Five days passed, and the white pupa remained motionless.
Sarkdi maintained a stoic expression, going through the motions of his daily work, shuttling between Angon, the energy production lines, and the starport.
Kliman sent another transmission. He had already reached the core star region and brought news that Clark had been injured during an evacuation and a small-scale skirmish. He took the opportunity to ask if Sarkdi had set out yet, only to receive the usual "next time for sure" in response.
In truth, the Core Species was not as calm as he appeared. Whether it was Gera’s eclosion progress being slower than expected or the fact that the Grey-wing tribes had already begun their offensive, everything was ruthlessly compressing the little time he had left.
But this urgency could not be allowed to show, not even for a moment.
Once a tribal leader displayed any instability, all their followers would become restless because of it.
Instead, it was Arthur who turned around to counsel him.
Upon learning the news from Kliman, the young man fell silent for a moment before setting down the prosthetic tail in his hands. "Do not worry. You needn't be anxious because of this."
His voice was peaceful, like a trickling stream smoothing over jagged, restless edges.
"You should feel free to accompany your partner—I imagine that at a time like this, he needs you."
"As for Clark, he is strong. He once personally decapitated two Sub-King insects; he will never yield what he wishes to protect, nor will he retreat even a single step."
"Until the true death-match arrives, he will be fine."
The logic was sound.
However, Sarkdi also noticed that the young man’s hand remained on the tail for a long time without moving.
They both hid the things that worried them, piling heavy stones on top to keep them pressed down, preventing anyone else from detecting the slightest sign of distress.
Fortunately, Selim and the other Short-wing tribes had been trained well enough during this period to manage the Energy Planet on their own. Meanwhile, Xiao had taken the male Zerg and the elderly females to support the temporary operation of the Information Nest.
During this time, the Core Species personally thrashed two Zerg in Angon.
Most of the females who had joined the garrison training were well-behaved.
However, there were a few newer members who had not witnessed the scene where Sarkdi had snapped Katra’s head off with his bare hands. They harbored a certain itching defiance toward this controller of the Energy Planet and looked with disdain upon the male Zerg walking freely in the streets.
It was an afternoon when Xiao went to Angon to find Selim, without the two little cubs, En and Enna, by his side.
As his proficiency in his work deepened, this once incredibly timid male Zerg began to display a more stable aura, no longer fearing everything around him.
But this time, he was blocked by two female Zerg.
"I heard you're that unlucky brat Katra snatched away."
One of the mid-tier species let out a joyful hiss, its malicious antennae extending along its mouthparts to lick the male's pheromones from the air.
They had failed to enter the garrison and were thus full of resentment, taking it out on the male Zerg they had cornered in the street.
"Sark challenged him for your sake. Have you mated with him yet?"
"How is that Short-wing administrator you're so close with feeling? Will he be joining in too?"
Fear and disgust struck the light brown male Zerg almost instantly, nearly dragging him back into that terrifying vortex of emotion.
But he did not move a step. Instead, he quietly sent out a message through his information linker.
Selim had nearly been torn apart to protect him; Kata had lost his life to save him; Sark had nearly died at Katra’s hands to liberate him; and Gera... that white male Zerg had pieced his shattered consciousness back together, comforted him, accompanied him, and held his hand to lead him out of pain so he could stand again.
Yet in the eyes of these bottom-feeders, all of it became a lewd, savory, and malicious joke.
They could not understand the pain of the victim. They took rumors, embellished them with their own commentary, and then discussed them with relish.
If he backed down now and showed fear, then every male Zerg who was forced into a similar situation in the future would have to endure this countless times.
Most Zerg were born without much empathy; they took pleasure in preying on the weak and pride in plunder.
Their submission was shown only to the strong.
"Leg-limb species, arrived at the Energy Planet four small cycles ago, entered adulthood one and a half large cycles ago. Original tribe disbanded after defeat, losing to the Mandible species."
The light brown male’s scaled tail was trembling, but he wrapped it around his leg, remaining outwardly calm.
