The next day, 《Yi Xi’s Home Meals Today》 went live again.
Chu Xiu acted as usual, showing a different recipe every day. By himself, he drew traffic from both the food and romance sections. Yi Xi also appeared in the camera from time to time, and it was visible to the naked eye that his condition was getting better and better.
Seven days, half a month, one month…
The dates people had bet on in the underground gambling houses passed one by one. Countless people lost everything in this gamble. Then, a little over three months later, Chu Xiu received a call from the Public Security Bureau.
The operator spoke politely. “Is this His Excellency Chu Xiu? The gambling case involving the underground betting house you reported has already been investigated. The remaining funds in the pool have all been confiscated. Thank you for providing us with the lead.”
While speaking, the operator sent an electronic commendation to Chu Xiu. “To recognize your contribution, we’ve also transferred a small reward to you. The amount isn’t large, but please don’t mind.”
The operator also knew Chu Xiu was the male Zerg of the richest family and a hugely popular online blogger, so money was hardly something he lacked.
Chu Xiu replied, “Of course.”
The other side said, “Once again, thank you for your help. If there are any follow-up questions about the case, feel free to contact us.”
Chu Xiu hung up and opened his account. The balance of his personal account had only increased by a tiny amount, so small that you might not even notice it if you didn’t look closely, but Chu Xiu was still very happy.
The amount wasn’t big, but the meaning behind it was extraordinary.
Since arriving in the Zerg world, Chu Xiu had always carried one regret in his heart. If he had known he would be killed by a meteorite, the day before it happened he should have splashed wine all over his idiot father’s face and then called the police.
Now that regret had been filled in another way in this world, and Chu Xiu felt quite satisfied.
He casually opened the Public Security Bureau’s government platform to check the case details. The underground betting ring had operated very secretly. You needed an introduction from someone familiar with it, and you had to go through several verification steps before you could enter the site and place a bet. If that child’s father hadn’t been an old gambling addict, Chu Xiu wouldn’t have gotten the website so quickly.
The amount of money involved in the case was huge, it was the largest gambling case uncovered by the local Public Security Bureau in recent years. The list of people involved was very long. Besides the gamblers themselves, there was also a separate list of those who ran the betting operation.
Chu Xiu scrolled down the list absentmindedly, and unexpectedly saw a familiar name.
Chu Dian?
Chu Xiu raised his eyebrows. He really hadn’t expected that that cheap scumbag of a father would actually be one of the bookmakers. Looking at it this way, his stepfather was doing far better than his biological father. Chu Xiu called Carey, his tone strange. “The Chu family runs gambling businesses?”
Carey told him that the major aristocratic families were more or less involved with illegal trades — pornography, gambling, or drugs. The Chu family was certainly no exception. The whole family didn’t produce anything themselves, yet they had huge expenses to support, so of course they had to rely on crooked paths. So this Chu Dian was almost certainly Chu Xiu’s so-called father.
Chu Xiu clicked his tongue to himself. This was truly karma coming full circle. Chu Dian had sent his own son to the road of death, and now this “fake son” had turned around and shut down his casino.
So Chu Xiu read the entire case file from beginning to end. The amount of money involved was enormous, and the punishments were far from light. Many people had been detained and imprisoned, with sentences easily reaching ten years or more. But when he reached Chu Dian’s verdict, he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
Four words were written clearly on Chu Dian’s judgment document:
⟬ Male Zerg Special Pardon. ⟭
The Zerg society truly pushed its preferential treatment of male Zerg to the extreme. Chu Dian was currently receiving an IV at the hospital. The court simply wrote “medical parole” and, after the Chu family paid a sum of money, the matter was considered settled.
Light and weightless; almost as if, because Chu Dian was a male Zerg, the suffering he had caused so many families could simply be erased with a single stroke.
Chu Xiu called the Public Security Bureau and asked about the special pardon. The person on the other end sighed.
“Your Excellency, there’s nothing we can do. Chu Dian is a noble B-rank male Zerg. At most he can be fined. There is no possibility of putting him in prison.”
Chu Xiu paused. “There isn’t a single law that allows a B-rank male Zerg to be imprisoned?”
The sound of pages turning came from the other side, as if the person was checking legal statutes. Two minutes later, they replied:
“Your Excellency, actually there is one. If a male Zerg attempts to murder another male Zerg who is two ranks higher than himself, he may be sentenced to exile.”
After a short pause, the person added:
“But this clearly doesn’t apply to Chu Dian, because as everyone knows, male Zerg cannot reach S-rank.”
The Empire hadn’t seen an S-rank male Zerg for hundreds of years.
Chu Xiu shrugged. “That’s too bad.”
He hung up the call, checked the time, and took his aircraft to pick up Yi Xi. They planned to go to Carey’s place for lunch.
