Chapter 241: Female Disguised as Male x Despairing Straight Female (1): 'Are You Trying to Test My Depths and Pick a Fight With Me?'

【Seventh Military Region, Silver Fortress.

This was a special military fortress located on the border of the Zerg star system.

Unlike the Ninth Military Region, which had the Tianjia Empire as a powerful and hostile neighbor, the areas surrounding Silver Fortress consisted mostly of chaotic, lawless territories.

Among them were dead planets overrun by parasitic species, energy planets controlled by mechanical lifeforms, dark star regions filled with exiles, thugs, star pirates, and criminals, as well as hidden planets inhabited by remnants of the old Zerg Empire...

The situation here was more complicated than anywhere else, and Silver Fortress's mission was to keep all that chaos outside the Federation's borders.

This was the fifth year Major General Lucas had been in charge of Silver Fortress.

It was not an easy job. As the administrator of Silver Fortress, he needed to be sufficiently tough while also possessing extraordinary acuity.

With the situation in the surrounding regions becoming increasingly complicated, the higher-ups had sent him an assistant.

“Felix... Colonel?”

Major General Lucas compared the information in the file with the military female standing before him, smiling as brightly as a flower, dazzlingly radiant.

“Yes! Is there a problem?”

The young officer opposite him chuckled, his eyes curving into crescents. His long wine-red hair was tied behind him with a ribbon, and as the wind stirred it, one could almost smell the rich, pleasant fragrance of red wine.

The military female's sleeves were casually rolled up, revealing a small section of fair-skinned arm that was particularly eye-catching. Simply standing there quietly, he exuded an innate elegance and nobility, confident and composed, yet with a touch of carefree, unruly languor in every movement. He looked like some privileged young master from Capital Star who had come here just to gild his résumé.

And... he was a little too beautiful.

Especially when he smiled. It was dazzlingly bright.

And he wasn't even wearing his uniform properly...

Major General Lucas glanced at the small section of exposed arm and resisted the urge to remind him about military dress and discipline.

Although the higher-ups had sent Colonel Felix to assist him, strictly speaking, they were not superior and subordinate. Lucas had no authority to discipline him.

It wasn't worth souring their relationship over something so trivial.

Besides, it looked rather nice.

Lucas took another glance.

He thought that this was probably exactly the type Male Zergs liked.

Clean and beautiful, bright and dazzling, with that unmistakably noble bearing that came from an excellent family background.

“Sir, you've been staring at me.” The red-haired military female smiled even more happily and asked, “Do I look good?”

Lucas gave him an indifferent glance.

Between members of the same sex, asking something like that was practically no different from a provocation.

But the other really was good-looking, and his smile made others feel that he was friendly, like being caressed by a spring breeze. It was difficult to sense any hostility from him, so Lucas couldn't really bring himself to get angry.

“Let's go, Colonel Felix. I'll show you around and introduce you to Silver Fortress, then give you a proper welcome.” Lucas spoke calmly.

“A proper welcome...”

Felix repeated softly, his face turning slightly red. He looked at Lucas, then at himself, and followed beside Lucas with an unexpectedly bashful expression.

“?” Lucas looked at him in confusion.

“Ahem.” Felix coughed dryly and asked quietly, “I heard that the bathing facilities at military bases are all communal bathhouses, where everyone bathes together. Is that true?”

He really was a pampered young master who had never suffered much hardship.

Lucas asked him, “How did you bathe before?”

Felix recalled, “I was with the Expeditionary Forces before. On the ship, I had my own rest cabin and shower. Once we left the ship, if there weren't any facilities, I'd just endure it and not bathe. If I got too dirty, I'd wipe myself down.”

That actually made Lucas think more highly of him, and he was somewhat surprised.

He had assumed Felix was some young master from a great family on Capital Star. He hadn't expected him to have actually served on an expedition.

Strangely, there was none of the bloody, vicious aura one might expect on him. He seemed clean and refreshing. Whether that was because he'd been lucky or because he'd been well protected... either way, returning safely from an expedition was no easy feat.

