Chapter 8

Newly grown wings really were sensitive. Carlos had been as gentle as he could, yet he still felt Su Lin tremble slightly beneath his touch. That faint tremor made Carlos's palm itch.

"Humans brainwash Zerg they've acquired illegally."

Carlos took a deep breath to steady his slightly restless heart and cleared his throat, explaining to the larva before him, whose nervousness was almost endearing.

"That's their usual practice. Those primates are too fragile. Even a low-level Zerg can snap their necks with ease. So those weaklings deliberately erase the Zerg's memories. You don't have to worry that it will stop you from passing the bloodline examination."

Carlos spoke each word distinctly.

"The bloodline examination is exactly what it sounds like. It only verifies your bloodline. As long as you haven't been modified by humans, there won't be any problems."

The tall officer leaned down slightly and sniffed the sweet scent coming from the larva before him.

"And I'm certain your scent is pure, without a trace of any despicable human cells."

Carlos spoke with certainty.

Seeing that Su Lin still looked listless, nervous and terrified, Carlos racked his brains for a way to comfort him. "Look, after the examination, the Security Committee will also find out which colony your bloodline ultimately came from. Even without your memories, you'll still be able to learn where you came from."

"Well, that's really wonderful."

Su Lin spoke with utter dryness and despair.

Great. Now he was sure that Carlos probably couldn't help him avoid the bloodline examination either.

And so, pale-faced, he dragged his feet one step at a time as he followed Carlos toward the Security Committee's examination room. Along the way, he imagined 108 ways he might die, each so miserable it made him want to cry.

In his panic, he failed to notice that the tall Zerg, who seemed entirely focused on the path ahead, was actually watching him, at times deliberately and at times absentmindedly, throughout the short remainder of their journey.

It seemed as though ten thousand years had passed, yet also as though only a few seconds had gone by.

They had reached their destination.

The examination room was deep inside the spaceship. Compared to the previous chambers, its surroundings seemed even more sinister and terrifying. The walls and floor were covered in a dark substance that resembled some kind of insect shell, with intricate patterns visible on its surface.

An inscrutable emblem was set into the door, and the nameplate at its center bore the Security Committee's full name.

Of course, Su Lin was now illiterate among the Zerg and couldn't make out a single word. But he felt he could get their true meaning. Translated into human language, the words on that door clearly read "guillotine."

At this point, Su Lin gave up resisting entirely.

Either way, the blade was coming down on his neck, so he might as well get it over with. The moment Su Lin saw the door, he intended to walk inside, but Carlos caught him the next second.

"Su Lin."

Carlos gazed steadily at the fragile, terribly timid Zerg. Fear was written all over Su Lin's face, which was so pale that he looked as though he might die at any moment.

In Zerg society, where strength was paramount, such a weak and pathetic sight should have been repulsive. Yet as Carlos looked at Su Lin, he felt his heart fill with something that could almost be called affection.

"Excuse me."

He whispered, then suddenly leaned down.

The Zerg's cool lips brushed against the side of Su Lin's neck-

"Hm?!"

Su Lin covered his neck and gave a muffled grunt. He felt as though something had lightly pricked him, and a fine, aching sensation spread through his neck. Before he could figure out what had happened, Carlos had already straightened up.

Su Lin caught a faint glimpse of something slender, like a needle, swiftly retracting deep into Carlos's mouth from beneath his mouthparts.

"I'm sorry, but you looked too frightened. That might have aroused the Security Committee's suspicions."

Carlos's voice was a little hoarser than before, probably because it was his first time using the thing beneath the back wall of his mouth. When mating, male Zerg usually used that special needle-like mouthpart to inject pheromone fluid into a desired partner. The fluid induced a degree of dizziness and pleasure, effectively helping males keep their partners under control.

But over the past several decades, a certain virgin male who had never had a partner had never used it.

Until today.

"I left a little, um, a little pheromone on you," he explained. "It's a little trick. Without... doing that, the pheromone fluid injected into you will soon be metabolized and won't linger. But it should be enough. When those people examine you and notice my scent, they'll probably mistake you for my 'honey bug.' They won't make things difficult for you."

Even the Security Committee wouldn't bother examining a low-level larva.

And if that larva was also the honey bug of a high-level "Calamity," they would be even less thorough.

It was Carlos's first time doing something like this to fool the Security Committee. He suspected that was why he was so flustered.

Chapter 8

Su Lin didn't know what an injection of pheromone fluid meant to a Zerg. All he knew was that the small patch of skin where he'd been injected felt warm, and then he began to feel a little dizzy.

"Thank you."

Su Lin struggled to lift the corners of his mouth and thanked the Zerg before him.

Although he didn't think that carrying a little of the Pale Calamity's scent would let a human like him, mixed with a Zerg body, escape the Security Committee's punishment, he had nonetheless drawn gentle kindness from the man before him.