The largest infinite market of the main star is located in the city center, a two-hour journey from the Bardell Academy. In the open-air plaza, there stands a copper statue several tens of meters high, portraying a warrior with an iron helmet, his face obscured. He holds a shield in his left hand, brandishing a sword in his right, and his cloak billows in the wind as he gazes into the distance, as if paving the way for his people through the stars.
Beneath the statue, there is a stone monument with a line of text inscribed in embossed gold letters:
“The great Zerg God, Hermes.”
When Yusto finally piloted the aircraft to arrive at the market, Lu Yuan, as if escaping for his life, covered his nose and ran down from above. What caught his eye was this grand and massive statue. He looked up at the colossal figure, subconsciously lowering his hand from his nose. For a moment, he even forgot the pungent scent in the aircraft, curiously asking, “Is this the monarch of your country?”
Yusto happened to descend from the aircraft at that moment. He walked to Lu Yuan’s side upon hearing the question, both gazing at the statue. He shook his head and said, “No, he is not a monarch; he is the deity who created everything. No achievement of any monarch among the Zerg race can surpass him.”
Lu Yuan turned his head to look at him, “Then why does the deity not have a face?”
Yusto replied, “Deities do not need specific appearances. The deity is whatever form you imagine it to be. Hermes is just a belief, an indomitable spirit that never falters.”
Lu Yuan, somewhat understanding, mumbled, “I see.”
In his mind, he thought about similar beliefs in China, though not called Hermes but rather Gautama Buddha or Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Yusto raised an eyebrow nonchalantly, “It seems your amnesia is quite severe. Forgetting even the Zerg God. You still need to buy a terminal, right? Hurry inside; all students must be back in their dorms before nine o’clock, or you won’t be allowed in.”
Lu Yuan, irritated by rules, retorted, “Who made such a rule?”
Yusto didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he adjusted his tie with graceful and composed movements. Then, in a measured tone, he said, “The Disciplinary Committee. Your Excellency, if you don’t want to lose credits, it’s best to be honest.”
“The Disciplinary Committee?” Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure it’s not the Mad Dog Committee?”
Like mad dogs, biting anyone they catch, they regulate everything—from going out to sleeping. Why bother if you live inside the academy?
Yusto stared at Lu Yuan incredulously, “Who are you calling a mad dog?!”
Lu Yuan shrugged, heading towards the market, “Well, I didn’t say it was you.”
Yusto wasn’t a mad dog.
He was an agitated, red-eyed mad rabbit.
Lu Yuan didn’t come out solely to buy a terminal today; he was more interested in understanding the outside world. As he entered the shopping center, touted as the most luxurious on the main star, he marveled at the opulent design inside, thinking that it looked more like a paradise for zergs rather than a mere shopping center.
The floor inside the mall was made of an unknown material, a translucent tea-colored glass structure, shining brightly, reflecting the slightest hint of shadows. The walls all around were designed with shattered mirrors, refracting the brilliant crystal lights from above into every corner—beautiful and surreal, yet dizzying. Countless bubble fish machine dolls floated overhead, automatically flying over to accompany customers whenever they arrived. Their tails formed an upward-hooked hook shape, useful for carrying small items.
“Smack!”
Lu Yuan, unaware of the nature of these fish, saw the chubby creature flying towards him and thought it was attacking. In a reflexive action, he swatted it away.
Yusto happened to witness this scene as he entered, and his eyelids twitched uncontrollably. He quickly walked up to Lu Yuan, gritting his teeth, “Why did you hit it?”
Lu Yuan, still marveling at the hardness of the ugly fish that left his hand stinging, paused at the question and instinctively asked, “Is it a relative of yours?”
Who would have thought that Zerg and fish could have family ties?
“You!”
Yusto was momentarily speechless, unable to do anything to Lu Yuan. He regretted bringing this trouble outside, wondering why he had subjected himself to such misery. It was a complete disaster!
