Chapter 179: The Stranded Male Zerg × The Heavenly Garuda Emperor (1): Of All the Bad Luck... He Ran Straight into the Emperor of the Enemy Empire

【The "Female Zerg" fell from the sky, streaking across the horizon like a meteor.

The Male Zerg stood where he was, looking up for a moment.

Then he suddenly realized something was wrong.

It looked like...

...it was falling straight toward him?!

Startled, the Male Zerg turned and bolted, abandoning his spacecraft without a second thought.

As if sensing something, the falling "Female Zerg" slowed down and spread his wings in midair.

Black wings stretched wide enough to blot out the sky, carrying an overwhelming sense of oppression.

The Male Zerg stopped halfway through his escape and looked back.

The black-winged "Female Zerg" hovered in the air, surveying the surroundings. His gaze paused briefly on the wrecked spacecraft before settling on the Male Zerg himself. He frowned slightly.

"A male... a Male Zerg?"

The difference between a male and a Male Zerg was enormous.

Anyone could recognize it at a glance.

The distinction wasn't in appearance.

It was something ingrained in their very nature.

A male Heavenly Garuda's first reaction upon seeing a female was usually fear and anxiety.

Only Male Zergs looked so openly at the opposite sex, with that lofty arrogance and condescending sense of charity in their eyes.

"Hey, how much longer are you planning to stay up there?" the Male Zerg complained.

"You've been making me look up this whole time. That's incredibly rude!"

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor glanced at him before folding his wings in midair and landing steadily on the ground.

Only then did the Male Zerg notice the military uniform he was wearing.

Military Female?

The uniform looked strange. There were no shoulder insignia or military emblems, making it impossible to tell his rank.

"Which unit are you from? Hurry up and call a rescue ship to pick me up."

Thinking that being rescued by a rescue vessel sounded too embarrassing, he immediately corrected himself.

"No... forget the rescue ship. Just have one of your warships come instead."

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor let out a mocking chuckle.

The Male Zerg shot him an annoyed glare.

"You're the first Male Zerg I've ever met who's so eager to board one of our warships."

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor raised his eyes.

Under the brim of his military cap, his violet eyes glimmered faintly.

Purple eyes...

An exceptionally rare eye color.

The most famous bearers of that color were the Heavenly Garuda royal family.

They had always claimed those eyes originated from an ancient Insect Queen, proof of their noble bloodline.

The Male Zerg suddenly sensed something was terribly wrong.

He had never encountered such an arrogant and disrespectful Female Zerg.

Even his own female parent was dependable and fiercely protective at home.

And then there was what this person had just said...

The Male Zerg's expression instantly became as ugly as though he'd stepped in something utterly indescribable.

He forced a single word through clenched teeth.

"Heavenly Garuda?"

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor cast him a sidelong glance, folded his arms, and answered only with a noncommittal snort.

The Male Zerg's expression pleased him.

It was much more agreeable than that arrogant face from earlier.

That attitude was confirmation enough.

The Male Zerg felt utterly disgusted.

He turned around and walked away without another word, unwilling to remain there even one second longer.

Halfway through, he suddenly returned, stored his spacecraft inside his spatial storage button, and took it with him.

He refused to let the Heavenly Garuda gain even the slightest advantage.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor watched coldly as he came back and then left again.

Once the Male Zerg disappeared into the forest with his head lowered, he withdrew his gaze.

He didn't need his eyes.

He knew exactly where the Male Zerg was and what he was doing.

He had no interest in dealing with an arrogant Male Zerg.

Letting him suffer a little might help clear his head.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor opened his terminal.

There was absolutely no signal.

Even military equipment couldn't establish contact with the nearby fleet.

He frowned.

It wasn't that there were no solutions.

A high-ranking Heavenly Garuda possessed a body powerful enough to escape a planet's gravity unaided.

The problem was...

He couldn't take the Male Zerg with him.

