Chapter 256: Female Disguised as Male x Despairing Straight Female (12): Since It’s a 'Date,' Does He Need to Bring Male Zerg Pheromones?

[Curious, what method did Felix find to suppress the spread of the parasite’s mycelia? And what does it have to do with Male Zergs?]

[I don’t get it. The only thing related to Male Zergs should be Psychic Power, right? But how did Felix discover it?]

[Could it be a device that stores Psychic Power? Didn’t they say before that the Tianjia can store Psychic Power and let females carry it around with them?]

[The Tianjia have proven that it can indeed be done, but it’s very rare, and not every male is willing to do something like that.]

[Could it be... Felix is a Tianjia spy??? (horrified)]

[Or maybe he has a Tianjia male lover and they’re secretly dating!]

[Ah, no! I refuse to believe it! Isn’t Felix into Female Zergs? I already ship him with Lucas! How can he have some other male behind Lucas’s back? (bursting into tears)]

[Calm down, calm down. Nothing’s certain yet. It’s all just speculation.]

[Even if it’s true, that’s probably a good thing, right? It means Felix won’t have to worry about Psychic Soothing in the future. Maybe it could even turn out like our original guess, with Felix and Lucas marrying the same Male Zerg. Wait? A Tianjia male? No, that won’t do. They can’t go to Tianjia. They’ll have to marry the Tianjia male into the Federation.]

[??? (Tianjia question-mark face)]

[Don’t you dare covet our males! If anyone’s marrying into the other side, it’ll be your Female Zergs marrying over here (reluctantly pinching nose and accepting it).]

[So the bottom line on who marries whom is extremely flexible, huh?]

[I still refuse to believe Felix is some promiscuous Female Zerg (crying).]

[But he was staring at that Female Zerg sergeant just now.]

[(covering ears, not listening, not listening) It was definitely because that sergeant wasn’t wearing his clothes properly!]

[Why wasn’t he wearing his clothes properly?]

[What else could it be? He’d just come out of the training grounds, it was nighttime, and he’d let his guard down. He should be punished by writing a thousand-word self-criticism! Give him an official warning!]

[That’s probably what Major General Lucas thinks too. The Major General was obviously very unhappy.]

[So is it because he doesn’t want Felix fooling around with other Female Zergs, or because he doesn’t want Felix fooling around with any Female Zerg other than him?]

[Probably both. The Major General was obviously made very comfortable by Felix too. If he were genuinely repulsed, there’s no way he’d let Felix touch him like that. Tell me, what Female Zerg could accept that kind of behavior from another Female Zerg? Rubbing his chest, hugging pressed against each other, even sitting on him—tsk, tsk, tsk.]

[A genuinely straight Female Zerg here says there’s absolutely no way I’d accept that kind of contact from another Female Zerg. Anyone who dared do that to me would just get their head smashed in with one punch.]

[The Major General indulges Felix way too much. If this keeps going, his bottom line is in danger.]

[But Felix really is great. Every time, he’s the one making the Major General feel good. He’s never grabbed the Major General and used him to satisfy himself.]

[Grabbing up top doesn’t count?]

[Of course not. They’re both Female Zergs, so obviously he’d have to grab down below.]

[True. Female Zergs like Felix are way too rare. If all females who liked females were like him, a whole bunch of Female Zergs would fall for them.]

[Male Zerg pheromones can be bought, but Felix’s level of service-mindedness and stamina are much harder to come by.]

[Is everyone accepting the whole “Felix likes Female Zergs” premise a little too quickly?]

[Because Felix really is wonderful (warm smile).]

...

[Lucas laid down three rules with Felix.

“No hugging or cuddling in the military. Don’t keep pressing yourself against me. And don’t let any other Zerg discover our relationship...”

Felix counted them off on his fingers. Hearing the last one, he immediately looked up and asked with a smile,

“What relationship do we have?”

Lucas choked for a moment, then said, “The relationship between a pursuer and the one being pursued.”

“Is that all?” Felix deliberately leaned closer. “If I’m only pursuing you, Major General, why are you afraid of anyone finding out?”

Of course it was normal to be afraid of others finding out, wasn’t it? A Female Zerg pursuing another Female Zerg—only Felix could be this calm about it and act as though it were nothing.

Lucas didn’t want to answer him. When Felix was about to lean against his shoulder, Lucas merely gave him a stern look, signaling for him to keep his distance.

“There aren’t even any other Zergs here...”

Felix looked around the training room, where the two of them were completely alone, but under Lucas’s severe gaze, he eventually muttered under his breath and backed away a little.

“One more thing.” Lucas thought for a moment before adding, “You’re not allowed to... fool around with other Female Zergs.”

“Huh?” Felix looked at Lucas in confusion, wondering why he would give him such an instruction. Just how terrible was his image in Lucas’s mind?

“Okay, okay. I won’t fool around with anyone else. I’ll only fool around with you.” Felix sneakily reached for the Major General’s belt.

The Major General glanced at him but offered no opinion on those words. He merely called a halt when he decided Felix’s hand was becoming too restless and sent him off to train.

“Your physical fitness is too poor. From now on, I’ll personally give you extra training,” Lucas said coldly.

Felix wanted to cry. He was miserable at the thought of getting beaten up during additional training, but then he remembered that the one training with him would be Lucas and suddenly felt that it wasn’t so bad.

He liked spending time with Lucas. Even getting beaten by him during training was fine.

Still, Felix weakly wanted to defend himself on one point.

“My physical fitness really isn’t that bad...”

I just can’t compare to high-ranking Female Zergs like you, who are basically cosmic-level ferocious beasts.

Lucas merely took this as an excuse to slack off.

