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Yu Chenyu spent some time determining if Qi Zihan was setting a trap or if he truly wanted to make a deal with him.
But he soon realised that even if a female wanted to trap their male, the male would still have to jump in obediently.
The one who sat on the sofa was completely different from a soldier. He was a female zerg with gentle looks and an elegant temperament — not his superior officer, but his Lord Wife, who controlled his lifespan and future.
Upon making this conclusion, Yu Chenyu cooperated. “Then,” he requested, “can you not strip me in public or when others are present, and not give me to other females to play with? I can give three… no, five requests, for this one.”
Qi Zihan was stunned.
Although he did intend to learn more about this world as well as Yu Chenyu through this transaction, he didn’t expect to hear such shocking content.
Making his male strip naked in public?
And giving him to other females to play with?
Giving?
Did he mean using male zergs as playthings?
This world was terrifying!
Despite his surprise, his mouth only opened slightly and his overall expression didn’t change much.
He may have been quiet for too long, perhaps it was a dozen seconds or perhaps half a minute.
Because Yu Chenyu panicked.
Maybe, at this moment, he should kneel and confess his mistake before the female got angry, and admit that his request was excessive.
But this was too important to him.
So, after pursing his lips for a while, he gathered his courage and said, “If you… if you can agree, then you can do whatever you want to me at home… although females already have the right to do so. But you can do more to me, we soldiers have very strong bodies — even if you cut off an arm, it’ll grow back after a while. You don’t need to be scared.”
Qi Zihan: “…”
I’m so scared that I’m trembling, I’m going to have nightmares tonight!
He didn’t dare to think about what the females of this world had done to the males.
Since Yu Chenyu would go to such lengths, it meant that there really were females who would do it and that it was tacitly permitted by law.
Was this a marriage or getting a free slave?
No, this slave even had to pay to be one!
Qi Zihan rubbed at his temples. After spending a lot of effort to pick up his shattered worldview and put it back together, he pretended to be calm as he said, “Okay, I won’t humiliate you in public and I won’t give you to other females. This counts as two, so I’ll make another request.”
Yu Chenyu looked at him in a daze.
He agreed?
He agreed!
And it only counted as two?
Qi Zihan didn’t notice Yu Chenyu’s reaction, he was too busy racking his brains for anything else he could ask.
Don’t leave rubbish out? Don’t make messes?
He could tell from the way Yu Chenyu put his boots away that he wasn’t the kind of person to leave things everywhere.
Have a clear division of labour for housework?
A cleaning robot drifted past his feet.
Not allowed to sleep on the same bed?
He didn’t mind sleeping in the same bed, since they had already agreed not to touch him without permission.
His stomach gurgled again. “No chillis, I can’t eat spicy food,” he said weakly.
Yu Chenyu was surprised at the unexpected request, and then, realising that Qi Zihan was hungry, he had the urge to laugh. “Okay, I’ll go cook now. Is there anything else you don’t want?”
“No bitter melons, no leeks.” He didn’t know what zergs ate, so he just told him his preferences. “I like lighter food, less salt, but it can be sweeter.”
“Okay.” Yu Chenyu memorised it.
“Anyway, I don’t like bitter or sour things. I like sweet food,” Qi Zihan said, going even further. “I want meat. Cola chicken, sweet and sour spare ribs…”
“Okay.” Yu Chenyu turned away to open the refrigerator so that Qi Zihan couldn’t see his smile.
“And sweet corn soup.”
He originally wanted to just eat whatever Yu Chenyu made, but when he found out that he could order food, he couldn’t hold back his cravings.
And Yu Chenyu agreed to all his requests, taking out the corresponding ingredients from the refrigerator and going to the kitchen.
Yesterday, when he met Qi Zihan here and before he was tied to the bed, he had already considered the issue of food, so he had used his terminal to purchase some ingredients.
As his male zerg, he had the right to view Qi Zihan’s medical examination report, so he knew that his last meal was high in sugar and protein.
His Lord Wife should be a carnivorous female who liked sweets.
Therefore, the dishes Qi Zihan had just named were all within his expectations.
The only thing he didn’t consider was that his Lord Wife would take him to the Female Association Center as soon as he woke up, making them miss breakfast.
He should buy some ready-to-eat snacks.
As he thought of it, Yu Chenyu used his spiritual power as he cooked to turn on his terminal, through which he bought chocolates, biscuits, and bread.
Then he remembered that he hadn’t told his friend Zhu Yunqi about resolving his crisis, so he quickly reported it to him to let him stop worrying.
