The Sawtooth Beast.
A carnivorous animal standing three meters tall and nearly four meters long.
It did not run particularly fast, but anyone struck by its body would suffer broken bones at best and severe internal injuries at worst.
Qi Heng had prepared himself after hearing Luo Shen’s description, but seeing the creature in person still surprised him.
After a difficult battle, the enormous beast crashed to the ground with a muffled thud.
Blood continuously poured from the wounds their bone knives had opened across its body.
Qi Heng pretended to be exhausted. Like Mo Nan and the others, he knelt on one knee and panted.
Several notches had appeared along the bone knife supporting him.
The hunt had shown that Yan’s group coordinated extremely well.
As the newest member, Qi Heng had been assigned to remain nearby and provide support whenever necessary.
“Qi Heng, thank you for what you did earlier.”
Had Qi Heng not grabbed Yan and shoved him aside, the Sawtooth Beast would have collided directly with him.
After steadying his breathing, Yan thanked him.
“There’s no need. That was what I was supposed to do.”
Qi Heng rose unconcernedly, allowing the hand holding the bone knife to hang at his side.
To save Yan, he had used the knife to meet the Sawtooth Beast’s hardest teeth head-on.
Fortunately, he had covered the weapon with a layer of stellar power in time.
Otherwise, the bone knife would have shattered upon impact.
“Qi Heng, your reaction just now was incredibly fast! And you jumped so high too. That was amazing!”
“For a moment, I thought it was going to bite you!”
After Qi Heng pushed Yan away, the Sawtooth Beast had turned its attention toward him.
To avoid it, he had leaped several meters into the air and landed directly on the beast’s back.
Qi Heng smiled without answering.
Yan’s group worked together well.
Their individual strength was somewhat lacking, but Qi Heng currently had no better alternatives.
Overall, hunting a Sawtooth Beast was not easy for them.
For example, had Yan been struck during that critical moment, even the female Zerg’s regenerative ability might not have prevented him from being crippled or killed.
“I thought today would be extremely dangerous. I didn’t expect everything to go so smoothly in the end.”
“It was all thanks to Qi Heng supporting us at the right moments,” Luo Shen said with emotion.
“Exactly. I fell a few times, but I don’t even have a wound. We were incredibly lucky,” another female Zerg named Zhou Xing said.
Mo Nan moved his arm around.
After confirming that it merely ached and had no serious problem, he said, “I’ll find some vines and weave a net.”
“I’ll come too…”
A Sawtooth Beast weighed more than four hundred kilograms.
Dragging it back directly was impractical. They needed to weave a net from vines, wrap it securely, and carry it together.
The wasteland was dangerous.
Once the hunt ended, they needed to leave as quickly as possible. Traveling after nightfall would be difficult.
Ten hours had already passed since they entered.
Most of that time had been spent tracking the Sawtooth Beast.
It was almost time to leave.
“I need to do something in the woods. I’ll return shortly,” Qi Heng told Yan.
Yan had intended to offer to accompany him, but after recalling the strength Qi Heng had displayed, he swallowed the words.
“Go ahead, but don’t travel too far.”
“Qi Heng, can I come with you?” Zhou Xing asked. “I was planning to hunt a few small animals anyway. If we go together, we can watch each other’s backs.”
“All right.”
Qi Heng and Zhou Xing entered the nearby forest.
Zhou Xing was only around 1.7 meters tall. Walking beside Qi Heng, he resembled a teenager.
“Aren’t you going to catch any small prey to bring home?” Zhou Xing asked conversationally.
“Deep Winter is almost here. The weather will become extremely cold. You need to hunt animals with fur so you have something to keep warm.”
Qi Heng had heard Yan Ning mention Deep Winter before.
Hearing Zhou Xing’s words, he smiled.
“There’s still time. I’m not in a hurry.”
However, he really should add that matter to his schedule.
After all, he would be living on Tianyun Star for a long time.
Once they entered the forest, Qi Heng separated from Zhou Xing and headed toward a location he had marked earlier.
A tree covered in red berries grew there.
Its lush crown shaded an area two or three meters wide. Squinting at the upper branches, Qi Heng could see signs that birds had pecked at many of the fruits.
He also saw a nest between the branches.
Its location was rather concealed. Without the system, he would not have discovered it easily.
Qi Heng stepped over overripe fruit that had fallen and rotted beneath the tree.
He quickly climbed the trunk and reached the upper branches without difficulty.
After securing himself between two thick limbs, he glanced at the five or six bird eggs inside the nest, each approximately the size of a fist.
He drew his knife and cut down the intact clusters of red berries, placing them directly into the nest.
He intended to take the entire nest with him. It could conveniently serve as a container for the fruit.
In the past, he would never have done something like this.
Given his present living conditions, however, protecting wild birds would need to wait.
Showing kindness while food was scarce would only be cruelty toward himself.
He was trying to improve his life.
