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Extra Chapter 2
This is Ivan’s tenth year on Earth. Now, Earth and the zerg race have formed a friendly alliance, and he is no longer the most unique existence on Earth.
Ivan sat on a large rock at the top of the mountain, gazing at the distant sunset, with the crisp chirping of birds in his ears.
“My dear, are you tired? Do you want some water?” Roy pulled out a military water flask from his large backpack.
Over the past ten years together, Roy’s bond with him had grown deeper.
No matter how much Ivan resembled humans, he was still a different species from them, unable to bear offspring with Roy. Roy simply smiled and shrugged it off. To comfort him, he had even turned down many jobs during that time, taking Ivan on trips to various mountains and waters.
“You must be tired too. Sit down and rest.” Taking the water cup handed to him by the man, Ivan wiped the sweat from Roy’s forehead with his sleeve, as he was sweating profusely from climbing.
“Is there another speech tomorrow? Where exactly will it be?”
“At the city center square, nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll drive you there.”
“Okay.”
From being discriminated against by all humans to becoming the special advisor to the President’s personal security team, who knows what Ivan has really experienced.
When Ivan was despised by neighbors, avoided by children, and had officials visiting his home multiple times, he even felt grateful for everything he endured with the Qi family.
Compared to the darkness Qi Lun brought him, these small things had little impact on him. At least Roy was by his side, unwavering and supportive.
It was just one month since Ivan started living on Earth.
He dared only to stay in the apartment Roy bought, afraid to go anywhere else, waiting all day for Roy to return from missions, preparing meals, doing chores, and learning what Earth ‘wives’ were supposed to do.
Ivan stayed at home and was checked by government officials periodically. The silver watch he wore was actually a tracker; the monitoring personnel could see where he went. He felt like a criminal deprived of freedom, feared and dreaded by humans.
Things eased after half a year, when Xiao Qin sent him a message, giving him confidential information and news of the change in the Empire’s chief.
At that time, kind-hearted Ivan gained acceptance from his neighbors. His good cooperation with Earth’s surveillance also led the president to announce an end to restrictions on this friendly alien.
“Darling, have you ever been to the largest park in Country M?”
Roy called Ivan by terms like “dear” or “baby,” not the kind of affectionate names that would annoy people.
“No, except for the places Xiao Qin took me and the places you took me, I can’t even leave the neighborhood gate.” Ivan glanced at the man sideways; he wanted to go, but no one took him.
Ivan could adapt to Roy’s clinginess, but every time he called home to report, his teammates would cheer wildly, saying they wanted to meet Ivan, the chatty female zerg in his mouth.
As soon as the president announced a reduction in Ivan’s surveillance, soldiers from the military could also meet the female zergs, and Roy’s group of teammates insisted on meeting Ivan.
“Can I discuss something with you?” Roy asked cautiously, looking at Ivan’s face with his eyes drifting.
“Yeah.” Ivan sat on the sofa, folding the military uniform for the man.
“You know my group of teammates is very gossipy. They’ve been wanting to meet you. I’ve arranged to meet them at the entrance of the city center park this afternoon… I… I want to take you with me.” Roy respected Ivan’s personal thoughts, but if Ivan said “no,” he wouldn’t force his lover.
But Roy also had selfish motives. During this time, Ivan dared not easily interact with humans, almost isolated from human society.
He wanted Ivan to start integrating into Earth’s society by meeting his group of teammates.
“Can I go out normally now?” Ivan actually knew he could go out, but he needed his lover’s support urgently.
“The president has issued the order. Don’t worry, I’ll be with you the whole time. Nothing will happen.” Roy kissed the smooth forehead of the female zerg and was rarely serious.
After tidying up, Roy deliberately found a hat for Ivan, whose distinctive hair color stood out.
Since they wanted Ivan to experience ordinary life on Earth, Roy chose to travel by subway. The two tall but well-matched men held hands, their gazes towards each other filled with extreme tenderness.
There were so many new things on the way, and Roy kindly explained them to the female zerg. By the time they arrived, men and women had gathered at the park entrance for a long time.
“Roy, you’re so slow.”
“Are you dressing up at home? Why does it take so long?”
The men standing by the roadside teased, but when they saw the man with the duckbill cap next to Roy, the men withdrew their hands from Roy’s shoulder.
“Uh, who is this?”
“Idiot, this gentleman must be the lover Roy often talks about.”
“Yeah, Mr., you’re really handsome.”
“That’s right, Roy is so lucky to have you as a partner.”
Compared to the male soldiers who could only awkwardly smile, the girls chatted happily as if they had met a male star, despite Ivan not saying a word.
Having not interacted with strangers for a long time, the enthusiastic Earth females made Ivan at a loss. Quietly moving behind Roy, he stretched out his right hand and pulled Roy’s sleeve, hoping to gain a sense of security this way.
“Lower your voices a bit. You’re scaring my Ivan.” In Roy’s eyes, his teammates were all the same, and he grabbed the female zerg’s hand back, waving away the curious teammates.
