LIGHTNOVELONLINE 35
“Hey, I heard the Zergs are coming to Earth again?”
“Yeah, they’re supposed to arrive today. These aliens aren’t planning to invade Earth, are they?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I heard the Zerg are here to discuss an alliance.”
“Shh, stop talking, the captain’s coming.”
“Damn, why is the captain smiling so much?”
“Ugh, the captain is acting weird today.”
The human soldiers quickly assembled and stood in a line. Hundreds of soldiers couldn’t help but fix their eyes on their captain’s face. Seeing such a bright smile on their usually stern-faced captain was practically a ‘miracle.’
“Reporting to the captain.” A soldier in the front row couldn’t resist speaking up.
“Speak.” Zhuo Yan rhythmically slapped the belt in his hand against his palm, a habit he had since becoming captain and a traditional gesture passed down from his predecessors.
“You seem very happy today. Could you tell us why?” The soldier seemed quite familiar with Zhuo Yan.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
The captain’s broad smile made the soldiers uneasy. At that moment, the sunlight above them began to fade, and the cement ground beneath their feet was suddenly cast in shadow.
The loud hum of an engine indicated that whatever was producing the sound was much larger than a commercial airplane.
A massive alien warship hovered above the soldiers’ heads. As the air currents shifted, the ship slowly descended, finally landing steadily at the airport a few minutes later.
“Turn Left, forward march.” Zhuo Yan threaded the belt through his waistband and led the soldiers towards the alien warship in their most valiant manner.
At some point, several men and women in suits emerged from the airport’s VIP lounge, wearing polite smiles as they awaited near the warship.
“Female Father, don’t be afraid. Just stay behind me.” Rhys instructed Ivan to stay close, received a nod of affirmation from the female zerg, and exchanged a glance with He Qin before signaling the accompanying female zergs to open the hatch.
Warm sunlight poured in, highlighting the tender green leaves by the roadside and the blooming flowers in the distance, all exuding the essence of spring.
On the Zerg star, the seasons were uniform, with virtually no climatic changes. He Qin hadn’t experienced the beauty of spring for a long time.
He looked up, appreciating the colors of the blue sky and white clouds, and followed the flight of a few chirping sparrows as they soared into the distance.
“Hello, Mr. He Qin, Major General Rhys, welcome to Earth. I am Enzo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Earth International Alliance, responsible for coordinating with you during this visit.”
A man in a black suit with neatly styled hair maintained a polite smile without making any excessive gestures. From what he knew, the Zerg didn’t have customs like kissing or handshaking. The usually aloof Zerg expressed their ‘welcome’ or ‘respect’ through eye contact.
He Qin always disliked these hypocritical diplomatic occasions. After greeting them, he quietly stepped back and left all the discussions to Rhys.
“This is the squad leader stationed here…”
Before the words were finished, a deep voice filled with doubt interrupted, “Xiao Qin?”
“Captain, is that you?” He Qin had heard this voice for six years; it was incredibly familiar. He had heard this man give various training orders, military tasks, and verbal warnings with that voice.
Looking closely, standing behind the captain were Roy, Alger, Jack, Maddy… One familiar face after another appeared in He Qin’s line of sight.
The biggest surprise today was meeting his brothers right after stepping off the starship.
He Qin’s previously low spirits instantly lifted. He habitually used the running posture trained in the military camp, jogging to his brothers.
“Xiao Qin, is that you?”
“I’ve missed you so much.”
“You little rascal, you haven’t sent us any news for so long.”
Seeing the familiar little guy, the men could no longer maintain their rigid military stance. Led by Zhuo Yan, they surrounded He Qin, pinching his cheeks and ruffling his hair.
The Major General stood at a distance, watching the Earthlings touching his master, feeling uneasy.
Hmm, those are his master’s friends, he shouldn’t be jealous, right, he shouldn’t be.
But he also wanted to touch his master’s soft hair and pinch those cheeks that looked so pleasant to the touch. The things he didn’t dare to do were easily done by this group of humans.
“Hey, stop messing around. My wife is watching,” He Qin, his hair disheveled and cheeks flushed from the rough handling, suddenly reminded the men of the He Qin from six years ago.
Back then, Xiao Qin was the youngest recruit in the squad. He had a great personality and an adorably cute appearance. The men’s training breaks were spent playing around with the little guy.
It seemed that even after spending time with the Zerg, Xiao Qin’s personality hadn’t changed at all.
“Hello, I am Rhys.” Hearing his master mention him, Rhys finally had an excuse to approach, leaving the incessantly talking diplomat behind and rushing to He Qin’s side.
Wait a minute, wasn’t this the Zerg Major General who visited Earth last time? The noisy men fell silent instantly.
The cold and stern aura of this Zerg Major General made the men feel a tremendous sense of pressure, instinctively halting their actions and standing back in military stance.
“Let me introduce, this is my wife, Rhys.” He Qin lifted his head proudly, holding Rhys’s hand.
But the atmosphere behind them wasn’t as harmonious. The completely ignored diplomat’s expression was quite remarkable.
“Alright, Xiao Qin, don’t hold up the important matters. Let’s chat in detail tonight.” Zhuo Yan, being the captain, quickly sensed the awkwardness.
Thus, He Qin, unprepared, was pushed out of the group by his former captain. He looked at the captain, then at the diplomat, and made a ‘stay in touch’ gesture towards his brothers.
“Thank you for your long journey. President has arranged for you all to stay at a local seven-star hotel. Security and service will be handled by Earth’s military, so you can rest assured,” Enzo said.
