The Greatest Injustice

Military Technology Research Institute, Biological Information Technology Division.

Yi Luo stood silent guard in the corridor while the hearty laughter of a male Zerg came through the crack of an office door.

"Hahaha, Ning Bai, so you just found an online friend on the Starnet Forum who spoke up for you, and because he cursed Bei En once in a comment, you rashly chose to marry him?"

Holding a hot drink, Ning Bai leaned against the desk, his expression calm.

"Wen Zhuo, time was short. I had no choice. You understand better than anyone that if I delayed any longer, my mental power would truly collapse completely, and my life would be over. No matter how expensive the 'medicine' on the darknet is, it only treats the symptoms. I could only marry a male Zerg as soon as possible."

Wen Zhuo fell quiet, and the good-natured mockery on his face gradually disappeared.

With a sigh, he walked to Ning Bai's side and grabbed his wrist.

"Since you know how dangerous your condition is, you shouldn't have added this thing to your bracelet. Lowering the sensor's sensitivity costs your own mental power, and yours is as fragile as freshly popped popcorn right now. So what if a female Zerg hurts a little? Are you females afraid of pain?"

As he spoke, Wen Zhuo forcibly tore the add-on from the bracelet and threw it into the corner with disgust.

But Ning Bai immediately went over, picked up the tiny metal piece, and fitted it back onto his bracelet.

"Easy for you to say. You're afraid of pain; why shouldn't I be?" Ning Bai said. "Put this bracelet on and see whether you can take it."

Wen Zhuo answered with perfect righteousness, "Of course I can, because there is nothing wrong with my mental power. How ironic. The mental monitoring sensor you led the team in developing was first installed on you after it was opened to civilian use. What kind of world is this?"

Expressionless, Ning Bai raised his head, drained his hot drink in one swallow, and said nothing.

Still indignant, Wen Zhuo lowered his voice. "Do you know the current ratio of males to females among the Zerg race?"

Ning Bai glanced at him. "...I remember it's one to a little over five?"

Wen Zhuo shook his head. "I'll tell you the latest figure, but don't spread it around. It's about to be one to four. Female Zergs work hard, have short lifespans, and die in large numbers. Another reason is that a family gets a lot of government benefits for producing a male child, so many families do everything they can to have male offspring. There are folk remedies that work now and then, and the upper classes have their own methods... Are you surprised? I thought you knew already."

"I only know that thousands upon thousands of soldiers under my command are suffering from mental fluctuations, while the Speaker's son has taken more than nine hundred mental compatibility tests and keeps thirty-two male-Zerg 'tutors' with compatibility above eighty percent in his home. A few days ago, he successfully advanced from C-grade to B-grade."

Wen Zhuo chuckled. "You know quite a bit. Like you, the Speaker's son has a mentally hypersensitive constitution. It is medically rare. The advantage is that advancing one's grade is easier; the disadvantage is that mental sensitivity can easily develop into mental collapse. How did you climb from D-grade to B-grade, step by step? When I met you, you were already B-grade."

Ning Bai did not seem willing to discuss it. He looked out at the gray cosmic dust storm beyond the window. After a long time, a self-mocking smile flickered across his face.

"How else could I have advanced? Didn't you hear my nickname when you were in military academy? Ning Bai, the golden-haired social butterfly. From puberty onward, my mental power fluctuated violently. It hurt so badly I couldn't endure it, so I learned to please the male students around me. I hung around the male clubs every day, played ball with them, ran errands and did their heavy work, let them copy my homework, and sometimes begged them to help ease my mental pain. That was how I finally made B-grade in college."

"Ah, that..." Wen Zhuo's gaze suddenly began drifting. "So those rumors were true? I thought people were jealous of you and making things up. No wonder you didn't get the Outstanding Graduate award even though you ranked first in every subject. No, no—then if word gets out that we're here alone, one female and one male, talking... I'm done for. Teacher Xiao Tian will be angry. I'll be kneeling on a washboard when I get home tonight."

"Tsk, tsk. So the son of the Science Ministry's Minister Tian is that fierce at home."

Wen Zhuo sighed. "That's why I've always said there is no such thing as male supremacy and female subordination. That line is just something the upper class manufactured to divert social conflict. The law may say a male Zerg can keep seven or eight, even ten female attendants and female slaves at home, but ordinary C-grade and D-grade males simply don't have the means. Even me—a B-grade male, a military academy graduate working in a state office—if I took another secondary mate, Teacher Xiao Tian would break my legs. The Speaker's family keeps dozens of B-grade-and-above male Zergs to serve his idiot son. People with power and influence can do whatever they want. That is society's greatest injustice."

Ning Bai smiled bitterly. "A male Zerg who has enjoyed every advantage should spare me that indignant empty talk. Come denounce society's injustice when someone has carved a slave code beneath your wings that can never be erased. I came today because I need your help, Wen Zhuo. Can you make an exception?"

"What kind of help?" Wen Zhuo looked at him warily. "We're both married Zergs. I can't give you mental counseling, I absolutely can't. Teacher Xiao Tian, he... his father is the minister of our Science Ministry! Ning Bai, I have always considered you a like-minded good friend. I have never had improper thoughts about you!"

Ning Bai looked at Wen Zhuo speechlessly.

"What are you thinking? Look at me." He spread his arms and turned in a circle before Wen Zhuo. "Do I look like I need mental counseling?"

