Chapter 308: The Two Protagonists Got Together: Ulysses Will Appear Before Everyone Covered in Male Pheromones...

Phoenix's Fated Zerg was him.

The news hit Helios so hard that for a moment he had no idea what to do with himself. His heart thundered, countless thoughts tangling together into complete chaos.

He stared blankly at "Phoenix," his lips moving as though he wanted to say something. His eyes gradually reddened.

His best bro actually had such deep feelings for him.

And before this, he'd been so dense that he'd thought "Phoenix" was only good to him out of brotherly affection. He'd assumed Phoenix was simply a good person who treated every Zerg around him well, and that Helios himself wasn't anything special.

Only now did he realize that he was the special one.

Fated Zerg.

What an extraordinarily special phrase.

Helios wasn't sure whether he could bear the weight carried by those words.

"Huh? Why are your eyes red? You're not about to cry, are you?"

"Phoenix" was also at a loss, unsure how to handle the situation. He instinctively reached for a handkerchief, only to remember that this was a holographic virtual game—and a combat game at that. It wasn't detailed enough to include something like a handkerchief.

"I'm not!" Helios turned his head away and hurriedly blinked twice where the Male Zerg couldn't see him.

Of course there weren't any tears. Female Zergs only cried in bed from being fucked so good they couldn't take it anymore. They didn't shed tears over a few words. That would be far too embarrassing. It was a sign of weakness.

Helios secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But when he met "Phoenix's" worried gaze, all those emotions surged up again.

"I'm okay with anything," he said.

"Hm? Anything?"

That covered far too much territory. "Phoenix" wasn't sure what exactly he meant.

Helios nodded.

"I can sleep with you. I can have hatchlings with you..."

Marry you, hand over my salary to you...

The further he went, the quieter Helios's voice became. His face flushed, and a thin sheen of sweat appeared on the tip of his nose. His lowered hand unconsciously clenched tight, his heart filled with anxiety.

"Phoenix's" mouth went dry, and he froze speechlessly in place.

Faced with such a straightforward declaration, even he lost his usual composure. He even felt a little guilty, as though he'd somehow tricked an innocent young Female Zerg.

He was happy, of course. He couldn't suppress the smile tugging at his lips.

But the unique softness he had toward Helios, combined with his high moral standards, made him try to salvage the situation.

"You don't need to decide so quickly. You can think about it some more. As for sleeping together... cough... that's a little too fast. We can take things slowly."

Helios didn't understand.

He worried that "Phoenix" didn't want to sleep with him. But then he remembered that demanding Male Zergs had a gradual process when it came to relationships. First you dated, held hands, watched movies... and then what came next?

Helios couldn't remember.

His head was filled entirely with images of rolling around in bed with the Male Zerg. He knew far too little about this sort of thing. In his understanding, relationships between Female and Male Zergs went straight to the stomach in one step.

So he looked helplessly at "Phoenix" and said:

"I don't understand any of this. Teach me."

Faced with such wholehearted trust, what else could "Phoenix" possibly say?

Of course he agreed.

"All right. I'll teach you."

He stepped half a pace forward and took Helios's hand. As he drew closer, their faces came so near that their breaths seemed ready to spill across each other's skin.

If this hadn't been inside a game, Helios probably would have been able to smell the Male Zerg's pheromones.

Suddenly, he resented the fact that they were in a game.

It meant he couldn't smell what "Phoenix" was like. Even the sensation of their skin touching was only simulated and nowhere near as real.

Even so, Helios could still hear his own heartbeat spiraling out of control.

What did it feel like to go from being best bros to soon having negative distance between them?

After logging off, Helios desperately wanted to make a post about it and see whether there were any Female Zergs with similar experiences so he could learn from them.

Instead, he ran into a whole bunch of Zergs calling him a lesbian and saying they couldn't understand him. Some well-meaning Zergs recommended Male Zerg pheromones for him to use when sleeping with his bro, while others came asking him questions about sex between Female Zergs...

