The small town of Saint Lieux had now lifted the restrictions on travel. Early the next morning, You Que left the house with a black travel bag on his back. He flagged down an aircraft at the doorstep and asked the driver to take him to the outskirts. His entire body was covered, with the collar of his clothes pulled up to conceal the back of his neck. Due to his tall, slender figure, he appeared at first glance to be a female zerg.
The driver, seeing that You Que was alone, couldn’t help but ask with concern, “Sir, there have been frequent interstellar pirate raids outside the town. Are you sure you want to head to the outskirts?”
You Que knew that it was rather strange for him to be heading to the outskirts alone, so he had prepared an excuse in advance: “I’m not leaving the town, just visiting a friend stationed at the military base on the outskirts.”
Upon hearing this, the driver finally eased his concerns and steered the aircraft toward the outskirts. As he drove, he chatted with You Que, clearly unable to sit still: “Sir, with those long legs of yours, you look like a military female. You wouldn’t have been stationed in a military camp before, would you?”
You Que sat in the back seat by the window, his eyes closed, wearing a black baseball cap. His brows and eyes were hidden in the shadow of the cap’s brim, giving off an air of few words: “I’m not a military female.”
The driver muttered to himself, “I thought you were a military female. But then again, there aren’t that many military females in this poor town. Just yesterday, a batch came through, but that was because of the interstellar pirate purge.”
Hearing this, You Que quietly opened his eyes. “Have there been a lot of military females coming to the town recently?”
The driver explained, “The two largest interstellar pirate alliances in the Salaranfa have been completely wiped out. The scattered groups from those alliances are now fleeing in all directions, and one of them ended up outside the town. Haven’t you heard? They hijacked a tourist group in the outskirts before and killed a number of zergs. The military came to handle the cleanup.”
You Que pondered for a moment, “Have they already started purging outside the town?”
The driver waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, not that quickly. The troops only arrived yesterday, and they’ll probably need a few days to get organized. Besides, if they were really going to purge, they should have done it earlier. Now that all the interstellar pirates have scattered, the military is only slowly making its way here—probably just for show.”
Hearing this, You Que didn’t say anything more. He simply felt relieved that he had gone out today; otherwise, if he had run into the military’s purge, it would have been hard to explain himself.
The speed of the aircraft was much faster than that of a car. You Que felt as if he hadn’t been on the vehicle for more than a few hours before it arrived at the checkpoint of the small town. Around the area, many soldiers were patrolling back and forth, and numerous zergs were conducting business and exchanging goods. It was much livelier compared to a while ago.
The driver slowly brought the aircraft down for a landing. “Sir, we’ve arrived. The fare is 200 star coins.”
You Que had earned some money recently, so he was relatively well-off. He took out 200 star coins, handed them to the driver, and said “Thank you” before getting off with his bag.
Not long ago, the small town had restricted entry and exit, resulting in a backlog of goods at the checkpoint. Now that the restrictions had been lifted, the area was crowded with zergs hauling cargo. In the midst of the bustle, no one paid much attention to the tall, slender figure making its way out of the checkpoint.
The small town of Saint Lieux was located on the frontier, with a dense forest not far from its outskirts. Town residents usually chose to take a longer route when leaving, as the forest was home to numerous mutated beasts, making accidents a common risk.
However, You Que was unaware of these dangers. All he knew was that when he arrived, he had passed through the forest, so naturally, he would need to go through it again on his way back.
The sky outside was clear, but within the dense forest, the thick foliage blocked out the sun, casting the area in shadow. The ground was still muddy from the recent rain.
You Que trudged through the mud, taking careful steps. His hometown was in the mountains, and the roads there were no better, so he walked with relative ease. Behind him, occasional rustling sounds echoed, as if animals were lurking in the shadows, quietly watching him, but none made any move to attack.
He didn’t know how long he had walked, but by late afternoon, You Que finally emerged from the dark forest. His vision gradually opened up, revealing a somewhat desolate mountain outskirts. Occasionally, a few white crows flapped their wings, circling in the sky, their eerie calls echoing above, lingering for a long time.