Yu Chenyu: He kept me.
As expected, a reply came in seconds.
Zhu Yunqi: !
Zhu Yunqi: Congrats!
Zhu Yunqi: Are you okay?
Yu Chenyu: He didn’t hit me.
Zhu Yunqi: ?
Zhu Yunqi: Then how did you make him keep you?
Yu Chenyu: It’s a bit hard to explain. I don’t know what he went through or why he showed up in the high-risk area, but what is certain is that his understanding of the empire is very limited.
Zhu Yunqi: What do you mean? Don’t all females have no clue what’s going on in the empire? When have they ever cared about its life or death?
Yu Chenyu: I don’t mean that.
Yu Chenyu: He didn’t know what would happen to divorced males.
Zhu Yunqi: ?
Zhu Yunqi: Females cancel marriages whenever they want, since when did they care about what happens to males after they divorce?
Yu Chenyu: I mean it’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s that he didn’t know. After he found out, he kept me, understand?
After this message was sent, the chat interface fell silent.
Yu Chenyu didn’t care, he focused on preparing ingredients and heating the pan.
There were actually special robots for cooking.
But this was the first meal that his wife would eat, so he wanted to show off his skills.
Just as the pan reached the right temperature and he poured in a thin layer of oil, ready to put the ingredients in, his friend finally sent another message.
Zhu Yunqi: It seems like your wife is quite kind, I’m happy for you
Zhu Yunqi: Now, there’s something else I want to ask
Yu Chenyu: What?
Zhu Yunqi: Do you know your wife’s spiritual power level?
Yu Chenyu: Let me check
Last night Yu Chenyu was busy thinking about how to please his wife in order to leave a good impression on him.
When the people from the Female Association reminded him that his wife might have some violent tendencies, he even worried that the tools he prepared weren’t cruel enough.
Now it seemed like they had misunderstood something.
As he stirred the food, Yu Chenyu used his spiritual power to retrieve his wife’s profile and read it carefully from top to bottom.
Name: Qi Zihan
Sex: Female
Age: 21
Last medical exam: 11 hours ago
Medical exam results: Good physical state, good mental state, no abnormalities; all sexual characteristics have matured, ready for gestation at any time; the estimated number of eggs to be produced is 1 million.
Physical capability: A
Spiritual capability: SS
Spiritual mimicry: Unknown
Yu Chenyu couldn’t believe his eyes.
His movements paused as he used his spiritual power to magnify the ‘spiritual capability’ line until it filled up the entire screen.
Spiritual capability: SS
Then he zoomed out and went back to the top of the profile.
Name: Qi Zihan
Only then was he sure that his wife, Qi Zihan, was a female zerg with SS-grade spiritual power!
And his physique was A-grade! Didn’t that mean he could fight better than some soldiers?
Yu Chenyu felt a little dazed. Forcing himself back to his senses, he resumed cooking and replied to his friend.
Yu Chenyu: SS
Zhu Yunqi: As expected.
Yu Chenyu: ?
Zhu Yunqi: Before your wife selected you, you should’ve received a notification from the system, right? Then I’ll tell you now that you weren’t the only one to get it. I got it too, and so did the marshal. As far as I know, a lot of males with S spiritual power also got the notification at the same time, regardless of whether they submitted a marriage proposal or not.
Zhu Yunqi: You already know that the system will only notify males if their match rate is over 80%, so that they’re more likely to be included in the female’s quota.
Zhu Yunqi: My match rate with him is 93%
Zhu Yunqi: But you don’t need to worry, I’ll never get married — I’d rather die than serve a female, so I won’t be competing with you for favour
Zhu Yunqi: But I don’t know about others, including the marshal
Zhu Yunqi: Do you get what I mean?
Yu Chenyu: I understand
As Yu Chenyu watched one line after another pop up, his smile faded and his amber eyes dimmed like a cloud covering stars.
An SS-grade female zerg. Even the imperial marshal had no right to limit the number of males he had.
As long as Qi Zihan was willing, he could have a hundred, a thousand, even tens of thousands of males.
His spiritual power was sufficient to soothe them all, and perhaps even more.
What should Yu Chenyu do then?
He was lucky because he was the first male to be chosen.
He was also unlucky because he was the first, and thus the most likely to be rejected.
Not to mention that he was a soldier with both physical and spiritual power reaching SS-grade.
This was a symbol of strength and supreme honour for males.
But females looked at neither physical abilities nor spiritual power when choosing their males.
Rather, the stronger their bodies, the more likely it was for females to feel scared and lash out due to fear.
