Chapter 305: The Wedding: Ulysses Calmly Withdrew His Gaze, Hiding His Good Deed and His Name

In the interstellar age, even wedding invitations were electronic. But for the sake of ceremony, An Ruo still decided to handwrite the invitations himself.

After all, marriage was something that only happened once every few hundred years. There was no such thing as treating it too solemnly.

Across all his lifetimes combined, this was his only wedding...

Counting the dream world, the world before his transmigration, and this current world... and then factoring in Ulysses' SSS-rank lifespan, this wasn't even a once-in-several-hundred-years wedding.

It was more like once in over a thousand years.

All the more reason to take it seriously.

The protagonists naturally had to come, along with Ulysses' subordinates, adjutants, and colleagues, prominent figures from all walks of society, government officials, and leaders of other nations...

Unlike the small gatherings they had held before, the wedding had a much broader scope and carried considerable political significance.

Metis had already visited the Zerg Federation before and had only recently left, so he probably wouldn't come again this time.

Relations between Tianjia and the Zerg Federation were tense. Although there had already been some tentative contact between them, they were still nowhere near formally establishing diplomatic relations.

The Tianjia Emperor, Ares, was also close to giving birth. This was a critical period, so there was no way he would risk traveling to the Zerg Federation now.

An Ruo did the math and figured that none of the Tianjia protagonists would probably be coming this time.

Lieutenant General Caleb had accompanied Metis as well. If the Prince didn't come, he wouldn't either. At such a tense time, it also wasn't appropriate for a female Tianjia military commander to appear alone in the Zerg Federation. Even coming as an envoy to offer congratulations would put him in an awkward position.

Looking at it that way, Tianjia would probably send only a male diplomat.

That was also the best way to handle things.

Even so, An Ruo couldn't help feeling disappointed.

As the author, he still wanted to see his protagonists at such an important occasion as his wedding.

He didn't know that many Zergs in the Federation anyway. Just his... dozen or twenty protagonists, plus a whole crowd of important characters.

Thinking this, An Ruo quickly adjusted his mood and continued writing the invitations.

He knew the Tianjia protagonists probably wouldn't come, and he understood why. But the invitations that needed to be written still had to be written, and the invitations that needed to be sent would still be sent.

Unexpectedly, Metis actually came after all.

Meanwhile, Carl (Eugene) tactfully informed him that he wouldn't be able to come in February.

He had to go accompany someone during childbirth.

Accompany someone during childbirth???

An Ruo stared wide-eyed at the words on the light screen.

Of course he knew that the Tianjia Emperor was about to give birth, but Carl was a Male Zerg. He was going to Tianjia to accompany the birth?

Was that even possible?

Then An Ruo looked at Metis' message saying that he would be coming, and vaguely realized something.

He turned his head toward Ulysses, who was handling official business beside him, and desperately wanted to ask:

Did this count as exchanging hostages?

Carl could go accompany the birth, but in exchange, Prince Metis had to remain in the Zerg Federation during that period.

An Ruo discovered that he could now understand Zerg and Tianjia thinking without the slightest difficulty.

It's over.

He was showing signs of becoming Zerg/Tianjia-ified.

Ulysses caught An Ruo's hesitant, conflicted gaze. When he raised his eyes to look, however, all he saw was the Male Zerg clutching his head as though he had suffered a devastating blow.

Ulysses' eyes darkened.

It must be because the Tianjia Emperor Ares hadn't taken the initiative to come, making the God unhappy.

Although Ulysses himself wasn't particularly eager to see Ares, he had dutifully delivered the invitation the God had written for Tianjia.

It was the Tianjia Emperor who was busy giving birth to those two eggs of his and was afraid the eggs might be stolen in the Zerg Federation—cough, detained—so he didn't dare come.

Heh. A formidable female tyrant of his generation, yet after getting eggs, he'd become as timid as a mouse, afraid of this and wary of that.

After thoroughly disparaging and unfavorably comparing the Tianjia Emperor in his heart, Ulysses finally stood and walked toward the sofa, using his broad chest to comfort his Male Zerg.

"Mmph..." An Ruo buried himself in Ulysses' embrace, miserable and listless. "I'm turning into a bug."

"Hm?"

Puzzled, Ulysses lifted An Ruo's arm and examined it. He didn't see anything unusual, so his hands began feeling around An Ruo's back instead.

"Oh, really? Let me see your wings."

As Ulysses spoke, he reached to lift An Ruo's coat.

An Ruo froze.

Only then did he realize what Ulysses meant.

But when he said he was turning into a bug, he didn't mean he was literally going to grow wings!

He meant he was starting to think like the Zerg and Tianjia!

Ulysses, however, clearly wasn't curious about the truth and was only interested in stripping off his clothes.

