Chapter 273: He Wants to Profane His God: The Proud Marshal Bows His Head Before Him, Profaning the Divine

What Selerus had in mind was two Zerg egg protective covers, so that when one got dirty, there would be another to use while it was being washed. Although there wasn't an egg yet, there was nothing wrong with preparing in advance. One day, they would certainly come in handy.

As for something like twin eggs, that possibility hadn't even entered his consideration. It was far too rare. But if they really did happen to encounter such a coincidence... then making two would be just right. Both could be put to use.

Selerus had a very good mentality and took things as they came.

The black-haired, red-eyed Female Zerg whose consciousness had once been almost entirely beastlike was now sitting in a sunlit greenhouse, quietly knitting little things filled with love. The atmosphere was unexpectedly beautiful.

An Ruo, however, saw things completely differently.

He thought, It's over. Selerus's condition seems to have worsened again. Does he need to rely on incubating a Ulysses egg to keep his consciousness stable?!

The fact that he was preparing to knit protective covers for eggs was proof!

But... Selerus really didn't look mentally unstable. His stitches as he knitted the scarf were neat and methodical, and his entire presence was tranquil.

Even the psychic fluctuations An Ruo could perceive were stable. Aside from a brief moment of agitation when Selerus first entered the greenhouse, he had quickly settled down afterward. An Ruo couldn't sense anything unusual.

An Ruo stared at him in confusion.

So was Selerus's mental state good or bad?

From a medical perspective, it was good. But he was also preparing Zerg egg protective covers...

An Ruo couldn't figure it out, so for the time being, he didn't tell Ulysses about it, lest he worry.

In any case, An Ruo was a doctor. With him keeping watch, nothing would go wrong.

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During the lunch break, An Ruo went to the study to find Ulysses.

Ulysses was working behind his desk. On one side of the desk sat a dark red wooden box, inside which metallic insignia faintly gleamed.

An Ruo gave it an extra glance.

Inside the box were military rank shoulder boards, collar insignia, sleeve insignia, and other items arranged in order. Beneath them lay a neatly folded white-and-gold military uniform.

Two stars...

An Ruo compared the shoulder boards with the styles he remembered seeing. There was one more star than on those of Major Generals Iso and Uriel, and one fewer than Cyril's.

These were Lieutenant General's shoulder boards.

But the collar insignia was a style An Ruo had never seen before.

Collar insignia generally represented one's military branch or service.

A golden background with a red, starry lattice... What branch was this?

When Ulysses saw him come in, he put away his holographic screen and rose to his feet. He was about to speak when he noticed An Ruo's gaze resting on the box, apparently curious.

He hadn't originally planned to show these things to him so soon. But since the male had already noticed them, his thoughts shifted, and he simply turned the box around to display its contents before him.

“Do you like them?”

An Ruo looked up at Ulysses in confusion, feeling that there was something odd about his tone.

Why did he sound like he was giving them to him?

After thinking for a moment, An Ruo nodded and said, “They're very beautiful.”

He didn't say whether he personally liked them or not. He genuinely just thought the shoulder boards and collar insignia were beautifully designed.

The white-and-gold military dress uniform underneath was beautiful too. Although only part of it was visible, its exquisite design was already obvious.

To Ulysses, those words meant that he liked it, so he asked,

“Would you like to try it on?”

An Ruo: “?”

Whenever a psychic question mark appeared above his head, it definitely wasn't because there was something wrong with him.

It was because he thought there was something wrong with Ulysses.

Was this something you could casually let someone try on?

It was obviously meant to be used for some Lieutenant General's promotion ceremony, wasn't it?

If An Ruo wore it before the actual recipient, what would that person think? That would be far too inappropriate.

As An Ruo was thinking, he suddenly sensed that something wasn't quite right.

He seemed to remember Uriel mentioning something about military merit and rank...

Ulysses set the shoulder boards, collar insignia, and other items aside, unfolded the uniform for him, and said,

“It's meant for you. Would you like to try it on? I don't think I got the size wrong.”

