EROS [Zerg]

The speaker was Joan Eastland, the powerful lord of Cadian.

The male son Qiong's eyes are said to be dark reddish-brown, just like his father's. When looking into eyes of this color, insects usually feel uncomfortable as if the insect is very cunning.

“Your Excellency Joan.” Eros bowed.

“You are Eros?” Joan walked to Cardian’s side, looked at Eros, examined him for a moment, and nodded, saying, “You really do look like my brother.”

“Many insects say the same thing, and I was quite surprised when I first met him.” Kadian turned to look at Joan. “We should take them to see the male father first. He should be very happy to have guests at home.”

“Alright, whatever you say.” Joan shrugged, her gaze falling on Brandt and Eros. “The head of the family should be very happy to see you two, especially Eros. We’ve heard about you from the matriarch a long time ago.”

The male insect's gaze held a strange quality, its eyes fixed on Eros.

“It is my honor.” Eros smiled slightly, handed the insect cub in his arms to Cardian, and silently distanced himself from Joan, letting Cardian stand in front of him.

He still remembered the insect king's disgusting words to him. Without knowing the insect quality of the boy in front of him, Eros was willing to protect himself with the worst possible plan.

Who knows what the relationship was between Lieutenant General Evanson and his younger brother when he was alive? He had heard rumors that the general was unconventional in his youth and would often kick his brother, this Lord Joan, in the butt at banquets.

It's best to be cautious when dealing with male insects.

Kadian was clearly unaware of Eros's attempt to avoid suspicion; he held the cub in one arm and draped the other paw over Eros.

Joan gestured for Brandt to follow, then strode after her queen.

As a male insect, Jon was so tall that he was even taller than Cardian, so Eros always had to look up to see him.

"Did you have a good time in the Sixth Star System?" Cardian winked at Eros. "I heard there are many male insects there that can work on their own. Is that true?"

Eros didn't know why Cardian asked this, but perhaps Cardian was genuinely interested: "Yes."

Then Eros told Cardian the story of the male Thomas and his three female servants he had met in the commoners' district.

Kadian smiled and said, "Their lives are a little tough, but they are happy."

Eros nodded. "Toma is a very cute male insect. There are many other male insects in the Sixth Star System just like him, all of whom are very tolerant and generous."

“Those males all know the importance of their work.” Kadian turned to look meaningfully at his male lord.

Joan's lips curled into a barely perceptible sneer as she nodded. "Yes, they couldn't afford one of your collar clips even after a year of work. Do you expect a male insect like that to support you? Or do you want me to live that kind of life?"

“I just want you to understand that work has meaning, and stop trying to make me stay at home all the time.” Kadian held Xiao Ai up to his face: “Our Xiao Ai shouldn’t be a female insect who stays at home all the time either.”

"Squeak, squeak—squeak—" The cub's tail hook curled upwards.

Eros heard the little bug expressing its disapproval of Kadian, saying that a good little bug is one that loves to eat and play.

"Don't even think about it. That's the kind of life only lazy parasites would choose." Kadian patted the cub's tailbone twice. "Don't even think about becoming one of those parasites."

“Once you transform into human form, I’ll send you to a boarding school for larvae. You’ll definitely be corrupted by some insects.” After saying that, Kadian grabbed Ai by the scruff of his neck, making him look at his male father.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!!"

Female insects are always rough with their female offspring; they don't treat them with the same tender care they show to the delicate male offspring.

The male lord of Kadian doted on him. Seeing him carrying the female like that, Joan wasn't angry. Instead, she reached out her paws and pulled Little Ai into her arms, saying to him with displeasure:

“Xiao Ai is a female insect of the Eastland family and will have the right to inherit the family in the future. You should treat him better. As a qualified female father, you should at least not let him live on larval nutrient solution three times a day.”

Kadian shrugged: "We female insects all grow up like this, there won't be any problems. Besides, I have to work. I'm going back to school next week to prepare for my graduation exams. As long as I graduate from the Shining Star Class, I can be promoted to lieutenant colonel and go on combat missions to more distant planets."

“Xiao Ai will suffer because he has such a cold and selfish female father, and then he will become an equally cold and selfish female insect, and be proud of it, because his female father also grew up like that.” Qiong Xiongzi smiled and hummed with a rather pleasant tone: “My dear female lord, we can already see what kind of person our baby will be in the future, right?”

“I don’t like you saying that. I told you not to mention my female father again!” Kadian was a little annoyed and snatched the insect offspring away with his claws. “Xiao Ai will never become like that. Nobody will become like him.”

"Squeak—!"

"Squeak—squeak—!"

Love's eyes widened as the tiny insect trembled with fear at the struggle between the male and female fathers. Although he was now a female insect larva, an infant was still an infant; they did not have a mature exoskeleton, so even a male insect could easily take their life.

Kadian patted Love's head with his paw to try and soothe her, but Eros could tell that his movements were far too clumsy.

The insect cub was very uneasy in Kadian's arms; its fear did not lessen but instead it cried and struggled even more violently.

"An, I'll help you."

Kadian was so annoyed by the bug cubs that when Eros offered to help him, he practically pushed the bug cubs away as if he were getting rid of a troublesome burden.

Eros held the cub and gently patted its spine: "Lord Joan, please forgive my rudeness, but I need to take the cub to a quiet room now."

Qiong Xiongzi's gaze fell on Eros's face, his eyes filled with suspicion: "You know how to take care of larvae? Military females know how to take care of insect offspring? You really don't know how to use your methods for dealing with ferocious beasts... um... accidentally tear them to shreds?"

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Eros shrugged gently while holding the insect cub. “Besides being able to tear apart ferocious beasts with bare hands, disassembling precision bombs is also something only female soldiers can do. The insect cub can’t be more sophisticated than those atomic bombs.”

Joan nodded, seemingly unconcerned, and said, "Alright, Queen, you and your brother... this Eros... go take care of Little Ai first. I'll take Lord Brandt to see Father."