Chapter 322: Male Zerg Celebrity × Arms Dealer (9): "I can work on your farm. I don’t need the status of a Female Slave."

Before he knew it, Shamir had already been staying at Mr. Ravens’s place for more than half a month. When his manager came to tell him about the livestream schedule, Shamir was completely dumbfounded.

He had signed the contract too long ago and had completely forgotten about it for a moment.

These days, he had been so busy petting fluffballs, playing with birds with Mr. Ravens, and incubating the dragon egg that he had almost forgotten he still had work to do.

It was already too late to go back and prepare for the livestream, and Shamir still had to take the fluffballs out for a walk later, so he asked Mr. Ravens if he could borrow a gaming pod for the stream.

Originally, he had wanted to borrow a room to stream from, but that might end up capturing some of the room’s furnishings on camera and infringing on Mr. Ravens’s privacy. After thinking it over, Shamir gave up on the idea.

Fortunately, this was a game promotion. He could simply stream directly from inside the game. What better way was there to promote it?

Naturally, Ravens agreed when he heard Shamir wanted to use a gaming pod, and he also planned to try the game himself.

“Uh...”

Shamir was stunned. He absolutely could not imagine what Mr. Ravens would look like playing a romance game.

But if Mr. Ravens wanted to play, Shamir certainly couldn’t stop him, so the two of them could only enter their gaming pods together.

At the thought of Mr. Ravens falling in love with some virtual Male Zerg, Shamir inexplicably felt a little uncomfortable. There was even a strange sense of crisis in his heart.

He knew just how outstanding the virtual Male Zergs in the game were. It was extremely easy for them to win the affection of Female Zergs. Some Female Zergs even directly treated the Male Zergs in the game as their Male Lords, and there were even those who held weddings with virtual Male Zergs...

Shamir closed his eyes and thumped his head, trying to knock those strange thoughts out of his mind.

Those weren’t things a contractual lover like him should be thinking about. Forget merely dating a virtual Male Zerg—even if Mr. Ravens really fell in love with an actual Male Zerg, Shamir had no right to say anything about it. All he could do was fulfill his own responsibilities until the contract expired, or until the contract was terminated early.

He logged into the game.

Shamir had been given access to the new-version test by the game company, so he went straight into the new version.

What he didn’t know was that the two gaming pods were connected.

Ravens had specifically prepared these gaming pods for Shamir. His original intention had been to keep up with the thinking of younger Zergs. Shamir might like virtual games, and Ravens could play together with him. But over the years, every time Shamir visited, he came and left in a hurry. The gaming pods had gone through several generations of upgrades, yet had remained unused all this time.

The pods had an internal party-binding function. Unless the party connection was deliberately severed, users would enter the game together.

Shamir obviously hadn’t had time to check such details. He was still thinking about the livestream.

The moment he entered the game, what appeared before his eyes was a vast expanse of fields and wilderness. Some plots were covered in neat rows of crops, while others had only just been cultivated and were still waiting to be planted.

A gentle breeze brushed across his face. The sunlight was just right. Standing there, Shamir was momentarily stunned.

This looked like a farm.

That gave Shamir complicated feelings.

His family also had a small farm. If he hadn’t left home to make his way as a celebrity, he probably would have inherited that farm.

Though it wouldn’t be too late to go back and take over the farm after retiring from show business.

The farm in front of him was somewhat different from his family’s. There were none of the huge modern machines or robotic Zerg workers. It looked much more rustic and natural.

Shamir didn’t think too much about it. He first opened the livestream through the management interface.

He was the Federation’s top celebrity and had an enormous fanbase. The moment the stream started, countless Zergs flooded in, and the comments flew by at dizzying speed.

Shamir greeted them with practiced ease. “Hello, all my Shamir fans, and hello to everyone watching the livestream. I’m Shamir. Today, I’ll be testing the new version of <Virtual Zerg Romance>.”

“A lot of content has been added. There are new maps, different timeline options, and you can experience many more types of romance in different settings.”

As Shamir looked through the new content, he explained it to the viewers, finding it rather novel himself.

For a romance game, the fact that <Virtual Zerg Romance> had made its maps this enormous genuinely surprised him.

For small domestic games like this, usually a single main room was enough to get started. At most, one house and one neighborhood would be more than enough. Even games with larger maps generally stopped at the scale of one city.

But <Virtual Zerg Romance> genuinely expanded its maps according to the way Zerg civilization had expanded its territory: planet after planet, star system after star system, as though it really intended to let every Zerg experience a different romance.

The new version had even added backgrounds from different timelines and different eras.

Shamir checked. The current setting was seven thousand years ago, during an era when the various families ruled separately. Some large families would establish kingdoms or duchies, but there was no unified empire or Federation.

