Chapter 243: Female Disguised as Male x Despairing Straight Female (3): Then Let’s Soak in the Hot Spring Together

【Lucas felt the touch of someone leaning against his arm and glanced sideways at him.

The Zerg beside him immediately sat up straight and gave him a friendly smile.

This Zerg was always like this, making strange little gestures that somehow made it difficult for anyone to genuinely dislike him.

Lucas thought he was like a little hatchling trying his hardest to attract an adult's attention.

It inevitably made him wonder just how such a simple and childish Female Zerg had managed to grow this old.

Ordinary Female Zerg hatchlings were forced to become sensible by the time they reached school age. Those raised in complicated families often matured even earlier, learning from a very young age just how cruel reality could be.

Yet Felix seemed as though he'd grown up in a vacuum, protected far too thoroughly by his family.

What an enviable and jealousy-inducing fellow.

If someone like him got married and became a Male Zerg's spouse, wouldn't he be bullied terribly?

Male Zergs would like his type, but they would also cruelly shatter the things they treasured into pieces.

Lucas's thoughts wandered for a moment. When he came back to himself, several small fruits had disappeared from his tray, replaced by a large piece of roasted meat.

The culprit met his gaze and blinked innocently, one cheek puffed out by the fruit like some little animal storing food. Without the slightest hint of guilt, he said, “I noticed you seem to prefer this, sir... Mm, star-beast meat.”

Lucas did indeed prefer star-beast meat. Female Zergs generally favored protein-rich foods, but he hadn't fallen so low that he needed to steal food from officers under his command.

“Put it back,” he told the military female.

“No.” Felix refused and said frankly, “It's a trade. Besides, I don't like this.”

The military region's roasted meat was always too dry and tough. It was hard on the teeth, made his jaw ache from chewing, and didn't taste particularly good either.

Lucas: “...”

Felix might genuinely be the only Female Zerg capable of giving another Zerg food he disliked with such perfect confidence.

Lucas certainly couldn't do it.

Just like now, he couldn't bring himself to put the food from his own tray back onto Felix's.

Lucas stared at the roasted meat on his tray for so long that he practically seemed ready to burn a hole through it with his gaze. In the end, after finishing everything else, he resigned himself to eating that too.

The entire cafeteria full of military females had been waiting for the Major General to explode.

And that was it?

The roasted meat itself didn't matter. Food was supplied without limit in the military, so no one was desperate for a single bite. But a guy who dared set his sights on food from the Major General's tray like this military female had—shouldn't the Major General have grabbed him by the collar and beaten him up?

Was the Major General's temper unusually good whenever he dealt with this guy?

Could it be that the Major General was secretly a sucker for a pretty face too??!

Ignoring what the other military females might be thinking, Lucas finished his meal, took his tray, and got up to leave.

Felix quickly followed.

He didn't like the roasted meat in the military cafeteria, but he'd finished all the other food cleanly.

After they put their trays in the dish-return area together, Felix immediately latched onto Lucas like a little tail.

“Major General, Major General, wait for me! You still haven't assigned me any duties. Am I supposed to follow you around and learn from you next?”

Lucas paused and remembered that matter.

He glanced at the red-haired military female who had caught up with him, his gaze sweeping over Felix's posture, which was riddled with openings, before saying:

“Let's go to the combat room first and practice. I want to see what you're capable of.”

“Huh?!” Felix clutched his face in shock.

The Major General was going to test his depths!

The military females who overheard their conversation from afar breathed sighs of relief, all sharing the same sense of “just as expected.”

Of course. How could the Major General possibly not be angry? He simply intended to teach Felix a lesson in private rather than doing it in front of them.

...

In the combat room, Felix hesitated.

Lucas took off his military jacket and flexed his wrist. Turning around and seeing the military female still lingering by the door, he raised an eyebrow.

“What? Scared? I saw that you've participated in expeditions and earned distinguished military achievements. You're a combat hero.”

Felix's expression turned strange. “I'm a scout.”

