06
Like every man passionate about military affairs, since stepping onto the Zerg starship, He Qin hasn’t stopped his curious scrutiny.
The starship is much larger inside than he imagined; turns out, there’s a big difference between here and the alien spaceships in sci-fi movies.
Once he’s familiar with the layout of the starship, he definitely wants to find an opportunity to explore alone.
Instead of now, being surrounded by a group of tall female Zerg soldiers for protection.
Under the protection of the female Zerg, He Qin arrives at a conference room where several females treat him like a human child, first arranging a soft chair for He Qin and then handing him several exquisite pastries.
They begin discussing the issue of where the male Zerg will live on the starship.
“Sigh…”
In the quiet work atmosphere, a sigh suddenly breaks the silence, and all eyes in the room turn to He Qin.
He Qin truly admires himself; he actually sees the words ‘careful concern’ in the eyes of these indifferent-faced female Zerg.
“Feeling bored? We’ll be here for a while,” Rhys sits in the middle and interrupts the meeting several times to see the male Zerg boredly lying on the table.
Considering he was originally a human soldier, he should be more interested in the Zerg starship. He proposes, “Take this, go out and play for a while. It’s safe here,” and hands the male Zerg a transparent waist badge.
This is his token as the highest commanding officer to Earth this time.
With this badge, He Qin can freely come and go throughout the entire starship.
These days, except during sleep time, He Qin is always surrounded by female Zerg guards, always feeling like he’s being watched.
Finally, there’s a chance to go out alone. He Qin takes the badge from Rhys and hastily escapes the eerie atmosphere of the conference room.
He Qin can’t figure it out. Those female Zerg are all dignified and don’t seem too old, at most five or six years older than himself. How could their manners be so stiff and outdated?
In fact, every Zerg officer present just now is over twenty years older than He Qin. The youngest is Major General Rhys, who is only fifteen years older than He Qin.
The lifespan of Zergs generally reaches around three hundred years, with adulthood starting at twenty-five, although exact adulthood depends on the onset of the transformation period.
Their prime years last much longer than humans, and their elderly years are only a few brief years before their life fades away.
Moreover, Zerg prioritize strength, and as long as a warrior’s strength is sufficient to bring ample benefits to the Empire, anyone can have the opportunity for promotion.
This is also why Rhys became an Imperial Major General at such a young age.
Returning to the Empire this time, protecting the male Zerg Leon on the battlefield likely presents a significant opportunity for promotion.
However, all of this depends on He Qin’s willingness to overlook past grievances.
Once a male Zerg reports harm done by Empire female Zerg, to appease the male Zerg’s emotions, the Empire will not hesitate to abandon Leon.
After all, the Empire has no shortage of female Zerg warriors to replace an ordinary Second Lieutenant, but a male Zerg is a treasure to the entire Zerg Empire.
At this moment, He Qin, who has the authority to control others’ lives, is laughing carelessly and has run all the way to the female Zerg dining hall.
Originally, He Qin was walking honestly on the starship. Without the permission of the Major General, he didn’t dare to run around. If he discovered any secrets he shouldn’t see, it wouldn’t be good.
As he walked, he caught a familiar aroma—the scent of Earth onion pancakes. Surprisingly, they have this on the Zerg starship?
After the transformation period, his sense of smell became unusually sensitive. Perhaps this is also a unique ability of the Zerg.
Following the scent, He Qin arrived at the dining hall on the starship.
It was lunchtime, and many female Zerg soldiers had gathered to eat in the dining hall.
With six or seven years of military camp experience, He Qin had long been accustomed to communal living. He didn’t consider that now he was a male Zerg, and going to a place crowded with female Zerg would always cause a stir.
“Look, that’s the male Zerg we found on the battlefield.”
“So tall and big, his figure looks almost like a female Zerg’s. He really doesn’t look like a male Zerg.”
“Yeah, but I heard His Highness the male Zerg grew up in the Earth Alliance military and trained with human soldiers from a young age.”
“But his smile is so charming.”
“If only he could become my male lord.”
“Stop dreaming, how could a male Zerg like him ever fall to us ordinary soldiers?”
As He Qin walked into the dining hall, his heart was set on finding the Earth onion pancakes.
He Qin didn’t notice that the female Zerg soldiers in the entire dining hall had almost simultaneously stopped eating, staring at the male Zerg with hungry wolf-like eyes.
Although the Empire had long invented nutrient supplements capable of instantly replenishing energy, during peacetime or without special events, most Zerg still preferred consuming food orally.
Empire male Zerg were creatures who enjoyed life, and fine cuisine was indispensable to them.
In order to sit together with male Zerg and share common topics, female Zerg would also choose to abandon nutrient supplements in normal situations and experience various foods.
After arriving on Earth, the female Zerg entered a military standby phase, and it had been a long time since they were separated from food. Now, with the enemy defeated, they were also enjoying leisure time on the warship.
