Chapter 346: Extra — The Marshal and An from the Original Ending (2): Hiding Ulysses in a Golden House

When Ulysses woke up, what he saw was soft bedding and a spacious, quiet room.

Ulysses had never thought he would be able to wake up again.

He should already have been dead. Everything should have vanished, leaving nothing behind.

And yet he was indeed still alive now, completely intact, without so much as a scratch anywhere on his body.

The room he was in was also strange.

There were no windows, and judging from the location, it should be underground.

Ulysses raised his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. With the five senses of an SSS-rank, he could roughly determine where he was even without deliberately sensing it.

It really was below ground.

A room in this kind of location...

It should be a cell.

Ulysses frowned slightly.

But if this was a cell, then the way the room was furnished really did not look like one. It was far too warm and refined.

Whether it was the bed or the furniture and decorations, everything was extremely expensive. Many of these things were not even items Female Zergs, who had always lived rather roughly, would normally use.

There was also a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance lingering around him.

It was not pheromones, yet for some inexplicable reason it drew a Zerg’s attention.

It smelled very pleasant.

It made a Zerg want to follow the scent.

Ulysses restrained the instinctive urge to sniff in the direction of the fragrance. Something suppressed and contemplative flashed through his eyes.

No matter how he looked at it, a room like this was far too impractical for imprisonment.

Besides, this kind of room could not restrain him at all.

He did not see any defensive installations anywhere in the room.

There was not even a suppressor placed on his body.

He could easily mobilize his own energy.

And strangest of all...

His mind felt incomparably light.

All the chaos and agitation had disappeared.

Although the damage and holes in his Psychic Domain accumulated over the years were still there, the confusion that affected his consciousness seemed to have been forcibly suppressed by some enormously powerful force, bringing him a clarity and ease he had not felt in a very long time.

It was somewhat like having received a simple peripheral Psychic Soothing from a Male Zerg.

Or perhaps like having been nourished by an enormous amount of careful, controlled energy.

But that was clearly impossible.

No Male Zerg could perform Psychic Soothing on an SSS-rank whose mind was already approaching a psychic riot.

And...

He distinctly remembered self-destructing his Zerg core.

Ulysses sat on {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the bed and lowered his head to look at his hand.

For a moment, he could not tell whether that self-destruction had been a dream, or whether everything he was experiencing now was merely a hallucination born at the moment of death.

While his thoughts wandered, footsteps approached.

The door was pushed open.

A white-clad “Male Zerg” carrying a meal appeared in the doorway.

The newcomer was so beautiful he barely seemed real.

A cool, aloof elegance surrounded him. His long hair was pale like moonlight, and his eyes were slightly lowered, making him appear quiet, distant, and extremely difficult to approach.

Yet the instant he raised his eyes and looked at Ulysses, a flash of astonishment appeared in those emerald-green eyes.

Then they suddenly lit up with joy.

Ulysses was certain that he did not know this Male Zerg.

And yet the Male Zerg was looking at him as though he were an old acquaintance he had known for many years.

That made Ulysses’ brows draw together, puzzled and wary.

In that brief instant, the Male Zerg had already hurried to his bedside, bent down to place the nutritional meal he was carrying onto the bedside table, then carefully looked him up and down.

After that, he smiled at him.

The faint fragrance lingering in the room seemed to grow a little stronger.

Combined with that smile, it gave a Zerg an almost dizzying, entranced feeling.

Ulysses once again confirmed that he could not smell any Male Zerg pheromones, nor had he been affected by any pheromone-based drugs.

The Male Zerg’s voice came, joyful yet filled with concern.

“You’re awake. Do you want to eat something? You slept for an entire week. Your body is very weak, so you need to replenish yourself properly.”

An Ruo gazed at the Female Zerg sitting up on the bed and felt that his Ulysses had truly suffered far too much.

His eyes were filled with heartache as he looked at him.

Ulysses did not feel weak in the slightest.

The word “weak” itself should never have had anything to do with an SSS-rank Female Zerg.

A Female Zerg could go without food for quite some time without any problem. His body was overflowing with energy, nowhere near the point where he needed nourishment.

Because of that, the look Ulysses gave the Male Zerg became even more serious and confused.

“Who are you?” Ulysses asked.

His voice was slightly hoarse from not having spoken for a long time.

