Chapter 16, Level Test SS...
That dream was so long, so comfortable, so real.
When Vison woke up, he tried to catch the insects next to him as he had in his dream, but he caught nothing.
A sense of loss and loneliness washed over me.
This was the first time Vison had dreamed of living with other people—no, I should say, with insects.
Dreams that are too vivid and realistic during deep sleep often leave one with strange feelings about the dream subject even after waking up, leading to erroneous perceptions or obsessions, just like he is now.
In a daze, he felt as if he and Fipos had truly formed a close connection.
But when he saw the luxurious ceiling above him, all the correct memories came flooding back, and he recalled the exact opposite.
There's nothing to miss.
He said to himself.
This incident, however, made me feel less than happy.
With a gloomy face, he put on his clothes, pushed open the door, and wanted to go out for some fresh air, only to encounter Lan Ke, who had been waiting outside for a long time.
"Little one, did you not sleep well?" Lan Ke asked with concern as soon as he saw him.
"President." Faced with Lanco's extremely concerned attitude, Vincent still felt particularly overwhelmed. He asked somewhat awkwardly, "Is there something you need?"
Lan Ke smiled and said, "It's nothing, I just wanted to ask how your accommodation is? Is there anything you need to buy? Once you're ready, I'll take you for a physical exam and check your health level."
Vincent shook his head: "No, everything is fine. Let's go now."
So Visen followed Lanco into a large consultation room, like a large hospital.
......
The physical examination process was quick, not much different from when he went to the hospital for a physical examination as a human being.
"Your Excellency is in excellent health, with exceptionally high levels of pheromones and mental energy, and no hidden injuries." The insect doctor, wearing large glasses, exclaimed in amazement as he held up the file.
He had never seen a male insect with such abundant pheromones and spiritual energy; in fact, the amount of pheromones released per second was much higher than that of other male insects.
No wonder it's always so comfortable to spend some time with this gentleman; after all, male insect pheromones have a very strong calming effect.
Upon hearing what the insect doctor said, Vincent suddenly remembered that he had originally gone to the clinic on the spaceship to learn how to control pheromones, but when he opened the door, he heard Fipos say that he was going to extract his pheromones, which scared him so much that he ran away on the spot.
Later, he spent time with Feppos until they disembarked from the spaceship, and for a time he completely forgot about controlling his pheromones.
So far, it seems that his uncontrollable pheromones... haven't affected any insects other than Feppos?
Vincent scratched his head in confusion, but wisely refrained from asking any questions.
"Go take the level test. Your physical condition is perfectly fine for the test." The insect doctor looked at him with a kind and proud expression.
Vincent listened and nodded slightly.
But Lanco, who was standing next to him, became extremely excited after hearing this and immediately pulled Visen to run outside, showing no sign of being the president of the male insect protection association.
Vison was led to a dark little room where many insects were already waiting.
They were all male insects who were invited or simply wanted to watch the spectacle.
As soon as they entered, all the insects looked over, accompanied by what they thought were quiet whispers.
"This is the guy we just discovered? He certainly looks different from us."
"I heard he's S-rank..."
"No wonder Lesder's face is so sour today, he can't sit still anymore! I hate his usual deadpan attitude." The owner of this voice was unusually high-pitched and fast. Vison noticed that after he finished speaking, the insect sitting opposite him had an even darker face. It must be Lesder from the original book.
"Stop talking, they're all here."
"......"
Visen glanced around the room and found that President Lan Ke's domineering appearance was truly an exception; most of the male insects had delicate features, making it difficult to distinguish between male and female, and giving off a frail and delicate feeling.
Many of them had pale faces and thin bodies, looking like sickly people. Of course, most of these "sickly people" had arrogant and domineering expressions on their faces.
He and Lan Ke looked particularly out of place standing together, like two teachers with a group of children.
"Ahem, quiet down." Lan Ke coughed a few times, interrupting the group of male insects' supposedly quiet discussion.
Lan Ke: "Let me introduce our new friend, this is Visen, also a male."
"Oh dear, let's do the level test first. I don't want to be friends with low-level males." Lanco's words had barely left his mouth when Nego, who was sitting by the window filing his nails, let out a mocking laugh.
Nego has always been at odds with Ranko; after all, if it weren't for Ranko, the chairmanship would have fallen to Nego.
Nigo couldn't accept that he had lost to Ranco, and he always had to argue with Ranco.
"That's right, that's right." The insects next to them chimed in, all eager to watch the show.
"Then let's do the level test now." Before Lanco could say anything, Vincent spoke up first.
His expression was indifferent, showing no emotion whatsoever due to the previous discussion or Nego's words, like a clear, still spring flowing down a snow-capped mountain.
“Alright, then let’s do the level test.” Lanco knew these male insects too well; only a higher level could shut them up.
The transparent crystal ball emitted a soft white light in the somewhat dim room.
"Put your hand on it, then cover it with your pheromones." Lanco explained the testing method to Vincent, his expression showing barely suppressed nervousness, yet he reassured Vincent, "Don't be nervous, baby, you can do it."
Vincent placed his hand on it, but since he couldn't control his pheromones, he had no idea how to apply them.
After a while, the crystal ball still emitted a soft white light, without changing in the slightest.
