EROS [Zerg]

Do you think it's essential for male insects to participate in social work?

“That’s what I think, but not now.” Eros shook his head.

"Male insects are fragile and can be easily injured. Heavy physical labor and dangerous work are not suitable for them."

"Moreover, the Empire's professional training for male insects is not perfect at present. In fact, many male insect academies do not have professional training courses or teaching plans in this regard."

"If we rashly promote the participation of male insects in social work now, not only will we receive very little response, but there will also be very few male insects that are capable of doing the work, and we will not achieve the expected results."

"If we want to change this situation, we need to start with the schools of today's young boys. But the generation that will really make a difference is not this generation of young boys, but their descendants, or even the two or three generations after them."

"Because insect offspring are often influenced by their parents, it is too difficult to change the mindset of an adult insect. The only way is to use education to subtly change the mindset of male insect offspring, so that they no longer resist going out to work, and at least will not stop their offspring from going out to work when they want to."

"If we do this, perhaps it will be hundreds of years before the male insects truly gain the respect of the female insects."

Kowe nodded: "Your idea is unique, but you're still too young. Remember to keep these kinds of things to yourself."

"I was just talking nonsense," Eros said, lowering his head.

The doors of the suspended elevator opened at that moment.

"This is my laboratory." Kove didn't seem to care at all, just like in their previous conversation, and walked through the opposite door, introducing the place.

"What kind of research are you doing?" Eros asked curiously, looking around. There were many instruments in the Kowe laboratory that he had never seen before.

"Have you heard of genetic science?" Kove picked up a crystal from the table.

Eros shook his head: "I haven't dabbled in this before."

Kove placed the crystal in his hand into a two-meter-tall instrument next to him. At the very top of the instrument was a glass dome containing a small fleshy ball. After the crystal was placed inside, the small fleshy ball in the glass dome began to multiply at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Eros looked at Kowe beside him with a puzzled expression as the little fleshy ball grew to resemble a baby embryo.

"This is the gene sequence of the sawtooth orchid. Adding it to the recombinant gene will give the insectoids the same extremely fast growth rate as the sawtooth orchid."

Eros looked at the tiny life that had been brought to life inside the glass dome and couldn't help but wonder: "Will it grow up to be like a normal insect?"

When Ke Wei heard Eros's naive remark, which sounded like that of a little insect, he couldn't help but find it amusing, but this pleasure was tinged with the coldness of reason: "This is just a failed sample, used for experiments. He will never grow up."

As he spoke, Kove pressed the destroy button. With a few flashes of electricity and a hissing sound inside the glass case, the tiny embryo that was just beginning to grow turned into a wisp of smoke.

Eros looked at the now empty glass dome, a hint of regret in his eyes. The tiny embryo he had just seen, though a failed experiment, had unleashed a burst of life force within him that moment, stirring a deep sense of pity within him that he could hardly contain.

Eros recalled a dream from long ago, in which the little insect, held in the palm of its mother's hand, felt happiness in life.

“What you see is still in the experimental stage and will not be widely used in the short term.” Kowe then walked to another experimental platform.

"Genetic science will eventually be applied to life, and some of these technologies have already begun to gradually enter the daily lives of Zerg residents."

Eros saw Kowe pick up a box and place it in front of him: "This is a gene matching kit that is already being prepared for use in government departments."

"It can help lost, abducted, and abandoned insect offspring find their families throughout the entire empire."

"Find the family?" Eros was struck to the core by those words.

"Yes, we will identify insects that match the genetic data in the Imperial Gene Database, screen them, and eventually find their families."

Eros was very excited after hearing this: "Um... I'm very sorry, but I still want to ask, may I try it?"

"You want to try it?" Kowe asked doubtfully. "Is there a bug you're looking for?"

“Ah…these are my parents. I had some accident before and can’t remember who they are or where I am.” Eros nodded. “I really want to find them.”

"I see." Kowe looked sympathetic and regretful.

"The Imperial Gene Database is still being supplemented and improved. You can leave your blood sample first. If we can find a bug that matches your genes, I will contact you."

When Eros heard that Kove had agreed, how could he not be willing? He immediately stretched out his arm and left a blood sample.

"I'll let you know if I have any news."

Kowe took off his white rubber gloves and placed the collected blood sample into the testing instrument for analysis: "Your exam results should be out soon. Go back now and don't delay. The next exam is next."

Eros checked his terminal and, sure enough, received the message that the results had been released.

[Candidate Eros, written test score 100. Congratulations on advancing to the next practical exam. Please enter the examination room 15 minutes before the exam begins to collect your exam questions.]

When Eros saw the message in the terminal, his first reaction was joy. Being able to enter the next exam with a perfect score was already an affirmation of his hard work over the past year.

After a hurried farewell to Kuwait, Eros ran non-stop towards the examination hall, where the large screen displayed the written test scores of each candidate who had advanced to the next exam.

"Which bug could possibly get a perfect score?!"

"With such difficult questions this year, how could you still get a perfect score? Did you get in through connections?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Every time there's an exam for the military mechanic qualification certificate, it's proctored by the Imperial Brain. Who could cheat under the very nose of the Imperial Brain?"

"There are always exceptions, don't be so naive..."

Eros ran breathlessly to the waiting area, waiting for the exam to open. As soon as he arrived, he heard several insects whispering around him.

Eros looked up and saw that the female insect whose name was projected at the highest point and who had scored full marks was none other than himself.

"Oh, it's me..." Eros gasped for breath, trying to calm himself down. He thought to himself that he needed to work on his physical fitness when he got back, otherwise he would be out of breath after just a few steps, which was really unlike a female insect.

Eros had just calmed his breathing when he heard a cold, emotionless mechanical voice above him:

[Next, the first 10 candidates will enter the examination room, draw their exam questions, and take the exam.]