Reborn as the Paranoid Female’s Rejected Sweetheart [Zerg Tribe]

Chapter 29: Can you grant me access…?

“Evolution?” Qi Yao carefully chewed on these words.

With hands behind his back, Yalman looked at the starship sleeping like a giant beast, speaking in a tone reminiscent of chatting with elders: “It hasn’t seen battle in two years.”

Since it hadn’t seen battle in two years, why bring it to the front lines?

As if knowing what Qi Yao was thinking, Yalman patiently explained, “No one wishes more than to witness it charge into enemy lines once again, but… it no longer has that capability.”

No longer has that capability?

Qi Yao was slightly surprised, “Is it because of the new starships from the Glassy Galaxy?”

“Not entirely.” Yalman paused for a moment, raised his gaze, and smiled when he looked at Qi Yao. “Do you know whose starship it is?”

Qi Yao intuitively thought of the answer he wanted, so he blurted out, “Is it Yi Er’s?”

Being able to appear here, and previously receiving Nos’s solemn assurance, Qi Yao felt that the possibility of this answer was very high.

Yalman’s eyes sparkled with approval. “That’s right, it’s called Stardust. When Yi Er was promoted to Brigadier General, Nos personally designed it based on Yi Er’s combat style and gave it to him as a gift.”

So it was still a gift from Nos to Yi Er. Qi Yao’s surprise was beyond words, but at the same time, he had questions in his mind. “Since it was tailored for Yi Er, why hasn’t it seen battle in two years? What has Yi Er been using for recent operations?”

Yalman pursed his lips. “The starships around us. These starships were developed by the Empire in the past two years. They are slightly stronger in endurance and defense capabilities compared to Stardust, and are also good choices for combat.”

Is that so? Qi Yao pondered.

Without further conversation, after checking the remaining work, Yalman let Qi Yao go back to rest.

Qi Yao was full of questions about Stardust and wanted to know quickly. Unable to ask any zergs, he thought of its creator, Nos.

Looking at the time, Nos should not be busy now, so Qi Yao directly contacted him through the terminal.

When Nos answered, unsurprisingly, he was resting. “Have you seen Stardust?”

“Yeah, Yalman said it’s a gift from you to Yi Er.”

This wasn’t a secret. Nos’s tone was unusually gentle. “A long time ago, I promised Yi Er’s female father that if Yi Er grew into an outstanding Brigadier General, I would personally design a starship for him. As a result, Yi Er didn’t disappoint.”

“In terms of performance, explosiveness, and attack intensity, Stardust can perfectly complement Yi Er…” Nos’s voice trailed off. “But over the years, Yi Er has grown into a top-notch Brigadier General, while Stardust, it has remained stagnant.”

Nos paused for a moment. “That’s probably the fundamental reason why Yi Er hasn’t used it in two years.”

“…,” Qi Yao’s thoughts were similar to what Yalman said.

There was a brief silence from Nos’s end. After weighing his thoughts, Qi Yao said to Nos, “Nos, could you copy the design of Stardust and let me take a look?”

“What do you want that for?”

Qi Yao scratched his head. “Nothing much, just have an immature little plan.”

“What little plan?”

Qi Yao hesitated, afraid that Nos would say he was overestimating himself and didn’t dare to confess to Nos.

From the few seconds of hesitation, Nos guessed what he wanted to do, but he didn’t expose it. “I’ll give it to you, but for now, just take a look.”

“Ding—” The terminal received the design sent by Nos.

There was almost no time difference, just like the design of Stardust was right on Nos’s desk.

After ending the call, Qi Yao looked at the design through the holographic interface.

His immature suggestion was to refit Stardust. When Yi Er gave him the terminal, he promised to return an equivalent gift to Yi Er. Now, after more than two months of marriage, he hadn’t given anything to Yi Er yet.

The Stardust, tailor-made for Yi Er, being left idle in the warehouse just because it couldn’t keep up with new technology, is really a waste.

Qi Yao is well aware of his current technical level; he doesn’t yet have the ability to modify starships. He just wants to take a look first, keep this plan in mind, and wait for his skills to mature before modifying it as a gift for Yi Er. After all, he once boasted of giving Yi Er a gift.

