Chapter 14

The pair of thin, delicate wings clung tightly to the young man's snow-white back because of their owner's pain.

Medises reached out and gently lifted the tip of Su Lin's wing.

"Ah-so ticklish! Senior, please don't touch them, okay? It really tickles..."

When Hill had merely touched Su Lin's wings earlier, he had felt as if the nerves in his back were about to cramp. Now that Medises was gently holding them in his hands and examining them closely, the unlucky human's voice changed as he begged for mercy.

He had nearly gone limp in the Zerg's arms, as though his bones had melted along with the sprouting of his fledgling wings.

The silver-haired Zerg's gaze lingered on Su Lin's wings for a moment. Then he released the useless fledgling wings, his face expressionless.

"They're not injured."

Medises delivered his assessment a little stiffly.

But after hesitating for a moment, he still ordered the bionic tentacles to bring Su Lin another piece of clothing.

The bionic tentacles did not possess intelligence like robots did. Upon hearing Medises's instructions, they brought him Medises's own clothing without hesitation. The silver-haired Zerg looked at the shirt, which was far too large for the larva's frame, and hesitated, but said nothing.

Without a word, he wrapped Su Lin tightly in his own clothing.

After that, the two fell silent for a while.

Su Lin self-consciously pulled his cuffs and collar closer. Even after all this time, the places on his back where the two wings had grown still felt somewhat sore and swollen. Recalling how he had lost his composure while curled up in his senior's arms just now, Su Lin felt a little awkward.

"Thank you, Senior."

He kept his tone light to conceal how he was feeling.

"I thought you would at least ask why I'm a Zerg now."

Medises looked at Su Lin coldly as he spoke.

Su Lin: ...

He was actually very curious, but a perfectly ordinary human had suddenly turned into a high-ranking Zerg who also appeared to hold a high position. There had to be some enormous conspiracy involved, and finding out about that kind of conspiracy could easily get him killed. So it was better not to ask anything at all.

A string of complaints floated through the unlucky human's mind. He was a seasoned little genius at staying alive.

On the surface, however, Su Lin's eyes curved as he gave Medises a sincere, ingratiating smile.

"That's not important. All I know is that you'll always be my senior. That's enough for me."

Author's note:

Emotional scammer teacher: ...When you're dealing with someone you can't get a handle on, never say, "Are you feeling empty?" "Are you sad?" or "Are you upset?" Those are all minefields, especially when the person usually seems cold and tough. Why? Because people like that are strong on the outside but weak on the inside. If you say those things, they'll get angry out of embarrassment and deny feeling empty, sad, or upset.

At a time like that, you should say, "Are you lonely?"

See? Doesn't that work?

He can't deny being lonely. If he weren't lonely, would he have come looking for you?

So, when you have absolutely no idea how to phrase it, just go with "lonely."

Little Grove (183): That makes so much sense.

He turned around.

Su Lin: Senior, have you been lonely all these years?

Little Mei: ...I won't be lonely much longer.

Chapter 14

After hearing Su Lin's answer, Medises visibly froze for a moment.

Su Lin's heart immediately tightened.

To make his answer more convincing, he hurriedly added, "Look, Senior, you didn't ask me why I ended up like this either."

Medises's pupils contracted slightly, and his eyes finally changed from that strange silver back to a light, clear cyan.

He looked intently at Su Lin.

"I'm an S-rank Zerg. My full name is Medises Blood Wing. I'm a senior inspector of the Security Committee and a candidate to become the next Blood Wing lord," Medises suddenly said. "Even as a larva, I still had the ability to wipe out three units of small human

interstellar

patrol ships within fifteen minutes. Under those circumstances, even if my true identity had been discovered in human territory, I still would have had more than a seventy percent chance of escaping alive from the human defense system's pursuit. Taking these factors into account, the empire sent me to infiltrate the human world on a mission."

Thank goodness, Medises did not explain to Su Lin exactly what secret mission he had carried out.

That eased Su Lin's anxious heart a little.

But before he had finished breathing his sigh of relief, he heard Medises's tone suddenly turn cold.

"So I really am curious. Why did you infiltrate the empire in this... this form? Didn't the people who sent you know that someone as weak as you wouldn't be able to resist at all once discovered? Your chances of successfully escaping the Zerg are less than one percent."

At the thought of the data he had discovered during the bloodline screening, Medises's long-frozen heart was stirred once more. Mingled with the extreme anger that seemed ready to burn his heart to ashes were immense panic and lingering fear.

As a senior inspector, Medises no longer needed to handle such low-level matters as bloodline screening. However, while in the lounge, he had vaguely detected a strange fragrance that was barely perceptible and vanished without a trace when he tried to discern it. That was what had somehow prompted him to rush to that examination room.

And there, he had seen Su Lin.

If he had not happened to appear there at the time, if the person conducting the bloodline screening had been any ordinary member of the Security Committee...

A frail being like Su Lin would probably already have been reduced to a lump of minced flesh under the Security Committee's torture.