Chapter 78: The Tiny Male Egg: "Hello there, Axel." An Ruo greeted the little one inside the egg through its shell.

#Zerg–Heavenly Garuda Diplomatic Relations#

[Don't push something like this onto StarNet's trending topics! (Facepalm) You have no idea how shocked I was when I saw that topic while I was out.]

[+1 to the shock.]

[Even though I know it's just something from An-shen's novel, seeing it trending on StarNet still gave me a scare.]

[I came in carrying a knife, ready to storm the Federation government with a rant, and then I was completely dumbfounded. What is this supposed to be?]

[An-shen is really going farther and farther down the science fiction road.]

[The first two books looked like science fiction, but somehow ended up matching reality. School Heartthrob was basically custom-written. But this one is genuine "science fiction," without a single drop of reality mixed in.]

Everyone knew it was impossible for the Zergs and the Heavenly Garudas to establish diplomatic relations.

Ever since the era of the Zerg Queen ended, the two branches had traveled farther and farther apart in opposite directions until they ultimately split into two completely different races...

And severed all diplomatic ties.

For millions of years afterward, they had never reestablished relations.

No matter how many times their governments changed.

Whether monarchy.

Democracy.

Or constitutional monarchy.

The two races had remained unwavering enemies.

...

Capital Star.

Inside a military officer's villa.

A General of the Seventh Legion was browsing StarNet when a familiar name caught his attention. He tapped into the topic, came back out wearing a puzzled expression, then noticed an even more explosive trending topic...

After reading the comments beneath it, he finally pieced together the whole story.

Science fiction.

Nothing more.

It was just that seeing the same name was an odd coincidence that still felt rather strange.

Lowering his head, he looked at the male egg wrapped carefully in cloth in his arms.

The egg was slightly smaller than an ordinary Zerg egg.

Having been born prematurely, it looked even tinier.

As though a moment's carelessness would be enough to snuff out its life.

A few days ago, he had still been able to sense the faint psychic activity within the egg.

Today...

It had become unusually quiet.

Worry rising in his heart, he stood up and carried the egg to the medical department.

The doctor was speechless the moment he arrived.

"General, I'm a military doctor. I treat injured and sick military females! I don't treat eggs!"

"My apologies for troubling you."

He turned to leave, only to be called back.

"Wait. Where are you going?"

The military doctor asked.

"To the Hatchery Department at the Hatchling Hospital."

he answered.

"Wrong! In this situation, you should be looking for a Male Zerg."

"A Male Zerg?"

The first-time Female Parent looked completely confused.

Seeing that he clearly had no experience raising an egg, the military doctor patiently explained,

"Eggs require pheromones and psychic comfort from their male parent."

"Your egg has gone far too long without receiving Male Zerg pheromones. On top of that, it suffered a serious fright, and its mental condition is poor. If a high-ranking Male Lord could provide psychic soothing, its condition would improve significantly, and that would also benefit its future development."

That left him in a difficult position.

What Male Lord would willingly provide pheromones and psychic soothing to an egg belonging to a complete stranger?

Understanding his predicament, and taking pity on the tiny male egg, the military doctor offered a suggestion.

"I do know one possibility. Whether it'll work or not, I can't say..."

"You could try asking Major General Uriel of the First Military Region."

Major General Uriel...

Of the First Military Region.

The General seemed to remember something.

After thanking the doctor, he left.

...

An Ruo had just finished a three-star Psychic Soothing session when he was informed that a temporary visitation request had been submitted.

The visitor...

A General from the Seventh Legion.

Walking beside him, Uriel looked slightly troubled as he explained,

"This request is rather unusual."

"That General wishes to ask for pheromones... and psychic soothing."

Pheromones?!

An Ruo's expression changed instantly.

His face filled with horror.

He wasn't selling his body!

Realizing the misunderstanding, Uriel hurriedly explained,

"It's for an egg."

An Ruo blinked.

"...A pregnant female?"

Absolutely not.

He wasn't selling his body for that either!

Then he suddenly remembered something.

"Wait."

