Chapter 309: Making Eggs Is Serious Business: Fortunately, This Time, He Had His Deity. He Was Both Greedy and Content

The deity wrote romances between Female and Male Zergs, so naturally there wouldn't be only one protagonist.

The reason Ulysses could confirm that the Male Zerg was also one of the "protagonists" was because he had experienced the world of the Tentacle Deity.

In that world's course of events, he had personally taken action and captured Helios, the original protagonist hiding in the Underground District, and had also crossed paths with the Male Zerg at his side.

Even though Helios had refused to reveal anything, the clues left behind had been enough for Ulysses to deduce the other's identity.

—The head of the Phoenix Bird Family, the Zerg Helios loved, and the Male Zerg protagonist of the original story.

Of course, Ulysses was still surprised that Helios had established contact with that Male Zerg so early.

Perhaps this was a change brought about by the world's development and transformation, or perhaps there was some special attraction between them.

In Ulysses's eyes, every pair of protagonists were "Fated Zergs." There was a unique attraction between them, allowing them to overcome countless hardships and eventually find their way to each other.

Ulysses envied that connection.

It was something that had never existed between him and his deity.

Without all these changes, he should have walked alone toward destruction, remaining utterly alone until the end of his life.

He had fought to obtain his deity's love.

Yet these "protagonists" naturally had another Zerg who perfectly matched them, someone who would cross every obstacle to reach their side.

How could he not be jealous?

How could he not envy them?

But when he thought of the Male sleeping peacefully upstairs, Ulysses's heart calmed again.

Fortunately, he had his deity now.

At least this time, he had someone by his side.

He was both greedy and content.

...

An Ruo slept until the afternoon. After getting up, washing, eating something, and changing into another formal outfit, all the fuss brought him close to the start of the evening banquet.

The evening banquet was still important, and he had no intention of missing it.

He wanted to dance the first dance with Ulysses.

Ulysses was the one who had taught him how to dance. Although An Ruo wasn't particularly proficient, with Ulysses guiding him, at least he wouldn't make any mistakes.

Social dancing was all about the atmosphere anyway. One of them was a handsome Female Marshal, the other a beautiful Male, and there was genuine affection between them. With their bodies touching and their gazes meeting, their feelings naturally flowed between them, making the sight particularly pleasing to the eye.

An Ruo was actually a little curious about who had taught Ulysses to dance.

But the moment he thought about Ulysses's personality, he knew there was no way he'd gone to some Male Zerg to learn dancing.

It was probably some etiquette instructor, or perhaps...

A holographic dance tutorial on StarNet or an artificial intelligence.

The latter was actually even more likely. It suited Ulysses's usual way of doing things perfectly.

Thinking about it that way, it really was a somewhat boring question, so An Ruo gave up on asking.

It didn't matter.

Ulysses had already taught him, so in the future, he could dance with Ulysses. And not just for social events. They could dance at other times too.

For example, while admiring the moon or flowers, or while spending time alone at home when the atmosphere and mood were just right. They could sip a glass of flower-scented fruit wine, draw close in that pleasant tipsiness, and dance together to music.

It sounded quite nice.

However, An Ruo was rather lazy and Ulysses was very busy, so opportunities like that probably wouldn't come often.

After the dance ended, An Ruo sat in the resting area and looked down at the guests below.

Suddenly, he spotted two familiar colors and vaguely sensed that something wasn't right.

When he looked more closely, his eyes immediately widened.

Why were the Male Zerg protagonist and the Female Zerg protagonist dancing together?

"They..."

An Ruo was so shocked that he lost his voice, unable to even figure out how to express what he was feeling.

According to the story's original progression, the two protagonists weren't supposed to formally meet for many years.

Possibly a hundred years...

But now, not only had they met far ahead of schedule, they also seemed to be...

Getting along pretty well?

An Ruo was completely dumbfounded.

He'd guessed that his wedding would cause them to meet earlier than they should have—the Hidden Star was showing faint signs of returning to the Zerg Federation, and after seeing Ulysses in stable condition and growing increasingly powerful, the Male protagonist, as Lord of Hidden Star, had reasonably decided to attend the wedding at this critical moment. His presence was simultaneously an expression of goodwill—

But An Ruo hadn't expected them to get along this well!

Wait.

Where was the process?!