Selim and Gera had taught him a lot, such as how to mask cowardice, and his work at the Information Nest allowed him to easily obtain the data of the fellows in front of him.
"I didn't know Ja had become some sort of trash collection center. Otherwise, I really couldn't explain why they put you into the reserves."
The two mid-tier females were instantly enraged.
They immediately surrounded the thin male Zerg, relying on their height and bulk to let out hissing, intimidating cries.
"You can try beating a male Zerg in the street," Xiao said, tilting his head up. "The last guy who did that was personally dragged to the Great Sacrificial Arena by Sark."
It had to be said that this threat was relatively effective.
These defiant troublemakers had been restless, but after Sark actually returned, they had suppressed their dissatisfaction on the surface. That black Core Species was indeed powerful; even the armored species at the satellite base were polite to him, and the owner of the Energy Planet provided him protection.
Thus, the dissatisfaction was hidden beneath the surface, only to be unleashed upon those weaker than themselves.
The two females were unwilling to let it go so easily and wanted to say more, but in the next second, their expressions turned to pure terror.
Before Xiao could even wonder why, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. This sudden touch startled him so much that his tightly clamped tail finally slipped, dropping from between his legs.
"Quite impressive."
A voice carrying a lazy smile came from behind him. When Xiao turned his head, he saw Sarkdi reaching out to pat his shoulder.
"Did you learn that from Gera?"
When he received the message, Selim had been in Angon discussing future arrangements with the tribal leader. Once Gera successfully completed his eclosion, Sarkdi would have to set sail urgently to leave the Energy Planet again.
This time, the duration might be longer. The black Core Species indicated that he would likely take Gera with him. If the two top administrators left, the management of the entire planet would instantly fall onto the shoulders of the Grey-wing tribe. There were too many details to discuss.
As a result, he received Xiao’s distress signal, and the incident was taking place right near Angon.
The Core Species, never one to pass up a bit of drama, tucked his hands into his sleeves and strolled over with him.
Thus, they happened to witness the scene of the little male Zerg taking on two opponents at once.
"Impressive," Selim heard the Core Species remark. The other stood in the shadows, an eyebrow arched. "The Zerg Gera raised is quite something. His aura is completely different from when I first met you all."
"Xiao... Xiao is very good. He's very good," the dark brown female said, his face beginning to turn red for some reason. "I... I like it when he's more assertive."
"He’s growing very fast and is a quite reliable work partner."
*Brother, you look like you're about to be cooked.*
Sarkdi had always thought Selim and Xiao were the type to naturally support each other through thick and thin, but for some reason, they had suddenly veered into a pure-hearted romance script.
The details of how different Zerg interacted were truly interesting. It was a pity he used to think Zerg were just about fighting, competing, killing, eating, and laying eggs.
Once the two tall mid-tier females surrounded Xiao, Sarkdi and Selim stepped out from the shadows to stand behind the male Zerg.
However, the Core Species hadn't expected that his encouraging pat on the shoulder would startle the high-strung little male, making him jump like a startled cat.
Selim silently suppressed his laughter. He took Xiao’s hand, shielding his still-unsettled companion by his side and entwining their tails.
Only then did Xiao completely relax his body.
He stood with his companion, refraining from letting out a buzzing sound of complaint, but his tail was tightly coiled around Selim.
Meanwhile, the two unlucky instigators still didn't realize the consequences of their big mouths.
Sarkdi had one attitude when dealing with subordinates he was close to, another when dealing with partners, and a completely separate one when dealing with Gera; he kept these states very distinct.
But above all that, he had another identity—the actual controller of the Energy Planet, the victor of the Angon Great Sacrificial Arena.
Faced with any act that ignored regulations, tested boundaries, or sought to challenge the authority of the Energy Planet’s controller, he would show no mercy.
Treating it lightly would mean that every Zerg would dare to trample the rules and standards of Ja underfoot while he was away. The system he had established after toppling Katra would be meaningless.
Zerg were not exactly like humans; most of them still lived with a mindset of obeying only the strong. They needed to know the consequences of crossing the line first, and then instinct would make them understand the principle that boundaries, once drawn, could not be crossed.
