Chapter 193: The Stranded Male Zerg × The Heavenly Garuda Emperor (13): Pregnant? Ulysses Returns

【Their facial features were somewhat alike...

Looking closer, he even seemed a little familiar.

The former Archon of the Zerg Federation.

A male Zerg Archon.

The Heavenly Garuda had always paid even less attention to males and Male Zergs, but when an outstanding male left behind remarkable political achievements among countless female Zergs, he stood out all the more—like a vivid splash of color across a sea of black and white.

The Heavenly Garuda Emperor matched the unfamiliar Male Zerg before him with the Federation's former male Archon. Looking at how much he resembled Carl, and how dependent and affectionate Carl was toward him, a vague guess surfaced in his mind.

At the same time, he remembered something else.

He recalled that the former male Archon had eventually married a military officer.

The Eighth Legion. General Sorens... he was Sorens' Male Lord.

Ares turned stiffly to one side.

He recognized the female Zerg.

In fact, he knew all of the Federation's senior commanders, along with their mechs and combat styles.

The female parent, the male parent...

They were Carl's parents.

For a moment, Ares had no idea how he was supposed to react.

Having never experienced a normal parent-child relationship himself, beating up someone's female parent didn't seem like a big deal.

But Carl?

What would Carl think?

Through the screen, Ares looked toward Carl inside the Zerg warship. Sure enough, Carl clearly didn't want to pay him much attention anymore. All of his focus was on General Sorens, whose mech had already been repaired.

When faced with his proposal—

"Hand over the Male Zerg. Name your price."

—Ulysses refused.

"We do not traffic in people. The Federation military will protect every Federation citizen."

Ares wanted to argue that this wasn't "human trafficking."

But deep down, he also understood exactly what Carl's coming to the Heavenly Garuda Empire meant to the Federation.

He would treat Carl well.

He would protect him.

But that wasn't the life Carl wanted.

Yet if he had to give Carl up...

He couldn't do that either.

Ares pressed his lips tightly together.

His stomach churned, and a wave of nausea rose violently.

He frowned, forcing the discomfort down without letting it show.

Unfortunately, every Zerg present was watching him.

On such an enormous display, every tiny facial twitch—even the movement of his Adam's apple—was perfectly visible.

The atmosphere froze.

Ulysses silently considered every possibility.

Joshua, well aware of how a pregnant female might react, glanced toward the hatchling standing in front of him.

Carl was horrified as well, desperately trying to remember whether anything had gone wrong.

He had taken precautions.

Afterward, they hadn't actually gone all the way—they had only helped each other.

That shouldn't have happened.

Could it be...

Did the Heavenly Garuda Emperor tamper with those condoms?!

Carl's eyes widened.

He stared fixedly at the Heavenly Garuda on the screen, panic and terror filling his expression, his eyes almost splitting with shock.

Meeting Carl's gaze, Ares paused in confusion, just as an alert popped up on his wrist terminal.

It was his elder brother.

After a brief hesitation, he accepted the call.

The Prince's face appeared on the holographic screen.

"Retreat."

Still inside the Imperial Palace, the Prince's face carried an unusual trace of urgency.

Seeing Ares keep his lips tightly pressed together, clearly unwilling to leave, the Prince persuaded him,

"You can't take him away now. Even if you killed every Zerg here, he still wouldn't leave with you. He'd only hate you for the rest of his life. Withdraw for now. There will be another chance."

Another chance...

Ares looked toward Carl inside the Federation warship.

Would they really have another chance?

The Zerg side couldn't see or understand the private conversation taking place on the Heavenly Garuda Emperor's terminal, but from his expression alone, they knew he had received important news.

In the end, the Heavenly Garuda Emperor chose to withdraw.

The Heavenly Garuda fleet began retreating.

His mech also slowly backed away.

The communication channel remained open.

Ulysses rubbed his fingertips together thoughtfully, weighing whether he should forcibly keep him here.

Looking at the warship full of civilians with almost no ability to defend themselves...

He ultimately abandoned the idea.

Now was not the time for an all-out war between the Federation and the Heavenly Garuda Empire.

Besides...

Whether the Heavenly Garuda Emperor was actually pregnant remained entirely uncertain.

General Sorens' mech stood beside the warship, watching the Heavenly Garuda forces withdraw.

He forcibly suppressed the urge to continue fighting the Emperor and made no attempt to pursue.

Ares remained at the very rear.

Only after the distance had stretched to its absolute limit...

Only after the communication link between both sides was finally severed...

Only after he could no longer see the Male Zerg...

...did he truly leave.

Inside the warship, Carl stared at the darkened screen, quietly pressing his lips together, his heart restless and uneasy.

Joshua patted his shoulder gently and comforted him in a low voice.

"It's over now, sweetheart. You need a medical examination... and psychological counseling."

"...Mm."

Carl answered dully.

The Federation fleet and the Heavenly Garuda fleet had crossed paths only briefly before parting once more.

Both sides had their own concerns.

Neither allowed the situation to escalate into full-scale war.

The Federation brought its Male Zerg home.

And the Heavenly Garuda Emperor returned to the Empire.

...】

An Ruo had pulled an all-nighter writing until dawn.

