The Male Zerg Cub Doesn’t Want to Be the Cannon Fodder Top - Chapter 8

Upon hearing these words, the golden-eyed female’s gaze suddenly fell upon the chubby cub. His eyes held an expression the cub could not quite decipher.

“Do you really think so?” The female’s voice was clear and clean, though tinged with a slight rasp. “He is the shame of the Empire; every Zerg knows this. A military female can return in triumph or be buried in the wilderness, but the one thing he must never do is flee without a fight. He brought shame to the Empire and the army, and he humiliated his compatriots.”

“But Eliotte also saved the military females of the First Legion.”

Maurice scratched the curly hair on his head. Although he hesitated to speak without empirical evidence, he still firmly refuted the female’s merciless disparagement of Eliotte.

“My guess might not be entirely correct, but I believe it is closer to the truth than the mainstream media of the Imperial males. The Empire sent three major Legions to the Heaven Palace planet to suppress the rebellion. Setting aside the undisclosed details of the process and looking only at the results, the Fourth Legion defected, the Third Legion was wiped out, and only the First Legion returned to the Empire safely.”

As the cub spoke of serious matters, his chubby face became much more solemn. His clear green eyes sparkled with a light that was both steady and burning. Eliotte looked down at him, feeling a sensation in his chest that was almost painful, as if his external wounds had not yet been fully repaired by the medical pod.

Eliotte knew very well that he had orchestrated the First Legion’s flight without a fight, resulting in the greatest defeat the Empire had seen in thousands of years and making him the most shameful criminal female in the Empire.

He had been prepared to accept his execution. He did not regret his decision, but similarly, he saw no way out and no future. His brother, Emperor Klean, who ruled the Empire, had handed down the harshest punishment: he was to walk the “Path of Shame,” a journey with no hope of survival where every Zerg in the Empire could humiliate him at will, ensuring his name was forever nailed to the pillar of historical disgrace.

The insults and humiliation on the Star Network, the hatred and disdain of his compatriots, and the cold silence of the soldiers of the First Legion had pushed him to a dead end. Eliotte never imagined that at his most lost moment, he would hear a vibrant and energetic cub speak his name without a trace of contempt.

Eliotte’s eyelids felt strangely hot. He looked down to hide his expression, while the cub in front of him patted his own head as if suddenly coming to his senses, saying apologetically:

“Ah, I should not have told you all this. You just left the mud pit; you probably do not want to hear this messy stuff, right? Come and eat quickly! Today I made roasted meat and honey wine stewed brisket!”

As he spoke, Maurice directed his “artificial idiocy” robot to pull out a chair for the female, placing the roasted chicken and rabbit in front of him. The female seemed to hesitate but eventually sat down gently. He did not touch the fragrant food within reach; instead, he placed a spatial button with an insignia and a silver bracelet in front of the cub.

“Thank you for saving me. These are the only things of value I have left. I hope they can help you and make your life go more smoothly. Your identity is a bit special. Count Schmidt might turn a blind eye to your existence for certain reasons, but the factions within the Empire are complex, and your personality is quite frank. If you wish, leaving the Empire might be a more suitable choice.”

Eliotte pushed the silver bracelet toward the cub.

“This is the dark network built for females and sub-females by Syra, the leader of the rebel army, before he defected from the Empire. Before that, females and sub-females were excluded from the Imperial Star Network and were not allowed to communicate with each other to prevent mutiny and rebellion. After the bracelet network appeared, the females and sub-females of the Empire established connections, and rebels began to appear like bamboo shoots after rain. Later, the new Zerg Emperor realized the danger of the bracelet network and ordered a ban on its use, but it had little effect. Now, to prevent females and sub-females from continuing to use the bracelet network and being enticed by the rebels, the Imperial Star Network has begun to open up to them as well.”

Maurice blinked, swallowing the words of refusal he had intended to say. He was very curious about the rebel army, but the Empire had strictly blocked information about them, to the point that he could not collect much useful information even on the black market.

At the same time, he realized that the golden-eyed female in front of him was not the extremely law-abiding noble female he had originally thought. From the fact that he dared to escape the abuse of a male and carried a silver bracelet strictly prohibited by the Empire, it was clear that he possessed courage and determination and was neither submissive nor cowardly.

He just did not know what the black-haired female had experienced to make him lose his will to live so completely.

“I am a deserter.” The black-haired female lowered his eyes, seemingly feeling ashamed of his confession.

“Because of that, I am wanted by the Empire. Thank you for saving me, but staying with me will not benefit you; instead, it will harm you. Also, please do not continue to investigate Prince Eliotte. His current situation can be considered well-deserved, and it involves many interests. This is a matter for adult Zerg to handle, not something a cub like you should intervene in.”

