'You're a good bug, but your taste is terrible.'
'Your assets are completely useless to me. They can't reduce my sentence and they can't get me home. Keep them for yourself and go see an ophthalmologist. I deeply sympathize with your blindness.'
'A hatchling whose male parent is a prisoner has no future. I'd rather be infertile.'
'No.'
'No bug should fall in love with a domestic abuser.'
'Claire's match came from Xi'an's application. They're mutually in love. I'm merely a doctor assigned to patients by the prison, with no choice in the matter. The situations are not comparable.'
'When bugs are emotionally vulnerable, they're prone to the suspension bridge effect. They mistake the tension and fear caused by a high-pressure environment for attraction to the bug nearby, becoming intensely attached to the straw they happened to grab onto. It's merely an instinctive physiological response. It has nothing to do with love, and it's not even necessarily affection.'
'Don't rely on illusions. Face your true self.'
'You're outstanding. You'll definitely meet the bug who's meant for you. You deserve someone better.'
...
An Ruo wrote reply after reply, using different wording for different bugs. By the end, he felt so dazed it was almost like developing split personalities.
There shouldn't be any problems now, right?
He had said plenty of harsh things.
His tongue had been as poisonous as venom. When he got ruthless, he'd even insult himself. He had brutally rejected every female Zerg.
But some female Zergs were simply too pitiful and humble. He couldn't bear it, and he was afraid his vicious rejections would leave permanent emotional scars, so he could only change tactics and encourage them to pursue their own lives.
There were too many letters. Just writing replies had consumed an entire day and left him more exhausted than writing novels all day.
There were no envelopes, so An Ruo folded the letters in half like greeting cards and wrote each military female's name on the blank outside.
The next day, when he went out for psychic soothing, he brought the letters with him and handed them to Major General Uriel, asking him to help deliver them.
He knew the military would inspect the letters. It would be a little embarrassing... but there was nothing shameful inside, so passing inspection wouldn't be an issue.
An Ruo believed that as long as he didn't feel embarrassed, then someone else would be.
Maintaining a smile, he forced himself to hand over the rejection letters.
"Letters for the military females?"
Uriel was surprised.
He accepted them, then was stunned by the thick stack.
"So many?!"
It wasn't unheard of for imprisoned male Zergs to maintain intimate relationships with military females. Some even officially registered them online as female attendants and completely established the relationship.
For this sort of special partner, one male Zerg usually had at most one to three.
Any more than that and even male Zergs couldn't handle it, especially with their daily prison tasks.
But like Lord Annor, sweeping up everyone in one net...
This was a first.
Uriel quietly sucked in a breath.
Seeing Annor spend every day performing psychic soothing in the treatment room, he had thought the male Zerg wasn't interested in such things.
Who would have thought his ambitions were this great...
That thick stack probably included every military female he'd treated during this period.
Uriel was so shocked he couldn't speak, and his emotions became complicated.
Sweeping up all the bugs at once...
No matter how one looked at it, it was incredibly scummy.
Based on his interactions with Annor over this period, it was hard to believe this was something he would choose. It felt like something had shattered.
Was this simply because male Zergs were still male Zergs?
As for the possibility that the letters were rejection letters written out of courtesy and respect, Uriel never considered it.
That was far too un-male Zerg.
Male Zergs never wasted time or effort on females they didn't like or care about.
A response from a male Zerg itself represented his attitude.
"I'm truly sorry for troubling you."
An Ruo felt bad as well. This was unnecessarily increasing the other's workload, and he felt guilty about it.
So during psychic soothing, he took the initiative to suggest treating another batch of female Zergs today.
Uriel's emotions became even more complicated.
"..."
"Since Your Lordship still has the energy... I'll arrange it."
In the end, he agreed.
After learning from the females' letters how important and hard-won psychic soothing was, An Ruo devoted himself to the work with twelve times the enthusiasm.
He soothed fifty-two military females in one day and still remained energetic, calling out "Next!" until Uriel forcibly dragged him back to rest.
So what if he had long legs and lots of strength?
An Ruo's legs were long too. He just wasn't comparing himself to a one-meter-ninety-five female Zerg.
"I've already inspected the letters. There are no issues. They will be sent through the military's space delivery channel to the designated military females. They'll receive them the same day."
Uriel spoke, his expression toward the male Zerg especially complicated.
Those letters really were rejection letters.
Though calling them rejections wasn't entirely accurate.
They contained so much protection and encouragement. Even when the wording was harsh, one could tell the writer was thinking about the female's wellbeing.
No male Zerg had ever gone through so much trouble just to reject female Zergs.
Uriel didn't know whether he should remind the male Zerg that such behavior might actually have the opposite effect.
"Thank you, Major General Uriel. I've truly troubled you."
