Wanderer of the Zerg

Chapter 21: Departure

That night, they didn’t stay up too late.

The action movie played for fifteen minutes without getting to the main plot, and unsurprisingly, Xi Tian fell asleep.

In the dim night, with ambiguous gasps and an intense fight between demons on the screen, Ellis didn’t dare to keep watching. He feared he might not be able to resist waking up Xi Tian.

The thought of waking up his master circled twice in his mind before he dismissed it.

He closed the movie page and carried his master, wrapped in a blanket, back to the bedroom.

There was an inflatable sofa in the study room. Ellis thought he could use it tomorrow night while they watched a horror movie he liked.

After all, he had been home for almost a month without watching a movie on the big screen.

Surely, his master wouldn’t refuse.

Ellis thought happily.

The next day, another peaceful morning arrived.

Xi Tian returned from his morning run around the community, holding breakfast from a nearby shop.

When he got home and walked into the hallway, he called out “Ellis,” but no one responded.

Xi Tian found it strange and put the breakfast on the dining table.

Ellis had many different living habits from him. Xi Tian followed the traditional routine promoted by the smart brain: going to bed early, waking up early, and keeping fit.

Ellis was a night owl, often surfing forums at night. His terminal showed an average bedtime around midnight. When Xi Tian woke up, Ellis, being a light sleeper, would also wake up, feeling drowsy from lack of sleep.

At first, Xi Tian found it amusing and teased him a few times. But as someone from the military with superior physical strength, he couldn’t pull Ellis out of his cocoon of blankets. Xi Tian would sigh and leave, only to find Ellis nervously apologizing after a morning nap had finally woken him up.

Xi Tian didn’t mind and let things be.

However, the house was now silent.

Xi Tian walked around the house but couldn’t find anyone.

He sat down at the dining table and checked his terminal, but there were no messages.

Maybe something came up, Xi Tian thought as he started eating his breakfast.

It was a pity; he had specifically bought some sweet cakes.

The morning news played on time:

“It is now 7:30 AM. We have just received a communication from our resident reporter on Colonial Star H612: At 6:22 AM, the Tartar Star’s subordinate forces launched a sudden attack on our H612 star system’s Energy Mining Area, resulting in 17 deaths, 52 injuries, and 2 missing persons.

The government has urgently decided to dispatch the Siming Military District’s Independent Regiment to Colonial Star H612 to protect its residents.”

This was followed by a piece of stirring military music.

Xi Tian turned on the projected video, showing the military units preparing in an orderly manner.

The Zerg Star is the origin star system of the Zerg, called the Mother Star by the Zerg people. The Mother Star’s military has fifty-two regiments, belonging to thirty-four states and four municipalities. Each regiment is sequentially named, with 40,000 to 50,000 personnel. The Siming Military District, under the capital, is also known as the Fourth Army, which is Ellis’s unit.

So, Ellis returned to the army.

They were still in the engagement stage, not legally married. As long as the female was not bound to the male, they retained their autonomy, and even the male zerg could not interfere.

Xi Tian thought silently.

He set Ellis’s breakfast aside. If he returned, it would be for him; if he didn’t return by the afternoon, it would go in the trash.

Before Owen threw Ellis onto his aircraft, Ellis was groggy and had no idea what was happening.

He sat in the copilot’s seat and dozed off for a while. When he woke up, he sensed something was wrong and struggled to fully awaken.

Outside the tempered glass, the buildings quickly receded.

“What’s going on?”

Ellis didn’t hide his surprise. He only remembered being in bed earlier, and now he was on someone else’s aircraft.

“Don’t mention it,” Owen said, annoyed, hitting the steering wheel. “There’s trouble on the resource planet, and now we have to rush to the battlefield.”

“But I already took leave; my leave was approved,” Ellis said. “Oh my god, I didn’t even wash up.”

“Don’t worry about that. I talked to Major Amod, and he said the higher-ups want everyone back on duty. ‘Anyone who can return to the team, if you’re not married and the male hasn’t signed a discharge notice, must participate in this operation.'”

“I specifically explained your situation to the major, and he said that according to the higher-ups, you have to come back.”

“Don’t worry about washing up; there’s mouthwash gel in the box on your right. Just use that for now; we have to depart by 7:30.”

Ellis took out the mouthwash gel, glanced at the time—07:02—and sighed. “This is really awful.”

“Weren’t you always complaining about not getting military merits on the battlefield? Why are you complaining now?”

Owen switched to autopilot mode, ensured they would arrive on time, and finally relaxed.

“This time it’s just too rushed, not a bit of mental preparation,” Ellis said, spitting out the mouthwash gel. “Besides, I wanted to earn merits for a free single life. Now, there’s less than a month until my wedding, I’ve already taken leave, and now you’re telling me, ‘You can earn merits!’ This is totally backward.”

