Chapter 171: Mermaid Courtship: How Could He Possibly Beat Ulysses?!

"It was my oversight," Ulysses said with obvious regret. "I'll take you back to the hotel so you can rest."

"No, no, no." An Ruo quickly grabbed him. "I haven't seen the mermaids yet! Since we're already here, I have to at least see them once."

Ulysses didn't think that was a problem.

"I'll have someone... ah... bring the mermaids up."

An Ruo: "..."

That was terrifying!

Destroying the ecosystem, capturing wild animals...

Negative points!

Reported!

A final boss truly was a final boss. His methods weren't gentle in the slightest. There was an innate aggressiveness to the way he handled things.

No matter how harmless and mild he usually appeared, what lay deep in his nature couldn't simply be changed.

The thought of mermaids being hauled out of the sea in giant nets was horrifying enough that An Ruo had to stop him immediately.

"There's no need to catch them. I'd rather see them living naturally."

He looked at Ulysses and said,

"Let's try again. I think I can overcome it. It just caught me off guard earlier. If we descend slowly and don't open the viewing window so wide, I should be able to adjust."

Even as he spoke, his arms were still wrapped around Ulysses' waist, his body pressed tightly against him.

Ulysses studied him for a long moment, weighing the decision.

Finally, he wrapped an arm around him.

"If you feel uncomfortable at any point, tell me."

"Mm."

An Ruo nodded against his chest.

Ulysses carefully piloted the sightseeing submarine deeper into the water, constantly watching the male Zerg's reactions.

An Ruo buried himself in his embrace, only occasionally peeking over his shoulder at the display ahead.

Whenever he looked too long, anxiety crept back into his heart, and he'd instinctively shrink deeper into Ulysses' arms.

After a while, he'd cautiously peek out again.

Ulysses watched him closely.

Whenever signs of distress appeared, he'd gently cover An Ruo's eyes.

After repeating this several times...

An Ruo gradually adapted to the underwater environment.

Only then did he notice that, just to accommodate him, Ulysses had been standing the entire time while piloting the submarine.

Feeling embarrassed, An Ruo hurriedly urged him to sit down.

Ulysses lowered himself onto the floating chair.

And naturally...

He brought An Ruo with him.

...

Was this really okay?

Sitting on Ulysses' lap, An Ruo's body stiffened while his mind went blank.

"Please don't be nervous."

Even while piloting the submarine, Ulysses freed one hand to gently stroke his back.

"If you feel uncomfortable at any point, tell me immediately."

"Or you can simply lean against me and rest."

"I'm doing this so I can monitor your condition more closely."

An Ruo thought...

He really was such a good Zerg.

Letting go of that last bit of awkwardness, he leaned lightly against Ulysses' shoulder and asked him to open the viewing window a little wider.

Halfway.

The sightseeing submarine was essentially spherical.

Ulysses uncovered the entire upper half for him.

The view was suddenly unobstructed.

Except beneath their feet...

Every direction was filled with deep blue seawater.

Yet An Ruo no longer felt nearly as frightened.

The female Zerg beneath him was the most powerful living being in the entire universe.

The absolute ceiling of combat strength.

Even if the submarine shattered...

Even if seawater rushed in from every direction...

Ulysses could instantly open a spatial passage and take him away.

Even without spatial abilities, the energy flowing through Ulysses' insect markings would be enough to create a protective field beneath the sea, driving back the ocean itself and keeping him perfectly safe.

As long as Ulysses protected him...

Even if an entire planet exploded...

He wouldn't suffer so much as a scratch.

That overwhelming strength inspired absolute reassurance.

Resting against Ulysses' shoulder, An Ruo found himself wondering...

If a disaster on the scale of a planetary explosion really happened...

Would Ulysses protect him?

The answer came immediately.

Of course he would.

After all...

He was an incredibly expensive piece of equipment.

There was no way Ulysses would allow anything to happen to him.

Back when Ulysses had discovered he wasn't the original owner of the body, he'd still spared him simply because he obediently did his work.

There was even less reason to harm him now.

Besides...

This final boss...

Actually cared deeply about those under his protection.

Every subordinate who followed him mattered to him.

He genuinely considered their well-being.

That was precisely why so many Zergs were willing to follow him to the death.

Joining the final boss's faction really wasn't bad at all.

If only he hadn't become so extreme in the later stages...

If only he hadn't ended up opposing the protagonist...

An Ruo would have happily pledged allegiance on the spot.

Ulysses had no idea what thoughts were running through the male Zerg's mind.

Seeing him resting quietly against his shoulder made the whole world seem peaceful.

"Are you feeling better now?"

he asked softly.

"Mm."

An Ruo nodded gently.

He could already look around naturally and admire the schools of fish.

Ulysses hadn't taken the submarine particularly deep.

Sunlight filtered through the ocean surface.

Within the pale blue seawater swam schools of brilliantly colored fish.

The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful.

Even so...

An Ruo still didn't dare move away from Ulysses.

He was the source of his sense of security beneath the sea.

Ulysses quietly enjoyed this closeness.

Not daring to do anything inappropriate, he kept both his hands and posture impeccably proper.

He merely leaned back slightly against the floating chair so the male Zerg could rest more comfortably.

His SSS-rank perception quickly located the mermaid pod.

Seeing that the male Zerg had recovered, he accelerated smoothly and headed toward them.

"We're here."

Ulysses suddenly spoke.

An Ruo turned around in his arms.

What entered his eyes was an entire pod of brilliantly colored mermaids.

It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale.

Hair of every imaginable color.

Matching tails.

Powerfully built upper bodies.

