Chapter 270: Released from Prison, the Original Protagonist: "You do know what it means when a Male Zerg gives money to a Female Zerg, don’t you?"

Early the next morning, it was finally time for his official release from prison.

An Ruo had prepared a suitcase and carried it in one hand. There were only a few paper manuscripts inside.

His actual luggage had all been stored in his spatial button. The suitcase was basically just a prop to give his release from prison a sense of ceremony. Mainly, he felt it would be awkward to walk out completely empty-handed.

To keep Ulysses from showing up today, An Ruo had even deliberately invited him to stay the night and worked very hard to placate him.

When Ulysses left this morning, he had looked refreshed and extremely, extremely happy.

With that, Ulysses probably wouldn't show up today, right?

Thinking this, An Ruo carried his suitcase toward the exit.

When he reached the door, he turned around and took one last look at the room, which had once again been packed away until it was empty, bidding it a final farewell.

Everything looked almost exactly as it had when he first arrived: the silver-white metal walls, the enormous bed in the middle of the room... Yet it was also different. Wind swept through the plants and grass in the sky garden, stirring flower petals into the air, beautiful and dazzling.

He had left traces of himself here.

It was time to say goodbye, even if he was still reluctant to leave.

After all, there weren't many places as suitable as this one for shutting himself away and writing.

An Ruo felt that his creative efficiency had increased tremendously while he was in prison.

He wondered if he could talk to Uriel and ask whether he could occasionally come back to stay for a few days whenever he got writer's block. He could even work as a free doctor and volunteer to pay his rent.

But it seemed Major General Uriel would be leaving soon as well, heading to the Ninth Military Region, where the plot of the original novel began.

An Ruo could only put the idea aside for now.

Then another thought occurred to him. He wondered whether Ulysses would agree to install a basement or confinement room in the Marshal's residence and occasionally lock him inside, only letting him out after he finished his manuscript.

In traditional Zerg households, disciplinary rooms like that were quite common. Originally, they were used to punish Female Zergs who had made mistakes or displeased their Male Lords. Later, some other forms of play had developed around them as well.

Rooms for confining Female Zergs were common.

Rooms for confining Male Zergs were completely unheard of.

If he told Ulysses about this idea, Ulysses would probably be shocked out of his mind.

With all these jumbled thoughts running through his head, An Ruo opened the door and walked outside.

Uriel was already waiting in the corridor outside the room with several military Female Zergs.

They had come to see him off.

Uriel knew that His Lordship disliked occasions with too many Zergs, so the military Female Zergs he'd brought were all those who normally stood guard and were relatively familiar faces to His Lordship.

An Ruo was perfectly comfortable with that.

There weren't many Zergs left in the Military Region Prison anyway.

Several months ago, he had already become the only Psychic Soother remaining here, while all the patients who stayed long-term were military Female Zergs who had experienced Psychic Riots.

Under his long-term treatment, those patients had recovered quite well. Most, like Selerus, had already been released and returned home to recuperate under the care of their families.

Those without families had been collectively transferred to a high-end military sanatorium, where they played chess, went fishing, and practiced shooting with retired officers. An Ruo had even received photographs they sent him. They seemed to be living pretty well.

In short, over the course of this brief month, the prison had almost completely emptied out.

An Ruo was actually quite happy to see some familiar Zergs here to send him off.

The military Female Zergs escorted him all the way to the prison entrance.

An Ruo said goodbye to each of them and gave them a small gift, thanking them for taking care of him over the past year.

The gifts were Psychic Power potted plants. They looked like small desktop plants and could be placed on a desk or bedside table to stabilize one's mental state.

The military Female Zergs were overwhelmed by the favor.

It had always been Female Zergs who gave gifts to Male Zergs. Suddenly receiving gifts from a noble Lord left them so utterly unprepared that they had no idea what they could possibly give in return.

Even those who had prepared gifts beforehand suddenly felt that their own gifts were too embarrassing to present in comparison.

An Ruo had no intention of asking for anything in return. He was giving them gifts simply because he was happy, and things like these weren't anything significant for a "Male Zerg" like him.

Uriel lowered his eyes toward the small Psychic Power plant in his hands and told An Ruo about the changes in his work, including the fact that he would soon leave this place and transfer to the Ninth Military Region.

He was still young and planned to continue fighting for his future in a frontier Military Region where there were more opportunities.

An Ruo had expected this long ago and wasn't surprised in the slightest.

