Winslow had unconsciously continued this routine of two star-hours of mental grooming daily for over a month.
From taking ten minutes per military insect at the start to now, where he could finish a session almost the moment they met, Winslow’s mental grooming speed had reached an extreme. The military insects did not even need to be tied to the chair anymore because the process of binding them wasted too much time.
Aside from the electric shock button used after each session, the rest of the mental grooming room had essentially become decorative.
Winslow noticed that there were exceptionally few insects coming to the grooming room today. He was almost entirely idle. Although he had groomed most of the military insects in the district over the past month and those with issues were now scarce, it should not have been this quiet.
Looking at a military insect who had just finished grooming and was shocked awake, Winslow casually asked why there were so few visitors today. Indeed, because there were so few insects, the electric wake-up task was performed by Winslow personally.
After over a month of watching hundreds of military insects get shocked daily, plus personally administering it to several just now, he had become well adjusted to this post-procedure activity.
When he heard the military insect say that most of the personnel in the district had been deployed to participate in a war, Winslow finally realized the situation. This was a military district on a border planet; war was only natural.
After sending off the insect, who was full of admiration and gratitude, Winslow felt a bit bored. Since the military insects had gone to the front lines to fight, no one else would likely come to the grooming room today, and Chris would not be there to supervise him.
Winslow straightened up. He suddenly remembered that in the district prison, there seemed to be several military insects who had lost their sanity.
The number of military insects with violent mental seas and lost sanity was quite large. Winslow was eager to try; perhaps today he could finally test the upper limits of his mental power.
He naturally tidied up the grooming room, gently closed the door, and flipped the “In Progress” sign to “Resting” before walking toward the district prison.
Even though most military insects had gone to the front, some remained to guard the district, and the prison was naturally guarded as well. Winslow felt that having guards was a good thing; otherwise, he would not be able to pass the iris recognition on his own.
Sensing someone approaching, the guarding military insects immediately became alert. However, once they saw that the newcomer was the Honorable Male who groomed them daily, their defensive posture instantly vanished.
During Winslow’s month of work, almost every military insect in the district had come to know this exquisite, capable, and compassionate Male. They regarded Winslow as a deity, and there was no unmarried military insect who did not respect or adore him.
“Good day, Lord Winslow!” The voices of the two insects were respectful and full of joy. They wondered why the Lord had come here. Could he be feeling unwell and be unable to find other military insects? Realizing this, both insects felt a bit anxious.
“Hello,” Winslow greeted them politely before stating his purpose for the day. “Most of the military insects in the district have been groomed. I want to go into the prison now to groom those whose mental seas are in poor condition. Could I trouble you to open the door and let me in?”
The two military insects froze and looked at each other, appearing hesitant.
Winslow continued, “This is something I promised Colonel Chris before. I think I should fulfill that promise now.” He silently crossed himself in his heart, apologizing to Colonel Chris for borrowing his name.
The two guards seemed shaken but still did not relent. Winslow added more pressure, “Grooming Colonel Ylair before was very easy and went without any accidents. Besides, with you here,” Winslow drawled his tone, his emerald eyes focused and serious, “you would not let anything happen to me, right?”
The two military insects’ eyes widened, and their hearts pounded as if they were broken. Heavens, young and inexperienced military insects simply could not withstand a beautiful Male expressing trust and reliance on them so softly. Furthermore, the Male had groomed a violent S-rank military insect with ease, so there should not be any problems. Almost the next second, they surrendered.
They eagerly and excitedly scanned the prison gates open, inviting the Male inside.
Seeing that his plan had succeeded, Winslow did not show it on his face, though a faint glint of cunning flashed in his eyes. He nodded slightly and stepped inside. The pendant on his beige top, which was the latest fashion for Males this season, carved an arc in the air.
Upon entering the prison, Winslow felt a sense of gloom. The surroundings were exceptionally silent, and he could not help but wonder why a detention facility would be so quiet.
He soon found out why.
Walking down the cold, metallic, high-tech corridor, they soon arrived at the first containment cell. Inside the massive cell, a giant insect was being held.
The cell was filled with disorder and chaos. Winslow could almost see violent energy wandering and colliding within the room. Chains tightly bound the giant insect, who was forced into a deep sleep and covered in wounds. Electricity flickered and jumped along the chains.
No wonder it was so quiet. It seemed all the cells were like the first one, shocking the bound insects into a coma to make guarding easier and prevent self-harm.