Lu Yuan, realizing his inappropriate comment, didn’t want to escalate the situation further, especially after just apologizing and pacifying Yustu. Awkwardly clearing his throat, he said, “Um, we still need to buy the terminal, right? Let’s go. Where can we get one?”
Yusto snorted at his words, turned, and walked inside. Lu Yuan had no choice but to follow. Before long, they reached the entrance of a department store with a wide variety of goods, not just electronics but also food, toys, making up an entire shopping area on a different floor.
Yusto was clearly a regular customer and led Lu Yuan directly to the terminal brain purchasing area. The moment the service staff spotted them, they greeted with a welcoming smile, “Sir, welcome! How may I assist you today?”
Yusto often had to replace his terminal brain due to damage during missions. Walking up to the glass display counter, he quickly scanned the terminal models inside. Not finding anything new, he turned to Lu Yuan and asked, “Do you see any styles you like?”
Lu Yuan felt that the terminal styles inside were quite similar, with only slight variations in color. Without knowing much about their performance, he made a clever decision, “Are there any similar to yours?”
Given Yusto’s usual meticulousness, the terminals he chose wouldn’t be lacking in quality. Lu Yuan figured he couldn’t go wrong by picking something similar.
Yusto paused at Lu Yuan’s words, subtly glancing at him, “Are you sure?”
Lu Yuan, puzzled, asked, “Is there a rule in Salaranfa that females and males can’t wear the same terminal brain?”
No, there wasn’t.
Yusto had to retract his gaze and pointed to the light-brain on his wrist, saying to the service staff, “Wind Thunder C26 series. Do you have the same one?”
The staff replied with a quick “Please wait,” then turned and went to the warehouse, returning with black and white versions of the light-brain. “Sir, the Wind Thunder C26 series is available in two colors: Dawn White and Classic Night Black. Which one do you prefer?”
Yusto wore the white one, and Lu Yuan thought it might be odd to have the same color. He gestured to the black terminal brain in the packaging, saying, “Black, please.”
For some reason, Yusto felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable when he heard Lu Yuan’s choice. Seeing that Lu Yuan had made his selection, Yusto frowned slightly, took out a membership card from his wallet, and handed it to the service staff. “I want it in stock, and include the charger and all the accessories for micro earphones.”
His straightforwardness and generosity made the service staff grin from ear to ear. They promptly took the card and said, “You’re an esteemed member of our store. As per regulations, you’re eligible for a 30% discount. Please wait; we’ll pack the items for you.”
Lu Yuan had been observing the entire process, utterly silent and unable to interject. As the service staff left, he cleared his throat, touched his nose, and said to Yusto, “Sorry to make you spend again. I feel a bit embarrassed.”
Yusto looked at him coldly, “Do you really feel embarrassed?”
Lu Yuan: “…”
Of course not, Lu Yuan was delighted. Who wouldn’t be happy to get a big discount?
Lu Yuan still felt a sense of reciprocity. Seeing the food section nearby, he pointed to it and said to Yusto, “Is there anything you’d like to eat? Pick whatever you want; I’ll cover the cost.”
Yusto, upon hearing this, remembered his card mishap during lunch. Instead of making Lu Yuan bleed a bit, he ended up losing some money. He gritted his teeth and said, “Sure, why not?”
Determined to recoup his losses, Yusto pushed a shopping cart from the side and went straight to the snack section, ready for a thorough sweep.
While Yusto was busy selecting snacks, Lu Yuan was examining the internal structure of the mall. He had a great interest in the products of the Zerg race and felt the urge to pick up and examine everything he saw. However, during one of his wanderings, he accidentally entered a strange and peculiar section of the store.
“…”
Lu Yuan stood in front of one shelf for a long time, furrowing his brows and contemplating why a store would sell handcuffs. After a moment of hesitation, driven by curiosity, he picked up a box. To his surprise, inside the box were not only handcuffs but also a black leather whip with spikes.
Lu Yuan: “??!!”
