Chapter 180: The Stranded Male Zerg × The Heavenly Garuda Emperor (2): The Gods Toy with Him

[Who? The Heavenly Garuda Emperor?!]

[Why is it a female Heavenly Garuda?! And the craziest female among them at that! (Horrified)]

[Protect our Male Lord! Where are the patrols? Where are the rescue teams? Somebody save him!]

[Against the Heavenly Garuda Emperor? It wouldn't matter how many came... they'd just be throwing their lives away...]

[Oh no... His Lordship is so pitiful. How did a simple trip turn into meeting something this terrifying?!]

[This wasn't an ordinary trip. He deliberately ventured into the uninhabited regions of deep space!]

[Speaking of which, wasn't there another young Male Zerg who went into an uninhabited zone during his graduation trip a few days ago? He's still missing.]

[I hope the young lord returns safely soon and never runs into a Heavenly Garuda. (Praying)]

[As long as Heavenly Garuda exist, the universe is too dangerous. May they go extinct as soon as possible.]

[If that Heavenly Garuda so much as lays a finger on the Male Lord, I'll personally kill ten Heavenly Garuda on StarNet! (Furious)]

[I'll kill twenty!]

[I can roast thirty in one go!]

The Heavenly Garuda: ???

[Are you all insane? Go get treatment! Stop biting at Heavenly Garuda like you've all caught rabid-bug disease!]

[Do you need to be sick to bite Heavenly Garuda? I'll bite if I want! (Baring teeth) (Super fierce)]

Some Heavenly Garuda continued their virtual keyboard war with the Zerg Federation.

Others were still overwhelmed by the surprise that the protagonist was actually a Heavenly Garuda.

[The protagonist of the new novel is actually a female Heavenly Garuda! And His Majesty the Emperor at that! I can't believe this. I never imagined a Zerg author would write something like this.]

[We're finally not the villains! We're the protagonists!]

[I'll never give An-shen the cold shoulder again! (Crying) From now on I'll shower him with rewards! (Universe Battleship ×1)]

[Just for writing a female Heavenly Garuda as the lead, I'm becoming An-shen's loyal fan for life!]

Some Heavenly Garuda deliberately stirred up trouble.

[So An-shen is actually a fan of His Majesty the Emperor? Love it.]

[This novel perfectly expresses An-shen's admiration for His Majesty. (Moved)]

Of course, the Heavenly Garuda knew perfectly well that the author An-shen had absolutely nothing to do with the Heavenly Garuda Emperor.

The two couldn't have been further apart.

But that didn't stop them from spreading rumors and making a fuss.

Their real goal was simply to disgust a certain Zerg Marshal who was rumored to be An-shen's current partner—

Ulysses.

[An-shen even wrote an entire novel for our Emperor. So... who still doesn't own one of An-shen's books? I wonder who that could be?] (This account has been permanently banned.)

...

Inside the Marshal's office.

Ulysses withdrew his gaze from the screen.

Those Heavenly Garuda never dared confront him directly.

They only made little sarcastic remarks behind his back.

Yet...

Every one of them struck exactly where it hurt.

Protagonist.

Even the Heavenly Garuda had become protagonists.

Perhaps...

In the eyes of the God...

There was no real difference between the Heavenly Garuda and the Zerg.

In previous novels, Heavenly Garuda had always existed as a foil for the Zerg.

Just as villains existed to contrast the protagonist.

Of course, he himself had once had a story.

It had never been published within the Zerg Federation.

But in the God's world...

It had existed.

Only...

He had existed there as the villain.

Now...

The race that had always played the role of villains in Zerg stories had become the protagonists.

It seemed...

Only he alone remained standing where he had always been.

He had united every faction more quickly than originally planned.

Consolidated power.

Implemented reforms.

Expanded territory.

Accelerated research into Psychic Soothing devices...

He couldn't tell whether any of this would truly change the future.

Or whether it would simply hasten his own destruction.

Just like...

His relationship with the God.

That kiss had exposed everything hidden inside his heart.

It had dragged every feeling into the light.

And the God had pushed him away.

Rejected him.

Fortunately...

For now, the God still had no intention of leaving.

He had merely made Ulysses' enemy—the Heavenly Garuda Emperor—into a protagonist as well.

If one day...

He and the Heavenly Garuda Emperor came into conflict...

Would the God still, as always...

Stand completely on the protagonist's side?

And if...

He killed His protagonist...

Emotions clouded judgment.

Ulysses slowly closed his eyes.

He forcibly suppressed every thought related to the God before turning his attention elsewhere.

That Male Zerg...

The one stranded together with the Heavenly Garuda Emperor...

A Male Zerg who had disappeared during a graduation trip into the uninhabited reaches of deep space...

Only one such case had occurred in recent years.

The former Male Archon's son.

He had disappeared two days ago after entering the uninhabited zone.

Even the age matched.

