After the Zerg General Was Accidentally Marked - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Cohabitation

“Your meaning is… there is another living creature here.”

“Uh… yes.”

“Did you see what they looked like?”

“Um…”

“You saw them?”

“No, no!”

Everett was somewhat absent-minded. He didn’t even dare look the female directly in his blue eyes when the other looked over.

The female across from him was clearly properly dressed. His high-collared top even hid the collar completely, leaving not a single patch of extra skin exposed.

Unfortunately, Everett possessed a photographic memory.

Consequently, more details flooded his mind.

Broad, powerful shoulders; honey-toned, firm pectoral muscles. The veins winding and bulging across the lower abdomen, gradually disappearing into…

Ahem. Everett quickly halted his recollections.

Everett’s orientation had always been very clear—it was Major General Sears. Even the reason he bought this female in the first place was because of those blue eyes, because of the similarity between them.

Now, Everett suddenly realized that he seemed to have found himself a stand-in that was too similar. To the point that… some reactions that shouldn’t be there were occurring.

Even though he had seen almost everything while treating the wounds before, there was a vast difference between an immobile patient and a living, breathing body. That kind of vitality that instantly crashed into his field of vision…

“It might be a small animal that sneaked onto the ship.”

It made one unable to resist wanting to touch, to stroke, perhaps… even more.

“It could also be another insect.”

The translator’s mechanical voice was flat and stiff, and the bite-inhibitor covered the lower half of the face completely. But in Everett’s mind, the image of the female’s lips surfaced opening and closing. The lower lip was slightly fuller than the upper lip.

“Since we could get on, other insects could too.”

Once Pandora’s box is opened, it can never be closed again. And human imagination is infinite.

“Don’t worry too much.”

The female leaned down and began rummaging through a bag. What Everett saw, however, were the muscle lines bulging on those sturdy arms with every movement, and the several loops of blood-stained bandages at the wrist, leaving faint indentations on the forearm.

“The other party hasn’t initiated an attack, which suggests peaceful coexistence is possible. Since food is plentiful, there’s no harm in sharing some appropriately.”

Sears fished out a flashlight and looked at the little male who seemed to be dazed.

“If you’re still worried, I can accompany you to check around. See if we can find anything.”

Everett subconsciously gave an affirmative sound, and only after the female turned to walk out did he wake up as if from a dream:

Dammit! What on earth was I just thinking!

He should have just apologized directly; that way, he might have been able to quickly push the image he accidentally saw to the back of his mind.

But by the time he opened the door again, still mentally rehearsing his words, the female had already asked calmly: “What do you need me for?”

There wasn’t a ripple of emotion in those blue eyes, as if nothing had just happened.

He answered subconsciously: “I heard a noise just now…”

And thus, he missed the opportunity to apologize and explain.

In psychology, there is a phenomenon called the Zeigarnik Effect, which states that people find it easier to remember unfinished tasks. That must be why he was so hung up on it, recalling it repeatedly.

It had to be that.

It could only be that.

The little male steadied his emotions and followed closely behind the female back to the third level.

The two of them used flashlights to check every nook and cranny of the third level, but they found no suspicious traces.

“Maybe I misheard. Perhaps it was the sound of instruments on the ship.” But how to explain the can?

Sears glanced at the dejected little male. “Maybe they’re hiding. Since the other party isn’t looking for trouble, there’s no need to provoke them proactively.”

But he truly didn’t want the door broken down by the other party again, especially while he was changing. So he proactively proposed: “For safety’s sake, you can stay with me.”

“If you don’t mind.”

“I…” Everett said, “I don’t mind.”

The eighth-level breakroom was relatively large and had a porthole where one could see the outside. But the door was broken and couldn’t be locked.

So the lock was broken. Everett realized late.

Thus, the female took his things to the third level. Once he had set up his floor bed, there was almost no place to step in the cramped room.

The military female soon lay down to rest, then glanced at the little male. “I need to sleep for a bit. Aren’t you going out?”

Everett shook his head; he needed to think quietly now, so he prepared to lie down as well.

The long-limbed military female lying on the floor made the mattress beneath him look a size too small.

Everett sat up again: “How about… you take the bed?”

Sears opened his eyes and stared at the little male for a while until the latter self-consciously looked away.

“No need, after all…”

After all what? After all, I’m a male? That’s gender discrimination.

“After all, you’re still young.”

Everett: …

So it’s age discrimination.

The lights went out, and the female’s breathing beside him soon became steady and long. But Everett, who had not been awake long, found it impossible to sleep.

This was the first time since they met that they were sleeping together.

Does this count as cohabitation?

Speaking of which, when they first met Sears back then, they also…

While his mind was filled with random thoughts, the female’s translator screen suddenly lit up: “Can’t sleep?”

Sears asked this to get the little male to go out, but the other party took the bait instead: “Yeah, I was thinking…”

“…Thinking about what Major General Sears was trying to find out from Ollie that night. And whether there’s a connection between Ollie’s death and what happened to the Major General.”

This was an answer Sears hadn’t expected. Truly a die-hard fan even after leaving the Capital Star, he was still thinking about his idol.

