Adonis returned home late.
This exhilarating battle left him feeling refreshed. His once-congested spiritual sea became vast and expansive, as if thousands of clogged streams had begun to flow again, merging into rivers and finally returning to the sea.
His mind had never been this clear. Seeing Connie’s wretched state of retreat, he could not help but take out his terminal to record it.
These uninhibited and exuberant moments were too wonderful. He only remembered he had a roommate at home when his teammates teased him about why he was in no rush to head back.
He had a male master now.
Usually, he might have slept in the military training lounge, but today he flapped his wings and flew home. Flying alone through the bustling traffic, he felt, for the first time, the urge to return home.
He stood at the door, hesitating between knocking or climbing through the window as he had done before, when the terminal at the entrance automatically identified his biological information and swung the door open for him.
“You are back?” A small, pinkish head poked out from the doorway.
It was Tracy.
He was smiling as he wiped down a newly added lamp. Under his hand, a small mushroom with a red cap and white spots popped up.
He placed the mushroom desk lamp onto a sensor base, and a row of mushroom lights lit up under the TV console, making it feel as if one had entered a forest after the rain.
In just one day, the home had changed drastically. More and more green plants filled the room, and a small mist lamp now hid beneath the leaves of the monstera, filling the space with a fine, ethereal fog.
Adonis stepped into the room hesitatingly, his feet landing on the soft, plush carpet shaped like green grass.
The male zerg seemed to be in a very good mood.
“I decorated this myself. How is it? Not bad, right?” Tracy said while boasting, handing him a pair of cotton slippers.
The reason his attitude toward Adonis was still attentive was that a large portion of today’s income came from Adonis’s victory.
He really wanted to pat the other’s head: “You are truly impressive!”
Tracy did exactly that.
Adonis did not know where to place his hands and feet. He simply let out a belated “Mm” and sat obediently beside the table.
Although this was his home, he curiously sized up everything around him.
A few beautiful magnets had been stuck to the top of the refrigerator, printed with the iconic landmarks of the First Higher Star Cluster.
There were also places he had never seen before.
Tracy noticed his gaze and smiled.
He walked over.
“This is the planet Elana. It is located in the thirteenth star system and is a beautiful little planet orbiting the main star.”
Many zergs used to live there, but later, due to severe pollution, those with the means moved away.
He had once lived on the edge of the Elana planet, in an area where the Main Brain’s judgment could not reach, which was known as the Black Zone.
“Actually, there are many beautiful ancient ruins there. Sometimes when Old Man Jonah is on vacation, he takes us to see them. But we cannot stay outside for too long because my body is weak and would struggle to endure it.”
“Is your body not well?” Adonis frowned.
“I feel honored that you did not notice this sooner.” Tracy blinked, his tone thick with teasing.
Adonis immediately realized what he meant. He turned his head away, his ears turning slightly red.
Tracy chuckled softly, stroking the past that already felt somewhat distant to him.
Jonah and Evan, his family, were still there.
They had relied on each other for over a decade; saying he did not care would be a lie.
But currently, there was no better way.
Time and money were what he needed most right now.
Fortunately, he had already resolved the major portion, and he could earn living expenses slowly in the future.
“Do you want to go home and see them?” Adonis asked.
Tracy shook his head.
He calmly opened the refrigerator, which he had filled today with his favorite fruits.
He took out a small box of blueberries and tossed one into his mouth. “There is nothing there particularly worth reminiscing about. I just need to bring my kin over here.”
This was a massive undertaking.
Adonis lifted his eyes: “Do you need my help?” He regretted the question as soon as he asked; it seemed too eager, like he was trying to curry favor.
The correct approach would have been to act first and then surprise the male.
“You do not need to worry,” Tracy said, waving his hand nonchalantly. “I have already handed this matter over to Uncle Florson to handle.”
Tracy paused, deciding to be honest: “I am using the one million contribution points you gave me.”
Adonis was surprised. He had not expected to be of help.
One million contribution points were more than enough to purchase identification and process paperwork for two female zergs from the Black Zone.
Adonis nodded, only to hear the male say unexpectedly: “I will pay this money back to you as soon as possible.”
He had just found a good job that paid well. If the returns were good, he might be able to pay off the debt in a year or so.
Tracy, immersed in his joy, did not notice Adonis’s face gradually stiffening.
Adonis slowly lowered his head. His once-light wings felt sore and weak.
That sensation felt like silk threads slowly winding around his heart.
Was his performance last night not good enough? Did it scare the male zerg?
Adonis was shrouded in a low pressure.
He knew his performance had been terrible.
Last night, he could not help but recall some terrifying scenes from his childhood, so he had been very resistant to the male.
He had never been good at managing his expressions, so he must have looked stiff, awkward, and impolite.
And later?
The sudden onset of his mating period had turned him into a beast, stripped of self-awareness, clingy and greedy.
Adonis covered his eyes.
“What is wrong?” Tracy looked up and saw a female zerg completely different from the confident, proud figure in the video today.
He looked dejected and lost; his two antennae drooped, blending in with his pure black hair.
“Is my Lord going to divorce me?” Adonis looked up. A trace of moisture flashed across his black eyes, hidden from view.
“Maybe my performance last night was not good enough.”
Adonis pursed his lips and spoke with difficulty: “I have never been with a male. I will try my best to satisfy you today.”
“What are you thinking?” Tracy felt helpless.
He rubbed Adonis’s hair, messing it up, then precisely found the drooping antennae hidden within. He massaged the roots of the antennae to make them stand up.
A female zerg’s antennae were very sensitive, and Adonis felt a wave of numbness run through his body.
He looked up and met Tracy’s eyes: “Then why did you not accept my dowry?”
“That is too much.” Tracy’s chest swelled with a man’s pride: he had to support his wife; how could he let his wife support him?
Although the Zerg Star was a paradise for kept men, as an Earthling with backbone, Tracy felt he still had to stand tall and set an example for all the male zergs on the Zerg Star!
“Besides, did you not say you had no money?” Tracy remembered Adonis saying he was very poor before.
He looked at this small apartment; having learned the average living area of male zergs on the Zerg Star, the place he was in was indeed pitifully small.
Tracy touched Adonis’s head with pity: “Just spend the money you earn yourself. I will work hard to improve our lives.”
Adonis, who had shot himself in the foot: “…”
He was indeed poor, but mostly because the contribution points, he earned went to pay fines to the correctional facility.
Previously, Donald had pinched his finances just to force him to bow his head and accept the family’s arrangements.
Who knew he had such iron-clad principles that he would rather live in an apartment than yield?
It had only been one day since they married, and Adonis felt: he should not have said he was that poor. Although he did not have much money now, he could earn it!
Adonis felt, for the first time, the urgency of needing to make money.
He did not want to find himself in such a helpless situation.
“Alright, I will not divorce you.” Tracy leaned in with a smile: “I have not had enough of such a delicious female consort yet.”
He pulled Adonis up from the chair and patted his backside.
“Since you are so eager to prove yourself, how about I give you a chance?” Tracy’s handsome face leaned in close, and Adonis heard his heart beating violently in his chest.
He was fully awake now.
He heard himself answer: “Mm.”