His voice was gentle, possessing that unique and charming rhythm again. His golden eyes looked deeply at Maurice, filled with the tenderness, tolerance, and affection of an elder toward a rebellious cub.

“This spatial button contains my mecha. It is an SS-level mecha. A cub’s body and mental power cannot control it; you can try it when you grow up. If you find it unsuitable, you can exchange it for wealth.”

The relaxed smile on the chubby cub’s face gradually vanished as he listened to the female’s gentle words. Something was wrong. The female seemed to be saying goodbye, like a wanderer who did not want to involve his family in his exile. According to the usual tropes of a story, the female would then choose to face a life-or-death crisis alone and never appear again.

That would not do! The chubby cub looked at the black collar restraining the female’s neck and then at his injuries, which had not yet fully healed. He could not, under any circumstances, let the beautiful female he had worked so hard to save continue to suffer misfortune!

Maurice’s mind raced, and he was so worried that two of his little curls almost fell out. He definitely could not let the female leave like this. He was a male, and his mental power was more acute; he knew the black-haired military female in front of him looked like a piece of expensive porcelain with a slender neck, but beneath the smooth glaze, he was full of tiny cracks. His physical energy was depleted, internal injuries remained, and his mental sea was unstable, none of which the medical pod could repair.

He could not let such a female leave; how was that different from murder? It was true that Maurice had a career-oriented mind, but he also held the ethics of a humanities worker: no news or truth could ever be placed above a life.

Thinking this, the university student steeled himself, gritted his teeth, and blinked his puppy-like eyes hard, forcing out a tearful expression.

“Do you not want me anymore either? Just like my female father and male father?”

The soft, chubby cub’s short hands hung dejectedly at his sides, but his small face was tilted up. His green eyes looked at the female in front of him as if he still held a faint, desperate hope of not being abandoned.

“I know no Zerg can accept me. I was born different from other cubs, and I like to cause trouble and do not follow the rules at all. The Zerg in the Count’s manor all avoid me; no Zerg is willing to talk to me.”

This was not entirely a lie. In his past life, Maurice had gotten into a lot of trouble because of his journalism. In the Count’s manor, most Zerg were not permitted to know of the original host’s existence, and most of those who did know avoided him because of his status. From childhood to adulthood, only Adam had occasionally come to provoke him; the rest of the time, the original host spent his days immersed in the Star Network.

“None of them like me, so I moved out. I am actually doing okay on my own, but occasionally I still wish someone would talk to me or give me a hug.”

Fine, this was pure selling misery. The hypocrisy in his words made the university student feel ashamed. In a place where it could not be seen, Maurice’s toes curled as he began to build a villa, but his green puppy eyes still gazed up at the female. He managed to squeeze out a single tear at the corner of his eye, which hung precariously on his long eyelashes.

Eliotte’s pupils trembled violently. He unconsciously curled his fingers, resisting the urge to pull the cub into a tight embrace. His heart felt as though it were being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, aching with an unbearable soreness as chaotic thoughts flashed through his mind.

Leaving the cub was the right thing to do, was it not? He was the Empire’s criminal female; his brother wanted to nail him to the pillar of shame as a warning to others. They would continue to track his whereabouts, and even if he chose to flee, he could never truly escape his fate and responsibilities.

He could not leave the Empire, nor could he even stay far from the Capital Star. He had too many responsibilities to bear and too many truths to uncover. He did not want to let his brother, the current Zerg Emperor, murder millions of Zerg for his own selfish desires.

Even if he would most likely die before accomplishing anything. Perhaps the Emperor was right; he was a useless person, a fool with too many thoughts, and his soft heart meant he would never be able to hold power or do great things.

But he could not just walk away.

And what about the cub? Such a kind, beautiful, and vibrant cub; he had not experienced much hardship and did not know how ugly and twisted the outside world was. These short two days in the forest were like a beautiful dream for Eliotte, but they were a life the cub could choose. Fallen types were discriminated against and hunted in the Empire, but it was said that the rebel army was searching for their traces. In a place outside the Empire, the cub would surely be able to have a normal life, which was why Eliotte had left the rebel army’s bracelet for him.

Eliotte’s pupils shook violently. He should have stood up gracefully and left this small wooden cabin filled with the scent of warmth and food. He should have protected the cub as much as possible, as he had promised, but he could not do it. Under the cub’s tearful gaze, he could not even stand up or say another word.

Seeing the female become as stiff as a statue, Maurice gritted his teeth and prepared to shamelessly double down.

He reached out his chubby hand, carefully hooking it onto the female’s sleeve, and gave it a pitiful little shake.

“Did I do something wrong? Please do not leave, okay?”

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