APUTFFZG Chapter 35.2

Translator: Deyonna

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The hovercar disappeared at the end of the road. Xi Ze took his gaze back and shot Elaine, who was hurrying over, a rather unfriendly glance, which made Elaine stop short in his tracks.

"W-What's wrong?"

He hadn't offended this military female, had he?

After Elaine understood the whole situation, he repeatedly assured Xi Ze there would be no more problems. Apologetic and respectful, he welcomed Ye Er into the hospital.

Today wasn't originally the scheduled time for Xi Ze's psychological therapy, but since it was close at hand, they had decided to go together anyway.

That left Xie Zhao completely caught off guard.

With a messy head of curly hair and dark circles under his eyes as if he had been chain-smoking, the female zerg looked dazed. The moment he saw Xi Ze, he jolted awake.

"What's wrong?"

Ye Er watched Xie Zhao's expressions change, from shock to terror, then to despair, and finally to forced calm. How fast they shifted made Ye Er raise an eyebrow.

He tilted his head and asked Xi Ze quietly, "Did you secretly beat him up?"

"No," Xi Ze replied, also lowering his voice. "I wouldn't cause trouble for Male Lord."

"I'm not worried about that..."

Ye Er sighed, a half-hearted complaint in his tone. "Anyway, if something happens during treatment, you won't tell me, right?"

"Sorry, Male Lord, I didn't mean to..." Xi Ze apologized instinctively.

Xi Ze had been quite carefree during this time, but at the sound of what seemed like blame in the male zerg's voice, he still apologized first.

Ye Er deftly reached out and gently rubbed the sensitive spot on the back of Xi Ze's neck. "Relax. I'm not blaming you."

It had taken Tangyuan more than half a year to go from thinking he was about to be hit, whimpering and fleeing at the slightest move of a hand, to standing frozen in place and cautiously watching him.

Xi Ze wasn't a silly little dog but an independent person with his own thoughts and feelings. Some ideas ran deeper, and the signs of his psychological trauma were subtler and more complicated.

But no matter what, he had plenty of time and patience.

"Uh... that..."

Xie Zhao, who had been watching the whole time, hesitated for a long while before finally cutting in on the strangely harmonious atmosphere, only to be pinned in place by a cold glance from the military female.

Don't glare at me! Didn't I come over all of a sudden because of an urgent matter! Xie Zhao shouted silently in frustration.

"Oh right, go with Dr. Xie. I'll come back to pick you up later."

Ye Er took his hand away, smiled, and nodded at Xie Zhao, exchanging a few brief pleasantries.

"Please come in, Your Excellency. I heard you were coming, so we prepared everything early. If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to let me know!"

Elaine stepped forward, opened the door to the VIP lounge for the male zerg, and invited him to rest inside for a while.

The room wasn't particularly spacious, but for a war zone hospital it counted as luxurious, with a sofa, a coffee table, and a projector.

The heat was turned up so high that it felt like a novice gardener's overly warm greenhouse, built for fear that delicate, lovely roses would wilt.

A pot of tea was brewing on the coffee table, steam rising from the slender spout. All kinds of sweets and snacks were laid out haphazardly, as if piled up by many hands.

Seeing the male zerg seated comfortably on the soft sofa, surrounded by sweets and cushions, Elaine finally let out a sigh of relief.

"I asked you here about an important matter. Would Your Excellency wait a moment while I go get the zerg?"

Ye Er didn't mind and nodded. "Okay, go ahead."

Elaine took a few steps back to open and close the door, and just before the gap closed completely, he thought he saw the male zerg reach out and pick up a piece of white dessert.

"Hey... over here... here, here!"

A deliberately lowered voice came from behind. Elaine snapped back to attention, and before he could even turn around, his expression had already turned helpless.

In a corridor not far from the VIP room, a few military females were peeking around the corner and waving at Elaine.

If Ye Er had been there, he would probably have recognized some familiar faces, those who had gathered around Alvin's sickbed, including the military female who had delivered his lunch.

"How's it going? Is His Excellency the male zerg satisfied?"

A young military female asked excitedly, "I looked up some guides. Male zerg cubs really like soft pillows and tasty snacks!"

That male zerg is not a cub. Elaine shot him a helpless glance, but then he recalled what he had just seen and felt a little unsure.

"I just saw His Excellency the male zerg eat a piece of white dessert. I think he liked it quite a bit."

"White dessert?"

One military female froze for a moment, thinking back over the items they had snuck out to buy. There didn't seem to be any white desserts among them.

Wait, afterward it seemed like...

He let out a long hiss, his smile slowly widening. "I remember now. The white dessert, hehehe, the white dessert..."

"Cut that out with your nasty smirking!"

The other military females weren't going to let him keep them in suspense. They locked their arms around his neck and demanded answers. "What is it? Hurry up and tell us!"

Elaine blinked, and those young, impetuous military females had already tangled themselves into a ball. He facepalmed.

"The white dessert... is it that snow-something mochi*?"

*Snow skin mochi

In the middle of the corridor, a tall military female was leaning against the wall. After hearing the conversation, he looked up in surprise. "I remember you were the one who bought it."

"Yeah."

On the opposite side of the corridor, by the window, another military female stood with a face as pale as someone recovering from a serious illness. His deep sea-blue eyes were calm, but his brows and gaze couldn't hide a soldier's sharpness.

It was Alvin, the military female who had been in the hospital bed that day.

His upper body was wrapped in thick bandages, which made it very hard to move. A military jacket hung barely draped over his shoulders.

