CDJMM – Volume 4 -Chapter 52 Filming in the Interstellar Era (52)

“I have some Zerg friends.”

This was the only sentence Le Jing said on the show. For all the host’s follow-up questions, he merely smiled without answering—an ambiguous smile that allowed infinite imagination, letting the Zerg’s suspicions snowball bigger and bigger.

Ever since discovering that the Brain Bugs carried human genes, Le Jing had held onto a thought.

Perhaps in the eyes of the Zerg, humans possessed intelligent brains and outstanding creativity, which was why the Queen chose to fuse human genes to evolve the Brain Bug branch.

However, as a human, Le Jing understood human dark nature the best.

He knew just how selfish, despicable, sly, and suspicious humans were. He knew that the human race excelled most at internal strife—a trait decided by their genes.

There were once 14 types of ancient humans. But later, the other 13 ancient human species all went extinct. Only Homo sapiens survived and multiplied, gradually evolving into modern humans.

Why did only Homo sapiens survive while all our other “cousins” perished? Was it because Homo sapiens were particularly lucky?

No.

The answer was simple.

Because Homo sapiens killed every one of the other 13 primitive human species.

Over roughly ten thousand years, Homo sapiens carried out a brutal genocide against every other primitive human on Earth, then ate their men, raped their women, and produced offspring with “stronger genes”—the early prototypes of modern humans.

Later, after Homo sapiens wiped out all their cousins, the violent and combative sapiens turned their weapons inward. Thus, murder and war followed one after another.

From ancient times to now, humans have always excelled at fighting among themselves.

So Le Jing wanted to try provoking internal conflict within the Zerg.

The Zerg Queen, while giving the Brain Bugs their intelligent brains, also gave them self-awareness.

He simply did not believe that those Brain Bugs—who possessed enlightened minds and awakened self-awareness—would willingly accept the Queen’s pheromone control and obediently serve as her puppets and cannon fodder.

Likewise, Le Jing didn’t believe the Zerg Queen would wholeheartedly trust these Brain Bugs who carried human bloodlines.

What Le Jing needed to do was widen the rift between the Queen and the Brain Bugs, enlarge the Queen’s distrust toward them.

When it came to schemes and manipulation, humanity was the Zerg’s ancestor.

Not long after finishing the variety show, Le Jing was summoned again by the Chief of the Propaganda Department.

The moment they met, the Chief cut straight to the point:

“What’s the story with those two songs? Were they really ancient Earth songs you obtained from the Zerg?”

Though he said it, his face was full of doubt—clearly he didn’t believe Le Jing’s nonsense.

Le Jing looked innocent. “Of course not. I just said that casually to see if I could stir some discord within the Zerg.”

The Chief was speechless. “You’re oversimplifying things. That kind of trick might fool ordinary people, but even I’m not fooled. And you want to fool the Queen?”

You may not be fooled, but the Queen will be.

Because all the songs in Le Jing’s movies and dramas were based on music from human history long since lost.

From the previous hacker infiltration of the Zerg star’s database, he knew the Zerg possessed a complete backup of human history.

As for why the Queen didn’t completely erase that history and instead kept a backup…

Le Jing guessed it was probably for study.

To defeat your enemy, you must first understand them.

And what could be a better anthropology textbook than the history of human civilization?

Through studying history, the Queen could not only know herself and her opponent but also absorb human cultural achievements for her own use.

And knowing the real history made it easier for the Zerg to rewrite and reinterpret human history.

For example, the now-popular “Zerg Taught Civilization Theory” was one such rewritten version. When Empress’s Hound was trending, rumors even spread online claiming that “Wu Zetian possessed Zerg Queen blood, which is why she could become Emperor.”

But these details weren’t necessary to tell the Chief.

Le Jing simply couldn’t explain his transmigration. If the country misunderstood him as a Zerg spy, he’d be miserable. He didn’t want to try backstabbing the Zerg only to get executed by his own government.

So Le Jing only shrugged, speaking casually: “I was just trying things out. If it disgusts them even a little, great. If it doesn’t work, no harm done.”

The Chief almost wanted to sigh. “How is there no harm? You said you made the movie to warn audiences about Zerg cultural infiltration, and now you publicly say on a TV program that you have some Zerg friends. Have you considered how much controversy that could stir up?”

Le Jing spread his hands. “Their mouths are on their own faces. They can say whatever they want; I don’t care. Besides—”

“Besides what?”

“Being vigilant against Zerg cultural infiltration and saying I have some Zerg friends don’t conflict at all! State affairs are state affairs, personal relationships are personal relationships—they don’t contradict each other.” Le Jing rubbed his chin and added, “Although… I don’t actually have any Zerg friends.”

The commander: “…I don’t care about that, as long as you don’t mind.” He looked at the young man whose face showed complete indifference and couldn’t help asking, “You’re usually quite steady. Why were you so impulsive this time?”

After thinking for a moment, Le Jing answered, “Probably because my hatred toward the Zerg runs very deep.”

The commander waved him off impatiently. “Alright, go home. ‘The Dawns Here Are Quiet’ will premiere in Europe next month. In front of the European media, you’d better not run your mouth again!”

Le Jing was surprised. “So soon? I thought the earliest would be the month after next!”