White crows were known for scavenging on rotting flesh, and You Que didn’t need to think hard about where he had fallen when he first crossed over. He simply headed toward the area with the most birds. Eventually, he reached the lower slope of a mountain, where he found a corpse that had been gnawed to pieces by the birds. Judging by the clothing, it seemed to be the remains of the male zerg named Eugene from before.
You Que had never seen a decaying corpse before, and though this was his first time, he didn’t feel much fear. Perhaps it was because in this world, the dangers—both open and hidden—were far more terrifying than a motionless, rotting body.
He took out a folding shovel from his bag, one he had bought in advance, and began digging a deep hole on the spot. With each swing of the shovel, he dug forcefully into the earth, as if he were digging his own grave. By the time he finished, the dirt piled up beside the hole had formed a small mound, and only then did he stop.
The male zerg’s body had decayed beyond recognition, so You Que didn’t touch it with his hands. Instead, he used the shovel to push the corpse into the pit, then carefully filled the hole back up, packing the earth tightly.
By the time he finished, his back was drenched in sweat. He sat down on the ground to catch his breath. With no offerings at hand, he could only tidy up the loose stones around the grave, doing his best to make it look clean and orderly.
“I should have come earlier. Your body’s already rotted away.”
You Que caught the damp, decaying smell in the air and thought to himself that whether human or zerg, death ultimately looked much the same. He exhaled slowly, gazing at the mound of earth before him, and said:
“Don’t envy me for still being alive. In truth, I envy you more—at least you have a clean, untainted identity.”
You Que wanted desperately to live like a normal person, but in the end, he always felt as though he was missing something.
As night fell, venturing into the forest became far too dangerous, so You Que didn’t linger. He tossed the shovel down a concealed slope and left with his now-empty travel bag. Along the way, he came across a few more decaying corpses, likely other travelers who had been killed by the star pirates. However, You Que no longer had the strength to bury them and could only retrace his path back the way he came.
You Que didn’t go to work today, so he was unaware that not long after he left, Sanya’s psychic energy spiraled into a state of frenzy. In the end, it was the aftermath of that reckless bite causing trouble.
The second floor, usually quiet, was now unusually chaotic. Sanya’s bedroom door was ajar, and the small room was crowded with zergs. Fei Wen and Kevin stood on either side of the bed, holding Sanya down with all their strength, their arm muscles bulging with effort. They shouted in low, urgent voices:
“Hurry! Inject the suppressant into him!”
Sanya was an A-rank female zerg, and once he entered a semi-metamorphosis state, he was at high risk of completely losing his sanity, making him extremely dangerous. Fei Wen and Kai Wen held down his limbs on either side, restraining him as he struggled violently. His forehead was drenched in cold sweat, and in his disoriented state, he could no longer distinguish reality from illusion. It felt as if he had returned to that hospital where his wings had been removed:
“Anesthetic… quickly, remove his wings…”
“He’s waking up—increase the dosage!”
No! No!
Don’t touch him!
Sanya struggled in agony, his bloodshot eyes turning a terrifying crimson, his expression fierce and menacing. He glared at Fei Wen and the others with the ferocity of a beast trapped in a cage, desperately trying to break free from their restraints. “Don’t touch me! Get away! All of you, get away!”
Fei Wen immediately recognized that Sanya was having another episode. His brows furrowed deeply as he freed one hand to tear open the fabric at the back of Sanya’s neck. The grotesque scars on the female zerg’s back were instantly exposed to the air.
This action only provoked Sanya further. The veins on his forehead bulged, and the taste of blood filled his mouth as he bit down hard in his struggle. The pain he felt was akin to being torn apart, his voice dripping with chilling fury and hatred:
“Don’t touch me! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you!”
Fei Wen pressed down hard on Sanya’s head, exposing the zerg markings on the back of his neck. He cursed under his breath, “Damn it, I don’t want to touch you either! What are you standing around for? Hurry up and inject the suppressant! I can’t hold him down much longer!”