An Ruo froze, unable to react.

Uriel had indeed said that the Psychic Soothing An Ruo had performed over the past year counted as military contributions, and that he would later receive a military rank as a commendation.

But...

Lieutenant General???

Wasn't that a little too high?

Wait, his rank would be higher than Uriel's and Iso's? Even if it was only an honorary military rank, wasn't this still too much?

Yet Ulysses actually looked dissatisfied as he compared the uniform against him and said,

“Lieutenant General is a little low. Considering your contributions to the Federation, General would be the minimum appropriate rank.”

An Ruo: “?”

Are you serious?

Ulysses continued explaining,

“It's simply that there has never been a precedent for a military doctor being promoted to General. The Federation has also always maintained exactly ten Generals, with their number determined entirely by the number of Military Regions. The highest-ranking officer of each Military Region is a General... Adding another General on top of that would be very difficult. There are numerous restrictions in the existing rules and regulations, so for the time being, we can only confer the rank of Lieutenant General upon you.”

What prevented An from receiving the rank of General wasn't his military contributions, nor was it opposition from the Generals of the other Military Regions.

It was the rules and regulations established in the past.

An had treated patients from every Military Region. Every General had benefited from An's actions. When Ulysses proposed conferring the rank of General upon him during the meeting, the Generals of the various Military Regions had certainly been astonished, but not a single Zerg had objected.

Part of that was naturally because an honorary General wouldn't affect the military authority in their hands, but more importantly...

Of all the Zergs present, the only one who had ever had a grudge against that Lord was actually the Marshal himself.

Even the Marshal was willing to give his “ex-husband” the rank of General, so what exactly were they supposed to object to?

With that thought in mind, all the Generals tacitly accepted it.

It was simply that Ulysses couldn't directly confer the rank of General upon An yet, so for now, he could only grant him the rank of Lieutenant General.

Once those regulatory restrictions were removed, Ulysses would personally place the shoulder boards of a General on An at a much grander occasion.

An Ruo only wanted to say that there was absolutely no need.

Lieutenant General was already more than enough.

If he hadn't known that Ulysses harbored the insane idea of giving him the rank of General, he wouldn't even have accepted Lieutenant General.

He didn't need any of this, and he felt undeserving of it.

Psychic Soothing had merely been part of his obligations as a prisoner. Any sessions he had performed beyond the required number could also be considered efforts he had made to reduce his sentence. He had already gotten what he wanted. Giving him such a high military rank was simply too much.

Ulysses saw it differently.

Lieutenant General was what An deserved, and even that was too little. General was also what An deserved. No one could compare with him in terms of his contributions to the Zerg race.

“You saved many Zergs. The military Female Zergs who were waiting in line for Psychic Soothing, the military Female Zergs from every Military Region. Over the past year, you completed Psychic Soothing for every military Female Zerg whose psychic score was below 50. Those were the most difficult cases, and you resolved every single one. It was supposed to be impossible, yet you accomplished it.

“You also saved many military Female Zergs who had fallen into Psychic Riot. You brought them back into this world and made them ‘alive’ again. You saved their lives and restored powerful combat strength to the Federation.

“Even if they are unlikely to ever be permitted to return to the battlefield, their very existence will deter other hostile species like planet-destroying weapons, making them afraid to act rashly.

“More importantly, there is the improvement to military morale and momentum, which comes from countless different aspects... No matter how you look at it, your contributions to the Federation and to the Zerg race are immeasurable.”

An Ruo was stunned by all the praise and couldn't help wondering:

Was he really that amazing?

The look in Ulysses's eyes told him that yes, he absolutely was.

But the rank of Lieutenant General still put An Ruo under tremendous pressure.

He looked at the military uniform Ulysses had been holding this entire time, finally gave up struggling, clutched his head, and blurted out,

“Why don't you just say you want to see me in a military uniform?!”

Forget all these twists and turns about honors and contributions. Just be straightforward and admit that this was what he wanted.

