Noel looked at this submissive, handsome, and obedient female zerg.
He was half-kneeling on the floor, looking up at his face with anticipation, awaiting his judgment.
He was powerful and had traveled through major star systems.
He was kind, practically a living saint.
He seemed tailor-made for himself.
Yet Noel felt no ecstasy whatsoever. Instead, alarm bells rang loudly in his heart.
Yes, this female zerg was good in every way.
Yet he came from the mantis clan! What is more, he belonged to the royal family of the mantis clan, the floral mantis!
For male zergs, the distinction of clans did not actually matter much. After all, male zergs followed their father, and female zergs followed their mother.
Yet there was one single clan that was the exception. Not only the King Zerg, but the majority of nobles living comfortably in the imperial capital feared them.
This was related to the innate nature of the zerg. Mantises, these born predators, although belonging to the same zerg race, were the mortal enemies of the overwhelming majority of other tribes. The fear engraved in their bones was something no amount of technology could ever smooth away.
Everyone feared that one-in-a-million chance.
Furthermore, a terrifying story had once circulated about a mantis female zerg who had dismembered and eaten the male zerg who betrayed her.
That female zerg patted his zerg eggs, his dark zerg pupils filled with paranoia and madness: “We agreed at the very beginning that my zerg life would have only one primary female husband. What gives him the nerve to betray me?”
He let out a cold laugh: “He is better off in my belly serving as nourishment for the children!”
Although this incident occurred within the mantis clan, it caused an uproar that changed the complexion of the entire zerg star.
The female zergs of the mantis clan simply became the public enemies of the entire zerg star, with no male zerg daring to provoke them lightly. The male zergs of the mantis clan were also the most pitiful, treating their wives with extreme caution and not daring to show the slightest bit of indulgence.
Because the female zergs in their clan really would eat zergs when they got angry! Although it had only happened once, who wanted to become that one-in-a-million exception?
This was also the reason why the mantis clan was gradually declining. After all, because of their bad reputation, their courtship was extremely difficult.
The zerg eggs being born were fewer and fewer. Although there were quite a few good seedlings inside, a single tree cannot prop up a falling house. To sustain a clan, how could it be an easy task?
Yet the innate arrogance of the mantis clan made their tastes quite fastidious when it came to choosing a mate.
Trying to find a devoted male zerg was no easier than going to a contamination zone to kill a hundred mutant beasts and gambling on whether one could dig out a top-grade energy stone from among them.
Yet clan reproduction was a major matter. In the general environment where females outnumbered males, they ultimately had to bow their heads to reality.
Therefore, the majority of mantises did not yearn for love at all. They would thank the heavens if they could spend the gold coins accumulated over a lifetime to find a male zerg willing to approach them, let alone talk extravagantly about love.
Then the zerg before him should be the same.
Noel swallowed hard.
Similar to other mantises forced by reality, he should also want to approach him and then abscond with a bunch of zerg eggs.
Noel was still quite confident in his own conditions.
His temper was bad, but he was good-looking!
His reputation was bad, but his mental power was strong!
Combining the two, as long as the zerg eggs born could inherit his appearance and mental power, no matter how one calculated it, he would not lose out!
Noel’s mind was locked in a frantic internal battle.
He needed a pretext to take him out of the imperial capital star, and the female zerg before him needed a bunch of zerg eggs.
He could use this point to get married quickly. Once he left the imperial capital star, he would find an excuse to dump this female zerg.
As long as he ran fast enough, he probably would not get eaten, right?
Doing such scumbag things, his conscience really hurt so much!
Yet he genuinely had no other better solutions.
During these days when he had quieted down for a period without torturing zergs, the royal court became restless, plotting to foist that good-for-nothing Seventh Prince who served in the military onto him.
Compared to the mantis clan, he hated the locust clan even more. After all, it was they who formulated a whole bunch of ghost policies restricting male zergs from staying in the imperial capital star, and it was also they who racked their brains to dispatch his several brothers to contamination zones, leaving them unable to see each other for years.
Fine, then he would choose this mantis.
Yet he still had to discipline him so that he would not harbor any improper, extravagant thoughts.
He was just putting on an act. He must never let himself get dragged into it.
Noel swept a glance at Alpha and sneered: “I certainly won’t easily believe the sweet talk of you female zergs.”
He put on an appearance of being deeply wounded by love, and the military zerg before him naturally tightened his spine.
His voice carried a faint trace of anger.
“Who hurt you?”
Noel raised an eyebrow and said vaguely: “Hoh, there are plenty of those.”
“You female zergs, fickle and crafty, carrying this male zerg’s zerg egg in your belly while scrambling to throw yourselves into the embrace of the next male lord…”
Watching the head of the female zerg before him lower lower and lower, Noel thought he had stepped on his tail, becoming all the more triumphant.
Little did he know that Alpha’s golden pupils were gradually stained with a bloody hue, and the murderous intent in his eyes was clearly visible.
