Chapter 344: The Marshal Urges Him to Marry: He Didn’t Want Uriel to Waste His Entire Life in Hopeless Waiting

What was it that he had wanted to communicate about on a spiritual level again?

By the time An Ruo climbed out of the chaotic tangle, he had already forgotten what he had wanted to ask.

He sat on the bed, looking bewildered as he thought hard and tried to remember.

Ulysses’ arm lay possessively across his waist, easily pulling him back and once again trapping him in an embrace surrounded by pheromones.

Looking at Ulysses’ handsome face, An Ruo found it even harder to remember what he had wanted to ask.

By the time he finally managed to remember and asked, Ulysses merely responded as though nothing had happened. His movements as he got dressed were completely unhurried, as if nothing unusual had occurred and An Ruo’s suspicions really were nothing more than suspicions.

For a moment, An Ruo even began doubting himself.

Had he really been overthinking it? Ulysses hadn’t been angry? And he hadn’t drunk any strange fruit vinegar either?

Thinking about it carefully, it really was difficult to imagine what Ulysses would look like when jealous.

Other than occasionally saying one or two sour things about matters involving the protagonists, Ulysses usually seemed almost devoid of selfish desires, as though his entire heart belonged only to the Federation and its people.

Uh...

Bed didn’t count.

You couldn’t expect a Female Zerg to remain rational in the presence of someone he liked and pheromones.

An Ruo had also been working very hard to make Ulysses happy and comfortable.

Physical desire and possessiveness obviously couldn’t count as selfish desire.

Those were just a Zerg’s instincts.

Aside from that, Ulysses could practically be called a “saintly Zerg.”

Oh.

Saint Ulysses...

The great villain.

An Ruo secretly observed him as though he had discovered some strange treasure that belonged only to him. There was novelty and hidden delight in his gaze.

No matter how subtle something was, under Ulysses’ perception it became completely obvious.

He looked back at An Ruo in confusion, checked his own collar and cuffs, found nothing wrong with them, and finally asked,

“What is it?”

“I realized I wrote a very special great villain,” An Ruo said with a smile pressed to his lips.

A saintly villain.

Of course that counted as special.

A unique idealist who could throw himself into danger without hesitation for the sake of his convictions.

He possessed a distinct charm that was extraordinarily attractive.

An Ruo had always been fascinated by him.

Inside the book and outside it.

Ulysses didn’t understand what he was talking about.

He had never considered himself a “saintly Zerg” either.

He had his own selfish desires.

But he did understand that “villain” referred to him.

Among all of An’s books, only he truly qualified as a “villain” in the proper sense of the word.

Thinking of this, Ulysses secretly ground his teeth.

Even Cyril, who disliked Iso, hadn’t become a villain.

Shamir’s family, who were dissatisfied with Ravens, weren’t villains either.

Even the Tianjia, who had once been public enemies of the entire galaxy, somehow weren’t villains.

The Tianjia Emperor had even managed to snag the role of protagonist.

Ulysses stepped closer, trapping An Ruo against the wall. He braced one hand beside him and lowered his head to stare at An Ruo, asking in a low voice,

“God, when will I finally become your protagonist?”

His other hand had already settled on An Ruo’s waist, slowly caressing it.

Combined with his words, the movement gave off a sense of “coercion” and “threat,” yet somehow also carried a faint trace of resentment and grievance.

An Ruo, who had suddenly been pinned against the wall, looked completely confused.

What resentment and grievance...

There might actually have been a faint trace of genuine resentment mixed in there.

But grievance didn’t seem like an emotion the Ulysses of this period would have, much less openly reveal.

Still, perhaps that wasn’t necessarily true.

The Ulysses standing before him was also the Ulysses who had gone through countless dream worlds together with him.

That included the orphanage Ulysses An Ruo had personally raised, as well as the General Ulysses who had newly married him.

He was more willing now to show An Ruo his emotions and honestly reveal his heart.

Perhaps Ulysses really did care about being the villain.

But...

An Ruo hooked his arms around Ulysses’ neck, leaned forward into him, and said with a smile,

“You’ve already been my protagonist for a long time.”

“You’re the protagonist of my life.”

The Male Zerg’s words echoed beside his ear.

Ulysses froze.

Only after a moment did he somewhat belatedly wrap his arms around An Ruo, truly feeling the weight of the person in his embrace and the emotion overflowing from him.

Warmth flowed through his entire body, washing away every trace of worry.

