Chapter 350: Extra — The Marshal and An from the Original Ending (6): An Ruo Despised Himself for Embracing Ulysses in the Movie Theater

An Ruo rolled over.

Half-asleep and half-awake, he saw Ulysses standing beside his bed, staring at him with an incomparably aggrieved look, clearly in a terrible mood.

Confused, An Ruo asked what had happened.

Ulysses stared at him gloomily and demanded to know why An Ruo wouldn’t marry him in his dream.

“Huh?”

An Ruo was completely dumbfounded.

I have to take the blame for this too?

...

An Ruo woke up amid that absurdity.

He stared at the curtains swaying in the wind and remained dazed for quite a while before realizing that everything just now had been a dream.

It was too absurd.

He had actually dreamed that Ulysses came to question him because An Ruo hadn’t married him in a dream.

What kind of nonsense was this?

An Ruo covered his face and sat up, still feeling that dream was far too ridiculous and embarrassing.

Ulysses would never come looking for him because of something that happened in a dream...

Would he?

An Ruo suddenly felt the urge to go find Ulysses and ask him.

If An Ruo didn’t marry him in a dream, would he get angry?

He abruptly began to understand the logic of that Ulysses from the dream, because he himself now wanted to do exactly the same thing.

So dreams really were reflections of one’s inner thoughts?

It was already bright outside.

At some point, the window had been opened. The wind gently stirred the curtains, carrying with it the faint trace of a subtle fragrance.

An Ruo went blank for an instant and instinctively searched for the source of the scent, but found nothing.

In the end, he simply decided it had been his imagination.

Only then did he remember that he had to get up.

He threw back the blanket, climbed out of bed, and went to wash up and change clothes.

Today was a holiday, so he didn’t have to work, but he had other plans.

A movie spearheaded by the government was premiering today.

He needed to go see it at the theater, and he planned to bring Ulysses with him.

Part of the movie’s setting had come from ideas An Ruo himself proposed. His name was even attached to the project, so it held a special significance.

He had to see the finished product with his own eyes before he could feel at ease.

It had all started because he’d been bored at the office, slacking off by writing a novel, only to get caught by Phoenix.

Zerg society generally had very low expectations of Male Zergs.

Even in the comparatively strict Archon’s secretarial team, as long as a Male Zerg didn’t miss work too frequently and completed the tasks assigned to him, nobody interfered with anything else he did.

He could even watch dramas with the sound playing out loud.

Sleeping through the day was fine too.

Someone would even lead him to a break room so that any Male Zerg who wanted to rest could lie down on a bed and sleep.

Compared to that, An Ruo merely sitting there and writing a novel for his own amusement without disturbing anyone else’s work could practically be considered friendly behavior.

It was even worthy of encouragement.

Even when Phoenix caught him doing it, he didn’t say anything negative.

He actually encouraged An to publish the novel once he finished writing it.

As a career-minded Male Zerg, Phoenix sometimes felt frustrated when he saw other Zergs slacking off and failing to live up to their potential, but he also understood that he couldn’t expect every Male Zerg to have ambitions toward a career.

The fact that these Male Zergs were willing to step out of their homes and participate in society at all was already quite good.

Everything had to be taken one step at a time.

The very next day, Phoenix assigned An Ruo a task that involved coordinating with a film crew.

Putting aside how embarrassing it had been for An Ruo to have one of his own protagonists see his novel and even encourage him to keep writing it, that was how he ended up participating in the movie’s production.

At its core, the movie was propaganda for the new government.

It displayed the new social atmosphere and spirit of the era and carried strong political significance, while also serving to inspire the broader population.

Anything too serious wouldn’t spread easily.

To encourage more Zergs to watch it, the movie also incorporated many elements the general public loved to see.

Namely, Male Zergs.

And romance between Male and Female Zergs.

That was An Ruo’s specialty.

He had given the crew a great many suggestions.

However, he was only responsible for coordinating with them, not the actual filming and production, so he had no idea what the final product would look like.

After changing clothes, An Ruo called Ulysses and went to the theater with him.

They actually had a home theater...

Ulysses looked at the excited Male Zerg and ultimately chose not to say that aloud.

Leaving the house and going out together with a Male Zerg could count as a date.

An Ruo bought a large amount of snacks and drinks, hugged them all in his arms, and entered the theater.

Ulysses took some of the food from him, then held his hand in the darkness and led him forward.

A Male Zerg’s night vision wasn’t as good as a Female Zerg’s.

Human night vision was even worse.

An Ruo followed closely behind Ulysses step by step through the darkness, but didn’t feel afraid at all.

As long as Ulysses was there, An Ruo felt nothing but trust and reassurance.

It wasn’t until Ulysses led him by the hand and sat him down on something soft and spacious that An Ruo used the faint light inside the theater to look beneath himself.

At the enormous...

Bed.