One of the younger subordinates had taken a punch to the eye while trying to hold Sanya down, leaving him stumbling around like a half-blind zerg. Hearing Fei Wen’s shout, he quickly rummaged through the kit, pulled out a fresh syringe, and approached with one hand covering his bruised eye. Locating the zerg markings on Sanya’s neck, he plunged the needle in—
A sharp, piercing pain shot through Sanya’s entire body. His figure stiffened for a moment before erupting into an even more violent struggle.
Fei Wen was nearly thrown to the ground but quickly regained his footing and pressed Sanya back down. He shouted at the subordinate nearby, “Anesthetic! Inject another dose of anesthetic!”
The subordinate, startled, stammered, “What?! We already gave him one dose—another one?”
Fei Wen, growing desperate, cursed loudly, “Damn it, if you don’t move now, I swear I’ll beat you to death!”
The subordinate had no choice but to inject another dose of anesthetic into Sanya. Whether it was the drug’s effect or sheer exhaustion, it didn’t take long before the female zerg, who had been struggling fiercely moments ago, gradually quieted down and fell into a deep, drained sleep.
Fei Wen, seeing that Sanya had stopped moving, let out a long sigh of relief and rolled off the bed. He had exerted so much force when restraining Sanya that his hands were now trembling. “Damn it, why did his psychic energy suddenly spike? Isn’t he supposed to be getting his injections regularly every day?!”
Kai Wen, equally exhausted, slumped to the floor, drained. “God knows, Sanya has been spending so much time around that male zerg. Maybe he’s been affected by the pheromones.”
Fei Wen, without hesitation, countered, “Impossible. Sanya is an A-rank female zerg, and that male zerg’s blood purity doesn’t even reach 26%. There’s no way his psychic energy would be influenced by him!”
The male zerg’s blood contained an unusually high concentration of pheromones. In reality, the reason for Sanya’s current state was that he had accidentally ingested You Que’s blood when he bit his finger that day. However, Fei Wen and the others were unaware of this detail. After thinking for a long time without coming up with a reason, they decided to push it aside for now.
After such a chaotic ordeal, it was already past midnight. Exhausted, Fei Wen and the others had no energy to play cards or games. They left one zerg on night watch and went to their respective rooms to sleep.
The next afternoon, when You Que arrived at work as usual, he quickly noticed something was off with the atmosphere in the bar. For instance, there was a bruise on Fei Wen’s face, and Kai Wen had clearly been punched in the eye. The other subordinates also had marks on them, as though they’d all been caught in some kind of scuffle. Anyone unfamiliar with the situation would have thought the bar had been robbed by bandits the day before.
You Que glanced around the room and noticed that Sanya was absent. He asked, “Where’s Sanya?”
Fei Wen, exhausted, slouched on the sofa with an ice pack pressed to his face. Hearing the question, he waved his hand dismissively and said, “Sanya’s sick, resting in his room. You can go ahead and start your shift. Don’t mind that cra…”
Fei Wen, meeting You Que’s gaze, ultimately swallowed the words “crazy” with some difficulty. “Anyway, he’ll be fine in a few days, it’s nothing serious.”
You Que barely raised an eyebrow and asked, “Did you get into a fight with him?”
Fei Wen and the others, with visible bruises on their bodies, clearly looked like they’d been in a fight. Since Sanya was absent and couldn’t get out of bed, You Que couldn’t think of any other possibility.
“Bullshit!”
Fei Wen, upon hearing the comment, shot up from the sofa, thinking, What do you mean we beat Sanya? It was actually Sanya who beat them yesterday. “We’re not crazy, why would we randomly beat him?”
Kai Wen, holding his swollen eye, added, “Sanya just caught a regular cold. He’ll be fine after a couple of days of rest.”
You Que glanced toward the far hallway, noticing that Sanya’s room door was locked. Whether he believed them or not, he hesitated for a moment before saying, “Alright, I’ll head down to work then.”