If he simply left the Male Zerg wandering around this barren planet alone, the fool would probably end up dead sooner or later.

High-ranking Male Zergs were precious resources.

Whenever one was encountered, he had to be brought back.

"Ahhhh——!"

A scream echoed through the forest.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor looked slightly puzzled.

He hadn't sensed any powerful beasts anywhere near the Male Zerg.

Nevertheless, he vanished toward the source of the sound.

The Male Zerg had only walked a few hundred meters.

To someone like him, that distance could be crossed in an instant.

When he arrived...

He saw only the Male Zerg sprawled on the ground.

In front of him lay nothing more than a dead tree branch.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor: "..."

He had slipped...

...on a stick.

Completely consistent with his impression of how fragile males were.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor glanced at his face.

The handsome features still carried traces of fright.

The moment he spotted him, he glared fiercely.

At least he wasn't crying.

That saved a lot of trouble.

Crying males were incredibly annoying.

Seeing that nothing serious had happened, the Heavenly Garuda Emperor couldn't be bothered with him anymore.

Instead, he began considering what to do next.

If his imperial elder brother were here, he'd certainly find a solution that satisfied everyone.

As for himself...

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor stared blankly at the forest ahead in silence.

The Male Zerg climbed to his feet.

He frowned at the dirt and grass clinging to his clothes.

Then he glanced at the strange bug beside him...

No, the strange Heavenly Garuda.

Seeing that the other party didn't react at all, he silently pursed his lips, took out a handkerchief from his spatial storage button, and carefully wiped the dirt from his hands.

As for his clothes...

He already didn't want them anymore.

He wanted nothing more than to take them off immediately.

But with a Heavenly Garuda standing beside him, he could only suppress the urge.

He continued walking.

Before leaving, he turned around and threatened him.

"Stop following me! Stay one hundred meters away—no, one thousand meters! Don't come anywhere near me! Otherwise, I won't be polite!"

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor watched his blustering coldly.

This Male Zerg really thought too highly of himself.

Did he honestly believe being a high-ranking Male Zerg meant he couldn't touch him?

Attacking males wasn't the Heavenly Garuda Emperor's style.

For the time being, he endured it and waited to watch the Male Zerg dig his own grave.

He followed behind him at a comfortable distance.

Every so often, he'd casually pick a few wild fruits or beat a ferocious beast to death.

There wasn't any particular reason.

If he saw one, he simply felt like hitting it.

Like casually kicking a little insect off the road while walking.

The Male Zerg didn't dare eat any unfamiliar fruit growing in the wilderness.

Female Zergs were practically impossible to poison.

Male Zergs, on the other hand, were much more delicate.

After walking for half the day without leaving the forest, he was exhausted and starving.

He found a rock, sat down, and took out some packaged snacks and biscuits from his spatial storage button.

He had deliberately prepared for this adventure.

There was plenty of food inside, along with nutritional supplements.

Unfortunately, he couldn't cook very well.

Nor did he feel like cooking.

He disliked nutritional supplements.

Ready-made snacks tasted decent enough...

But they couldn't replace an actual meal.

This wasn't at all the adventure he'd imagined.

He should have been relaxing comfortably inside a spacious spacecraft, watching movies while machine bugs prepared delicious food for him.

Instead, the spacecraft was broken.

The machine bugs couldn't be used.

He was beginning to regret getting carried away in pursuit of something unique and exciting.

His male parent and female parent were probably worried sick back home.

He wondered when his female parent would finally find him.

Once he got home...

He'd probably get a thorough scolding.

Just as he was thinking that, a mouthwatering aroma of roasted meat drifted through the air.

Instinctively, he sniffed again.

After confirming he wasn't imagining it, delight immediately filled his face.

Could there actually be other people living on this planet?

Were they natives?

Or other explorers?

The Male Zerg pushed through the bushes with an excited smile—

Only to see a Heavenly Garuda military female roasting meat beside a river.

Next to him lay the freshly killed carcass of an enormous beast.