Only then did he belatedly remember that nearly all Zerg movie theaters used bed seating.

Ulysses reclined beside him.

They were lying on the same bed.

An Ruo stiffly clutched the snacks and drinks in his arms and secretly observed Ulysses’ expression.

Ulysses still wore his usual expressionless face, but his brows were relaxed.

He didn’t look displeased or resistant.

Only then did An Ruo secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

This was the first time he had ever lain on the same bed with Ulysses from this timeline.

And somehow it was happening like this.

In a movie theater...

If he’d known, he should have invited Ulysses to the movies much earlier.

The thought flashed through An Ruo’s mind before he quickly stopped himself and refused to think about it too deeply.

He relaxed and leaned back as well, adjusting the cushion behind his waist until he was lying comfortably.

Although this was the first time he had shared a bed with Ulysses from this timeline, he had married Ulysses in other timelines and slept with him countless times.

Of course it didn’t feel unnatural.

He just had to stop himself from instinctively rolling into Ulysses’ arms.

An Ruo took a sip of juice, then placed it on the small table beside the bed, regretting that the Zerg race didn’t have cola.

Watching a movie was always best with cola and popcorn.

Darkness enveloped the surroundings.

An Ruo watched as the holographic projection lit up, casting a faint glow.

Using that light, he looked around curiously.

Then he realized, puzzled, that he couldn’t see anything.

The hologram was clearly already on, but aside from the space immediately around them, everywhere else remained submerged in darkness.

No other Zergs could be seen. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

There wasn’t even any sound.

The surroundings were completely silent.

An Ruo clearly remembered several pairs of Zergs entering at the same time as them.

Now all of them had disappeared.

He couldn’t even see the other beds.

Confused, An Ruo was about to extend his psychic force when Ulysses caught his hand with a faintly restraining gesture.

An Ruo turned to look at him questioningly.

He wasn’t even sure whether Ulysses could see his expression properly in the pitch-black theater.

Ulysses tilted his head slightly toward him and said quietly,

“It’s a simple application of spatial technology. It can block sight and sound.”

But not psychic force.

An Ruo froze for a moment before realizing that Ulysses was explaining why he couldn’t see the other Zergs.

All An Ruo could think was—

Wasn’t using this kind of technology in a movie theater unbelievably excessive?

Thinking about it casually, he reached over and grabbed the hand Ulysses had resting on his wrist, pulling it under the blanket and holding it there to keep him warm.

The theater was somewhat cool.

They really did need the thin blanket.

The moment Ulysses realized what the Male Zerg was doing, his entire body stiffened.

His mind went blank for an instant.

He stared rigidly straight ahead and silently waited, his heart pounding rapidly beneath his chest.

But even after the movie began, and both the Female Zerg protagonist and the Male Zerg protagonist appeared on screen, each successfully passing their interviews and officially starting work, the Zerg beside him made no further move.

It seemed An Ruo had pulled his hand under the blanket purely so he could cradle it against himself and hold it.

Ulysses had thought...

He thought...

Ulysses pressed his lips together slightly.

He didn’t know whether he should feel ashamed that such thoughts had appeared in his mind or disappointed that the thing he had imagined wasn’t happening.

The pheromone collection and purification system beside the bed continued operating faithfully.

Yet it had absolutely nothing to do.

The other Zergs were probably already eating their meals by now.

At the very least, they were probably embracing each other.

Yet between him and his Male Zerg, it felt as though an entire galaxy stretched between them.

And on top of that, there was a pile of snacks the Male Zerg loved but which were extremely obstructive at this particular moment.

Ulysses’ expression turned cold.

The hand the Male Zerg was holding against himself moved tentatively.

He pinched one of An Ruo’s fingers.

Then he gently rubbed along both sides of that slender finger.

An Ruo was watching the movie seriously.

The Female Zerg protagonist was a discharged veteran suffering from war trauma.

The Male Zerg protagonist had never once left his home after graduation.

After the establishment of the new Federation, both came to Capital Star and, through a series of coincidences, ended up working at the same company...

Heavy rain poured down in the holographic projection.

The Male Zerg stood helplessly beneath the company building.

It was his first day at work.

He hadn’t brought an umbrella.

Public aircraft wouldn’t enter the company grounds to pick him up either.

With rain this heavy, he had no way to get home.

The outwardly cold Female Zerg happened to walk past.

Without much thought, he handed his umbrella to the Male Zerg, then walked away through the rain himself.

When the Male Zerg finally returned home under the umbrella, he happened to see the Female Zerg standing soaked in front of the neighboring door.

The Female Zerg was about to open it.

Hearing movement, he turned around.

Their eyes met.

Both froze.

So they were neighbors.

Had they known that earlier, perhaps neither of them would have needed to get drenched.

They could have shared the same umbrella.

The Male Zerg gave his new neighbor a sincere smile.

