Chapter 191: The Stranded Male Zerg × The Heavenly Garuda Emperor (11): "Filthy Ares... Let Me Clean You Up!"

[How could a Male Lord possibly serve a Heavenly Garuda?! (horrified) I refuse to believe it!]

[That scheming Heavenly Garuda Emperor! He actually pulled the flower trick!]

The Zerg readers were seething.

The Heavenly Garuda readers, on the other hand, suddenly felt as though they'd won.

A Zerg Male Lord serving a Heavenly Garuda female...

That was something they had fantasized about countless times.

The Heavenly Garuda army would sweep across the galaxy, conquer the Zerg Federation, and those arrogant Male Zergs who had once lorded over everyone would be left trembling, forced to bow their once-proud heads and submit to the Heavenly Garudas.

Although the circumstances here were somewhat different...

The Male Zerg in the novel really had taken the initiative to pleasure the Heavenly Garuda Emperor.

Never mind that, beforehand, their Emperor had been giving him flowers, inventing countless ways to cook roasted meat for him, and even acting as a living heater...

There was nothing strange about a female privately pampering his own male.

No one could criticize that.

On the contrary...

If a male were the one pampering a female—

That would completely overturn the natural order.

"Pampering" was something bestowed by those above upon those below.

A male only needed to enjoy being served.

Feeling thoroughly satisfied, the Heavenly Garudas continued reading.

Only to discover that their Emperor had even offered him the position of Empress.

Well...

Even the greatest female hero could be defeated by a beautiful male.

Understandable.

The Heavenly Garudas wiped the sweat from their brows and continued.

Then they saw the Male Zerg not only refuse...

He even had the audacity to propose marrying their Emperor as his Female Lord!

And he was planning to take several Female Attendants besides?!

[Outrageous! Does that Male Zerg even understand what he's saying?! That's His Majesty the Emperor!]

[How could His Majesty ever become someone's Female Lord?! His Majesty can only be the Female Master!]

[Oh, what a coincidence. Our Male Lords can only be Male Masters too.]

["Male Lord"? What a disgusting, worthless title. And you still have the nerve to flaunt it? (eye roll)]

[What's disgusting about "Male Lord"? Lord and ruler are one! We Heavenly Garuda females greatly respect our Male Lords!]

[If you'd said "ruler and sovereign are one," I might've believed you.]

[Like your Zerg system is any better?]

[It isn't. Let's just keep hurting each other then. (I've given up.)]

[Don't chicken out! Our Female Lords hold real authority! Many family businesses are managed by the Female Lord. Female Lords own personal property and usually control fifty percent of the household assets! We also have our own careers and professions. Most of the military and political leadership consists of females and sub-females! Male Zerg authority is mostly concentrated in legal privileges. The Male Association exists to speak for Male Lords and protect their special rights. That's only natural. You could say it's... uh... political correctness. Females are supposed to worship and protect Male Lords.]

[Male Lords are rare! Of course they deserve respect, protection, and privilege!]

[There are far more females! We should rule the males! Possess the males! Decide where the males belong!]

The conflict between both sides erupted completely.

...

Meanwhile...

Aboard a starship near the Zerg frontier.

Former Archon Joshua frowned slightly as he watched the fierce argument playing out across the holographic screen.

General Sorens walked in from outside.

His dark crimson eyes usually made him appear fierce and unruly.

Yet whenever he looked at a Male Zerg, those same eyes softened with respect and warmth.

"My Male Lord, did you summon me for instructions?"

"..."

Joshua looked up helplessly.

Back then...

He might have trained this female a little too well.

"It's not really an instruction..."

Joshua closed the comment section filled with endless arguments and instead showed him the actual novel.

"Take a look."

"Doesn't this Male Zerg remind you a little of our hatchling?"

Sorens leaned over and glanced at the names.

The first thing he noticed was Heavenly Garuda Emperor, causing his brows to knit immediately.