By the end, he had been so exhausted that it felt as though he had been writing even inside his dreams.

He was honestly worried that, half-asleep, he might have uploaded nothing but complete gibberish.

The moment he woke up the next morning, he immediately opened his light screen to check.

As soon as he logged into StarNet, several news notifications popped up.

"Marshal Ulysses Visits the Border and Rescues General Sorens and the Former Archon's Only Son"

"Closed Beta of Virtual Romance Game Ends, Open Beta Officially Begins"

"Commander Morris Announces Wedding to Virtual Male Zerg!"

An Ruo froze for a moment.

After hesitating, he opened the first headline.

The accompanying photo showed General Sorens' family from a distance, with Ulysses standing beside them.

The General's family was expressing their gratitude to the Marshal.

The Marshal gave a slight nod, looking toward the rescued young Male Zerg with the warm concern and encouragement of an elder.

An Ruo seriously suspected the Marshal was posing for the cameras.

Even so...

He still saved the picture.

The young Male Zerg in the photo looked mentally exhausted.

The article itself didn't reveal much, mentioning only that the young lord was currently undergoing psychological counseling.

The comments section, however, was far more lively.

[An-shen only updated last night, and by this morning a missing Male Zerg has already been found? Even the Marshal showed up!]

[Didn't you read carefully? Yesterday's update already revealed everything! Former Archon Joshua is the Male Zerg's male parent! General Sorens is his female parent!]

["Carl" is the missing young lord from before! "Carl" was just an alias!]

[His real name is... Lord Eugene!]

[I noticed all those similarities ages ago. I knew there had to be a connection. I just didn't expect the Marshal to be involved too. The Marshal appeared in the novel as well. Everything matches. As for the Heavenly Garuda Emperor...]

[The news didn't mention him, but now that I think about it, there really haven't been any reports about the Heavenly Garuda Emperor for quite a while. The last one was several weeks ago when he was training his troops by hunting star pirates along the Imperial border. Back then everyone was worried he'd secretly start something, but then he suddenly disappeared from the news.]

[The timing lines up perfectly with the young lord's disappearance.]

[Surely not...?]

[Maybe An-shen drew inspiration from reality but added some "artistic interpretation." The Heavenly Garuda Emperor is probably that artistic part. An SS-rank getting pregnant? That's impossible.]

[Maybe in the novel it's possible. An-shen's books have always leaned toward science fiction.]

[The Heavenly Garuda Emperor actually sabotaged the condoms. That's so shameless!]

[He doesn't look like the type to do something like that.]

[How can you trust a Heavenly Garuda? Maybe he even secretly slept with Lord Carl while he was asleep!]

[Uh... Whether I look at it from the Male Zerg's perspective or from the standpoint of writing fiction, I don't think that's very likely... If that really happened, there definitely would have been foreshadowing in the novel. There's no way the author wouldn't hint at it even once.]

[Got it! I'm going back to reread every single word looking for clues!]

[...Well, have fun. Hope you actually find something.]

[No matter what, the Marshal ended up playing the great villain who split the main couple apart.]

[What nonsense! The Marshal was the hero who rescued the Male Zerg and brought him home! Without the Marshal, who knows what suffering the young lord would still be enduring.]

[Exactly. Thank goodness for the Marshal.]

[...Even though I know bringing the Male Zerg home was the best possible ending, seeing the protagonists separated still leaves me feeling strangely empty.]

[Could this be An-shen's first bad ending?]

[It's not finished yet! Whenever An-shen completes a novel, he always adds "(End)" at the end. This one doesn't have that yet. There could still be more.]

[I honestly can't imagine where the story could possibly go from here.]

[Whatever An-shen writes next, I'm looking forward to it.]

An Ruo: "..."

What on earth did I even write?

He went back to reread yesterday's update.

Psychic Soothing.

The Heavenly Garuda warship.

Ulysses.

The Male Zerg returning to the Federation.

Overall...

It was more or less the story he had intended to write.

Fortunately, he hadn't uploaded a page full of incomprehensible gibberish while half asleep.

Still...

When he reached the scenes involving Ulysses, he couldn't help feeling a little awkward.

Normally, he never wrote about people he actually knew.

It gave him the uncomfortable feeling that he was meddling with their destinies, and that psychological burden was simply too much.

Enzo had been the only exception.

By the time An Ruo had met him, that novel was already underway, and abandoning it halfway would have felt equally guilty.

Enzo himself had also said that novels were just novels and had nothing to do with reality, allowing An Ruo to continue writing with a lighter heart.

The brief cameo by Iso and Hill from another novel didn't really count either.

As for everyone else...

Even when General Cyril made a cameo appearance, An Ruo deliberately concealed the name.

But Ulysses...

They were simply too familiar with each other.

Perhaps his overwhelming sleepiness yesterday had been his subconscious trying to avoid facing that fact.

The only way An Ruo could continue was by treating Ulysses purely as a fictional character.

The Ulysses inside the novel.

The events inside the novel.

Just then...

He received a visitation request from Ulysses.

So soon?

He's already back?

An Ruo stared in astonishment.

The next instant, he sensed a familiar spatial fluctuation.

...Right.

That guy was cheating again by using his space ability.

But...

Was there really any need to be in such a hurry?