SZAR Chapter 46

“You want to know what Nuo Wei’s male lord thinks about this?”

“Then why not come ask me directly?”

The moment those words left his mouth, the whole room fell silent.

The reporters’ gazes landed on Chu Ci. The tall, handsome male held the microphone single-handedly, his face calm and effortless, yet his strength was surprisingly great. The small reporter yanked at the microphone several times, but it didn’t budge at all.

Onlookers drew a sharp breath.

No matter how slight the reporter was, she was still a female, and this male had controlled her so effortlessly?

Chu Ci held the microphone steady. The reporter pulled with all her might, and Chu Ci gave just a little slack. The reporter stumbled back two steps, nearly falling.

“Sorry.” Chu Ci gave him a glance with no real apology. “But your microphone was about to touch my female.”

The small reporter sheepishly retracted the microphone.

Chu Ci scanned the surrounding crowd and asked again: “You were blocking my female just now. Now I’m standing right here, if you have questions, you can ask me directly.”

The reporters seemed to wake from a daze and raised their cameras, firing off a flurry of shots at Chu Ci.

A dozen or so reflectors formed a dense curtain of light. The photos were slightly overexposed, but strangely, this created a soft-light effect that made Chu Ci’s pale skin glow with the quality of jade.

One reporter glanced through the viewfinder, his hands trembling slightly, and couldn’t resist posting a photo to his personal account.

In the photo, Chu Ci stood at the focal point of everyone’s gaze. Behind him loomed a massive, deep-black interstellar craft and the misty sky of the Pamir Star system. Chu Ci wore a smoky-gray trench coat, the hem of which the wind had lifted into a sharp arc. Countless microphones were thrust toward him, forming a tight semicircle, but he stood backlit in the center, looking down on the cameras like an old aristocrat from the Victorian era holding a wooden parasol.

The live stream captured every moment without pause. Popularity was already surging, and within half an hour of the photo being posted, the Star Network had exploded.

Most of the male zergs were coarse and crude; the few good-looking ones were arrogant and rude. A male as handsome, refined, and courteous as Chu Ci was already rare, and here he was, appearing in the Pamir Star system.

A handsome, refined male, showing up on a war-torn frontier planet, and as the male lord of a defeated Major General.

Each of these facts alone was explosive; together, they were sensational.

Reporters scrambled to hand him microphones, hoping to get a soundbite that could make the front page. Their questions came in rapid-fire, afraid that if they spoke slowly, Chu Ci wouldn’t answer.

“Sir, are you Major General Nuo Wei’s male lord? May I ask why you’re here on this frontier planet? Is it to sign a divorce agreement with the Major General?”

Chu Ci took the microphone. “I am Major General Nuo Wei’s male lord. I came to this planet to keep him company. I was worried he’d be bored alone.”

The next question got stuck in the reporter’s throat, caught off guard.

A male shows up on a war-torn frontier planet, and the reason is… to keep his female company because he might get bored alone?

That reason was even more absurd than the event itself of showing up on a war-torn frontier planet

Chu Ci scanned the faces in front of him, some surprised, some shocked, ignoring their disbelief. He continued: “As for a divorce agreement, I will not sign one. Nuo Wei will always be my female monarch.”

Nuo Wei stood behind Chu Ci, unable to resist, and lightly tugged at the hem of his coat, like a dragonfly skimming the water.

The motion was completely instinctive. By the time Nuo Wei realized what he had done, he immediately tried to pull back, but Chu Ci caught his wrist with a reverse grip, holding it firmly in his palm.

He turned to look at Nuo Wei, a warm smile in his amber eyes, as if to say, “Why hide?”

Nuo Wei squirmed slightly but couldn’t break free. Instead, Chu Ci held his wrist firmly at his side.

The cameras broadcasting to the Star Network caught the moment, and the live chat froze for a beat.

The next second, the screen was flooded with ⟬ OMG.⟭

Male zergs were stingy with showing affection in public; it would make them lose their male pride. They preferred to humiliate females in public, asserting their household status.

But these males clearly did not include Chu Ci.

He was so close to Nuo Wei, holding the female’s hand tightly, and when he looked back at his female, his brows and eyes were drenched in gentle affection.

