The Great Information Nest was bustling today, reaching a level that could only be described as rowdy.
Kai, who had been in a standby state, was tossed over by Sarkdi to help. The overly familiar Zerg lived up to his reputation as the "ultimate laborer," quickly ingratiating himself with more than half the staff.
He was a rather peculiar female.
Kai harbored no prejudice or disdain toward males; as long as there was profit to be made, he could spin lies with the utmost sincerity. Fawning over the powerful was his instinct, and chasing profit was his nature; given enough leverage, he would dare to pry at anything. Every Zerg ranked above him became a target for his lavish praise.
For this reason, Sarkdi had dumped him directly under his partner’s supervision.
The Core Species' exact words were: "Before I return, don't give him the chance to pull any ridiculous stunts."
A sycophant was truly useful, but also a handful; the reins had to be kept tight at all times.
On the other side, Kleiman, having left the docking orbit, had summoned several Armed Species to help transport goods before heading to his post. He personally led his subordinates to deliver a new batch of honeydew and exotic beast pincers.
These fellows were incredibly stubborn and possessed a linear way of thinking, which manifested in them hauling over a mountain-high pile of supplies.
The males gathered around, letting out appreciative "wows."
The tall, grey females clearly lost themselves in the chorus of admiration, working with even greater fervor.
The chaotic scene nearly made Gera’s vision go dark. At that moment, he truly understood what Sarkdi meant by "Kleiman’s brain is wired straight."
This might be a custom of the Grey-wing tribe; after all, Clark had done something similar before, stuffing half a room full of honeydew for them.
They worked hard and with great intensity, but they often overdid it.
Furthermore, as a direct descendant of a Sub-King from a core genetic lineage, Kleiman had little concept of resource scarcity. The Armed Species' desire to help was expressed through the casual gifting of expensive food.
It was as if they were urgently using material goods to demonstrate their sincerity.
Gera took a deep breath and immediately moved his talk with Kleiman to the top of his schedule.
The other was clumsily showing goodwill but lacked the proper method, resulting in an effect that was far too bizarre.
This also reminded the white Zerg of a previous conversation with his partner.
Lately, they often discussed certain human customs, such as the controversial topic of whether "money and resources can serve as a measure of affection."
Sarkdi had tried to explain the complexity and contradictions of human thought, covering both sides of the argument and even using extreme environments as a model for analysis.
However, the Zerg way of thinking was clearly different from humans. Gera’s response at the time had been: "If we were in an extreme environment, a male wouldn't survive for long. You could eat me, and then strive to live on."
Upon hearing this answer, the Core Species' expression had twisted, his face becoming quite a sight.
Sarkdi seemed to want to say something, but it ultimately dissolved into a sigh.
Gera had read a sense of "Well, that's very Zerg" from him.
At that time, the pitch-black female had pulled his partner into his arms, stroked his head, and replied, "I cannot do that."
"And I never will."
As it turned out, Kleiman’s actions had miraculously achieved a similar goal through a roundabout way, suddenly making the male understand why his partner had reacted that way.
Using the behavior of others as a reference did indeed help in clearing up certain doubts.
Gera waited until the batch of Armed Species stopped their frantic work before stepping forward.
He softly greeted the leader and looked up at the tall, dark-grey female. "Do you have a moment? Regarding the new fortification maps we discussed, I’ve re-marked several key points. There are also some topics unrelated to work that we need to discuss."
The other straightened up. Upon realizing it was Gera speaking to him, the scales standing up on his tail slowly smoothed down.
"I have time."
Kleiman then made a gesture, dismissing his subordinates. He stared at the white male with eyes that showed no ripple of emotion. "Talk here?"
Yet, Gera effortlessly tasted the flavor of trepidation coming from him.
"?"
"??"
"???"
In contrast to the sequence of questioning emotions, Kleiman’s expression was quite cold. Based on appearance alone, he could completely fool any Zerg whose mental power wasn't strong enough.
This made the male truly want to laugh.
"Let's go somewhere else," he finally said.
However, as Gera had lamented before, this was a truly bustling day.
As they passed by the individual small nest compartments, he saw Xiao communicating with Selin.
The light-brown male was speaking softly to his companion far away on Ja.
The Short-wing female looked restless; he wanted to be close but instead stood up and paced in circles, ultimately failing to make any more intimate gesture.
He and Kleiman passed by without stopping, but in the final second, Gera caught a glimpse of Xiao’s tail entwining with the other’s projection.
Selin leaned down, gently embracing the small male who was a head shorter than him, while simultaneously transmitting something like data files—dense characters filled the entire light screen.
Out of respect for his friend, Gera did not linger on the scene, especially since there were too many other matters waiting for him to resolve one by one.
They eventually found an empty small nest chamber and sat down. Gera weighed his words before tossing out a relatively stable topic.
"Lately, your relationship with the males seems to have eased a bit."