Lu Yuan slowly widened his eyes, utterly shocked. As if to confirm his suspicions, he picked up several more products from the side for comparison. To his dismay, he found not only handcuffs but also electric batons and various types of iron clamps.
These items were not made of the typical soft plastic material; they were weighty in his hands. Even the electric batons didn’t look like the kind of toys for amusement but rather more like instruments of punishment.
Just as Lu Yuan furrowed his brows in doubt, a sudden voice behind him remarked, “What are you looking at?”
Lu Yuan was taken aback by the question, instinctively turning around to see Yusto standing behind him. “How did you get here?”
Yusto had just been buying snacks, and in a moment of distraction, Lu Yuan slipped away and found himself in the adult toy section.
Facing Lu Yuan’s inquiry, Yusto remained silent. Instead, he lowered his gaze to the tools Lu Yuan was holding, instruments used to torment females. For some reason, a hint of mockery flashed in the dark red depths of his eyes. It was obscured by his eyelashes, making it hard to see clearly. He raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you planning to buy that?”
Lu Yuan couldn’t help but feel that tools like these were likely to draw blood if used on the body. They didn’t seem like typical adult toys. He asked, “What are these used for?”
Yusto responded with an “Oh,” a smile playing on his lips. However, the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. He drawled in a slow and deliberate tone, “Of course, they are used on…”
He raised a finger, pointing at himself, “Females like me.”
While he spoke with a smile, his emotions remained subdued, calm like a stagnant pond. It was different from the usual infuriated reactions that Lu Yuan often triggered, presenting an unsettling calmness.
Lu Yuan had been on this world for too short a time and hadn’t yet fully grasped the rules. He wasn’t aware that many males in this species tended to have a brutal nature. Since they couldn’t genetically suppress the robust military females, they resorted to alternative methods to torment them.
Whipping and kneeling punishments had become commonplace, much like the various “torture devices” displayed openly on store shelves for customers to choose from. No zerg considered it inappropriate.
Yusto, despite appearing calm, gave Lu Yuan the impression that he was angry. Even though he asked with great courtesy, “If you like any of these, feel free to take them home. In the future, if you happen to marry a female monarch…”
Yusto paused for a moment, with a cryptic tone, “You might find them useful.”
A female monarch?
Lu Yuan thought, isn’t that just a wife? Who in their right mind would use such things on their wife? After learning that the items in his hand were indeed adult toys, he promptly threw them back onto the shelf in front of Yusto. Frowning deeply, he felt that the Zerg creatures were akin to having some major illness:
“Only a lunatic would buy this.”
Lu Yuan was always straightforward. He quickly lost interest in this mysterious section, shrugged his coat onto his shoulders, and said to Yusto, “Let’s go, buy some snacks.”
After speaking, Lu Yuan took the lead and walked ahead.
Yusto was momentarily surprised by this sudden change, but before he could gather his thoughts, he saw Lu Yuan turning back as if he had just remembered something. Lu Yuan looked at him and said, “By the way, if anyone dares to use these things on you in the future, let me know.”
Lu Yuan was very loyal to his friends, “I’ll beat them up for you!”
“…”
Yusto silently gazed at the black-haired male zerg before him, not knowing what to say for a moment. He always felt that Lu Yuan didn’t quite fit in with this country, not just in terms of external appearance but something deeper that he couldn’t quite put into words.
Not particularly adept at accepting others’ kindness, Yusto remained in a daze for a few seconds before snapping back to reality. He tried to ignore the peculiar feeling in his heart and frowned, saying, “You better focus on yourself. If you keep getting into fights in the academy, your credits will be deducted in no time.”
Having spoken, he turned and walked forward, attempting to leave this area. However, after just a few steps, several figures suddenly appeared around the corner. The leader was a gray-haired male zerg holding a sexy subfemale in his arms, with another tall female zerg following closely behind, embracing him from both sides. They seemed to be enjoying quite a pleasurable time.