Suddenly, he realized that the things he had once feared no longer existed.

The protagonist of his life?

That was good enough.

Better than good.

Those other protagonists were ultimately only passersby in God’s long life.

They were merely the central characters of individual books.

But he was the protagonist of God’s entire life.

Only he possessed that kind of weight and status.

Ulysses headed for the military administration building in an excellent mood.

Even meeting Claire, an actual protagonist, in his office did nothing to affect it.

Seeing the Marshal surrounded by such a gentle atmosphere, Claire was somewhat confused.

Normally, the Marshal was imposing and powerful, placing enormous pressure on any Zerg around him.

Especially when those silver-gray eyes turned toward you, it felt as though every hidden sin and every trace of cowardice had nowhere to hide.

They seemed capable of piercing directly into the soul.

Today, although the Marshal still carried the pressure that came from sheer strength, he was much easier to be around.

Claire immediately thought of the Marshal’s pregnancy.

Was he in such a good mood because he had an egg now?

How enviable.

How exactly had An-shen managed it?

The Marshal’s rank was so high that, logically speaking, it should have been extremely difficult for him to become pregnant.

Yet they had barely been married for long and he was already carrying an egg.

Could it be that An-shen wasn’t merely an ordinary S-rank after all?

Claire guessed part of the truth and felt envious.

For a moment, he even wanted Xi’an to ask An-shen what he normally did and whether he had some secret method for laying eggs.

Actually, Claire himself also wanted to ask the Marshal...

It was just that the Marshal’s accumulated prestige was far too intimidating.

Even though he looked unusually approachable today, Claire still couldn’t bring himself to ask such a question.

Ulysses only gave Claire a few brief instructions regarding defensive deployments and matters involving Tianjia before dismissing him and summoning Uriel instead.

Very soon, a message came through the intelligent terminal.

Uriel had arrived.

They had already formally met yesterday.

This meeting was more personal in nature, so Ulysses moved it to the reception room.

Even the military’s reception room had a strong military style.

The cold metallic palette made it difficult to create any genuinely relaxed atmosphere even with tea and snacks laid out, but the Female Zergs were all accustomed to it.

“Marshal.”

Uriel entered and gave a proper military salute.

“Sit. No need to be so formal.”

Ulysses had him sit in the armchair opposite.

He asked after his former subordinate’s work and life, then asked what plans he had for the future.

“The future...”

Uriel lowered his eyes, thinking briefly before saying,

“Marshal, what you taught me back then was right. There are more opportunities for advancement in the border Military Regions. I plan to remain in the Ninth Military Region, work hard, and wait for an opportunity...”

Uriel suddenly stopped.

Originally, aside from wanting to get away from Capital Star, another reason he had come to the Ninth Military Region was to look for an opportunity to be promoted to Lieutenant General.

He hadn’t expected his record at the Military Region Prison to bring him such enormous merit that it directly propelled him to Lieutenant General in a single leap.

If he wanted another promotion after this, the only rank left was General.

But there were only a handful of General positions in the Military Regions, corresponding to the nine major Military Regions.

Unless an existing General stepped down, no one else could move up.

And Zergs had long lifespans.

If he wanted to wait for a normal retirement and succession, that would take an unimaginably long time.

Unless something unexpected happened, promotion within the next hundred years was practically impossible.

He was currently in the Ninth Military Region.

If he said he wanted to wait for an opportunity to be promoted, wouldn’t that sound like he was hoping something happened to his direct superior, General Muir?

(Muir: Listen to me when I say thank you.)

Realizing he had misspoken, Uriel silently shut his mouth and swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Ulysses acted as though he hadn’t heard what Uriel had said and calmly asked,

“What about your personal life? You’re alone in the Ninth Military Region, far away from family, friends, and old acquaintances. Have you considered finding a Male Zerg and getting married?”

Uriel’s heart jolted, his pupils contracting slightly.

Ulysses continued in a patient, persuasive tone,

“You’re young, accomplished, and handsome. Even on Capital Star there were plenty of Male Zergs who liked you. I’ve heard there are also quite a few Male Zerg doctors in the Ninth Military Region who admire you.”

“I-I never noticed.”

Uriel’s hands tightened slightly where they rested on his knees, rare panic appearing on his face.

“I also never thought about... getting married.”

Seeing him tense up, Ulysses sighed helplessly inwardly and said,

“I’m not urging you to get married.”

Ulysses himself had never imagined that one day he would be associated with something like pressuring someone to marry.

