While the black Core Seed stared intently at his own tail, the male had already fully awakened.
Gela seemed startled, instinctively wanting to retract those wandering little tentacles. But before he could, he stole a glance at Sakti and was caught red-handed.
The male froze.
As if finding it amusing, Sakti curled a few of the thin filaments around his fingers, rubbing and observing them. He had never seen a male’s semi-alienated form from such a close distance before. Those soft, sucker-like tendrils wound around his fingers—where the scales had not yet fully receded—making little sucking motions.
Gela let out a muffled groan. He quickly withdrew these rebellious parts of his body, his speed leaving Sakti feeling a touch of regret.
"You... don't hate it?" Gela asked softly. He remembered that Sakti used to hold an equal dislike for the alienated states of all Zerg. Yet, the black Core Seed was currently very calm, even displaying a hint of curiosity, which left Gela bewildered.
While soothing Sakti’s mind earlier, Gela had caught blurry fragments of something—an answer that might take the other away from him. He didn't like that.
Sakti also took a second to reflect on his own behavior. His already questionable aesthetic sense now seemed utterly beyond saving. The sight of a hand full of wriggling red tentacles should have caused his Sanity points to plummet, but when those little filaments ignored their master’s embarrassment to affectionately nuzzle and suck at him, he actually thought... they were quite cute.
He cleared his throat and reached out to pat the male’s head.
"Thank you," Sakti said.
Gela’s scaled tail began to wag rapidly. Like a puppy’s tail, it made rhythmic *thwack-thwack* sounds against the surface.
The Core Seed took a moment to let his scales sink back beneath his skin. Now, he at least looked like a human who had been stuffed into a sack and beaten.
"How are the others? The other Zerg?" Sakti asked the question that had been on his mind. "Xiao and... Kata?"
"Xiao hasn't woken up yet, but his wounds have healed a lot. He’s no longer in mortal danger. Selin is watching over him."
Gela’s voice was tiny, and he didn't answer the second half of the question.
Sakti understood. He closed his eyes for a moment, quickly adjusting his emotions, and then spoke in a level tone.
"I’ll go see them."
However, in the next second, the small white male threw his arms around Sakti’s waist, clinging to him like a piece of flypaper. A soft, thin, scaled tail wound itself around the scarred black tail-whip.
Long ago, Gela had discovered a sense of contradiction in this Core Seed. When facing an enemy, the indifference Sakti showed toward life was enough to terrify any Zerg. Like a true high-tier species, he treated death as a mere number, suppressing opponents with the fastest and most brutal means possible.
Yet, once someone was brought under his protection—or appeared before him in a disarmed state—the Core Seed was softer-hearted than his attitude suggested.
When Gela was sad, he wanted to cling to the black Zerg. He felt that Sakti needed a hug right now, too.
Sakti paused, then smiled, intending to pick Gela up. His scales hadn't fully recovered, but most of his shattered bones had knit back together, and the most severe piercing wounds had been repaired. He had enough strength now to deal with the mountain of trouble waiting for him; he couldn't afford to keep lying there.
Fearing he might press against Sakti's wounds, Gela quickly slipped out from between his arms.
"Are you really okay?" the male asked, a faint look of worry in his eyes.
"I'm fine," Sakti said. But as he stood straight, his entire body felt like it was rattling, like an old vehicle on the verge of falling apart, dropping parts with every shake.
But a man can never say he can't handle it. The black Core Seed forced himself to remain silent. The whole world could be soft, but his mouth would remain hard. It was an absurd level of competitiveness and a need to maintain his image.
Gela seemed to fall silent for a moment, then pressed himself against Sakti’s side like a sturdy walking stick. He lifted Sakti’s arm and draped it over his own shoulder.
"Let's go." Gela fluttered his wings. "Selin and Xiao are where the healing pods are. I'll go with you."
The unconscious male lay sleeping in a healing pod. He looked thin and small.