Watching Ulysses lower his eyes as he moved, An Ruo noticed the flush spreading across his face, even reddening the tips of his ears.

He suddenly realized that, to a Zerg, "let me see your wings" was probably an extremely intimate love phrase.

Looking at Ulysses' reddened cheeks, An Ruo thought that occasionally managing to align himself with Zerg thinking might not be such a bad thing after all.

Otherwise, he might not even realize when Ulysses was flirting with him.

He cooperatively let Ulysses remove his coat, then obediently turned his back to him.

Only then did An Ruo remember one enormous problem.

——Wait.

Did he even have wings?

An Ruo turned his head in alarm and saw Ulysses leaning closer, his eyes practically glowing.

In a panic, An Ruo thought that even if he didn't have wings, he'd have to grow some now.

Otherwise, Ulysses wasn't going to let him off.

They never should have developed the sofa into this kind of strange location.

Ulysses was becoming more and more uninhibited these days.

...

<How Even Hatchlings Can Learn to Release Their Wings>

<The Complete Encyclopedia of Male Zerg Wings (×), Wing Collection> (Highly Concentrated Erotic Images, Ultimate Edition, Sharing Prohibited)

<Custom-Made Male Zerg Wings, Fabrication, Customization ([Censored]) ([Censored])>

...

Trying to find a method for releasing his wings, An Ruo searched several related terms.

As a result, his browsing history became filthy.

It was full of terminology that practically burned his eyes.

Only belatedly did An Ruo realize that wings really were an incredibly erotic thing to the Zerg.

This was a species whose novels could be filled entirely with hardcore pornography without containing a single drop of emotion, yet the moment Male Zerg wings were mentioned, they behaved as though they were discussing some sort of contraband—furtive and secretive about it while simultaneously being irresistibly drawn to look.

No wonder Ulysses had been so embarrassed when he said he wanted to see An Ruo's wings.

It was the first time An Ruo had ever seen such obvious shyness on Ulysses' face.

They had already done everything. They had done the most intimate things countless times. Ulysses could calmly eat him, invite him to play with toys, even enjoy him on the sofa...

An Ruo had thought there was nothing left in existence that could make Ulysses embarrassed.

Who would have guessed there was still something capable of stirring his sense of shame this much?

Naturally, An Ruo was very interested.

Unfortunately, when they were on the sofa, Ulysses had been far too impatient. An Ruo hadn't exactly had time to go online and search "how to release wings," so he had failed to release them at the time.

Now that he was studying after the fact, all he managed to find were a bunch of erotic pictures that Zergs considered extremely obscene.

He still couldn't find the practical solution he needed.

An Ruo hid his browsing history, which was utterly unfit to be seen by another Zerg, and decided that next time he would simply ask Ulysses directly and learn how to release his wings from him.

Both Female and Male Zergs had wings, so presumably there was no fundamental difference in how they released them.

He could have Ulysses teach him.

Perfect.

He also wanted to see and touch Ulysses' wings.

An Ruo had planned everything beautifully, but as the wedding approached, Ulysses became increasingly busy. In the end, An Ruo never found an opportunity before the wedding.

Prince Metis, on the other hand, arrived in the Zerg Federation a full week before the ceremony and brought him a special gift.

Photographs of the mixed-blood eggs.

Two newly born mixed-blood eggs, slightly pointed at one end and rounder at the other—the perfectly standard shape of an egg. They were slightly smaller than ordinary Zerg eggs, but unbelievably adorable. Especially when the two eggs were placed side by side, nestled in soft bedding.

They were cute enough to melt his heart.

Two more members joined the army on his wall.

Oh.

Two members.

An Ruo loved sticking photographs of the characters from his books onto his wall. They already covered nearly half of one wall. Maybe someday he really would fill an entire wall with them.

That would definitely be spectacular.

During this period, he and Ulysses also went to have their wedding photographs taken.

The photographs of his protagonists were displayed in the study, while his wedding photos with Ulysses were hung in their bedroom.

Ulysses was extremely satisfied with this arrangement. From time to time, he would stop in front of the wedding photos just to look at them.

As a side effect, even the newly arrived photograph of the two mixed-blood eggs became much more pleasing to his eyes.

Of course, eggs were still better when you laid them yourself.

His Uromia was cuter than all of these put together.

He wasn't in any hurry.

Once they were married and everything settled down, his Male Zerg would naturally give him eggs.

Whether it was one egg, five eggs, or even the ten eggs required to receive the Federation's Female Parent Medal...

He would have them.

The wedding took place as scheduled.

Xi'an and Claire specially returned from the Ninth Military Region to attend, appearing together with the Speaker of the Federal Council and his husband.

Little albino Aira had successfully advanced to B-rank some time ago.

After reaching B-rank, he attempted to perform Psychic Soothing on Cassian.

B-rank and S-rank.

