Chapter 178: A Pure Relationship and the New Novel: A Pure Relationship Where We Just Sleep in the Same Bed!

He was satisfied with every aspect of the final boss.

But!

That was completely different from having that kind of contact!

Just a few days ago, they had been traveling together, sleeping in the same bed under the same blanket—purely sleeping.

It didn't sound all that innocent, but An Ruo genuinely had never thought of anything else.

He hadn't even realized that Ulysses was a different sex from him.

They looked similar, and in An Ruo's eyes, Ulysses was simply a tall, handsome person of the same sex.

Besides, he was a character An Ruo himself had written—a fictional character.

An author sleeping in the same bed as one of his own fictional characters... what could possibly be wrong with that?

His stuffed dolls slept in the same bed as him too!

But what about Ulysses?

As a Female Zerg, what had he been thinking?

Only now did An Ruo belatedly realize that.

From Ulysses' perspective, perhaps their relationship had never been that innocent.

He had given him Psychic Soothing. Ulysses came to visit him regularly, listened to him talk about his novels, played games with him, took him out, arranged everything for him, and in the end they had even slept in the same bed. When An Ruo accidentally pulled open his sleeping robe, he hadn't gotten angry in the slightest.

An Ruo's thoughts were a complete mess. He had no idea how to answer him.

Saying there was something he disliked about him was definitely out of the question.

How many lives did he think he had, saying something like that about the final boss?

Besides, as the creator, he loved his characters—especially Ulysses.

But saying he had no complaints at all didn't seem right either...

Because this wasn't a matter of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

"I need some time alone," he said to Ulysses.

"Very well..." Ulysses answered softly. His lowered fingertips curled ever so slightly as he quietly asked,

"Will you leave?"

Leave?

An Ruo looked puzzled. He was still a prisoner serving his sentence. Where exactly could he go?

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay right here in the Military Region Prison. If... you need anything, just come find me."

In the end, he simply couldn't bring himself to be cruel to him. He couldn't even manage something as mild as giving him the cold shoulder.

A little light returned to Ulysses' dim eyes.

"Thank you."

An Ruo didn't think there was anything to thank him for. He responded absentmindedly before logging out.

After sitting up inside the game pod, he remained frozen for quite a while before finally getting up to tidy himself. His thoughts were still hopelessly tangled.

The doorbell rang.

A machine bug delivered a gift.

It was from Ulysses.

The package was filled with custom-made high-fashion clothing, every imaginable style of apparel, jewelry, and accessories—so many that they had to be stored inside a spatial storage button.

An Ruo seriously suspected Ulysses had bought out every new seasonal release from those luxury brands.

Inside were also deluxe editions of every single one of his novels.

Even Virtual Love—which had only just been completed and hadn't officially gone on sale yet—was included.

None of this could possibly have been prepared in just a day or two.

Ulysses had obviously prepared everything long ago, simply waiting for an opportunity to give it to him.

And now that opportunity had arrived.

To prevent An Ruo from refusing, he had even left a message explaining that it was perfectly normal for a Female Zerg who had received Psychic Soothing to give gifts to a Male Zerg, just like the gifts An Ruo had accepted from the other military Female Zergs.

He had soothed him three times.

So naturally, he gave him n times as many gifts.

An Ruo rubbed his forehead.

Returning them definitely wasn't an option.

They were all Male Zerg items, and every piece of clothing was exactly his size...

The Marshal really knew him well.

When had he even measured him?

Probably from the physical records taken when he entered prison.

There was no way he'd figured it out just by hugging him...

An Ruo buried his face in his hands before collapsing onto the bed.

His mind was as empty as a little yellow duck.

...

After logging out of the game, Cyril ordered several bouquets of flowers for his Male Lord.

Only then did he notice that the troublemaker from his own family still hadn't come home.

He immediately sent him a message.

[Cyril]: You've been fooling around for a whole week and still aren't coming back? Do I really have to go drag you out of the pirate crew myself?

[Principal]: You're welcome to come. Bring plenty of people.

[Cyril]: ?

[Principal]: One of my students has gone missing. I'm looking for him.

[Principal]: A Male Zerg from the former Archon's family went on a graduation trip by himself. The moment he left Federation territory, he took off alone in a spacecraft! He actually copied those Female Zergs and went on a deep-space adventure through an uninhabited zone! (swearing) Even Female Zergs travel through deep space in groups, and they still disappear all the time without anyone knowing whether they're alive or dead. But he's a Male Zerg! He just flew straight in by himself! By the time I found out, he was already gone! (swearing) (swearing) (swearing)

Cyril: "..."