Lucas had no nasty habit of deliberately making life difficult for others, either, so he said blandly:

“Don't worry. Field-grade officers all have private bathrooms. If you want to soak in a bath... you can take my card. There's a hot spring.”

“Wow!”

Felix was genuinely surprised this time, dramatically widening his eyes and covering his mouth.

“I didn't expect the fortress to have such good facilities. If I'd known, I would've applied for a transfer here ages ago!”

As he spoke, he carefully studied Major General Lucas's handsome profile, then nodded even more firmly.

He really should have transferred here sooner.

He had heard of Major General Lucas long ago and knew the rumors that his exceptionally handsome appearance rivaled his top-tier strength, but he had never expected Lucas himself to look this good.

Even though Felix had met plenty of high-ranking Female Zergs in the military who possessed both outstanding looks and strength, Major General Lucas was uniquely handsome.

His hair was a warm golden color, with slightly darker ends that created something like a gradient from gold to reddish gold, richly layered and vividly colored. His hair was so warm in hue, yet his eyes were as blue as the sky, carrying a coldness that kept others at a distance.

From his facial contours to his entire aura, everything about him seemed icy cold. Yet he had an excellent physique—tall and powerful, with firm muscles and a pronounced chest. He looked like he'd be very warm to hug.

A glimpse of golden-red insect markings could be seen along the side of his neck, extending beneath his clothes. For some inexplicable reason, they were extremely alluring, almost sensual, making one's heart itch.

Lucas suddenly turned his head and met Felix's eyes.

Caught red-handed, Felix stiffened and blinked.

“You've been sizing me up for quite a while. Are you trying to test my depths and pick a fight with me?” Lucas asked.

Test... his depths...

Felix's thoughts went astray for a split second. He hurriedly covered his nose, his face turning bright red as he apologized, “I'm sorry! I haven't thought that far ahead yet!”

“...?”

A strange feeling inexplicably arose in Lucas's heart. He looked in confusion at the military female beside him, whose face was flushed with embarrassment, unable to pinpoint exactly what was wrong.

If Felix was trying to provoke him, he certainly apologized faster than anyone else.

But if it wasn't a provocation, then Felix's unusual amount of attention toward him was undeniably real.

Major General Lucas couldn't figure it out.

Still, an extraordinarily strange feeling lingered around him, making him deeply uncomfortable.

...】

[He's a female who likes females! FEMALE WHO LIKES FEMALES!!!]

The readers in the comments section were practically screaming, wishing they could hold up a giant sign telling Major General Lucas to run for his life!

[AAAAAHHHH, my entire body feels uncomfortable! I feel like I've grown thorns all over, like there are Tianjia crawling on me!]

[Now that's terrifying.]

[Wait? Speaking of which, if you all knew this was a female-female romance, why did you keep reading?]

[It's a book written by An-shen. Even if it were a nuclear bomb, I'd still have to taste it and see how salty it is.]

[Quite the glutton.]

[I kept thinking maybe it was a misunderstanding and hoping there'd be some kind of twist, but it really is female-female romance!]

[I covered my eyes and read it one line at a time, only daring to peek through the gaps between my fingers. Honestly, everything up to this point is still pretty normal, but the moment I remember this is female-female romance, I feel like Tianjia are about to start growing all over me!]

[? Discuss whatever you want, but could you stop constantly dragging Tianjia into this? Not a single Tianjia wants to grow on you Zergs, thank you very much. That's disgusting!]

[You Zergs and Tianjia fight so viciously every single time. You can turn literally anything into an argument. I'm starting to ship you two.]

[yue€€€€]

[Ugh, I threw up. I feel awful. What the hell just infiltrated the comments?]

[Why are alien species still following this book? Something even more uncomfortable than female-female romance has appeared. Shipping Female Zergs with Tianjia females—I have never encountered anything this disgusting!]

[Delete it! Delete it! I can't look at this kind of content! An-shen writing female-female romance is already devastating enough, and now there are aliens shipping this cursed pairing.]

