Chapter 201: The Stranded Male Zerg × The Heavenly Garuda Emperor (18): "I’m Pregnant. It’s Twin Eggs."

It turned out that Lord Eugene, who was supposedly the inspiration for Carl, had actually gone to the Ninth Military Region.

Netizens were immensely curious and pressed for more details.

But now the Zergs from the Ninth Legion hemmed and hawed and refused to say anything.

Psychic Soothing specialists were in short supply everywhere, especially exceptional ones.

That Soothing Specialist Lord in the First Military Region had caused every Military Region to scramble madly for him. In the end, the Marshal himself had stepped in and given each Legion an opportunity to coordinate troop rotations before the situation finally stabilized.

But that had also resulted in troops from other Military Regions being stationed in the First Military Region.

Their Ninth Military Region was on the border and even had a dedicated Expeditionary Force. It faced the greatest military pressure and was particularly desperate for Psychic Soothing specialists.

They had finally managed to pick up a treasure. There was no way they could let another Military Region snatch him away.

After General Muir learned of Lord Eugene's astonishing achievement, he personally went to visit and express his concern. Afterward, he immediately convened a meeting of the Military Region's senior officers and imposed an internal gag order, strictly forbidding anyone from leaking any information.

As for that novel online, everyone could just treat it as a novel.

What did some Carl have to do with their military doctor Eugene?

If anyone asked, they didn't know him and knew nothing about it.

They could fool everyone else, but there was no fooling General Sorens of the Eighth Legion.

General Sorens personally made a trip to the Ninth Military Region. After visiting his hatchling, he invited General Muir into the combat room and didn't emerge until three star-hours later.

Nobody knew exactly what had happened, but according to rumors, General Muir had been beaten terribly.

General Muir vehemently denied this.

Back when they'd been pursuing Male Zergs, he might not have been able to beat that bastard Sorens, but when it came to an actual fight, he wasn't afraid of him.

It was just that Muir knew he was in the wrong and couldn't exactly fight seriously, so he'd let Sorens have a few moves.

All that talk about him getting brutally beaten was pure rumor.

That bastard Sorens had found out far too quickly. Muir hadn't even figured out how to explain himself before the other man came knocking at his door. The speed was downright bizarre.

Muir had initially assumed that one of his subordinates had leaked the news behind his back. After repeated investigations, however, he eventually discovered...

A novel?

General Muir, who had never cared for these romance novels, started following the updates just so he could keep track of the latest developments.

...

[The achievement of completing thirty-two Psychic Soothing sessions in a single morning made Carl famous throughout the Military Region in one fell swoop.

It alarmed a whole group of senior officers, who came to visit and check on him. Even his female father somehow received the news and made a trip over. He looked terribly distressed and repeatedly reminded Carl to take care of his health.

Carl repeatedly promised that he would.

There was actually nothing wrong with him. He'd only been a little dizzy at first. Some rest and an energy potion had been enough to fix it. The Zergs in the Military Region had simply made a mountain out of a molehill.

Carl returned to his post that very afternoon.

His colleagues' attitude toward him had already upgraded from taking care of him to outright reverence.

They were also extremely curious about how he'd done it.

Carl taught them his method of Psychic Soothing.

Whenever the other Male Zerg doctors had free time, they would come observe him performing Psychic Soothing.

The military females receiving treatment also trusted him completely, which made his work even easier.

His assistant regularly reminded him to rest and replenish himself with psychic potions, so Carl never again suffered the embarrassment of collapsing from exhaustion and being rushed to emergency care.

He maintained a daily workload of thirty to fifty Psychic Soothing sessions, keeping his expenditure within a level he could recover from, and became a legend of the Ninth Military Region.

...

During his second week in the Ninth Military Region, Carl heard some news.

The Tianjia Empire seemed to be in contact with the Federation, hoping to cooperate and conduct exchanges in the field of Psychic Soothing.

It sounded like an absolute fantasy.

Nobody thought it could possibly happen.

Carl thought of Ares.

It had been almost a month since they'd parted. He wondered how he was doing.