Only afterward did he notice the Male Zerg—

Carl.

Carl?

What kind of name was that?

He didn't remember it.

This Male Zerg, at least, seemed sensible.

He understood that every promise made by a Heavenly Garuda was a trap and hadn't eagerly followed the Heavenly Garuda Emperor home to become Empress.

He looked like the sort of Zerg Male who actually possessed a brain.

Very few Male Zergs could earn such praise from General Sorens.

His own hatchling was one.

His Male Lord counted as ten.

Seeing that Sorens hadn't understood at all, Joshua was momentarily speechless.

His hopes for father-and-son intuition crumbled.

Left with no choice, he explained,

"The Male Zerg in the novel also went on a graduation trip into deep space, encountered a wormhole, crashed on a deserted planet, and met the Heavenly Garuda Emperor."

Sorens frowned even harder.

"What is wrong with youngsters these days?"

"Every single one of them is so reckless, completely ignorant of the dangers of the universe!"

Joshua: "..."

Wonderful.

Apparently, the understanding between husband and wife wasn't all that great either.

He finally stated it plainly.

"I think... the novel is talking about our hatchling."

Sorens looked from the Male Zerg in the novel...

To the words Heavenly Garuda Emperor...

His face immediately darkened.

"This is slander."

He declared it without hesitation.

"...Mm."

Joshua didn't quite know what to say.

Anything involving Heavenly Garudas was difficult for any Zerg to accept.

But...

If the story was true...

Looking on the bright side...

Their hatchling was at least still alive.

And there was a powerful female—

Even if that female happened to be a Heavenly Garuda—

Protecting him.

As a male parent, all Joshua truly wished for was his child's safety.

Sorens, meanwhile, was thinking only that his missing hatchling had somehow become the subject of a novel pairing him with the Heavenly Garuda Emperor.

Noticing his Male Lord's gloomy mood, he hurriedly comforted him.

"My Male Lord, please don't worry."

"Our hatchling will be alright."

"We've detected unusual energy fluctuations ahead and are currently analyzing their location."

"We may finally find him."

Joshua suddenly remembered the repeated references throughout the novel...

The signal.

His eyes widened slightly as he grabbed Sorens' arm.

"My Male Lord?"

Sorens blinked.

"I'm going with you on the next search."

Joshua said firmly.

...

These past few days, inspiration had exploded inside An Ruo.

Ideas poured out one after another.

He wished he could write through the entire night.

Lines of text flashed rapidly across the holographic screen.

【After thoroughly scolding the Heavenly Garuda Emperor, Carl noticed that Ares kept a cold expression for days.

He seemed to be in a terrible mood.

Yet every night, when bedtime came...

He still pulled Carl into his arms and let him sleep against his body.

Gradually...

Carl became accustomed to the rise and fall of the Heavenly Garuda Emperor's muscles beneath him.

Neither of them brought up the subject of "Male Lord" or "Female Lord" again.

Whenever the need arose...

They simply buried themselves in satisfying one another.

Carl still wouldn't let him finish.

He still refused to have an egg with him.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor looked increasingly unhappy.

Yet whenever Carl took care of him, his body still trembled violently, his pheromones pouring out just as intensely.

Each of them took turns once.

Neither took advantage of the other.

Sometimes...

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor would use his pectoral muscles...

Or perhaps his thigh.

Carl, meanwhile, constantly invented new ways to make him feel good.

He didn't mind saying sweet things to him while they were in bed.

The moment they got out of bed, however...

He denied every single word.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor would grind his teeth in frustration.

Afterward...

They always slept together.

Squeezed onto that tiny military cot.

Carl sprawled across him, pressed tightly against his body.

Half asleep, Carl suddenly remembered that he still intended to perform Psychic Soothing on the Heavenly Garuda Emperor.

Right now, however...

The Emperor was thoroughly dissatisfied with Carl's rebellious attitude.

There was no way he'd willingly relax enough to accept Psychic Soothing.

