[Male Lord, lean on me, my chest is huge. (proudly puffs chest)]
[My heavens, where do you find such proactive and affectionate high-ranking Male Zergs? All the Male Zergs I've met are cold and don't like physical contact.]
[Your sex appeal is too low. High-ranking Female Zergs have plenty of Male Zergs lining up to sleep with them.]
[Come on, brother, work hard and become stronger. Stronger Zergs attract Male Zergs.]
[The average level of Female Zergs is already two ranks higher than Male Zergs! If this competition keeps escalating, even A-Class Female Zergs will only be matched with C-Class and D-Class Male Zergs!]
The Zerg race worshipped strength.
Male Zergs liked high-ranking Female Zergs, and Female Zergs liked high-ranking Male Zergs just as much.
C-Class and D-Class Male Zergs really had limited appeal for high-ranking Female Zergs.
And Female Zergs cared about rank far more than Male Zergs did.
The differences in physical ability, pheromone attraction, and psychic power between Male Zergs of different grades were enormous. The experience they gave Female Zergs was worlds apart.
But with such a distorted gender ratio, Female Zergs either fought desperately to stand out or settled for less.
That was the cold reality.
Whenever they thought about how a guy like Claire had married an A+ Male Zerg, they became overwhelmingly jealous and resentful.
Honestly, imagining themselves in his place felt amazing...
But Claire was still acting reserved and refusing to let his Male Lord sleep with him.
They were more anxious than Claire himself and hated seeing such wasted potential.
[Claire's cooking skills only barely passed. Do you know how easy the military academy cooking exams are? You pass as long as nobody gets poisoned.]
[Someone at that level can marry a high-ranking Male Zerg? Then what were all those certificates and sleepless years of competition for?]
[Bad luck.]
[Wasn't cooking supposed to be bonus points when marrying a Male Zerg? Isn't it basic knowledge? Why does Lord Xi'an seem not to care at all?]
A Male Zerg replied:
[Honestly, I never cared. Every household has cooking machines nowadays. Hiring professional cooks isn't expensive either. And Female Zergs spend most of the year away from home. Military Female Zergs practically live outside. If I relied on them to cook, I'd starve to death.]
[Exactly! Female Zergs are too busy.]
Another Zerg commented:
[That's why you marry lots of Female Zergs. If one is away, others can stay home with me. They can take turns taking leave.]
The Female Zergs finally realized in confusion:
Cooking grades and culinary skills didn't matter at all.
[We're doomed! We've been scammed!]
[Damn it! This must've been one of Tianga's schemes!]
[Evil Tianga!]
Tianga: ?
......
【“Are you sure? I can lean on your chest too?”
Xi'an leaned forward and approached slowly, noticing Claire hold his breath.
He gently rested his head on Claire's shoulder and pressed his face against his chest, looking up at him.
Claire's jaw tightened.
His ice-blue eyes remained fixed on Xi'an's face, wide open without blinking.
He looked even more nervous than Xi'an.
But he didn't push him away.
Xi'an could feel the muscles beneath him alternately tense and relax with Claire's breathing.
It gave him the strange illusion that Claire's pectoral muscles were alive.
Not wanting to make him more nervous, Xi'an took Claire's hand and played with it to distract him.
“I was actually really angry when you left me behind and went on the expedition yourself.”
Not just angry.
He had felt hurt, wronged, and many other emotions.
Claire wanted to explain, but Xi'an squeezed his palm and interrupted him.
He already knew what Claire wanted to say.
Male Zergs shouldn't go to battle.
It's for your safety.
Those old arguments.
He was a military Male Zerg.
He didn't want to hear any of that.
Xi'an traced the calluses on his fingers from handling guns.
Even with a Female Zerg's strong regenerative ability, years of intense training had still left marks on Claire.
Xi'an had none.
Because of his talent.
He possessed endurance and self-healing abilities equal to or even surpassing A-Class Female Zergs.
No matter how badly he was beaten during training, a short break was enough for him to recover completely.
He didn't even need repair fluid.
And because of that, Claire had paid him special attention and tormented him the most...
Compared to Female Zergs of the same level, the only things he lacked were the natural physical strength and explosive power of Female Zergs.
But mechs completely made up for those shortcomings.
Not to mention his greatest advantage—
Psychic power.
Xi'an had worked no less than any military Female Zerg.
And he didn't think he was inferior to any of them.
Yet Claire still wouldn't allow him onto the battlefield.
He didn't even give him hope.
Grinding his teeth, Xi'an squeezed Claire's hand harder, secretly getting revenge.
Claire allowed him to do whatever he wanted without making a sound.