Selin was sitting on the floor nearby. The entire Zerg looked haggard, like a candidate for sudden death from overwork who hadn't slept in ten days. However, the moment Sakti and Gela appeared at the hatch, he scrambled to his feet.
The dark brown worker scurried to their side, looking like he didn't know what to say, eventually standing there with stiff, uncoordinated limbs.
"How is he?" Sakti tilted his head toward the male who had yet to wake, looking at his subordinate inquiringly.
"Xiao... isn't doing great." Selin gripped his hands nervously, his scaled tail instinctively pressing against his body. He was actually panicking; the tasks the Core Seed had previously assigned him had all ended in disaster. He had been told to bring Gela back to the ship and launch immediately, but the reality was he hadn't even been able to keep track of a single male.
He observed the other's reaction as he answered. "It might take some time before he wakes up. We... we brought Kata back. He's in the room next door."
The habits formed during this period allowed Selin’s body to report automatically before his brain could even process the situation. Finding that the black Core Seed showed no signs of anger, his speech became more fluid.
"Over the past day and a half, we've received many inquiries. There are your trading partners, and other administrators from Angon—Angon is a mess right now. They want to know when you'll be heading over. After Ka... Katra died, they didn't know how to handle the aftermath and need to seek your permission."
Sakti nodded without much expression. All those intense emotions had vanished from him, and he seemed to have returned to his usual state of not caring about anything.
"I understand. I'll handle it." He reached out and patted Selin’s shoulder. "Thank you for helping protect Gela, and thank you to your companions for bringing Kata back."
"It... it was only right!" The mid-tier worker was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, his buzzing becoming intermittent as he inexplicably snapped into a formal standing salute.
"Al-also, the High-Gene races sent inquiring females. We didn't respond to their boarding requests, saying you would contact them later."
When setting up the "customer service" work, the black Core Seed had given them clear areas of responsibility. Selin and the short-winged Zerg could handle matters within their duties, but if something exceeded their authority, they were to pacify the clients first and then report.
During the day Sakti was unconscious, all the short-winged Zerg had been dizzy from the massive influx of information. Every Zerg in Ja wanted to squeeze their way to the new victor of Angon to see what was happening.
There were those who were excited, those who were joyful, those testing the waters, those wanting to cooperate, and even those who inexplicably wanted to go on a pilgrimage. It was a motley crew of demands. Every Zerg tried their best to dig up contact information for anyone close to Sakti, and message bubbles had nearly blown up the short-winged Zergs' information connectors.
As soon as they returned to the ship and the black Core Seed collapsed, Gela had decisively ordered the entire ship sealed, refusing to see anyone until the leader woke up. The white male was used to being cautious; he rejected all prying eyes and blocked out all possibilities, good or bad. He would not allow even the slightest risk of harm to reach his partner—his prospective partner.
The Zerg were naturally fond of conflict; it was inevitable that some ill-intentioned fellows would try to take advantage of the new victor’s period of weakness to stage a robbery.
Thus, the customer service team's situation had gone from bad to worse. The residents of Ja and the Armed Species, unable to see the victor himself, could only turn back to contact Selin’s tribe.
Seeing Sakti wake up, Selin’s mood swung wildly. Like his pants were on fire, he immediately poured out all the most critical information in one go.
*Here it comes,* Sakti thought. He had expected them to appear, but not this quickly. They hadn't even waited a full day.
"What did they say?" he asked, leading Gela slowly toward the seating area.
"They seemed to want to ask... if you are willing to join the Armed Species," the dark brown worker spoke again, looking hesitant. "After all, the Armed Species are closer to the Core-Gene races. They are members of the collective and receive protection from the Sub-Royal Zerg factions."
Such a familiar pitch. Such perfunctory benefits. It was the equivalent of paying for the privilege of working and then having to thank the boss for it. This was the first time a Zerg had tried to "paint a cake" for him.
Sakti could only call them pros.
And so, with a straight face, he gave his evaluation: "They certainly have high hopes."
