Chapter 34: Has He Been Exposed? Slight Exposure: "Where Did the Original Male Zerg Go?"

You have social anxiety, and you're suddenly informed that in ten minutes, a stranger is coming to your house to visit you.

No matter who it was, to An Ruo, they were all stranger Zergs.

An Ruo anxiously grabbed at his hair and even considered hiding.

The prison room was only so big. Aside from the bathroom, everything could be seen at a glance. There was nowhere to hide. He couldn't exactly hide in the bathroom—that would be too awkward.

Then... the garden?

An Ruo's eyes drifted toward the aerial garden outside and felt that wasn't a bad idea.

If anyone asked, he'd just say he had gone out for a walk and some fresh air.

Avoidance was shameful, but effective.

An Ruo picked up a plate of fruit and snacks, grabbed some juice, and slipped away.

When Uriel accompanied the Marshal to the male Zerg's prison room, what greeted them was an empty room.

Uriel was completely stunned.

He had never even considered the possibility that the male Zerg would run. He knew exactly how much of a shut-in the other party was.

A hardcore homebody would rather temporarily abandon his nest than socialize.

"..."

Uriel awkwardly glanced at the Marshal's expression.

Ulysses' cold eyes swept over the empty prison room before he stepped inside.

The room wasn't large, but it had been arranged warmly and comfortably. Its owner's personality was obvious.

The desk area had the most decorations—flowers, potted plants, planetary night lights, even paper books and doll ornaments. A wooden box beside it neatly stored countless letters.

The bed had a vintage literary style, with beige and light linen bedding decorated with woodland patterns, soft and comfortable.

The air smelled clean. There were no chaotic pheromones.

According to the records Uriel had provided, the other party had never received any female Zergs inside his prison room. All psychic soothing sessions were conducted in the treatment room.

That alone represented rejection.

Rejection of close contact with others.

Very unlike a male Zerg.

Ulysses stopped before the balcony's glass door and looked at the flourishing garden outside.

"You've raised him quite well."

Ulysses spoke calmly.

Uriel lowered his head and explained from a step behind.

"A male Zerg needs a comfortable environment. He needs sunlight, flowers, and greenery to maintain his mental health. This lord's daily amount of psychic soothing exceeds that of all the military district's male Zergs combined. His condition is extremely important. Nothing can be allowed to happen to him."

"Indeed. He's important."

Ulysses acknowledged that.

Turning around to look at Uriel nervously following behind him, he sighed helplessly.

"You may go back. Relax. I won't eat him."

"That's not what I meant..."

Uriel opened his mouth to explain, but upon meeting the Marshal's calm eyes, he found himself unable to say anything.

In the end, he obediently withdrew.

Ulysses turned his gaze toward the garden.

The male Zerg's attempt to hide was meaningless. The keen senses of a top-tier female Zerg allowed him to clearly perceive the other's location—including every heartbeat, every breath...

And every chew.

The garden was huge. An Ruo had deliberately walked farther away and found a bush that concealed his body. He sat down on the grass behind it.

The warm sunlight shone on him pleasantly, and the temperature was just right.

Quite comfortable.

Holding a sweet fruit in his hands, An Ruo nibbled on it absentmindedly.

Because someone was coming to visit, he had been unable to truly relax. He only hoped the whole thing would end quickly.

Suddenly, the light dimmed.

The sunlight had been blocked.

An Ruo froze and slowly raised his head.

Behind him stood a female Zerg in a military uniform with black hair, looking down at him.

That face was handsome enough to resemble a carved masterpiece, like a majestic god statue. Silver-gray eyes reflected a metallic coldness, and from this angle there was an intense inhuman quality to him.

Like prey being targeted by a predator.

Coldness spread from his spine throughout his body, and even the back of his head went numb.

Only one thought remained in An Ruo's mind.

It's over. My nightmare came true.

Just like in his dreams, the great villain had torn through space and arrived before him...

And the one in his book truly possessed the ability to tear apart space.

No exaggeration whatsoever.

For several seconds, An Ruo almost forgot how to breathe.

