Chapter 17

After all, the last time he had crawled out of an A-grade treatment pod, he had come away with a pair of insect wings. If it happened again, wouldn't he grow something else he wasn't supposed to have?!

Fortunately, judging by his current condition, Su Lin could still maintain a basically human form.

The bad news was that his wings seemed to have grown even better.

His wings, once translucent, thin, and fragile, were now covered in a faint, flowing sheen. They were more supple to the touch, too (and more sensitive, of course).

A Zerg queen's wings should have been extremely prone to falling off, yet his were exceptionally strong. Was that some mutation caused by their fusion with a human body, or was there another reason? Or could it really be as Medises had guessed-that the Zerg queen specimen in Research Institute No. 37's collection had undergone some special modification?

Su Lin didn't dare think too deeply about it. He was afraid his composure would crumble if he did.

"What are you thinking about?"

Medises's question sounded beside his ear. Su Lin jolted, instantly snapping out of his wild thoughts.

"Ah, nothing. It's just... I just think you've become a lot gentler than you used to be, senior."

Of course Su Lin couldn't tell Medises the truth.

He laughed it off and spoke with practiced ease.

The little trick he'd learned from the scammer teacher had always worked well: when you wanted to dodge someone's questions, the best thing to do was start a new topic and pass the conversation back to them.

Of course, strictly speaking, Su Lin wasn't lying. He had noticed long ago that, though his reunion with his senior among the Zerg had been a little brutal at first, once he had latched back onto his old thigh, his senior's attitude had been much friendlier than before.

Just look: Medises had even taken the initiative to clear away his dishes earlier. Back in high school, Su Lin wouldn't have dared dream of such treatment...

"Gentle?" Medises's eyes flickered. He gave Su Lin a strange look, seemingly puzzled by the assessment.

Seeing his senior's rare blank expression, Su Lin couldn't help laughing.

This time, his smile was genuine.

"Yeah, senior, you really are gentle. If you'd been like this back in high school, I'm sure a lot of people would have liked you-"

Then He Zisen wouldn't have spent three years at Border High School as a lonely old Zerg, despite having a face like that.

But before he could finish, he heard Medises ask, very calmly:

"Then do you like me?"

Su Lin: "Huh?"

Great, here came the deadly question.

Chapter 17

Noticing Su Lin's momentary daze, Medises gazed at the human before him and added, "Do you like the 'gentle' me?"

Su Lin: "Ha, haha, well... it's just..."

Sweat poured down the young human's face.

If he answered "yes," it would mean telling the only lifeline he had that he thought his "thigh" hadn't been gentle enough with him on Border Planet back then.

If he answered "no," it would mean he didn't like his senior's current harmless, gentle, and amiable state.

Yeah, either answer seemed pretty disastrous.

Su Lin blinked and met Medises's icy eyes. The inexplicable lessons he'd heard in the scammer teacher's class suddenly flashed through his mind.

[Scammer teacher: ...This question is going to be on the test, so when you run into a question like this, where either answer might anger the other person, how should you respond...]

"Back in high school, senior, if you'd been as nice as you are now, there wouldn't have been any room for me by your side, would there? And without you, I couldn't possibly have survived back then."

As if recalling the past, Su Lin smiled gently and nostalgically.

"As for now, even though you're a Zerg, you can still be so good to me." Su Lin gazed intently back at Medises and spoke earnestly, word by word.

"So whether it's the senior you were back then or the senior you are now, I like you."

[Scammer teacher: This question really isn't difficult at all! What's the model answer? It's very simple. All you have to say is, "No matter what you're like, I"!]

Su Lin had no idea why the scammer teacher had been so confident that answering this way would definitely work, but he had no other way to deal with it, so he could only follow the example and answer strictly according to the textbook.

After he finished speaking, Medises remained silent for a long time, leaving Su Lin's heart in suspense. He was so nervous he was almost sweating.

Fortunately, the silver-haired Zerg didn't seem particularly inclined to reminisce with his little brother. After a brief silence, he raised his hand, took out a chip, and handed it to Su Lin.

He gestured for Su Lin to insert the chip into the metal band around his wrist.

Yes, Medises hadn't removed the thing called a "wristband" that was really no different from a shackle.

Of course, according to Medises's explanation, these metal wristbands, which strongly suggested restraint, were now essential to Su Lin's ability to move freely and safely within the spaceship. After all, larvae as low-level as Su Lin were extremely rare. If one suddenly appeared inside a heavily guarded Security Committee spaceship without a marker identifying him as a slave Zerg, there would probably be no need for any other high-level Zerg to intervene; the spaceship's automated defense system would simply mistake him for an escaped edible meat Zerg and eliminate him.

Su Lin had originally been preoccupied with coaxing Medises into removing the eyesore of a shackle, but after hearing the other's expressionless explanation, he instantly abandoned the idea.

The damn wristband might be ugly, but if it was there to keep him alive, he didn't mind wearing it.