As an excellent diplomat, Enzo had memorized all the information they had about the Zerg overnight as soon as they received the signal from the Zerg. He had learned that although the Zerg had developed technology, their social system was still very ancient, adhering to the principle of male superiority. No matter how powerful the female Zerg were outside, all important decisions still had to be made by the male Zerg.
It seemed that this male Zerg, who had grown up on Earth, was the core figure of this team.
As lunchtime approached, He Qin’s stomach began to rumble. He suddenly remembered that Rhys mustn’t go hungry now. “It’s about time; why don’t we eat first and talk over lunch?” He walked from the window to Rhys’s side. Although his tone was gentle, his gaze was firm.
Rhys, thinking it was his master who was hungry, immediately stopped the diplomatic chit-chat. “Mr. Enzo, is there any place nearby where we can eat?”
“I was enjoying our conversation so much that I overlooked the time. We’ve already arranged lunch for all our Zerg friends. Please follow me,” Enzo replied.
Being a typical M countryman, Enzo believed the best cuisine was, of course, the most luxurious local Western food. Western cuisine, with its variety of vegetables and meats, could meet the different dietary needs of male and female Zerg.
The entire Western restaurant was booked for them, with heavy guards stationed outside. Inside, it was the Earth’s diplomatic team and the group led by He Qin. Each table could seat four, so naturally, He Qin, Rhys, Enzo, and Ivan sat at the same table.
“Hmm, this appetizer is nice, sweet and sour. Rhys, try it,” He Qin said as he started eating. Only then did the female Zerg dare to begin tasting their food.
Before coming to Earth, these diplomats under Barton had also studied various Earth materials, so they naturally knew how to use the knives and forks of Western cuisine. Rhys had also seen his master use knives and forks at home, so this was not difficult for him.
At home, his master liked to feed him various foods. Seeing the yellow food on the fork in front of him, Rhys obediently opened his mouth and ate it under the surprised gaze of the Earth men opposite him.
Hmm, it seemed more sour than sweet. Rhys tasted the refreshing flavor of the food. There was no such food on Zerg planets, and he couldn’t help but eat a bit more.
Western appetizers are usually very small, and soon the plates were empty. He Qin silently pushed his fruit salad towards Rhys and sipped on his fruit drink in small sips.
“You two are truly a loving couple, very enviable…” Enzo had long noticed that the relationship between this Zerg major general and the male Zerg was unusual.
He hadn’t expected that the two important figures coming for negotiations would be in such a relationship.
Do the Zergs not understand what ‘no office romance’ means?
“You’re joking, Mr. Enzo.” Being back on his familiar Earth, He Qin was much more outgoing with strangers than he was among the Zergs.
Enzo seemed to be trying to extract some information from He Qin. He asked several questions, all indirectly probing for Zerg information.
Although He Qin had a straightforward personality, he wasn’t foolish. Since this trip represented the Zerg, he couldn’t easily divulge Zerg information, so he deflected the questions skillfully.
When he couldn’t answer, he simply pretended not to hear and focused on eating, completely blocking Enzo’s attempts.
“By the way, I heard you grew up in an orphanage in C-country on Earth.” Having failed to get any useful information, Enzo couldn’t just sit in silence and eat, so he shifted the topic to the male Zerg.
“Yes, you know about that?” He Qin followed along with the conversation.
“I heard it from a colleague before.” The man was smiling, but He Qin couldn’t see any sincerity in his eyes. This was typical of politicians. “Do you want to find your origins?”
Hearing this, Rhys put down his knife and fork and seriously asked, “Mr. Enzo, do you have a way?”
Another purpose of Rhys’s visit to Earth was to help his male lord find his origins. According to He Qin, he was abandoned in an alley on Earth and then taken to the orphanage, but this was all according to the orphanage director’s account.
A male Zerg with A-level bloodline wouldn’t be an ordinary male. Ryan was of Zerg aristocratic descent, and so was that appraiser, Yun Ting.
Rhys always felt that his male lord’s origins were not so simple.
“If Mr. He Qin is willing to provide some information about the orphanage, we will do our best to find information about your origins.”
Finding the origins of a Zerg male would require some manpower and resources, but if they could leave a good impression on the male zerg and form a friendly alliance, what were a few resources compared to that?
“But the only one who knew about my origins, the director, is said to have perished in the last war.” He Qin pushed around the remnants of his food, clearly not holding much hope of finding his origins.
Enzo, having reached his position at a young age, was skilled in reading people. He could see that this Zerg major general was particularly persistent about the male zerg’s origins.
Selling the major general a favor wouldn’t hurt. He spoke up again, “But you haven’t seen the director’s body yourself, so how can you be certain they really died in that war?”
He had a special forces unit under him that could dig up mountains of information from even the tiniest grain of data.
Being reminded of this, He Qin realized he couldn’t be certain the director had died, as there was no evidence proving the director had perished in the war.
“Let’s exchange contact information. I’ll buy a phone later and send the information to you.” With so many eyes on him, he didn’t want to share his personal information in front of everyone.
Phones were crucial tools on Earth, and they were going to be there for a while. The devices they had could only contact the Zerg, not Earthlings.
“Alright, that works.”
“Try this dish, it’s by a Michelin three-star chef. This chef is very picky and only makes ten servings a year.”
Enzo eagerly introduced the dishes to the male, but despite his effort, He Qin’s attention remained solely on Major General Rhys.