Is it still possible to run for my life?

he thought nervously.

In front of a pseudo-SS, true SSS-class female Zerg capable of tearing space apart, even fleeing to another star system would only end with him being dragged back.

There was no chance of escape.

"Are you afraid of me?"

Ulysses studied him. His eyes, as cold as jade, swept across the male Zerg, confusion flashing through them.

This male Zerg...

Had he originally looked like this?

An Ruo thought, Who wouldn't be afraid?

Whether it was the original owner with his history of domestic abuse, or the author who had personally written the villain's tragic past and ending...

Both had wronged him.

And guilt bred fear.

"Did you come to kill me?" An Ruo asked stiffly.

"No."

Psychic soothing with every value maxed out. His usefulness was too great. Any rational leader would never casually kill him.

What Ulysses wanted was control.

Ulysses frowned slightly.

Voice, scent, psychic power...

All his senses told him that the one before him was a male Zerg.

A high-ranking male Zerg.

Yet both of them knew perfectly well that inside this skin wasn't the original male Zerg.

Perhaps not even a Zerg at all.

"Why do you think I would kill you?" Ulysses asked slowly.

After some thought, An Ruo answered from the original owner's perspective.

"'I' hurt you and committed an unforgivable crime."

Ulysses glanced at him in surprise and calmly stated,

"And so 'you' are in prison."

That was true.

An Ruo couldn't argue.

Perhaps to female Zergs, seeing a criminal male Zerg suffer punishment in prison was more satisfying than simply killing him.

After learning that the great villain hadn't come to kill him, An Ruo quietly relaxed.

The chill around him seemed to fade away. His breathing and heartbeat returned.

This meeting had happened entirely outside his expectations.

But it wasn't too terrible.

While they spoke, An Ruo couldn't find hatred in Ulysses' eyes.

There was more curiosity and scrutiny.

Unfortunately, An Ruo possessed a secret that absolutely could not be discovered.

Lowering his head, he didn't dare meet his eyes.

Several seconds later, the shadow covering him moved away.

Ulysses stood beside him.

Sunlight projected their shadows onto the grass—one standing, one sitting. It was such a beautiful scene that if photographed, it could serve as wallpaper.

Unfortunately, both parties harbored their own thoughts, and neither had the mood to appreciate it.

An Ruo couldn't help thinking, Does prison visitation have time restrictions? Great villain, please leave when the time's up.

Then again, even if such rules existed, they probably couldn't restrict the Federal Marshal.

Suddenly, Ulysses spoke.

"So this is your daily life? Psychic soothing, sleeping, eating, browsing StarNet, writing novels?"

Hearing him mention writing novels, An Ruo almost choked on his fruit.

After struggling for a moment, he finally swallowed.

He couldn't understand why the other party was asking.

"Isn't everyone like that? To live in this world, one has to eat and sleep. Psychic soothing is work, and everything else... those are hobbies."

Do you understand hobbies?

This guy clearly looked like some poor soul without hobbies, living a life as monotonous as a mechanical Zerg.

An Ruo secretly stepped on him in his mind.

"Your goal?" Ulysses looked down at him.

"?"

An Ruo tilted his head in confusion.

He was just living.

Why did that need a goal?

The confusion in the male's eyes was too obvious.

Like the blank document he stared at.

Ulysses fell silent.

"Very well. Then your pursuit?"

"Write more books! Let more... more Zergs read them!"

An Ruo answered without hesitation.

"..."

Another unexpected answer.

Yet there wasn't a hint of deceit on his face.

The moment he spoke about his books, his eyes sparkled.

There was no need to continue this topic.

"One last question."

Ulysses stared at the unknown creature wearing the appearance of a high-ranking male Zerg and slowly asked:

"Where did the original male Zerg go?"

An Ruo froze.

The fruit in his hand slipped and rolled into the grass.

Instinctively, he bent over to pick it up.

Holding the fruit tightly, his mind turned stiffly.

"What original male Zerg?"

