In the dim light of the tavern, whether it was the music disturbing his senses or the liquid shine of the cub’s green eyes, Eliotte’s mind faltered, and he gave in to the cub’s words.
He promised to no longer push away or drive the cub away. He promised to allow the cub to help him heal his injuries before making further plans.
On the night the scandal involving the Star Beasts and the males broke out, the entire main city was placed under martial law. Maurice, relying on his slick maneuvers honed from mingling with all walks of life, successfully led Eliotte out of the city. They fled north at maximum speed, successfully arriving at a small mining town on the edge of a forest before the third sunset.
This hiding spot had been arranged with the help of Iliya. It was a small safe house belonging to the rebel army on this planet. Although Maurice did not trust the rebels, he had established a good working relationship with Iliya and maintained contact through the dark web.
Having finally broken through Eliotte’s psychological defenses and wearing him down until he temporarily set aside those terrible suicidal thoughts to plan anew, the chubby cub busily set up a new nest. He pulled heaps of blankets Eliotte had used from his spatial ring and returned his cheap kitchenware and ingredients to their proper places.
He coaxed Eliotte into lying back in the medical pod. Staring through the transparent protective shield, he watched with wide eyes as the old wounds on Eliotte’s long, beautiful body began to heal.
Their first dinner at the new settlement consisted of roasted woodcocks and stone pot rice with cured meat. The cured meat Maurice made himself was as beautiful as agar, a secret recipe from his grandmother in rural Sichuan back on Earth. The rice was something the chubby cub had borrowed from Adam; it was a special supply for noble males, every grain fragrant, sweet, and bursting with aroma.
The chubby cub vowed to nurture the female back to full health.
Because he had not only taken the liberty of deviating from his mission but had also led Eliotte away from his original fate, the system, which rarely came online, gave him unprecedented attention. It proceeded to curse him for several days straight using a string of filtered words, the “gay” content of which was remarkably high. However, the thick skinned university student quickly learned to turn a blind eye.
His “dead pig unafraid of boiling water” attitude caused the system to throw out a series of insults regarding being “impotent,” “useless,” “physically incomplete,” and “doomed to be dumped” before departing in a huff. The student’s conscience was briefly pricked. He remembered the system’s life saving grace, its sarcastic but informative electronic voice, and their once relatively pleasant history.
So, the student did nothing.
Please, the system is a product of technology; it will not break from a little anger. But Eliotte could not suffer even a hint of harm! He was so fragile and tragic. When Maurice was held in Eliotte’s arms late at night, he would wake up at the sound of Eliotte’s unconscious, low sobbing. Hearing that erratic heartbeat made his own heart shatter.
He fed Eliotte five times a day, specifically hunting the most energy rich beasts in the woods. The flora and fauna of this planet contained a certain amount of energy, much like the females and sub females, and a male’s mental power could easily sense it.
Eliotte’s physical condition gradually improved. He hunted with the cub, mingled in the black market to exchange supplies, and learned the cub’s wild but highly effective cooking methods. Color returned to his face, and smiles became more frequent, but in the dead of night, Maurice could still see the deep seated worry in his eyes.
The Capital Star was a mire, calling to him every second of every day.
Eliotte’s second disappearance caused the First Legion and the enforcement team to conduct a carpet search of the planet. Whenever the cub opened a news page on the Star Network, Eliotte would silently turn away, terrified that his escape would implicate his innocent, brain controlled colleagues in the First Legion. The cub told him countless times during his late night bouts of anxiety that he had done enough, that he could not save everyone, and that he needed to recover to ensure he had the capital to keep fighting.
He knew the cub was right, but he also knew it was not the whole truth.
He stayed, not to recover or preserve fighting capital. He stayed because the cub’s green eyes looked at him so earnestly, and he simply could not say no.
How could he refuse the person who cared about him most in this world? How could he reject those eyes so full of reliance?
He would return to the mire of the Capital one day, back into Klean’s shackles, and that day was drawing closer.
He could not escape.
The chubby cub had also become somewhat restless lately.
Eliotte’s physical wounds had healed, but his overall health was not improving. Without exposing himself, Maurice worked with extreme caution to repair Eliotte’s mental sea, but it remained a mess. Aside from Eliotte’s stress and mental state, there was another reason Maurice was reluctant to face.
Eliotte was about to turn twenty five. When a high level female reached this age without receiving a male’s marking, Male Pheromone Deficiency Syndrome would fully erupt. It would kill Eliotte within a few short years, torturing him until he was unrecognizable.