He ignored the long string of meaningless profanity and focused on the actual content, his expression gradually turning serious.

There were only so many high-ranking Male Zergs.

Losing even one would be an enormous loss to the Zerg race.

The Wolf Crew alone had caused the Federal Intelligence Bureau to spend twenty years negotiating with them because they possessed a single high-ranking Male Zerg, continually offering generous terms in hopes of bringing him back.

Besides...

The former Archon's son.

They all lived on Capital Star. They ran into each other often enough.

The former Archon and his Female Lord were both old acquaintances.

If nothing else, he owed them the favor of helping search for the missing Male Zerg.

[Cyril]: Send me the coordinates. I'll have the nearest troops head over immediately.

The Principal immediately forwarded the location.

He had been retired for years and wasn't nearly as familiar with this sort of operation as Cyril was.

Nor did he possess the influence of the First Legion's General.

If Cyril could mobilize troops to assist in the search, there was still a chance of rescuing the missing Male Zerg.

...

Several major events had shaken Zerg society over the past few days.

The first was that the closed beta of Virtual Love was about to end.

The public release was expected to begin next week.

The Zerg internet celebrated enthusiastically.

The Heavenly Garuda, meanwhile, were drowning in misery.

Because the public release would only launch within the Zerg Federation.

They wouldn't get to play.

The second event was the disappearance of the Archon's son during an overseas graduation trip.

An A-rank Male Zerg had gone missing.

The news caused a massive uproar across StarNet.

The public was both furious and anxious.

Many even suspected the Heavenly Garuda had kidnapped him, demanding the Federation conduct a full investigation and rescue the Male Lord safely.

The Heavenly Garuda were equally furious.

Why are you saying we kidnapped him?

If we actually had, that would be one thing.

But our own country hasn't even heard anything about this!

In fact, they almost wished their Empire would officially announce that they had kidnapped him.

Then they'd at least be able to argue with the Zergs confidently.

But if they were taking the blame for something they hadn't done?

That was absolutely unacceptable.

The Zergs and the Heavenly Garuda erupted into a massive online war.

The Zergs even produced "evidence."

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor had recently left the Imperial Capital and had been operating near the Heavenly Garuda border, brutally wiping out several pirate organizations.

Therefore, he must have abducted the Male Lord!

The Heavenly Garuda: ???

What exactly was the cause-and-effect relationship there?

Their Emperor had merely destroyed a few pirate groups.

Did he need to pick an auspicious date to do it?

And as for the accusation that his methods were "brutal"...

They considered that a compliment.

...

An Ruo paid no attention whatsoever to the online chaos.

Inspiration had struck.

He had locked himself away to write.

At the same time, he was avoiding thinking about his relationship with Ulysses.

【Stranded on a deserted planet, and the only intelligent life beside you is a Heavenly Garuda? If only one Zerg and one Heavenly Garuda remained in the universe, would they lay an egg together? Absolutely not! I'd rather die than lay eggs with one!】

The Zergs and the Heavenly Garuda, who had been fiercely arguing online, suddenly discovered that An-shen had published a new novel.

The argument stopped immediately.

Reading came first.

[Stranded... Heavenly Garuda... laying eggs???]

[A Zerg and a Heavenly Garuda? No! I'd rather die than lay eggs with one! Let's see who dies first!]

[Either me or the Heavenly Garuda has to die!]

[Wait, it says laying eggs... does that mean the Heavenly Garuda is male? Well... even if he's from the enemy race, he's still a male... I... I'd still be willing to protect a male. Laying an egg wouldn't be impossible.]

[One egg? That's nowhere near enough. If there are only two of you left, you'd better have as many as possible for the sake of the species.]

[Are you insane? If only one Zerg and one Heavenly Garuda are left, the species is already functionally extinct! Even if they have offspring, the genetic overlap would be too high for the species to continue. They'd be better off simply enjoying the end together.]

[Well... if the offspring could absorb genes from large numbers of other species, there might still be hope. But if there aren't any other intelligent species nearby, absorbing genes from primitive lifeforms would just mean degeneration.]

[Forget degeneration. Passing the species on is what matters most. I'd lay eggs with a male.]

[What if the Heavenly Garuda is female?]

[Then that's easy. Either he dies, or I do.]

[Can't you make peace?]

[Peace. Heavenly Garuda. Shake hands. Make peace? Ugh... I don't feel well. It feels like a Heavenly Garuda is crawling all over me.]

[...Yeah, that does sound pretty awful.]

