Z:IGSG -- Chapter 1

 Chapter 1 - Task

【You are a B - Class male zerg born in the slums. You are poor, weak, orphaned and without connections- utterly useless except for your face.】

【The neighborhood is a melting pot of criminals, where Imperial law is as worthless as a scrap of paper. To protect yourself, you chose to hide your identity, disguise yourself as a female insect and scrape by as a bartender at the Tumbleweed Bar.】

【 One day, this minor world's protagonist, Imperial General Galileo Grant, arrives at your starport for an inspection. Not only is he a rising star in the military, an S - Class female zerg, but he also serves as the head of the Grant family- one of the most powerful zerg families in the entire star system.】

【Unfortunately, his psychic power is too overwhelming. Ordinary male zergs cannot soothe his heat cycles, instead they would get crushed into useless insects.】

【Galileo, shunned by males like a plague, has no choice but to rely on suppressants. Each fever and heat cycle become a torture akin to being roasted in fire.】

【Host, your mission is straightforward.】

【Conquer Galileo Grant, make him utterly devoted to you and completely capture his soul.】

【Tempt him to sign the contract, plunder the energy of this minor world and demote it to a subordinate realm- to serve as an energy reserve for the Central Core (Main Brain) and the Administration.】

The sky was barren, dotted with a sparse amount of stars. 

On a decaying, backward secondary planet like Blackstone Starport, even the gentle night breeze carried the pungent smell of fuel and waste when it swept past.

Perched on the rooftop of a three-story building in the slums, He Lin leaned lazily against the rusted railing, a cigarette between his teeth, exhaling a puff of white smoke. 

His jet-black hair and dark eyes were extremely rare in this Zerg world. The bizarre flickering light from the surrounding neon signs fell upon his face, outlining the nearly perfect profile.

The system's mission instructions finished transmitting in his head. "Got it," he said.

Having served over a decade at the Time-Space Administration Bureau, He Lin knew the mission procedures and protocols inside out. Seeing this, the system said no more, conserving energy by entering hibernation mode. 

A Zerg world, huh...

Even during his time as an administrator, He Lin had heard of this small world. Endowed with psychic abilities, it possessed exceptionally abundant energy, making it the most coveted "prized possession" favored by both the Bureau and the Central Core. 

The zerg species comprised of three genders: males, females and sub-females. Regardless of gender, they all possess the appearance of human males. Female and sub-female zergs bore insect markings on the back of their necks and spines, while male zergs lacked them.

Among them, the female zergs were tall and handsome, possessing extremely powerful physical abilities and regenerative capabilities. Their wings and claws serve as their sharpest weapons.

Sub-females were delicate and graceful, blessed with exceptional intelligence and a knack for research and information processing.

Unlike sub-females who only experience heat cycles, female zergs possess immense power-- but this strength comes at a cost. Upon reaching adulthood, they experience periods of violent outbursts. Their formidable psychic energy tears apart their neural circuits from within, causing unimaginable pain, madness and deformation. This torment persists until a rampage finally shatters them completely, leading to their demise.

Male zergs are the rarest, typically weak, incompetent and intellectually inferior. Their appearance is diminutive and ordinary- even ugly. Yet their psychic power possesses the ability to soothe females during both their heat cycles and rampage phases. 

This has created an extremely twisted social system with the zerg world: the weak and incompetent males are revered as deities, enjoying privileges that allow them to take multiple queens, consorts or even slaves as mates, beating and abusing them at will for their amusement. 

Meanwhile, the females and sub-females-- who bear the burden of all combat and labor, possessing strength and intelligence-- are forced to humbly depend on the feeble males merely to survive. 

In the zerg world, the protagonists are almost always the females.

They are often described by agents as easy targets. Under the oppression of this twisted system, their desperate yearning for a male's tender comfort and sweet affection is so profound, that usually a few sweet words are enough to make them easily surrender their souls and sign a contract. 

As for the fate of the abandoned females and the energy-depleted worlds after the agents depart from the world-- that holds no relevance to the main world.

The nature of this mission sounded utterly heartless. Fortunately for those who were admitted to the Administration Bureau, they underwent rigorous screenings. They had to be cold hearted, devoid of emotion or moral compass. He Lin, who had risen to become an Administrator, was among the most exceptional of them all. Naturally, he felt no remorse whatsoever. 

He took a drag of his cigarette, lowering his gaze to the street below the railing. 

Though he'd handled countless small worlds, this was the first time He Lin was personally stepping onto one. 

Chaotic streets stretched out before him, where colorful shacks of varying heights clustered together like fish eggs. Beneath them, vendors cries rose and fell in a constant chorus. 

Female zergs, like worker ants, bustled back and forth, carrying heavy crates. The mercenary females supervising them held weapons, their eyes vigilant, constantly scanning for any suspicious zerg activity.

Day or night, there was no peace here. Everyone was working desperately to earn a living.

When He Lin, as an administrator, was dealing with a pile of data in his office, he thought everything in the minor world would be laughable artificial. 

He never imagined it would feel so real.

His break was over and he extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand and walked downstairs.

 Passing through the dimly lit stairwell, the clamor from the bar on the first floor gradually became clearer.

Descending the final step, he was greeted by a dark space, with a low ceiling. A peculiar stench of alcohol and vomit fermented in the corners, while cold metal walls were coated in grease.

