After the Zerg General Was Accidentally Marked - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Kidnapping

That night, Everett waited until the early hours of the morning, but “Solas” never returned.

Initially, the male was a bit worried and specifically used his meager mental power to sense the female’s condition. He confirmed that the other hadn’t lost mobility; he had simply “abandoned” his master.

Great. And to think he thought he could trust this military female! As it turns out, he says one thing to your face and does another behind your back!

For a split second, Everett almost violated his own principles and actually used the collar’s electric shock function to “contact” the female.

However, several ill-intentioned gazes nearby reminded him that this was District 14, and it was not safe. So, after midnight passed, Everett returned to his home in District 13 alone.

He had gone to District 14, found out nothing, and lost a military female helper to boot. Any normal male would have given up and retreated by now.

But Everett was no normal male; once he set his mind on something, he had to see it through.

Furthermore, this matter concerned Major General Sears.

After returning home, Everett tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. The feeling of being betrayed refused to dissipate, even though he had only known this female for a few days and their beginning was a simple transactional relationship.

But the guy could make delicious sandwiches and was willing to listen to him share his daily life as a fan; even if he didn’t like it, he wouldn’t interrupt. Solas was the rare kind of female who, even after being marked, didn’t fear him and certainly didn’t try to flatter him. Everett had enjoyed that normal, friend-like interaction the kind of relaxation where it felt like anything could be shared. He really thought he could trust him.

As it turned out, it was all fake.

The more the little male thought about it, the angrier he got. “Little Idiot, are there any ways to punish a female slave?”

The induction light flickered on, and the light-brain bracelet on the nightstand popped up a virtual screen, beginning a multimedia presentation of various punishments for female slaves: from traditional skinning, waist-chopping, slow slicing, and boiling, to more modern laser execution, mental power deprivation, and so on.

There were many varieties, even specialized torture devices. A male didn’t even need to lift a finger; simply by commanding the light-brain, he could easily and tragically strip a female slave of his life. And the law not only acquiesced but implicitly encouraged such behavior.

Everett didn’t finish reading; after flipping through just the first few items, his anger vanished rapidly.

If a female slave’s life isn’t even guaranteed, how could he blindly trust a marked master he just met? Putting himself in the other’s shoes, if he were a female slave, he would certainly find a way to escape as well.

What right did he have to blame a tragic victim of fate?

“Little Idiot, what happens after a female slave runs away?”

“If a male reports a female slave escape, the light-brain system will directly link to the collar via satellite communication to kill the slave. However, if the female has already left this star system, it will be out of range and the kill cannot be executed.”

So, even if the female ran, he could still kill him. Everett didn’t know exactly where the female was, but according to the feedback from the marking, he was definitely still on the Capital Planet.

Then what was he thinking? To run away like this—is he not afraid that I’ll kill him?

Everett tapped the screen to scroll through his permissions over the slave: Kill, Anesthetize, Pain… He scrolled all the way to the bottom and finally asked, “What if I report the female slave as deceased?”

“Then you will lose all permissions, and the other party will become an undocumented person (a ‘black household’).”

“Right. Report it.”

“Master, then the money spent on the female slave will have been wasted.”

“10 Star Coins isn’t even enough for a meal. Just consider it…” Everett thought of yesterday’s dinner, “…paying for the sandwiches.”

“Successfully reported. Removing female slave permissions,” Little Idiot’s crisp voice came from the bracelet. “Master, is the female slave really dead?”

“Little Idiot, don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask.”

Everett had made up his mind: when he found that female in a few days, he was going to slam the notification of the revoked permissions right into his face! And then…

“Master, you have received many muted messages from His Excellency Harrison Lanston. Would you like to read them?”

It was about the Karatin reagent. But with the female gone, Everett’s head began to throb again; he really didn’t want to deal with this mess right now.

“Ignore him for now.”

More than that, he cared about Major General Sears. Was it possible that Solas had to run because he found out some terrifying information?

