The female zerg closed his eyes, lying motionlessly flat on the cold floor of the Duke’s estate.
He looked extremely exhausted, not only in his body, but also with the mental exhaustion radiating from the inside out that made this powerful female zerg completely weak and unable to move.
It could be seen that the people from the Interrogation Department still valued him quite a bit.
To prevent fierce military zergs from suddenly rising up to injure others, if a male zerg fancied a female zerg who was not quite willing, all he had to do was send word to the Military Administration Office. Within three days, such an unappreciative female zerg would be injected with a mental turbulence stabilizer and directly packed up and sent to the male zerg’s bed. By the time the female zerg woke up, he might even have zerg eggs.
Ordinary female zergs would only be injected with a single dose, but the one before him had been injected with an unknown quantity of both mental turbulence stabilizers and dizziness serums. Lyon from the Interrogation Department had not only come to deliver him in person, but had also rambled on with a whole bunch of instructions, terrified that he would lower his guard and be suddenly attacked and injured by this female zerg.
Indeed, if a precious male zerg of the Empire were injured by a criminal zerg from the Interrogation Department, the official posts that this bunch of fellows had worked so hard to secure would probably be stripped away entirely. The fellows from the Male Zerg Protection Association would also undoubtedly wish to flay their zerg skin and throw them into the most terrifying contamination zones to fend for themselves and rot.
That was a contamination zone! An ordinary, weak female zerg, even a military zerg who had undergone professional training, could not survive in a contamination zone for more than a month.
The fellow before him had returned with energy stones from fighting mutant beasts in the contamination zone. He might very well be a ruthless character with 3S-level mental power!
But this could not frighten Noel. The people in the Interrogation Department were not paid for nothing. No matter how powerful this zerg was, he had been knocked out and carried in, posing no threat to him at all.
Noel kicked the silent, bulky big guy under his feet, his nostrils twitching with a bit of disgust.
Ever since becoming a zerg, his sense of smell had become very keen. To him right now, the smell of blood on this fellow was truly far too heavy.
Well, part of it seemed to be his own doing.
Thinking of how he had hog-tied and hung him up on the crystal chandelier, Noel felt a tiny fraction of guilt.
Well, it was just an expedient measure.
Who asked that old fellow Lyon to be so suspicious?
Directing the vines to throw this female zerg into a corner of the grand hall, Noel comfortably lay down on the lounge chair and began to review the case file he had brought back.
[Lieutenant General Alpha, graduated from the First Military Academy of Delgado, origin: garbage star.]
Well, he came out of a garbage star second only to a contamination star.
Noel circled this information with emphasis.
Being able to crawl from a garbage star to the imperial capital of Atlant to report for duty, this fellow must be an expert at clearing contamination stars, and he had probably visited major star systems as well.
Noel ignited a bit of interest.
Ever since the day he hatched from his shell, he had never left this damned imperial capital.
He had originally been doing very well on Earth, but after a sudden misstep and awakening from the darkness, he had become a newly hatched little male zerg over here.
He had originally thought of experiencing things thoroughly on such a technologically advanced planet and then using existing technology to take a distant look at his home planet, but reality was completely different from his fantasy.
Due to environmental deterioration brought about by technological development, over long light-years, the Zerg race had undergone several major migrations.
The entire star system where they lived was divided into contamination planets, lightly polluted third-class and second-class stars, and first-class stars with better environments densely populated by mostly strong and powerful noble races.
Among them, the planet Atlant, which had the most leading technology and the most beautiful environmental resources, was established as the imperial capital of the Zerg race. Here, it possessed the strongest mecha battle team in the entire star system, the highest quality mental power training academies, and the highest quality male zergs in the entire star system.
Recently, the major star systems were not peaceful because precious energy stones had appeared on contamination stars, and the strength of the various tribes had changed as a result, breaking the current technological monopoly of the imperial capital star.
But the powerful nobles and royals residing in the imperial capital star quickly came up with a new method, which was to centrally cultivate the high-level male zerg larvae that hatched across the star systems. If one wanted offspring with pure bloodlines and strong strength, they had no choice but to come to the imperial capital star to court.
The reason Noel adapted well here was also because, except for some insect patterns displaying racial characteristics, the appearance of male zergs was basically no different from humans.
The racial continuation of male zergs followed paternal characteristics, and they could also have cross-racial spouses. Female zergs continued maternal bloodlines, but their mental power ranks were often closely related to their paternal fathers.
