Yan Ning spoke of it lightly, but Qi Heng could tell that his circumstances at the time had been poor.
Qi Heng had met Yan Ning carrying the Zerg egg half a month ago. A normal, healthy Zerg egg required one to two weeks to hatch, and that did not even include the duration of a Zerg pregnancy.
Throughout that entire period, Yan Ning had been alone. Life in the slums must have been extremely difficult.
Qi Heng’s mind instinctively returned to certain settings from the game…
He actually preferred not to recall the game’s settings. Every time he did, some shameless detail inevitably surfaced.
This was not something he could examine too closely or think about too deeply.
Whenever he did, he could not help regretting how “randomly” he had handled the game’s settings back then.
Qi Heng considered how the current division of roles between male and female Zerg was clearly different from the past. By “the past,” he meant the period when he had still been playing the game and ruling as the Overlord.
More than ten thousand years had passed. He thought it was perfectly normal for the Zerg to have changed.
He simply had not expected the changes to be this drastic.
The male and female Zerg had become divided and estranged. Female Zerg made up the overwhelming majority of the slum’s lowest class, while the entire responsibility of gestating, laying, and raising Zerg eggs had fallen on them.
This method of essentially raising children as though widowed was clearly different from the way the Tianjia Zerg had reproduced.
Had Qi Heng not personally seen male Zerg, and had it not been impossible for female Zerg to produce eggs by themselves, he might truly have thought every male Zerg had died out.
Furthermore, the present situation had clearly been created deliberately.
Transforming the Zerg’s social division of labor into its current form must have taken a tremendous amount of time.
No, time alone would not have been enough.
Something else must have happened, something that forced the Zerg to accept this kind of social structure.
What could it have been?
Qi Heng’s thoughts spun rapidly, but the subject of his contemplation drifted farther and farther away.
Once he began thinking, he could not stop himself from pursuing every possibility. It was not something he could control. That was why, most of the time, he chose either to empty his mind or avoid questions that became more complicated the longer he considered them.
Suddenly, Yan Ning’s voice interrupted him.
“We’re here.”
They had arrived at Yun Jiu’s home.
It was a rather crude dwelling, no better than Yan Ning’s, though it appeared somewhat larger.
Metal shipping containers like these could be seen everywhere in District 49.
Where had they all come from?
Why would a planet left in ruins after the collapse of a civilization contain so many industrial shipping containers? Even if they were battered and dilapidated, their existence still indicated that they had not originally belonged to Tianyun Star.
“As expected, Grandpa Yun is the only one at home,” Yan Ning said as he led Qi Heng inside.
The door stood open instead of being sealed shut.
The slum’s environment was poor. It was not as though no female Zerg bullied the weak, but based on Qi Heng’s observations, some form of balance appeared to be maintained.
Female Zerg might be combative by nature, but in an environment where merely staying alive required everything they had, a handful of them could not cause much trouble.
That made sense.
District 49 might be filthy, chaotic, and impoverished, but it still possessed order.
Qi Heng had not forgotten the members of the patrol team he had encountered on his first day here.
The patrol team sounded like an organization that enforced rules through violence, and it was also connected to the district chief.
Qi Heng sneered inwardly.
Using Zerg to keep other Zerg in check. The power behind this place certainly understood the principles of management.
“Grandpa Yun, we’ve come to visit you,” Yan Ning called as he stepped inside.
An elderly voice came from within the house.
“Judging by that voice, is that Little Ning?”
Qi Heng raised an eyebrow slightly.
The speaker sounded like an old man.
Interesting.
After living in District 49 for so long, this was the first time Qi Heng had encountered an elderly female Zerg.
Young-looking female Zerg could be seen everywhere throughout District 49. Without scanning their bone age, it was difficult to determine their true ages from appearance alone, but Qi Heng could at least be certain that they had not yet entered old age.
A Zerg’s life was divided into three stages: childhood, youth, and old age.
In the past, when the Zerg’s average lifespan had reached three hundred years, they would retain the appearance of a young adult for more than two hundred years after reaching maturity, excluding childhood and old age.
Qi Heng had not previously given much thought to the absence of elderly Zerg.
After all, given how difficult it was for the current Zerg to support even themselves, it was not difficult to imagine that those who grew old and lost the ability to survive independently might simply be abandoned.