"That's true." Wen Zhuo propped up his chin and examined Ning Bai. "I wanted to ask as soon as you came in. A D-grade male is that impressive? You look especially well right now. Like you've been... thoroughly nourished inside and out. Your body and mental power are both completely relaxed."

Ning Bai shot Wen Zhuo a displeased look, clearly telling him not to use such explicit wording.

Wen Zhuo raised his hands in surrender. "I'm only stating the facts, using some... wording you would understand easily."

Ning Bai did not dwell on the joke and explained further. "Actually, we didn't do anything last night. The Association people put me through the wringer and did not leave until very late; then he put some medicine on me, and I fell asleep. I haven't slept that soundly in a long time. When I woke up, I felt completely refreshed. Do you think he could be..."

"A high-grade male Zerg?" Wen Zhuo said. "There have been cases. Some biological-information testers in poor districts have aged, so their results aren't accurate. The government pays for a second test for Zergs of B-grade or above, but not for C-grade or D-grade ones. Some poor people are unwilling to pay a professional institution for testing, so they just accept it."

"And he..." Ning Bai pressed his lips together and looked away, toward the window. "He's very handsome. More handsome than you. I've never seen a D-grade male Zerg so good-looking. He's very handsome, like... a star in the sky."

"Pfft!" Wen Zhuo burst out laughing. "Ning Bai, what kind of lousy comparison is that? I have no idea what you mean. I think I know what you want my help with. Sorry, I can't help. It is a serious crime for a female slave to steal a sample of his male lord's biological information and submit it for testing without permission. Of course, you can find someone on the darknet to do it. You know the particulars better than I do."

"I haven't even said anything, and you're refusing. Some friend you are." Ning Bai spread his hands contemptuously. "You're a professional. Isn't there another way to make a preliminary judgment of his mental grade?"

Wen Zhuo thought for a moment. "Male Zergs of B-grade or above can use mental tentacles. Like this."

Several transparent mental tentacles suddenly extended from his body, rapidly reaching different places in the laboratory. Under Wen Zhuo's control, one took down a file, one opened a window, and one smoothed Ning Bai's golden hair.

Wen Zhuo smiled at Ning Bai. "Can your male lord do that?"

Ning Bai shook his head.

"So don't indulge in wishful thinking, Ning Bai. A D-grade male Zerg—and you expect him to help you advance to A-grade? Settle down and be a major general for the rest of your life. Behave yourself and stop making trouble. Considering your past military achievements, the people above won't make things too difficult for you."

Ning Bai gave a derisive snort and shook his head. "You think the military will keep supporting me forever? In the years since the war with K-12 ended, the border has been peaceful. Calls to cut the military and weaken female soldiers' power are everywhere. And inside the military, maybe they think it's humiliating that I am a D-grade male's slave and want to kick me out to be a public-security officer."

"A public-security officer? Surely not..."

"It's not without precedent." Ning Bai shrugged.

He seemed to recall something else. Standing there in thought for a moment, he suddenly leaned close to Wen Zhuo. "Actually, I have a theory... Informants say K-12 Planet has been unsettled again lately. The black iron beasts of the mining planet, whom we suppressed before, seem to be waiting for an opportunity to move. If the male Zerg matched to me really is only D-grade, then there is only one possibility—he must be particularly compatible with me. Otherwise, why would my legs go weak and my wings tremble whenever I get close to him..."

Wen Zhuo looked alarmed and swiftly backed away from Ning Bai.

"Ning Bai, watch your language. I might accuse you of harassing a high-grade male Zerg."

"You don't qualify," Ning Bai said mercilessly. "Wen Zhuo, I came today because I want you to use your connections. I want a mental compatibility test with that D-grade male Zerg. I suspect he may be a spy the enemy army sent to Zerg Planet specifically to target me."

Wen Zhuo froze, then erupted into laughter like a particle storm.

"Hahahahaha!"

Ning Bai frowned. "Is that so funny?"

"A mental compatibility test?" Wen Zhuo pulled a thick stack of forms from his drawer. "Here. Fill out all these applications, get the more than one hundred official seals they require, and come back to me. I'll perform a mental compatibility test for you at once."

Ning Bai demanded, "The Speaker's son took more than nine hundred tests. Did you make him fill these out too?"

"Are you the Speaker's son?"

"..."

Ning Bai had no answer.

"You are only the military's tool of war. You may be a major general, a Golden Eagle. Every soldier admires you and sees you as a role model. But in the eyes of those ever closer to the top, you're only a lowborn Zerg who clawed out of the slums—an orphan with no foundation at all."

Wen Zhuo patted Ning Bai's shoulder. "Think about it. If the one married to Bei En had not been you, but your little fan Micas, would Bei En have dared bully him like that? Would the court have made that ruling? Would a slave code that could never be erased have been carved beneath his wings? Think about what I just said. What is this society's greatest injustice?"

Ning Bai drew a deep breath and said in a low voice, "...No matter what, I will advance to A-grade. I will not remain a major general for the rest of my life."

He opened the door.

"Yi Luo, let's go."

"Yes, sir!"

Author's Note:

A lot of the worldbuilding here is my own invention. Dear readers, just take it as light entertainment.

Second-Level Clerk: Huh? Mental tentacles? There's something this good? From now on, posting one hundred thousand words a day won't just be a dream!