Things Aren't Simple

Chu Sui had eaten all sorts of things growing up, but he never accepted a loss. If Capet hadn't been so fragile, fainting and collapsing with a single hit, he would have gone to the nearby flower bed to pick up another piece and continue swinging it.

The soldiers guarding on both sides were dumbfounded. A Male Zerg had been knocked unconscious right under their noses. How were they supposed to explain this when they took him back? Arno glanced faintly at Capet, saw that his chest was still faintly rising and falling, and said, “He's not dead yet. Take him directly to the Interrogation Room.”

The soldiers could only obey the order: “Yes, Major General.”

Chu Sui still felt that hitting Capet with one brick was letting him off too easily, but Arno, as if knowing his thoughts, took Chu Sui's hand under the cover of his sleeve, then slowly tightened his grip, saying in a voice only the two of them could hear, “He offended you. He will definitely pay the price he deserves.”

Chu Sui didn't take it to heart. He had already thoroughly understood this country's bullshit laws. He placed a hand on Arno's shoulder, using his support to steady himself. Only now did he remember that he was injured; the place where he had been whipped was burning with pain.

If Capet was released without charge, Chu Sui would personally go and put a sack over his head. After all, Male Zergs couldn't commit crimes. They'd see who could outplay whom.

When they returned in the Military Department's Flyer that night, it was already late into the night. Chu Sui was tired and sleepy. After a simple meal, he went to bed, but he still couldn't quite fall asleep. Arno noticed him tossing and turning, got up in the darkness, and turned on the bedside lamp. “Are you not feeling well?”

Chu Sui didn't know whether to nod or shake his head. He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

Arno didn't speak. He glanced at the gauze wrapped around his body, then knelt by the bedside and reached out to untie the knot securing it. His touch was as gentle as ever. The warm light from the bedside lamp spilled onto the side of his face and shoulders, casting a gentle, jade-like warmth over his cool, pale skin.

Arno said in a low voice, “This kind of wound can be a bit painful when wrapped in gauze. It will heal faster if you unwrap it.”

He seemed to have a lot of experience.

Chu Sui glanced at him, paused, then propped himself up from the bed with his hands, letting Arno unwind the gauze from his body, layer by layer. Perhaps due to decades of being pampered, the wound on Chu Sui's body looked somewhat ghastly and had already swollen up.

Arno hesitated, reaching out as if to touch it, but for some reason, he pulled his hand back. He vaguely remembered the military doctor giving Chu Sui the best high-efficacy medicine. Normally, it should have healed quickly, but for some reason, Chu Sui's injury didn't seem to be getting any better.

Arno thus assumed the medicine the doctor used wasn't enough. “Please wait a moment, I'll go get the first-aid kit.”

As he finished speaking and was about to get off the bed, Chu Sui unexpectedly grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. “No need.”

Chu Sui wanted to say that he was human, so of course the Zerg Race's medicine would have no effect, but the words died on his lips. He just said, “My constitution is different from yours.”

Arno paused at his words and had no choice but to sit back down. He stared at the wound on Chu Sui's body, unable to look away for a long time, as if this whip mark was more severe than when his own shoulder blade had been crushed by an Alien Beast on the battlefield.

Arno helped Chu Sui lie down, then turned off the bedside lamp. A moment later, he asked in the darkness, “Are you in a lot of pain?”

Chu Sui paused, then shook his head. “It doesn't hurt.”

He wasn't in pain,

He was just…

He was just a little homesick…

Chu Sui recalled fighting with others as a child, getting beaten black and blue. When his mom saw him, she would hug him and cry, cursing him for being a disappointment while crying. Tears would plop down, soaking half his shoulder, their heat scalding, making one flinch. But Chu Sui would just fiercely wipe away the blood from his nose with his sleeve, growing more courageous with every setback and vowing to settle the score with those people.

There were many things Chu Sui thought he had long forgotten, but it turned out he still remembered them all.

Whether it was people or events, or that distant planet that had now vanished…

Chu Sui fumbled in the darkness and took off the necklace from his neck. The glass sphere hanging from its end was translucent and shimmered with a faint light even in the dark. His fingertips traced the slightly raised patterns on it. Without looking, its image automatically appeared in his mind.