Strong spiritual power also required females to expend more time and energy for soothing.
Yu Chenyu was an undefeated warrior on the battlefield, a ruthless general worshipped by countless males.
Yet for females, he had hardly any advantages that were worth liking.
Yu Chenyu: Let’s take it one step at a time.
Zhu Yunqi: The hell is one step at a time! You’re a SS soldier, a first-class general of the empire! No matter what battlefield it is, you can’t retreat!
Yu Chenyu: I never said I’m retreating
He would fight for it, but… he had no confidence.
Know oneself and the enemy, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. He knew that as the spouse of a female, his disadvantages outweighed his advantages, so he couldn’t help but be pessimistic.
Zhu Yunqi: Speaking of which, I still haven’t asked about your match rate. Is it higher or lower than mine?
Yu Chenyu: 99.99%
Zhu Yunqi: Fuck, I lost
Yu Chenyu: Didn’t you say you’re not fighting with me for favour? Why are you still comparing it then?
Zhu Yunqi: Sigh, competing is in us soldiers’ DNA, you’ll know it as soon as you take a look at our internal forum.
Zhu Yunqi: I bet someone from the Female Association will look for him within the next 3 days to recommend other males to him. You have to work hard!
Yu Chenyu served the cooked food onto plates. Despite the dishes being beautiful and the food looking delicious, he had no appetite at all.
He used his spiritual power to close the chat with Zhu Yunqi and switched to the military’s internal forum.
The first thread on the front page: Compatibility Fight! Who’s that female’s next spouse?
[Me first! I’m S, match rate 87.11%!]
[Only 87? I’m 92.56%!]
[Shit, that’s so high! What grade?]
[A…]
[If you’re A don’t join in the fun here, go find an A-grade female!]
[I’m S, 93.46%, is there anyone higher than me?]
[That A-grade guy just now, don’t feel down. Females never look at grades when they choose males, otherwise, how can so many drones get married? I’m also A, my match rate with him is 89.98%, aaaahhh it’s almost 90% what a pity!]
[Any B-grades around? A B-grade male humbly posts a score, 91.16%.]
[Holy shit it’s all so high! I’m S. I was so excited to see a 81.88% last night that I almost passed out, but today you guys hit me so hard that I don’t want to talk.]
[So what determines the match rate? So mysterious. I’m A, 87.72%. By the way, is there anyone who didn’t get the notification last night?]
[Yes. C-grade here, didn’t get it.]
[A C-grade combat medic who didn’t get the notification trembles while reading the thread and is too scared to speak.]
[It’s normal for the match rate between C and SS to be less than 80%. If it’s more than 80, then as soon as the female releases spiritual power… wow, that’d be an exciting scene!]
[We’ll die! We’ll definitely die! Another C-grade male who didn’t get the notification begs you not to speak!]
[Another C-grade? I didn’t even know the army had so many Cs, don’t tell me drones have sneaked in?]
[Although I, a B-grade drone, didn’t receive the notification, I hope that the above people won’t discriminate based on castes. Although I’m just a logistics clerk, I still work hard to contribute to the army.]
[Um, so there really are drones in the army? Sorry.]
Unlike females, there were at least three different types of male zergs.
There were the soldiers, who were combat-oriented and born for fighting.
There were the workers, who weren’t as physically strong as soldiers but had higher overall abilities.
And there were the drones, whose physical and spiritual capabilities were far inferior to other males, but had softer features and were naturally suited to pleasing females.
Each caste had distinct differences in physique, abilities, and lifespan.
If a soldier could get regular spiritual soothing from a female, living for a couple hundred years wouldn’t be a problem.
As for drones, despite being less likely to lose control than soldiers and being less dangerous if they did lose control, they could hardly live for a century even if they received the same regular spiritual soothing. Drones usually died of natural causes in their 40s or 50s.
Workers were somewhere between the two. Some could live to be over 100 years old, while others would succumb at 80 years old.
There were far fewer females than males, but their lifespans were quite long, even longer than soldiers.
According to the latest data published by the Ministry of Statistics, the current ratio of females, soldiers, workers, and drones stood at 1:9:16:7.
In other words, the ratio of females to males was 1:32.
Even if every female had multiple spouses, more than half of all males would never see let alone touch a female in their entire lives.
After Yu Chenyu served all the dishes and turned off the electric stove, he didn’t rush to bring them to the table outside. Instead, he used his spiritual power to post a message on this thread:
[SS, match rate 99.99%.]
He admitted that Zhu Yunqi was right, soldiers did like to compete with others — and he was no exception.