Yet, receiving a male’s marking meant that for the rest of Eliotte’s life, both his body and spirit would be held firmly in the grasp of a male who likely possessed low character. Under this kind of erosion, the vast majority of females and sub females would lose themselves entirely, becoming subservient appendages to the male.
Maurice felt terror on Eliotte’s behalf.
As a rebellious and naturally free spirited university student, he knew he was an idealist. If he were in Eliotte’s position, he did not think he would choose submission and dormancy. Enduring often required more courage and perseverance than a momentary outburst, because most endurance resulted in one’s self being eroded away through repeated self-deception, losing both soul and the will to resist.
But when it came to Eliotte, Maurice was terrified that the female would choose the path of freedom and unyielding defiance. Deep down, Maurice’s sharp journalistic instincts could sense this tendency in Eliotte. It was evident in his endless self-destructive behavior; Eliotte saw himself as a martyr. Yes, he had ideals and ambition, but there was a purely selfless quality in his soul that made him gaze upon this absurd world with a sober yet painful perspective.
For the sake of the world that birthed him, and to protect the compatriots who were steeped in ignorance and insulted him, Eliotte would choose to sacrifice himself without reservation, turning into cosmic dust.
It was not worth it. Maurice knew it was not worth it. From a bystander’s perspective, the student did not feel this world had anything worth lingering for; it was a collection of oppression, power, and tyranny, infused with indifference, ignorance, and barbarism. It did not deserve someone as good as Eliotte.
But if Eliotte still cared for this world, that made it worth something.
The chubby cub secretly vowed that no matter what the system thought, if he could protect Eliotte, he was willing to violate his agreement with the system and his own professional ethics to actively seek the truth and complete that peril laden mission for Eliotte. His only wish was for Eliotte to remain unharmed.
However, in the face of Male Pheromone Deficiency Syndrome, the cub was helpless.
Maurice could not imagine the outcome of Eliotte being marked by some male, but he feared even more that Eliotte would refuse to yield and have no future at all.
He wanted Eliotte to live. Even if that sort of thing actually happened, he would stay by Eliotte’s side forever, ensuring that no one, including Eliotte’s male, could harm so much as a hair on his head.
Meanwhile, news arrived from the main city. In the scandal involving the Star Beasts and the males, the culprit had never been found. The authorities had suppressed the news, and most Zerg did not know that the one who attracted the Star Beasts was another male with incredibly powerful mental strength.
Count Schmidt, who was at the center of the scandal, had remained behind closed doors afterward. Rumor had it that he had broken several bones, and his hatred for the culprit was plain to see. The entire planet was being turned upside down in the search, and even the space pirates on surrounding planets were suffering.
In reality, rare and powerful male mental strength was distinctive, much like Syra, the only male leader of the rebels. If this culprit were a male of the Empire, he could be granted a title and receive royal treatment simply because of the greatness of his divine power. Males were rarely punished for crimes; the Empire lacked high level males, and great power was equivalent to a pardon.
But no matter how Count Schmidt searched, the culprit remained missing, as if he had never existed in the Empire, making everything increasingly mysterious.
Eliotte had fallen into a deep sleep in the medical pod due to a mental sea disturbance. The cub, who was secretly treating his mental sea, suddenly looked up, facing several airships landing outside the window.
The airships touched down, and a sullen faced Adam stepped out of the cabin. Behind him, a crew cut female with a shifty gaze followed; it was Burkett, the female from the rebels who had challenged Iliya.
Maurice’s heart skipped a beat for a second before his expression darkened. He realized that a traitor had appeared within the rebels, and Burkett, who knew of his male identity and power, had sold his information to the Count’s manor.
Count Schmidt and Adam both knew of his existence. With a little thought, they would quickly link him to the culprit on the Path of Shame.
Maurice was not afraid of trouble finding him for what he had done, but he was no longer alone.
In this critical moment, the student mobilized all his energy to find a way to save Eliotte. A contemplative look appeared on his round, chubby face as his gaze carefully scanned the landing combat airships, assessing the opponent’s strength and intentions.
Having lived among the Zerg for nearly a year, Maurice was no longer the cub who only saw mental tentacles as hunting tools. Now, the mental tentacles were the only card he and Eliotte had left. If necessary, he would not hesitate to use them in battle, even if it meant exposing his secret as a male in front of Eliotte, even if it meant Eliotte would be disappointed or repulsed by him, and even if his hands became stained with the blood of intelligent species.
He had to find a way out for Eliotte.
“Brother, sister-in-law.”
The gray skinned cub looked up at Adam with a chubby face, putting on a pure and innocent expression:
“Are you here to take me home?”