“Who dares to treat my lord like this?”
The female zerg’s voice was muffled, as if pleading his case.
Noel let out a long sigh and hypocritically comforted him: “Naturally, it is those little female zergs just like you who give promises casually and vainly attempt to deceive a male zerg’s affections.”
He hooked Alpha’s lowered chin, and sure enough, the moment he saw his expression clearly, Noel understood.
What an emotional military zerg.
He seemed to be on the verge of being moved to tears by the actions of his own clansmen.
Those eyes were red and shrouded in a watery mist.
His face still bore injuries.
Noel felt that he had both injured his body and deceived his affections.
He himself was truly unforgivable.
Yet he still suppressed his deep self-condemnation and continued his vicious provocation: “I heard that your mantis clan loves doing this sort of thing the most?”
The military zerg before him indeed panicked: “No.”
He kneeled forward two steps, eagerly clarifying: “Those are all rumors. In fact, our mantis clan values emotions the most. Throughout our lives, we only hope to accompany a single male lord by his side.”
“Then why did you ask to stay the very first moment you saw me?” Noel certainly would not believe such ghost stories as love at first sight.
The female zerg blushed slightly.
“Because you saved me.”
His golden pupils were soaked with watery light, his eye rims slightly red, holding boundless affection and gratitude toward him: “Without your help, I could never have broken free from the Interrogation Department.”
He tore open the white shirt on his body that had been shredded into tattered rags, exposing his well-defined upper body.
Without the concealment of fabric, the visual impact brought by his physique became even more staggering.
Presumably having spent a long time in the mecha control room, the skin of the female zerg before him was unexpectedly handsome, possessing that porcelain-white color of someone who rarely saw the light.
Across the thin, resilient muscle layers, new injuries were layered upon old ones.
The fierce and terrifying wounds had already gradually healed due to the presence of the recovery serum, leaving behind only dark reddish scars.
“You even bestowed medicine upon me to treat my injuries.”
Seemingly recalling something, his body gradually began to turn pink again, starting from his neck.
This was not false.
Yet the fierce and terrifying old injuries were healed, and because the vines had coiled and wound upward, many new tangled red marks were added to his body.
The sharp, tiny barbs caused his porcelain-white skin to ooze a few tiny blood droplets, which dripped down, looking even more brilliant than rose petal juice.
Noel did not dare to look too much. He averted his gaze, his tone growing somewhat stuttering.
“Then what makes you think I would pay a price greater than three gold coins for you? You must know that the mess you stirred up requires me to foot the bill.”
The female zerg grew even more submissive.
“If you are willing to help me tide over this current crisis, I still have some estates outside the imperial capital star. As long as you need them, My Lord, I am willing to offer both hands.”
The confidence revealed in those golden pupils surprised Noel.
“Why would you ever think that I would take a fancy to those estates of yours?”
Noel raised an eyebrow, surveying his surroundings.
Was his Duke’s estate not luxurious enough, or were the energy-stone crystal lamps used for illumination not striking enough?
What gave him the reason to think that the pitiful drippings left over after a humble lieutenant general was thoroughly stripped down layer by layer by the Empire could touch him?
One must know that countless noble female zergs of the imperial capital star swarmed forward, clutching large amounts of gold coins and energy stones to beg him to take them as female concubines, yet he had never been moved.
“Over the years, I have collected some novel trinkets that you might perhaps like.”
Seeing the female zerg before him with bright eyes and resolute conviction, Noel also ignited a bit of interest.
Perhaps going to take a look would not be bad.
Noel evaded the female zerg’s eager gaze and nodded demurely: “Alright then.”
Fearing the female zerg would misunderstand, he added another sentence: “But whether you can stay by my side in the future will still depend on your performance.”
Joy burst forth in the military zerg’s gaze. He wanted to stand up and pledge his loyalty, but his body went soft from kneeling for too long.
Noel hurriedly supported him. The female zerg was tall and sturdy. As he collapsed limply, his warm breath puffed against Noel’s neck, pressing against his cool skin and sending another shudder through his entire body.
A faint, illusory pheromone scent began to be secreted.
It was the cool, woody fragrance of a forest after rain.
Inhaling the unfamiliar female zerg’s pheromones unawares, Noel’s insect patterns began to heat up slowly.
Throwing the female zerg away as if discarding a hot potato, Noel backed away repeatedly and escaped in a stutter: “Get some rest early tonight. Tomorrow, tomorrow we will meet again.”
“Nuo.”
As the male zerg’s figure completely vanished from sight, Alpha stood up, his posture tall, straight, and upright. Where was there a shred of the weakness from just now?
His slender, jade-white fingers gently rubbed against his cheek for a moment.
The sweet fragrance of the male zerg seemed to still linger there.
Alpha let out a low chuckle.
He placed his fingers to the tip of his nose to lightly sniff them.
Noel seemed to actually like him quite a bit too, did he not?