“True,” Owen nodded in agreement. “But I heard this mission was specifically sought out by our colonel. We’ve fought with Tartar not once or twice. The mission is not difficult, and the military merits are substantial. Most importantly, we can finally get out of Sīmíng and see the world.”

“Tartar, it’s always Tartar, our unlucky opponent,” Ellis rolled his eyes. “Mother Star and Tartar can’t go three years without a fight. We’ve been at it for nearly five hundred years.”

“This can’t be helped; we’re practically neighbors,” Owen shrugged.

Five hundred years ago, the last pureblood heir of the royal family died suddenly, leaving two distant relatives as the final heirs.

At that time, during a period of transformation, internal forces were divided into constitutional and royalist factions. The two heirs each stood with a different side, arguing for three years without resolution. Eventually, the two sides divided along the southern Da Ming River, each ruling one side. South of the Da Ming River, one heir and his supporters established the capital in South Da Ming City, later known as the Tartar nation.

Three hundred years ago, Tartar’s advanced technology led them to first colonize the twin star of Zerg Star, naming it Tartar. From then on, Zerg Star was officially unified into a complete star system.

Tartar and Zerg Star have historically been adversaries, consistently engaging in mutual antagonism. Over time, both sides developed a tacit understanding: they would occasionally provoke conflicts, then send diplomats to issue statements. If those were ignored, they would directly deploy troops. This mutual understanding ensured that only inexperienced recruits were sent to battle. This arrangement allowed for training the recruits, maintaining both sides’ positions, and letting the inexperienced earn military merits, achieving multiple objectives.

The last conflict between the two was three years ago in the summer, when Ellis hadn’t graduated yet, missing the previous training opportunity.

In the military, conflicts with Tartar were considered training exercises.

This led to him and his peers being stuck in the military for three years, working hard to rise only to the rank of lieutenant.

Thinking about his hundred or so subordinates, Ellis felt a headache coming on.

“How are my subordinates doing in your place?”

“Not too bad. The saying ‘each generation gets worse’ isn’t for nothing. There are always a few recruits trying to pull some tricks. I thought they might come up with something new, but it’s still the same old stuff we used to do.”

“True, when we were new recruits, the captain had to personally call us into his office for a reprimand.”

Thinking back to his early days in the Fourth Army, Ellis couldn’t help but laugh.

He was unruly, Owen was proactive, and Angie, despite the quiet demeanor, was full of mischief. The three of them caused no end of trouble for the lower-ranking officers.

Eventually, someone reported them to the captain. Lacking evidence, the captain could only glare at them and punish their entire squad by tripling their training, much to their squadmates’ dismay.

Now, time has flown by.

Recalling his superior’s cold face, Ellis’ fond memories were quickly shattered.

He would soon have to obediently report to his superior for assignments and listen to his subordinates’ training reports, then develop deployment plans based on the training and actual conditions.

Ellis had been through several immersive combat simulations, which were thrilling but required intense focus. After each session, he was drenched in sweat, sticky and covered in salt crystals, much to his discomfort due to his cleanliness.

Sleeping in his master’s arms, clean and relaxed, was a luxury he would miss.

Ellis sighed quietly.

As they neared the military airstrip, Owen glanced at his terminal and reminded Ellis that Angie had already packed his luggage and handed it to his lieutenant.

Ellis let out an “oh” but had a nagging feeling that he had forgotten something.

As soon as he set foot on the tartar, Ellis was urgently pulled away by his waiting lieutenant.

Despite the tight schedule, Angie had managed to come as well.

In the midst of his rush, Ellis glanced at his friend. Angie seemed like he hadn’t seen Owen in ages. Even as Ellis lost sight of them, they were still hugging.

It felt a bit strange.

But before long, Ellis had to pull himself together and stand attentively in front of his superior for a briefing.

Then he boarded the airship to listen to the reports from his four lieutenants about the new recruits.

It wasn’t until he finally sat in his private quarters, with his mind shifting from tasks to emotions, that he realized—

He had completely forgotten to inform his master.

Ellis slapped his own face.

Idiot.

His terminal showed two unread messages, one from Owen telling him to get ready and another from his master, with just four words and a question mark: “Where did you go?”

Ellis quickly typed a long reply explaining everything and hit send.

But the send button turned gray, and the ship’s internal broadcast announced:

“Attention! The starship is passing through the atmosphere, which will cause severe interference. The onboard computer will enforce flight mode on all terminals.”

…

He should have messaged his master as soon as he left!

What a disaster.

Author’s note:

Talking to a friend about Ellis’ position: Ellis is currently a company commander, with about a hundred men under his command. Compared to the traditional Zerg Star ranks like marshal, major general, or general, my character’s rank seems quite low.

I only have second-hand knowledge about military affairs and am mostly making things up. In peacetime, a 29-year-old captain( compamy commander) is quite rare.

The relationship between Zerg Star and Tatar Star is a significant plot hole.