It was just that after everything they had experienced, watching the plot still slowly move toward the starting point of the original novel gave him an almost fateful sense of emotion.

Still, he believed Ulysses would never go down that extreme path again.

The early completion of the Psychic Soothing device, Selerus's release from prison, the stability of Ulysses's mental condition, An Ruo's own existence, the changes in society's overall atmosphere...

Everything had already changed.

Listening to Uriel talk about going to the Ninth Military Region, An Ruo actually had a moment when he wanted to mention the protagonist—the original protagonist—and his fated encounter with his superior, Lieutenant General Uriel.

But he swallowed the words.

It would be far too strange to suddenly bring up some completely unfamiliar Female Zerg.

And so, each carrying their own hopes for a different future, they said goodbye and set off down separate paths.

An Ruo walked out through the gates of the Military Region Prison alone.

The outside was completely deserted, with only a single aircraft parked there by itself. Its exterior was black and extremely understated.

An Ruo didn't pay much attention to it. He took a deep breath of the air of freedom—

And then saw the black-haired Female Zerg step out of the aircraft.

The black-haired Female Zerg was exceptionally handsome, his features cold and sharp. Having occupied a position of power for so long, he remained intimidating even in casual clothes. His long black hair fell down his back, and when he raised his eyes to look over, his aura was at least two-point-eight meters tall.

An Ruo was so startled that the cold air he'd just inhaled went down the wrong way, making him cough uncontrollably several times.

And that black-haired military Female Zerg with his two-point-eight-meter aura—the Federation Marshal and the former Female Lord of this body's original owner—crossed the distance to him in an instant.

He shielded An Ruo from the cold wind and reached out to take his suitcase.

An Ruo tried to snatch his luggage back while frantically turning his head to look around for any media reporters who might be lurking nearby. He anxiously told the Marshal:

"The court already ruled that we're divorced. You didn't need to come!"

They'd agreed to pretend they didn't know each other outside—no, that wasn't right, they'd agreed to keep their distance!

An Ruo glared indignantly at him, demanding that he hurry up and give his luggage back.

The Marshal lowered his eyes and gazed at him. His normally icy silver eyes carried a hint of amusement, along with an almost stubborn affection.

He stubbornly refused to hand over the suitcase too, even hiding it behind his back.

"All these years, you've given all your Star Coins to me. You do know what it means when a Male Zerg gives money to a Female Zerg, don't you?" Ulysses said.

An Ruo: "Huh?"

Well, that was indeed something he'd done under his identity as "Annor," representing the compensation he'd given his ex-husband.

But why did the Marshal make it sound like there was some other meaning behind it?

"Normally, only Female Zergs give Star Coins to Male Zergs. A Male Zerg spending money on a Female Zerg represents affection surpassing everything else."

Ulysses explained with a smile and reached for An Ruo's hand.

An Ruo still tried to argue. "Then you've misunderstood. That wasn't money from me. It came from 'An-shen.' You can check the source."

That was all money from his royalties and reader rewards. A quick check would make that obvious.

Of course Ulysses knew exactly where the money had come from. He caught the male's hand when An Ruo tried to evade him and lowered his voice.

"All right. You can stop acting. There aren't any media outlets or reporters here. There aren't even any passersby. They're busy right now and don't have time to pay attention to this place."

He had dropped the enormous bombshell about the Psychic Soothing device, and StarNet was currently in complete chaos, with everyone's attention focused there.

This year's sentence reduction list hadn't been published yet, and the arrangements surrounding An Ruo's release had been handled even more discreetly. For the moment, no Zerg had noticed anything. By the time anyone reacted, it would be several days later at the earliest.

Hearing this, An Ruo carefully looked around.

There really wasn't anyone there. Only one military Female Zerg personal guard stood beside the Marshal's aircraft.

Only then did he relax.

At this point, he also remembered that the Marshal had planned to release the news about the Psychic Soothing device at the beginning of the month.

Counting the days, that was today.

An Ruo simply hadn't gone online today, so he hadn't seen the news yet.

Thinking about it now, Ulysses had actually planned his release from prison all the way back then, hidden everything from him the entire time, and had even acted along with him just now.

How awful!

An Ruo secretly pinched Ulysses's palm in revenge.

Ulysses remained completely unmoved, holding his hand as he led him back toward the aircraft.

The military Female Zerg personal guard standing beside the aircraft bowed slightly and opened the door for them.

As they passed each other, An Ruo caught a glimpse of the guard's face.

Short silver-white hair.

One yellow eye and one blue eye.