An Ruo immediately picked up the water from the tray and handed it to him.

He insisted until Ulysses accepted it, then straightened up properly and formally introduced himself.

“My name is An Ruo. I’m... I’m...”

Your Male Lord.

Your lover in other timelines.

Or...

A kindhearted person who saved you?

But none of those seemed suitable to say.

An Ruo was not sure whether it was appropriate to reveal his identity from other worlds to Ulysses right now.

Ulysses had gone through enormous upheavals, and his temperament had long since changed. There was no foundation of affection or trust between them.

As for calling himself a kindhearted rescuer...

What kind of rescuer saved a Zerg only to lock him in a basement and restrict his freedom?

An Ruo immediately drooped.

Even his hair seemed to lose its spirit.

He hesitated before mumbling quietly,

“I’m a bad... bad Zerg who took advantage of your vulnerable state and imprisoned you.”

An Ruo did not admit that he was human.

Perhaps when doing bad things, he simply hoped other Zergs would assume he belonged to the Zerg race, so he would not tarnish the reputation of his original species.

Ulysses looked at this Male Zerg who had not put a suppressor on him, had taken absolutely no defensive precautions, and yet was claiming that he was “imprisoning” him.

For one brief instant, Ulysses almost wanted to laugh.

But he truly did not have the mood to laugh.

Everything he had experienced before weighed heavily on his heart.

It seemed to have already robbed him of the ability to smile.

Ulysses suddenly felt utterly weary.

He lazily leaned back, lowering his eyes to the clear warm water in the glass.

Tiny ripples spread across the surface, reflecting a vague, indistinct image.

He raised the glass and drank the water, then placed the empty cup on the bedside table.

Only then did he look again at the “Male Zerg” beside him.

Assuming an unknown creature capable of rescuing him from self-destruction and restoring him to perfect condition could still be called a “Male Zerg.”

The existence of such an unknown creature within the Zerg race was deeply unsettling.

That realization restored some of Ulysses’ energy.

The earlier languor faded from him.

His gaze once again became calm and profound, while lowered lashes concealed the sharpness in his eyes.

He asked,

“What is your purpose?”

An Ruo had just been about to bring him the nutritional meal.

Hearing this, he paused, thought for a moment, then said,

“I want to hide you away so other Zergs won’t see you or know you’re still alive. Does that count?”

Ulysses: “...”

The way this unknown creature spoke was genuinely difficult for a Zerg to adapt to.

He looked as though he were discussing things with Ulysses while deliberately showing weakness, as if he had no confidence at all and felt terribly guilty, like he would not be able to insist forcefully if Ulysses rejected him.

Considering the other party’s incomprehensible abilities, Ulysses believed this was merely an illusion deliberately created to lead him toward a misunderstanding.

Unfortunately, Ulysses was accustomed to forceful confrontation and negotiation.

Facing a Male Zerg like this gave him the strange feeling of throwing a punch into cotton.

“Would my appearing before other Zergs interfere with you?” Ulysses asked.

“Not exactly...”

An Ruo picked up the nutritional meal, scooped up a spoonful of star-beast meat porridge, blew on it, then naturally brought it to Ulysses’ lips as he continued,

“The main problem is that once other Zergs learn Marshal Ulysses didn’t die, Helios and you, along with the followers behind each of you, will start fighting again. That would be terrible for the Zerg race, which has already gone through division and conflict and has only just begun rebuilding its order.”

After An Ruo finished speaking, he realized Ulysses had not reacted.

The other man was rigidly staring at the spoon and porridge held beside his lips.

His body language could practically be described as horrified.

“You don’t like it?”

An Ruo confusedly pulled the spoon back a little.

Only then did he remember that, given their current relationship, where they had only just met and were technically captor and captive, feeding each other was probably a little too much.

There was no helping it.

He was used to it.

The instant he relaxed, he automatically slipped into the way of interacting with Ulysses that he was familiar with.

An Ruo immediately withdrew his hand in embarrassment.

Holding the bowl, he did not know what to do, so he stiffly held it out.

“Um... how about you eat it yourself?”

Ulysses did not even know how he ended up accepting the bowl.

This unknown creature with the appearance of a Male Zerg seemed naturally capable of bewitching a Zerg’s mind.

If one let down their guard for even a moment, he would invade their thoughts, and even their behavior and thinking would begin to change strangely.