His identity was the newly succeeded head of an insignificant minor family, and he owned a farm. Although it was a low-ranking little family, it still had considerable prestige in the local area.

Shamir read through the information while introducing it to the audience.

“‘My’ Male Father passed away not long ago. ‘I’ am the only male child in this family, so I inherited this farm. Now I’m the only one left in the household. The system mission says I need to bring back several Female Slaves to work... Female Slaves?”

The thoroughly outdated term made Shamir pause.

After entering the Federation era, the government had ceased recognizing “Female Slaves” and abolished that status entirely. At least officially, there were no longer any Female Slaves among the Zerg race.

But considering the historical period in which the game was set, such a term made sense.

After explaining that to the viewers, he continued.

“The system wants me to find several Female Slaves to work here, and I also need to marry a Female Attendant or Female Lord to help me manage the farm.”

After saying that, Shamir himself fell silent.

What kind of ancient setting was this?

If he needed Zergs to work, why wasn’t he hiring workers or buying robotic Zergs? Why was he supposed to go and acquire Female Slaves?

Were Female Slaves leafy vegetables growing in a field or something? Was he supposed to just go out and pick some up whenever he wanted?

Then he glanced at the livestream comments and saw the entire screen filled with Zergs calling him “Male Lord.”

[Male Lord, marry me!]

[Marry me, marry me! I’m really strong and great at working!]

[I know how to manage a farm! Marry me!]

[I have experience managing a Fortune 500 company!]

[Even being a Female Slave is fine! Male Lord, look at me!]

...

Shamir hurriedly looked away and told them not to call him that.

“You can call me Shamir or Shair. My Female Father and Female Older Brothers all like calling me Shair.”

Perhaps because he was surrounded by the familiar environment of a farm, Shamir couldn’t resist saying a little more.

Only when the comments noticed how rarely he spoke about his family and excitedly began questioning him did Shamir realize what he had done. He didn’t continue and changed the subject instead.

“Let’s go into town first and see if there’s another way to complete the mission.”

It said he needed Female Slaves, a Female Attendant, or a Female Lord, but surely hiring Zergs to work would also be acceptable?

Shamir knew that this game offered an extremely high degree of freedom. He didn’t have to follow the system mission exactly.

The farm was some distance from town, so Shamir boarded an aircraft.

Then he discovered that the aircraft couldn’t fly.

It only drove along the ground.

Shamir: “...”

Did they really have to imitate antiquity this faithfully?

The viewers quickly noticed the problem as well.

[€€? This aircraft looks broken. Is it a game bug?]

[Is this even an aircraft? It’s obviously an antique!]

[Is that thing reliable? Could something go wrong? Will it explode? I’m worried about Shair’s safety.]

Shamir reassured them. “Don’t worry, it’s fine. I’ve ridden in props like this while filming historical dramas before. Nothing will happen.”

Though the one he had ridden back then had merely been a film prop modified from a normal aircraft. Only the exterior looked retro; inside, it had been a genuine modern aircraft.

But the one Shamir was looking at now seemed ancient no matter how he examined it, like an authentic product from the old era.

Truthfully, Shamir himself wasn’t entirely confident about it either.

But this was a game, after all. In the end, the novelty outweighed everything else. Rather than feeling frightened, he found it quite interesting.

He admired the rarely seen natural scenery outside the window while chatting with the viewers, and before long, he arrived in town.

It was a distinctly old-fashioned little town. The buildings were around two to five stories high, and the roads weren’t wide, only broad enough for two ground-traveling aircraft to pass side by side. The streets themselves were quite lively, with plenty of Zergs setting up stalls and loudly hawking their wares along the roadside.

For any interstellar Zerg, this was an extremely rare sight. The comments were filled with praise for how faithfully the game had recreated the era, making them feel as though they had truly entered that world.

Shamir also looked around curiously. He had acted in historical dramas before, but those sets could only be described as imitations of antiquity. They came nowhere close to the sensation of having an entire world from thousands of years ago brought to life before his eyes.

He found himself thinking about whether dramas could be filmed inside games in the future, only to remember that he was planning to retire from show business, which made him feel a little regretful.

There was no point thinking so much about it now.

Shamir collected his thoughts and stepped out of the aircraft.

Instantly, every Zerg on the street—whether they were selling goods from stalls, wandering around idly, or concentrating on their own business—seemed to sense something. They all turned toward him at once, expressions of extreme surprise, novelty, and fervor appearing on their faces.

“A Male Zerg! It’s a Male Zerg!”

“Your Excellency!”

“So this is what a noble Male Zerg looks like? So beautiful...”

“He looked at me.”