“Little Idiot, post a bounty mission in the Sears Fan Group. See if any military females are willing to go to the Pamu Tavern to help investigate. Set the amount at one hundred Star Coins.” Besides Solas, Everett had other resources. It was just that these fans didn’t know his identity as a male, which was somewhat inconvenient.

Early the next morning, Everett was woken up by a message.

A sub-female in the fan group with the nickname “Take a Bite” messaged him: President, are you digging into the Major General’s itinerary from the night he was injured? I have exclusive news! After the Major General left the tavern, he went on a date with a male! It’s for real! Photos are 300 Star Coins each!

A male? A date?!

Everett didn’t believe Major General Sears would do such a thing, guessing it might have just been to fulfill the breeding obligations of a high-level military female. But he obediently paid the money anyway.

The other party sent the photo immediately after receiving payment. It was a candid shot from a restaurant. The taller figure was clearly Major General Sears, and the insect across from him, though a bit blurry, was instantly recognized by Everett.

Jason Lanston. The Second Prince.

He was also the master of the Commander of the Second Legion, Major General Enzo.

Weren’t these two always on bad terms? Why would they meet privately?

Could the Major General’s injury be related to him?

Though they shared the surname Lanston, Everett had always been a marginal insect in the family, unknown to most.

But fortunately, while Everett knew few insects, Harrison knew many.

At this point, the male finally clicked on the long-accumulated muted messages. They were all from Harrison Lanston his blood cousin and one of the largest current distributors of the Karatin reagent.

Harrison: What do you mean?! Harrison: Why the sudden cancellation of the deal?! Such a huge order, and you just back out? Are we brothers or not! Harrison: What does it have to do with females and sub-females? This is a male’s reagent! Harrison: Did Rising Pharma get to you? Don’t listen to their nonsense! Harrison: I’ll give you two more points at most; any more and I’m really losing money! Missed Video Call x3. Missed Voice Call. Harrison: Ev, call me back when you see this!

Everett initiated a voice call. It was picked up after only three seconds: “Hello? Ev! What’s with the cancellation? I’ve already got customer orders placed, just waiting for shipment from your end. You can’t be joking right now! Did something happen? Did Rising find you?”

“I admit, Rising Pharma is bigger now, but can they give you the promotional push I can? We’ve known each other for so many years, we’re insects who know each other’s roots…”

Before Everett could speak, the other side went on like a machine gun. He had to interrupt: “Harrison!”

“Harrison, I need to add some clinical trials to confirm the effects of this drug. The original deal…” Everett wanted to cancel it, but feeling the situation was unclear, he relented, “…postponed for three months.”

“Three months?”

“Just three months.”

“Fine.” Harrison clearly sighed in relief. “I trust you.”

“Also, there’s one more thing. I need a favor.”

Everett successfully obtained Jason’s light-brain account from Harrison. However, after sending a friend request, the other party did not respond for a long time.

For the rest of the time, the male communicated with the lab responsible for the development of the Karatin reagent. They came up with a preliminary plan to include the impact of Karatin on females and sub-females in clinical trials.

Before he knew it, night had fallen. The bounty mission posted in the fan group was finally accepted!

It was a military female with the nickname “Sears’ Long Legs.” Everett had seen him at offline events; he was a familiar face. His own nickname in the group was simply “F.”

Sears’ Long Legs: President F! Is that bounty mission still available? I can help! F: It’s still there. I want to know exactly what the Major General did in the tavern that night, and if it has any connection to his subsequent injury. F: Also, could you check on a military female with Achates Blue eyes, wearing a bite-inhibitor? Sears’ Long Legs: No problem! Leave it to me! Wait for my good news tomorrow!

The next day, Everett did indeed receive news from Long Legs, but it couldn’t be called good news.

The other party was ambiguous, stating that the information gathered couldn’t be spoken directly over the light-brain and requested a meeting in District 14.

This sort of thing was common. The light-brain system was strict with information monitoring. For instance, most transactions for R-18 merchandise were handled offline in District 14. Everett was unfazed and quickly agreed.

