Chapter 62 Star Beast Attack

Chapter 62: Star-Beast Attack

Early morning, inside the starship room.

Two figures nestled together. The white-haired military male had disheveled long hair, resting his head on the male's shoulder, his expression peaceful, his sleeping face serene. The male lay on his side beside him, an arm extended outside the blanket, draped over the military male's waist, holding him loosely.

Today, Samuel had woken up unusually early compared to Idris. After waking, he didn't want to get up yet had no desire to sleep further, so he lay there stealing a moment of leisure, enjoying a morning that was no longer lonely.

Brother...

Tucking a stray strand of hair behind Idris's ear, Samuel gently traced his lover's brows, eyes, and nose with his gaze, finally settling on the lips that had been kissed and sucked many times the previous night.

Damp, chaotic memories flashed through his mind.

The swaying figure, the pale legs wrapped around his waist, the sweat-dampened hair and body, the rich, humid scent, and those slightly parted lips.

Last night, it was these very lips that panted heavily for air, half-open and half-closed, glistening with a silvery thread, singing a plaintive song for half the night.

It was also these lips that uttered the word that still stirred his heart and soul whenever he recalled it.

*Male Master*.

Samuel whispered these two words, rolling them over and over in his mouth, savoring them until he unconsciously chuckled to himself.

Perhaps disturbed by the laughter, Idris's eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. After a brief moment of confusion, upon seeing the male keeping watch beside him, he gradually became fully awake.

As memories flooded back, an overwhelming sense of satisfaction welled up in Idris's heart.

"Your Excellency," Idris nestled affectionately against the male's chest, nuzzling slightly, and asked, "Time to get up?"

After saying this, Idris paused. Perhaps his throat was injured; his voice was unusually hoarse, carrying a hint of pain from overuse when he spoke.

"Yes," Samuel replied, then asked a little plaintively, "Brother, can you not call me 'Your Excellency'?"

Samuel didn't explicitly state what he wanted to hear, but Idris, as if divinely inspired, called out "*Male Master*."

Hearing this, Samuel felt slightly intoxicated. Pressing closer to Idris, he said, "Brother, say it again."

"*Male Master*."

Satisfied, Samuel narrowed his eyes, gently stroked the corner of Idris's lips, and held him even tighter.

A wave of heat emanated from between his legs. Idris glanced at Samuel in surprise, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. He extended an arm from under the blanket and, like a seductive spirit, leaned close to the male's ear to ask a question.

Instantly, Samuel's face and the tips of his ears flushed a deep, almost bleeding red. He shook his head in panic, shifting away bit by bit, reluctantly putting some distance between himself and Idris.

With his suggestion declined, Idris wasn't upset. After exchanging a morning kiss with Samuel, he threw back the covers and got out of bed.

Using his fingers as a comb, he smoothed his long hair from the front and let it fall down his back. As he walked, strands of hair swayed, revealing clusters of red marks on the soldier's spine and the small of his back, like red plum blossoms in snow, exceptionally gorgeous.

Idris bent down to pick up the robe from the floor. As his movement intensified, a few drops of liquid fell, leaving faint white traces on the floor.

Sensing something amiss, Idris quickly straightened up and tightened his body. He draped the robe over himself, tied the sash, and let his hand slide down to his abdomen.

His lower abdomen was slightly swollen and carried a faint ache, not very comfortable.

But thinking of something, Idris couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile. In quite a good mood, he turned and walked to the other side of the bed.

Samuel was already sitting up. He gazed at Idris, feeling that his demeanor had changed somewhat, becoming even more captivating.

What should I do? I don't want brother to go out and see other insects anymore.

I want to lock brother away, where he can only see me every day.

Holding Idris's waist, many thoughts flashed through Samuel's mind. Finally, when Idris fetched the robe and helped him put it on, he pushed those thoughts into a corner, following him all the way into the bathroom.

By the time they emerged from the bathroom, an hour had passed. Idris, with a smile on his lips and fully satisfied, helped Samuel put on his clothes piece by piece, then led the even more attached male out the door.

After having breakfast together, Idris escorted Samuel to the temporary soothing room. Instructing Ray to ensure Samuel took breaks on time, he then left to handle military affairs and inspect the defense lines.