In short, the whole thing went in a completely different direction from what he'd expected.

Helios hurriedly backed out and began making other preparations.

He and "Phoenix" had arranged a time to meet in reality.

Today.

At the banquet in the Marshal's residence.

Although An-shen and the Marshal's wedding ceremony had already concluded, the celebratory banquet would continue for three days.

The banquet wasn't merely a celebration. It also carried a certain degree of political significance, so "Phoenix" would be attending throughout the next few days.

Helios would be there too.

They could dance together at the banquet. They could secretly slip away to the garden for a date. They could even sleep together. The Marshal's residence had plenty of guest rooms prepared for visiting Zergs staying overnight.

Helios still felt a little embarrassed about sleeping together in the Marshal's house. He didn't know whether "Phoenix" would be willing to go to a hotel outside instead, but something like that should primarily depend on what the Male Zerg wanted.

Then again, looking at it from another angle, wouldn't the Marshal feel reassured when he saw Helios together with a Male Zerg?

Helios was already barely thinking about the Marshal's expectations or his assigned task anymore.

He wasn't getting together with "Phoenix" because of some task.

He simply wanted to.

"Fated Zerg."

Just thinking those words made Helios's heart surge so fiercely that he wanted nothing more than to tear out everything he possessed and give it all to "Phoenix."

He was afraid he wouldn't be able to bear the weight of that identity.

Maybe he would only feel reassured after letting "Phoenix" sleep with him.

Actually, even if "Phoenix" had been a Female Zerg, Helios would still have been willing.

When he imagined "Phoenix" as he'd been when they first met, he didn't feel repulsed at all. Even back then, Helios had thought "Phoenix" was incredibly capable and charismatic. He'd admired him tremendously.

He simply hadn't dared think in any other direction.

Overwhelmed with excitement, Helios rushed into the bathroom and took a shower. He meticulously scrubbed himself clean, put on perfume he'd never used before, then went out and bought himself a new formal outfit as he waited for the banquet to begin.

During the agonizing, expectant wait, he also went onto StarNet and found An-shen's novel, intending to carefully read it from beginning to end.

There was far too little information about the Phoenix Bird Family on StarNet. The story of Felix and Major General Lucas was the only case he could find.

And their circumstances happened to be very similar to his own.

It couldn't possibly be a better reference case.

Helios prepared to study it like a textbook.

...

At the Marshal's residence, An Ruo lay in bed and refused to get up.

The wedding ceremony had dragged on for an entire day. He'd met countless Zergs and had been completely exhausted.

Then Ulysses had tormented him throughout the night, and he'd only managed to close his eyes for a little while when dawn was already breaking.

Now he was even more exhausted.

The combined physical and mental fatigue made him sleep in for the first time in ages. The moment he remembered there was another banquet today and that he'd have to meet even more Zergs, he wanted to get up even less.

But this was his and Ulysses' wedding.

For Ulysses, An Ruo felt he could still push himself a little longer.

So he wriggled his way out from under the covers.

The moment he sat up, he saw Ulysses walking in from outside.

Seeing that he was already awake, Ulysses looked somewhat surprised.

"Did the noise wake you, Your Excellency?" he asked with concern.

The rooms in the Marshal's residence were very well soundproofed, but Male Zergs primarily perceived their surroundings through psychic senses rather than sound.

With so many Zergs around, their psychic fluctuations naturally became complicated and chaotic. Ulysses therefore assumed that the Male had been woken by the arriving guests and staff, and he felt deeply apologetic.

"No."

An Ruo denied it, hugging the blanket as he softly said to Ulysses:

"The banquet..."

He'd woken because he remembered there was still a banquet today. ℴℴ𝘮

Ulysses's heart melted at the sight of the Male looking so soft and adorable immediately after waking up. Even his slightly messy hair looked unbearably cute.

Not to mention that An Ruo was covered in his scent.

And there were the wings from last night, the kisses he'd planted one after another at the roots of those wings...

Ulysses's breathing grew heavier.