In the past, he had watched Female Zergs eagerly leap into the bitter sea of marriage and strongly disapproved of them so casually placing the reins of their own fate into the hands of a Male Zerg.

Helios was an exception.

The Female Zerg protagonist and Male Zerg protagonist had already been decided in the original story, with God himself effectively standing behind their pairing.

Ulysses trusted God.

He also trusted the compatibility between the Male Zerg God had chosen and Helios.

But Uriel was different.

He didn’t have a destined Male Zerg selected for him by a god.

If Uriel mistakenly thought Ulysses was urging him to marry and rashly found a Male Zerg to marry, it might even end in tragedy.

Ulysses didn’t want to see that happen.

He simply didn’t want Uriel to remain trapped in hopeless waiting and let his entire life wither away.

Although Ulysses occasionally became indiscriminately jealous of various protagonists, like covering an entire area with firepower without caring whether it was reasonable, when it came to a specific individual, he was actually extremely clearheaded and rational.

He knew that any action he took, or even any attitude he displayed, could have consequences for another Zerg that were impossible to undo.

Therefore, he had to be extremely cautious.

If it were anyone else, paying no attention and offering no response would be the best solution.

But this was Uriel.

As Uriel’s former direct superior, Ulysses felt responsibility and affection toward him.

He wanted him to be happy.

The intention was good.

Whether the action would actually produce the result he wanted was another matter entirely.

With Ulysses’ status, both ignoring the situation and interfering with it could be wrong.

Ulysses understood that very well.

But he still chose to speak frankly with Uriel.

Perhaps Uriel would resent him afterward.

“You’re a very good Zerg. You deserve the best Male Zerg and the best relationship.”

Ulysses said to Uriel,

“You also don’t need to rush to shut every Male Zerg out. I once thought all Male Zergs were hopeless too. Later, I realized I really had been somewhat biased. Not every Male Zerg is that bad.”

After getting together with An Ruo, many of Ulysses’ views had changed.

He even found Aira and that Male Zerg from Cyril’s family much more tolerable now.

Mm.

They were very tolerable when they weren’t standing in front of him.

When they actually were in front of him, he still couldn’t understand why Cassian would choose a frail albino Male Zerg whose rank differed from his by so much.

Nor could he understand what exactly Cyril’s enormous family was doing.

Listening to him, Uriel understood what he meant.

After a long moment, he gave a soft laugh.

“Marshal, you really are... a softhearted Zerg.”

Ulysses stared at him, confusion in his eyes.

He couldn’t understand what that word had to do with him.

Uriel smiled and shrugged.

He suddenly seemed completely relaxed, his posture becoming more casual and open.

“Since you already know, then I don’t need to feel so guilty anymore.”

“That lord is a very good Zerg. No Zerg could spend time with him and not develop a favorable impression of him. But that’s all it is—a favorable impression.”

Uriel looked at the Marshal, a trace of envy in his eyes.

“That lord has only you in his heart. He never gave any other Zerg room for false hope. So that favorable impression never had time, nor any possibility, to turn into love. I’m very grateful for that.”

Uriel was genuinely grateful.

Perhaps he had almost reached the point of no return, where he might have lost both the superior he respected and the Male Zerg he liked.

Fortunately, there had still been time.

The distance that lord maintained from every Zerg allowed Uriel to extinguish the tiny spark just as it was about to ignite.

Nothing had truly happened yet.

His Marshal could still care about his love life and his future.

Uriel was very satisfied with the way things were now.

“Please don’t worry. That lord is your Male Lord. I won’t harbor thoughts I shouldn’t have. Nor will I reject every Male Zerg because of a feeling that never truly took shape.”

“I simply haven’t met anyone suitable. That’s all.”

How easy was it to meet a Male Zerg who could genuinely make one’s heart race?

Especially something like “true love.”

It was perfectly normal to go through an entire lifetime without ever finding it.

Because of the Marshal and An, because of the novels An-shen had written, and because Uriel had personally witnessed Claire and Xi’an as well as Eugene, he was willing to believe that “true love” existed.

But whether that kind of feeling would ever happen to him was another matter.

He remained doubtful.

He didn’t possess that kind of confidence.

Perhaps several hundred years from now, he would meet a Male Zerg he truly loved.

Or perhaps he never would.

Either way, now that Psychic Detachment instruments existed, it didn’t seem like he was missing much.

As for that hazy feeling of affection...

Perhaps it would become a beautiful memory from his youth.

A memory belonging only to him.