Chapter 276: An Amazing Banquet: Guess Who Wasn’t Invited?

They discussed the invitation list together.

An Ruo didn’t know many Zergs. After thinking it over, the only ones he could invite were the protagonists from his novels, along with Zergs like Uriel and Cyril who weren’t protagonists but still counted as important characters in the books.

Ulysses also thought the guest list should be kept small. On top of those names, he invited only a few Generals who were currently on Capital Star or nearby planets, as well as several government ministers.

Actually, the ones Ulysses most wanted to “cut” from the list were those protagonists.

But he certainly couldn’t tell An that.

This was the first event An would hold after leaving prison, and Ulysses wanted him to enjoy himself.

It happened to be right at the transition into the New Year, so they set the banquet for the evening of the final day of the year.

In some parts of Zerg society where traditional customs remained strong, this was also considered a commemorative holiday.

In ancient times, Zergs would share candied fruit and honey water on this day, and that tradition had survived into the present.

If the Zerg race’s supreme leader had a partner, he would also distribute candied fruit together with his partner to the generals and officials under his command or to members of the younger generation. During the Imperial era, the Zerg Emperor and his consort had done exactly that.

Ulysses admitted that he had a small ulterior motive in choosing this particular date.

But so what?

Even if his god knew about it, he would indulge him anyway.

Once the invitation list was finalized, the invitations were sent out.

The first to receive one was Aira, who was currently at home on Capital Star.

At first, when he heard that a letter had arrived from the Marshal’s residence, he was somewhat puzzled. He didn’t think Ulysses would send him anything and assumed it was meant for Cassian. A physical document like this also fit the nature of certain important government documents.

Aira knew enough to avoid suspicion and originally had no intention of opening it, only to discover that his own name was written on the envelope as well.

And the handwriting was exceptionally beautiful.

Aira’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

That definitely wasn’t Ulysses’ handwriting. He had seen Ulysses’ signature on government documents before. His handwriting was firm and forceful, an entirely different style.

Almost instinctively, Aira picked up the envelope and tore it open, his movements faster than his thoughts.

When he saw what was inside, his heart, already threatening to leap out of his chest, completely lost its footing. He suppressed a soundless cry in his throat, afraid that if he actually made a sound, he might frighten all of this away.

It was an invitation.

For a moment, the handwriting overlapped perfectly with the blessing An-shen had once written for him. The contents and the signature at the bottom also proved exactly who it had come from.

An invitation from An-shen!

An-shen had invited him to a banquet!

Oh my god!

When Cassian returned home, what he saw was an Aira practically beside himself with excitement.

Before he could even react, Aira threw himself at him, hugged him, and kissed him several times. Then, before Cassian could react to that either, his arms were suddenly empty as Aira ran off to choose an outfit for the banquet.

This was only the second time in recent years that Cassian had seen Aira this happy.

The previous time had been when Aira learned that An-shen would attend the Legion Ceremony.

Cassian vaguely understood what was happening, and when he asked, sure enough, it had something to do with An-shen.

A banquet.

An invitation.

The Marshal’s residence.

An-shen.

Cassian had complicated feelings.

The last time he came home, he had already told Aira An-shen’s true identity. Aira had accepted it far better than Cassian had expected. He had merely been slightly surprised before accepting it seamlessly.

When Cassian, baffled, asked why, Aira had naturally replied,

“Obviously because An-shen only descended into that body after he entered prison!”

Descended...?

Cassian stared blankly.

Wait.

Wasn’t the “shen” in An-shen supposed to mean he was a god-tier author?

What the hell was divine descent???

He had thought Aira’s physical and mental condition had improved over the past year.

Why did it suddenly look like it had gotten worse?

Maybe he really should book him a psychological counseling appointment?

Over the past few days, Aira had constantly been thinking about how to visit the Marshal’s residence. The moment he learned that An-shen was staying there, he had become completely incapable of sitting still.