What happened to the Female protagonist never realizing the Male protagonist's sex, leaving the Male protagonist conflicted and questioning himself?

What happened to some scumbag pursuing and harassing the Female protagonist, only for the Male protagonist to secretly deal with him?

What happened to the Female protagonist working for Ulysses, wholeheartedly admiring and following Ulysses, while the Male protagonist was torn between love and hatred and ground his teeth in fury?

What happened to Helios being transferred to the Ninth Military Region, carrying out a mission, and eventually tracing his investigation to the resistance army secretly established by the Male protagonist...?

An Ruo stared blankly at the two Zergs downstairs who had skipped every bit of that and gone straight to dancing and dating.

His feelings were exceptionally complicated.

This wasn't the author retconning his own book.

The protagonists had eaten the book themselves.

Ulysses reassured him, "Helios is an adult Zerg. He has his own judgment and knows where the boundaries are. The Lord of Hidden Star being a descendant of the former Imperial Dynasty certainly doesn't make him an ideal marriage candidate, but things are different now. If Hidden Star returns to the Zerg race and becomes part of the Federation, that will be another matter entirely. The Marshal's residence also has plenty of vacant rooms specifically prepared for guests staying overnight. If they need one, they can use it."

An Ruo stared at him in utter disbelief.

Wasn't Ulysses thinking this through a little too thoroughly?

If the timing were right, was he planning to get their marriage certificate processed for them too?

How had An Ruo never noticed before that Ulysses and Helios were this close?

What a touching father-son bond!

Ulysses definitely cared about Helios.

This Zerg never showed it on the surface, but he was actually extremely protective of his own people. He treated all the Zergs who followed him well.

And that was even more true for Helios, who had once served as his personal guard and had been personally kept at his side and taught by him.

Jokes about their father-son relationship aside, there was definitely a teacher-student bond between them.

After Ulysses interrupted his thoughts like that, An Ruo gradually recovered from his shock and accepted this absurdly rapid development.

Of course he could only accept it.

Words already written weren't necessarily immutable.

Compared with written words, An Ruo preferred seeing the real developments unfolding before his eyes.

No matter what caused the changes—even if it was only a gust of wind or the flutter of a butterfly's wings—the things those changes brought about were real.

Compared with a predetermined story that never changed by a single word, change could be equally fascinating.

An Ruo watched them finish their dance, share honey water, enthusiastically discuss mechs and Zerg life, then quietly slip outside for a date before the next dance began.

The feelings of young Zergs were passionate and beautiful.

The "elderly Zergs" on the other side had a completely different style.

Selerus was sitting with a group of retired military officers, discussing gardening, fishing, traveling, and reading.

From the sound of it, they were planning to form an elderly Zerg tour group, go exploring the polar regions, and climb snowy peaks.

Wasn't this retirement lifestyle a little too exciting?

An Ruo looked questioningly at Ulysses beside him.

Wasn't he going to try talking them out of it?

Ulysses had no intention of stopping them.

Zerg physiques were what they were. Even Zergs who had suffered Psychic Riot wouldn't be left physically frail.

A period of recuperation and proper nourishment had already allowed his female parent to recover completely, and the suppressor had also been removed. If Selerus wanted to go have fun, then let him.

There would be a spacecraft and accompanying staff with them anyway. Nothing serious could happen.

If anything, staying on Capital Star would only leave Selerus with plenty to keep him busy.

Selerus had attended Ulysses's wedding and appeared before the public through the wedding broadcast, causing an enormous sensation.

As far as the public knew, General Selerus had died long ago because of Psychic Riot.

So how could the citizens of the Federation not be shocked when a Zerg who was supposedly "dead" suddenly reappeared at the Marshal's wedding, looking perfectly healthy?

Recently, aside from the Marshal and An-shen's wedding, the hottest topic on StarNet had been General Selerus's reappearance.

Citizens made post after post, asking for explanations and trying to uncover the truth.

The government seized the opportunity to publicly announce that military Female Zergs who had suffered Psychic Riot could now recover after receiving treatment, triggering another massive wave of shock.

In Zerg society's understanding, a Female Zerg who entered Psychic Riot was already as good as dead. There had never been any possibility of bringing one back.

Yet now, there was actually a way to treat Psychic Riot.