Winslow’s lowered eyelashes trembled. The chaotic and bloody scene gave him a great shock, even more so than when he first saw the irrational Ylair. His face remained expressionless, but his voice was low as he instructed the guards to open the door.
Seeing the giant, irrational insect inside and comparing him to the delicate and precious Male, the guards felt a pang of regret for agreeing so impulsively. Even though the irrational insect was unconscious, there was still a huge risk. If he woke up midway or if his violent mental sea accidentally injured the Lord, the consequences would be dire.
Cold sweat began to pour down the two insects, but there was no turning back now. They were Federation military insects with strict discipline; they could not go back on their word.
They sharpened their focus and opened the cell door via iris validation. Winslow nodded politely to them before walking in composedly.
Up close, the large insect in the cell was even clearer. Because he had lost his sanity and could not maintain a human form, even the antennae on his forehead were partially broken. His body was covered in countless wounds. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest showed he was still alive. If he were not groomed soon, he likely would not live much longer.
Military insects who lost their sanity due to mental sea collapse were common across all military districts. Those with minor collapses were sent to the main planet to be groomed by instruments first, then handed to specialized mental groomers, offering a slim hope of recovery. However, most suffered from severe collapses and could not be groomed. They were left in prisons to wait for their mental seas to completely fail and their bodies to die, until their lives vanished into the stars.
This was the tragedy of the Zerg race. No deity would grant mercy to save them.
Winslow estimated the condition of this insect’s mental sea and then asked the guards to reduce the current on the chains. He could not have the insect wake up only to find himself being shocked by such high voltage and faint again.
The two guards complied, reducing the current to keep the bound insect just on the verge of waking, which made it easier for the Male to perform the grooming. However, now they needed to concentrate even more to prevent the irrational insect from suddenly attacking the Male. The guards’ gazes became sharp and serious as they took a defensive stance. The insect patterns on their necks flashed with a faint light, indicating fluctuating energy.
Seeing that everything was ready, Winslow familiarly released the little white snake to begin the mental grooming.
Perhaps because the mental sea had been collapsed for too long, this insect’s mental sea was even more aggressive than that of the S-rank Ylair. However, none of this was a match for Winslow. After over a month of grooming, his mental domain had become vast, and he could release and retract his mental power at will. Even when facing a terminally ill military insect, he handled it with ease.
To groom this insect, who had been deemed unable to recover and destined for death, Winslow only took ten minutes. Furthermore, it was an extremely careful and detailed level of grooming.
When they saw the bound insect’s expression change from pain to peace and his breathing become slow and deep, the two poised guards froze in place. They looked at each other, their eyes filled with disbelief. This was too shocking; they had not held much hope for this grooming session.
Although Winslow had groomed most of the insects in the district, those were insects in better mental condition who possessed sanity. Although Winslow had groomed the irrational Ylair once before, Ylair had not been in a state of collapse for very long. This insect in the cell, however, had been irrational for several years. In a few months, he would have been declared dead, and this cell would have been cleared for the next irrational insect.
Yet, this silver-haired Male had pulled this insect back from the brink of death in just ten minutes.
One of the guards tremblingly turned on the nearby measuring instrument.
With a ding, a one hundred percent mental grooming level was clearly reflected in the eyes of everyone present.
It was another one hundred percent grooming! The two prison guards were so astonished their eyes nearly popped out.
Winslow clearly handled this scene well. Seeing the two guards still in shock, he naturally followed their previous method to turn off the electricity and, after some study, opened the chains as well.
“Very good, perfect,” Winslow clapped his hands and signaled the military insects to carry the insect, who had fallen into a deep sleep for self-repair, to the bed.
Each cell had a sturdy bed, though it was rarely used because irrational insects were usually bound to the floor. Winslow thought they might have originally been tied to the bed but had fallen during their struggles.
After Winslow finished the follow-up tasks, the two guards finally regained their senses. They awkwardly moved forward to lift the sleeping insect and place him on the bed that had been unused for so long. Although it was unused, it was still clean and free of dust.
This time was different from the usual routine. After the grooming, they did not shock the insect awake but moved him to the bed for self-repair. Due to being in a collapsed state for years, his spirit was exhausted, and even his physical wounds could not heal on their own.
However, once the mental sea is healed, a powerful female insect can slowly repair themselves. This ability of the female insect makes them very suited for survival in the wild; sometimes they do not even need a doctor. They can repair broken limbs or even half a body themselves, provided their mental sea is in good condition.
Therefore, the doctors the Zerg race lacks most are the Males who can serve as mental groomers.