Chapter Summaries

Su Lin looked forward to meeting Airena, the woman he had met through an online dating site, and imagined building a future with her. The chapter left him considering their plans and what they might name their children.

• Su Lin woke, ate synthetic food, and decided against buying a more expensive breakfast after checking his savings.
• Su Lin reread his messages with Airena and smiled as he remembered their planned meeting on Victory Day.
• Su Lin reflected on his plan to marry Airena and move from Research Institute No. 37 to seek better work and educational opportunities.
• Su Lin began wondering what names he and Airena would give their future children.

Su Lin went to Research Institute No. 37 to collect data on a highly classified project, but a sudden Zerg attack triggered an evacuation and the institute’s self-destruct sequence. Left behind at the empty spaceport, he ran back into the facility as the countdown began.

• Su Lin received a temporary Class S clearance and was assigned to collect data on a top-secret project in the institute’s basement.
• A Zerg attack struck Research Institute No. 37, and its outdated systems sealed the passages between floors while issuing evacuation warnings.
• Su Lin used his temporary clearance to reach the evacuation point, where he discovered that everyone else had left without him.
• The institute announced that hostile targets had breached the core area and started a 300-second self-destruct countdown.
• Su Lin turned around and ran back into the institute, knowing his chances of survival were slim.

Su Lin fled to the research institute where he worked, hoping to survive the Zerg invasion and reach Airena. There, he focused on the supposedly dead broodmother specimen sealed in a nearly indestructible vessel.

• Su Lin remembered that he had promised to find Airena and had saved money to buy a house, so he ran to his workplace instead of waiting to die.
• Su Lin reached the neglected storage room where the institute preserved Zerg corpses, including an incomplete broodmother larva.
• Su Lin recalled that broodmothers produced and controlled the Zerg lords, whose power had devastated the Galactic Fleet.
• Su Lin remembered that humans had obtained the broodmother egg decades earlier, failed to make it hatch, and eventually abandoned their research.
• Su Lin considered a colleague's claim that the specimen's K-22 alloy storage vessel could withstand even a miniature nuclear blast.

As an insectoid attack neared, Su Lin used his access to activate a program in a storage vessel containing the insect mother Airena, then was overcome by pain and darkness. Hours later, the insectoids had destroyed Research Institute No. 37 and searched its ruins for a missing target while Carlos confronted the failed search and Vice Captain Hill mocked him.

• Su Lin opened the storage vessel and climbed inside with the insect mother's remains, which he knew as Airena.
• A program activated around Su Lin and Airena, causing intense pain before an explosion and darkness overtook him.
• The Hunters destroyed Research Institute No. 37 and searched the rubble, but their reports said they had not found the target.
• Carlos radiated anger as the insectoids searched, and Vice Captain Hill mocked him for being misled by false information.
• Carlos told Vice Captain Hill to handle his cleanup work and leave matters concerning the target to him.

Carlos discovered a badly injured insectoid larva hidden in a storage container among the battlefield rubble. He turned to leave, but the larva caught hold of his ankle.

• Carlos exposed soldiers from the Black Thorn tribe hiding a storage container among the rubble, and Hill recognized their attempt to keep the spoils.
• Carlos broke open the container and found a human-looking insectoid larva inside.
• Carlos realized the larva was an inferior insectoid whose injuries had left him close to death.
• Carlos dismissed the larva and started to leave, but the larva hooked around his ankle.

Su Lin dreamed that he married Airena and gave birth to Zerg, then woke inside a chamber surrounded by living Zerg. The smaller Zerg dragged him into a vast metal space filled with Zerg soldiers.

• Su Lin dreamed that he married Airena, became pregnant, and gave birth to monstrous Zerg that swarmed toward him.
• Su Lin woke choking inside a fleshy membrane sac in a white spherical chamber surrounded by egg-like pods and living Zerg.
• Several smaller Zerg noticed Su Lin and hauled him out of the chamber.
• The Zerg dragged Su Lin into an enormous metal space where countless Zerg soldiers rested in silence.

Su Lin woke among the Zerg and learned that they mistook him for an abandoned larva. Carlos and Hill debated his status, and the chapter ended with Carlos judging him weak and worthless to Zerg society.

• Su Lin froze in fear as a black Zerg landed before him and transformed into the officer Carlos.
• Carlos asked Su Lin which colony he came from, but Su Lin could not answer and realized he understood the Zerg language.
• Hill arrived, identified Su Lin as an unmarked larva, and suggested that his colony had cast him out for being underdeveloped.
• Hill gripped Su Lin's chin and proposed keeping him as a honey bug, while Carlos warned that Su Lin was injured.
• Carlos analyzed Su Lin's scent and concluded that the weak larva had likely been abandoned by his colony and was considered disposable by Zerg society.