“Your film really suits European tastes, so the European Film Association wants to bring it in as soon as possible. A special fast-track approval was issued—our country opened an expedited channel for you. It’ll premiere in Europe next month. And not only Europe—America, Africa, Oceania… ‘The Dawns Here Are Quiet’ will be released in these regions one after another.” Speaking of this, the commander’s face lit up with pride, as though basking in the glory himself. “This film can be considered one of our country’s representative works in recent years. Through it, we’ve showcased the outstanding level of our current film industry to the entire Earth Alliance and expanded our international influence. The leaders are extremely satisfied— they even praised you to me in particular!”

Le Jing hurriedly said, overwhelmed, “I only did a bit of trivial work. The leaders overpraised me.”

The commander shook his head in disagreement. “Modesty is a virtue, but too much modesty becomes hypocrisy!” He patted Le Jing’s shoulder and encouraged him, “Keep working hard. The future belongs to young people like you. I hope you continue to strive forward and create even more outstanding works!”

Le Jing nodded cooperatively, showing an ambitious and energetic smile. “Thank you, sir. I’ll work hard and will definitely live up to the organization’s cultivation.”

……

Allen had noticed the recent online attacks against Shi Jing.

“Lol, Shi Jing’s double standards are unreal—ranting about the Zerg’s cultural infiltration while also claiming to have Zerg friends. Isn’t that a slap to his own face?”

“I thought he hated the Zerg to the bone? Yet here he is happily hanging out with Zerg buddies?”

“Have you noticed? Shi Jing is using patriotism as a cover—provoking hatred between humans and Zerg just to earn dirty money. Everyone who bought a movie ticket is just a leek waiting to be harvested.”

“The Zerg are really suffering silent misfortune—sitting at home and getting blamed for everything. Shi Jing is an expert at spinning conspiracies, forcing deep meanings out of a simple film.”

Allen was furious enough to explode.

Since watching The Dawns Here Are Quiet, a new world had opened before his eyes. He began seeing the world differently.

When he lived in Europe, he had never dug into the deeper meanings behind cultural works, nor had he ever noticed that literary and artistic works might be weapons the Zerg used for peaceful evolution!

Only now, seeing so many people online speaking up for the Zerg, did he truly realize that a large portion of humanity had already been completely brainwashed.

While he was ignorant and unaware, so many of his human compatriots had already become loyal followers of the Zerg.

The ideological struggle could not wait.

Laughably, he had never even considered this matter before!

Whenever Allen thought about how he had unknowingly been spiritually castrated and culturally brainwashed by the Zerg for so many years, a cold chill ran down his spine.

He rushed through every major social platform to speak out for Shi Jing, shouting his support.

Allen was not the only one doing so.

……

When Le Jing returned home, it was already past eight in the evening.

Even though the movie had already been released, it didn’t mean he could relax. As the director, he had to participate in promotional activities to help create buzz. He had been running around nonstop for days.

Today was considered an early return home. After a shower, he lay on his bed and casually opened the light-brain to search for reviews of The Dawns Here Are Quiet.

And unsurprisingly, he found criticisms aimed at him.

Just as the commander had warned, he had loudly proclaimed his stance against Zerg cultural infiltration on various variety shows, yet turned around and claimed online that he had some Zerg friends. Such inconsistency was bound to attract scolding.

But soon, those negative voices were drowned out by the overwhelming tide of support from the masses.

“So the Zerg have been peacefully evolving us for so many years already!”

“No wonder those past films and dramas felt strange! So that’s why!”

“Damn that human–Zerg romance trope, it’s disgusting. And people actually find it touching? Seriously?”

“Thank you, Director Shi, for filming something like this. Thinking about how I lived ignorantly for decades makes my spine go cold!”

Le Jing let out a long, relieved breath.

Although the road ahead was winding and thorny, at least for this moment, he had made a small breakthrough. He had awakened some people.

And with every person who awakened, he gained another comrade. With every additional comrade, humanity took one more step toward ideological liberation and independence.

One day, the true history would be revealed, and the long-forgotten human glory would once again shine across the human starry sky, illuminating the eternal night.

……

Zerg Star.

Sevier had already been isolated and investigated for a week.

He had been taken directly from the Propaganda Department by the Royal Guard—on suspicion of possibly leaking confidential information to humans.

The Guard was a special Zerg cast. Their forms varied, each possessing different abilities. They were a violent organization created by the Queen to maintain Zerg order and stability. Among them, the Royal Guard was the Queen’s exclusive unit, responsible only to her.

The Royal Guard obeyed only the Queen.

Which meant: Sevier was taken away by the Queen’s orders.

And it was only because he understood this that Sevier did not resist.

Sevier wasn’t the only brain-Zerg taken. Several colleagues shared the same fate.

Their only common trait was: they had all had contact with humans.

Because of the things Shi Jing said on the program, the Queen was suspicious of them.

So Sevier was forced to open his brain as the Guard examined the memories stored in his hippocampus.

The Guard’s tentacles slid through his brain matter. Sevier trembled uncontrollably, his entire body taut with nerves. The intense pain twisted his face into a ghastly, demonic expression.

Why did she doubt his loyalty so easily?!

Your Majesty… if you never trusted us, why create us in the first place? As long as we carry even a trace of human genes, will we never be worthy of your trust?

At the same moment, countless brain-Zerg like Sevier silently harbored the same doubts.

On Zerg Star, an unknown undercurrent was beginning to surge.