Chapter 7

Su Lin's face was deathly pale.

An ordinary human who encountered the Zerg would probably scream and try to run, but after seeing so many Zerg packed together with his own eyes, he found that he had completely lost the ability to move. He was so frightened that his entire body had gone limp.

Just then, a shadow fell in front of him.

It was a pitch-black Zerg. Unlike the other Zerg soldiers with their mottled patterns, its shell was entirely free of other colors, its smooth surface gleaming like metal.

Somehow, that made it look even more terrifying than an ordinary Zerg.

The Zerg lightly folded its wings and landed right in front of Su Lin, whose body had gone limp with fright.

Then, before Su Lin's eyes, the black Zerg's monstrous form, so terrifying to humans, disappeared. In its place stood a tall, handsome man with a cold expression.

"Awake?"

The Zerg officer in front of Su Lin spoke in an utterly cold voice.

"..."

Su Lin stared blankly at him.

"Which colony are you from?"

The officer's pitch-black eyes fixed on Su Lin. The gaze of an alien creature was terrifying, and his question was colder still.

Su Lin's lips moved, but he couldn't make a sound. Partly, he was too terrified to speak. But also... he hadn't understood the Zerg's question.

Why would a Zerg ask a human that question? What did he mean, "Which colony are you from?"

No, that wasn't right...

What he really should have been thinking about now was why he could understand the Zerg's language. Su Lin had realized by now that the Zerg officer in front of him must be speaking the Zerg language.

Yet he could understand every word.

"Answer me!"

Seeing the terror in Su Lin's eyes but hearing no answer from him, Carlos frowned impatiently. For some reason, not getting an answer from Su Lin left the normally calm Carlos feeling vaguely restless.

Just as he was about to ask again, a somewhat flippant voice came from beside him.

"What's there to ask? His mimicked form is already this big, but he's still a larva who hasn't even grown wings, and he doesn't have a colony brand or a mark anywhere on him."

Another Zerg-vividly colored, but no less eerily monstrous-silently landed beside them.

The monster's head, with its unmistakably carnivorous mouthparts, drew close, and its scarlet eyes turned toward Su Lin.

"Obviously he was driven out of his colony because his developmental level was too low, right?"

The monster spoke with a smile in its voice, but its gaze was far colder than that of the expressionless Carlos.

Immediately afterward, Su Lin saw the other Zerg transform into human form as well.

"Hill-"

Carlos spoke, giving him a subtle warning.

Hill, however, paid him no mind. He simply raised a hand and gripped Su Lin's chin.

As he drew closer, Su Lin caught a very, very faint scent. The two Zerg before him both carried the exact same scent... Somehow, Su Lin instantly realized that it was the rumored "mark."

"So weak... No wonder humans caught you and made you a test subject. I really don't know whether Carlos helped you or harmed you by rescuing a little thing like you. Tsk, tsk, but you really do have a pretty face. How about becoming my honey bug? I should still be able to protect you for a while, at least until you mature."

"He's injured."

Carlos frowned and looked at his colleague.

He had never much liked Hill's nasty habits.

For 99.9 percent of the Zerg in the Empire, touching the Zerg Queen was forever out of the question, and even gaining access to any information about her was impossible. Yet the longing for the Zerg Queen was branded into the Zerg's most fundamental genes. From the ignorant monsters of ancient times to the "Empire" with its own unique civilization, no matter how they evolved, the yearning and adoration in their nature could never be erased.

Larvae before maturation happened to bear a faint physical resemblance to the "Zerg Queen" that male Zerg dreamed of. So, to relieve their instincts, some males used individual larvae during this stage as sex toys.

Among the Zerg, there was a common term for Zerg so weak that they could only sell their bodies-honey bugs.

In the past, keeping honey bugs had been nothing to be proud of. But as the mental state of male Zerg, especially high-ranking military Zerg, had deteriorated over the past few centuries, the Empire Order Committee had deliberately or otherwise overlooked the actions of certain males.

After all, larvae born into high-ranking colonies could never end up alone, much less become honey bugs. Only those lowly, inferior Zerg, who never knew whether they would survive from one day to the next, would be enticed by those crazed military Zerg.

If the larva rescued from the human research institute had belonged to a colony, Carlos certainly wouldn't have allowed Hill to lure him away right in front of him.

But the truth was always cruel.

Carlos's gaze was cold, but the antennae among his hair were unconsciously analyzing Su Lin's scent.

The larval scent given off by the pale young man clearly showed his pitiful rank. Even after spending several days in the healing pod and escaping danger to his life, his scent hadn't changed much.

Still so weak.

And... cloyingly sweet.

It was only natural for a larva this underdeveloped to be driven out of his colony. Even if humans bought him as a test subject, he wasn't worth pitying.

After all, to Zerg society as a whole, they were trash that needed to be disposed of.