“He was looking at me!”

Shamir stiffened beneath those pairs of burning eyes. Listening to the excited discussions around him, for a moment he almost thought he wasn’t strolling through a game but had run into a crowd of his own fanatical fans.

Was such an exaggerated reaction really necessary?

He only knew that he was a Male Zerg from a minor family. He hadn’t heard anything about his rank being especially high either. His profile listed him as “B-rank.”

Something vaguely flickered through Shamir’s mind.

Suddenly, he realized that he hadn’t seen a single Male Zerg along the entire journey.

Here, on this whole street, every single Zerg was either a Female Zerg or a sub-female.

Shamir’s expression stiffened slightly as something occurred to him.

€€€€What was the male-to-female ratio seven thousand years ago again?

Although he had never looked up the exact numbers, the imbalance had definitely been far greater than it was today.

As a celebrity accustomed to being the center of attention, Shamir wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with this kind of situation. He quickly regained his composure and calmly asked,

“My farm needs to hire some Zergs to work. Could you tell me where I should look for workers?”

A hint of confusion appeared on the faces of the surrounding Zergs, but someone quickly reacted and respectfully stepped forward.

“Your Excellency wants Female Slaves, correct? So long as you give the word, any Zerg in this town would be willing to become your Female Slave. Or perhaps... would you consider me?”

As the Zerg spoke, his gaze grew even more fervent, overflowing with expectation.

Shamir recoiled so quickly that he practically shot backward.

Even the viewers hadn’t expected this.

Who recommended themselves as a Female Slave?!

All right, this was inside a game.

Maybe... perhaps... that actually was something you could do here?

The fans immediately became enthusiastic. They scrutinized the Zerg from head to toe before unanimously declaring that he wouldn’t do. He was far too ordinary and nowhere near worthy of their Shamir. He barely even qualified to be a Female Slave. Shamir should marry them instead.

Shamir wasn’t thinking about any of that at all. He hurriedly waved his hands.

“Not Female Slaves. I’m looking for hired help. Workers. I’ll pay them!”

The Female Zerg who had volunteered tilted his head.

“Do they absolutely have to be ‘worker Zergs’? Would ‘soldier Zergs’ work? In other words, Female Zergs.”

Shamir: “???”

Where were all these ancient terms coming from?!

Someone nearby even shouted that a noble Male Zerg like him shouldn’t need to pay when looking for Zergs. Instead, the Female Zergs and sub-females who went with him should be paying him.

“...”

Shamir silently covered his face for a while, gathered the shattered remains of his composure, and only then explained again that he was simply looking for Zergs to work.

An employment relationship.

He did not want Female Slaves.

This time, the way everyone looked at him changed slightly.

“You won’t even grant us the status of Female Slaves?”

Their gazes held a complicated struggle, along with the faintest trace of accusation, as though Shamir were some heartless, faithless Male Zerg.

But then the Zerg seemed to digest the matter on his own and said,

“That’s fine too. For a Male Zerg as beautiful and noble as Your Excellency, even if you don’t grant us the status of Female Slaves, there will still be Zergs willing to work on your farm just to be closer to you. After all, that would still make us prospective Female Slaves.”

Hearing the first half, Shamir had thought there might finally be some hope.

Then the second half came out, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

What in the fucking Tianjia was a “prospective Female Slave”?!

After accidentally swearing in his head, Shamir hurriedly covered his mouth and reflected on himself.

Then a cool, steady voice sounded beside him.

“I can.”

Shamir turned toward the familiar voice.

There stood a Female Zerg dressed in old-fashioned mercenary clothing, looking like Mr. Ravens, sounding like Ravens, and even staring at him with exactly the same gaze Mr. Ravens used.

The Zerg who was practically identical to Mr. Ravens looked at him and said,

“I can work on your farm. I don’t need money.”

He paused, then added,

“And I don’t need the status of a Female Slave either.”

Shamir stood frozen in astonishment, completely unaware that the instant this Female Zerg appeared, his livestream had already exploded.

Question marks and exclamation marks flooded the entire screen.

[He’s after the position of your Female Lord! Run, baby! Don’t let him trick you!]

[Fuck fuck fuck! Ravens?! That Ravens, the arms-industry giant?! The Ravens from the fanfics?! He actually exists? No, wait, he actually appeared inside the game, and he’s right next to Shamir?!!]

[I DO NOT APPROVE OF THIS MARRIAGE!!!]

[I approve.]

[I think it’s fine too. Let him work on the farm for ten years first and we’ll see.]

[Exactly! Shair worked for him for ten years, so now it’s his turn! If he does a good job, we’ll consider making it official!]

[Making it official? Keep him on probation!]