At noon, Idris arrived precisely on time to pick up Samuel. After lunch, he returned him, and again appeared punctually for dinner.

For several days in a row, the two appeared and left together, causing the surrounding military males to whisper among themselves.

Samuel was immersed in the sweetness of his deepened relationship with Idris, completely unaware of the frequent 'chance encounters' orchestrated by some military males.

Idris, however, had noticed. But no matter how those males tried to increase their presence or create coincidental meetings, they couldn't threaten his position as the principal consort, so he didn't pay them much mind.

Yet, just because he didn't care didn't mean other insects didn't have further schemes.

Outside the temporary soothing room.

"Why has the Second Legion's Major General been coming to the temporary soothing room every day lately? Whenever he comes, His Excellency leaves. It's so annoying," a blond military male complained in a low voice.

"What else could it be? He's deluding himself into thinking His Excellency might fancy him," a blue-haired military male sneered softly. "Before his disfigurement, there might have been a chance. But now? He's just humiliating himself."

"But His Excellency doesn't seem to reject him," a red-haired military male nearby chimed in. "Who knows what methods he used to coax His Excellency into allowing him to get so close. It really makes you jealous."

"What else could it be?" the blue-haired military male chuckled lowly. "What else about a male would interest His Excellency besides the body? Could it be that His Excellency isn't going to other legions because of him? How irritating."

Standing not far away, Samuel's face darkened. He hadn't expected that just stepping out for a short break and returning would lead him to overhear such words.

Those few males' uniforms were slightly different from Ray's; they were probably military males who had come as reinforcements not long ago.

"What, do I need your permission to decide where I conduct mental soothing?" Samuel spoke coldly.

The three military males hadn't anticipated their casual chat being overheard by a male. Terrified, they quickly stood up to apologize.

"Your Excellency, I didn't mean to question your decision. I just spoke without thinking and said the wrong thing. I already know I was wrong. Please forgive me this once," the blue-haired military male pleaded, his face pale, all traces of his earlier nonchalance gone.

Other military males nearby cast subtle glances upon seeing this.

Although the blue-haired insect's words were unpleasant, the underlying sentiment wasn't wrong. Many of the reinforcing military males and those from nearby defense lines sent for soothing harbored varying degrees of dissatisfaction.

After all, males were scarce resources and not commonly encountered. Many males never saw a male in their entire lives, let alone received mental soothing.

Now, there was a military male who could stay by His Excellency's side every day, seemingly favored by him. How could that not breed envy?

"You know you're wrong?" Samuel snorted coldly. "You don't know you're wrong; you know you can't escape and you're scared."

"Deputy General Ray," Samuel didn't continue engaging with these insects. He instructed, "Please find Director Bran later and ask him to handle this matter. Also, remove these three insects from the soothing list."

After saying this, Samuel swept his gaze over all the military males seated outside the door, raising his voice, his eyes sharp. "I despise insects who are two-faced the most. Insects who receive favors from others yet gossip behind their backs, showing no gratitude—I also refuse to soothe such insects with poor character."

As his words fell, the previously whispering military males instantly fell silent.

Withdrawing his gaze, Samuel walked straight into the mental soothing room.

For the entire afternoon, Samuel's face remained gloomy. Every insect who entered the room for soothing was as quiet as a cicada in winter, fearing they might anger the male and lose their chance at mental soothing.

Before dinner, Idris finished his patrol and arrived on time to pick Samuel up, but as soon as he pushed open the door, he sensed the atmosphere was off.

"Your Excellency, is the soothing session not over yet?" Idris approached Samuel, who was sitting with his head bowed, wiping his hands with a damp cloth.

Ray greeted Idris, and quickly left the room.

"Brother." Samuel, his face dark, tossed the damp cloth into the trash bin, pulled Idris onto his lap, and buried his face in the male's shoulder. "Just let me hold you for a while."

The male didn't explain why he was feeling down, so Idris didn't ask. He gently stroked the male's hair and sat with him for a short while.

By the time Samuel pulled away from Idris, his expression had returned to normal. After accompanying Samuel through dinner, doting on him with affection until he fell asleep, Idris left the room.

"Major General," Ray said.