The meeting place was a small eatery in District 14. The low tables were covered in a layer of plastic sheeting, but thick, blackened oil stains were still visible underneath. In a male community, this would certainly be flagged as failing health inspections. Though the place was small, there were many insects; all seven or eight tables were full.

Everett scanned the room and saw Long Legs—a brown-haired military female named Kev waving at him from a window seat. The other seemed a bit downcast. Since the female didn’t volunteer why, Everett thoughtfully didn’t ask.

“The Major General went to the Pamu Tavern that night to get information from the bartender, Ollie,” Kev said. “But exactly what it was about, I don’t know.”

“Because Ollie died a few days ago. He was murdered.”

“Murdered?” Everett was shocked. “Is it related to what the Major General asked him?”

Kev shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Everett was about to follow up when he noticed something was wrong. The females at the other tables suddenly stood up in unison. The male quickly glanced at the military female across from him and instantly read his expression: it was guilt.

“I’m sorry. My younger brother was sentenced to be a slave. To redeem him… I need money,” Kev whispered in self-defense. He then stood up, yielding his seat to a red-haired, one-eyed female.

“F, right?” The one-eyed female grinned at him, revealing a gleaming gold tooth. “I’ll be straight with you: your money or your life?”

The moment he realized he was likely being robbed, Everett had already used his bracelet to call the police. But this was District 14, meaning the enforcement officers would be very slow to arrive. He had been reported by a passerby while buying R-18 goods before, and there was absolutely enough time to stroll back to District 13 before the officers arrived.

Including Kev, there were twelve females total, one of whom was military. And he was just one male. Furthermore, it had been many years since his last fight.

The weak and helpless male raised his hands. “My life.”

“But light-brain transfers have limits on frequency and amount. What do you plan to do?”

“Don’t you worry about that.” A female lackey snatched the light-brain off Everett’s wrist and pulled out a device to begin reflashing it.

While a light-brain is just a common device and can theoretically be used by males, females, or sub-females as long as a legal account is logged in, male devices are specially marked because of their rarity. As soon as the reflashing was complete, they would know that the owner of this bracelet was not a sub-female, but a male.

And Everett knew very well how valuable a male was as cargo. He didn’t believe for a second that these females would let him leave.

Everett calmly observed their movements. Though there were many of them, his frame was significantly smaller than even the shortest among them. Consequently, the females easily lowered their guard.

After all, what could a sub-female possibly do?

But he wasn’t a sub-female.

“Hey!” Everett suddenly shouted. Immediately following, he flipped the table with a violent heave. The table slammed into the one-eyed female with a loud thud. Everett followed up with a kick, sending the one-eyed female and the lackey behind him crashing to the ground.

While the others were still in shock, Everett quickly grabbed a chair and swung it with all his might into the reflashing device, producing a piercing metallic clash. The device deformed instantly, shards flying everywhere; it was clearly unusable.

Only then did the females snap out of it. Curses and wails broke out into a mess. Before any insect could even marvel at the sub-female’s startling destructive power, he had already slipped past two of them and escaped out the door!

If there hadn’t been more of their group outside, this sub-female might have actually succeeded in escaping.

But two fists are no match for a crowd. After knocking down five females using their own momentum, Everett was finally defeated. When the one-eyed female came out clutching a bleeding nose, Everett was pinned messily to the ground by two females.

“Big brother… big brother! I was just too scared!”

“I’ll transfer one hundred thousand to you! Let me go!” One hundred thousand was the maximum limit for a one-time Star Coin transfer from a standard account.

Everett pretended to be terrified, trying to cover his face with both hands. But as the one-eyed female bent over to throw a punch, the black-framed glasses which had broken a leg during the fight—finally gave way. They slid down his nose, revealing a pair of gold eyes that were far too pure and beautiful.

The one-eyed female, Kahn, froze. He then reached out and snatched the mask off, finally seeing the exquisite face that was difficult to hide even with makeup.

“You mother—f—… you’re actually a male?!”

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