Carlos protected Su Lin from Hill’s advances and granted him temporary protection aboard the Zerg warship. Su Lin realized he was being treated in a Zerg medical room and that his fleshy shelter was a healing sac.

• Hill asked Su Lin to come with him, but Su Lin refused and trembled in fear.
• Carlos placed Su Lin behind himself, told Hill to leave, and cited a summons from the elders of the Black Thorn Colony.
• After Hill left, Carlos granted Su Lin temporary protection until the spaceship returned to base.
• Carlos arranged care for Su Lin, who realized he was aboard a Zerg warship and had been staying in a healing sac.

Trapped in the treatment pod, Su Lin realized that an old human experiment had fused him with the remains of a Broodmother, making him half human and half Zerg. He panicked over what his Broodmother nature might mean, especially given his history of unwanted attention from men.

• Su Lin recalled activating an old program that involved a human-Broodmother fusion experiment.
• He felt two indentations on his back and recognized them as the Broodmother's wing pouches, which would develop into nectar glands.
• Su Lin accepted that the experiment had somehow succeeded and that he had become half human and half Broodmother Zerg.
• He remembered that Broodmothers were inseminated by multiple male Zerg during their breeding cycles.
• Su Lin recalled his past experiences with unwanted advances from men and feared that his new nature would bring more of them.

Su Lin was dragged from his healing pod by Black Thorn soldiers who threatened him while Hill watched and refused to intervene. The Black Thorn leader approached Su Lin and asked his name, leaving him cornered and in danger.

• Black Thorn soldiers forcibly opened Su Lin’s healing pod and mocked Carlos for giving it to him.
• The soldiers discussed killing or abusing Su Lin, and their leader began shifting into his original form.
• Su Lin sensed that the Black Thorn soldiers were weaker than Carlos and Hill, but he could not find a way to escape them.
• Hill appeared at the medical bay door and told the Black Thorn soldiers that Su Lin’s trouble had nothing to do with him.
• With Hill’s tacit permission, the Black Thorn leader loomed over Su Lin and asked his name.

Su Lin faced being forced away by the Black Thorn Zerg and chose to risk death rather than become their plaything. Hill rescued him, then learned why Su Lin had resisted and saw that he was crying from his injuries.

• Su Lin lunged toward a Black Thorn Zerg's venomous spike rather than let himself be taken.
• Hill swooped in, rescued Su Lin, and drove the Black Thorn soldiers away.
• Hill berated Su Lin for risking his life, and Su Lin said being used as a sex toy would be like dying to him.
• Su Lin told Hill that his body and will were all he could control and that he did not want to become someone else's toy.
• Hill noticed Su Lin's wet face, and Su Lin insisted that he was crying because he was injured.

Su Lin was carried by Hill to a luxurious healing pod after bluffing his way through the Zerg’s suspicions. As the pod eased his physical distress, he recalled how a scammer’s relationship course had taught him the tricks he used to evade admirers; he awoke to find Hill waiting impatiently.

• Hill carried Su Lin through the Zerg fleet and put him in a healing pod while cursing him.
• Once the pod closed, Su Lin relaxed and realized his act had fooled Hill.
• Su Lin recalled growing up poor in an orphanage and attending the Alliance’s prestigious university despite his difficult circumstances.
• After repeated trouble with admirers, Su Lin took a virtual relationship course and received strange lines from its teacher.
• Su Lin used the course materials to handle admirers and later thanked the teacher, who had been exposed as a scammer.
• The healing pod eased Su Lin’s distress, and he eventually woke to Hill glaring at him.

Su Lin recovered in Hill’s A-grade healing pod, but his fragile condition and a newly emerging pair of wings drew Hill’s attention. Hill again offered him protection as his “honey bug,” leaving Su Lin bewildered by the discovery of his first wings.

• Hill complained that Su Lin had used up an entire A-grade healing pod, though he felt relieved that Su Lin had survived.
• Su Lin apologized for using the expensive pod, and Hill told him an inferior Zerg’s apology was worthless unless he knew how to make amends.
• Hill reached toward Su Lin, who flinched and collapsed in pain after brushing his back against something.
• Hill tore Su Lin’s hospital gown and saw that wings had begun growing on his back.
• Hill offered Su Lin more A-grade healing pods if he accepted Hill’s protection as his “honey bug,” while admiring the delicate first wings.

Hill tried to persuade Su Lin to stay with him, but Su Lin refused and Hill threatened him. Carlos arrived and attacked Hill, triggering a fierce fight between the two Zerg.

• Hill stroked Su Lin's newly grown wings and offered him treatment pods if he stayed with him.
• Su Lin rejected Hill, who grew angry and accused him of choosing Carlos over him.
• Hill ordered Su Lin to address him as "my lord" and moved closer, but Carlos entered the room and demanded to know what he was doing.
• Hill taunted Carlos by implying he was forcing himself on Su Lin, provoking Carlos to attack him.
• Carlos sent Hill flying, and Hill transformed into a towering hybrid monster before clashing with Carlos.