"Who exactly submitted the request?"

"The Seventh Legion."

"General Enzo."

...

In the end, An Ruo accepted the request and met the visitor inside the treatment room.

Seated behind the medical desk, both hands folded neatly before him, he looked toward the entrance.

The female who walked inside had short chestnut-brown hair and a cold, handsome appearance.

His pair of ocean-blue eyes, calm and tolerant like the sea itself, were especially striking.

Cradled in his arms...

Was a tiny egg wrapped carefully in soft clothing.

The shell was pure white.

Without any markings.

A male egg.

"Lord Annor..."

Holding the egg, the female greeted him awkwardly.

He looked exactly like a nervous first-time Female Parent.

"Thank you for accepting my request..."

"This is a male egg recovered from the battlefield. The nursery entrusted it to me for incubation."

"It was born prematurely. Its vitality is weak."

"It was also badly frightened."

"It has lacked male pheromones and psychic soothing for far too long."

"I truly had no other choice..."

The tiny egg was gently placed upon the desk.

An Ruo could sense the faint psychic fluctuations inside.

His emotions became extraordinarily ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) complicated.

There was even a hint of melancholy.

He already knew the answer.

Even so, he still asked,

"What's his name?"

"Axel."

"It means peace."

"..."

Never in his wildest dreams had An Ruo imagined meeting the protagonist of his own novel like this.

Resting a hand upon the eggshell, he felt the tiny pulse of life inside before looking back up.

"I'll provide pheromones."

"Please wait outside."

Gratefully, Enzo withdrew and quietly shut the treatment room door behind him.

The treatment room had originally been designed for treating military females.

Like the prison cells, it completely isolated pheromones.

The instant Enzo left...

The calm, composed doctor facade vanished.

An Ruo immediately opened his terminal, logged onto StarNet, and searched:

How do you release pheromones?

Methods even Male Zerg hatchlings can learn to release pheromones.

He couldn't really be blamed for this.

After working as a Psychic Soothing specialist in prison for so long, he'd only ever learned how to use psychic power.

He had never once released pheromones.

Honestly...

He wasn't even sure whether he possessed pheromones at all.

He had never smelled anything unusual on himself.

Even now, after sniffing himself...

All he could smell were shampoo, soap, and the faint warm scent naturally coming from his own body.

Surely...

That didn't count as pheromones?

The females around him had never shown any unusual reactions either.

Whether Uriel...

Or the military females standing guard every day.

Their gazes sometimes became a little too enthusiastic...

But that was probably because he was a Psychic Soothing specialist.

Nothing to do with pheromones.

The only truly unusual incident...

Had been that Psychic Soothing session with Ulysses on the prison bed...

Which had ultimately cost him his bed.

I should have pheromones...

An Ruo thought.

If I have psychic power, there's no reason I shouldn't have pheromones too.

Following StarNet's tutorial, An Ruo attempted to release gaseous pheromones.

A pleasant fragrance gradually filled the room.

He couldn't quite describe the scent.

It simply made the entire space feel comfortable.

Relaxing.

As though the room itself had become his territory.

Is this enough?

Continuing to release pheromones, An Ruo gently stroked the Heavenly Garuda egg while providing psychic soothing to the little life inside.

Only after he felt the hatchling's condition stabilize and its psychic activity become much livelier did he finally stop.

A tiny psychic tendril wrapped itself around his finger.

An Ruo paused.

Through the eggshell, he greeted the little one inside.

"Hello there, Axel."

The tiny life answered him with even more energetic psychic waves.

What a miraculous little creature.

An Ruo couldn't help feeling emotional.

Now he finally understood why adult Zergs loved cuddling hatchlings and eggs so much.

They were simply too adorable.

Carefully picking up the egg, he held it in his arms and quietly played with it for a while.

He even secretly took several commemorative photos.

Remembering that the little one's Female Parent had probably been waiting anxiously outside, he reluctantly put everything away.

Just to be safe, he found the pheromone purification mode on the treatment room control panel and activated it.

Then he waited a little longer.