“It’s me, Grandpa Yun.”
Yan Ning led him familiarly into a room divided from the rest of the house by a cloth curtain.
Inside, a female Zerg lay half-reclined on a bed. Through a small window carved into the wall, Qi Heng could see his dry, gray-white hair and wrinkled face.
The moment Qi Heng saw him, he could not help sighing inwardly. Much of his desire to investigate the other Zerg’s condition disappeared.
This female Zerg’s life was nearing its end.
Female Zerg who entered old age would indeed show signs of aging, but they would never normally look as exhausted and depleted as the one before him.
There were female Zerg born with white hair, but that clearly was not the case here.
Once the gray-white hair became completely white, death would be close at hand.
The elderly Zerg’s slightly clouded eyes turned toward them. When he saw the child in Yan Ning’s arms, his face softened into the kindly smile characteristic of an elder.
“I heard Little Jiu say your egg hatched into a child. That’s wonderful. It’s fortunate you didn’t give up.”
Yan Ning smiled, unconsciously tightening his arms around Lele.
“I was lucky.”
He truly had been lucky.
Had he not gone to the dead-egg pit that morning, and had he not encountered Qi Heng there, how could this lively little child, who could now smile and fuss, possibly exist?
“Come closer and let me have a look.”
“Mm.”
Yan Ning walked over as instructed.
“Lele, come on. Say hello.”
The child poked his head out of Yan Ning’s arms. With wide, innocent eyes, he gazed curiously at the elderly female Zerg before him.
After some hesitation, he tentatively reached out and touched the old Zerg’s hand, then gave him a shy, adorable smile.
Yun Jiu’s grandfather smiled and stroked the child’s head.
“He’s the Zerg you brought back from outside the district.”
Yun Jiu’s grandfather spoke to Yan Ning, but his gaze had shifted toward the unfamiliar Zerg who had remained silent nearby: Qi Heng.
Qi Heng calmly accepted his scrutiny.
The curve of his lips had not changed from the beginning, carrying a faint smile.
“Hello.”
“My name is Qi Heng. Yun Jiu helped me considerably before, so I came with Yan Ning specifically to pay you a visit.”
Certain habits could not be erased by transmigration.
When dealing with an elder, Qi Heng maintained the respect and courtesy he considered appropriate.
“Is there something about me that puzzles you?”
He had noticed that Yun Jiu’s grandfather had not looked away since first seeing him.
“Did you come from another district? You don’t seem like it.”
As Yun Jiu’s grandfather spoke, the strange feeling he had experienced upon seeing this Zerg compelled him to add, “Your previous living conditions must have been quite good.”
Qi Heng did not reveal anything on his face.
“Nothing special,” he answered openly.
The way Yun Jiu’s grandfather looked at him was somewhat strange.
Had he noticed something?
Qi Heng silently considered the possibility.
He had no intention of remaining any longer. He had already paid his visit and left the gift he had brought. It was time to attend to other matters.
He therefore announced that he was leaving.
Yan Ning had known from the beginning that Qi Heng would not stay, so he did not say anything to stop him.
“I’ll stay and talk with Grandpa Yun for a while longer. I’ll go home and cook later…”
“There’s no need,” Qi Heng said.
“I’ll handle lunch myself. You don’t come out often, so stay and enjoy yourself for a while.”
Female Zerg in the slums ate twice a day, but Qi Heng was different. He was accustomed to eating three meals.
When conditions had first been poor, there had been no choice. Once their circumstances improved, however, he had suggested returning to three meals a day.
There was nothing he could do about it. He performed physical labor in the mine tunnels. If he did not eat enough, he truly could not keep up with the energy expenditure.
As a result, Yan Ning now had to prepare three meals for him every day.
It was not as though Qi Heng had never considered cooking for himself.
However, Yan Ning clearly felt disheartened by his inability to help Qi Heng in other ways. Refusing even this would have been inappropriate.
After thinking it over, Qi Heng had simply allowed him to continue.
Helping prepare meals was another way for Yan Ning to contribute his share. That was a good thing.
“But how can I…”
Qi Heng waved a hand and said unconcernedly, “It’s only one meal. It’s settled.”
“I’m leaving.”
He left Yun Jiu’s home and carried the remaining meat toward the central trading area.