 ⟬ I can’t… I can’t… I can’t… ⟭

 ⟬ Wait… is this really a male? ⟭

 ⟬ His smile is so beautiful… I’m dead. ⟭

 ⟬ I’m… jealous. ⟭

Another reporter pushed aside the one speaking and held the microphone toward him. “But your female has been downgraded. The follow-up treatment costs are enormous, and he will also face trial. What’s your view on this?”

Chu Ci had seen these same questions countless times over the past few days. He had only one answer: “I don’t care about his rank. As for the treatment costs, I’m certainly not short of money to cover them.”

The live chat on the Star Network exploded even faster than when they were interviewing Nuo Wei.

⟬ How can a male even pay for treatment? What’s he going to use? ⟭

⟬ Use the female’s money, duh. Didn’t they say Nuo Wei is rich? ⟭

⟬ The earlier info was out of date. Nuo Wei donated a huge sum of money. There’s definitely not enough to cover the follow-up costs now. ⟭

⟬ So what’s this male going to do? Is he going to open himself to matchmaking? ⟭

“Open matchmaking” means taking a new female attendant. This is the quickest way for males to gain wealth. Once their account balance isn’t enough to spend freely, a male will open matchmaking, accept a new female, and take over his wealth in the process.

Countless females opened the matchmaking interface, searching for Chu Ci’s face.

A handsome, gentle male who would still accept a female even after her downgrade was the dream partner of most females. Even if this male seemed deeply devoted to his own female, many would still be willing to marry him as an attendant.

However, they scrolled from top to bottom and couldn’t find that stunning face among the males who allowed matchmaking.

Live chat: “??? He didn’t open it? Did he?”

 ⟬ Nope. I checked one by one. There’s no way I missed it. ⟭

Chu Ci cared about privacy and, unlike other males, didn’t like showing off to the public. He didn’t register under his real name and never posted foolish comments online, so most females didn’t even know his name.

 ⟬ Wait, I mean… you all want to marry him already? Nuo Wei is a traitor. Are you really willing to spend your hard-earned money to treat him? ⟭

As soon as this appeared, the chat threads that were trying to find out who Chu Ci was went silent.

Females liked handsome males, but they couldn’t tolerate betrayal. Once they believed Nuo Wei had joined the rebellion, they refused to provide any help.

Soon, QuQi even posted a comment:

 ⟬ Hope everyone stops crowding that male’s profile. If he wants to use our money to heal a traitor, I’d rather see it rot in a pit. ⟭

Many agreed with her.

Perhaps in their eyes, the only way for a male to gain wealth was by marrying an attendant.

Chu Ci had no idea about the fast-changing opinions on the Star Network. He was boarding the interstellar ship under the escort of Matthew and the others.

Originally, Chu Ci shouldn’t have been returning on a military ship. But the airport was completely blocked, everywhere were reporters trying to get close. They practically wanted to shove microphones into his mouth. If the military hadn’t maintained order, a few stampedes would have been inevitable.

In this situation, even if Matthew had ten lives’ worth of courage, he wouldn’t dare let Chu Ci return alone. If anything happened to this precious male under the military’s watch, his career as an investigator would be over, he might as well pack up and go home.

And so, Chu Ci held his female and boarded the spacecraft.

They sat by a window at the side. Nuo Wei hesitated slightly, then slowly leaned toward him. Seeing Chu Ci fully focused on the propaganda posters in the front row, paying no attention, he gently rested his head on Chu Ci’s shoulder.

Then he closed his eyes, settled into a comfortable position, and snuggled in for a nap.

Below, flashbulbs were going off wildly.

Chu Ci put down the propaganda poster and looked out the window.

Most military spacecraft are painted so the inside can’t be seen, but the investigators’ craft used for medal ceremonies had transparent windows. Nuo Wei obviously hadn’t noticed.

If he had, he’d probably have jumped out of his seat from shyness.

The flashes continued in a blinding streak. Chu Ci, afraid Nuo Wei might notice, covered his eyes with his hand, then frowned and looked outside, pressing a finger to his lips:

“Shh.”

The flashes grew even more intense.

After a long half-day of flight, the spacecraft finally landed at the military docking bay. Nuo Wei had to go ahead and cooperate with the investigation, and Chu Ci would no longer be able to participate in the events that followed.