Combined with the previous development of Psychic Soothing devices, the public exclaimed that technology had advanced to the point where ordinary Zergs couldn't even understand it anymore.

Some Zergs also remembered the mysterious Excellency who had worked as a Psychic Soother in the Military Region Prison and treated countless Zergs. They began wondering whether this might have something to do with him.

All kinds of theories circulated.

The media were even more interested. Countless news organizations now wanted to interview Selerus.

Selerus was willing to cooperate with one or two interviews, talking about whatever he was allowed to discuss and helping the authorities with publicity along the way.

But once the requests multiplied, Selerus genuinely couldn't stand the harassment anymore.

It was only the second day of the wedding, and he'd already received dozens of interview requests, each outlet trying to squeeze itself into any available opening.

It was unbearably annoying.

So when a group of retired military officers brought up traveling together, Selerus seriously began considering it.

His hatchling was married now and in the middle of his newlywed honeymoon. Selerus didn't want to disturb the young couple's life together either.

Going traveling at a time like this really did seem like a good idea.

He could leave for a few months, perhaps even longer, avoiding the fanatical media until the excitement died down.

If Ulysses became pregnant and had an egg that needed looking after during that time, Selerus would immediately pack his things and come back.

After thinking about it, Selerus felt he'd gotten far too ahead of himself.

It wasn't easy for high-ranking Zergs to have eggs. Going decades or even a century without one was perfectly normal.

And for someone like Ulysses, whose rank had broken through the limits, becoming pregnant would be even more difficult.

Selerus smiled and shook his head, temporarily putting those thoughts aside.

Truthfully, simply being able to regain his sanity, see his hatchling, and personally attend his hatchling's wedding had already left Selerus deeply satisfied.

Being able to see his hatchling happy meant he had nothing more to ask of his Zerg life.

All he probably needed to do with the rest of his life was live a little longer, see more of his hatchling, support him whenever he needed it, and make sure no one bullied him.

Thinking back to the Male Zerg his hatchling had married, Selerus once again felt that the chances of his hatchling being bullied by his Male Lord were extremely low.

If it had been any other Male Zerg, Selerus really would have needed to worry.

But this Male...

He had seen what An Ruo was like when he worked as a Psychic Soother in the prison, and Selerus himself had been saved by him. He instinctively trusted the Male.

Even from a purely rational perspective, a Zerg capable of treating every military Female Zerg, including those who had entered Psychic Riot, couldn't possibly be bad by nature.

During his time at the Marshal's residence, Selerus had also seen how Ulysses and Doctor An interacted.

Ulysses treated the Male Zerg with great respect, perfectly in line with the reverence a Female Lord was expected to show his Male Lord in Zerg society.

But the Male Zerg's care and affection toward Ulysses went far beyond anything expected of an ordinary Male Lord.

Sometimes Selerus even wondered whether he was living in a Tianjia household.

Yet it was different from Tianjia too.

The Male Zerg wasn't afraid of Ulysses.

There was only a natural outpouring of love.

Selerus searched through what little remained of his memories and finally found a suitable comparison—

It was like the relationships between the protagonists in the Male Zerg's books.

The kind of relationship found in romances between Female and Male Zergs.

A romance straight out of a novel.

A Male Zerg straight out of a novel.

His hatchling was unfortunate, yet fortunate at the same time.

He had unfortunately lost the protection of his female parent while he was still inside the egg. He had grown up alone, endured all the hardships of Zerg society, and suffered countless trials.

Yet he had also been fortunate enough to meet that Male Zerg.

The best Male Zerg, and the one most suited to him.

Selerus wanted to watch them a little longer.

He wanted to stand off to the side and watch their future unfold.

He had even bought physical editions of the Male Zerg's novels. Once a Zerg got old, staring at words on a light screen became less appealing. Physical books offered a much better reading experience.

But he'd already finished all the books published so far.

Was it time to urge the author to update?

The moment Selerus thought of his newlywed hatchling and the Zerg egg that didn't even exist yet, he immediately threw the idea of demanding updates out of his mind.

He could still tell which things were more important.

If the Male Zerg spent all his time writing novels, what would happen to his hatchling?

Newlyweds should spend their time on serious business.

Whether it was spending time together to deepen their relationship or making eggs, both were serious business.

Writing novels was important too, of course.

But that could wait.