The Core Species had not entered his xenomorphic form for a long time.
As a subordinate, most Zerg felt the black female was reliable, powerful, and even far more stable and dependable than typical members of the Core-kin. He never went on a killing spree for his own desires, allowing all Zerg to live peacefully.
Their filters were several layers thick.
So much so that when those calm golden-brown eyes turned pure gold and the pupils elongated vertically, Selim—whose terrifying memories were suddenly awakened—grabbed Xiao and bolted six or seven steps back.
After just a few small cycles, everyone had forgotten that the black female before them was actually a ruthless character who had twisted off heads with his bare hands and stained the entire Angon Great Sacrificial Arena with blood.
Before Katra, Sark had taken down seven Core Species in one go, then jumped ranks to kill Katra and take his head.
Through seven highest-level challenges and one death-match, the Core Species who ultimately sat firmly on the throne had never known defeat.
"Aren't... aren't you going to help?"
Xiao, who hadn't personally experienced that duel, was a bit confused as he was dragged away by his partner.
"I will help," the dark brown female said succinctly. "After the fight, I'll be responsible for collecting the corpses of those two unlucky bastards."
Sarkdi, of course, couldn't actually beat the loud-mouthed Zerg to death.
What he wanted was for all Zerg to honestly follow the system, not to be a tyrant. Excessive sentencing was not within his considerations.
But a large crowd of Zerg still gathered in Angon to watch the excitement.
There were not only the original inhabitants of Ja but also members of the garrison who had abandoned their training, reserve members, and Mandible species who were still holding tools from expanding the underground space.
Fine, everyone was a drama-seeker. Seeing the two audacious provocateurs being personally dragged into the arena by Sarkdi, they immediately swarmed the walls like a hive to watch the show.
It had to be said that now that the Core Species no longer frequented the training grounds, footage of him fighting was a rare commodity.
In a sense, the outcome of "successfully becoming an idol" was quite ridiculous to Sarkdi.
He grabbed them by their necks and thrashed the two mid-tier species until they were overturned and could no longer get up. The entire process took less than five minutes.
The consequence of dealing with the armored species for too long was that he truly had no desire to fight Zerg below the Core Species level.
As time progressed, he was about to stabilize at the peak of his prime maturity; fighting fragile Zerg was truly beneath him.
"Hang them up in Angon. Let every passing Zerg have a look for two days before taking them down for treatment."
Without even a single scale covering his body, Sarkdi looked on expressionlessly as he ordered Selim and other employees to shovel away the two females who couldn't get up.
"When I'm not here and you encounter this situation, use your own judgment—either handle it yourself or have the garrison do it."
The garrison was composed of the original defeated tribes sent to the training grounds. Back then, Sarkdi would personally go down and pull the entire team together.
Every female in the garrison had been personally thrashed by him. They practiced every day until they were howling with fake tears. They could handle both hand-to-hand combat and thermal weapons, and they possessed a level of obedience to the Core Species that meant they would strike wherever he pointed.
"But I will not allow any 'muddling through,' do you understand?"
The golden-brown eyes looked at the Short-wing who had been the first to follow him, the one who had once sworn to offer up "every scale and every piece of flesh."
"If every Zerg can challenge Ja’s new regulations, then the regulations themselves will be meaningless."
"Today they blocked a male Zerg in the street to bully him at will and received no punishment. Tomorrow they will drag another male into a nest to inflict harm. Then they will think that larvae and elderly females can also be beaten—even weaker, lower-ranked females will all be on their hunting list."
"I didn't take control of this Energy Planet to see a scene like that."
Stared down, Selim tensed his body and lowered his head.
The Short-wing heard the tribal leader’s voice, calm and steady.
"I want you all to grow up faster. Grow to the point where even if I leave Ja, you can cut off all my worries."
"Based on my original regulations, draft a more detailed set of ordinances and norms. You can consult with your companions, and you can consult with Zerg of different ranks and species. I want to see the system you refine yourselves."
"What I once said to Gera, I now repeat to you—I expect more from you."
***