Chu Sui knew Arno wasn't asleep. He wrapped the chain around his wrist twice and suddenly asked, “Why did you give me this?”

Arno looked at him upon hearing this. Although he could only see a blurry silhouette in the darkness, he said, “I thought you would like it…”

He had discovered more than once that Chu Sui was searching for things related to Blue Star on the StarNet. It wasn't simple browsing, nor did it seem like a casual interest. Every time the other party saw related pictures or words, he would be lost in thought for a long time.

Chu Sui hummed in acknowledgment. “I guess I like it.”

It was a tone that was hard to discern, as if he cared a lot, yet was unwilling to remember, because there was simply no going back. Thinking about it would only add to his troubles.

Chu Sui hadn't gone from one country to another, but from one race to another. What he had crossed was not just a planet, but also the passage and demise of millions of years.

He could still recall the feeling of first arriving on Zerg Star in his previous life. It wasn't panic, nor was it helplessness, but despair—a despair that seeped into his bones. He had never imagined that the land he once depended on for survival was now just a name recorded in the annals of history. Nor could he imagine how he was supposed to live among a group of bugs.

Chu Sui was extremely cautious, not daring to reveal anything that made him different from others. Fate seemed to have played a massive joke on him, completely cutting off all his hopes.

He wanted to go home, but he could never go back. It wasn't a matter of distance; the space-time and history that lay between were gaps he could never bridge, even if he spent his entire life trying.

Arno suddenly asked, “Is that your home?”

His tone was calm yet concerned, as if he were only asking a most ordinary question. Chu Sui's hand paused, and the Blue Star Necklace fell with a soft clatter, hanging loosely on his wrist.

The air was silent for a moment.

Chu Sui's breathing slowed for a moment. “…Why do you ask?”

Arno said, “When I brought you back from the wilderness, you kept asking the medical staff for the location of Blue Star.”

It slowly dawned on Chu Sui. He had been found by the army in the wilderness back then, but he had been delirious with a high fever at the time and hadn't clearly seen who had saved him. “You were the one who brought me back?”

Arno nodded slightly and explained, “I was ordered to lead my subordinates on a training mission in the wilderness back then, and we unexpectedly discovered you.”

Discovering a precious Male Zerg in the uninhabited wilderness was a very strange thing in itself. Moreover, Chu Sui's eyes and hair color were very special; one couldn't find a second Zerg on the entire Zerg Star with such pure black hair and black eyes. It was easy to classify him as an alien species.

Arno slowly closed his eyes, recalling the scene of his first meeting with Chu Sui.

Having struggled to survive in the wild for so long, Chu Sui's condition was naturally not good. He was filthy all over, covered in scrapes from tree branches. One could only vaguely make out his handsome features; other than that, there was nothing to prove his identity.

Due to the natural attraction to the opposite sex, the Military Females on the training mission with him all fell into a sort of inexplicable frenzy over the discovery of a Male Zerg. As the commanding officer, Arno reported Chu Sui's existence to his superiors according to procedure, but other than that, he didn't feel much of anything.

Even his trusted adjutant, Fedi, couldn't quite contain his curiosity and secretly glanced at Chu Sui several times, both overtly and covertly.

Chu Sui had already fallen into a coma by then. On the warship's journey back to the Imperial Capital, he even developed a high fever. Because Male Zergs have weaker constitutions, Arno didn't dare to rashly give him an injection and could only stay by his side, closely recording his temperature data.

Chu Sui was delirious from the fever at that time. He groggily opened his eyes, unable to focus his vision. His throat burned with pain. He could only vaguely see a figure beside him and thought he had been rescued. Like clutching at a life-saving straw, he desperately grabbed the other's sleeve and said feebly, “Water…”

Relying solely on his survival instinct, Chu Sui mustered a sliver of strength. His eyes were somewhat dim from the illness as he intermittently uttered a few words, “Water… water…”

Arno was recording data and was caught off guard when he was grabbed. The tip of his pen dragged a black ink trail across the paper. He lowered his gaze faintly, looking at the hand clutching the corner of his clothes. He calmly pulled it free, then got up to pour a glass of water.