Even if he could not afford fried eggs, boiled eggs would still be good.
The fruit could also provide vitamins.
Holding the nest filled with berry clusters and bird eggs in one arm, Qi Heng slowly climbed downward using only his free hand.
When four or five meters remained, he jumped directly to the ground.
Such a height was insignificant to him.
He landed so steadily that his body did not sway at all.
The hunting team attracted everyone’s attention when they returned to District 49 carrying the Sawtooth Beast.
Before entering the district, Qi Heng informed them that he was separating from the group.
He deliberately avoided walking beside them specifically to prevent himself from becoming part of the spectacle.
When he returned to Yan Ning’s home, he had only just set down the nest when Lele flew toward him, flapping his wings.
“Uncle Qi!”
The child curiously examined what Qi Heng had brought back.
“What’s this?”
“Something edible.”
The child’s pronunciation of commonly used words was becoming clearer.
Lele’s eyes brightened.
“Is it tasty?”
“Mm.”
Qi Heng removed the leaves covering the nest.
He took out a cluster of berries, washed it, and plucked off one fruit before placing it into the impatient child’s hand.
“Try it.”
The child stared at the bright-red fruit.
He had never seen anything like it before.
Curiously, he put it into his mouth and chewed.
“So tasty!”
Qi Heng picked one and tasted it as well.
“It’s quite sweet.”
The child tilted his head and imitated him.
“Sweet.”
Qi Heng paused.
Only then did he remember that this miserable place did not even have sugar.
This was probably the first time Lele had ever tasted something “sweet.”
“I want more.”
The child stared eagerly at the berries in Qi Heng’s hand, but did not reach for them.
Qi Heng sighed.
What could he say to a young child?
“You can’t eat too many.”
He plucked seven or eight berries and placed them into a small wooden bowl.
“Where is your female father?”
“Brother Yun.”
Holding the wooden bowl, the child produced those two words.
That made sense.
Otherwise, Yan Ning probably would not have left him alone.
Judging by the situation, he had likely only just departed.
Qi Heng removed the bird eggs and placed them inside the stone pot.
He poured in water from the container beside it.
“I’ll make boiled eggs for you later.”
Female Zerg preferred meat, but they could not eat only meat.
The child had never seen an egg.
However, anything Uncle Qi said was edible had to be delicious.
Over the following days, the hunting team remained busy processing the Sawtooth Beast and did not organize another expedition into the wasteland.
On the second day after bringing the beast back, Qi Heng accompanied them once to the market stall they had mentioned.
For the rest of the time, he traveled repeatedly through the wilderness and wasteland.
Naturally, he did not go alone.
Two other female Zerg from the hunting team accompanied him.
The approaching Deep Winter made all of District 49 extraordinarily busy.
Animal flesh and fur were especially popular at this time.
Unlike Qi Heng, the hunting team accepted not only Starstones, but also other goods through barter.
Unless they were entering the wasteland or hunting large beasts, the entire hunting team did not mobilize.
Instead, they formed partnerships of two or three members.
Qi Heng’s partners were Luo Shen and Zhou Xing.
They focused on the wasteland’s “small” wild animals.
Before accompanying them, Qi Heng had assumed that “small animals” meant creatures similar to wasteland gray rabbits.
Only after the hunting began did he learn that their targets were roughly the size of leopards.
On the afternoon of the fourth day after hunting the Sawtooth Beast, Qi Heng returned with Luo Shen, Zhou Xing, and their prey.
He immediately noticed that the surrounding atmosphere felt strange.
They delivered the prey to the hunting team’s stall.
Only a handful of female Zerg were there exchanging for meat, which surprised Qi Heng even more.
Ordinarily, the stall might not be completely surrounded, but there should have been far more than two or three scattered customers.
“Did something happen today?”
“Where is Yan?”
“Yan accompanied Lan Yi to the trading area,” Mo Nan answered from behind the stall.
“What are they doing there?”
Qi Heng remembered that they had visited the trading area only two days earlier.
There was no reason to return so soon.
Lan Yi was the youngest female Zerg in the hunting team.
Because of his exceptional talent for combat, Qi Heng had unconsciously paid him additional attention.
Admittedly, the more important reason was that Lan Yi also had a young Zerg child at home.
A female Zerg who had only recently reached adulthood was raising a child alone.
His life experience was practically identical to Yan Ning’s.
Lan Yi’s circumstances were slightly better because his female father had once saved Yan.
As a result, Yan treated him with special care.
Furthermore, Lan Yi’s abilities were genuinely good.
Only for those reasons had Yan silently allowed him to join the hunting team and accompany them into the wasteland.
“What else could they be doing at this time?” Zhou Xing said casually while lowering his head to process the prey. “They’re probably cutting off the child’s Zerg wings.”
Qi Heng fell silent.
“…Cutting off what?”
He could hardly believe what he had heard and wondered whether he had misunderstood.
