Chapter – 02
Restriction
You will suffer the Zerg’s hatred.
Regarding the newly emerged Zerg Mother, the high-ranking Zerg discussed and decided to treat him like what humans called a “mascot”—quietly raising him, keeping him alive, and nothing more.
Because the Zerg Mother’s influence on the Zerg diminished step by step—the higher-ranking the Zerg, the less affected they were—the Zerg Mother was placed under the rotating care of the legion commanders. This restricted his contact with low-ranking Zerg and controlled his influence over the race.
If the Zerg Mother’s influence grew so strong that even the legion commanders couldn’t control it, then they would follow the original plan and eliminate him.
There would be no more Zerg Mother among the Zerg—only a weak, special Zerg kept firmly under the collective control of the entire race.
Every high-ranking Zerg present at the discussion thought this with cold detachment.
Eli hadn’t intended to hatch and be born. But some Zerg had taken him out anyway.
After truly coming into contact with the outside world, the restless ambition inherent to the Zerg Mother began to sprout.
Eli longed to lead the Zerg’s development like his predecessors, to grant new strength to the race.
His great dream was nipped in the bud at the very first step.
Since hatching, the new Zerg Mother had been trapped in the residence of the Fifth Legion Commander—Hai. He had never been allowed out, and had only seen a handful of Zerg.
Zerg Mothers grew on the love of the Zerg. Eli had thought he would remain at his hatching size forever, but he had actually grown a fair bit since then. He was now about the size of a normal newly hatched Zerg infant—equivalent to a human toddler of two or three. His growth was slow, but it also meant that the Zerg’s hatred toward him wasn’t as dire as Eli had originally feared. This gave the young Zerg Mother a bit of confidence.
Eli tentatively stepped one foot past the boundary of the lawn, but an invisible force from some unknown direction pushed him back. Unsteady, Eli stumbled and fell to the ground.
Eli brushed off the grass clippings clinging to him and tried again, unwilling to give up.
The force pushing him back was stronger this time, and Eli’s head hit the grass with a solid thud. A cold, sharp voice came from the air: “Stay where you belong. Don’t even think about leaving here.”
“Why?! Why can’t I go out?” Eli planted his hands on the ground, propping himself up, and demanded loudly.
“Still can’t recognize your place, Zerg Mother? You’re nothing but a prisoner. This is your cage. You don’t deserve freedom!” A military Zerg hidden in some unknown corner mercilessly mocked the young Zerg Mother.
“I am the Zerg Mother, the core of the Zerg! Not a confined prisoner!” No previous Zerg Mother had ever been treated like this! The anger that had been building since he first gained consciousness finally erupted.
All he got in response were several mocking laughs.
Eli tried to stand up and charge out, but his limbs were pinned to the ground by several strands of mental energy, unable to break free.
The guards stationed at the legion commander’s residence were casually toying with the young Zerg Mother, brazenly defiling the Zerg Mother’s dignity.
Eli extended his mental tentacles to fight back, but his mental energy output was abruptly cut off.
“I told you, don’t use your mental energy.” The black-haired Zerg’s expression was displeased as he simultaneously pulled out the unruly military Zerg and disciplined them.
As if a protector had arrived, Eli, ignoring the stinging pain of his mental energy being forcibly blocked, ran to Hai’s side, showed off the bruise forming on the back of his head, and openly tattled: “Hai, they bullied me!”
Ever since Hai had taken him out of the eggshell, Eli couldn’t help but feel close to him.
The black-haired young Zerg’s emerald-like eyes glanced at the small injury on the young Zerg Mother’s head. He casually used his ability to heal it.
“Answer me.” Hai bent down, using one hand to hold Eli in place, forcing those beautiful red eyes to meet his gaze, refusing to accept Eli’s little attempt to change the subject.
Influenced by the previous Zerg Mother, the current high-ranking Zerg were extremely vigilant against the Zerg Mother connecting to their mental energy and issuing commands within their brain domains. But this ability was innate to the Zerg Mother. To completely prevent it, they had to restrict the Zerg Mother’s use of mental energy from the very beginning. This required strict control by the temporary guardian Zerg—Hai.
Eli tried to find some other information in Hai’s refined face. Finding nothing, he disappointedly lowered his eyelids and gave a small promise: “I understand.” Hai never let Eli off easily when it came to questions about his identity as Zerg Mother, even though he had watched the new Zerg Mother grow up and knew that Eli was well-behaved and didn’t cause trouble.
“As for you few—have you grown so accustomed to the comfort of guarding here that you’ve forgotten military discipline?!” Hai used his mental energy to forcefully press the unruly military Zerg to the ground. “Return to the military headquarters and accept your punishment.”
“Yes, sir!”
Eli didn’t watch the military Zerg slink away in disgrace. He knew that prejudice against the Zerg Mother was widespread among the Zerg. As a Zerg Mother subjected to the race’s hatred, he had no clear enemy—what opposed him was the will of the entire race. Though Eli still couldn’t understand why a Zerg Mother who devoted himself wholeheartedly to serving the Zerg would receive such treatment.
But since Hai was willing to stand up for him, Eli was a little happy.
“Hai, I want to go out and see things. I’ve never been out to play before!” Eli perked up and voiced his wish to Hai.
Hai remained unmoved, only replying in that creepily gentle tone: “When you can control your mental energy skillfully, then you can go out and play.”
Hai hadn’t changed at all! He was still using this same requirement to keep him confined!
Eli was currently too weak to resist Hai. If he wanted to get out, he had no choice but to follow the black-haired young Zerg’s demands.
Failure.
Failure again.
Still failure.