In the imperial capital star, male zergs were precious property of the Empire. Even with noble status, unmarried male zergs were strictly protected by the Male Zerg Protection Association, prohibiting all interstellar leaps to prevent any accidents from occurring.
This policy was not opposed by male zergs at all. Aside from male zergs enjoying absolute privileges, for most male zergs, being able to live a comfortable and leisurely life in the imperial capital during their youth, and then going out to play and hunt for beauty luxuriously after adulthood, was simply incomparable happiness.
Most male zergs would reserve a bunch of sub-female concubines as early as during their studies at the academy, and upon reaching adulthood, choose the one with the strongest power to be their primary female husband. In this way, they would have both wealth and bodyguards, naturally roaming freely across major star systems.
Yet Noel was deeply troubled by this damned policy.
His body came from the Rose Crystal Owl Butterfly clan, known as the Tears of Angels. Male zergs born from the butterfly clan were even much more beautiful compared to ordinary male zergs.
His suitors were like crucian carp crossing a river, too numerous to count.
However, due to tight land resources, the female zergs allowed to stay and reside in the imperial capital star were all powerful nobles of various races, with the native locust clan led by the King Zerg making up the majority.
Most of these female zergs were very weak in ability, yet they clung onto the entire clan to suck blood, seizing an endless stream of energy stones to disguise their own strength.
They grew powerful, yet they never wanted to rely on their own strength to clear contamination sources, make the world cleaner, or restore zergs whose mental power had been contaminated back to normal.
They would rather stay in the imperial capital star and go through every conceivable means to gain the favor of male zergs. If not him, it would be someone else.
This was definitely not what he wanted.
Noel gazed at the case file.
Printed on it was this female zerg’s glossy and brilliant resume.
He truly was a powerhouse with 3S-level mental power, majoring in mecha and once achieving the top score in the mecha combat department.
During his time at the military academy, because of his outstanding mental power, he won top honors in various competitions held by the academy, so upon graduation, he was directly conferred the rank of major.
After reaching adulthood, as an outstanding graduate, he cleared contamination stars No. 368, 274, and 187, seized four top-grade energy stones, and registered 13 newly added mutant beast directories.
Because of his outstanding military achievements, while being selected and sent to clear contamination zone No. 76, he was exceptionally promoted to lieutenant general.
Then how was this fellow sent to the Interrogation Department?
Noel looked over the silent, flat-lying female zerg, feeling that something was a bit off.
The contamination zones ranked in the top 100 were all famously tough nuts to crack. Although the mutant beasts inside were very abundant, the difficulty of obtaining them was also extremely large. Sending a mere little lieutenant general to clear them out? They really thought highly of him.
Noel flipped through the case file and was surprisingly astonished to find that contamination zone No. 76 had actually been completely cleaned up.
But the reason the Military Command Department was furious was that this female zerg had killed so many high-level mutant beasts yet had failed to send out even a single top-grade energy stone!
Energy stones were extremely important to the Empire. Not only did they rely on them to power starships and battleships, but most importantly, the higher the purity of the energy stone, the more it could stimulate the mental power ranks of underage female zergs, and it could also utilize powerful energy to promote the solidification process of larvae’s mental power.
The living environment of the Empire was becoming increasingly harsh. Only by plundering energy stones could they maintain a luxurious life while preserving the powerful strength of the female zergs in the imperial capital, thereby forming absolute control over various subordinate planets.
Top-grade energy stones were often held in the hands of the King Zerg and nobles. Every time a contamination star was cleared, all energy stones were collected before detonating the planet to eliminate future trouble.
This time, Lieutenant General Alpha was clearly just one final step away from returning to the imperial capital of Atlant to hand over the energy stones seized on this trip, but he gave up the detonation at the very last moment, and the energy stones he acquired were nowhere to be found.
This contamination star was neither his birth planet nor did any clansmen related to his interests live upon it. With billowing yellow sand, it had no ornamental value whatsoever. With just a gentle press of a button, this planet carrying contamination sources could easily vanish from the interstellar space. What reason did he have not to do so?
Before Noel could find an answer, he acutely discovered that the female zerg lying on the floor was having a reaction.
That female zerg woke up.
He could not suppress the itch in his throat, coughed twice, and his body trembled slightly.