Carlos and Hill fought over Su Lin until Carlos subdued Hill, then Carlos warned Hill that the Security Committee was coming to examine Su Lin’s bloodline. Hill provoked Carlos by claiming he had touched Su Lin’s delicate wing buds, leaving their conflict unresolved.

• Carlos pinned Hill to the floor after a vicious fight, while Su Lin stayed clear of them.
• Carlos called Su Lin over, but Hill’s renewed anger made Su Lin freeze between them.
• Carlos told Hill that the Security Committee had sent someone to examine Su Lin’s bloodline and reassured the frightened larva that the examination was only a procedure.
• Carlos tried to comfort Su Lin, but Su Lin flinched away from his raised hand.
• Hill taunted Carlos by claiming he had touched Su Lin’s delicate wing buds and suggested Su Lin’s development period had been overlooked because of his low-grade treatment pod.

Carlos took Su Lin to meet the Security Committee for a bloodline screening, while Su Lin panicked over what the examination might reveal. Carlos mistook Su Lin’s reluctance for a wish to stay with Hill and offered to take him back after the screening.

• Carlos told Hill that Su Lin was under his supervision, gave him a warning about protecting his newly sprouted wings, and led him away.
• Carlos noticed Su Lin seemed reluctant to leave Hill and grew uncomfortable at the thought of Su Lin depending on him.
• Carlos offered to take Su Lin back to Hill after the bloodline screening if Su Lin preferred Hill’s company.
• Su Lin feared the Security Committee because he knew it had exposed a human-brain spy disguised as a Zerg through bloodline screening.
• Su Lin realized Carlos sounded dissatisfied and worried that he was losing the only person he could rely on.

Su Lin explained how Hill had saved him, and Carlos reassured him about the risks of taking in male reproductive cells. Su Lin then admitted he had no memories of a colony and feared failing the bloodline examination, while Carlos responded with a gentle laugh and touched his back.

• Su Lin told Carlos that Hill had rescued him after Black Thorn attacked him, and Carlos grew furious upon learning what had happened.
• Carlos questioned why Su Lin called Hill “Lord,” then told him he could use Carlos’s name and explained how male reproductive cells could affect a larva’s rank and emergence.
• Su Lin stopped in the corridor and confessed that he had no memories of a colony or knowledge of his origins, so he feared he could not pass the bloodline examination.
• Carlos laughed in surprise at Su Lin’s confession and gently touched his back.

Carlos explained that the bloodline examination would identify Su Lin’s Zerg origins, then secretly marked him with pheromones to help him pass as Carlos’s honey bug. Su Lin remained afraid the examination would expose him, but thanked Carlos for his kindness as the pheromones made him dizzy.

• Carlos told Su Lin that the bloodline examination checked his ancestry and that his scent showed no signs of human modification.
• Su Lin followed Carlos to the Security Committee’s examination room, imagining the examination would kill him.
• Carlos stopped Su Lin at the examination-room door and injected pheromones into his neck so the committee might mistake him for Carlos’s honey bug.
• Su Lin felt warmth and dizziness from the injection and thanked Carlos, though he still doubted it would protect him.

Su Lin waited in the examination room, expecting the Security Committee to torture and kill him, when its inspector arrived and looked exactly like his former high-school senior, He Zisen. The sight brought back memories of how Su Lin had clung to He Zisen for protection and once taken a real bullet for him, leaving their past—and the inspector’s identity—unresolved.

• Su Lin entered the examination room in Carlos’s coat and waited fearfully for the Security Committee’s executioners.
• The inspector appeared, and Su Lin recognized a resemblance to his old senior He Zisen.
• Su Lin remembered seeking He Zisen’s protection at their dangerous border-planet high school.
• Su Lin recalled taking a bullet meant for He Zisen during their final off-campus practical exam.
• As Su Lin lay bleeding, He Zisen held him and desperately ordered him not to die.

Su Lin recalled how he had escaped He Zisen after surviving a bullet wound, only to encounter a Zerg bearing the same face aboard a warship. The Zerg inspector Mediseska took over Su Lin’s bloodline examination, leaving him restrained and terrified.

• After surviving the gunshot, Su Lin decided to distance himself from He Zisen and chose Xingchuan University in the First Star Sector instead of staying on the Border Planet.
• He Zisen confronted Su Lin at the boarding area, then let him go and warned him never to appear again.
• Years later, Su Lin saw a Zerg with He Zisen’s face aboard a Zerg warship and learned that the Security Committee members addressed him as Lord Medises.
• Mediseska volunteered to conduct Su Lin’s bloodline examination.
• The examination began with Su Lin suspended helplessly in the air, restrained by metal rings while Mediseska watched him.