EROS [Zerg]

"I never expected you would take care of larvae." Cardian and Eros entered Xiao Ai's room, where the female larvae had settled down on Eros's shoulder.

“I took care of the little male Kamal for a while before.” Eros stroked the spine of the little female larva. He had read in a physiology book that the female insect’s exoskeleton grows from the inside out. Before the exoskeleton completely covers the body surface and hardens, it is the most sensitive organ on the female larva.

"Only by soothing the larva's exoskeleton can the larva feel safe."

“Eros, you seem to know everything.” Cardian sat on the cub’s crib, looking on with envy. “From the first moment I saw you, I could feel an affinity that attracts insects to you.”

“Many insects like you, including this little one… Look, Xiao Ai has never been this well-behaved in my arms.”

Eros, holding the now-calmed insect cub, gently smiled at Cardian: "Is it true?"

“Don’t you think so? You’re so popular,” Cardian praised without reservation.

Eros lowered his head, not feeling much pleasure from the praise, but instead sighing softly:

"I wish all these welcomes had been given to me from the beginning."

"?" Cardian was puzzled by Eros's sudden words.

Eros realized he had let something slip and quickly changed the subject: "Ann, do you and your lord have some kind of conflict?"

"Just now... I felt that Qiong Xiongzi didn't seem to want you to return to the military?"

“My God, you noticed that too?” Cardian was a little exasperated. “That guy Joan has been trying to get me to quit my job and stay in this house as a female ruler who breeds males and females. If it weren’t for him constantly having the male insect protection association notify me to come home, my rank would have been much higher than just a major.”

"If I graduate from the Shining Star Class this time and complete all the credits, I can be promoted to lieutenant colonel and go to fight in distant war zones, instead of running back and forth between two star systems every day."

Eros nodded: "Many female insects want to stay by their male's side forever. Don't you want to?"

“Well, it’s nice to be with a male insect, but I think you can understand this feeling… Without a job, there’s no security.” Kadian placed his paw on Xiao Ai’s head: “Without a job, my value, my status, my finances, my role, and my freedom will all be insecure.”

"It's hard to believe that a noble female insect like you would have such concerns. I thought only commoners like me would have these worries."

Eros returned the soothed female insect cub to Cardian.

Kadian glanced at Eros, then suddenly remembered something. He frowned and hesitated before speaking, "Eros... there are some things I don't know whether I should say..."

“Joan went to a party at Kritata’s house a few days ago and came back to tell me that he heard something from the male insects.”

"The youngest male insect in the Kritata family tricked a disabled female insect outside. Whenever he had free time, he would pretend to be a commoner male insect and play house with the female insect. The female insect was a clerk at a small newspaper and made a living by copying and translating. The male insect would always ask the female insect to buy him some luxury items that he could not afford. After the female insect bought them for him, he would take them to banquets and join the other male insects in mocking the poor for their short-sightedness and vulgar taste."

"Joan said that the male complained at the banquet that the female insect had been pestering him to marry her because she was pregnant with eggs. But what's infuriating is that the male insect of the Kritata family already has his own female ruler, four female servants, and five female slaves. Apart from the female slaves, where is there room for that female insect?"

Kadian's voice was filled with anger, but Eros could hear the worry in Kadian's words.

Eros's brows furrowed, his gaze falling on Cardian. He opened his mouth, then finally uttered a name: "Alai?"

“I’m not sure, but Joan said that the female insect used to be a noble female insect, and later she broke with her family because of the male insect in the Kritata family. I feel that she is very similar to Alex. I don’t know him very well. Maybe you can go and see him when you come back to the main planet this time.”

“My insect god.” Eros sighed, then nodded. “I must go see him. If the deceived female insect really is Alai, I must expose the male insect’s deception!”

“Eros.” Cardian stood up, holding the insect chicks, and walked to Eros. “But he already has insect eggs.”

"Imperial law does not allow female insects to abort their eggs. If he does not become a female slave for that male, his insect offspring will not be able to obtain the status of imperial citizens."

Eros stood there, speechless for a long time, before finally nodding: "Yes, we can't tell Alai... at least not now."

Alex was willing to risk deliberately seducing a male insect to rebel against his paternal father. If he knew he had been deceived all along, and that the one who deceived him was the male insect his paternal father had originally intended to give him to, Eros wondered what irrational things Alex would do then.

But no matter what he does, he's only hurting himself.

A Grade A male insect can have one female ruler, four female attendants, and countless female slaves.

According to Cardian, the male insect already has one queen and four female servants, so there is no place left for Alex.

“I can’t just stand by and watch Alex get tricked into becoming that male’s slave.” Eros’s face darkened. Alex was his best friend. “Thank you for telling me this, Ann.”

“Alex is lucky to have a friend like you who cares about him so much.” Cardian nodded, looking at Eros: “What brings you and Lord Brandt to see the Female Father today?”

"Professor Brandt said that Admiral Kuwait might know something about my past."

"Your past?"

"It's my past, which I have no memory of."

……

……

"Your Excellency Brandt, a rare guest."

Locke Eastland sat behind his desk, smiling as the sub-female approached.

"Grand Duke Eastland." Brandt nodded to the male insect.

Brandt didn't particularly like male insects, except for the Grand Duke of Eastland. It wasn't that he was particularly virtuous, but rather that he was a noble male insect willing to undergo experiments with male insects.

Experimenting on male insects is a serious crime in the Empire, but Locke Eastland voluntarily underwent his queen's strange biochemical experiments.

As someone who loves mechanics and scientific research, Brandt held a respectful and favorable view of those who were willing to dedicate themselves to scientific research.

"Is there something you need from Kowe? I remember you didn't seem to like him very much," Locke asked Brandt directly.

"I don't really like him, this kind of guy who has no bottom line when it comes to scientific research, but I've encountered something that I can only ask him about."

“I have a student who looks very much like your female offspring, and I have a bold guess that I would like to ask General Kuwait to confirm.”