Meanwhile, Cassian had been thinking about how to get Aira to see a psychologist without provoking resistance from him.

It was under these circumstances that the invitation arrived.

Aira finally had an official opportunity to enter the Marshal’s residence and meet An-shen.

Looking at Aira, who was so happy he practically bounced with every step, Cassian couldn’t bring himself to ruin his good mood and decided to postpone his psychological counseling plan.

Afterward, Cyril, who was on pregnancy leave on Capital Star; Hill, who was on his floating island; Xi’an, far away in the Ninth Military Region; Felix and Lucas at Silver Fortress... all received invitations in turn.

None of them had flamboyant personalities, and not a single one revealed anything about the invitations to outsiders or the media.

Even Aira, who would normally have wanted to show off anything An-shen gave him until the entire StarNet knew about it, restrained himself this time.

After learning his lesson last time, he was determined to remain patient until everything actually happened and he saw An-shen with his own eyes. He wouldn’t breathe a single word about it beforehand.

Even when choosing his outfit for the banquet, Aira selected something simple and lightweight that wouldn’t interfere with running or chasing Zergs.

He had absolutely learned from his previous failure.

In the Ninth Military Region, Xi’an discussed it with Claire, and the two decided to take several days of leave and return to Capital Star.

The military doctor Eugene requested leave alongside them.

General Muir of the Ninth Military Region, who received leave requests from all three Zergs, was utterly baffled.

Hadn’t that “Annor” Excellency explicitly said that he was vacationing and recuperating and didn’t want anyone disturbing him?

Then why were Zergs still requesting leave to go to Capital Star?

Even Major General Uriel, who had originally been reassigned to the Ninth Military Region, informed Muir that he would delay his arrival by several days and report for duty only after the beginning of the New Year.

And in the Generals’ group chat, several Generals stationed near Capital Star had been talking like a bunch of riddling Zergs today.

General Muir, who had always been somewhat thick-headed and slow to catch on, suddenly developed a terrible premonition.

It felt like everyone was about to throw an amazing party...

Except someone hadn’t been invited.

And that someone seemed, perhaps, possibly...

to be him?

Very soon, General Muir learned from StarNet that the Marshal’s residence was going to hold a banquet.

It was true that none of the invited guests had deliberately mentioned it publicly, but preparations for the banquet had still been noticed by observant Zergs and spread online.

General Muir, who had been reduced to learning about it from StarNet, gradually widened his eyes until they were as round as brass bells.

The Marshal’s residence.

A mysterious banquet.

And they weren’t inviting him!

He had to know what the hell was going on!

The Marshal, who was personally contacted and questioned by General Muir: “...”

For a moment, Ulysses was rendered completely speechless, almost laughing from sheer exasperation.

The core responsibility of each Military Region’s General was to guard his own Military Region. Normally, they rarely left their respective jurisdictions.

Even major military conferences were attended through holographic projections by Generals stationed elsewhere. Only during exceptional grand occasions like the Legion Ceremony would all the Generals gather together in person.

This was just a banquet.

Since when did every Military Region General need to gather on Capital Star just to attend a banquet?

What if the Tianjia took advantage of the opportunity to launch a surprise attack?

And the Ninth Military Region under General Muir’s command happened to be the Military Region closest to the Tianjia Empire.

Ulysses rejected his request and ordered him to stay put in his Military Region.

Yet somehow, Ulysses received several similar inquiries that very same day. Everyone wanted to know what kind of banquet it was and whether they could attend. Some even resorted to playing pitiful and dragging out personal connections.

Rumors outside were claiming that this was going to be an amazing banquet and that any Zerg who wasn’t invited would be excluded from the Marshal’s inner circle.

The utterly speechless Ulysses: “...”

What inner circle?

Those protagonists?

Oh, they certainly were an inner circle.

An’s inner circle.

And Ulysses wanted nothing more than to kick every last one of those Zergs out of it.

Of course, there was no way he could explain that, which only made the uninvited Zergs even more relentless.

