Chu Ci and Nuo Wei were in the military bathroom, enjoying each other’s company, while down the corridor, Yi Si, Yi Ta, and Admiral Erwen stood at the end in a tense silence, each with a troubled expression.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” muttered Yi Si anxiously. “The Major General was pushed into the bathroom by a male, and he hasn’t come out in forever. What are they doing in there?”
Though males hadn’t brought tools, there were other ways they could torment a female—such as pinning them against a sink full of water to let them experience the sensation of suffocation, or making them kneel on cold, hard floors all day. The males of their species could be disturbingly cruel, so Yi Si’s worry wasn’t entirely unfounded.
The time Chu Ci and Nuo Wei spent in the bathroom exceeded the normal time for using the restroom, and they had locked the door, which looked very suspicious. With the officer having rushed out earlier, Yi Ta had noticed the bathroom door tightly shut, and in his agitation, his first reaction was, “Yi Si, let’s check the surveillance inside!”
Admiral Erwen gave him a sharp smack on the back of the head. “What do you take the military for? There’s no surveillance in the bathroom!”
Since mechanical methods were out of the question, they would have to resort to human intervention. Admiral Erwen certainly wasn’t going to lower himself to investigate, so Yi Si hesitated for a moment, then gingerly moved closer and pressed his ear to the bathroom door.
Though he was only an aide, and not even the Major General’s primary aide, his military rank wasn’t insignificant, but he never imagined he’d be standing with his ear to a bathroom door, listening to what was going on inside.
Unlike the loud and boisterous tones of the previous officer, Chu Ci and Nuo Wei were extremely close, almost whispering to each other, which only allowed Yi Si to catch snippets.
He didn’t dare make any sound to disturb the male, fearing that it might interrupt his interest and bring more punishment upon the Major General. So he used sign language to quietly report to Admiral Erwen: “The male said he’s angry and asked if the Major General heard him.”
Yi Ta’s whole body stiffened.
“The Major General asked if the male wanted a whip, a stick, or something else.”
Admiral Erwen’s expression darkened.
“It’s getting quieter… Can’t hear anymore.”
Just as all three were growing increasingly restless, and Yi Ta was about to lower his head to peek through the crack in the door to check if their Major General was kneeling, Chu Ci let go of Nuo Wei.
Unlike the male’s weaker physical condition, the high-ranking female’s senses were sharp. Nuo Wei heard Yi Ta approaching footsteps and knew they were worried outside, but the male’s embrace was too alluring. Buried in Chu Ci’s arms, warm and cozy, he found it hard to think about anything else and completely forgot about his aide.
So when Chu Ci opened the bathroom door, only he was startled.
Nuo Wei nodded slightly to the aide, and then shook his head slightly towards Admiral Erwen, signaling that he was unharmed. Yi Ta was about to rush forward when he was stopped by Admiral Erwen, who grabbed him by the collar and held him in place. The Admiral smiled politely at Chu Ci and said conversationally, “You’ve finally come out. If you’d been a bit later, you might have missed lunch.”
He made a gesture inviting Chu Ci: “The military department has some decent cafeterias; let Nuo Wei show you around. I have a lot of official business, so I’ll take my leave now.”
Chu Ci replied, “Please.”
Admiral Erwen quickly walked away, taking Yi Si and Yi Ta with him, leaving the space completely to the two of them.
Chu Ci held onto Nuo Wei. “Let’s go. Let’s check out your cafeteria.”
The military department’s style was cold and rigid, and the cafeteria followed suit. The stir-fried dishes were edible but far from tasty. Nuo Wei pressed his lips together. “The food is quite rough. You might not be used to it.”
Chu Ci wasn’t very picky about food. “It’s okay. Just try it once.”
Nuo Wei couldn’t do anything but lead him to the cafeteria. They sat upstairs, and Nuo Wei insisted that Chu Ci didn’t have to join the crowd of military females to get his food. After settling Chu Ci into a seat, he took off his coat and hesitated for a moment, asking, “My Lord, may I drape this coat over your chair back?”
Chu Ci didn’t understand why but thought he was feeling hot. “Sure, go ahead.”
So Nuo Wei took off his coat, revealing an inner white shirt, rolled up a sleeve to reveal his muscular, toned forearm, then spread his coat over the back of Chu Ci’s chair, adjusting it slightly to display the Major General’s insignia and medals.
Several females who were about to approach and strike up a conversation quickly backed away.
In the military department, strength ruled, and although the Major General’s rank wasn’t the highest, it was enough to make most females hesitant to approach Nuo Wei’s male master.
After doing all this, Nuo Wei quickly went downstairs to get their food.
The military’s cafeteria food was indeed nothing special. Chu Ci took a couple of bites and lost interest. Quietly chatting with Nuo Wei, having the Major General’s uniform nearby made the meal pass relatively smoothly. However, as they neared the end of their meal, a small incident occurred.
Major Lin En had just finished with his military duties, and with the ninth expedition imminent, his logistics department was extremely busy. Finally, during the lunch hour, he found some time to eat. As he walked upstairs with his tray, his eyes immediately spotted Nuo Wei in the corner.
Nuo Wei’s head of silver-white hair was conspicuous, shining like silk under the moonlight, drawing attention. Lin En carried his tray over to the table, noticing Chu Ci’s back facing him, and reached out to pat his shoulder. “Who’s this? I’ve never seen him before. A recruit? What virtue and ability does he have to eat with our military’s famous ice mountain, Major General Nuo Wei?”
“Let go!” Nuo Wei’s grip on his wrist tightened, and Chu Ci turned to greet him. “Hello.”
He had met Lin En briefly on the airship.
Lin En’s expression turned ghostly.