If Ulysses simply said he wanted to see it, An Ruo might have agreed immediately.

Ulysses's eyes lit up.

Since the male had put it that way, then... ℴ

“I want to see you in a military uniform.”

Following An's words, Ulysses openly voiced the desire in his heart.

He even held the white-and-gold uniform out toward him, looking very much as though he intended to help An change clothes right here in the study.

An Ruo breathed a sigh of relief.

If it was simply a military uniform, without the shoulder boards and collar insignia on the desk that symbolized an actual identity and rank, then he really was willing to wear it for Ulysses.

Seeing Ulysses hold the uniform out to him, An Ruo glanced around and asked,

“Now?”

Change clothes in the study?

There didn't seem to be anywhere to change.

An Ruo's sudden cooperativeness caught Ulysses by surprise, and naturally, he wasn't about to let the opportunity slip away.

“There's a lounge connected to the study. You can change in my lounge,” he said.

An Ruo spotted it and nodded, then took the clothes into the lounge to change.

The white-and-gold military uniform was somewhat similar to the personal guard uniform Ulysses had prepared for him last time, but it was more exquisite and formal. The tailoring was better as well, fitting his body more closely. Golden aiguillettes draped over his shoulder and chest, exceptionally eye-catching.

It was a military dress uniform.

Looking at himself on the holographic screen, An Ruo adjusted his military cap and pulled on the white gloves.

His hands felt a little empty. He ought to be holding something.

Unable to find anything suitable for the moment, An Ruo sat down on a chair in the lounge instead. He rested one hand on the armrest, crossed his left leg over his right knee, propped his chin on one hand, and struck a handsome pose.

Then he used Psychic Power to tell Ulysses, who was waiting outside, that he could come in.

The door opened.

The moment Ulysses saw the uniformed male sitting inside and raising his eyes to look at him, his breathing faltered slightly.

The male's cool, distant eyes reflected his figure.

For one instant, Ulysses understood the submission toward Male Zergs that existed deep within the bones of the Zerg race's Female Zergs.

Ulysses, who had never entertained such a thought before, found himself wanting to kneel at the male's feet beneath that gaze, kiss the back of his hand, swear his loyalty to him, and declare his submission.

But at the same time, another irreverent thought churned within his heart.

He wanted to...

Profane his God.

He was always profaning his God.

More than once.

During those nights when their pheromones intertwined, during the countless moments of longing when he confessed his love, he had used his body and his thoughts to profane his God again and again.

He was despicable, filthy, greedy.

Ulysses ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) slowly walked toward the male, his silver-gray eyes fixed intently on the God who shone as pure and luminous as moonlight, darkness surging within his gaze.

He stopped before the male.

Meeting his gaze, he drew one leg back, lowered himself, and knelt on one knee.

In the silence where he could hear nothing but his own heartbeat, he took the male's hand and pressed a kiss to it before asking reverently,

“May I serve you?”

An Ruo was startled by those words and nearly lost the pose he had deliberately arranged.

Serve him? Now? Here?

An Ruo's eyes widened as he rapidly glanced around.

The lounge was completely enclosed. If they really did it here, there wouldn't actually be much of a problem.

But the problem was that it was daytime!

Fine. It might be daytime, but it was also the lunch break. There was nothing wrong with the Marshal, who worked tirelessly day and night over military and political affairs, properly relaxing his body and mind during his break.

An Ruo was very good at making excuses for Ulysses.

What truly made him unwilling was the fact that he had only just managed to put the military uniform on, and Ulysses already wanted to take off the clothes he'd gone to all that trouble to wear.

Of course An Ruo refused.

“You're not allowed to take off the military uniform I'm wearing,” An Ruo emphasized.

Ulysses's gaze fell over the male's body, lingering on the beautiful folds naturally formed by the uniform. His Adam's apple rolled.

“All right,” he agreed.

He wouldn't do such a thing.

He would let the male remain dressed in the military uniform the entire time and experience him like this.

The proud Marshal bowed his head before him.

Profaning the divine.