Carey was truly suited to being a mother. He was kind and caring, with endless patience for younger cubs, and he genuinely enjoyed the process of raising them.
Unfortunately, Chu Dian’s long-term abuse had completely ruined his body. After one miscarriage, a brutal encounter had damaged his reproductive cavity, leaving Carey unable to have children ever since. Chu Xiu treated him like half an elder and visited whenever he had time.
The two young female Zerg living with Carey were both in college and usually stayed in the dorms. They had just returned for a holiday, so everyone gathered for a meal together.
Children nearing their second awakening seemed to change every day. The blond boy who had once knelt at Chu Jin’s feet had grown much taller. His soft face now carried a hint of youthful sharpness. He wore a sea-blue uniform, the collar button fastened all the way to the top.
Yi Xi looked him over and smiled. “Planning to join the army?”
It was the uniform of the First Army Reserve.
Clement said shyly, “Yes.”
“I need to earn enough military merit so I can redeem both myself and my brother.”
They were twins. After a family disaster back then, they had both fallen into slave status. Chu Dian had sent Clement over as a gesture of goodwill at the time, but the contract still remained with the Chu family.
Chu Xiu sighed. “If you need anything, just say it.”
Even though Chu Xiu was an A-rank male Zerg, he couldn’t directly demand Clement’s brother. The Chu family was still an old noble house, like a centipede that doesn’t die easily even after being crushed. Chu Dian and Chu Jin were both B-rank. If things really went to court, Chu Xiu wouldn’t have the advantage, and Clement would likely have to return.
He transferred some money to Clement. The boy had good talent; his second awakening should reach A-rank. In the First Army, where experts were everywhere, that would still be respectable. In a few years, he should be able to redeem both himself and his brother.
Yi Xi smiled. “When your brother gets out, I can sponsor his university studies. After that, he can come work for me. My secretary used to be a direct subordinate officer of the First Army. If you have questions, you can also ask him.”
Clement brightened at the offer. Then he suddenly seemed to remember something and asked carefully, “The secretary you mentioned… is he the cousin of Major General Lin En?”
The dining table fell completely silent for a moment.
Even Chu Xiu, who usually didn’t follow the news, had heard of Lin En’s name.
The First Army’s expedition had failed, suffering an unprecedented defeat. Admiral Erwen had gone missing, the expedition army collapsed across the board, and all the senior officers of the First Army were held on standby for investigation. This was a matter serious enough to affect the empire’s fate, truly capturing the attention of the entire network.
Among the senior officers waiting for judgment, Major General Nuo Wei’s mental state collapsed, delaying his interrogation, while Major General Lin En was brought before the tribunal for an on-site lie detector test. That night, every channel broadcast the trial, and even the huge screen at the Stellar Group’s entrance relayed the video.
Major General Lin En’s hair was messy, his clothes soaked with sweat, yet even at maximum lie detector intensity, he revealed nothing useful.
This was hardly surprising. After all, Nuo Wei was Admiral Erwen’s direct subordinate, the last seen by him before disappearing, and the whole empire was waiting for Nuo Wei’s interrogation results.
Yi Xi let out a soft sigh.
Seeing everyone’s attention turn to him, he adjusted his glasses and forced a wry smile: “The Male Lord of Major General Nuo Wei is an old acquaintance of mine.”
Carey and Clement exchanged a glance. Clement asked, “Lord Chu Ci?”
If you asked who were the two most famous male lords on StarNet right now, it would be Chu Xiu and this Chu Ci.
Chu Xiu gained fame from the boss’s wedding, his unconventional livestream style, and his highly publicized court achievements, including the outrageous “F-to-A-ramk comeback.” Chu Ci, on the other hand, publicly challenged the tribunal online and demanded to join Nuo Wei’s lie detector procedure.
A Male Lord risking his life to intervene in the lie detection of a subjugated female? It was absurd, so absurd that netizens thought they were dreaming.
The StarNet public was constantly shocked, and the highest-trending phrase on social platforms had become: ⟦ How can there be such a Male Zerg? ⟧
How can there be such a Male Zerg? Who can cook, tend, and take care of everything with meticulous patience.
How can there be such an Male Zerg? Who rides a thousand miles to the battlefield and argues fiercely to defend a female.
Male Zerg like this were extremely rare among the Zerg.
Because they shared the surname Chu, some netizens posted asking if the two were related, and some even openly commented, 【 This must be genetic superiority! To produce two such excellent males, do they have any others? Please introduce them to me! 】
However, once people dug up that Chu Xiu was born into the Chu family, that his father was Chu Dian, his brother Chu Jin, all top-tier scum, the chatter quickly died down.
【 Such an excellent male Zerg like Chu Xiu definitely isn’t because of genetics; he must be a gene mutation! 】
Chu Xiu himself wasn’t particularly interested in Chu Ci, though after checking Chu Ci’s background and seeing that he had gone through the same four stage: Scumbag zerg → Head-smash → Scumbag awakening → Ideal Male Lord”—he was fairly certain Chu Ci was a fellow transmigrator from his hometown.