Lucas froze slightly.

He genuinely hadn't noticed that.

He had read Felix's file. Felix had received several Special-Class Merits and First-Class Merits, including records of him single-handedly destroying important enemy strongholds.

No matter how Lucas looked at accomplishments like those, they sounded like the record of a special operations soldier from an elite unit.

Seeing how full of openings Felix's defenses were, Lucas had assumed either that he'd misjudged him or that Felix was concealing himself extremely well, which was why he'd wanted to test him.

But... a scout?

A scout destroying enemy strongholds and annihilating enemy forces?

How had he done that?

Lucas became even more curious.

Seeing the way the Major General's eyes lit up, Felix knew there was no escaping today's beating.

He heaved a heavy sigh and could only establish one thing in advance. “Go easy on me. Let's stop when we've established the winner. Don't beat me to death.”

“Mm,” Lucas agreed.

Of course he wasn't going to let one of his officers die in the combat room. Since Felix had specifically asked, Lucas would be even more careful, controlling his strength so Felix wouldn't get hurt.

Lucas's gaze swept across Felix's fair cheek and his long, beautiful fingers. With skin that delicate, if this military female got bumped or bruised and ended up with red marks during their fight, wouldn't they remain visible against that pale skin for a long time?

Lucas's Adam's apple shifted slightly as he prepared to give Felix a few moves.

Felix attacked first, closing the distance between them almost instantly. His hand curved into a claw as he struck toward Lucas's... shoulder.

Too softhearted.

Lucas thought.

He caught Felix's hand with a counter-move, diverting his attack.

Lucas barely used any strength. He merely knocked Felix's hand off course.

Felix reacted quickly as well. Using the momentum, he circled behind Lucas and swept his leg toward Lucas's lower body.

Lucas calmly evaded it.

They exchanged dozens of moves, with Lucas essentially guiding Felix through the fight the entire time.

He could tell that Felix had little experience with close-quarters hand-to-hand combat. Interstellar warfare relied on mechs and starships, or at the very least fighter craft and advanced weaponry, so lacking experience in this area was perfectly normal.

His combat ability reached the level of an ordinary A-rank military female, but that was about it.

His speed was decent, his strength somewhat lacking, and he didn't have enough killing intent. He possessed the tenacity to face difficulties head-on, but lacked the absolute determination to win.

Lucas felt that he'd tested enough. There was no reason to continue this kind of fight.

He caught Felix's incoming arm and stopped holding back. Raising his knee into Felix's abdomen, he forced him down onto the floor.

The instant he fell, Felix's instinctive resistance was triggered. His upper body abruptly rose for a moment, his eyes locking directly onto Lucas's, and something seemed on the verge of bursting forth.

But almost immediately, he realized something.

His entire body suddenly relaxed, and he allowed himself to fall back down. As though he'd completely given up, he said, “Sir, I lost.”

Lucas hesitated before releasing his tightly restrained hand.

Doubt lingered in his mind.

For that brief instant when Felix met his eyes, Lucas had sensed a threat.

It was unlike any sense of danger he'd experienced before. Even his Psychic Domain had trembled.

Lucas had never experienced anything like it.

Just when he thought he'd already uncovered the depths of Felix's abilities, it was as though, through the surging waves, he'd caught a glimpse of an iceberg hidden beneath the sea, sending a soul-shaking tremor through him.

Felix was holding back.

There was still something he was hiding.

Lucas wanted to investigate further.

But looking at Felix sprawled flat on the floor, clearly unwilling to move anymore, he knew he probably wouldn't uncover anything else today.

Lucas stood up and casually pulled Felix to his feet as well.

Once Felix was standing, he began rubbing the spot on his stomach where Lucas's knee had struck him.

Lucas looked at him in confusion. “Did I hurt you?”

That shouldn't be possible. He had controlled his strength.

“Huh? No. I'm just savoring... Ah, feeling it.”

Felix rubbed his stomach and smiled brightly at Lucas.

