Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Zong Yuan and Ji Xing sat in the front seats, watching as the spacecraft searched for the narrow entrance not far away. The Adagen Beast was alive and conscious; it could sense the approach of other creatures within a certain range, thus fiercely guarding its territory.
Zong Yuan and Ji Xing had the same idea. Once they identified the entrance, they accelerated with full force before the Adagen Beast could react.
Ji Xing sat in the driver’s seat, responsible for piloting the spacecraft into Nato Xing. The lives of two Zergs weighed on him, causing him to hesitate.
Zong Yuan asked, “Nervous?”
“Un,” Ji Xing closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “Ready, I’m starting.”
The entrance was right ahead. The spacecraft calculated the approximate distance and required time. Zong Yuan said, “Five seconds might be a bit tricky; the normal reaction time for an Adagen Beast is less than two seconds.”
He looked at the Adagen Beast on the surface of Nato Star, which showed no signs of movement. From the weapon box, he took out a laser cannon and calmly said to Ji Xing, “Focus on piloting the spacecraft, leave the rest to me.”
Whether in tone or attitude, he exuded convincing confidence.
Ji Xing gazed ahead, nodded, and said, “I got it.”
He wholeheartedly believed in Zong Yuan’s words, immediately initiated maximum speed, and the cold voice of the system echoed, “Absolute speed activated, 3—2—1.”
The spacecraft, with full horsepower, rushed towards Nato Star at the fastest speed.
Ji Xing stared fixedly at the entrance, his hands on the steering in a steady manner, completely ignoring everything else.
Zong Yuan held the cannon. Without any signs of the Adagen Beast moving, he shot a laser toward a distant location.
A dazzling white light lit up in space, attracting the Adagen Beast with its sound and color. Its enormous tentacles reached the exploding point in the distance.
The spacecraft whooshed into the pitch-black entrance.
The entire field of vision was shrouded in darkness.
Zong Yuan and Ji Xing had long turned off the interior lights of the spacecraft. Both the outside and inside were plunged into darkness, with only the small screen of the automatic navigation system exploring the obstacles ahead.
Ji Xing slowed down the speed, entrusting everything to the system capable of navigating in the dark. He completely let go of his worries, only to realize that his fingers had stiffened.
Another hand held his.
In the darkness, Zong Yuan chuckled softly, “Well done.”
Sheltered by the darkness, Ji Xing smiled contentedly.
The Adagen Beast had already covered the entire Nato Star. Zong Yuan and Ji Xing had prepared for complete darkness inside. However, after a brief five minutes, they discovered they were wrong.
After the brief darkness, Nato Star revealed its own light.
Countless luminous plants floated in the air, illuminating the entire sky as beautifully as daylight.
Strange and enormous flowering plants, deep green branches hanging down from trees reaching the sky, and subtle plants emitting yellow, white, and green light permeated the scene.
It was as if they were in a fairy tale world.
In such a picturesque setting, it truly stirred the romantic nerves of the few female Zergs.
Ji Xing, like a female Zerg expressing affection, tried to appear mature and handsome. “Lord Zong Yuan, in the current Imperial Calendar of 9102, can you accept my request to marry me as your queen?”
Zong Yuan, “…Ji Xing, you—”
Dazed by the instinctual impulses of the female insect, Ji Xing continued, “I will strive to bear offspring for you!”
He should be able to bear them, right? Ji Xing, who had endured countless injuries, felt uneasy in his heart. “I’m very healthy! And my physique is excellent, I’m very resistant… I—”
Zong Yuan directly raised a finger to silence Ji Xing, who was starting to involuntarily ramble again, with a helpless expression. “Darling, we are currently inside Nato Star. Are you proposing to me here?”
Ji Xing was stunned, shaking his head abruptly. “Damn it.”
Those were definitely not words he would say!
…At most, they were just his inner thoughts!
Ji Xing frowned, “I suspect there are hallucinogenic plants here.”
Zong Yuan looked at him skeptically.
Ji Xing’s face turned red, “Really, I couldn’t possibly say such things!”
He eagerly awaited Zong Yuan to nod and express belief in him.
Zong Yuan glanced around. The plants here were all ordinary, more for ornamental purposes than practical effects. He really didn’t see any plants with hallucinogenic capabilities. Zong Yuan shrugged, appeasing, “Alright, alright, I believe you.”
As if. If there were truly hallucinogenic plants, why was he unaffected? And Ji Xing, we’re still inside the spacecraft.
Ji Xing breathed a sigh of relief, heightened his vigilance, and observed everything around him with focused attention. Suddenly, he furrowed his brows, “Strange, Zong Yuan, there are no animals here.”
The only “animals” might be the Adagen Beasts covering the surface of Nato Star.
“I noticed,” Zong Yuan pointed to Ji Xing and himself, speaking casually, “It’s a world of just the two Zergs.”
“So we have a full 24 days to explore the secrets of Nato Star.”
That was their mission objective.
In fact, taking a step back, they had already completed it and could return home directly.
The military had no strict requirements; the sole goal was to uncover the secrets of the Nato Star.
The absence of animals was indeed noteworthy, but neither Zong Yuan nor Ji Xing would stop at this.