Ulysses opened the latest intelligence received from the Heavenly Garuda Empire.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor, who had gone to inspect the border...

Had not appeared for two full days.

The timeline matched perfectly.

Judging by the God's consistent habit of making everything He wrote become reality...

There was almost certainly no mistake.

The former Archon and his spouse, who were desperately searching for their child...

Probably hadn't even had time to read this novel yet.

It didn't matter.

There was nothing they could do anyway.

Since the boy had disappeared after entering a wormhole...

He wouldn't return before the story ended.

Unless the God intended for him to be found...

No one would find him.

But...

It wasn't completely hopeless.

Ulysses narrowed his eyes as he stared at the words before him.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor wanted to take the Male Zerg back.

That meant the Heavenly Garuda Empire would inevitably make a move.

A Male Zerg couldn't survive the vacuum of space.

A fleet would have to come retrieve him.

Watch the movements of the Heavenly Garuda fleets.

Watch the progress of the novel.

There would be an opportunity to bring the Male Zerg home.

He had no intention whatsoever of gifting the Heavenly Garuda Empire a high-ranking Male Zerg.

The only thing he feared...

Was that this time...

His opponent was the God standing behind the protagonist.

Ulysses pressed his lips together.

Between the villain...

And the protagonist...

It was obvious whom the God would favor.

...

"Achoo! Achoo!"

An Ruo sneezed twice in a row while writing.

Puzzled, he looked past the floating screen toward the bouquet on his desk.

Had he developed a pollen allergy recently...?

As promised, he had prepared many flower bouquets for Ulysses inside the game.

Yet Ulysses hadn't logged in even once.

The Marshal was always busy.

That was perfectly normal.

An Ruo removed the flowers from the desk and put them away.

The space suddenly felt a little empty.

After thinking for a moment, he picked up the Ulysses plush and hugged it instead.

He still didn't dare face Ulysses himself.

But...

Ulysses wasn't here.

Surely secretly hugging his plush wouldn't be discovered...

Right?

An Ruo gently kneaded the plush's chubby little cheeks.

The chibi version of the final boss was unbelievably adorable.

The real one, cold, stern, and intimidating...

Was handsome in an entirely different way.

He hugged the plush tightly while continuing to write with his psychic power.

Every so often...

He'd absentmindedly pet it.

...

Inside the Marshal's office...

Ulysses' entire body went rigid.

The male had rejected him.

Yet...

He was playing with him once again.

Everything about him...

Was controlled by the God's touch.

At some point, a new chapter had quietly refreshed itself on the screen before him.

But Ulysses had no attention to spare for reading it.

...

【The former Heavenly Garuda Emperor, Chaos, disappeared on the battlefield and has never been seen again.

The current Heavenly Garuda Emperor, Ares, is a complete war maniac. Even before taking the throne, he delighted in starting wars and challenging the strongest warriors across the galaxy. A bloodthirsty lunatic. An absolute monster!

Whichever one it was...

Both were terrifying.

The Male Zerg wanted to escape.

Being stuck beside a deranged Heavenly Garuda like this placed him under tremendous pressure.

Just as he was wondering how to sneak away...

The Heavenly Garuda looked up at the clouds for a moment before standing.

"We should get moving."

"We need to find somewhere to spend the night."

Spend the night?!

The Male Zerg was horrified.

He immediately clutched his collar.

He would rather die than submit.

"Get those thoughts out of your head."

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor glanced at him.

"I'm not interested in you."

As if he'd believe that.

The Male Zerg rose cautiously.

He was an A-rank Male Zerg.

Exceptionally handsome.

Exceptionally talented.

Everywhere he went, he was the center of attention.

There was no way anyone could be uninterested in him.

Not even a Heavenly Garuda.

"We're going our separate ways. I'm not spending the night with you. Don't even think about it!"

One piece of roasted meat wasn't enough to buy his body.

He wasn't that cheap.

If the Heavenly Garuda tried anything...

He'd fight him to the death.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor: "..."

Sometimes...

He really wanted to knock this Male Zerg unconscious and carry him away.

Apparently...

He still hadn't suffered enough.

So the Emperor simply let him continue wandering through the forest alone.

As evening approached, the temperature dropped rapidly.

The Male Zerg wrapped his thin clothes tightly around himself.

He didn't want to keep walking anymore.

His psychic perception could no longer detect the Heavenly Garuda's presence.

Although he didn't believe he was truly safe yet...

Knowing the Heavenly Garuda wasn't nearby still allowed him to breathe a little easier.

Now...

He needed somewhere to rest.

Before darkness completely fell, he found an open area beside the river.

He released his damaged spacecraft from his spatial storage button and climbed inside.

Although the spacecraft had been damaged and most of its functions no longer worked...

It could still serve as temporary shelter.

The Male Zerg lay down on the small bed inside and tucked himself beneath a blanket.

That night...

