Chapter 319: Was Ulysses Angry?: An Ruo didn’t want to mistreat Ulysses and always treated him with great tenderness.

An-shen's new novel had sparked a pet-keeping craze, especially among households with Male Zergs or those courting Male Zergs. There were noticeably more pets out and about these days.

[When I went out today, I saw Male Zergs and Female Zergs walking birds and furball beasts. The residential district has gotten so lively.]

[Oh, so that's what you mean by walking your bird (disappointed).]

[??? What did you think it meant? There's something wrong with you.]

[Having a pet is pretty nice. Even if you're a single Female Zerg, having a pet around makes your home feel less empty. Robot Zergs just can't compare to living creatures like these.]

[Exactly. With our gender ratio, there will always be Female Zergs who can't find a Male Zerg, and even fewer get to have hatchlings. I've decided to spend my life with a fellow Female Zerg from my unit. We've adopted three meow-meow beasts and five furball beasts. These are our hatchlings (picture).]

[Wow, what a lively big family!]

[I'm so jealous! The Male Zerg I liked married my commanding officer. I don't stand a chance in this lifetime, so I've decided to get a deep-sea fish (picture of a deep-sea mermaid).]

[Huh? Isn't it a good thing that your commanding officer married the Male Lord? You'd have a natural ally! By the way, that fish of yours looks quite a bit like a Male Zerg... if you ignore the tail.]

[I can't get past that mental hurdle. I can't compete with my commanding officer for a Male Zerg's favor! All right, the truth is that the Male Zerg only likes my commanding officer and doesn't intend to marry any other Female Zergs. As for my mermaid, hehe, pretty face, right? His temper is just as bad as a Male Zerg's, too. He's always slapping me in the face with his tail. Ah, no! I mean, Male Zerg lords are all the best! They're adorable when they're angry!]

On the Ninth Planet, in a small courtyard by the sea.

A military Female Zerg on leave sat on a boardwalk by the shore, typing rapidly on his light screen.

A mermaid with pale blue hair surfaced nearby. His cheeks, half-submerged in the water, were puffed out as he fixed his eyes on the Female Zerg. Then he tilted his head back and shot a jet of water straight through the light screen and into the Female Zerg's face.

The Female Zerg wiped his face, thoroughly accustomed to this treatment and completely unconcerned. He continued browsing the compliments about his mermaid on the light screen, grinning foolishly to himself.

The mermaid, who had failed to get his attention, puffed up with indignation.

He knew the Female Zerg had been following a novel recently. He had even read parts of it aloud to him. The Male Zerg protagonist was very popular, a big celebrity who could act and sing.

That was nothing special. He could sing, too.

But mermaids only sang to their mates during mating season.

The mermaid stared at him for a while, then suddenly swept his tail through the water, raising an enormous wave that soaked the Female Zerg from head to toe. Before the Female Zerg could lose his temper, he dove into the sea and made his escape.

"Ah! Hey! You're getting more and more outrageous! Have you forgotten who took you in?!"

The furious Female Zerg stripped off his clothes, ready to jump into the water and give chase.

But just before diving into the sea, he suddenly remembered something. He opened his light screen first and deleted the comments and pictures he had just posted.

This mermaid had suddenly appeared in his bathtub a few months ago. He looked exactly like the one in the game. Sevin even suspected they were the same mermaid.

A character from a game appearing in reality was simply too absurd. It was the sort of thing his buddies might do as a prank, like ordering a custom-made robot mermaid to mess with him.

But no matter how thoroughly Sevin interrogated them with his fists, not a single Zerg admitted to playing a prank on him. Instead, they all thought he had made up some ridiculous excuse just to pick a fight with them.

Once he confirmed that none of the Zergs around him were responsible, the mermaid became his responsibility.

Sevin had no idea what to do with him. In the end, he could only rent a small courtyard by the sea and move the mermaid there.

His next plan had been to release the mermaid on an ocean planet, where there were communities of his own kind. But the mermaid refused to leave. He seemed to prefer this stretch of sea, where he was the only mermaid, and had even started displaying nesting behavior recently.

What was a lone mermaid building a nest for? Was he planning to reproduce all by himself?

He had heard that mermaids were hermaphrodites, so perhaps there really was some way for him to reproduce.

Sevin was actually rather curious and looking forward to it.

But regardless, there was something suspicious about this mermaid's origins.

A mermaid from a game world appearing in the real world was abnormal no matter how you looked at it. Sevin didn't want him to be taken away for research, so he hadn't reported him and had kept his existence a secret.

Just now, with the entire StarNet discussing pets, he had gotten carried away and said things he shouldn't have. He had even posted pictures.

Now that he had come to his senses, the thought frightened him. He hurriedly deleted every relevant comment.