“Industrious creatures, being able to see a male Zerg,” the female Zerg in the dining hall silently celebrated. Fortunately, they chose to come to the dining hall for food today instead of having robots deliver nutrient supplements to their rooms.
“Wow, it really is onion pancakes.”
He Qin was always easy-going, ignoring the strange atmosphere in the dining hall and paying no attention to the fact that the Zerg would make way for him as he walked.
Following the familiar scent, he arrived at the glass counter where onion pancakes were sold.
“Boss, boss, I want one of these, and also this one.” He Qin pointed at the glass, completely forgetting that this wasn’t an Earth restaurant.
The sub-female worker was startled by the male Zerg’s behavior in front of the glass counter, causing the freshly wrapped pancake in his hand to fall to the ground. However, he didn’t even glance at the pancake on the floor.
“Ah, hello, if you need anything, the food here is all free for you.” The sub-female, petite in stature, even threw a flirtatious glance at He Qin.
“No, that won’t do. If it’s free, then I won’t eat.” At this point, He Qin still hadn’t realized his special status on this warship. His education on Earth’s manners made him insist on paying.
“Money?” The Zerg didn’t have the concept of ‘money’; the currency they used for transactions was called ‘star coins.’
“Oh, you call it…” He Qin searched in his mind for the basic information about Zerg that the sub-female doctor had informed him of a few days ago. “Right, star coins.”
However, in his haste to come out, he hadn’t borrowed any star coins from Major General Rhys beforehand.
Could it be that today he was destined to miss out on the Earth delicacies he hadn’t tasted in so long? He Qin lowered his head, and his initially happy mood instantly turned gloomy.
“Deduct from my star card.” Just as He Qin leaned on the glass counter, reluctantly bidding farewell to his beloved ‘onion pancakes,’ a slender and elegant hand reached out, handing a thin card to the sub-female worker who wore a ‘maternal smile’ on his face.
It turned out to be Major General Rhys, and the murmurs around the female Zerg instantly fell silent.
Major General Rhys never came to the dining hall; busy with work, he always opted for convenient and quickly soluble nutrient supplements as his meal.
So, why was the Major General here today? It was obvious: because of the male Zerg beside him.
The female soldiers buried their heads in their food trays, no longer daring to look around casually.
To anger the Major General meant there was a high chance of being overlooked by superiors during training, which was the cruelest punishment imaginable for military females.
“Major, would you like to eat together?” Finding a spot with fewer people, He Qin asked the female Zerg major who had followed him all the way.
He Qin picked a few more exotic-looking foods, all paid for with star coins by the major.
Upon hearing the male Zerg’s invitation, Rhys immediately replied, “Sure,” took an empty tray, and sat opposite He Qin like that.
The male Zerg in front of him had a sunny personality and sometimes displayed a childish side, emotions probably nurtured by his Earth companions.
He Qin’s rich and straightforward character traits were like night and day compared to the male Zerg father previously mentioned by Rhys.
Of course, He Qin was the ‘day’ that Rhys believed in.
Most male Zerg in the Empire were spoiled by the imperial system to the point of lawlessness. They always held a much more noble view of themselves compared to female and sub-female Zerg, a perspective actually stipulated by imperial law.
Male Zerg could freely use the property belonging to the female Zerg they married and could control the personal freedom of the female Zerg without resistance.
Moreover, once a male Zerg was harmed, regardless of the status, they would face imperial legal sanctions and sometimes even the reproach of the fellow female Zerg.
So, male Zerg like He Qin, who respected his fellow Zerg, was laid-back and wouldn’t get angry over a female Zerg’s momentary oversight, were truly rare in the Empire.
Rhys had always refused to meet the male Zerg introduced by his male father for this reason. He privately used his connections to investigate those male Zergs, finding that they either loved to abuse female Zerg or were easily frightened due to their physical and mental frailty.
If Rhys agreed to meet and the male Zerg expressed a desire to marry him during the marriage, then Rhys would definitely have to marry him.
Rhys had never been willing to accept that, even if he were to be imprisoned for life by a male Zerg, that male Zerg had to be the one he loved.
Rather than being sent out to accompany a male Zerg he didn’t like just to satisfy his male fathers’ marriage alliances and then end his life.
Now, it seemed he had found the male Zerg in his heart, the one sitting across from him, He Qin, who looked happy eating the food he wanted to eat.
“Do you, do you want some? Major?” He Qin picked up an onion pancake he hadn’t touched and offered it.
The silver-haired female Zerg opposite him had an empty plate in front of him and didn’t order anything to eat. He was still staring fixedly at his plate. Could it be that he wanted to eat the food he had ordered?
No, the female Zerg major was just deeply immersed in his own fantasy of the ‘pursuit of Zerg’ grand plan.