Chapter 40: Male School Heartthrob x Military Academy Student (5)

[Lord Hill is so calm. Normally, if a Zerg found out something like this, they'd either be terrified or just want to shake him off. Lord Hill accepted it just like that and even remembered to clean up afterward, destroy the surveillance, and erase memories.]

Destroying surveillance and erasing memories were wrong, but this was a Male Lord.

Everything a Male Lord did was adorable. As long as it wasn't some unforgivable crime, it could be forgiven.

In reality, female Zergs already had extremely low standards for male Zergs.

By the time it came to novels, those standards practically had no bottom line at all.

No matter what a male Zerg did, female Zergs would actively come up with excuses and forgive him.

Not only would Hill doing these things not make readers dislike him, but his competence and thoughtfulness instead became bonus points.

The Tenga who had climbed over the firewall once again witnessed the Zergs' famous double standards toward male Zergs despite their usual obsession with rules, and silently typed a "6."

The Instructor exploded in popularity.

It was not only popular among the Zergs, but also among the neighboring Tenga race.

Though they shared the same origins as the Zergs, their ideologies were completely opposite. Yet, surprisingly, the Tenga accepted this Zerg novel exceptionally well.

Like the Zergs, all Tenga females were soldiers and had to serve in the military, so they strongly related to Claire's identity as an "Instructor."

But a military male like Xi'an was a dazzling existence that could never exist among the Tenga.

Their males were confined to their homes. Even leaving the house required the company of their female lord. They had no opportunity to participate in society or shine in any field the way Zerg male lords could.

On one hand, the Tenga believed {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} males should obediently stay at home and thought Zerg male lords were too unruly.

On the other hand, their innate admiration for strength made them particularly susceptible to these brilliant Zerg males, making them desperately want to possess them.

Their feelings toward Xi'an in The Instructor were exactly that complicated.

After discovering that the Ninth Legion really did have a military male second lieutenant named Xi'an, a group of Tenga dreaming of stealing a male Zerg from the Ninth Legion appeared.

Whenever they fought the Zerg military and learned the opponent was from the Ninth Legion, their fighting spirit soared and they fought especially hard.

The Instructor had long since spread into Tenga territory.

Although all Zerg cultural products were officially banned due to the hostility between the two races and could only circulate underground as prohibited books, that didn't stop word-of-mouth among Tenga military females from spreading farther and farther until it gradually became popular throughout the entire Tenga Empire.

Ever since then, Tenga had often secretly climbed over the firewall to read Zerg novels.

Especially after learning that the author of The Instructor had started a new book, they swarmed in by the masses.

Of course, most Tenga merely lurked without speaking.

First, StarNet required real-name registration, and Tenga couldn't register accounts, so they had no right to comment.

Second, even if they managed to obtain an account from a race friendly with the Zergs through various channels, they still had to be extremely careful. Once exposed as Tenga, their account would be immediately banned.

Thus, the Tenga had gotten used to either lurking silently or pretending to be female Zergs or other races when leaving comments.

But the ideological differences between the Tenga and Zergs were too vast, making their disguises painfully unconvincing.

Pseudo-Zerg Tenga were frequently exposed by readers and had their accounts sealed.

Yet that still couldn't stop wave after wave of them from returning.

[There are too many fake Zergs under An-shen's new book. Why do these Tenga love having gatherings here?]

[Because your other books are unreadable (eye-roll). After fighting the Zergs all day, reading a few Zerg male-female novels and watching female Zergs get abused is pretty satisfying. But after reading too much, it really becomes nauseating.]

[Caught another one. @Moderator, hurry and deal with it.]

Most readers had no time to care about the Tenga and only focused on the story itself.

[Is Lord Hill really going to the Underground District? How can a male Zerg go to such a dangerous and chaotic place?]

[He should be fine. Nobody would dare touch a high-ranking male Zerg unless they wanted to die.]

[Are there few lunatics in the Underground District?]