Annoyed beyond endurance, Ulysses eventually had no choice but to add several more Zergs to the guest list.

By the time the news reached the Tianjia Empire, the story had already transformed into Ulysses planning to discuss a new military strategy during the transition into the New Year, with this banquet potentially determining the course of the next year—or even the next decade.

Tianjia Emperor Ares frowned slightly as he read the report, then glanced at the messages on his terminal.

Carl was returning to Capital Star and wouldn’t be able to meet him this month. He had left some pheromones at their secret location and told Ares to send a Tianjia to retrieve them.

Ares’ pregnant belly was already very obvious. He was carrying twin eggs, and his abdomen looked about as large as that of an ordinary six-month pregnancy. To an ordinary Tianjia, he already looked almost ready to give birth.

Although he remained as swift and decisive as ever, and even his large belly barely affected his movements, things were inevitably different from before.

Ares wanted to see Carl. He would have been willing to visit the Zerg Federation in his capacity as the Tianjia Emperor if necessary.

But he also knew that, given his current condition, the Prince would never allow him to take such a risk.

He could only reluctantly abandon the idea.

Carl had also said in his message that he would return as soon as possible. He further stated that afterward, he would request an extended leave from the military. From the moment he returned this time until Ares gave birth and recovered, Carl would remain by his side.

Only after reading those messages did the restlessness Ares felt from having his partner away during his pregnancy finally settle.

Prince Metis entered from outside.

Seeing His Majesty the Emperor sitting there with a grave expression as he handled military affairs, Metis felt quite gratified. He then asked whether Ares had already heard about Ulysses’ upcoming banquet.

Ares hadn’t merely heard about it.

His terminal contained a message from Carl saying that he was going to attend that very banquet.

For a brief instant, Ares’ heart tightened.

Surely Ulysses hadn’t taken a fancy to his Male Zerg?

Or was he planning to introduce Carl to other Female Zergs?

But Ares immediately rejected the idea himself.

Carl had mentioned during their conversations that another Zerg was also behind this banquet—the “An-shen” who had written the novel about them.

Ulysses’ Male Zerg.

Mm...

His current Male Zerg.

Perhaps that was the real reason Carl had been invited.

So when his subordinates reported that Ulysses’ banquet was suspected to be a precursor to military action, Ares hadn’t believed them.

This actually looked more like...

Ulysses was finding some playmates for his Male Zerg, bringing them over to keep him company, talk with him, and make him happy.

Although Ares was somewhat displeased that Ulysses was dragging his own Male Zerg away, as a Tianjia—and the emperor of an enemy nation at that—Ares admittedly had no grounds to complain.

Seeing that Ares already knew about the matter, Metis continued,

“I’m going to make a diplomatic visit to the Zerg Federation.”

Behind his desk, Ares abruptly raised his head in astonishment.

“???”

Wasn’t that his line?

Wasn’t that his idea?!

He had already gone through all the trouble of convincing himself to give up on it, and now Metis wanted to go???

“No. It’s too dangerous.”

Ares rejected the idea instinctively.

Metis was different from him. Ares was female and possessed tremendous combat power. If something truly happened, he at least had the ability to fight back.

Metis, on the other hand, was a physically frail male. If he went alone into Zerg territory and something happened to him, he wouldn’t even have the opportunity to resist.

Not to mention that he was an exceptionally precious and rare S-rank male. Those male-starved Female Zergs might very well become tempted, detain him, and refuse to give him any chance to return to the Tianjia Empire.

Therefore, Ares concluded,

“I should go instead.”

“...”

Metis’ gaze slowly moved downward.

He looked at Ares’ pregnant belly, now so large that he couldn’t even fasten his military jacket over it.

“You’re going? And while you’re at it, why not bring the imperial heirs along too, so the Zergs can wipe all of you out in one go? You’ll even package up the successors to the throne and deliver them straight to the Zergs. How very generous of you.”

Metis’ voice dripped with sarcasm.