“It looks like you can’t go out today either.” Hai’s words were infuriatingly smug.
“You know this is impossible!” No Zerg Mother had ever been required to restrain their mental energy! Even ordinary intelligent beings weren’t subjected to such control! Not to mention that the Zerg Mother’s mental energy was powerful—restraining it was even harder for him than for ordinary Zerg!
“So what?” Those green eyes drew close to Eli’s, challenging him.
Bad child!!!
Eli took a deep breath, bumped his head against Hai’s approaching body, turned around, and ran off.
When he came of age and gained control of his power, he would definitely teach these Zerg who made such unreasonable demands a good lesson!
Once Eli was far away, Hai gave the order: “Keep a close watch on the Zerg Mother. Don’t let him cause any trouble.” The black-haired Zerg reverted to his usual cold demeanor.
“Yes, sir!”
“The Zerg Mother’s physical growth has stalled.”
In the room, Hai called Eli over, lifted him up with one hand to weigh him, used his ability to run some tests, and confirmed the situation again.
“Of course I examined his body. I didn’t find any issues.”
“If you think I’m not doing my job well enough, then take him away from the Fifth Legion. It’s your turn anyway. I’ve been kindly taking this burden off your hands, so you should be grateful.”
During his calls with the other legion commanders, Hai wore a refined face as he continuously fired off sarcastic barbs, not bothering to hide it from Eli.
“See? Besides me, there’s no Zerg willing to take on the trouble that is you.” Hai reached out and held Eli in place as he struggled to get down.
“I don’t like it when you say that!”
“So what if I do? What are you going to do about it?!”
“You’re not being good!!” Though his actual status was low, deep down Eli still placed himself in the lofty position of the Zerg Mother, viewing other Zerg as his children.
The still-connected terminal was completely silent. Then, Theo spoke up: “Hai, are you paying too much attention to the Zerg Mother?” Are you planning to betray our faction?
Hai laughed scornfully and retorted, “What? Wasn’t it you who first proposed raising the Motherworm like this? As the most beloved child of the previous Motherworm, aren’t you the one who knows best about the Motherworm’s allure to the Zerg race?”
The most beloved child of the previous Motherworm! Ely instantly stopped struggling and even wanted to lean closer to Hai to hear more.
“You know I also proposed a solution later.” Theodore’s voice was calm and merciless, as if the existence of the Motherworm had no effect on him.
Hai just let out a light snort.
Ely couldn’t hear the encrypted communication, so he asked curiously, “Is that Theodore the most beloved child of the previous Motherworm? I’ve seen him in the memories left by my predecessor. He has golden hair just like me!” The predecessor had praised that his most beloved child possessed a head of golden hair as brilliant as the blazing sun.
“Golden-haired Zerg are hardly rare.” Hai did not deny Theodore’s identity.
“Theodore is also a disobedient child.” The memories left by the predecessor only occasionally mentioned Theodore, but Ely noticed that the predecessor grieved for him. While still in the eggshell, the voice he had heard had already clearly expressed that Theodore was the first to propose killing the Motherworm. Ely concluded that Theodore was a rebellious, disobedient child.
Theodore made no move.
“Alright, go play by yourself.” The owner of the emerald-like eyes put Ely down with disdain, as if he hadn’t been the one who wouldn’t let the Motherworm come down earlier.
Ely puffed out his cheeks, dodged the poking fingers, and found a spot nearby to play with his terminal. Aside from not being allowed to leave Hai’s residence, Hai was fairly tolerant of him in other respects.
Hai paid him no more attention and encrypted his side of the call as well. Ely couldn’t hear his voice either.
“Back to business. The Motherworm’s halted growth was within our predictions, so there’s nothing more to discuss about that.
For now, we haven’t detected him trying to establish a mental connection with any Zerg, which shows that the restrictions are working.
Additionally, since hatching, he hasn’t demanded more food or resources—this is both abnormal and a good thing.” Hai reviewed the Motherworm’s recent situation.
Hong, who had yet to speak during the call, teased, “It seems Hai hasn’t been completely bewitched by the Motherworm yet.”
“I am a firm anti-Motherwormist.” Hai’s tone was cold as he returned to work mode, even the shimmering light in his pupils dimming a few shades. The mischievous yet capable legion commander continued, “I suspect there are other secret inheritances among Motherworms, which is why he’s being so well-behaved.”
“No Zerg here accepts baseless speculation.” Theodore stated the facts, signaling Hai to reveal more information.
“A Motherworm with inheritance wouldn’t willingly be controlled by formerly subordinate Zerg. Since he can tolerate it, there’s a problem.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’ll reveal himself.” Theodore said dismissively. “A Motherworm not acknowledged by his children will gradually lose his vitality. A selfish Motherworm by nature won’t last long. He won’t stay calm forever.”
“Theodore, you’re truly cruel—no wonder you’re the one who killed the previous Motherworm.” Giving the Motherworm the right to hatch, yet watching him walk toward death. Hai felt he couldn’t measure up.
Hong spoke contemptuously: “The Motherworm long ceased to be the leader who guided the Zerg to glory; he’s now a symbol of selfish greed and insatiable desire. Allowing the Motherworm to continue existing is already an act of mercy.”
“If he insists on coveting what doesn’t belong to him, destruction is his best ending.”
“We’re all anti-Motherwormists, aren’t we?”
No Zerg denied it.
“Hong truly likes Theodore, doesn’t he? Taking his side so much.” Hai deliberately disgusted them.
“Shut up!/Shut up.” None of the legion commanders could stand each other, nor did they appreciate anyone playing matchmaker.
*
[But there will still be Zerg happy about your existence.]