The Male Zerg: "..."

His face instantly fell.

He turned around and left.

After taking only four or five steps...

The irresistible aroma lured him to a halt.

He lingered awkwardly in place.

Damn that Heavenly Garuda.

Why did he have to roast the meat so well?

Just because he could cook, did he have to show off?

He had hunted such a massive beast without making the slightest noise.

It must have been killed in a single strike.

It was so huge!

There was no way one Heavenly Garuda could finish all of it!

No!

I'd rather starve to death than eat Heavenly Garuda food!

If he asked for food, that evil Heavenly Garuda would definitely use it to blackmail him into selling both his body and his dignity.

He absolutely would not let that Heavenly Garuda succeed!

Grinding his teeth, the Male Zerg squatted beneath a tree, drawing symbols on the ground as he silently cursed the Heavenly Garuda.

May meat get stuck between your teeth.

May you choke on bones.

May you get food poisoning.

Though he knew perfectly well none of those things could actually happen to a female.

They could eat practically anything.

Their digestive systems were like incinerators.

A pair of military boots entered his field of vision.

It was the Heavenly Garuda.

Something landed in front of him.

He smelled roasted meat.

Looking down, he saw neatly wrapped grilled meat bundled in large leaves.

The Male Zerg exploded in anger.

"I don't want your charity!"

The Heavenly Garuda merely glanced at him coldly.

He showed no reaction whatsoever, looking completely indifferent as if it made no difference whether the Male Zerg ate it or not.

That only made the Male Zerg angrier.

"Take your food away! It stinks!"

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor: "..."

With a cold snort, he stepped forward to retrieve the roasted meat.

The instant he bent down to pick it up—

The Male Zerg snatched it first and hugged it protectively.

"What are you looking at? Once it's in front of me, it's mine!"

Clutching the roasted meat, he immediately took a bite to mark it as his before speaking with his cheeks stuffed full.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor couldn't be bothered arguing.

This Male Zerg was far too noisy.

He simply walked farther away and found a quiet place beneath another tree to sit down.

While eating, the Male Zerg secretly glanced toward the Heavenly Garuda.

He really was quite handsome.

What a shame.

He was a Heavenly Garuda.

No matter how handsome his face was, that ruined everything.

After eating until he was about one-third full, he used his offline terminal to perform a basic health scan.

Only after confirming he hadn't been poisoned did he dare continue eating.

He had been so hungry that he ended up finishing most of the roasted beast leg the Heavenly Garuda had given him.

He didn't throw away the remainder.

After staring at it for a while and overcoming his discomfort, he carefully stored it inside his spatial storage button.

It was the first time in his life he'd ever kept leftovers.

Reality forced people to compromise.

Survival came first.

Looking toward the Heavenly Garuda resting beneath a distant tree, he hesitated for a while before finally speaking.

"Hey... you... what's your name?"

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor merely gave him a sidelong glance.

He said nothing.

Damn Heavenly Garuda.

This one had absolutely no respect for people!

The Male Zerg cursed inwardly and began guessing for himself.

"Purple eyes... the Heavenly Garuda royal family? No, wait... aren't most of the royal family already dead? There are only two left? Three?"

"One is the former Heavenly Garuda Emperor who disappeared after being seriously wounded on the battlefield. Then there's the current Heavenly Garuda Emperor... and one male prince. You..."

The more he guessed, the more frightened he became.

He swallowed hard.

Suddenly...

He didn't dare continue.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor found the reaction amusing.

"So," he asked, "which one do you think I am?"

The Male Zerg wanted to cry.

Instead, he forced himself to remain calm.

The other party obviously wasn't a male.

That ruled out the prince.

Which only left...

The previous Heavenly Garuda Emperor.

Or the current one.

Damn it!

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor!

Whichever one he was...

He was still the Heavenly Garuda Emperor!

Just how terrible was his luck?

Out of everyone in the universe...

He had run straight into the emperor of the enemy empire.

...】