He was a Tianjia female and the Emperor at that. He was surely living as freely and extravagantly as he pleased in the Tianjia Empire.

Waking to wield supreme power over the realm, falling asleep drunk with a beautiful Male Zerg on his knee. Hmph. There was no need to worry about him.

At the end of the month, Carl received word that they would conduct preliminary contact with Tianjia Soothing Specialists in international space outside the Ninth Military Region. Any Soothing Specialists who wanted to participate could volunteer.

Carl was stunned.

Something that had seemed completely impossible was actually happening under the efforts of both sides.

Had the Zergs gone insane, or had the Tianjia?

Carl went to find out more.

Apparently, the Tianjia Empire and the Federation had argued for a long time over cooperation and exchanges regarding Psychic Soothing.

Initially, the Tianjia wanted the Zergs to send Male Zergs over to their side for study and exchanges.

Naturally, the Zergs refused.

Conversely, if the Tianjia sent their males over, the Zergs could accept that.

As for whether those males would ever make it back home afterward, nobody could guarantee anything.

Both sides wanted the other side's males/Male Zergs and their technology, while simultaneously fearing that the other side would detain their own males/Male Zergs.

Put simply, neither side trusted the other.

The stalemate lasted for nearly a month.

Then the Tianjia suddenly took a step back and proposed holding the preliminary contact aboard starships in international space.

The coordinates were chosen near the Zerg Ninth Military Region.

That undoubtedly favored the Zergs.

The location was close to a Zerg Military Region and far from Tianjia territory.

Even if the Tianjia suddenly went back on their word, the Zergs would have enough time to respond and intercept them.

And so, the exchange meeting was tentatively settled.

The timing was somewhat rushed. Registration opened today, and they would board the ship in two days.

Carl hesitated, thought it over, then signed up.

The military officers didn't stop him. They merely explained the stakes to him repeatedly. The trip carried risks, but if they successfully completed the exchange and returned, every participant would be awarded a Medal of Honor.

Carl understood all of that, but he still decided to go.

His Psychic Soothing ability was the best in the entire Military Region. There couldn't be anyone more suitable to serve as its representative.

In the end, they gathered ten Male Zergs from the various Military Regions and boarded the spacecraft.

The Zerg and Tianjia starships met at the coordinates agreed upon beforehand, with both sides proceeding extremely cautiously.

After another full day of discussions, they finally agreed that each side would send half of their Male Zergs/males aboard the other side's starship for face-to-face exchanges and study.

It practically looked like an exchange of hostages.

Carl could tell just how deep the conflict between the Zergs and Tianjia ran. Their mutual distrust had reached the extreme.

He voluntarily chose to go aboard the Tianjia starship.

Several other Male Zergs subsequently stepped forward as well.

The officer in charge of this operation was S-rank Major General Claire. He would accompany them and protect their safety.

In addition, a squad of elite military females would board the starship with them.

The Tianjia had essentially the same arrangement, although their commanding officer was somewhat lower-ranked at Super-A.

Inside the Tianjia starship, Carl saw real Tianjia males for the first time.

They didn't look much different from Male Zergs, except that they seemed gentler and quieter, and their eyes held curiosity as they looked at the Zergs.

Tianjia males specialized in the routine maintenance of Psychic Domains.

Thorough cleansing and soothing were important, but daily maintenance was equally important.

They had plenty of little tricks for that.

They could even separate and store Psychic Force, placing it inside specially designed containers for females to carry around with them.

Although this naturally couldn't compare with actual Psychic Soothing, it helped stabilize their mental condition and made their mental scores less likely to decline.

These were things Male Zergs had never even considered. Even Carl learned a great deal from them.

After a full day of exchanges and discussions, the Tianjia prepared rooms where they could rest.

Carl looked toward Major General Claire and saw him frowning.

Remaining aboard a Tianjia starship would increase the risk, but making the Male Zerg Lords travel back and forth between the two starships before and after every exchange would be far too exhausting.

Seeing the fatigue between the Male Zergs' brows, Claire ultimately decided that they would stay.