[It's already dangerous enough that Iso is raising the hatchling there, and now he's planning to bring a male Zerg over too! Even an S-rank potential holder can't act so recklessly! Having the potential to become S-rank doesn't mean he's actually S-rank!]

[Iso probably never expected the male lord to really come. He thought Lord Hill was just sending him away. When the Lord actually showed up later, he was visibly stunned.]

[I'll say it quietly, but I honestly thought Lord Hill wouldn't go looking for Iso. He cares about the hatchling, but obviously not to the point of absolutely needing this particular child. Suddenly gaining a hatchling must have thrown him into chaos.]

[Exactly. Lord Hill's thoughts have always been "my life is completely gray," "I don't have much natural affection toward hatchlings," "headache," "irritated"... I thought he wouldn't want the hatchling anymore. Iso, who directly faces Lord Hill's emotions, would naturally be even more uneasy and lack confidence.]

[But the Lord came.]

[After handling everything, he came to find the father and son.]

[Does anyone understand how moved I was when Lord Hill appeared?]

Female Zergs practically fell for him instantly.

A male Zerg facing an unexpected hatchling and still willing to shoulder the responsibility of being a male parent despite not having strong feelings was the ideal husband that most female Zergs dreamed of.

Whether there was love or not wasn't that important to female Zergs.

Even if true love existed among the Zergs, they never believed it would fall to them.

A male Zerg willing to take responsibility for a hatchling was far more tangible than some vague and illusory love.

At this rate, Hill had a chance to surpass Xi'an and become this year's number one on the "Female Zergs Most Want to Marry List."

Xi'an's disadvantage was that he didn't have a hatchling yet.

Incidentally, last year's number one on the "Female Zergs Least Want to Marry List" had been Annor.

With nothing but a single divorce case, he had surpassed every trash male Zerg and claimed the top position.

But after that male Zerg entered the Military Region Prison and began performing Psychic Soothing, his reputation among military females strangely reversed.

Some military females had even established a forum dedicated to him. Inside, lovestruck military females exchanged letters and wrote sickeningly sweet sentences every day.

Leaving female Zergs outside the military utterly baffled.

Currently, his admirers were still limited to military females and his fanbase wasn't huge, but it was growing rapidly.

At this rate, perhaps one day his name would appear on the "Female Zergs Most Want to Marry List."

That would truly be a hell of a joke.

Besides that, someone had also put the author "An" onto the list.

A person of unknown gender—whether military female, sub-female military doctor, or male Zerg remained unknown—had actually entered the rankings and, amidst everyone's encouragement, made it into the top ten.

It could only be said that not a single female Zerg who pressed the vote button was innocent.

The voting female Zergs had their own reasoning:

"So what if the gender is unknown? There's nothing wrong with marrying that. As long as An-shen is willing to marry me, I'll bring my dowry."

"It doesn't matter if An-shen is female. We can just marry the same male lord and become one family. Male lords are all the same anyway. Marrying the female lord is better than marrying the male lord."

"Besides, if even a male Zerg like Annor has fans, why can't we vote An-shen onto the list?"

"No matter what, An-shen can't rank below a domestic abuser, right?"

That actually sounded pretty reasonable.

Thus, even more Zergs joined in for fun.

...

[By the way, is Little Isi's genetic disease curable?]

[Honestly, I still don't understand whether Isi even has a genetic disease.]

[Same.]

[I don't get it either.]

[With how frequently he's receiving Psychic Soothing, it looks like he has one. But Lord Hill said his Psychic Domain is completely healthy. A high-ranking male Zerg's examination can't be wrong. I'm confused.]

Some had speculated that perhaps male Zergs simply loved hatchlings so much that they gave them more Psychic Soothing.

But no matter how much they adored hatchlings, once a month was already enough.

Hatchlings simply didn't need much Psychic Soothing. Going years without it wouldn't cause any problems.

Seven, eight, nine, ten times a week...

That was completely beyond the comprehension of female Zergs.

...

[As the only hatchling of his male parent and female parent, Isidore naturally received all the love of both parents.