Since sleep was impossible anyway, Sears simply got up and turned on the light, providing the information he knew: “That night, Major General Sears went to Ollie to find out about a missing starship. The Tran-Phi 869, a ship used to transport blue spice. The official conclusion was an accident, but Sears believed there was a hidden agenda behind it.”

“However, that night, Ollie provided another piece of news. He said the cargo on that missing ship wasn’t blue spice, but another highly valuable product.”

“Karatin Reagent.”

“This mental power drug, which emerged in the last two years, became a craze in male society as soon as it hit the market. However, the founder behind it, the male ‘F,’ has never revealed himself.”

“If the Major General was attacked because of investigating this matter, then this ‘F’ is highly suspicious.”

F himself, Everett instantly caught the keyword. No, wait, why is Solas suspecting him!

“Wait, wait, isn’t that a bit of a leap in logic? How did we go from a starship accident to suspecting F?”

“Because he is the only suspicious male that can be traced on this chain of clues.”

“How is he suspicious? Isn’t F a legitimate busin—business insect?”

“When Karatin first came out, F once sent a handwritten letter to Sears that said:”

“I have been watching you.“

The sudden exposure of his dark history made Everett want to crawl into a hole in the ground. “That sentence didn’t mean what you think it did…”

He just wanted to express his attention as a fan!

But clearly, the female who misunderstood wasn’t just Solas, because the Everett of that year soon discovered he had been unilaterally blacklisted by Major General Sears. After several attempts to explain were met with silence, Everett finally gave up. Because of this, he had never revealed F’s true identity for all these years.

The insect Sears loathed was F—what did that have to do with him, Everett?

However, “How do you know about that?”

“Many insects in the Legion know.”

So I lost face… lost face on a grand scale.

“Is that why you hate F? Because he has… improper intentions toward Major General Sears?” Everett asked with difficulty. He had noticed long ago that every time Karatin was mentioned, Solas seemed unhappy.

Sears did not answer the question directly. “You have a favorable opinion of F and Karatin because those drugs helped you.”

“I dislike F and Karatin because F dares not show his true face, and I have seen how much suffering an addicted female goes through.”

“Experience dictates one’s stance. That is something that cannot be changed.”

This was indeed irrefutable. Now, Everett dared even less to reveal his identity.

“In short, F’s suspicion cannot be ruled out,” the female concluded.

“I think another male is much more suspicious than F!” Thus, Everett could only find a way to divert suspicion.

“After the Major General left the tavern, he met a male in private: Jason Lanston.”

Judging by the female’s surprised expression, he clearly didn’t know this information. “And how did you know about this?”

“An insect in the Sears Fan Group caught it in a photo. The evidence is solid.” Having seized the initiative, the little male analyzed quickly, “The relationship between this Second Prince and Major General Sears has always been poor. Meeting in secret is clearly problematic. If something happened to the Major General, it might very well be Jason’s doing.”

“No.” But the female immediately vetoed the guess. “It wouldn’t be him.”

“And you have no evidence.”

“You suspect F, and you don’t have evidence either!”

Seeing that they were about to argue, Sears yielded a step. “Actually, there’s no need for us to sit here guessing.”

“In one month, anything could happen. When the ship reaches its destination…”

“We might not need to guess anymore.”

Because Sears knew his own ending very well, or rather, the ending the authorities had given for “Major General Sears” in his previous life.

Defection, and then death.

He just didn’t know which stage they were at now.

An awkward silence spread between them.

Finally, Sears took the initiative to break it: “So, why do you like Major General Sears?”

Sure enough, at the mention of Sears, Everett instantly forgot the unpleasantness from a moment ago: “In the beginning, it was because he was a hero.”

“Later, as I got to know him better, I realized that for him to become the Commander of the First Legion a female with immense influence in both the military and politics of the Empire it must be because…”

Sears guessed what he was going to say next. He had heard similar things many times, envy, worship, admiration, even jealousy. Because of excellence, because of talent, because of good luck.

But Everett said: “Because he lived a very hard life.”

Sears: ?

“I checked the military females from the same period as Major General Sears. There were 84 with SS-rank mental power. But ten years later, only three survived in all the Legions.”

“For the Major General to achieve what he has today, he must have sacrificed a lot; it must have been very difficult.”

“I want to protect him.”

Having just been touched by the little male’s words, he suddenly heard this sentence.

“You… want to protect… Major General Sears?”

Sears found it a bit funny. “Is that why you built up your body and learned to fight?” Even he had to admit that to be able to tie with a B-rank female, this physical strength was indeed superior.

“But for the insect race, especially for males, a strong body isn’t the most important thing. Exceptional mental power is.”

“A military female qualified to be stationed at Achates like me is at least a B-rank. What about you?”

“My Master, what rank are you?”

In Sears’ view, to be able to mark him an SS-rank military female the boy had to be at least of the same rank, or even higher. The current question was merely for confirmation.

To his surprise, Everett replied: “F.”

Sears doubted he had heard correctly. “What was that?”

“The lowest rank, F.”

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