"Did you bring the item?"

Alvin turned to Noah beside him and asked, watching Elaine push through the monkey-like military females and walk toward them.

"I brought it, I brought it."

Noah repeated himself a little impatiently, then, after a moment of silence, seemed to become unsure again. "...Do we really have to give that thing to His Excellency the male zerg?"

"A life-saving favor can't go unrepaid."

Alvin coughed softly with a smile. His voice was a bit hoarse, but his expression stayed calm and composed.

"It's all just external possessions. They have decent value, but compared to me, His Excellency the male zerg might need it more."

---

The clock in the psychological counseling room ticked steadily.

It was meant to be a kind of white noise that helped calm the emotions of those in treatment and helped the therapy go smoothly.

But right now, Xie Zhao felt it was only a countdown to his life.

The scene in the counseling room was nothing like the harmony Ye Er had imagined.

Instead, the curtains were drawn tight and every source of white noise and soft lighting had been turned off, leaving the whole room dark and sealed.

The attending physician had been pushed off to the side, trembling, while the patient who was supposed to be treated sat confidently on the sofa, holding an encrypted conversation with the head of the Xie family.

Xie Zhao stole a glance and saw that the usually imposing head of the family was trying cautiously to gauge the meaning behind the words of the military female on the other side, repeatedly wiping cold sweat from his forehead.

"Yes, yes, yes... all right, all right... I'll take care of it as soon as possible."

Who would have thought that a guy like you, so arrogant and proud, would act like some other female zerg's henchman outside.

While Xie Zhao was criticizing him inwardly, he looked up and met Xi Ze's indifferent gaze sweeping over him. His breath caught in his throat, and he immediately lowered his head, wishing he could shrink completely into the shadows of the sofa.

Just kidding, just kidding. He apologized silently. You go ahead and take the lead. A younger generation like me really can't handle this.

"So... when do you plan to come back? Your soldiers seem quite impatient. I'm afraid..."

Not just impatient. They're practically on the verge of overturning the whole military department. They keep breaking military regulations and getting punished, only to do it again. A few times, they've even smashed the general's office to bits. The zergs are restless and anxious, and there hasn't been a single peaceful day.

Xi Ze was reviewing the latest information that had come through when he heard this. He lifted his eyelids and glanced at the zerg in the projection. His voice was calm, but it left no room for dissent. "No hurry."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes! No hurry, no hurry. Take care of your health over there. It's not too late to come back and take charge later!"

The head of the Xie family cautiously looked up again and ventured, probing.

"Your adjutant, Adjutant Bai, I heard Antoine has been targeting him. After you were sacrificed... pooh, pooh, pooh*, after you left, not long after, he was sent to a garbage planet."

*Spitting, to ward off bad luck

"Has the general made contact with him?"

Xi Ze gave him a smile that wasn't quite a smile, and the zerg broke out in a cold sweat. Even so, he couldn't fathom the unfathomable calm. "Just do your own job well."

"Yes... yes, my apologies."

This communication went on for several hours, until Xi Ze glanced at the clock on the wall and reached out to close the information page.

"That's it for now."

The projection went off, and silence fell over the counseling room.

The military female on the sofa didn't look up. With his long fingers, he turned the terminal around a few times and deftly wiped the traces from it.

Xie Zhao cautiously emerged from the corner and stood at a distance, at the other end of the sofa.

"There's still half an hour left. Do you... need to do a proper counseling session?"

Xi Ze didn't even bother to look up. "No need. Just continue the medication as usual."

"But your post-traumatic stress is quite serious."

Xie Zhao hesitated for a moment, but his professional ethics as a doctor won out over his fear.

"If left unchecked, it might trigger an early mental power breakdown..."

"Thank you, but no need."

Xie Zhao was stonewalled by his flat coldness.

As expected, this is why other zergs don't find military females appealing! They neglect their own well-being and ignore medical advice and insist on doing everything their own way. They'll end up driving everyone crazy with anger!*

*To die from an excess of anger

He took a deep breath and decided to show this female zerg a little of what he was made of—

"...But I see that His Excellency Ye Er seems to care about this quite a bit. He really hopes you get better, so wouldn't it be best to cooperate with the treatment?"

At the mention of Ye Er, the military female, who had been indifferent until then, paused. Then he tossed the terminal onto the coffee table with a loud, crisp metallic clink.

Xie Zhao snapped back to reality at once and silently cursed himself.

Of course. Living on the fringe planets too long has dulled me so much that I dared to bring up the "buyer" in front of this big shot who got reduced to a female slave.

Which female slave hasn't been tormented by male zergs?

Once Xi Ze contacts his own forces, or rather his old subordinates, he'll surely leave without a second thought, and he'll regard this whole experience as a disgrace and a stain.

And yet I mentioned the male zerg and said things like "care" and "hope you get better." That was truly courting death. Had the fake affection from earlier muddled my brain?*

*Fake dog food

Xie Zhao gave a dry laugh and backed away a few steps. "Then I'll head out first. You can come out when it's time."

The door closed with a click, and the room fell silent again.

After a while, Xi Ze bent down to pick up the terminal that had rolled onto the carpet.

He rubbed the fine dust off with a fingertip, and the displeasure and disgust in his gaze melted away like leftover snow, replaced by an almost mournful softness.

He stared blankly for a moment, recalling something, then his lips curved in a light smile.

But the slight shift in his emotions faded soon enough when he caught sight of the surveillance device that had come back on, and he scoffed with lowered eyes.

☰