The coarse clamoring of female zergs playing rock-paper-scissors filled the air, punctuated by the intermittent, ambiguous moans and whimpers from the shadows beyond the light's reach. 

For the zerg race, reproduction took precedence- the concept of the romance simply didn't exist. A single glance of mutual interest was enough to disregard time and place, leading them to embrace.

Ignoring the chaos around him, He Lin walked straight to the back of the bar. Just as he picked up a glass, he heard a shrill scream suddenly erupt from the center of the bar. 

"Don't touch me! Please--!"

He Lin glanced toward the sound of the scream.

The voice belonged to a scrawny male zerg, his face streaked with tears and dirt, his cheap clothing torn to shreds. He was being held in the air by a female mercenary-like zerg, kicking futilely and wailing in despair.

"Ha! Lucky find! Picked up a lost little darling." The female zerg who had a scar on her face and her arm was tattooed with the zerg words for "Iron Curtain." Her rough fingers pinched the male zerg's chin, "Just in time, the brothers just finished a big job, and they are very fired up and need some 'soothing'."

His companion sneered at the suggestion. "This little chick isn't even enough to fill our mouth." 

"Even a mosquito's meat is meat. Male zergs are all the same, aren't they? Good enough to use! Hahahaha!"

Unrestrained laughter erupted throughout the bar, and most of the surrounding customers lowered their heads, not daring to speak out.

Watching the group of female zergs drag the male away, He Lin withdrew his gaze and began wiping the glass in his hand. 

Though this world upheld male supremacy over females, in chaotic areas like Blackstone Starport- beyond the reach of the law- fists and strength reigned supreme.

Weak and rare males without power or influence faced only two fates: being dragged off like this or being sold as merchandise.

The identity the Administration Bureau prepared for him was that of a penniless orphaned male zerg. Though his pheromone gland was an ordinary B- rank, it was considered rare on Blackstone Starport.

To preserve his life, the original host had used potions bought on the black market to draw realistic zerg markings on the back of his neck and his spine, barely managing to disguise himself as a female zerg until now. 

He Lin had accepted his tragic background well.

Orphans and powerless commoners were common settings for the agents. Such cannon fodder characters were plentiful-- their lives and deaths drew no attention, making them easy to plant into minor worlds.

"He Lin!"

After mixing several drinks, the bar owner Wicks- a portly figure- appeared at the small passageway connecting to the back door. He smiled and beckoned to He Lin who stood behind the bar, his face showing a shrewdness mixed with calculation: "Come to my office."

He Lin set down his glass, rounded the bar, and followed Wicks up the stairs into the office. The room reeked of cigars and cheap perfume.

"Boss." He Lin came to a halt before the desk. 

Wicks had already sunk into his oversized, worn leather chair, tapping his fingers on the greasy desk surface. He chucked, "You must have heard, right? Our bar recently landed a big deal."

He Lin certainly hadn't heard, but it seemed Wicks didn't need his confirmation.

"General Grant, you know him?" Wicks lowered his voice, as if someone were eavesdropping outside, and said mysteriously, "He's coming to inspect our Blackstone Starport tomorrow. Governor Bao ordered the finest red wine and champagne from us specifically to entertain him."

"Tomorrow afternoon, ditch that beat up uniform and come dressed sharply." He eyed He Lin up and down, chuckling. "If if weren't for your good looks which will save face for me, this cushy job wouldn't have fallen to you."

General Grant.

The target had arrived.

He Lin knew the identity arranged by the Bureau would always provide a necessary opportunity to interact with the main character. It seemed this was it.

He lifted his eyes, meeting Wicks' greasy, flabby face with a faint smile.

"Don't worry, boss," He Lin said, "I won't disappoint you."

---

The next day, He Lin finished his shift early, shedding his "Tumbleweed" waiter's uniform and into the only set of halfway decent, clean clothes he owned.

"Decent" was a relative term; it was just a white shirt and black trousers. The shirt was a bit old but it ironed out fairly smooth.

He quickly adjusted his collar and cuffs, then paused before the stained mirror outside his dorm room.

The Task Bureau rarely offered second chances. He had to leverage his sole advantage-- his appearance-- to make a lasting impression on the protagonist, General Grant, during this meeting.

Thus, he scrutinized his reflection with unusual care. 

The young man reflected was barely in his early twenties. His brow bones were sharply defined, his nose straight and prominent, his lips well-defined. His deep-set features combined to form a handsomeness bordering on sharpness. HIs jet-black eye resembled bottomless, icy pools- devoid of the restlessness common in young males, or the numbness and aggression typical of those struggling at the bottom. Instead, they held a nearly indifferent calmness.

The calmness even carried a hint of cold scrutiny, firmly suppressing any frivolity or sharpness his appearance might suggest, filling his entire being with a profoundly contradictory allure.

This expression didn't resemble a young male zerg raised in the slums at all. It was more like... He Lin, the Administrator himself.

It made sense after all, this body truly bore his own features.

Realizing something was amiss, He Lin slightly raised his eyebrows and curved his lips into a gentle non-threatening smile. 

Instantly the ice melted, all the harshness was perfectly concealed, and a deceptively gentle aura emerged.

Having adjusted his demeanor, he strode towards the back door of the bar.

It was just seducing a female zerg?

He could certainly manage that.