Unfortunately, now was hardly the time to make connections; his hometown buddy was completely swamped.
Chu Xiu stayed silent, holding his chopsticks, and quietly dropped some money into the mini-game Chu Ci had made.
Hang in there, hometown buddy I’ve never met!
After lunch, a robot rolled over to clean up the mess, while they stayed on the sofa chatting. Yi Xi and Carey found themselves with plenty in common, and Chu Xiu overheard some of their conversation about raising young.
The two adult females, who had never raised offspring before, strangely resonated on the topic. During the chat, Carey sighed regretfully: “Clement is still so young, I really don’t feel safe sending him to the battlefield. But unfortunately, that’s his future, I have no right to intervene.”
Yi Xi sighed along with him, glancing at Chu Xiu: “Good thing Cointreau is a male Zerg.”
Chu Xiu: “……”
Yi Xi’s expression clearly said, thank goodness my kid doesn’t have to go to war.
Even though they had already done a lot together, Chu Xiu laying siege, conquering, pushing Yi Xi to tears, calling out his name again and again, Yi Xi still saw him as a little kid whose future needed adult supervision.
Chu Xiu was at a loss.
Spring afternoons always made one sleepy. The TV in the living room blared, the noon news anchor reading in a steady, measured tone that was nearly hypnotic. Yi Xi and Carey were chatting, Clement went to his room for a nap, and Chu Xiu idly played an outdated Male Zerg-themed mini-game, when suddenly, all of them were drawn to the news.
The anchor seemed to have received an urgent update. Staff quickly swapped out his script. He glanced down, and his expression visibly shifted to surprise. Clearing his throat with a cough, he announced excitedly:
“Breaking news! Our station has just learned that the Empire’s capital star, after more than five centuries without an S-rank Male Zerg, has finally welcomed a new S-rank noble male!”
His voice quivered slightly with excitement as he gripped the script:
“Earlier, in 23rd District of the Capital Star, tests confirmed that Lord Chu Ci, after a re-evaluation, has officially ascended to S-rank! This is the greatest miracle in a century. With the First Army’s defeat and the Empire’s waning fortunes, the arrival of this noble lord clearly signals divine favor. Our people will continue to prosper and flourish. Let us congratulate Noble Lord Chu Ci!”
Yi Xi felt a wave of emotion.
When he first met Chu Ci, he already knew the saying ‘Golden scales are no ordinary fish; when the wind rises, it becomes a dragon’. Later, learning that he was an A-rank male was surprising but not shocking. Now, finding out Chu Ci was an S-rank, the first in the Empire for centuries, was astonishing.
Yi Xi shook his head with a smile. “Looks like Major Nuo Wei won’t need to worry about the lie detector so much… He should be worrying about what comes after it.”
Carey nodded in agreement.
Major Nuo Wei’s status matched well with an A-rank, but an S-rank? That was another matter.
As an S-rank male unparalleled in the Empire, Chu Ci would surely draw countless admirers, wealthy merchants, powerful families, influential figures, even the few imperial princes eager for a piece of the action. On top of that, Nuo Wei faced the risk of rank demotion. If that happened, he and S-rank Chu Ci would be extremely mismatched.
Carey and Yi Xi exchanged a look, both feeling a bit awed.
Chu Ci’s promotion was, of course, a good thing, but for Major Nuo Wei, he might have preferred the male to stay at A-rank.
Even if he had to take the lie detector alone, the temptation of being constantly near such a Male Zerg was too great. A Male Zerg like Chu Ci? Nuo Wei would never willingly give him up.
Thinking this, Yi Xi turned to look at Chu Xiu.
This Male Zerg — He, too, was unwilling to let go.
But he quickly noticed something off about Chu Xiu’s expression.
He hadn’t moved for a long time. The game character on the screen was already dead, a large “Game Over” displayed, and the Male Zerg’s brow was furrowed, as if deep in thought.
Yi Xi softly called his name: “Cointreau, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, I’m fine.”
Chu Xiu snapped out of his daze, then, seemingly out of nowhere, muttered: “Wait… Male Zergs can be S-rank? I thought the highest was A.”
He thought, What the hell?
Back when the awakening had finished, Chu Xiu had been dragged to the rank assessment. Everyone around had said, “Someone this strong can’t be just A,” but seeing the Empire’s rank hierarchy, where A was the maximum, he assumed Male Zergs were naturally limited, that their abilities were always lower than females and could only reach A.
The awakening had already taken a lot of time. Any delay and he’d miss the wedding. Chu Xiu didn’t want to leave Yi Xi alone, leaving regrets behind, so when the rank test reached A, to save time, he didn’t push higher.
And now the news told him… it could have been S all along?