They parked the spacecraft in a corner, confirmed that the air was safe, and prepared to disembark on foot.
The air on Nato Star was not only safe but also exceptionally fresh.
They collected soil and plants. Half a day quickly passed, and both remained on guard for potential dangers, yet nothing happened.
Things with greater toxicity often knew how to use a beautiful exterior to deceive enemies; this was a lesson both of them understood.
Nato Star appeared even more mysterious in their eyes.
The plants here were unusually large. They had almost finished collecting and were preparing to return to the spacecraft when Zong Yuan suddenly saw a slender and delicate plant not far away.
His expression changed, and he quickly walked to this plant that seemed neither like a flower nor grass.
Ji Xing followed him over, surprised, “Such a big Tree-Ring Flower?”
Zong Yuan took out a small knife and shaved off a piece of the bark from the root of the Tree-Ring Flower. The thirty layers of annual rings inside formed a beautiful circle.
“Thirty years…”
Unbelievable.
Tree-Ring Flowers were rare precisely because they could only live for three years.
No matter how meticulous the care, no matter how professional the individuals or how precious the nutrient solutions used for watering, it couldn’t prolong its life by even a single day.
At most, three years, no more.
But the one on Nato Star had a whopping thirty years.
Zong Yuan’s eyes gleamed. The feeling of searching for the reason was like exploring a mystery, extremely stimulating. He said, “To extend its lifespan tenfold, how did Nato Star achieve this…”
The Empire had employed all means, yet they couldn’t extend the lifespan of this thing by even a day.
Ji Xing put the bark shaved from the Tree-Ring Flower into a glass bottle, pure joy on his face, “The Empire’s Department of Science and Technology should be able to develop something.”
Zong Yuan, excited, walked around and observed the surrounding plants, “They must have absorbed something; we need to find out what it is.”
Ji Xing spoke frankly, “The two of us? It’s not that easy.”
“Fool,” Zong Yuan, with both hands covered in mud, unbothered by Ji Xing’s possible disgust, pinched his face, “It must be the two of us who find this thing.”
Ji Xing, with mud smeared on his face, felt sweet inside, “Why?”
“So we can get promoted,” Zong Yuan smiled, “If we really find that thing, the highest marshals in the military will joyously announce it. At that time, you and I can openly tell everyone that I’m a male Zerg, and I can marry you.”
Ji Xing’s heart began to beat violently again.
He understood Zong Yuan’s implication.
The Empire openly stated that the Marshal’s rank didn’t care about gender but only about contributions. Attaining the rank of Marshal allowed one to do some things freely, such as male Zergs breaking through their inherent constraints, and female Zergs choosing whether to mate with male Zergs.
However, the unspoken rules of the Empire did not allow the First Military Academy to admit male Zergs.
Ji Xing said softly, “I understand.”
The First Male Zerg Marshal of the Empire sounded quite impressive.
And this outstanding male Zerg was about to become his male lord.
Pride!
Now it wasn’t early, even though the interior of Nato Star was still brightly lit. Without the excitement, Zong Yuan and Ji Xing were already a bit exhausted.
They used the compressed water particles to wash away the dirt, activated the protective mode of the spacecraft, and the two Zergs nestled together, drifting into a deep sleep.
After they entered deep sleep, the entire bright and harmonious interior of Nato Star suddenly seemed to lose all life at once.
The towering grass lowered its head, the glowing plants in the sky lost their radiance, and everything became dim and lifeless.
Even the awakened intelligent system, 0046, felt drowsy.
It watched the sleeping Zong Yuan and Ji Xing, gradually losing consciousness.
Nato Star became dark and quiet, and a sudden breeze rustled through the trees.
Ji Xing suddenly opened his eyes.
His gaze was bright and lively, not at all like someone who had just been asleep.
He looked at Zong Yuan sleeping beside him, propped up the upper half of his body, and silently observed him. Then, he straddled Zong Yuan, leaning down to lick the corner of his mouth.
Zong Yuan, “Hiss—”
His lips were sore from Ji Xing’s affectionate kiss, and it felt swollen. The pain woke Zong Yuan up. “Damn, Ji Xing?”
Ji Xing sat on Zong Yuan’s waist, moving sensually. His voice was sultry, “Mmm~, A’Yuan.”
Zong Yuan shivered involuntarily.
He reached out to check if Ji Xing had a fever. “What’s wrong with you?”
Ji Xing’s actions became more explicit, and his voice grew more seductive, “Can you do me, A’Yuan?”
Zong Yuan, completely awake now, with the partition raised, he couldn’t see the outside. In the dimly lit space, there were only the two of them.
Zong Yuan tried to sit up, but Ji Xing, sensing his intention, quickly restrained his hands. His tone turned cold and ruthless, “Don’t want to do me? Huh, then I’ll do it myself.”
He lowered his head and licked Zong Yuan’s Adam’s apple, his eyes radiating a beastly desire. “Zong Yuan, get hard.”
Zong Yuan, “…”
Get hard, my ass.
Author’s note:
Hahaha, Jixing, sweetheart, what’s gotten into you?!
Ji Xing: It’s time to reveal my true identity (pretending to be cool)!
Note: [Represents the entire planet wanting to f* with him.]