He wasn't someone who liked showing off, yet at this moment he couldn't help wanting to announce to the entire world—

How did you know my Male Lord showed me his wings?

Countless thoughts flashed through Ulysses's mind in an instant, yet his expression remained perfectly composed.

He raised a hand and gently stroked the Male's soft platinum hair, soothing him in a warm voice.

"Leave the banquet to me. You should keep resting. Sleep a little longer."

Was that really okay?

A trace of doubt flashed through An Ruo's mind.

Leaving all the guests to his Female Lord while he hid in the bedroom and slept hardly seemed appropriate, no matter how he looked at it.

An Ruo voiced his concern, but Ulysses said:

"It's all right. These are the Female Lord's responsibilities to begin with. I'll take care of everything."

That was simply how Zerg weddings worked.

A Male Zerg only needed to complete the wedding ceremony and enjoy himself. Everything else was the Female Lord's responsibility.

Besides, these additional days of banquets were inherently more political in nature. Ulysses didn't want to trouble the Male with them.

As for what the other Zergs might think, Ulysses didn't care.

He would appear before everyone covered from head to toe in the Male's pheromones.

No Zerg would think he'd fallen out of favor.

They would only envy him.

An Ruo was persuaded by Ulysses and decided to sleep for a few more star-hours.

He chatted with Ulysses for a little while, yawned, then indulgently collapsed back onto the bed and slipped under the covers.

After a moment, he rolled over again, found a more comfortable position, hugged the blanket, and fell asleep on his stomach.

Ulysses had spent so long kissing his back last night that An Ruo could almost still feel the lingering sensation now. It felt faintly itchy, so sleeping on his stomach was more comfortable.

The moment Ulysses saw the Male's shoulders and back, his gaze darkened.

Even through the pajamas, the sight filled him with longing. He desperately wanted to lean over and kiss him again.

Reason pulled him back.

The Male needed rest, and Ulysses needed to oversee the banquet. He couldn't stay here any longer.

Ulysses bent down and tucked the blanket properly around the Male. He planted a kiss on the hair beside An Ruo's ear, then straightened and left.

In the banquet hall, some of the earlier guests had already arrived.

Ulysses spotted the Tianjia Prince and the male diplomat he'd brought with him. They were chatting with Cyril from the Third Military Region and Cyril's Male Lord, and judging from appearances, they were getting along remarkably well.

Ulysses was somewhat surprised.

Ever since his previous visit, Prince Metis had been trying to establish connections with various factions within the Zerg Federation.

The government had received him according to diplomatic protocol and had been relatively friendly.

The military, however, remained militarily hostile toward Tianjia and therefore treated him much more coldly, maintaining polite distance.

He hadn't expected Metis to actually manage to find an opening this time.

But Ulysses didn't remember Cyril being the sort of Zerg who could become this enthusiastic.

Puzzled, Ulysses looked toward Cyril, only to notice the two pink heads leaning together and talking in front of him.

One belonged to Cyril's Male Lord.

The other belonged to Tianjia's male diplomat.

For a moment, Ulysses's expression became rather strange.

He couldn't be bothered investigating what Cyril was thinking. Silently looking away, he then spotted Helios standing together with the head of Hidden Star's Phoenix Bird Family.

The young Female Zerg's cheeks were flushed as he listened attentively to the Male Zerg, his eyes overflowing with admiration.

Ulysses: "..."

What in the world was going on with everyone?

He had wanted Helios to hurry up and find himself a Male Zerg. Among the "protagonists," Helios was the only one still single, which made him far too conspicuous and liable to attract the deity's pity and affection.

Ulysses couldn't rest easy about that.

But he hadn't expected Helios to move this quickly.

One night had passed, and he was already paired up.

And that particular Male Zerg had an unusual identity, making the situation relatively sensitive...

As Ulysses thought about it, he remembered the Male still sleeping upstairs, and his feelings grew even more complicated.

He wondered how the deity would react when he woke up and discovered that two of his protagonists had gotten together.