He recognized the male zerg, the one with amber eyes who had made quite a stir on QuQi, but he couldn’t fathom why Chu Ci was in the military cafeteria. Perhaps his confusion was too obvious, so Chu Ci proactively explained, “I’m having lunch with Nuo Wei.”
He omitted the details about the correctional facility.
The zerg race was particularly harsh on females, and the correctional facility was certainly not a pleasant experience, possibly becoming a weapon for others to attack Nuo Wei. Just like in ancient human societies, even if a woman’s purity was tainted, the fault was entirely hers. Chu Ci didn’t want Nuo Wei to bear such a reputation, so he vaguely mentioned, “I heard the military cafeteria has better food.”
Nuo Wei’s deep blue eyes slightly moved, glancing up at Chu Ci.
Male zergs were generally reluctant to invest energy in females, let alone shield them.
Lin En exclaimed, “Damn it, Nuo Wei, you—!”
Military females had sharp hearing, and Nuo Wei’s glance didn’t go unnoticed by Lin En. He felt a chill down his spine, incredibly uncomfortable. Nuo Wei was known for being cold and aloof in the military academy, rarely speaking, icy and indifferent. When news of his marriage spread, Lin En and other friends speculated that with his personality, Nuo Wei must have been tortured into submission by a male zerg. But now…
There was a tender smile in his eyes, as if the ice had melted into spring waters in March.
Could even hardened steel turn into a soft, tender touch someday?
Nuo Wei furrowed his brow, adopting a cold expression once more. “Lin En, watch your tongue. Do you want to be speaking like that in front of my male master?”
Lin En refused to talk to Nuo Wei, feeling incredibly embarrassed. He scratched his nose and tried to engage Chu Ci instead. “Is it good, sir? Are you serious?”
Chu Ci hesitated, “Uh…”
Nuo Wei put down his knife, indifferent. “Lin En, do you want to join us for lunch?”
Though he asked about joining, his expression—left side written with rejection, right side with ‘get lost’—told a different story. Lin En had always been at the receiving end of Nuo Wei’s dominance in the academy and didn’t dare to defy him. He quickly left.
As he walked downstairs, he mumbled awkwardly, “Crossing the river and tearing down the bridge, petty and narrow-minded, iron-hearted and ruthless, settling scores…”
With no one else around to interrupt, Chu Ci and Nuo Wei quietly resumed their meal. Nuo Wei, coming from a noble background, adhered strictly to the rule of silence during meals, and Chu Ci remained quiet as well. During their meal, his light brain kept beeping incessantly under the table. Chu Ci glanced at it surreptitiously; it was filled with messages from his colleagues.
It made sense—suddenly disappearing from work with no explanation would raise questions among his colleagues.
Feeling guilty, Chu Ci quickly replied, 【Uh, just now my male master called me.】
The group chat instantly flooded with messages.
【What’s with this female zerg? It looks like his male master has him on a leash.】
【Is it just me or does his male master keep looking for him every day?】
【Jealousy, I bet the new colleague is quite favored.】
Chu Ci responded with a laugh, 【Haha, maybe so.】
He quickly clicked offline.
In this environment, everything revolved around the wishes of the male master; there was no need for time clocks or rigid schedules. As long as the assigned work for the day was done, the rest of the time was free. Since Chu Ci was new to the place, he didn’t have much work to do.
Nuo Wei noticed his evasive gesture and paused, asking, “Are you chatting?”
Chu Ci’s salary was less than one percent of Nuo Wei’s, and he didn’t want to dwell on it. “Yes… Oh, Nuo Wei, I have something I want to ask you.”
Nuo Wei looked up, his cool, cyan eyes meeting Chu Ci’s. Chu Ci hesitated, then asked, “That violent mental sea of yours… what is it exactly?”
Previously, on the list handed to him by the officer, there were three lines highlighted in bold red.
Name: ⟦Nuo Wei ⟧
Mental Sea Violent Level:⟦ ‘Danger Level’, requires ongoing irrigation and nourishment. ⟧
Recommendation: ⟦ Potential harm to male zergs; recommended to abolish the position of female monarch and hand over to the correctional facility for processing. ⟧
At the time, the officer deliberately showed these three lines to Chu Ci. Chu Ci could guess that this ‘Danger’ level Mental Sea was no small matter, but his memories from this lifetime as a zerg were a jumbled mess, and Chu Ci couldn’t recall what it meant. Normally, he could look it up on the Star Network, but with the female zerg right in front of him, he simply asked.
As soon as he asked, Chu Ci realized he had made a mistake.
The face of the female zerg paled immediately, the sound of the dining knife clattering into the plate was jarring, the friction between the cut and the bone china producing a sharp sound, like fingernails scraping on a blackboard.
Nuo Wei hesitated for a moment before he said, “I won’t hurt you.”
He urgently explained, “I’m an S-class female zerg, with S-level self-control and endurance. The ‘Danger’ level mental sea won’t make me go berserk, only the ‘Critical’ level would.”
Chu Ci was startled by his intense reaction, frowning, “Go berserk?”
Would mental sea issues really drive someone to madness?
Nuo Wei tightly pursed his lips.
After a moment, he lifted his eyes, heavy with deep sadness in his beautiful gaze.
“Do you regret it?” Nuo Wei asked.
“Missing the statute of limitations, do you regret it?”
Chu Ci’s eyebrows twitched.
The female zerg picked up the fallen fork from the table and tried to maintain a calm facade, but the silver knife had already twisted and deformed. Nuo Wei spoke softly, “I’m sorry, if you regret it, please allow me to participate in the ninth expedition. I will try my best…”
“To die on the battlefield.”