Only after the display showed the pheromone concentration had fallen back to zero did he stand up, open the door, and let Enzo come in to take the egg home.

He certainly wasn't going to carry the egg outside himself.

What if he accidentally dropped it?

The egg remained on the desk.

Still wrapped in soft cloth.

Now tied with an enormous bow.

It was unbelievably adorable.

Cute enough to melt any Zerg's heart.

Enzo's heart was certainly melted.

He almost reached for his terminal to take a picture.

An egg...

With a ribbon.

It struck directly at every Female Parent's heart.

He found himself a little surprised.

He had never expected that quiet, reserved Male Lord to have such a personality.

Still...

Taking photographs at a moment like this would have been far too disrespectful.

With regret, Enzo abandoned the idea.

He carefully picked up the male egg.

Feeling the steady heartbeat inside...

And the much livelier psychic fluctuations...

He quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Holding the egg, Enzo turned back and thanked him sincerely.

"Thank you, Lord, for saving him."

"I truly cannot express my gratitude."

"I've prepared a small gift."

"I hope you'll accept it."

Whenever one requested a favor from a Male Zerg...

Payment was expected.

Enzo understood that perfectly well.

Inside the small box...

Was an exquisite cufflink.

A storage button.

The true valuables were stored inside it.

Treatment room.

Doctor.

Expensive gift.

Those words put together made An Ruo extremely uneasy.

He immediately waved both hands.

"There's no need for a gift."

"This is what I should do."

"We have regulations."

"We're not allowed to accept them."

Enzo blinked.

"...?"

He had never heard of such a regulation.

Among the Zergs, once one party declined, the other wouldn't continue forcing a gift on them.

Especially when the other party was a Male Zerg.

Having no choice, Enzo put the storage button away.

Looking rather troubled, he said,

"In that case..."

"I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"You don't have to."

"Just consider it my gift to this child."

"I'm very happy to have met him."

Smiling gently, An Ruo looked toward the little white egg tied with its oversized bow in Enzo's arms.

Very happy to have met him.

Not...

To have known him.

Enzo immediately caught the subtle difference in wording.

Combined with the ribbon tied around the egg...

A possibility occurred to him.

Male Zerg Psychic Soothing specialists in the Military Region Prison...

Were allowed access to StarNet.

Somewhat awkwardly, Enzo cautiously asked,

"...Have you..."

"...also read that novel?"

The instant those words were spoken...

The embarrassment shifted entirely onto someone else.

An Ruo's expression froze.

He wanted nothing more than to dig an underground fortress on the spot.

Preferably all the way down to Basement Level One.

"...I..."

He squeezed the words out through clenched teeth.

"I've read... a little."

"And you... read it too?"

"No."

Keeping a perfectly straight face, Enzo replied,

"A 'science fiction' novel with absolutely no basis in reality isn't something I'd choose to read."

An Ruo immediately relaxed.

Feeling as though he'd finally found someone who shared his perspective, he eagerly asked,

"So you also think it's just fantasy?"

"That it could never come true?"

"Of course not."

Enzo answered with complete seriousness.

His tone was unwavering.

An Ruo smiled even more brightly.

"That's wonderful."

"As long as you think that..."

"...it'll only ever remain a novel."

Of course it would only ever remain a novel.

Enzo found the Male Lord's choice of words somewhat peculiar.

He wanted to ask another question.

Unfortunately, Uriel, who had been waiting outside for quite some time, interrupted.

"The visitation period has ended."

"Please don't occupy His Lordship's personal rest time."

Holding the male egg in his arms, Enzo met Uriel's eyes at the doorway.

Then he turned back to bid the Male Lord farewell.

"I'll prepare another gift."

"I'll deliver it on the visitation day at the end of the month."

An Ruo hurriedly waved his hands.

"Really, there's no need..."

The previous visitor's "I'll come again another day" still hadn't been resolved.

Now there was another one.

An Ruo feared this sort of "appointment" more than anything.

Uriel answered on his behalf.

"You may send the gift."

"You don't need to appear in person."