Male Zergs were noble. Arno gazed at the filthy Chu Sui, thinking that once they returned to the Imperial Capital, this Male Zerg's situation would probably undergo an earth-shattering change.

As for whether this change would be good or bad, no one could say for sure, but it was most likely the latter.

Arno lifted Chu Sui's head. As he touched the other's clothes, his spotless white gloves were stained with some brown dirt. He glanced at it, then looked away and brought the cup to Chu Sui's lips, helping him drink.

The Male Zerg's chapped lips were finally moistened a little, but they were still colorless. Arno saw him finish drinking and was about to withdraw his hand when he heard Chu Sui mumble two words indistinctly, “Thank you…”

His body paused slightly. He subconsciously looked at Chu Sui, his blue eyes concealing all emotion. For a moment, he felt like he was having an auditory hallucination. However, Chu Sui repeated it again, almost inaudibly, “Thank you…”

Thank you?

Arno gently placed the transparent glass on the table, thinking to himself that this was not only the first black-haired, black-eyed Male Zerg he had ever seen, but also the only one who would say 'thank you'.

Later, Chu Sui was sent to the Medical Center for treatment. After he woke up, as if he had been stimulated by something, he repeatedly asked the medical staff for the locations of several places—first X Province, then China, and finally Blue Star—but without exception, he received negative answers for all of them.

At the time, Chu Sui threw a big tantrum, but then he became completely quiet. It seemed as if he had accepted some reality and never asked another question again.

Not a single one.

All of The Empire's Male Zerg data was recorded in the archives, but the staff repeatedly checked and confirmed, yet couldn't find a single piece of information about Chu Sui. When they asked him, he only said his name was Chu Sui and that he didn't know or remember anything else.

Later, Arno became his Male Monarch.

Slowly pulling his thoughts back, his vision was still a hazy darkness. He could vaguely see the swaying shadows of the trees outside the curtains. Arno thought about the past and compared it to the present, feeling a sense of unreality. When he realized he had been lost in thought for too long and looked up at Chu Sui, he found that Chu Sui was also looking at him.

Arno said in a low voice, “Male Master…”

Chu Sui hummed in acknowledgment. His fingertips lightly landed on Arno's handsome side profile, and then he pinched his fair earlobe. The glass bead hanging from his wrist inadvertently touched the back of Arno's neck, sparking a faint, cool sensation.

Chu Sui propped up his head, as if talking to himself, “No wonder you became my Male Monarch.”

Hearing this, Arno's fingertips tightened slightly. For a moment, he thought Chu Sui had discovered something and was deliberating on how to speak, but then he heard Chu Sui ask, “Do you know why?”

Arno looked at him at his words, then slowly shook his head. “I don't know…”

Chu Sui said, “In my hometown, a debt for saving one's life must be repaid with one's body.”

Arno was slightly stunned for a moment. When he came to his senses, he smiled almost imperceptibly. He took Chu Sui's hand in the darkness and went along with his words, “So that's how it is.”

Chu Sui nodded. “Of course that's how it is.”

He had been guarding this secret alone for too long, not daring to tell anyone where he came from, afraid of being eradicated as an anomaly. But today, being found out by Arno, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted, and he felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

Sometimes, being alone is very difficult, but if one more person is added, it doesn't seem as hard as imagined.

Chu Sui habitually hugged Arno, kissing him intermittently, from his eyes to the tip of his nose, and from the tip of his nose to his lips. The kisses were dense and intimate, slightly ticklish with a moist warmth. Then, he whispered in Arno's ear about matters big and small concerning Earth. The bellyful of words he had held in finally found someone to confide in.

Chu Sui said, “My hometown is different from here. The laws are for every person…”

He realized he had misspoken and immediately corrected himself, “Every Zerg is equal. Whether you're a Female Zerg or a Male Zerg, if you make a mistake, you will be punished all the same.”

Upon hearing this, Arno's breath hitched for a moment. He came to his senses and said blankly, “But…”

But what?

He couldn't say either.

Arno quietly felt the warm breath that sprayed by his ear as Chu Sui spoke and asked in a low voice, “Then do you prefer your hometown, or here?”

Chu Sui said, “Hometown.”