The gray-haired male zerg, whether or not familiar with Yusto, visibly hesitated for a moment upon seeing him. He then released the subfemale in his arms and walked forward to greet, “Yusto, what a coincidence. Didn’t expect to run into you here.”
The color of this male’s hair and eyes vaguely resembled Yusto’s, but it seemed to have picked up many impurities. His silver hair appeared dull and gray, and his red eyes lacked the clarity found in Yusto’s. Instead, they presented a kind of earthy brown. He had a handsome face, indicating a relatively high purity of blood, but his demeanor exuded a certain lightness and vulgarity. His gaze was sticky, making people feel uncomfortable.
Seeing this male, Yusto’s mood instantly became worse than if he had eaten a fly. He regretted not leaving earlier. In a cold tone, he responded, “What a coincidence, Your Excellency Levin.”
Lu Yuan had just caught up, and seeing their interaction, he thought Yusto had met a friend. “What’s going on? Do you know each other?”
When Levin saw Lu Yuan, his eyes lit up for a moment, evidently mistaking him for a beautiful subfemale. His gaze lingered on Lu Yuan’s sturdy figure, and he smiled ambiguously, saying, “I’m Levin, Yusto’s younger brother.”
Lu Yuan was about to say something when Yusto suddenly spoke, interrupting, “I’m sorry, Your Excellency Levin, but I have to correct you. My surname is Gohedra, and yours is Amonde. In the Salaranfa Empire, I only have one biological younger brother, currently studying at Bardell Academy.”
With Yusto’s words, the air became momentarily tense. Even Lu Yuan, as a bystander, felt the awkwardness in the atmosphere, not to mention Levin, who was directly involved. His face visibly darkened for a moment, and he spoke in a low tone, “Yusto, we share the same male father. Doesn’t that make us brothers?”
Yusto, however, chuckled with a mocking smile, “If we consider the male father, then you have quite a number of brothers, over forty, to be precise… like the two beside you? The Gohedra family’s cubs are sparse, it seems they won’t enjoy the same glory as you.”
In the Salaranfa Empire, they followed a system where one male lord could have multiple subfemales, resulting in numerous cubs with different surnames.
Yusto’s male father was known for his promiscuous behavior, maintaining a facade of having only one Empress in public while secretly having numerous attendants and spawning a considerable number of illegitimate cubs. Levin was among the most favored ones.
Inheriting his male father’s promiscuous traits and even surpassing them, Levin didn’t hesitate to engage with his half-siblings as well. The two subfemales and the female beside him all had some degree of blood relation with him. However, it was clear that Levin was most interested in Yusto, the challenging prey.
Yusto, casting a disdainful glance at Levin, spoke directly to Lu Yuan, “Let’s go.”
Lu Yuan had been watching the scene from the sidelines, and upon hearing this, he quickly caught up. However, Levin was unwilling to let it go. As Yusto passed by him, Levin directly grabbed his wrist, gritting his teeth, “Yusto, don’t you think your words just now were too offensive to me?!”
Most likely, he had just finished rolling in the sheets with the two subfemales beside him. The strong pheromones on his body hadn’t dissipated yet. Normal females would feel intense heat when they smelled it, but for Yusto, who was on the verge of estrus, it was like the last straw that broke the camel’s back, enough to make him lose control of his zerg metamorphosis.
Yusto smelled the pheromones on Levin, and his mind suddenly became dizzy, with his figure even swaying. His eyes turned blood-red as he looked at Levin, and he coldly ordered, “Let go!”
Levin, being a seasoned player in the romantic arena, quickly noticed Yusto’s abnormality. He cast a provocative gaze over his body and sneered, “No wonder you came to browse the adult store. So, your estrus is coming soon, Yusto. Why pretend to be so high and mighty? If you feel lonely, just come find me anytime. I always have a place for you in my bed.”
He continued with a mocking tone, “Of course, your disabled brother can come too.”