As time passed, the murmurs below grew louder and louder.
Nigo couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Haha, Lanco, how did you stoop so low as to treat a useless male insect like a treasure?"
Lanco frowned. Vison was the insect that the hive had chosen to pick him up and take him home; there was no way they could be wrong.
"Relax, kid," Lanco reassured Vison, worried that the swarm of insects below might affect his mood.
Vincent couldn't hear him speak. He was lost in a mysterious state of mind, and everything around him seemed to become an illusion. In a daze, he saw thin white threads extending from the crystal ball and wrapping around his palm. Then, these white threads that touched his palm slowly turned ice blue.
That must be his pheromones.
Phibes once told him that his pheromones had a sharp, glacial scent.
The icy blue color slowly spread across the crystal ball, turning the entire ball ice blue.
Slowly, golden letters appeared in the center of the crystal ball. It started as E, quickly changed to DCBA, slowed down after becoming A, and then changed to S after a while.
Vison suddenly heard gasps of surprise from those around him.
When he came to his senses, he realized that in the entire Zerg race, A-rank and above were called high-ranking male Zerg, and SS-rank and above were called the jewels in the crown of the empire, and there were very few of them.
He tried to pull his hand back, but it was tightly entangled by the threads of the crystal ball and he couldn't break free.
Vison frowned and strained, his consciousness desperately resisting the crystal ball's threads from extracting his pheromones.
Finally, at a certain point, all the threads snapped. Vison staggered back a few steps due to the sudden loss of strength on the opposite side.
He leaned against the table and caught his breath, feeling a sense of exhaustion, but this exhaustion stemmed more from his struggle against the crystal ball's threads.
He looked up at Lanco, only to find Lanco's eyes and mouth wide open, looking utterly shocked. The other insects looked the same way, except for two whose faces were noticeably dark: Lesder and Nigo, who were staring at him with expressions of resentment and helplessness.
Vincent finally sensed that something was wrong.
He looked up and, upon seeing the numbers on the crystal ball, his pupils involuntarily widened.
The letters on the crystal ball had somehow changed from S to SS.
Well, thankfully it didn't become SSS.
Now that things had come to this, Vison could only console himself. He had a premonition that if he hadn't resisted the threads, he would have become an SSS, or even... higher.
Visen calmly accepted the result, but Lanco and his team could not.
"What, what is this?!" Lanco gripped the arm of the insect beside him in disbelief. "By the Insect God! Is this real? Am I dreaming?!"
"It should be true." Vison, caught off guard and innocently caught, hissed in pain.
Upon hearing this, Lanco quickly loosened his grip, but still couldn't help but grab his hand and shake it excitedly: "Baby, you really lived up to expectations! SS, it's been so long since we've had an SS-level male insect."
Lan Ke was so excited that he almost cried as he spoke.
He is the closest S-class male insect to SS-class, but after all these years of effort, he still cannot break through.
Most of the remaining SS-class male insects in the Empire are old, and the only SSS-class male insect is even on the verge of death. However, the number of young high-ranking male insects is decreasing, and more and more high-ranking female insects are dying due to mental riots.
This generational gap caused great anxiety among all the insects, but there was nothing they could do about it.
The appearance of each new high-ranking male is an exciting event, let alone such a rare SS-rank.
"Waaah, baby, you're so amazing." Lanco held back his tears for a long time, but he couldn't help but cry. He rushed over and wanted to hug Vison.
His expression and face were so jarring that when he lunged at Vison, he felt a momentary sense of homophobia.
He pushed him away, preventing him from hugging him: "It's not that exaggerated, you're SS-level too."
Lanco: "No, this is not the same."
Lanco's wish during his tenure was to witness the emergence of a new SS, so even though Lesder had always caused him a lot of trouble by maintaining his false image of a gentle insect, he had dealt with it all silently.
After all, Lesder was the most promising S-class to become SS-class after him, and Lesder was still young.
After learning about Vinson, he also dreamed that Vinson might be an SS-level player, but he also knew that the chances were slim.
Unexpectedly, his wish was fulfilled by Vison today, and he witnessed the emergence of a new young SS-class male insect.
This completely refutes the rumor that the Zerg can no longer produce SS-class male Zerglings, highlighting the undeniable importance of Visen to the Zerg.
Lan Ke was unable to control his emotions for a moment.
He excitedly took Visen's hand, turned around and announced, "From today onwards, Visen is a member of the Male Insect Protection Association."
The male insects below clapped excitedly and cheered, while others looked displeased, gritted their teeth, and were angry and unwilling, but dared not voice their opposition.
In the Zerg race, higher-level races can crush lower-level races; the higher-level races have no right to object.
Visen was somewhat taken aback when he heard Lanco so directly include him as a member of the Male Insect Protection Association.
The Male Insect Protection Association is a powerful gathering place with strict vetting processes. Every member is a formidable insect that can shake the empire, wielding considerable influence in the military, business, and political spheres.
The protagonist, Lesder, wanted to join the Male Insect Protection Association from the beginning, but was repeatedly rejected. Later, after Clark was promoted to marshal, he was finally able to become a member of the Male Insect Protection Association.
But... he just checked his level... and got in?
A note from the author:
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Dreaming is a truly wonderful feeling.
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