As he was about to leave, something seemed to cross his mind. He stopped in his tracks, then suddenly turned back to the table. He poured a cup of hot water for Fei Wen, walked over, and handed it to him, saying, “Boss, have some hot water.”
Fei Wen didn’t think much of it, just feeling that this male zerg was considerate and aware, no wonder even Sanya had shown some interest. He reached out to take the cup, offering You Que a playful promise, “Work hard, and maybe there’ll be a raise for you in the future.”
You Que nodded, “Alright, I’m heading down now.”
You Que spoke, then turned and headed downstairs, making his way to the back partition on the first floor. He made sure no one was around, and only then did he look down at his hand. He was not surprised to see a set of silver keys hanging from his fingertips, clearly something he had discreetly taken from Fei Wen earlier.
Something must have happened to Sanya. If it was just a regular illness, there would be no need to lock the door with an extra key.
You Que’s instincts told him something was off. He stuffed the keys into his pocket and noticed the janitor had already started cleaning the floor. He walked over and casually suggested, “I noticed there’s still a lot of trash on the second floor. You might want to head up and clean there first?”
The janitor, not suspecting anything, agreed without much thought, “Alright, I’ll go there in a bit.”
Fei Wen and the others usually liked to gather on the second floor, but every time the cleaning was done, with the dust flying everywhere, they would head straight to the pool table on the first floor to play. Today, perhaps because of their injuries, when they saw the janitor heading upstairs, they simply returned to their rooms to rest.
You Que crossed his arms and quietly leaned against the bar, waiting. When he heard the sound of Fei Wen and the others returning to their rooms, he seized the opportunity, waiting for the other staff to be distracted, and turned to head upstairs.
The three days before and after a female zerg’s psychic power goes into chaos are always dangerous periods. Fei Wen and the others, likely concerned about the presence of a male zerg in the shop and the risk that Sanya might lose control and cause harm, had added a lock to the door. However, their attempts to cover up only made it seem like they were hiding something.
You Que found the key and quickly unlocked Sanya’s door. Pushing it open, he was greeted by pitch-black darkness inside. The floor was scattered with unknown objects, and when he stepped on one, it made a light clinking sound.
“Sanya?”
You Que frowned and called out, but received no response. He had no choice but to close the door behind him, reaching out to feel along the wall until he found the switch and turned on the lights.
“Click.”
The room, which had been pitch black just moments ago, was suddenly illuminated. The floor was littered with scattered objects like vases and pillows, a scene that could easily be described as a swarm of locusts having passed through. Not far away, on the bed, lay a bare-bodied female zerg, his silver-gray hair cascading down and covering his shoulders. He was covered by a light-colored blanket, his breathing shallow and weak—
It was Sanya.
Upon seeing this, You Que’s expression changed slightly, and he immediately moved forward to check on the situation. He thought to himself that this zerg didn’t seem like someone who was merely sick with a cold; it was clear that they were barely clinging to life. He gently brushed aside the hair from Sanya’s face, about to check for breath, but suddenly noticed a savage scar on the back of his body. His movements froze—
The wound was so deep that You Que sensed something was wrong. He hesitated for a moment, retracting his hand, then reached to push aside his hair again, this time trying to get a better look at the scar. But before he could fully see it, a sharp pain shot through his wrist, and a cold, ominous voice rang in his ears:
“Who allowed you to come in?!”
You Que instinctively looked up upon hearing the voice, only to realize that Sanya had somehow regained consciousness. He was staring at him with a pair of vicious, wary eyes, sending a chill down his spine.
You Que froze for a moment. The look in his eyes was so unfamiliar that it made him question whether the zerg in front of him was truly Sanya.
The effects of the anesthetic on Sanya hadn’t worn off yet. When he woke up, he realized he was completely exposed, and that You Que had already seen most of the scar on his back. His expression twisted with rage as he tightly gripped You Que’s wrist, his teeth clenched as he spat out the words:
“Get out!”
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