...

Seeing this, An Ruo smiled knowingly as well.

Many of the ideas he had contributed to this movie came from himself and Ulysses.

They drew from reality while adding plenty of artistic embellishment to make things more dramatic.

Once this movie came out, there would probably be plenty of Zergs questioning why no Female Zerg had escorted the Male Zerg Lord home, or complaining that it made no sense for a Male Zerg to ride public transportation.

But An Ruo didn’t care.

It was a movie, not reality.

This was what made it entertaining.

Just as he was thinking that, An Ruo felt Ulysses lightly pinch his hand and rub his fingers again.

Ulysses was actually the type of Zerg who made little secret gestures like this?

An Ruo found it novel, but accepted it easily.

He pinched Ulysses’ hand back in response.

Watching the movie while secretly fooling around with their hands beneath the blanket like two childish idiots.

An Ruo secretly delighted in the thought.

Then he suddenly felt that Ulysses’ movements seemed to become somewhat strange.

Ulysses encircled one of An Ruo’s fingers between two of his own.

Starting from the fingertip, he slowly slid downward.

The tingling sensation that followed the movement made An Ruo’s spine shiver.

Wait.

Wait, wait.

Wasn’t this getting a little strange?

Was Ulysses doing it deliberately or accidentally?

An Ruo’s eyes widened in the darkness.

Half his body went rigid as though facing a great enemy.

He stiffly turned his head, trying to look at Ulysses’ expression.

Only to see that Ulysses wasn’t watching the movie at all.

His eyes were lowered.

He was staring intently at the slight bulge beneath the blanket formed by their hands.

His expression was focused, as though he were doing something extremely important.

An Ruo couldn’t take this.

It was nearly impossible not to react under circumstances like this.

But they were in a movie theater.

And his relationship with Ulysses...

Ulysses hated Male Zergs.

Especially this Ulysses, from after the original ending.

An Ruo knew exactly how resistant Ulysses was toward Male Zergs at this point in time.

That was why he had always behaved extremely properly.

But what Ulysses was doing now was obviously a hint.

No.

Perhaps among Male and Female Zergs, this couldn’t even be called a hint anymore.

This was practically a direct invitation.

An Ruo swallowed.

He had no idea when Ulysses’ thoughts had changed.

Of course he couldn’t bear to disappoint Ulysses.

And he hadn’t been intimate with Ulysses in a very long time.

He missed him terribly.

But this was a movie theater!

Could they really do that in a place like this?

An Ruo thought stiffly, his brain grinding to a halt.

Then he abruptly remembered the darkness surrounding them.

He remembered that after entering the auditorium, he hadn’t been able to see or hear any other Zergs.

He remembered the spatial technology Ulysses had explained to him...

Wait.

Could this actually be the real purpose of this theater and all that technology?

When it came to putting reproduction above absolutely everything else, the Zerg race truly never disappointed.

An Ruo tugged helplessly at the corner of his mouth and turned his head toward Ulysses.

Ulysses finally lifted his lowered gaze and met his eyes.

He said nothing.

But those eyes staring directly at him, those faintly trembling lashes, seemed to have already said everything.

He was asking for permission.

An Ruo could never refuse Ulysses.

He could never bear to see disappointment appear in those eyes.

In the end, he could only hold Ulysses’ wrist with one hand while covering his own mouth with the other to keep himself from making any sound.

Even though he knew the theater had soundproofing technology, he still couldn’t completely let himself go.

At some point, Ulysses had moved closer.

The snacks that had originally been scattered between them were ruthlessly swept aside.

Ulysses pressed against him, half embracing him, his burning breath falling against An Ruo’s ear.

Ulysses lowered his head and kissed the tip of his heated ear.

From his movements, An Ruo could sense his inexperience.

This Ulysses might still never have had any real experience.

Even though he was several hundred years old, this was still an unfamiliar territory for him.

Tenderness and heartache welled up inside An Ruo.

Perhaps their first time shouldn’t happen in a place like this.

It shouldn’t be so rushed.

It should be more formal.

He should give Ulysses a better setting and a better experience.

He should treat it more solemnly.

That was also a form of respect toward Ulysses.

He kissed Ulysses’ neck soothingly, thinking they should change locations.

But Ulysses caught his hand.

He gave An Ruo no chance to leave and no chance to call a stop.

An Ruo understood the meaning in Ulysses’ eyes.

He wanted it now.

Right here.

Or perhaps he simply didn’t want to give An Ruo a chance to change his mind.

An Ruo’s throat rolled with difficulty.

This was absolutely the hardest decision he had ever faced.

He was definitely going to despise himself.

Despise the version of himself who embraced Ulysses in a movie theater.

An Ruo cried broad rivers of tears inside his heart.

But the arms that wrapped around Ulysses remained gentle and firm, never once allowing him to feel neglected.