Although Psychic Soothing between the two was theoretically possible, an enormous gulf separated them.

S-rank represented a transformation that broke through the physical limits of the Zerg body. Once someone entered S-rank, a vast chasm seemed to separate them from all the ranks below it. Even the gap between A-rank and S-rank was so enormous that the special rank known as "Super-A" existed between them.

Therefore, B-rank soothing an S-rank was theoretically possible, but in practice, its success rate was extremely low.

Even Aira, who possessed precognitive abilities, had no confidence that he could succeed.

And yet...

The Psychic Soothing succeeded.

Perhaps it was because Cassian trusted him completely.

Perhaps it was because the bond between them ran so deep.

Whatever the reason, the Psychic Soothing proceeded exceptionally smoothly and succeeded on the very first attempt.

A special psychic connection even formed between them.

A Psychic Mark.

An extraordinarily rare Psychic Mark representing true love...

Had appeared between a B-rank and an S-rank separated by an enormous gulf.

The moth was reborn within the flames.

From that moment onward, he would no longer fear light or heat.

From that moment onward, he had a place to alight upon his sun.

Hill, Iso, Isidore, Ul...

One Zerg after another traveled from all across the Federation to attend this wedding.

Even General Muir of the Ninth Military Region came.

He had missed the banquet last time. The Marshal's residence had held a small gathering without inviting him to play, excluding him and preventing him from squeezing his way into the inner circle.

This time, he prepared well in advance. After arranging everything, he arrived on Capital Star ahead of time and successfully made it to the wedding.

Work did not disappear into thin air.

It merely transferred to someone else.

As his replacement, Major General Uriel, who had recently taken up a position in the Ninth Military Region, was forced to work overtime and lost his chance to take leave, return to Capital Star, and attend the Marshal's wedding.

There were many others like Uriel who couldn't attend the wedding in person.

They could, however, watch the ceremony through a StarNet-wide livestream.

On the livestream, a pristine white classical wedding carriage that looked as though it had driven straight out of myth and legend slowly made its way down the street.

Citizens lining both sides of the road shouted "An-shen!" at the tops of their lungs, their waves of enthusiasm nearly drowning out the wedding carriage itself.

The viewers watching the livestream were dumbfounded.

[Even when the Zerg Emperors traveled during the Imperial Era, they didn't create this kind of spectacle, did they?]

[This is nothing. If I were there in person, I could scream louder than all of them.]

Getting there in person was impossible.

Capital Star had imposed travel restrictions well in advance.

Even so, on the day of the wedding, every street along the wedding carriage's route was packed with Zergs.

When there was no room left on the streets, they climbed trees, squeezed themselves into roadside shops, hung out of windows, clung to walls, crowded onto rooftops, and even climbed onto streetlights...

Everywhere one looked, there was a sea of Zerg heads.

Even with the entire Capital Star Security Force mobilized, there weren't enough officers. In the end, an additional squad of special-forces Female Zergs had to be dispatched from the First Military Region before they could safely escort the Male Zerg's wedding carriage along the entire route.

Helios was temporarily assigned to the escort detail as well, and in the process gained an entirely new understanding of just how popular "An-shen" was among the public.

This was true nationwide adoration.

They loved him from the bottom of their hearts.

Even the most famous Male Zerg superstars—or the Zerg Emperors of the Imperial Era—couldn't remotely compare.

After finally escorting An-shen safely to the ceremony venue and "handing him over" to the Marshal, Helios heaved a long sigh of relief.

His taut nerves finally relaxed, and he at last had enough leisure to enjoy the wedding ceremony.

Weddings between Male and Female Zergs were already uncommon to begin with.

A wedding this grand was even rarer.

This was a new-style wedding personally planned by An-shen.

The Male and Female Zerg who loved each other exchanged rings and vows before their family and friends, kissed amid the music, and finally tossed the bouquet high into the air together, passing their happiness onward.

The bouquet smacked Helios squarely in the face.

"?!"

Helios stood frozen amid the surrounding crowd, blankly clutching the bouquet that had slid down from his face, utterly bewildered as to how the flowers had somehow ended up hitting him.

Onstage, An Ruo was also quite surprised to see that one of the original novel's protagonists had caught the bouquet.

Beside him, however, Ulysses—who believed °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° he had successfully resolved a major problem—calmly withdrew his gaze, hiding his good deed and his name.

Meanwhile, among the guests on the other side, the head of the Hidden Star Phoenix-Bird Family, who was standing beside Felix, turned his eyes slightly.

Following the crowd's gaze, he looked toward the heterochromatic-eyed Female Zerg standing there stupidly with the bouquet in his arms.

Once he saw the other's face clearly, a trace of surprise appeared in his eyes.

Then his expression shifted into an amused smile—the kind one wore upon seeing an old acquaintance make a fool of himself.