Perhaps because those thoughts lingered as he drifted off...

In his dream...

He truly entered the Heavenly Garuda Emperor's Psychic Domain.

It looked nothing like what he had imagined.

He had expected warships.

Mechs.

Interstellar battlefields.

Instead...

It was...

An open-air arena.

Slowly lifting his head, Carl looked upward.

Above the arena hung a massive circular cage like a giant birdcage.

It completely enclosed the arena beneath it.

Countless shadowy figures slaughtered one another below.

Only one was permitted to survive.

It resembled an ancient gladiator arena...

A beast pit.

Even more twisted shadows surrounded the stands.

Purple and crimson deformed eyes watched the massacre below.

Cheering.

Shouting.

Celebrating.

Encouraging.

Laughing wildly.

Completely insane.

This was a blood-soaked spectacle...

One stripped entirely of humanity.

The beasts fighting below...

Were their own kind.

Carl had never seen a place like this.

Instinctively...

He felt sick.

The battle below continued.

Among the countless shadows...

One stood apart.

At first...

He was tiny and frail.

Almost like a hatchling.

Throughout the endless slaughter...

He was injured over and over.

And slowly...

He grew.

Taller.

Stronger.

Until his silhouette gradually became that of the Heavenly Garuda Emperor.

Huge black wings spread behind him.

Breaking through the cage overhead...

He slaughtered every twisted shadow in the audience while they screamed in terror.

Several of them possessed the same purple eyes as he did.

Those...

He killed particularly slowly.

Again and again, he stripped away the black mist covering them.

Like a prolonged execution.

When everything finally ended...

The entire world rewound.

The shattered cage reassembled.

The dead shadows returned.

He became the tiny hatchling once more...

And another round of slaughter began.

Carl stood there blankly.

The God of War...

Ares.

This...

Was the endless battlefield inside his own mind.

How was anyone supposed to soothe a Psychic Domain like this?

Carl wanted to change something.

When one of the shadows raised a blade behind young Ares—

He rushed forward.

One flying kick sent the shadow flying.

He nearly threw out his own back.

Young Ares spun around immediately.

His eyes filled with vigilance.

Treating Carl as another enemy.

Yet...

Confusion also appeared in those eyes.

His dagger hesitated.

"Hi~"

Carl cheerfully waved.

When another shadow attacked...

He darted over and pulled young Ares aside.

"Pay attention!"

"You can't lose focus in the middle of a fight!"

He lectured him with complete seriousness.

Young Ares pressed his lips tightly together.

Ignoring him.

Remaining focused on his enemies.

Yet a small portion of his attention never left Carl.

Carl himself was hopeless in combat.

If he had a mentally linked mech, he could fight just fine.

On foot...

Not a chance.

Fortunately...

This was his dream.

Which meant...

He could enable invincibility.

The shadows couldn't inflict any meaningful damage on him.

Meanwhile...

Every kick he landed scattered another shadow.

His combat strength rivaled that of a high-ranking female.

After all...

He had set his own strength according to Ares'.

In his dream, he firmly believed he possessed SS-rank Ares' combat ability.

Completely unbeatable.

The only reason he could only defeat enemies one kick at a time...

Was because he had no idea how to use all that overwhelming strength.

Still...

That was more than enough.

Carl tore apart the cage with his bare hands.

Smashed the arena apart with one kick.

Punched shadows straight into the sky.

He felt like the God of War himself.

Finally...

When there wasn't a single shadow left to fight...

He turned around.

Adult Ares stood behind him.

Watching him with an unreadable expression.

His facial features were now completely clear.

Only wisps of black mist still clung stubbornly to his body.

Carl walked over.

Patting his shoulder.

One small wisp of black mist drifted away.

So he started patting him everywhere.

Dusting him off from head to toe.

"Filthy Ares..."

Carl muttered quietly.

"Let me clean you up!"

When the final strand of black mist disappeared...

He smiled.】