[@Marshal, what the hell happened? Our An-shen disappeared for a few days, came back, and suddenly started writing female-female romance?!]

Ulysses: “...”

Don't ask him. He didn't know what was going on either.

Ever since An had posted the synopsis for his new “female-female romance,” the military females and government officials who came to Ulysses's office to make reports had been looking at him especially strangely. They kept hesitating as if they had countless things they wanted to ask, yet didn't dare voice a single one.

Fortunately, Ulysses had accumulated too much authority in his daily life, so no Zerg actually dared ask him to his face.

The god had the freedom to write whatever he wished, including female-female romance.

Ulysses only needed to mentally prepare himself a little before accepting it. He wasn't going to question or disturb the god over something so trivial.

It wasn't male-male romance, after all. It was fine.

If it had been male-male romance, he would have had to worry about the god falling in love with a Male Zerg.

But if it was female-female... there shouldn't be any problem, right?

Ulysses thought uncertainly.

As for Major General Lucas...

Ulysses remembered the names and files of every senior military officer, and Major General Lucas had left a deep impression on him. He was an exceptionally outstanding military female.

At this point, all Ulysses could do was wish him luck.

And Felix... that name seemed somewhat familiar as well. He felt as though he'd seen it somewhere before.

Ulysses pondered as his gaze fell on the book's comments section.

Female-female romance was far too niche among the Zergs, and most Zergs reacted extremely strongly to it.

[Whether it's Major General Lucas or Colonel Felix, they both look like incredibly outstanding Female Zergs! They're ridiculously handsome and high-ranking too. Female Zergs like that could get whatever Male Zerg they wanted, so why would they lose their minds and start liking females?!]

[I'm a Male Zerg. I've decided to make a sacrifice and marry both of them.]

[???]

[My upbringing prevents me from saying anything too harsh to a Male Zerg, so I'll just say this: look in a mirror first.]

[I'm a Male Zerg, so I'll curse him out! @#￥%%...!!!] (Under Review)

Philor finished typing out a huge paragraph, only to discover that it had been sent for review. To protect the fragile hearts of Male Zergs, replies directed at Male Zergs were always subjected to particularly strict moderation. Even perfectly ordinary comments could sometimes be hidden or deleted.

Philor casually refreshed the page, urging StarNet's administrators to hurry up with the review. Then he looked around at the emptiness beside him and suddenly found everything dull. He couldn't even summon the enthusiasm to argue with strangers on StarNet anymore.

Because An-shen's new book was supposedly a female-female romance, neither his Female Lord nor his Female Attendants were willing to follow it with him, which took away a great deal of the fun.

All he could do was take screenshots and share them with Hill, another Male Zerg.

Then he learned that Hill was also following the novel together with his Female Lord.

Philor was shocked.

[Philor]: Why is your Female Lord willing to read female-female romance with you!?

Hill didn't understand the question. They had always followed novels together, hadn't they?

Even when they were temporarily apart and weren't in the same place, whenever an update came out, they would share it with each other. It had already become normal in their household.

Or perhaps it had become normal in many Zerg families.

Apparently, reading An-shen's novels together was highly effective at strengthening relationships between males and females.

Philor: ???

So I'm the only one who got collectively rejected by my Female Lord and Female Attendants? I'm going to throw a tantrum!

After Philor made a small fuss, he finally got to experience following the novel together with his Female Lord, who was currently staying home to nurture the pregnancy.

More precisely, Cyril couldn't stand his fussing anymore and took him in.

In his Female Lord's bedroom, Cyril leaned against the headboard, facing a light screen as he handled military documents.

Philor sat beside him reading his novel.

It seemed like they were following the novel together, yet somehow also not.

Sigh. What could he do when his Female Lord was a workaholic?

Seeing him sigh over and over, Cyril ultimately sped up and finished dealing with his official documents, then joined him in reading.

Philor immediately brightened and excitedly shared with him:

“Look, look! Felix...”

Cyril listened to him with a solemn expression, staring intently at the words in the novel. He still couldn't understand why Male Zergs were so obsessed with stories about female-female romance.