“Hey hey hey, Roy, this kid really dotes on his wife.”
“No kidding, he always reports in advance when he goes on a mission, and even calls his wife when he goes out for dinner. Our Roy is truly a good man of the new century.”
The human ‘teasing’, Ivan could still hear, and his shy head lowered further.
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Roy sternly warned the noisy teammates, then turned back with a gentle face. “Darling, would you like to try a donut or a waffle?”
Donuts? Waffles? These two things seemed to be mentioned often by Xiao Qin.
“Mm.” Ivan touched his empty stomach and finally dared to lift his head.
A man with a face like a forbidden ice block, yet with the most sincere expression, seriously said he wanted to eat donuts.
Ah, such a contrast! So cute!
Everyone, especially the girls around, instantly became stunned and simultaneously covered their mouths.
The park was huge. If they walked without rest, it would take a day and night to cover it all. Roy and his group rented a versatile tour bus and circled around the outside of the park.
By the clear lake water, an old-looking cabin caught everyone’s eye.
Ivan, who had been quietly enjoying various flavored donuts bought by Roy, suddenly raised his hand and poked Roy’s waist.
“What’s wrong?” Stopping the chatter with his teammates, Roy asked softly.
Everyone’s gaze fixed on the female zerg, Ivan’s eyes moved, and before he could speak, Roy understood.
“Did you want to take a look inside?”
“Mm.”
Ivan was very interested in the wooden cabin. After getting off the tour bus, they approached the cabin.
First, they politely knocked on the wooden door. Getting no response, they pushed the door open.
Inside, however, the room was not like the exterior of the cabin. It was clean and tidy, with all necessary household items complete. The bedding on the bed was also neatly arranged, giving the impression that someone had been living here for a long time.
“Someone lives here. We should leave quickly.”
Ivan was just curious about the wooden houses unseen in the Empire, and he didn’t want to disturb the human living in the cabin.
“Who are you? Why did you barge into my house?” Just as Ivan and the others were about to leave, they opened the door and met a bearded man holding a hunting gun with a dog.
The man was clearly very wary of their arrival.
“Sir, we knocked on the door and didn’t see anyone inside, so we entered without permission. We were just about to leave, we’re truly sorry.” More words were unnecessary; a direct apology was the right course of action, especially since their actions were indeed wrong.
“Intruding into private property? You’re not leaving. I suspect you stole something from my house.”
Perhaps their admission of guilt made the old man more confident. He insisted that the men compensate for the loss.
“Sir, we really didn’t steal anything from you. If you don’t believe us, you can search us.”
“No, I don’t trust you. Maybe you’ve played some tricks. Today, you must give me an explanation, or you won’t leave here.”
At this point, the old man hadn’t realized the seriousness of the situation. He sat on a stone bench outside the wooden cabin, aiming his gun at Roy and his group.
“Grandpa, please put the gun down first. If you still don’t trust us, we can give you two hundred dollars, as compensation for intruding into your home without permission. But we definitely didn’t steal anything.” Fearful of unnecessary conflict, several women stood in front of the men, persuading the old man calmly with the gun.
But the old man couldn’t be bought off with just two hundred dollars. After finally catching a few fools, how could he let them off easily?
“No, at least five thousand.”
“What? That’s impossible.”
Five thousand dollars would take this group of soldiers at least half a year to save up. The old man was demanding a lion’s share, as if he had planned it.
“Oh, are you sure about that?” The old man’s gaze changed, and he pulled the trigger of the hunting gun.
Roy instantly shielded Ivan behind him. Although he knew that human bullets couldn’t harm the winged higher zerg.
“Let’s not do this yet. Let’s talk.”
“Bang.”
The bullet flew towards them.
No one expected the old man to actually fire.
The old man himself hadn’t expected it either because he just wanted to threaten them, who knew that the broken gun would actually fire.
The hunting gun had immense power; at such close range, humans had no way to dodge.
But the bullet didn’t hit anyone, not even making a sound of hitting any object.
“Monster! Alien!!!”
The old man dropped the hunting gun and the dog, fleeing for his life into the depths of the forest, his desperate cries echoing along the lakeside.
As it turned out, Ivan had spread his wings, which spanned four meters, shielding the humans. The bullet had hit the hardest part of his wing bones, leaving no trace of injury.
“Wow! That’s amazing.”
“Ivan, you’re much more powerful than Roy. Is this the weaponry of the higher zerg species?”
“So cool! It’s my first time seeing the combat form of the zerg species for real.”
Since then, Ivan gained a loyal fanbase.
“They really embarrassed me.”
“Don’t say that. I think they’re quite cute.”
That was Ivan’s first experience of human goodwill apart from Roy, and a crucial reason for him to resolve to integrate into human society.
“Mr. Ivan, could you answer a question for me?”
“And me too, me too.”
After finishing his speech, Ivan answered questions one by one for the audience.
Among those standing in the audience were both humans and zerg species.
What will the alliance between humans and zerg species be like in twenty years, thirty years, forty years, or even hundreds or thousands of years?