After sulking for a while, Xi'an found it boring and continued.
“When you came back from the expedition, you didn't even come to see me. You just returned home to recuperate, with no definite date for coming back. I wanted to find you, but the military wouldn't allow it. In the end, I could only apply for genetic matching the Male Zerg way... Unexpectedly, our compatibility was very high...”
99.9%.
Not merely high.
It was fate.
They were made for each other.
Thinking about it made Xi'an happier again.
No matter what, he and Claire belonged together.
“Actually... it wasn't originally that high.”
Claire spoke hesitantly.
“Not that high? What do you mean?”
Xi'an's expression immediately became guarded.
Claire lowered his eyes, his eyelashes trembling slightly.
Telling him brought no benefit.
Only disadvantages.
But he felt...
He shouldn't hide it from Xi'an.
“Our compatibility wasn't actually that high. It only rose because I became addicted to your pheromones, so the score increased on my side.”
Claire lowered his eyes gloomily.
“We're not as compatible as you think...”
Xi'an: “???”
“Pheromone... addiction?”
Was it the kind he was thinking of?
Xi'an blinked in surprise and sat up from his chest to face him.
“Wait, what do you mean? Why don't I know any of this?”
Did Claire look like someone addicted to his pheromones?
The guy wanted to stay ten thousand meters away from him.
He avoided him like the plague.
“It happened while you were advancing inside the mech.”
Claire avoided his eyes.
Back then, they had been trapped together in the same cabin.
Xi'an's pheromones had completely saturated him.
He had endured it and successfully brought Xi'an back without harming him.
But his body could no longer return to how it had been before.
The highly concentrated Male Zerg pheromones had made him addicted to Xi'an.
Even harder to face was the addiction in his heart.
An endless cycle of resistance and yearning.
Originally, Claire had forgotten all of this.
The damage to his psychic domain had shattered part of his memories.
He had even forgotten becoming addicted to Xi'an's pheromones.
It wasn't until Xi'an repaired most of his psychic domain through psychic soothing that he gradually remembered.
The moment Xi'an heard “mech” and “advancement,” he understood.
“Why didn't you tell me earlier? Something this important, and you hid it from me?!”
Xi'an was furious.
He couldn't believe Claire had concealed even pheromone addiction.
He hid what happened inside the mech.
He hid his addiction.
How much more was he hiding?
Did he distrust him that much?
Xi'an bit his teeth, eyes reddening with grievance and anger.
“Male Lord, calm your anger. It's all my fault. Punish me. Please punish me...”
Claire hurriedly tried to soothe him, but his words only made Xi'an angrier.
“I need an explanation!”
In his anger, Xi'an grabbed his collar and leaned close.
He grabbed too hard, pressing the fabric tightly against the muscles underneath.
As a result, he unexpectedly grabbed something too soft.
Xi'an froze.
Lowering his head, he stared blankly.
His fair fingers distorted the soft, elastic chest muscles beneath the black training uniform, leaving obvious marks.
“......”
His mind went blank.
Half his anger got stuck midway.
Claire thought the Male Zerg was simply venting his anger on his body.
He sucked in a sharp breath and swallowed the sound that nearly escaped his throat.
He didn't dodge.
Maintaining the embarrassing posture, he replied:
“Bringing you safely back to the military district was my responsibility. And pheromone addiction... that's my own issue. I shouldn't trouble you.”
“Your own issue?”
Xi'an looked dissatisfied and unconsciously tightened his grip.
Honestly...
The feeling was really nice.
The training uniform felt nice.
Everything else underneath felt nice too.
Afraid of hurting him, Xi'an loosened his hand halfway and rubbed the spot gently.
Claire was good at enduring pain.
That gentle rubbing left him utterly at a loss.
His body gradually stiffened, and he unconsciously held his breath.
His heart beat violently beneath his chest, as if it might fall into the Male Zerg's hand.
“M-Male Lord?”
Claire called out softly, nearly biting his tongue.
Seeing that Claire wasn't resisting and showed no intention of punching him, Xi'an simply left his hand there.
As expected, as long as he didn't release high concentrations of pheromones, Claire could accept physical contact.
Completely opposite from other Female Zergs.
Normal Female Zergs preferred Male Zerg pheromones above all else.
Xi'an raised his eyes slightly.
“Continue.”
“I...”
Claire's thoughts had become sluggish.
Only after a long pause did he remember.
“I couldn't seek you out because of something like this. That would force you to take responsibility. It would hurt you... I can't become the Zerg who hurts you.”
Only Male Zerg pheromones could ease a Female Zerg's addiction.
Should he really ask Xi'an for pheromones?
