Transmigrated into the Zerg Race: Didn't We Agree to Call Off the Engagement? - Chapter 4

But there truly is no other way.

Sirius slept until dawn. When he opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning. He had been disconnected from Zerg society for a full 24 hours. Lex, having passed through the jump point, had sent a message to report his status and ask if Sirius wanted any gifts.

His optical brain had also automatically enabled location tracking and vital signs monitoring. The mental state indicator above displayed a green upward arrow. Apparently, a bug had reported a concern, and the guard bugs had checked on his current status.

Having slept soundly, Sirius’s mind was now very relaxed. Although his head felt a bit heavy, he was no longer overthinking. He ordered the kitchen robot to deliver breakfast. Fortunately, in the absence of a high-male, a military male who was not yet a First Male would be kicked out of the high-male’s residence without explicit permission, but a high-male staying in a military male’s apartment would not be disturbed. Furthermore, any high-male could command the robotic servants in the home of an unmarried military male.

This policy was supposedly designed to assist high-males in emergencies. If kidnapped, they could flee into any military male’s home for sanctuary. Of course, it also facilitated quick matches for unmarried military males. Sirius first learned of this at a party. He was not yet an expert in Zerg law and had listened to another high-male recount the story of how he entered the wrong room and met his future First Male. At the time, Sirius felt this was essentially legalizing the harassment of military males by high-males, but the surrounding military males looked on with envy. That moment was a wake-up call for Sirius; he realized clearly that the Zerg were different.

They lacked a sense of morality or shame, preferring instead to indulge in instinct. It was a preposterous policy that the Zerg race followed without a second thought.

“Good morning, Sirius. You did not come yesterday. Were you ill?”

“Thank you for your concern. I am fine. I was just handling some private matters and forgot to check my optical brain.”

“Oh, praise the Hive Mother. It is good that you are alright.”

Along the way, many high-males greeted Sirius, occasionally interspersed with a few military males who had snuck over. Because the working hours for high-males and military males differed to prevent high-males from being harassed, the high-males arrived late and left early. These military males were all catching glimpses of him in secret.

Once the robot guard detail discovered someone harassing a high-male during work hours, they would begin a lively pursuit through the research institute. The captured military males would be sent to a fringe planet to mine for a month. Although specialized robots did the actual work and the males were useless there, as a punishment, it was perfectly fitting.

Indeed, high-males could harass military males, but military males could not harass high-males. It was said that back when everything was decided by brute force, high-males were frequently abducted, leading to a deep-seated hatred toward military males. Their infighting hindered Zerg development, prompting the Mainframe to intervene and establish laws. High-males entered politics, and a balance began to form.

When reading Zerg history, Sirius always maintained a bird’s-eye view, which made the narrative quite entertaining. Speaking of mining, however, Sirius suddenly remembered something. His institute primarily studied the evolution of ancient life and frequently sent teams to other planets to collect fossils. If he recalled correctly, Sirius picked up the notebook on his desk, flipped back a few pages, and then quickly walked to the bookshelf behind him. He opened a cabinet and began searching through it.

As expected, he had run out. All the fossils collected last time had been proven unrelated to Zerg evolution. He needed to collect new stones. It was strange; generally, all biological organisms have an evolutionary process or at least a history of civilization development, but the Zerg had none. It was as if they were born with the ability to switch between their carapace and human forms, possessing an initial civilization from birth without any unrecorded history. This was clearly illogical.

Consequently, there was a prevalent theory in society that common insects and the Zerg were two different species. The Zerg did not evolve from insects but were created and taught directly by the Hive Mother. This theory was similar to human creationism: Nuwa creating humans or God creating the world. It sounded absurd. However, because of the existence of the Mainframe—which legend said was left behind by the Hive Mother to link all Zerg optical brains and facilitate mental communication—the theory gained credibility. The Central Mainframe managed reproduction and matching, while the War Mainframe managed expansion.

But for Sirius, who was once human, he remained a staunch evolutionist. He firmly believed there must be a connection between insects and humans. If they were creations of the Hive Mother, why did they use the same script, the same language, the same appearance, and even identical habits? They even had a sun. Unfortunately, there were too many colors for it to serve as definitive proof for Sirius. Therefore, he wanted to find evidence of evolution. If he could, he could naturally treat this place as the human world and would no longer be an outsider.

Fortunately, the research institute where he worked was entirely composed of evolutionists. They had gathered to establish this institute in hopes of finding proof of Zerg evolution. The high-male’s office was on the top floor. Ancient trees, thousands of years old, rested their branches outside the window. The rustling of leaves was clearly audible, and the crisp laughter of Zerg children drifted up from below, brought by some male or high-male out for a stroll.