Admittedly, the Zerg Race was indeed a paradise for males. They didn't have to work or suffer and were sought after everywhere. But under the law's bottomless indulgence, Chu Sui suddenly realized in a certain moment that this system was distorted and precarious, not just for the Female Zergs, but even more so for the Male Zergs.

After living here for a long time, he felt a baseless sense of dread, like a thinking person living and eating with a pack of beasts without intelligence in a forest.

Female Zergs suffered endless humiliation under increasing oppression, while Male Zergs degenerated without reason under The Empire's protection. The latter were more like a group of livestock raised to be useless, and it wouldn't be long before they fell from their Divine Platform.

Chu Sui originally thought that overthrowing the existing system was a good thing—to destroy and then rebuild, after all—but he suddenly remembered that he was also one of that group of useless livestock, and then felt it wasn't such a good thing after all.

He unconsciously caressed Arno's shoulder, planting intermittent kisses on the side of his face, until he heard a suppressed groan from his arms and finally came back to his senses.

A Female Zerg's body was far more sensitive than a Male Zerg's, something they couldn't control themselves. Especially since Chu Sui had unconsciously released his Pheromones, Arno's breathing became disordered from his kisses, and half of his body went limp. A layer of mist gradually veiled his blue eyes, his short silver hair was scattered messily on the pillow, and a deep bite mark appeared on his lower lip from biting it himself, clearly having endured for a long time.

His skin was cool and pale, which made his lips look even more crimson. Chu Sui belatedly realized something and slowly stopped his movements.

Arno closed his eyes, trying his best to calm the heat inside his body. However, he had underestimated the effect of Chu Sui's Pheromones on him. He couldn't suppress it for a good while. His panting grew heavier, and even his forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat.

Chu Sui unconsciously touched his earlobe. To be honest, he still couldn't precisely control his Pheromones now. His fingertips brushed past the button on Arno's shirt collar, and then he crooked a finger at him. “Come here.”

Arno instantly understood his meaning but hesitated to move. “You're injured…”

'Isn't this simple,' Chu Sui thought. He sat up in bed, pulled Arno into his arms to face him, brushed aside his sweat-dampened hair with his fingertips, and said with great interest, “Then you do it yourself.”

The positions for the Zerg Race were different from the human world; they were reversed. This was so the Male Zerg wouldn't have to expend too much energy. But Chu Sui had always been on top before, so with the sudden switch, Arno was still a little unaccustomed to it.

Arno was in a difficult predicament. His fingertips unconsciously tightened on Chu Sui's shoulders as he pleaded in a trembling voice, “Male Master…”

The Pheromones in the air grew stronger.

With a slight movement of his wrist, Chu Sui actually put the necklace around Arno's neck. The blue glass sphere landed right between his collarbones. The silver chain was incredibly delicate, disappearing into his collar and flashing with a gleam of light in the darkness.

He kissed Arno, his voice low. “What are you afraid of.”

Chu Sui's eyes were very beautiful, especially when they were focused on you. Arno didn't know why, but his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He panted softly, the mist in his eyes growing more obvious. He tremblingly undid the last few buttons on his shirt, then wrapped his arms around Chu Sui's neck, searching for his lips in the darkness.

The Zerg Race had always been open about this aspect. A Female Zerg who was too shy wouldn't be able to please a Male Master.

The familiar Zerg Patterns reappeared on Arno's body. His body trembled, convulsing uncontrollably for a moment. Under the effect of the Male Zerg's Pheromones, he was instantly disarmed, but Chu Sui held the back of his head, muffling all of Arno's groans and gasps between his lips.

Arno's mind went blank for a moment, and his back instantly tensed. After a long while, it suddenly relaxed. As if all his strength had been drained, he collapsed onto Chu Sui, mustering a sliver of strength to support himself, afraid of touching his injury.

Arno's daytime coldness and composure were shattered, piece by piece. His eyes were red-rimmed, his voice broken and hoarse, “Male Master…”

These two words seemed to hold a special meaning for him, as he chanted them over and over, called them out again and again.

Chu Sui pressed him down in return, and then they lay on their sides together. His fingertips slid over the necklace on Arno's neck, which seemed to represent their shared secret. He paused, then pulled him into his arms and said, “Let's sleep.”