The next second, the scales on the other’s tail began to slowly stand up again.
Great.
Not eased at all.
This made Gera feel that having excessively high mental power could sometimes be quite helpless.
He could clearly perceive the Armed Species leader’s hesitant, lost, and fluctuating state of mind—a mix of emotions caught in the middle of a transformation. But the tension the other felt the moment he saw a male was also real, without a hint of falsehood.
It was truly baffling.
To make matters worse, Kleiman was a representative of the "stubborn mouth" type, his stubbornness second only to Sarkdi’s.
"It's fine," he replied stiffly and coldly.
"Thank you for the honeydew and food. It’s exactly what we needed."
Regardless, Gera first expressed his gratitude for the other’s contribution.
Though impulsive and clumsy, the Zerg before him had indeed provided tangible resources. The Great Information Nest could have arranged for a specialized Zerg to handle centralized procurement, but being in Grey-wing territory, nothing was more convenient than having the Armed Species leader give them the green light all the way.
"No need."
Kleiman was sparing with his words, but his tail, which was splayed out like a bottle brush, was swaying slightly behind him.
"They should eat more."
As if sensing his own talent for killing a conversation, he forced himself to add a few more words of explanation.
"You should eat more too. You're all too thin."
"..."
There could be no more awkward atmosphere for a chat in the world.
Gera once again empathized with his partner; he fully understood why Sarkdi had gotten into a fight with this guy before.
"I will."
Suppressing a smile, his pale eyes looked across at him as the male adjusted his mindset for the conversation.
"In fact, when I first met Sa, I was about as thin as Kara."
The grey-black tail made a rustling sound against the floor.
Gera gathered two useful pieces of information from the reaction: Kleiman already knew the name of that Broad-wing male, and the Armed Species felt an extraordinary curiosity toward what he had just said.
"When he found me, I was severely injured and couldn't escape. My wings and tail were broken."
Speaking of this topic no longer made Gera feel uncomfortable. However, the Grey-wing female appeared to be sitting on pins and needles, both wanting to listen and feeling at a loss.
"Sa protected me, gave me plenty of food, required me to train, and even found me a teacher."
"I can actually use thermal weapons quite proficiently, and I can operate various specifications of aircraft and starships—he personally tutored me for a long time."
"No female does such things," Kleiman spoke up, frowning, his dark-grey eyes reflecting doubt and disapproval.
"Sa’s methods in this regard have always been incomprehensible to me."
"Even if you learn to use weapons and pilot ships, it is still difficult to protect yourself when facing a Core Species female."
"Males are too easily injured."
Gera did not get angry at this.
The other’s doubt was genuine doubt, possessing a naive and blunt cruelty, yet devoid of any malicious mockery.
The world in the eyes of the strong and the world in the eyes of the weak are not of the same form.
"I didn't quite understand it at that time either."
The male looked gently at the high-ranking direct descendant standing at a crossroads, who had stumbled into the mud but couldn't find his direction.
"The best life I envisioned back then was simply being his partner."
"He could protect me, take care of me, keep harm and pain away from me, and let me live forever in peace within a happy glass dome."
"But he told me that I didn't need to grow according to his preferences."
"He wanted me to see the world, figure out what I wanted, and then make choices based on my own will."
"Kleiman."
Gera rarely called the other by his name formally; strictly speaking, he wasn't that well-acquainted with the female before him.
But at this moment, he softly called the name of this young, reckless, cold, and contradictory female who was trying to change himself.
"I wanted to learn those things."
He saw the Grey-wing’s fingers curl slightly, as if he didn't know how to respond.
"Rather than simply being kept, being sheltered under protective wings, I wanted to learn how to dismantle weapons and pilot aircraft. I also wanted to learn how to use the Information Nest and how to classify and process information and data."
Gera said.
"Rather than being someone's partner, someone's property, or a hatcher of eggs that requires Sa’s constant distraction to protect, I hope that I can catch up to his footsteps, stand by his side, and face all pain and danger together with him."
"An unequal disparity creates a relationship of dependence and being depended upon."
He looked at the leader of the Armed Species, just as the silent and powerful female was silently gazing at him.
"But that isn't love."
"And I don't want that kind of glass dome."
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 恺 | Kai | A female Zerg subordinate to Sarkdi, described as a "sycophant." |
| 天选打工虫 | Ultimate laborer | Literally "Heaven-chosen worker bug"; refers to someone extremely hardworking or efficient. |
| 佞臣 | Sycophant | A fawning, treacherous official; used here to describe Kai's personality. |
| 异兽钳子 | Exotic beast pincers | A type of food/resource harvested from alien creatures. |
| 玻璃罩子 | Glass dome | A metaphor for a sheltered, restricted environment (like a bell jar). |
| 卵的孵化者 | Hatcher of eggs | A derogatory or reductive term for a male Zerg's role as merely reproductive. |
