusion.

"So that's why he went to prison? Because he wanted to treat more Zergs? So he came to the Military Region Prison to work as a Psychic Soothing specialist?"

The more Selerus spoke, the more astonished he became.

Just what kind of Male Zerg would make a choice like that?

Even Ulysses didn't know how to answer.

It sounded strange...

But viewed from the perspective of a god...

Perhaps that really was the reason.

Seeing that Ulysses didn't deny it, Selerus became even more shocked.

He no longer understood Male Zergs or Female Zergs nowadays.

A Male Zerg voluntarily entered prison so he could treat more Female Zergs.

And the Female Lord actually allowed his Male Lord to do such a thing.

Were the two of them really this selfless?

Selerus gently stroked the little Ulysses egg resting in his arms.

Being responsible was good.

Caring about the people was good.

But he still hoped his hatchling would live a little more selfishly... and be kinder to himself.

...

At six o'clock in the morning, An Ruo climbed out of the game pod.

He had spent the entire night constructing a game world, creating an entire planet from scratch. His mind felt completely drained.

He sat down to catch his breath, then took a bottle of stamina potion from his spatial button and drank it.

Once he'd finished it, a cool sensation spread through his head. Whether it was psychological or not, he genuinely felt more awake and refreshed.

After a whole night of creating, an idea had taken shape in his mind.

He wanted to make a game.

The Zerg race had far too few kinds of games.

Whether it was the Female Zergs' military strategy games or the Male Zergs' creation and Psychic Soothing simulations, they all gave him the depressing feeling that even playing games was just another form of going to work.

He wanted to create something people could truly relax with.

A game where players could completely immerse themselves in emotions and everyday life.

It would combine romance simulation, character raising, life simulation, and many other elements.

Naturally, the actual development would be left to professionals.

An Ruo had no intention of doing everything himself.

His main focus would always remain writing novels.

Games were interesting...

But they still ranked behind writing.

He planned to discuss it with Uriel and ask him to help find people capable of developing such a game, using the adaptation rights to his next novel as the basis for negotiations.

However, when An Ruo arrived at the Psychic Soothing room—

—or perhaps it should now be called the Psychic Soothing Grand Hall—

he didn't see Uriel.

Even General Cyril wasn't there.

Instead...

The Marshal was waiting for him once again.

"I'll be serving as your guardian."

Ulysses explained.

An Ruo remembered that the Marshal had remained in the prison all day yesterday.

Only then did he belatedly realize...

His guardianship had been transferred to Ulysses.

Was it really appropriate to have the Marshal personally handling something this minor?

An Ruo was a little bewildered, but he carried out the Psychic Soothing as usual.

During the session, the Marshal released a small amount of pheromones, suppressing the restless Female Zergs below.

As those pheromones emerged—sharp as blood-drinking blades—all the other Female Zerg pheromones disappeared.

They were instantly crushed into submission, shrinking away until their presence could scarcely be sensed.

It smelled wonderful.

There was only the faintest trace of it, subtle yet incredibly refreshing.

An Ruo kept his face perfectly serious as he stared straight ahead, making sure he didn't look like he was secretly sniffing it.

After the Psychic Soothing was over, Ulysses personally escorted him back to his room.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, An Ruo brought up the game.

"A... virtual romance game?"

It was the first time Ulysses had ever heard such a term.

"That's right. A game where players can enjoy the fun of romance and raising relationships. Female Zergs should really like something like that, don't you think?"

An Ruo asked hopefully.

No pheromones.

No Psychic Soothing.

Just a fake Male Zerg.

Would Female Zergs actually like it?

Ulysses had his doubts.

But the god before him clearly held great expectations for it.

It was rare for him to ask for anything.

Naturally, Ulysses would never refuse his wish.

"Very well. I'll arrange development immediately. Whenever you have more detailed ideas or requirements for the game, you can tell me at any time."

Ulysses agreed without hesitation.

Privately, he thought that if no Female Zergs wanted to play it...

Then he'd simply have military Female Zergs play it.

The Legion Commanders would lead by example.

And every Female Zerg who had ever received the god's Psychic Soothing would be required to download and install the game.

"There's no rush. I still need to organize my ideas... Once my new novel begins serialization, we'll gradually develop and refine the gameplay."

An Ruo hadn't expected the Marshal to agree so readily.

He hadn't prepared anything yet.

All he had was the shell of a game world. Everything else would have to be built step by step.

Ulysses nodded in understanding.

"Since it's connected to your new novel, then development will begin alongside its serialization. By the time your novel is completed, the game will also be ready for public release."

Once again, An Ruo was astonished by the Zergs' efficiency.

He knew their technology made game development relatively simple.

But this level of efficiency was unbelievable.

It felt as though there wouldn't even be enough time to sign a contract...

Yet Ulysses had already guaranteed that the game would be completed.

An Ruo chose to trust him.

He transferred all the game world data he had created to Ulysses.

Now it was Ulysses' turn to be shocked.

He had confidently promised to finish the game before the novel ended because he intended to mobilize the finest game development teams in the entire Federation.

The project would involve tens of millions of Zergs.

Yet this male...

By himself...

He had already created a virtual world on the scale of an entire planet.

Was this the power of a god's Psychic Power?

Ulysses didn't yet know...

That this had all been An Ruo's work from a single night.

If he did...

He probably would have been shocked...

And then quickly accepted it as perfectly natural.

He had already witnessed enough of the god's miracles.

His faith in the god's abilities had grown so absolute...

That he trusted them even more than An Ruo trusted himself.

He believed in him more than An Ruo did.

"Game development requires frequent testing. In the future, may I visit you regularly to try the game? Your guidance and suggestions will certainly help make it even more polished and perfect."

It sounded like ordinary business talk.

In reality, Ulysses didn't particularly care about the game itself.

He simply wanted more opportunities to spend time with the male.

Whatever the excuse, it would do.

An Ruo remembered that Ulysses' game pod was still in his room.

So he agreed.

Only after receiving permission did Ulysses leave in satisfaction, immediately ordering people to contact the game development teams and begin the project.

An Ruo sat down at his computer and started organizing his ideas for the new novel.

Creating the game world had inspired countless new concepts.

Even the idea for a romance-raising game had come from that process.

Now...

He planned to make a virtual romance game the central theme of his next novel.

A virtual Male Zerg love interest within the game...

And a Female Zerg Legion Commander as the player in the real world.