Fortunately, mermaids were a species that existed in reality, so his posts probably wouldn't attract too much attention. He would have to be much more careful about what he said in the future.

Sevin checked everything over and, satisfied that there were no problems, finally shut down his terminal and went after the mermaid.

The mermaid hadn't swum far. He seemed to have let down his guard, or perhaps he was deliberately waiting for him.

The Female Zerg, an all-rounder in land, sea, and air combat, quickly caught up with him, grabbed his fish tail, and hauled him out of the water despite his struggles.

Emerging from the sea with the mermaid in his arms, the Female Zerg gave a loud whistle and declared in a very "pirate-like" manner:

"Look what I've caught! A big fish!"

The mermaid stared at him blankly and stopped struggling.

The next instant, he seemed to realize something. He began struggling even more violently, dragging the Female Zerg back into the water and launching an attack beneath the waves.

Among mermaids, only the victor of a fight could take the male role.

He couldn't lose.

...

It took An Ruo some time to free himself from the warm embrace of his blankets.

He sat up, opened his terminal, and checked the game through its cloud management system.

He had long since handed over the game's management to a specialized gaming company, retaining only a set of administrative permissions for himself. Normally, he only logged in to play on the closed-beta maps.

Naturally, he didn't have time to spend all day immersed in the game while he was serializing a novel.

Besides, it was a romance game. Of course it was more fun when Ulysses was beside him.

Now that he had experienced a real-life romance with Ulysses, the game had instead become a place for him to relax and unwind.

At that thought, An Ruo's mind wandered for a moment, and his gaze grew unfocused.

Yes. Last night, they had enjoyed a rather special romantic experience.

The experience of entering Ulysses from behind was still quite novel to An Ruo.

Ulysses had been hurt by marriage and Male Zergs before. An Ruo didn't want to mistreat him, so he always treated him with great tenderness.

Even in bed, he was unwilling to do anything that might remind Ulysses of humiliation. He was always extremely cautious.

In short, they were always rather traditional when it came to intimacy. Either they did it face-to-face, with An Ruo carefully cherishing him, or Ulysses sat on top and took the dominant position. Even when they occasionally used little toys, such as tails and the like, they always stayed well within absolutely safe boundaries.

An Ruo would never do anything like make Ulysses kneel or get down on his hands and knees to take him. Even when it came to biting, Ulysses would either be on the bed with him or half-squatting. And even that happened very rarely.

An Ruo always kept in mind that he mustn't mistreat him.

But last night had been an exception.

Everything had been so chaotic that he couldn't even remember whether Ulysses had taken the initiative or whether he had pushed Ulysses down onto his knees.

All that remained in his swaying, turbulent memories was the sight of Ulysses from behind: his loose black hair falling down, his strong back, and those lovely hollows at his waist that were so easy to grip.

It almost seemed as though it wasn't the images in his memory that were swaying, but Ulysses himself.

An Ruo's face instantly grew hot, and he couldn't help covering it with his hands.

In the end, Ulysses hadn't seemed angry or upset. On the contrary, he had clung to An Ruo and kept kissing him.

But perhaps he had been seeking comfort.

An Ruo thought back on it, uncertain what Ulysses had really been thinking at the time.

At first, Ulysses had been somewhat stiff, frequently turning his head to look back and check on him. But once they had truly begun, he had never looked back at An Ruo again. Only the tips of his ears, peeking out from beneath his hair, had been a little red. Occasionally, a muffled moan escaped him, and his body was soon saturated with pheromones.

Was he angry? He wasn't angry, right? Or perhaps he was?

An Ruo once again engaged in some serious self-reflection.

Ulysses wasn't here, so even if An Ruo wanted to apologize, he would have to wait until Ulysses finished work.

For now, An Ruo could only pull his wandering thoughts back and deal with the matters at hand.

His gaze fell on the light screen displaying the game interface, and he suddenly felt a little bewildered.

Wait. What had he logged into the game's cloud system to do again?

An Ruo couldn't remember. He seemed to have had a vague feeling that he had overlooked something important, which was why he had logged in.

But what exactly had he forgotten?

An Ruo stared at the game interface for a while. Then he suddenly noticed the update announcement and immediately understood.

Oh, right. The game was due for a major version update soon, with lots of new content being added.

The gaming company had also very cautiously asked whether he would be willing to help with promotion. It didn't have to be anything too formal. Just doing a livestream would be enough.

Apparently, they had also invited quite a few celebrities to help promote the game.

Shamir was among them. ℴ

The game was making money for him, after all. An Ruo had a strong sense of responsibility and was willing to help promote it as long as it didn't interfere with his own affairs.

But a livestream...

An Ruo was still hesitant about whether to show his face.

For a socially anxious homebody, showing his face and not showing his face were two entirely different levels of difficulty.

An Ruo's gaze fell on the Ulysses plushie beside his bed.

He had an idea.