When he saw that Yun Jiu’s grandfather could only lie in bed, with no response at all from his lower body, Qi Heng had realized that the old Zerg was probably paralyzed and unable to walk.
Yun Jiu normally left for the mine at daybreak and did not return until dark. The old man had no one to keep him company at home.
It was rare for Yan Ning to visit with the child. As a junior, it would be good for him to stay and speak with the elder for a while longer.
Back inside Yun Jiu’s home, his grandfather asked after Qi Heng left, “Little Ning, how did you meet him?”
Yan Ning froze for a moment before realizing that “him” referred to Qi Heng.
After a brief hesitation, he asked, “Why do you ask?”
“Grandpa is simply curious. Are you unable to tell me?”
Yun Jiu’s grandfather recalled the black-haired female Zerg standing beside them.
His exceptional appearance made him impossible to ignore. Even though they were both female Zerg, one could not help looking at him twice.
“It isn’t that. It’s just that I promised Brother Qi…”
Yan Ning pressed his lips together.
The child sprawled in his female father’s arms rolled over, yawned, and buried his head against Yan Ning’s chest, looking drowsy.
“I heard Yun Jiu say you brought him back from outside the district.”
For some reason, Yun Jiu’s grandfather found himself concerned about that black-haired female Zerg.
While he and Little Ning had spoken, Qi Heng had simply stood to the side. A friendly smile had clearly remained on his face, yet he had seemed strangely detached from the space they occupied.
“I’ve met many Zerg. He is very different.”
Qi Heng did not know that, after only a single meeting, Yun Jiu’s grandfather, an elderly female Zerg, had already glimpsed the other side hidden beneath his gentle exterior.
Even had he known, however, he probably would not have cared.
After all, to live in this world, one always had to disguise oneself to some extent in order to adapt.
Qi Heng was not deliberately wearing a false mask.
The gentle, approachable exterior and the distant, indifferent core were both parts of him.
The former existed so that he could survive in this unfamiliar world. The latter came from his subjective refusal to truly become part of it.
He did not want to establish too many connections with this world. He wished to remain uninvolved, living inside the safe space he had constructed for himself.
The consequence was the sense that he did not belong.
Young Zerg with little experience were easily deceived by the side he chose to display, but anyone with sufficient life experience could see through him rather easily.
That was only possible because Qi Heng had never made a deliberate effort to conceal his other side.
First, there was no need.
Second, even if someone truly saw through him, what difference would it make?
He wanted nothing from this world and needed nothing from anyone else.
At least, that was what Qi Heng believed.
Elsewhere in District 49, within the central trading area, Qi Heng wore a smile while his heart overflowed with impatience.
He had only come to exchange a few things.
Could someone explain what was going on with the male Zerg who had suddenly appeared in front of him?
Before Qi Heng could walk around him, he heard the other Zerg say, “Hello, darling. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Carlos.”
The male Zerg flamboyantly swept back his long hair and stood before Qi Heng with a smiling expression.
“You’re truly beautiful. I like you very much. Perhaps we could spend an enjoyable night together.”
Qi Heng’s hand, hanging at his side, involuntarily clenched.
Being stopped in the street and propositioned by a male Zerg was about as shocking as being propositioned by a man.
This was simply more than a straight man should ever be expected to bear.
Had the location and circumstances been different, Qi Heng truly would have taught this male Zerg a brutal lesson and beaten him until he was half-paralyzed.
Qi Heng knew that, because his fusion progress remained low, he lacked the pheromones a male Zerg should possess. Furthermore, he did not appear as delicate as these male Zerg.
However, that did not excuse the other Zerg for mistaking him for a “female Zerg” and propositioning him.
Worse than the proposition itself was the way Carlos had phrased it.
Being confessed to by someone of the same sex could be taken as proof of one’s attractiveness, but that did not give Carlos the right to sexually harass him, behave like a hooligan, and act completely shameless.
Had the male Zerg of this age all fallen so far?
No, this was no longer mere decadence.
This was plainly perverse.
Qi Heng glanced around.
A surprising number of the female Zerg watching appeared envious, while the male Zerg looked entertained, entirely certain that he would accept.
The smile disappeared from Qi Heng’s face.
His thin lips pressed into a straight line.
“Not interested,” he said with disgust. “Get lost.”
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