He led his Zergs in checking every room one by one. Only after confirming there were no problems did he allow the Lords to enter and rest, while he and the military females took shifts standing guard outside.

Carl entered his room and froze when he saw the decor.

The room was decorated in an extremely... palatial style.

Elaborate and luxurious to the extreme.

The enormous bed in the middle of the inner room was particularly eye-catching. The tall, soft bed had at least a dozen layers of mattresses.

Carl's expression became indescribable.

The Tianjia spacecraft looked perfectly normal from the outside. It had a modern technological aesthetic, stern and cold, unmistakably military.

So why did the rooms look like this?

Fortunately, none of the technological conveniences that should have been there were missing.

Carl took a long, comfortable bath, dried himself, changed into his pajamas, and collapsed onto the excessively soft and ornate bed. His body practically sank into it.

He closed his eyes and waited.

He knew that guy would definitely come.

Suddenly, a weight settled over him without any warning, as though someone had appeared out of thin air.

Carl's eyes snapped open in shock, only for a hand to cover his mouth.

The purple-eyed Tianjia female above him smiled and made a gesture for silence.

Carl looked at him in confusion, moved his hand away, and asked irritably:

"Don't tell me even the rooms on your starship aren't soundproof?"

Ares smiled. "Top-tier soundproofing. But there's an S-rank guy outside, after all. Better to be cautious."

Carl snorted softly and bent his knee to shove at him.

"You're heavy as hell. Get off me."

"Heavy?" Ares asked in surprise, lowering his gaze toward his stomach.

He'd gotten a little excited just now, but he hadn't put his full weight on the Male Zerg. Even including what was inside his belly, he shouldn't be particularly heavy.

It was probably just the Male Zerg throwing one of his usual little tantrums.

Ares obligingly propped himself up but refused to get off him.

The Male Zerg looked especially adorable sunk into the soft mattress and pillows. Ares asked him, "Do you like it here?"

"It's all right."

It was actually rather novel and interesting, but Carl didn't want to praise him.

The Tianjia above him was staring at him so intently that Carl's face grew hot, leaving him awkwardly embarrassed and annoyed.

"All right, I'm going to sleep. You should go back too. If anyone discovers that a Tianjia snuck into a Male Zerg's room, you're finished."

Carl pulled up the blanket, intending to cover his face, but the Tianjia above him refused to cooperate.

"You're chasing me away as soon as we've met. So heartless? Even if you can be heartless toward me, can you really be heartless toward it?"

Ares had no intention of leaving. Starting from the bottom, he began undoing his buttons, revealing his still-flat lower abdomen.

He'd already mentally prepared himself to confess. But when he raised his eyes, he found the Male Zerg staring directly at his abs, his gaze burning hot.

Ares was simultaneously annoyed and amused. "Where exactly are you looking?"

Carl refused to take the blame. "You're the one taking your clothes off."

Didn't that mean he was supposed to look?

"Fine. I'm the one taking them off. I can take the pheromones myself too."

As Ares spoke, he reached down to take care of it himself.

Carl hurriedly grabbed his hand, gritted his teeth, and lowered his voice.

"You just said the soundproofing isn't good and we need to keep quiet. What are you trying to do?!"

Actually, the soundproofing was excellent.

There had been an element of teasing Carl in what Ares had said.

As long as they didn't scream themselves hoarse, even an S-rank Zerg outside wouldn't notice anything.

He had no intention of explaining that. Watching Carl deliberately lower his voice like this was quite entertaining.

Just like back at that poorly soundproofed hotel, when Carl had deliberately provoked him and made him make even more noise.

This could be considered returning the favor.

Ares gazed at the Male Zerg he hadn't seen in so long and had missed terribly, then said frankly:

"I'm pregnant."

Carl stared blankly at first. Then his eyes widened as he looked at Ares and immediately down at his stomach, unable to believe it.

"It's true."

Seeing his disbelief, Ares took his hand and placed it against his abdomen.

"You can extend your Psychic Force inside and sense them. It's twin eggs."

When he said "twin eggs," there was unmistakable pride and arrogance at the corners of Ares's eyes.

...]