Sirius closed the soundproof curtains and picked up a planetary globe from the bookshelf. Placing it on the desk, his expression became somewhat distant. He had a method to escape all his troubles. He could find a sparsely populated fringe planet, dig up a few stones, and then return to observe them slowly. This was not difficult; he had always done this whenever he encountered such situations before.

If his mind was cluttered, he would find a planet with no other bugs. Alone, he would not have to think about anything or make any decisions. He could ignore Julian’s urgency, Lex’s devotion and temptation, human morality, and Zerg nature. He only needed to dig stones every day; by the time he returned, everything would be better. With this in mind, he looked at the globe on his desk, arched his finger, and gave it a light flick.

A brilliant galaxy appeared before him. With a light tap, his current planet appeared as a reference point. He randomly selected another planet, took a photo, and sent it to Julian.

“I am going to a nearby planet to collect minerals. For the coming period, we will communicate via optical brain.”

Julian replied very quickly. He seemed to be waiting; the moment Sirius sent the message, his status changed to “typing.”

“You scared me to death! It is good that Your Excellency is alright. Where did Julian do wrong? My High-lord must punish Julian, just do not ignore me, okay?”

The sub-male sent several emojis, specifically one showing him with red eyes. Sirius did not know if it was sincere, but he had to admit his heart softened, and a smile touched his lips.

“Did it rain last night? I do not think so. Why is there such a flood on your end? Do you need me to help with the water control?”

“High-lord! Julian is worried about you. I was not thinking about that kind of thing!”

What kind of thing? Sirius froze for a moment before realizing what Julian meant, feeling caught between laughter and tears.

“What are you thinking about every day? I said you are a crybaby bug. Did the neighbors downstairs not complain?”

The status bar on the other side shifted several times before a message was retracted. Having cleared the previous text, Julian continued as if nothing had happened.

“Of course not. I only cry because I am worried about my High-lord. High-lord, please do not disappear for so long next time. The guard bugs said I am not a First Male, so they could not give me any information about you no matter what.”

The smile on Sirius’s face vanished instantly. He did not read any further. He yanked the optical brain off his wrist and slammed the black watch onto the desk with a heavy “clack.” The object was gone, but his mood could not return to its previous state. The more one tries to escape something, the more one is bound to encounter it. Escaping solves nothing, but if there were a way to solve the problem, why would he be escaping in the first place?

After a long while, Sirius calmed down and slowly sat back in his chair. He picked up the optical brain again. As he expected, the sub-male had indeed asked that question.

“When you return, can we submit the application? I truly cannot wait.”

Sirius exhaled slowly. Closing his eyes, a line of text appeared in the chat box.

“I have not told him. The fleet will not return for at least a month. We will discuss it after he returns. If you cannot wait, you can go find another high-male.”

Go find another high-male. That way, he would no longer have to struggle with the dilemma. How despicable. He was the one who first chose the suitable Lex, then craved a young, passionate, and vibrant soul, allowing himself to fall into this mess. Now, he was blaming it all on the sub-male. If Julian had not tempted him, how could Sirius have ended up with him? If Julian had not been so greedy in his demands, Sirius would never have been so obsessed as to agree to his request.

A single wrong thought had led to this impasse. As long as he gives up, it will be fine, Sirius thought darkly. As long as Julian gave up on his own, everything would return to the beginning. He would no longer have to struggle or be torn between two sides. He could retreat into his safety zone with a clear conscience, deceiving himself into believing he had not been assimilated.

Unfortunately, the sub-male did not agree. He apologized in fear, comforted him, pleaded with him, and wept to him. But Sirius felt no pleasure, only a chill running through his body. He was becoming even more despicable.

The high-male chose to escape once again. The globe stopped spinning. The randomly selected red planet sat quietly before him, looking somewhat eerie against the deep blue backdrop of the star map. Sirius reached out and tapped the planet without hesitation.

[Ding! Coordinates confirmed. S-class High-male navigation authority application. Identifying identity.]

[Identity confirmed. Thank you for booking with our company. We will provide you with the highest quality new starship. Please confirm your schedule.]

[Friendly Reminder: Your selected planet is relatively remote and serves mostly as a stopover. The personnel passing through are complex. Please ensure your personal safety. We wish you a pleasant voyage!]

With highly developed technology and infinite resource plunder, the Zerg’s greatest advantage was wealth. Regardless of rank, any bug not currently serving a criminal sentence could travel freely to various planets at minimal cost and depart at any time. Before departing, Sirius cleared his messages without looking. Ignoring everything said previously, he sent one direct message to Julian.

“Yes, I understand. I will message you when I arrive.”

In the end, he still could not bear to be heartless.

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