The matter of Chu Sui's disappearance caused too much of a stir, and it soon became a headline on the StarNet. Capet hired a famous lawyer to defend him and seemed to have no fear. His few Female Attendants also took most of the blame. Little did they know that because Capet's reputation was so terrible, no one believed it at all, and the StarNet was already filled with curses.

Although Chu Sui had taken a lash from a whip, he didn't rest much. He went to work as usual the next morning. Arno tried to persuade him several times but couldn't stop him.

Chu Sui was obviously not that dedicated a person. He had just heard that Capet had hired a lawyer and could be bailed out today. He was preparing to intercept him at the Military Department and put a sack over his head, so naturally, he couldn't stay at home and rest.

He put on his coat, went downstairs with Arno, and then boarded the Flyer. Seeing that the latter still looked like he wanted to say something but was holding back, he patted the seat next to him. “Come here.”

Arno did as he was told and sat over, saying in a low voice, “Male Master, your wound hasn't healed yet. Why don't you rest at home…”

Before he could finish, a weight settled on his shoulder, and he was pulled into a familiar embrace. Arno subconsciously looked up, only to meet Chu Sui's half-smiling eyes.

Chu Sui asked him, “Are you happy being held by me?”

He was truly used to being thick-skinned, to be able to ask such a question.

The base of Arno's ears grew a little hot. His fingertips resting on his knees tightened subconsciously, and he gave an almost imperceptible nod, saying in a low voice, “I'm happy.”

Chu Sui: “If you're happy, then don't talk.”

Arno: “…”

For the rest of the journey, Arno indeed remained silent. It was only when they arrived at the Military Department and Chu Sui was about to take the Light Elevator to his office that he finally spoke, “Male Master, what time do you get off work today?”

He actually waited every day, but Chu Sui didn't like being followed, so he would pretend to run into him at the entrance every day. Even a fool could see it. One was a Major General busy with military affairs, the other a nine-to-five clerk. How could they possibly time it so perfectly every time, getting off work at the exact same moment?

Chu Sui straightened his cuffs. “No need.”

Arno's body stiffened slightly at his words. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Chu Sui say, “Today, I'll come to your office to pick you up from work.”

'Waiting for two hours is no big deal.'

Hearing this, Arno's heart leaped. Before he could react, Chu Sui had already entered the Light Elevator. He recalled what the Male Zerg had just said, his expression inevitably dazed. A subtle feeling suddenly crept into his heart, strange yet familiar, and it was a long time before it calmed down.

Chu Sui always liked to do so many unexpected things. Whether it was fighting with other Male Zergs for Arno's sake, or picking him up from work, he was an anomaly in this era. There were even more absurd things, for example, intercepting someone on the road?

Chu Sui heard that Capet had paid an astronomical bail and would be released from the Interrogation Room at noon to be investigated at home. He wasn't surprised. He just picked up another decorative brick from a flower bed at the Military Department, preparing to deal with him.

Since the law couldn't provide a fair trial, he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

Chu Sui waited on the path that one must take from the Interrogation Room ten minutes in advance. The brick was a bit heavy, weighing his hand down, so he simply dropped it by his feet and patiently waited for Capet to be released. Who would have thought that he wouldn't see Capet, but would instead spot two familiar figures in the distance.

Arno had just come out of a Military Department meeting, holding a document in his hand, with Alvin by his side. The two of them were talking about something in low voices, standing extremely close. From Chu Sui's angle, it looked a little too intimate.

Seeing them walking in his direction, Chu Sui turned and entered the corner of the stairwell. When he came out a moment later, he found Arno and Alvin walking side by side towards the medical building.

Chu Sui suddenly felt that things weren't simple. He unconsciously touched his head. Just then, the System popped out from somewhere, flopped onto his head, and said seriously and earnestly, [Rest assured, you're not being cuckolded.]

Chu Sui's movements paused at its words. “…”

'Fuck, of course I know I'm not being cuckolded, you think I need you to tell me?!'

Chu Sui said angrily, “Get down!”

The System's body was soft and cool. When it lay on his head, Chu Sui always felt like he was balancing a pile of shit on his head.