Hearing the words “disabled brother”, Yusto’s face turned extremely ugly. He was instantly blinded by rage, raising his fist to strike Levin. Seeing this, Lu Yuan’s pupils contracted, and he instinctively stepped forward to stop him, lowering his voice and frowning, “Yusto, calm down. Assaulting a male requires a trial in the interrogation room!”
Lu Yuan, based on personal experience, concluded that assaulting a male as a female wouldn’t lead to any advantages, especially considering Levin’s apparently high blood purity. If Yusto impulsively attacked him, he would undoubtedly be taken into custody by the military. While Lu Yuan might not mind facing the consequences, Yusto shouldn’t end up in such a place.
Hearing this, Yusto, with bloodshot eyes, looked at Lu Yuan. The red hue in his eyes deepened, and his chest heaved irregularly. Clenching his teeth, he questioned, “Should females endure such humiliation?!”
Lu Yuan was momentarily taken aback.
Levin was initially startled by Yusto’s actions, but with Lu Yuan intervening, he felt relieved. Upon hearing Yusto’s words, he chuckled and said, “Yusto, this is not an insult but a blessing. Countless females outside wish to be comforted by me. You should be happy. Or perhaps your friend is wise, knowing that assaulting a male as a female is a serious crime. Learn a bit from him.”
Yusto, clenching his teeth, couldn’t control the strong taste of blood between his lips. He couldn’t do anything to Levin at this moment, as acting impulsively would mean immediate confinement in the interrogation room, as Lu Yuan pointed out.
After his words, Levin turned his gaze to Lu Yuan, finding this “female” both beautiful and tactful. Arching an eyebrow, he smiled and asked, “What do you think?”
Yusto’s face had darkened to a point where it seemed like it could drip water. He gritted his teeth, enduring this humiliation, and was about to leave this troublesome place with Lu Yuan when, unexpectedly, Lu Yuan turned around. With a swift movement, he delivered a punch that knocked Levin to the ground.
“Bullshit!”
This sudden and unexpected action caught everyone off guard. With a loud bang, Levin rolled several meters on the ground, surprising the two female attendants beside him.
Lu Yuan had initially decided to turn over a new leaf and avoid violence in the future. However, he had clearly overestimated his patience and underestimated the shamelessness of male zergs.
Levin had a tooth knocked out by his punch, holding his face in pain and unable to get up.
The female beside, frightened and angry at the sight, pointed at Lu Yuan and exclaimed, “You, you, you… Are you crazy? Assaulting a male by a female is a grave crime!”
“Is that so?”
Lu Yuan’s gaze was as deep as a cold pool, and he calmly said, devoid of emotion, “Unfortunately, I’m a male zerg.”
He admitted it exceptionally this time, considering the insulted female behind him.
Lu Yuan still couldn’t change his habit of running away after a fight. After speaking, he took advantage of the fact that the surrounding zergs hadn’t reacted yet, directly grabbed Yusto, who seemed to be in an unusual state, and walked out. He quickly left the mall with large strides.
Outside, the sky had already darkened, creating a sharp contrast with the dazzling lights of the mall. Lu Yuan found their aircraft parked on the side of the road, and he and Yusto got on directly. He urged, “Let’s go quickly.”
To avoid being caught up by those few zergs.
“…”
However, his only response was a heavy breathing sound. Yusto bowed his head on the steering wheel, body tense and trembling. The golden markings on his neck were faintly glowing, and the skin around them was scorching hot, resembling red charcoal. It looked like the situation was not good.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan was stunned, “Yusto, what’s wrong with you?”
Yusto didn’t speak. He took a deep breath. In the dim light, he struggled to lift his head to look at Lu Yuan. His silver hair was already soaked in cold sweat, the upturned ends of his eyes were flushed, and the neat buttons on his military uniform had somehow come undone. The cold and restrained demeanor he usually carried during the day seemed to have vanished in an instant.
He rarely addressed Lu Yuan without any mocking undertones, and his pale lower lip had been bitten to the point of bleeding. In a low, almost embarrassing voice, he uttered a sentence, “Your Excellency… my… estrus has arrived…”
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