Therefore...

"Can I sleep with Male Parent tonight?"

On the public shuttle home, Isidore had already begun looking forward to it, clapping his hands and bouncing excitedly.

"Male Parent sleeps on the left, Female Parent sleeps on the right, and I'll sleep in the middle! Yay!"

"..."

Hill awkwardly raised his eyes and looked at the female Zerg sitting opposite him.

Iso wanted nothing more than to cover the hatchling's mouth.

He picked up the bouncing Isidore from the middle and placed him firmly in the seat beside him, making him sit properly.

Then he shot him a warning glance, forbidding him from talking nonsense again.

"Lord Hill, I'm very sorry. I'll explain things properly to Isi later."

Iso forced himself to say.

"Mhm..."

Hill responded softly and didn't interfere.

Even with inherited memories, a hatchling was still a hatchling with the mind of a three-and-a-half-year-old.

Naturally, he wouldn't argue with a hatchling over something like that.

It was just...

A little awkward.

Hill's gaze drifted toward the display screen inside the shuttle that was currently playing advertisements.

It was his first time riding public transportation. After watching for a while, he found himself wondering why it was always advertisements and why the actual program hadn't started yet.

Only after some time did he realize that it was simply an advertising screen.

The fact that he had been staring at it the entire time made him look pretty stupid.

Hill silently shifted his gaze back.

Only to meet the female Zerg's hesitant eyes.

...He discovered that I was a fool staring at advertisements.

"What is it?"

Hill firmly believed that as long as he wasn't embarrassed, then the embarrassed one would be someone else. His expression remained calm.

"Lord Hill, the Underground District is very chaotic..."

Iso hesitated.

He shouldn't have let his selfishness and desire to let the hatchling receive a little more Psychic Soothing bring a male Zerg to that sort of place.

"Can't you protect me?"

Hill asked.

Even if he couldn't, it wouldn't matter. He was an A-rank male Zerg. With Psychic Power, there weren't many female Zergs who could defeat him.

Though...

He was still a little scared.

And no female Zerg could say he wasn't capable when confronted with such a question.

"I'll definitely protect you, Lord Hill. But you might not be able to accept the environment there, and... my home is very small."

Hill's eyes widened in shock.

Were they really going to share a bed?

How small was "very small"?

Hill couldn't imagine it.

Isidore, meanwhile, excitedly exclaimed,

"It's okay! Male Parent will definitely love our home! Female Parent has lots of toys! And a mecha!"

Hill immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

If a mecha could fit inside, then no matter how small it was, it couldn't be that small.

Surely there would at least be somewhere to sleep.

"None of that matters. I'm not that delicate. I need to see Isi's living environment myself before I can feel at ease."

"...Alright."

Iso could only agree, though he was convinced the male lord would be disappointed.

The public shuttle only stopped at the nearest entrance to the Underground District and went no farther.

Holding the hatchling in his arms, Iso brought the male Zerg into the elevator leading underground.

Hill felt like he'd ridden down several hundred floors.

It took so long that he thought the elevator had broken before it finally reached the bottom.

The metal doors opened before him.

Following the female Zerg outside, he raised his head and saw a world that was dark yet brilliantly colorful. Towering buildings stood in rows, countless neon signs hanging above them. Semi-transformed female Zergs spread their wings and flew between the structures.

Everything resembled scenes from an alien race's interstellar movies.

Filled with exotic charm, absurd and bizarre, yet possessing a unique appeal.

It was hard to believe that such a place truly existed within the Zerg Federation.

And directly beneath the Capital Star at that.

Watching the semi-transformed female Zergs freely weaving between skyscrapers without restraint, Hill silently thought:

Cool.

At that moment, Iso beside him said:

"Lord Hill, could you hold my waist?"

Hill: "??!"

It's over! I've been tricked!

The evil female Zerg had revealed his true colors after entering the dark underground and finally extended his sinful claws toward this poor little male Zerg.

...]