Assuming Qi Heng had not heard clearly, Zhou Xing repeated himself.
“Cutting off the Zerg wings.”
“A child’s wings have to be cut off before he sheds his partial Zerg form,” Luo Shen explained. “Otherwise, he can’t receive identification and live in District 49.”
As he spoke, Luo Shen tugged at the small metal tag around his wrist that represented his identity.
“Brother Qi, didn’t you know?”
Mo Nan suddenly remembered something.
“I recall there’s a young child living at your house too. Didn’t your younger brother tell you about this?”
Because Qi Heng lived with Yan Ning and Yan Ning called him “Brother,” while Qi Heng had never denied the relationship, Mo Nan and the others had assumed Yan Ning was his younger brother.
Qi Heng’s eyelid twitched.
A terrible feeling arose within him.
“I have something to do. I need to leave.”
Was Qi Heng insane, or were Mo Nan and the others insane?
Cut off their Zerg wings?
Was this supposed to be a joke?
However, after thinking about it, Qi Heng realized that in all his time here, he truly had never seen an adult female Zerg reveal his wings.
Even while hunting with Luo Shen and the others, he had never seen them use wings.
They had also never asked Qi Heng anything related to his own.
His heart sank.
If this was true, then the force imprisoning the Tianjia Zerg on Tianyun Star had gone far beyond excessive.
“They” had already completely restricted and locked the Tianjia Zerg onto this planet.
There was no reason to subject them to such additional cruelty.
Qi Heng had originally intended to return to Yan Ning’s home.
However, the moment he lifted his foot, he changed direction.
Wait.
If children were having their wings cut off, Yan Ning certainly would not be at home right now.
The central trading area was crowded.
For the first time, Qi Heng saw so many female-Zerg children with wings.
Adult female Zerg held them in their arms.
The children buried their faces against the adults’ chests, leaving only the pairs of wings on their backs visible.
The wings varied in shape and color.
Every pair possessed its own distinctive beauty.
On the bodies of young children, they appeared extraordinarily pure and delicate.
After scanning and analyzing them, the system quickly identified which Higher-Zerg branch each child belonged to.
Qi Heng recognized many of the branch names displayed on A1’s list.
He moved through the crowd, searching among the long lines of female Zerg for Yan Ning.
Whether from reason or emotion, he did not want Yan Ning to bring Lele here to have his wings cut off.
Qi Heng could not stop himself from swearing inwardly.
Cut off his damn wings?
Even if there were no other consequences, Lele spent the entire day flying around.
Would the little creature not cry himself to death if his wings were removed?
Furthermore, the consequences were far more serious than Qi Heng had imagined.
Listening to the faint crying in the distance, he recalled his earlier conversation with A1.
[A1, what harm does removing a female Zerg’s wings cause?]
【According to the available data, a female Zerg whose wings are removed during childhood will become incapable of undergoing Second Evolution.】
【His lifespan will also be reduced to one-tenth of its original length, and he will enter old age prematurely…】
Second Evolution placed too great a burden on the present female Zerg.
Being unable to undergo it might not necessarily be terrible.
But reducing their lifespan by that much was absolutely unacceptable.
The average Higher Zerg lived for three hundred years.
In reality, cultivating stellar and mental power gave them the opportunity to transform and evolve their life level again, thereby obtaining an even longer lifespan.
One-tenth.
That meant these female Zerg could not even live beyond thirty.
No wonder Qi Heng had not encountered any elderly female Zerg during the month since his arrival.
He had originally assumed that the harsh living conditions made it impossible for elderly Zerg to survive.
Now it appeared that the true reason was that female Zerg entered premature old age and rapidly died before they ever had the opportunity to grow old naturally.
Qi Heng’s expression became increasingly dark.
Yan Le was different from him.
Qi Heng had personally rescued the child, helped him hatch, and cared for him for so long.
The affection he had invested was real.
People naturally distinguished between those close to them and strangers.
Had this involved another female-Zerg child, Qi Heng might not have become so angry.
But when he imagined that the child having his wings cut off might be the one he had been raising, the adorable little creature who approached him asking for hugs, his rage surged higher.
This was the first time since transmigrating that Qi Heng had become so furious.
Part of the uncontrollable anger came from his feelings for Yan Le.
Another portion came from the part of the Overlord within his soul.
The moment he heard the words “cut off the Zerg wings,” the rage erupting from deep inside him had almost consumed his reason.
Now the two sources of anger intertwined inside his chest.
His heart felt heavy, and his fists involuntarily clenched.
Should he do something?
Not only for Yan Le, but also for all of them…
The thought brought a sharp edge into Qi Heng’s eyes.
He strode forward, intending to see what lay in the direction of the crying.
Before long, he saw a building at the end of the line.
The cries he had heard were coming from inside.
Just as Qi Heng was about to take several more steps forward, a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside him.
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