"What happened before dinner?" Idris sat down on a stool in the office area, with Ray taking a seat not far away.

"During the afternoon break, His Excellency accidentally overheard some soldiers discussing you... using rather derogatory language." Ray found it inappropriate to repeat the exact words, so he summarized briefly. "His Excellency got angry and was in a bad mood for the rest of the afternoon."

After hearing the details, Idris frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and asked, "Does Director Bran know about this?"

"Yes, and he has already questioned the officer in charge of the reinforcements." Ray understood Idris's concerns perfectly and continued, "Don't worry, His Excellency's reputation won't suffer from this."

Idris nodded and returned to the room, where the sleeping man still looked troubled. After placing a kiss on the male's forehead, Idris was about to rest when the defense line alarm suddenly pierced the sky.

"Brother, what's going on?" Jolted awake, Samuel rubbed his eyes groggily.

Idris's gaze sharpened. He quickly threw on his military jacket, went to the bedside to hug Samuel, and said hurriedly, "Star beasts are attacking the defense line. Your Excellency, I need to go out and fight now. Please stay inside the starship and don't go out, understand?"

"Star beasts?!" Samuel was instantly wide awake. He hugged Idris back, a thousand words swirling in his mind, but all he could manage was, "Be careful, brother. I'll be waiting here for you to come back."

Samuel knew this was Idris's duty and responsibility. His loved one was a soldier, and soldiers had their duty to uphold. He couldn't contribute on the battlefield, but he could at least avoid causing trouble.

"Wait for me to come back." After kissing Samuel once more, Idris hurried away.

After Idris left, Samuel tossed and turned in the room, unable to stay still. He got up and went to find Bran.

Idris had mentioned before that if a soldier overused their psychic power on the battlefield, it could further aggravate the turmoil in their Mind Sea. However, conducting a soothing session immediately after the turmoil began could significantly slow the deterioration of the Mind Sea.

The battle was raging outside. He couldn't go to the front lines, but he could probably assist with some backline support.

"Your Excellency, soldiers in psychic turmoil can be quite dangerous. Are you sure you want to do this?" Bran was somewhat worried. Even though Idris had assigned soldiers to guard Samuel, soothing those in turmoil still carried risks.

"Yes, don't worry. I'm confident."

Samuel wasn't being arrogant. After prolonged soothing sessions, he had discovered that the psychic currents in a soldier's Mind Sea became exceptionally docile when they encountered his psychic filaments. As long as he could extend his psychic filaments, calming a soldier in turmoil was easy.

Seeing Samuel's insistence, Bran had no choice but to nod in agreement and, along with the soldiers left on the starship, began making preparations.

Injured and agitated soldiers were sent to the starship's soothing room one after another, like products on an assembly line, and after being calmed and stabilized, they were sent back to the rest area.

Seeing the bloodied, frenzied state of the soldiers, Samuel thought of the soldiers from his homeland, and his heart ached. It seemed that in any world, military personnel were always the bravest and most admirable group.

So, what could he do for them? Samuel couldn't help but ponder. Perhaps all he could do for now was complete the soothing sessions.

Samuel extended his psychic filaments again and again. Throughout the night, listening to the roars of star beasts and the screams of artillery fire outside the starship, he barely slept a wink.

At dawn, accompanied by a sharp shriek and an earth-shattering explosion, everything fell silent.

Samuel quickly finished soothing the soldier he was working on. Without time to tidy up, he simply said he needed a five-minute break and ran toward the starship's entrance.

He didn't go outside, just craned his neck, waiting.

Just as his break time was about to end, a familiar figure appeared at the door.

Idris stood at the entrance, covered in dust and grime. His gaze was sharp, and he still carried the smell of blood from the battlefield, but the moment his eyes fell on Samuel, they instantly softened.

He strode forward, arms open wide, and Samuel ran and threw himself into his embrace.

"Brother!"

"Mhm, I'm back."

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Author's Note: Guess what's going on in the little insect's head?

Who would have thought I'd spend 12 hours revising this? [biting handkerchief]

Late post as usual, sending kisses to all you darlings! [shy]

Stellar Calendar 4056, October X, Sunny, Weekday X

Can't let it go to waste.