A torrential storm arrived.

The temperature plummeted.

The spacecraft's climate control system had already broken.

There was no heat.

Curled tightly beneath the blanket, the Male Zerg shivered from the cold.

The rain continued all night.

At dawn...

He vaguely felt the earth shaking.

A deafening roar echoed in the distance.

His psychic danger sense activated instantly.

He shot upright, poking his head out from beneath the blanket.

Suddenly—

The spacecraft's window exploded inward beneath a single punch.

The Heavenly Garuda, his hair damp from the rain, barged inside.

Without saying a word, he grabbed the Male Zerg straight out of the blankets.

"What are you doing?!"

The Male Zerg frantically kicked at him.

"The flood's already here, and you're still sleeping peacefully?"

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor pinned him firmly against his chest.

Suppressing every struggle with ease, he locked him securely in place.

Then his wings burst open.

They tore straight through the spacecraft's roof...

And carried them both into the sky.

"You! My spacecraft!"

For one brief second, the Male Zerg mourned his spacecraft.

The next moment...

As they climbed higher...

He saw floodwaters had already swallowed its landing gear.

In the distance...

A mud-filled mountain torrent surged forward like a charging beast.

Within only a few dozen seconds...

His spacecraft disappeared beneath the raging flood.

The Male Zerg stared blankly.

He had grown up on Capital Star.

A world where even weather and temperature were controlled by the central system.

He had never witnessed nature's power before.

In a single instant...

He had brushed past death itself.

His limbs turned weak.

He forgot all about resisting.

Instead, he instinctively wrapped both arms tightly around the female holding him, terrified of being dropped.

Seeing him finally quiet down...

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He truly hated dealing with noisy males.

Their endless chatter made his head throb.

Sometimes...

It made him want to squeeze their necks shut...

So they would finally stay quiet forever.

The rain still hadn't stopped.

The surrounding area remained dangerous.

Carrying the Male Zerg, the Heavenly Garuda Emperor flew farther away until they completely left the storm behind.

Only then did he locate a cave.

He casually tossed the Male Zerg inside.

"Hey!"

The Male Zerg had spent the entire flight high in the air, freezing so badly his face had gone pale, yet he hadn't dared utter a single complaint.

Now he was thrown barefoot onto the ground.

Having never been treated like this before...

His temper instantly exploded.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor folded his wings and stepped into the cave.

Casting him a cold glance, he said in a deep voice,

"If you still haven't learned how to address me respectfully..."

"I can teach you."

The Male Zerg had absolutely no desire to experience his version of "teaching."

He immediately shut up.

After a while, he pursed his lips miserably and muttered in a tiny voice,

"How was I supposed to know which one you were... You never even told me your name..."

The members of the Heavenly Garuda royal family all looked more or less alike.

The product of generations of close bloodlines.

Just as equally insane.

Even after seeing them on the news...

He still couldn't tell them apart.

After a brief silence, the Heavenly Garuda Emperor finally answered,

"Ares."

"Oh..."

The current Heavenly Garuda Emperor...

Ares.

What was he doing here?

The Male Zerg watched the Heavenly Garuda walking deeper into the cave.

He opened his mouth...

But still couldn't bring himself to call him by name.

In the end, he quietly added,

"...Thank you for saving me."

Whatever else was true...

This Heavenly Garuda really had saved his life.

Even though his emergency protective barrier would have activated automatically...

If he had actually been swept away by the flood, he still would have suffered terribly...

Or died later with no one coming to rescue him.

In the darkness of the cave...

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor, Ares, paused slightly.

His brows drew together.

A trace of regret flashed across his eyes.

Perhaps...

He shouldn't have told the Male Zerg his name.

There had been no need.

It had been completely unnecessary.

It would have been far better simply to force the Male Zerg to address him as "Your Majesty"...

Or "Heavenly Garuda Emperor."

Standing at the cave entrance, the Male Zerg shivered as the cold wind blew over him.

He rubbed his pajama sleeve before following the Heavenly Garuda Emperor deeper inside.

The cave was dimly lit.

The Male Zerg's night vision was poor.

He failed to notice that the Heavenly Garuda ahead had already stopped walking.

He walked straight into him.

His forehead slammed against the Heavenly Garuda Emperor's back.

It felt like running headfirst into a wall.

The Emperor didn't move an inch.

The Male Zerg bounced backward instead.

Rubbing his aching forehead and sore nose, he instinctively wanted to curse the Heavenly Garuda.

Remembering his current situation...

He forcibly swallowed the words.

Ares looked back at him.

"Your name?"

The Male Zerg blinked.

"Hm?"

"Now that you know my name," Ares said, "exchanging names is the most basic courtesy."

Since when did Heavenly Garuda care about etiquette?

The Male Zerg wore a strange expression in the darkness.

After thinking for a moment...

He casually made up a name.

"Carl."

"My name is Carl."

...】