That was no different from asking for bodily fluids or opportunities to sleep together.
It was too much.
Claire couldn't do it.
He knew Xi'an was kind by nature.
If he learned about this addiction, he would definitely take responsibility.
But Claire didn't want that.
And he couldn't allow it.
He couldn't use gratitude and responsibility to tie Xi'an down.
That would hurt him.
“How do you know it's forcing me if you never asked? What if I would've been happy to do it?”
Xi'an couldn't understand him at all.
“Impossible.”
Claire rejected the idea immediately.
How could Xi'an willingly give him pheromones?
Their relationship had never been harmonious.
Xi'an hated him.
But seeing Xi'an's darkening expression, he hesitated.
Perhaps he'd misunderstood.
After thinking for a moment, he guessed:
“Then... were you planning to punish me while giving me pheromones?”
The more Claire thought, the more convinced he became.
Female Zergs let Male Zergs do whatever they wanted in bed.
As long as there were pheromones, even being beaten was considered foreplay.
Under their influence, Female Zergs couldn't feel pain.
Even getting stabbed would feel pleasurable.
The real pain and humiliation came only after the pheromones faded.
Xi'an's face darkened.
What kind of image did he have in Claire's heart?
“That's right! I want to screw you senseless in bed!”
Xi'an snapped irritably.
Claire showed an expression of understanding.
As expected.
He didn't feel humiliated.
For Female Zergs, hearing words like that from a Male Zerg was actually something worth being happy about.
Especially when a beautiful Male Zerg said it with that proud expression.
He was quite willing to be screwed senseless by Xi'an.
If he'd known Xi'an wanted to vent his anger that way...
“You're thinking nonsense again, aren't you? Don't tell me you actually believed that?”
Xi'an looked speechless.
He did want to screw Claire senseless.
But it definitely wasn't the same “screw senseless” Claire imagined.
Claire became confused.
So...
He wasn't supposed to take it seriously?
“Seriously... Wait, no...”
Xi'an suddenly remembered something and forgot the previous topic entirely.
His gaze sharpened.
“If you're addicted to my pheromones, why were you so cold to me?”
Xi'an frowned.
Female Zergs addicted to pheromones became obsessed with Male Zergs.
They couldn't leave them.
Only being filled with pheromones brought temporary satisfaction.
After he woke up in the military hospital, he hadn't seen Claire.
The Legion Commander only vaguely said that Claire had entered isolation training.
Three months later, Claire returned.
And he was distant and cold.
How could a Female Zerg addicted to pheromones stay away from a Male Zerg for three whole months?
Especially during the early stage, when the craving should've been strongest.
Xi'an wasn't stupid.
A few clues were enough.
The answer was hidden in the question itself.
If the addiction was real, then...
“What did you do during those three months?”
Xi'an stared at him solemnly.
“I...”
Claire opened his mouth, only to discover complete emptiness.
He remembered nothing.
Not a single memory.
The same thing had happened before.
He'd forgotten his addiction to Xi'an's pheromones until psychic soothing restored those memories.
But the memories of those three months hadn't returned.
It was as though they had vanished completely.
Or perhaps they had already merged into his body and soul, inseparable.
Finally, Claire could only say:
“I forgot. I can't remember.”
“You forgot?”
Xi'an frowned.
Claire didn't seem to be lying.
Damaged psychic domains really could affect memories.
His score had only recovered to seventy.
He wasn't fully healed.
The dangerous part was over.
But complete recovery would take time.
Xi'an thought quietly.
Afraid of stimulating Claire's still-fragile mind, he stopped asking.
In truth, he already had his suspicions.
From addiction...
To rejection...
What had happened in those three months was obvious.
Xi'an pursed his lips.
His expression remained ugly.
He didn't know whether it had been Claire's decision or the military's.
Probably both.
Claire had always been ruthlessly cruel to himself.
“I'll heal your psychic domain completely. Then all your memories will return.”
Xi'an said with a sour face.
He actually didn't want those memories back.
But they were part of Claire.
He had no right to take them away.
Suppressing the discomfort in his heart, Xi'an continued:
“During that time, you'll need to cooperate with my desensitization training.”
“Desensitization training?”
Claire blinked.
Xi'an nodded seriously and met his eyes.
“We're married. I'm your Male Lord. Our relationship is perfectly reasonable and legal. No matter what happened before, we're officially spouses now. You can't keep rejecting me forever.”
Claire naturally agreed.
No one valued this marriage more than he did.
He nodded.
“I'll cooperate with the... desensitization training.”
Xi'an clapped his hands and immediately declared:
“Then we'll start with sleeping naked together tonight!”
The trap was finally revealed.
......】