In the end, Ulysses had no appetite.

He merely held the bowl of porridge in his hands.

Even if a top-tier Female Zerg could practically be considered immune to all poisons, drinking a cup of water was one thing.

There was no reason to try food delivered by an unknown Male Zerg-like creature.

He thought back over what the other had just said.

The more he considered it, the less he understood.

Why did it sound as though this unknown creature actually cared quite a lot about the stability of the Zerg Federation?

Surely he did not actually consider himself a Male Zerg?

Ulysses felt strangely conflicted.

Seeing that Ulysses had not eaten for so long, An Ruo tentatively asked,

“Do you not like this kind of porridge?”

That was strange.

This was clearly something Ulysses liked.

Maybe his tastes had changed after all these years?

That made sense too.

So An Ruo immediately said,

“If you don’t like it, we’ll change it. What do you like to eat?”

An Ruo took the bowl of porridge back from Ulysses, opened his terminal, and pulled up the nutritional meal menu for him to choose from.

“No need to go through the trouble.”

Ulysses had no intention of eating.

For the time being, he also did not feel like trying to guess the purpose or thoughts of this unknown creature.

Instead, he asked,

“What is happening outside right now?”

The other party did not want him to leave this place.

But Ulysses could not tolerate knowing nothing whatsoever about the outside world.

“You can’t just not eat...”

An Ruo muttered quietly.

The glance he secretly cast at Ulysses carried obvious disapproval.

But he did not force Ulysses to eat either.

Ulysses was an adult Zerg and had his own choices.

Even An Ruo could not interfere too much.

That would make Ulysses dislike him.

Ulysses wanted to know about the outside world, and An Ruo knew he could not stop worrying about it.

So he opened a terminal screen, enlarged it, and pulled up a news video of Helios giving a speech.

The heterochromatic-eyed Female Zerg on the screen wore a military uniform.

There was some exhaustion in his expression, but his gaze was firm.

Facing the camera, he briefly summarized the chaos that had taken place, then announced the restructuring plans that would follow and the future direction of the Zerg race.

An Ruo secretly watched Ulysses’ expression.

He found that Ulysses was watching seriously.

There was no anger on his face over Helios overthrowing the military government he had established.

Instead, there was a deep, probing thoughtfulness, as though he were considering something.

An Ruo suddenly realized something.

Even now, Ulysses had never once asked to leave.

Nor had he simply torn open space and departed.

An Ruo had not restricted Ulysses’ abilities.

He wanted to hide Ulysses away, yes, but he had never truly intended to play some sort of game involving imprisonment and abuse regardless of Ulysses’ wishes.

If Ulysses wanted to leave, he could do so at any time.

An Ruo might genuinely be unable to stop him, and he certainly could not bring himself to forcibly restrain him.

Yet from the moment Ulysses woke up until now, he had neither attacked his “captor” nor directly left.

He had even sat here calmly and politely discussing An Ruo’s identity and purpose with him.

And now he was calmly watching the news.

An Ruo vaguely grasped something.

Perhaps Ulysses himself intended to disappear from the public eye for the time being and remain hidden in the shadows.

That was why he had shown so little resistance or aggression until now.

Watching Ulysses seriously follow the news, An Ruo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Ulysses had no intention of leaving right now, things would be much easier.

He would not have to fall into the dilemma of deciding whether or not he should stop him.

As for what Helios and the others might face later with Ulysses lurking in the shadows...

An Ruo could only say that they should pray for themselves.

He would try to talk Ulysses down a little on their behalf.

It was not as though he intended to simply indulge Ulysses and stop caring about anything from now on.

It was just that stabilizing Ulysses was more important at the moment.

He absolutely could not let Ulysses immediately run outside and start another war with the protagonist.

That really would drag the entire Zerg race into the quagmire of civil war.

An Ruo quietly tapped away at another small screen.

In the end, he still ordered several nutritional meals for Ulysses.

Maybe Ulysses would change his mind after finishing the news and agree to eat something?

The Female Zerg protagonist looked like excellent mealtime entertainment.

He seemed to have a very strong motivational effect on villains.

Ulysses noticed the movement and turned his head to look at him.

An Ruo gave him an impeccably friendly smile.

Ulysses: “...”

This was a very strange...

“Male Zerg.”