Lowering his head, An Ruo softly said:

"Are you saying some other Zerg used to live in my room? When I came here, there was only me."

"Don't waste time."

Ulysses' voice sank.

He was willing to communicate with this unknown creature.

That didn't mean he had the patience to play guessing games.

An Ruo was silent for a moment.

Between angering the great villain immediately and potentially angering him sometime in the future, he very cowardly chose the latter.

"I don't know... I really don't know!"

When he arrived, there had already been no other consciousness inside this body.

He didn't know where the Zerg who originally occupied this "room" had gone.

Maybe he had been scared to death by the trial.

Maybe he'd transmigrated.

The original novel only briefly mentioned that the great villain Ulysses had once suffered through a terrible past, including his marriage. It had profoundly influenced his attitude toward male Zergs and became the origin of those extreme policies.

As for the fate of that male Zerg—

An Ruo had never written it.

The novel had never mentioned it either.

Ulysses observed him, judging the truthfulness of his words.

This male had terrible acting.

One glance was enough to see through him.

He knew the other party was hiding something and pondered how important it truly was.

The whereabouts of the original male Zerg weren't important.

The one in front of him was much more useful.

Ulysses thought—

If there existed a lifeform that looked like a male Zerg, smelled like a male Zerg, possessed a male Zerg's psychic power, and could perform psychic soothing...

Then he was a male Zerg.

Every Zerg had secrets.

Digging out those secrets could minimize danger.

But it could also drive someone into a corner.

There was no need to press too hard.

At least not yet.

Ulysses withdrew his gaze and softened his tone.

"You may continue writing your books."

An Ruo looked up in astonishment.

What kind of development was this?

The great villain from the book was telling him to continue creating???

He hadn't misheard, right?

And what about the previous topic?

The original owner's matter?

Just... let go?

"Your psychic soothing is extremely effective. On behalf of all military females, I thank you for your contributions."

As Ulysses spoke solemnly, he gave a slight bow.

An Ruo practically sprang up from the ground in fright.

"Ah, no... there's no need... I mean... I..."

He waved his hands frantically, unable to form a complete sentence.

He finally understood why he'd been spared.

Machines really were more valuable than people.

And he was the most expensive machine.

"You deserve that respect. And... I received your 'congratulations.'"

Ulysses gazed at him.

An Ruo: "???"

Wait.

What congratulations?

Suddenly, An Ruo remembered saying "Congratulations" inside his prison room after seeing the news of Ulysses becoming Marshal.

Congratulations.

Promotion, fortune, husband dead.

An Ruo rejoiced that he hadn't said the latter parts aloud.

Though it probably didn't matter.

Who would've thought the great villain actually reviewed surveillance footage?

How long ago had that been?!

Exactly how much footage had he watched?

An Ruo couldn't help recalling whether he'd done anything embarrassing in his room.

Had he slept naked?

Changed clothes?

Kicked off his blanket in the middle of the night?

Complained about the Federation or military?

Fortunately, he knew the room was monitored and the doors were transparent. Things like changing clothes were always done in the bathroom.

There shouldn't have been any scandalous scenes.

As for other image-destroying moments...

Better not think about them.

Otherwise he'd collapse.

Ulysses saw the male's despair and had no intention of comforting him.

Glancing at the time on his terminal, he said,

"Visiting hours are over. I should leave. Until next time."

What visitation time limit could possibly restrain the Federal Marshal?

An Ruo had no mood to expose him and simply crouched in a corner, emotionally devastated.

Ulysses left as silently as he had come.

Only after a long while did An Ruo realize something.

Ulysses knew he wasn't the original owner.

He knew he hadn't committed the crime.

Yet he still had no intention of releasing him.

He really was the most valuable machine.

The prison's fixed asset.

Even more depressed.

An Ruo remained listless for the entire day.

Even when Uriel came to check on him, he couldn't muster any enthusiasm.

He didn't even have the motivation to write.

That night, while lying in bed browsing StarNet, he accidentally clicked on a trending topic before his brain could react.

【Xi'an-A+】:

Thank you, everyone. We're together now! @Claire.