The effect of the mental turbulence stabilizer disrupted the balance of his body. Even with a physique as formidable as his, he was now nothing more than a little bug that could be crushed to death with a single hand by someone.
“Awake?”
Noel walked over, his toe gently lifting the chin of this blood-drained female zerg.
His golden pupils trembled slightly. Although his whole body was sore and powerless, the self-protection mechanism innate to high-level female zergs did not listen to the master’s will at all, awakening spontaneously.
Small swirls of mental power slowly formed on his body, as magnificent and fantastical as the Milky Way.
If he were still in his prime state at this moment, with the mental power swirls formed, he could annihilate everything in an instant.
“The degree of mental power turbulence is a bit high.” Noel raised an eyebrow.
He certainly did not want his home to be swept and destroyed by this fellow’s mental riot.
With a thought, a streak of emerald-green light flashed, and a gorgeous vine whip instantly appeared in his hand.
As an S-class male zerg with excellent mental power talent, he absorbed the residual phantom of exotic plants in the energy stone, condensing and solidifying it through his own refinement. This vine whip had been accompanying him for several years, and using it was as free and easy as using his left and right arms.
Sniffing the breath of danger, as a counterattack, a fierce snow wolf phantom instantly solidified, opening its bloody maw toward the male zerg in front and lunging straight at him.
The female zerg struggled to stop it, but even moving a finger felt sore and weak.
Yet Noel remained as still as a mountain. With a casual whip down, the snow wolf, which possessed an unsparingly majestic and arrogant aura, only materialized into a phantom and dissipated into nothingness in the air within a split second.
Alpha let out a muffled groan. His paper-thin mental power could not withstand this casual strike and he lost consciousness once again. If the Interrogation Department’s drugs were so easily broken, people would not turn pale at the mere mention of them.
Noel squatted down, examining this dangerous fellow.
Silver-gray swirls rotated at high speed in front of him, displaying the master’s final line of defense.
Noel sat cross-legged, casually picking up a vine formed by mental power transformation, poking here and poking there within the swirls. The tiny silver-gray swirls protecting the sides of the female zerg were like fragile bubbles, being fiercely poked and shattered.
“Quite fun actually.” Noel bit his lip.
It had been quite a while since he last played bubble-poking games.
By the time Noel cleared away all these swirls, he finally saw the true face of this female zerg clearly.
Thin lips tightly pressed, a cold and aloof expression, a slightly furrowed brow as stern and piercing as a cold blade reflecting a chilly moon amidst wind and snow.
Unexpectedly good-looking.
Noel ground his fingertips, completely driving out of his mind the initial thought of throwing him into the outdoor bushes and pouring another tube of medicine to let him fend for himself and rot.
Noel cradled his head, struggling to pick this fellow up in his arms.
The weight was not light either.
He had always been a pampered little young master; when had he ever done such things? He immediately stumbled and almost fell.
He sloppily carried the female zerg in his arms back to the room, threw him into his large golden bathtub, and considered it done hastily.
This fellow had long arms and long legs. Against the backdrop of his slender body, the bathtub appeared pitiful and extremely crowded.
But right now, there was no time to care about all that.
Turning on the showerhead, the water stream beat haphazardly against the female zerg’s body, washing the few tattered rags meant only to cover his body into pieces.
Noel averted his gaze, pulled out a tube of stored bright red potion from his spatial ring, and poured it into the bathtub without leaving a single drop.
The potion was diluted by the water flow, turning into a light cherry-pink. The mental power swirls slowly formed once again, greedily enjoying this hard-won treatment.
The water gradually submerged his chest and flowed over his neck.
The rags floated up, water ripples undulated, the scabs coagulated on the wounds slowly melted, and wisps of blood threads floated within the cherry-pink water current, gradually disappearing into nothingness.
Noel leaned halfway against the wall, looking from top to bottom, wondering whether he was studying the efficacy of the medicine or looking at the smooth muscle lines beneath the water current.
The water current rippled slowly, and the color gradually became lighter and fainter, eventually approaching colorless.
It seemed he had seen something he should not have seen.
Noel raised an eyebrow with interest, adjusted his posture, and just as he was about to avert his eyes, he locked gazes with a pair of calm golden pupils.
Oh, no.
Noel felt a bit annoyed inside, but his expression remained calm and unruffled.
In order to maintain his dissolute persona, he even gently hooked the corners of his lips and whistled at him: “Not a bad figure.”