Halfway through the flight, Nuo Wei had already woken. He leaned on Chu Ci’s shoulder, eyes open, unmoving, part longing, part farewell. When the jet thrusters flared as the aircraft hovered over the military base, he nudged Chu Ci, then turned his face and kissed the male on the ear.

A soft, gentle kiss.

Then he stood and left with Matthew and the others.

Chu Ci paused, slipping the propaganda poster back into the front seat.

This parting — next time, it would be after the lie detector test.

The mental seas of the zerg race were so mysterious that no one knew what might happen during the test, just as Nuo Wei’s signed agreement stated: life or death unknown, consequences borne by oneself.

Chu Ci took two deep breaths, collected his emotions, then opened his light brain and called Secretary Lin.

The mysterious young man clutching an egg that he had met at the flea market, and the gem and note he had left behind. Chu Ci didn’t fully understand his intentions. For now, the gem and note were safely in his backpack; he needed a professional to appraise the gem and also to check the young man’s workstation.

Secretary Lin was extremely efficient. Within ten minutes, he drove up to pick Chu Ci up and handed him a file.

“This one has more details than the last I gave you. I had someone follow up afterward,” Secretary Lin explained.

Chu Ci opened it, and Secretary Lin continued: “This Qu Xia came from a desolate planet, coincidentally, from the Pamir Star. Before high school, his talents were average, but suddenly, at some point in high school, he made a breakthrough, entering Central University as Pamir’s top student. Later, he demonstrated astonishing research ability.”

The rest of the information was largely unremarkable. Chu Ci flipped through a couple of pages as the craft arrived at Stellar Group Research Institute.

Since Qu Xia had gone missing and a report had been filed, his personal belongings were fully preserved. Secretary Lin opened an aluminum-alloy door and dragged out a cardboard box.

“These are his personal items left at his desk. Everything is here.”

Chu Ci looked through it. There was a black leather notebook filled with formulas he couldn’t understand, along with scattered items like pens. He started taking things out one by one, but suddenly paused at one object.

It was a wooden square item, with interlocking patterns like building blocks.

Lin looked at it and said, “Oh, that’s just a desk ornament he had.”

Chu Ci shook his head. “This isn’t an ornament.”

It was a Luban lock.

A wooden puzzle with mortise-and-tenon construction, precisely interlocked.

Seeing a brain-teasing toy from Earth, Chu Ci felt a twinge of nostalgia. His parents had valued early education, and when he was little, they had taught him how to disassemble a Luban lock by hand.

Chu Ci placed his hands on the lock, closed his eyes, and recalled his childhood method. His fingers moved quickly, and soon enough, he had taken it apart.

Secretary Lin was stunned.

The zerg race valued strength and war, and their culture was relatively backward. They had few games or novels, and no clever toys like a Luban lock. Watching Chu Ci take the seemingly unbreakable blocks apart, piece by piece, was like watching a magician perform magic.

When Chu Ci reached the last pile, he found a block that was different from the rest.

All the other pieces were pure wood, but this one had metal attached, with grooves running both ways, like a circuit board Chu Ci had seen in his previous life.

Secretary Lin lifted the light brain and inserted the chip. “Let’s see what he wrote.”

Inside were dense executable files, with a 1 KB instruction file at the bottom. Chu Ci opened it and read two short sentences:

[ This file can upgrade the software of the Central Interrogation Room’s lie detector. ]

[ If a trusted guide assists a test subject under this version, my testing shows that the probability of mental sea collapse can drop from 78.65% to 13.06%, and the probability of death from 26.18% to 0.00%. ]

Two simple sentences, but with astonishing information density.

Chu Ci suddenly stood up.

Secretary Lin was dumbfounded. “What does that mean?”

Chu Ci ignored him and asked, “Does Stellar Group have media outlets?”

Though his position was high, he had no direct way to contact the Central Interrogation Room.

Secretary Lin replied, “Of course we do. Our media is the most professional in the entire star system, and—”

Chu Ci cut him off. “Have them release some information for me.”

He exhaled slowly. “I, Chu Ci, A-rank male, master of Imperial Major General Nuo Wei, demand a postponement of Nuo Wei’s trial ceremony and request to join the interrogation as the guide.”