As the male lord, living off the female, and now that the female has a job, although he can’t do much for him at the moment, at least he should fulfill the promises he made.

*

When Yi Er returned from work, Qi Yao had already rushed back to work in the starship area.

Dai Na helped him with a large part of the work. Now that he had some free time, Yi Er went to find Qi Yao to see if he was getting used to it under Yalman’s guidance.

Nos was strict, not even sparing Qi Yao’s rest time. He only let him rest for one night and then immediately found a substitute teacher for him. If Qi Yao succeeded in the future, Yi Er would personally make a banner for Nos and hang it in his office for him to see every day.

In the starship area, Qi Yao and Yalman were facing each other, dealing with a starship malfunction together.

After waiting for a while outside, when Yi Er saw Qi Yao’s focused expression and realized he hadn’t noticed him, he couldn’t help but cough lightly.

This light cough successfully caught Qi Yao’s attention. He turned his head and caught sight of Yi Er, with a smile on his face. “Why are you here?”

“Just came to see how you’re doing here,” Yi Er walked over to Qi Yao.

“Yalman,” Yi Er greeted Yalman.

Yalman raised his head briefly, then continued to focus on his work. “If you have any questions, ask me. I won’t favor him just because he’s male and your male lord.”

Yi Er chuckled. “I don’t think my male lord would want you to favor him either.”

Turning to Qi Yao, he asked, “Right?”

Qi Yao, feeling embarrassed, lowered his head slightly, tacitly agreeing with Yi Er’s words. “How long have you been here?”

“Not long, since the part about the maximum power output from energy cores,” Yi Er replied.

If it started from that part, it had been at least twenty minutes. Yi Er had actually waited for him for so long.

Yalman raised an eyebrow, feeling inexplicably sour in his teeth, as if he had been fed dog food out of nowhere. How could he still have the nerve to keep Qi Yao here? He quickly liberated Qi Yao, “Alright, let’s call it a day. The rest of the work is just finishing up, and I can do it faster on my own.”

Qi Yao pouted, sending Yi Er a reproachful look: See what you did, you made me leave work early.

Yi Er accepted it all, said goodbye to Yalman, and took Qi Yao out of the starship.

“Are you feeling unwell today?” Walking side by side, Qi Yao asked.

Inquiring about Yi Er’s health seemed to have become a routine for Qi Yao.

“No, I’m fine.”

That’s good.

Qi Yao had been thinking about Stardust all day. After walking not too far, he suddenly turned back to look in the direction of Stardust.

A streak of blue pierced through the dense blockade of starships and entered his eyes, stopping him in his tracks.

“What’s wrong?” Yi Er was puzzled, stopping to follow Qi Yao’s gaze. “Stardust?”

“I noticed it as soon as I came here today. Yalman told me it’s yours.”

“Yeah, the starship department always brings it with me whenever I go out on a mission.”

“I heard you don’t use it much. Can you take me inside to see if there’s anything wrong with it?”

This starship had no problems; it was just parked here, so no permissions were granted to any zerg in the starship area, not even Yalman. In other words, only Yi Er could activate it.

Yi Er seemed to hesitate for a moment and then said, “There’s no harm in that.”

A few minutes later, Qi Yao was sitting in the cockpit of Stardust.

“Why is it called Stardust?” The control panel was reporting “everything normal” in a methodical manner. Qi Yao said, “It doesn’t sound majestic enough.”

Not only was it not majestic, but it also felt particularly insignificant.

At first, Qi Yao thought it was “Stellar”, but later Yalman said it was “Dust”, as in “Dust”.

According to Yi Er’s personality, the name should have been something fearless and courageous at the very least.

Yi Er seemed to be recalling something, his voice tinged with nostalgia. “Because I told Nos back then, this boundless galaxy is never short of outstanding zergs, and I am just a tiny existence like dust. As long as I, like my female father, do my best for the Empire, it’s enough.”

Qi Yao understood, “Your female father is your role model.”

“More or less.”

This was the first time Qi Yao had heard Yi Er speak of his female father in such a tone.

“What kind of zerg was he?”

“He… at least at the moment he died for the Empire, he was a hero.”