Felix was outstanding in almost every respect, and his physical fitness was one of his few weaknesses. It actually wasn’t particularly bad, but among a pile of exceptionally high scores, that one barely passing mark stood out glaringly.

Lucas had developed an appreciation for his talent, so naturally, he wanted to help him make up for his weakness.

There was no escaping Felix’s extra training.

Lucas would personally supervise him, devise the training regimen best suited to his physical condition, and help him surpass his limits.

He wouldn’t make things too difficult for Felix either. He would ensure everything remained within the limits of what Felix’s body could withstand.

It would also conveniently burn off some of his excessively abundant energy.

And so, over the next month, Felix had finally managed to integrate the forces under his command and reduce the amount of miscellaneous work on his plate, only to end up so exhausted by Lucas’s additional training that he collapsed into bed and fell asleep immediately every night.

Still, it wasn’t all suffering. Occasionally, he received certain benefits from Lucas as well.

For example, the Major General would personally carry his exhausted body to the treatment pod, or hold him in his arms, let Felix use his chest muscles as a pillow, and massage his aching, swollen muscles to ease the soreness.

All things considered, Felix remained highly motivated to train.

The only problem was that the Major General refused to let Felix get too close to him inside the military. The moment they stepped out of the training room, they had to keep their distance, and Felix was nearly dying from holding himself back.

He just loved sticking close to the Major General. He wanted to grow directly onto Lucas’s body and cling to him every single day.

At the end of the month, Felix had no choice but to submit a leave request to the Major General.

Lucas faced the light screen, staring at the application displayed on it before asking the Zerg standing in front of him,

“Leave? Three days?”

“Yes...”

Felix obediently lowered his head as he answered. Afraid that Lucas would think he was slacking off and refuse to approve it, he didn’t even dare look up as he braced himself and said,

“The former Empire’s Lovers’ Festival is coming up. I’d like to request three days of leave.”

Lucas: “...”

Zerg territory was far too vast. The only holiday celebrated uniformly across the entire territory was the Founding Anniversary. Aside from that, individual planets and star systems all had their own particular holidays.

Even if Felix had tried to request leave using some tiny holiday from an obscure planet as an excuse, Lucas would have approved it.

But instead, he had chosen a holiday established by the former Empire?

Although the festival was still celebrated in quite a few places throughout present-day Zerg territory and had even evolved into all sorts of male-female matchmaking festivals, lovers’ festivals, and reproduction festivals, Lucas still found those particular words exceptionally irritating.

“Why are you celebrating a holiday from the former Empire? Are you planning to go to Hidden Star to experience the festival atmosphere?” Lucas asked expressionlessly, his face looking distinctly displeased.

Hidden Star still harbored quite a few remnants of the former Empire’s forces. Even descendants of the Imperial Family lived there.

“No, no,” Felix hurriedly said. “I know my current status is special. As a military Zerg, I can’t casually leave the country or enter Hidden Star territory.”

Because of that, Felix hadn’t been home in a very long time.

For this holiday leave, he only intended to leave the military and find some quiet place somewhere within Federation territory to spend it.

Of course, the most important thing was getting Lucas to come with him.

“Major General, didn’t you say before that if I wanted to go on a date, I could ask you for leave?”

Felix moved closer and pestered him, blinking pitifully in an attempt to win his sympathy.

Lucas had indeed said something like that, but while Felix was still actively pursuing him, he couldn’t accept Felix turning around and going on a date with a Male Zerg.

Then what did that make him?

Even though this was exactly what he had originally wanted—he had wanted Felix to redirect his attention away from him and get together with a Male Zerg—now that an actual leave request for a date had been submitted right in front of him, all Lucas wanted to do was tear it apart, along with the light screen and terminal.

Lucas’s expression darkened, his lips pressed into a tight line as a chill radiated from his entire body.

The Major General was normally cold enough already, but suddenly seeing such a terrifying expression on that cold, handsome face still made Felix shiver.

“Please, Major General,” he pleaded, mustering his courage to hug Lucas’s arm and coax him relentlessly. “You won’t let me get close to you while we’re in the military, so surely it’s fine if I take leave and we go outside the military camp? And it just happens to be a festival. I really want to be with you. I want to spend it together with you.”

Lucas looked up in astonishment. It took him half a beat to realize that Felix wanted to spend the Lovers’ Festival with him.

The icy expression on his face abruptly became impossible to maintain, tiny cracks appearing in it.

It was like the rising sun shining upon a glacier, melting the ice and snow until they softened into gently flowing water.

“Major General, Major General... Lucas~”

Felix was still coaxing him.

Lucas couldn’t withstand it. He averted his gaze and gave a quiet hum of assent.

Felix didn’t miss that low response. It was pleasantly tingling, enough to make a Zerg’s ears itch—deep and seductive, every bit as pleasant as the Major General’s low moans in the hot spring.

He raised a hand and touched his slightly warm ear. His heart suddenly itched with temptation, but he suppressed the amorous thoughts in his mind and asked expectantly,

“So you agree? You approve my leave request, and you also agree to... the date?”

Lucas didn’t want to repeat himself. He simply signed the light screen and approved the leave request.

The moment Felix received confirmation that his leave had been approved, his face lit up with delight. He looked at Lucas with sparkling eyes and said,

“Then... I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Oh, right. Is there anywhere you’d like to go, Major General? If not, I’ll arrange our date!”

Felix added.

Lucas had no ideas. He didn’t even know why he had agreed to go on a date with him.

The instant he agreed, he had already begun regretting it, but when he looked into Felix’s expectant eyes, he simply couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

They would be outside the Military Region anyway, so... going on a date... should be fine, right?

His thoughts involuntarily wandered even further.

Since it was a “date,” would their relationship develop another step? Would Felix want to go further with him?

Did he need to bring Male Zerg pheromones?

...]