#IfOnlyOneZergAndOneHeavenlyGarudaRemainedWouldYouLayEggsTogether? quickly shot to the top of StarNet's trending topics, attracting endless discussion.

Most Female Zergs were willing to lay eggs with a male Heavenly Garuda.

Male Zergs were exactly the opposite.

[I'd rather starve to death or jump off a cliff than touch a female Heavenly Garuda! I'll never lay eggs with one! Not even in my dreams! If the species goes extinct, then so be it. What does that have to do with me? We can all die together!]

The female Heavenly Garuda declared that they would patiently teach Male Zergs how to behave like proper males...

And how to lay eggs.

Many of those comments were blocked by the automatic moderation system before anyone could even see them.

Some male Heavenly Garuda also joined the discussion.

If they ever found themselves in such a situation, they hoped they could first get to know the Female Zerg, spend time together, understand one another...

Only then would they decide whether or not to have eggs.

[I just hope the Female Zerg won't force me to do that... Otherwise I'll cry.]

The Female Zergs hurried to reassure them.

They were all good Zergs.

They would absolutely never force a male.

The female Heavenly Garuda immediately objected.

"Don't let those hypocritical Female Zergs fool you. When the time comes, they'll be the fastest ones to coax you out of your pants."

They insisted that whether it was female Heavenly Garuda or Female Zergs, both depended on Psychic Soothing.

If that situation ever truly arose, the Female Zergs would be the quickest to take off their pants.

The males were thoroughly frightened.

They no longer wanted to participate in the discussion.

If they had a choice, they would fight back.

First, they'd trick the Female Zerg into removing his restraining collar.

That would definitely be easier than deceiving another Heavenly Garuda.

Then they'd detonate the Psychic Domain.

Whether it was the Female Zerg's Psychic Domain or their own.

According to Heavenly Garuda propaganda, Female Zergs were terrifying monsters.

On the battlefield they slaughtered enemies without mercy, cold-blooded war machines who suppressed their desires to the extreme.

Then they went home, knelt before Male Zergs, begged to be whipped, and found pleasure in it.

Male Heavenly Garuda were genuinely afraid of Female Zergs.

Especially because the Empire loved broadcasting stories about Female Zergs injuring Male Zergs before fleeing to become star pirates.

Male readers found those stories terrifying.

Female readers found them contemptible.

Either way, everyone agreed the Zerg Federation wasn't exactly an appealing place.

[Let's make a bet. Will the Zerg and the Heavenly Garuda in the novel lay eggs?]

[You're gambling publicly? Want to get disciplined?]

[We're not betting Star Coins. Nobody will notice.]

[True. Then I bet they will lay eggs. Male Heavenly Garuda are really hard to resist. By the way... which one is male and which one is female?]

[No idea. Surely the Heavenly Garuda won't be female... right? If that's the case, then the Male Lord is in serious danger!]

[If it's a female Heavenly Garuda, there won't be any egg-laying at all. A high-ranking Male Lord can simply blow up his Psychic Domain.]

[Female Heavenly Garuda are all perverts. They carry piles of restraining collars everywhere they go. It'll become a race to see who acts first. If the Male Lord is quicker, he'll destroy the Heavenly Garuda's Psychic Domain. If the Heavenly Garuda acts first, the Male Lord won't even be able to use his psychic power.]

[What do you mean "perverts"?! (Angry!) Those are gifts we buy for the males back home! Neck collars in every style imaginable! Gemstones! Diamonds! They match every color of outfit!]

[...See? That's exactly why everyone says you're perverts.]

[The new chapter's out! It starts with the Male Lord!]

[??!]

[Protect our Male Lord!]

Shouting things like "Protect the Male Lord!" the Female Zergs charged into the new chapter.

...

【Where... where the hell... is this place?

The young Male Zerg crawled out of his damaged spacecraft and stared blankly at the dense forest, the towering trees, and the shimmering lake before him.

He had been on his graduation trip, boldly venturing into the uninhabited reaches of deep space.

Then his spacecraft plunged straight into a wormhole.

When he opened his eyes again... he was here.

His spacecraft was disabled.

His terminal had no signal.

He couldn't connect to StarNet.

He was completely lost.

Only then did he remember all those StarNet reports about Female Zerg adventurers disappearing—or dying—while exploring deep-space uninhabited zones.

A wave of fear finally caught up with him.

Just then, something fell from the sky, tracing a long arc across the horizon.

A meteor?

No...

It looked more like...

A Female Zerg?!

So this wasn't an uninhabited zone after all.

There was someone here...

...】