Yi Er seemed unwilling to continue this topic. He raised his head and looked outside, “Do you want to go out?”

“Outside?” Qi Yao hadn’t fully recovered from the atmosphere just now.

“Yeah.” Yi Er directly located an address on Stardust. “There are many beautiful asteroids in the border star systems. I’ll take you to see them.”

“Okay.”

Receiving the command, Stardust let out a low, lingering sigh, rising slowly from the horizon like a sleeping star.

Yalman, who was still working in the starship, heard the sound and felt a pressure from behind, gradually covering the top of his head like a thick cloud.

He leaned forward, resting his head on the console, trying to focus.

The heavy portholes looked outwards, the view completely covered by a dawn-like deep blue. In the blink of an eye, the blue transformed into a streak of light and disappeared from sight, leaving behind the dormant Stardust.

Yalman’s lips curled into a smile; he knew that Qi Yao, this male zerg, had a way to awaken Stardust.

Stardust shot out of the mothership like a launched meteor. After a few jumps, it turned into a dot, freely drifting in the vast galaxy.

“Lie down and relax for a while.” Yi Er issued a new command, and the intelligent seats slowly reclined.

Qi Yao rested his head on his arms, listening to the smooth mechanical operation in the cockpit. He carefully observed every panel and button inside, exactly identical to the design on the blueprint.

Stardust strolled through the asteroid belt, brushing past one huge planet after another outside the porthole.

In the long silence, Qi Yao asked, “Where are we going?”

Yi Er’s eyes narrowed slightly, his voice extremely relaxed. “Nowhere. Let’s just wander around here and look at the asteroids.”

Qi Yao: “…”

The asteroids in the asteroid belt were like blind boxes; you never knew what color, pattern, or size the incoming asteroid would be. Although interesting, it got boring after a while and made you want to see something else.

For example, “Yi Er, can we go to that asteroid ahead?”

Qi Yao pointed to a blue-and-white asteroid ahead, somewhat similar to a blue star.

Yi Er opened his eyes and glanced at it, then quickly squinted again. With his experienced judgment, he commented, “That asteroid is either an ice field or a water area. It’s not suitable for landing and playing.”

Qi Yao: “…”

Yi Er stabilized Stardust and opened his eyes, adding, “The asteroids around here have high ornamental value.”

So there was no other meaning; he really came to show him a variety of asteroids.

Perhaps feeling bored himself, Yi Er closed his eyes again and said, “I have a habitable asteroid under my name, but it’s not here. After we settle things here, I’ll take you to play there.”

“You have another asteroid?”

Qi Yao didn’t know Yi Er had another asteroid. Well, besides the countless star coins Yi Er gave him, he had no idea how much real estate Yi Er owned.

“More accurately, two.”

Yi Er didn’t hide it. “After my female father died in battle, when Her Majesty took my custody from my father, she also took the asteroid that originally belonged to my female father and gave it to me. However, I only know where it is; I haven’t been there yet.”

Qi Yao suggested, “Then let’s go take a look now?”

Yi Er closed his eyes. “It’s a bit far. If we go, we won’t be able to come back tomorrow.”

The fatigue in Yi Er’s eyes couldn’t be hidden. Seeing him relax, Qi Yao didn’t insist on unreasonable requests anymore. He quietly released some mental energy, holding Yi Er’s hand and softly said, “Then let’s not go. It’s nice here. Let’s stay a little longer and you can rest more.”

The spiritual power of the male zerg made Yi Er feel like he was floating on clouds. Yi Er wholeheartedly enjoyed it and mumbled, “Hmm.”

The cockpit was quiet, even the fluctuating values on the control panel restrained their voices.

In the completely relaxed atmosphere, Yi Er clasped Qi Yao’s hand back, and his free arm opened up, gently embracing the male zerg who was relaxing him.

Qi Yao returned the embrace.

Suddenly, he had a bright idea and whispered in Yi Er’s ear, “Can you grant me access to Stardust?”

Yi Er’s eyelids twitched. “Huh?”

Qi Yao’s breathing was steady, and he didn’t sound nervous at all. “I can see you’ve been tired lately, so I want you to rest more. How about when we go back, you hand over control of Stardust to me?”