Extremely rare heterochromia...

An Ruo stopped in his tracks.

"What's your name?"

The heterochromatic-eyed guard raised his eyes in surprise. Under the pressure of the Marshal's gaze falling upon him, he hesitated before answering:

"Helios."

Helios, meaning light, strength, and guidance, symbolizing the dispersal of darkness and the pursuit of truth.

That was the name of the Female Zerg protagonist in the original novel.

Combined with those exceptionally rare mismatched eyes, An Ruo was certain he couldn't be mistaken.

Ulysses had a habit.

He liked placing promising young military Female Zergs he admired among his personal guards or adjutants, keeping them at his side and personally training them.

Before the story began, the protagonist of the original novel had served as the Marshal's personal guard for a period of time.

Later, Ulysses decided that his abilities were exceptional and keeping him by his side any longer would only bury his potential, so he transferred him elsewhere, allowing him to put his talents to better use.

An Ruo had never expected that on his very first day out of prison, he would meet the protagonist of his original novel like this.

Threads of fate intertwined and converged.

How wonderful.

An Ruo felt countless emotions, but none of them were appropriate to show right now.

He gave the other Zerg a polite and friendly nod.

"My name is An."

Personal guard Helios was completely at a loss.

An Ruo hadn't expected any particular response from him anyway.

He had introduced himself to his protagonist as the author, without wanting the other party to know it.

An Ruo carefully memorized the protagonist's facial features.

Once again, he marveled inwardly at this world's ability to turn written words into living reality.

They were always even more perfect and fitting than he had imagined. The vague silhouettes in his mind had taken physical form in reality, and the result was overwhelmingly breathtaking.

He said nothing more. After politely bidding Helios farewell, he walked past him.

Ulysses lagged one step behind.

His scrutinizing gaze settled on Helios's face.

His God had always shown special attention only toward protagonists.

So why this time?

This Zerg wasn't in any of the books currently being serialized.

Cassian had been one exception.

This was the second.

Those rare mismatched eyes... that certainly was distinctive, exactly the sort of thing Male Zergs liked.

Male Zergs all liked things that were special.

As for his appearance... he was indeed handsome.

How had Ulysses never noticed that before?

The appearance of the military Female Zergs under his command had never been within the scope of his attention. As long as they were capable, that was enough.

But now, Ulysses was thinking a little more deeply about it.

He was beginning to feel that bringing along a personal guard who looked both distinctive and handsome might not have been a very good idea.

Helios lowered his head even further, his entire body rigid as though the gaze of the universe's ultimate predator had locked onto him.

If it had actually been one of those ferocious beasts roaming the universe, he might not have been this nervous.

The pressure the Marshal exerted on a Zerg was far more terrifying than any beast.

Helios was deeply alarmed.

Although he had no idea what exactly had happened, he clearly understood that he'd somehow gotten himself into enormous trouble.

He was still too young and inexperienced to know how to handle the situation. His mind was filled entirely with anxiety and helplessness over having somehow angered his superior.

Ulysses took in his reaction and patted him on the shoulder before walking past.

Helios froze.

When he finally reacted, he felt as though he'd been granted a pardon.

Only after the aircraft departed did he realize that his entire body was covered in cold sweat.

Raising his head to look at the aircraft disappearing into the horizon, Helios sank into contemplation.

Although his superior had... left him behind...

Things should be fine now, right?

Inside the aircraft.

An Ruo saw Ulysses return alone, without any sign of that personal guard. Assuming the other Zerg was probably in the cockpit, he didn't ask about it.

Ulysses noticed where his gaze went, and the wicked thought he'd suppressed immediately resurfaced.

He sat down opposite the male, picked up his tea, and seemingly casually mentioned:

"That was one of my personal guards. He's very capable. Keeping him by my side merely as a personal guard would be a waste of his talents, so I'm planning to transfer him to the Ninth Military Region in a few days."

An Ruo looked up in surprise.

He knew the protagonist would eventually go to the Ninth Military Region, but...

In a few days?

So soon?

Ulysses had only been Marshal for a year. Everything was still just beginning, and there should still be a long time before the main story officially started.

Even if An Ruo couldn't remember the exact year or timeline anymore, he knew perfectly well that it shouldn't be happening now.

Had something changed in the meantime that made Ulysses alter his plans?

An Ruo frowned miserably as he thought, unsure whether he should try to persuade him otherwise.

If the protagonist of the original novel went to the Ninth Military Region this early, the entire timeline would be thrown into chaos!