Elegant swimming postures.

Beautiful, handsome faces.

A race this miraculous...

Actually existed.

Among them, An Ruo also spotted noticeably smaller juveniles and adolescents.

Their colors were lighter and less eye-catching.

But they were unbelievably adorable.

Like little sea spirits.

The mermaids didn't seem to notice them at all.

An Ruo realized they were using the stealth mode that had appeared in the novel.

When he'd written the story, all he'd needed was imagination.

The Zerg civilization...

Had actually built it.

The technology was astonishing.

The mermaids seemed to be heading somewhere.

Ulysses silently guided the sightseeing submarine alongside them, staying remarkably close.

Sometimes An Ruo even watched mermaids swim directly overhead, nearly brushing against the submarine's transparent shell.

He unconsciously held his breath.

Terrified they might be discovered.

Yet Ulysses appeared astonishingly confident.

His piloting skills left An Ruo speechless.

He could weave effortlessly through the middle of the mermaid pod itself.

It almost felt as though they'd become part of the group.

Every trace of amazement and wonder in the male Zerg's eyes was reflected in Ulysses' own.

At first...

He had only wanted to make the male happy.

Gradually...

An uncomfortable feeling crept into his heart.

Male Zergs couldn't possibly fall in love with fish.

No matter how fascinating they found them...

Interest was only interest.

There was no reason for a female Zerg to worry.

But then...

Ulysses suddenly remembered.

The male in his arms...

Wasn't actually a male Zerg.

Would...

A god fall in love with fish?

Seeing the wonder shining in An Ruo's eyes, Ulysses grew subtly uneasy.

Without saying a word, he quietly guided the submarine a little farther away from the marine creatures the male called "mermaids."

An Ruo noticed nothing unusual.

He simply assumed Ulysses was worried about the mermaids discovering them.

They really had been too close just now.

He'd honestly been afraid one of the mermaids would smack the submarine with its tail.

The current distance felt just right.

The pod continued swimming in the same direction.

Eventually...

They arrived at shallow waters surrounding a small island.

The mermaids gathered together.

Several of the brightest-colored individuals began fighting.

The others formed a circle around them.

They sang.

Their voices were ancient.

Ethereal.

The melody sounded both like a love song...

...and a battle hymn.

An Ruo froze for a moment before realizing what he was witnessing.

Their courtship had begun.

Ulysses had told him earlier.

It was currently the mermaids' breeding season.

Watching the combat unfold, An Ruo became increasingly nervous.

He unconsciously worried for them.

Especially after seeing scales knocked loose during the battle.

He instinctively held his breath again.

Ulysses gently stroked his back to calm him.

Without even realizing it, An Ruo reached out and grabbed Ulysses' arm.

Ulysses simply allowed him to hold on.

He said nothing.

His attention never left the male's expression.

The courtship competition reached its final stage.

One after another...

The mermaids revealed their weapons.

Ah!

An Ruo froze in shock.

His face flushed with embarrassment.

He wasn't even sure whether he should look away.

They were...

Pink.

So this was the part where they competed with their weapons.

The agile mermaid, whose speed far exceeded the other's, struck first, successfully hitting the stronger, power-type mermaid.

The stronger mermaid struggled desperately, trying to throw him off.

Yet it was as though he'd been locked firmly in place.

Their bodies remained tightly joined together.

Led by the slimmer mermaid, they rode the waves toward the sandy shallows.

Once they were washed onto the beach...

The stronger mermaid struggled even harder.

But there was no escaping anymore.

All he could do was angrily slap his tail against the sand...

Only making them fit even more tightly together.

The submarine rose to the surface.

An Ruo could now see everything with perfect clarity.

His face turned crimson.

He didn't know where to look.

He wanted to cover his eyes...

But worried that would be an overreaction.

Especially when he remembered he was still sitting on Ulysses' lap.

The embarrassment became even worse.

His whole body felt unbearably awkward.

Meanwhile...

The other adult mermaids also began their own battles.

The adolescents gathered nearby, carefully observing and learning.

The youngest mermaids showed no interest whatsoever.

They simply swam off to chase tiny fish instead.

"Would you like something to eat?"

Ulysses suddenly asked.

It was lunchtime.

"Oh! Yes, yes!"

Grateful for anything that could ease the awkwardness, An Ruo immediately agreed.

He climbed off Ulysses' lap.

His legs were still a little weak.

Steadying himself against the control console...

He accidentally pressed a button.

Some faint layer of light seemed to disappear.

A juvenile mermaid nearby, carrying a small fish in its mouth, noticed something first.

It turned toward them.

Then...

Several mermaids whose battles hadn't yet been decided also stopped fighting.

Together...

They all swam over.

An Ruo immediately realized...

They had been spotted.

At a complete loss, he looked toward Ulysses.

Watching the approaching mermaids, Ulysses frowned slightly.

The submarine's outer shell blocked the mermaids' ability to sense danger.

Staring at the two creatures inside the transparent sphere that looked strangely similar to themselves...

They appeared intensely curious.

An Ruo: "..."

They had come here to observe mermaids.

Now...

It seemed they had become the rare animals being observed instead.

After watching them curiously for a while...

The mermaids suddenly gathered together just as before.

They surrounded the sightseeing submarine in a circle.

Then they began singing toward them.

It was the same courtship battle hymn.

Encouraging them...

To fight for a mate.

An Ruo: "?"

What were these mermaids doing?

Did they seriously want to watch him fight Ulysses?

Were they crazy?

How could he possibly beat Ulysses?!

Stop egging them on! Don't encourage fights like this!