An Ruo sincerely thanked him.
"This is my duty. It's no trouble. Also, you're a male Zerg. You don't need to use honorifics with me, nor do you need to thank me."
Uriel had no idea where this habit came from.
This was an excessively polite male Zerg.
And the more polite he was, the more disconnected he felt from the information Uriel had originally received.
An Ruo nodded.
"Oh, okay. Thanks for the reminder."
Uriel:
"..."
Clearly, the male Zerg hadn't listened.
An Ruo hadn't thought much about it.
And habits like that were genuinely difficult to change.
Just like people in modern society easily developed the habit of saying thank you.
Thank the courier.
Thank the delivery driver.
Thank the person who held the elevator or opened the door...
So he naturally thanked the military female major general who had helped him.
"You don't need to be so kind and polite to the bugs around you..."
Uriel couldn't help speaking again.
"If those letters from the military females bothered you, you could've simply thrown them away or refused them. There was no need to specially reply."
As he spoke, Uriel unconsciously frowned, his expression darkening.
He himself didn't know what he was teaching a male Zerg.
Was he teaching a male Zerg to be rude, vulgar, and arrogant?
But those were exactly the kind of male Zergs he hated most, yet also the most common kind.
There were already too many of them.
Feeling irritated and confused, Uriel looked away and didn't even dare see the expression on the male Zerg before him.
An Ruo opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but in the end he said nothing.
There was no need to argue with the administrator of the prison.
Offending him would bring no benefits.
Besides, he wasn't the type who enjoyed debating in real life.
His overflowing desire to express himself seemed to exist only inside books.
Outside of writing, unless necessary, he couldn't even be bothered to deal with people.
In the end, he merely replied softly,
"I understand, Major General."
"...Mm."
Uriel responded dully and suddenly turned away.
His pace was fast.
His military boots struck heavily against the metal floor, sending echoes reverberating through the corridor.
The major general seemed to be troubled by something.
He had even forgotten to say goodbye, which wasn't consistent with his usual conduct.
An Ruo watched the direction in which the military female had departed and thought.
But that had nothing to do with him.
At most, he needed to think about how to reply if he received more letters from military females in the future.
Because Major General Uriel didn't seem very willing to do the mailing work, and it truly was troublesome for him.
Forget it.
He'd deal with future matters when they came.
Sitting before his desk, An Ruo's heart swelled with excitement.
After a day, inspiration was overflowing. He couldn't wait to write it all down.
He didn't enter the holographic pod. Instead, he copied the method he'd learned from male Zergs on StarNet, who could curse the Federation ten times in a second, and used his psychic power to connect to the terminal and type.
Working while sitting down, he enjoyed the sensation of flying.
...
【Since the male Zerg wanted him to sleep naked, Claire naturally didn't dare refuse.
He had been uneasy over this matter all day, restless to the point that his body felt ready to burn.
Worried, yet also looking forward to it.
He was terrified of ruining everything.
What if his body lost control again and injured Xi'an?
Claire even wanted Xi'an to put inhibitors on him and lock up his hands and feet.
He no longer dared bring up muscle relaxants.
Every time he thought about it, his face darkened. He wished he could travel back in time and strangle the version of himself who had suggested that in front of the male Zerg.
Xi'an hadn't even used him yet.
How could he leave such an impression on Xi'an?
Female Zergs like that usually lost favor quickly.
And he wasn't favored to begin with...
Claire felt somewhat dejected, and his anxiety only intensified.
Xi'an refused to restrain him. Several attempts to bring it up had been rejected.
Claire could only try his best to keep his mind clear and hope to endure it through willpower.
He had received Xi'an's psychic soothing once.
His mind had become much clearer.
Perhaps he could do it.
Or perhaps he couldn't...
Thinking of his terrible performance that morning, Claire had little confidence.
No matter how nervous or uneasy he was, night arrived on schedule.
That evening, Claire carefully washed himself clean and dried himself thoroughly.
Standing beside the bed, he took a deep breath.
After making sufficient mental preparations, he pulled away the bath towel around his lower body and lay naked on the bed, waiting.
Xi'an only emerged from the bathroom half a star-hour later.
He had told Claire to sleep naked, yet he himself wore a night robe.
A thin and smooth summer robe, ending just above the knees, emphasized his tall figure and beautifully shaped legs.
The deep-red sash around his waist outlined his slender waist, and the hanging portion by his side was so striking that it made bugs itch to pull it open.
Xi'an had his own little tricks.
He felt that partially hidden beauty was more seductive than exposing everything.
Look.
The female Zerg's eyes had gone completely blank.
As for making the female Zerg completely naked...
That was naturally so he could touch to his heart's content.
Ah, no.
It was for treatment.
...】