Lucas: “...”

He couldn't understand this military female.

He'd just been beaten and could still smile about it, without the slightest hint of resentment. Yet he also didn't act like those military females who were eager to improve and gratefully thanked their superior for his guidance.

Everything about him was strange.

“Can you use mechs and weapon systems?” Lucas asked.

Felix nodded. “Yes.”

Those were his specialties.

“Good. We'll go to the mech combat room and test your mech-combat ability next,” Lucas said.

Felix: “...”

He was speechless. Apparently there was no escaping a comprehensive beating today!

Still, his mech-combat ability was considerably better than his hand-to-hand fighting. At least he wouldn't be completely suppressed from beginning to end.

Felix chose a general-purpose mech and fought Lucas, followed by the use of various fighter craft and weapons systems. From target shooting to simulated battlefields, Lucas tested him across one category after another like an examiner.

Felix was exhausted half to death.

Training against such a powerful opponent throughout the entire process put him under enormous pressure. Even though these weren't fights to the death, he was more exhausted than if he'd actually gone onto a battlefield.

Lucas browsed through the data on the light screen.

Hand-to-hand combat was Felix's only weakness. Outside of that, he could practically be described as an all-rounder.

He was particularly skilled in long-range combat, infiltration, concealment, and disguise, and possessed exceptionally powerful reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering abilities.

Just as Felix had said, he was a scout.

The very best kind of scout.

Beyond that, he could repair mechs, modify weapons, command military operations, provide medical treatment, survive in the wilderness, speak multiple languages, crack codes...

The more Lucas looked, the more he felt that aside from “Psychic Soothing,” Felix knew how to do practically everything that could—or couldn't—possibly be useful in combat.

The higher-ups had sent him a treasure.

An almost omnipotent treasure.

Now there was absolutely no way Lucas was letting Felix leave Silver Fortress.

He turned off the light screen and saw Felix beside him, exhaustedly supporting his lower back. As a gesture of friendliness, Lucas put a hand on his shoulder and spoke with the concern of a superior:

“Tired? You've worked hard today. Relax and get some proper rest tonight. Come to my place and soak in the hot spring.”

“Huh?” Felix covered his nose, utterly stunned.

This suddenly?

A hot-spring bath?

Together?

Felix turned his head toward the handsome superior beside him.

After an entire day of combat assessments, a little of Lucas's pheromones had escaped as well.

It was a very warm scent, filled with the fragrance of nature, like sunlight, forests, and clear springs.

It smelled wonderful.

Lucas suddenly turned his head and made a subtle sniffing motion, looking somewhat puzzled.

“Your pheromones...”

It's over!

Felix's heart leapt into his throat. His eyes widened and his entire body tensed.

Lucas said in confusion, “They haven't changed at all. They're very stable.”

They remained exceptionally faint, almost imperceptible, like nothing more than a slight natural body fragrance.

Very few military females could maintain such perfect control over their pheromones after strenuous exercise.

Felix's heart dropped heavily back into place. He smiled at Lucas and said, “Mm. I have pretty good self-control.”

Although Lucas was puzzled, when he thought about Felix's “all-rounder” abilities, he simply regarded this as another of his talents and readily accepted it.

When pheromones between members of the same sex became too intense, it could easily lead to a fight.

Being able to keep his pheromones almost completely unchanged like Felix did was an impressive ability.

Lucas just didn't understand why he kept wanting to smell them more closely.

The harder they were to detect, the more he wanted to investigate.

But sniffing another member of the same sex's pheromones was a very strange thing to do.

Lucas's expression quickly darkened as he suppressed both the impulse to sniff and that inexplicable thought.

Then, for now, they would go take a bath.

Silver Fortress's unusual location meant there were many naturally formed hot springs nearby.

Lucas loved soaking in hot springs. During his breaks, immersing his entire body, relaxing completely, and closing his eyes to rest for a while was extremely comfortable.

Before this, he had never invited another Zerg to soak with him.

Felix was the first.

...】