EROS [Zerg]

After Kamo finished speaking, the female insects around Eros immediately fell silent, and the way they looked at Eros changed.

There was teasing, there was envy, and of course, there was also sour jealousy.

"Eros, you're too early! This little male hasn't even differentiated yet, and you've already taken his position as the female queen?" Kadian found it amusing and joked to the other females behind him, "See? Learn from this."

"An!" Eros blushed with embarrassment as he called out to Cardian, who was joking about him.

"Ha ha!"

"Hahahaha!"

Kadian chuckled, and the female insects behind him joined in the laughter. Eros said, "Even the little bug cubs aren't ashamed, so why are you ashamed?"

Eros, not wanting to listen to Cardian's jokes any longer, changed the subject, saying, "Weren't we supposed to show them around our academy? Why are you laughing at me?"

"I just arrived at the school and there are many places I haven't been to yet. Would any of you be willing to help me show me the way?"

The idea of ​​taking the young male on a tour of the campus was something that many of the female insects present had never dared to dream of. Now that such a good thing had happened, they all rushed to help lead the way.

Eros watched as the female insects around him eagerly participated, and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. This was perfect; he wouldn't have to bother with introductions, and he could even join them in visiting places he wouldn't normally be able to go.

"Let's go quickly, the arena isn't suitable for the little male to watch." Several female insects eagerly surrounded Eros and led him out of the arena.

A group of young males stared wide-eyed at the excited female insect on the screen.

“I feel like they like us quite a bit, so why did Kaiser say that the females really hate the males and only pretend to like them?” a young male whispered to his companion.

"They must really like us, right?" His companion stared at the smiling female insects on the screen, wondering why the female insects he had seen before always had a stern face and seemed unapproachable in front of the male insects.

"Of course! When I used to go out, the female insect uncles and brothers next door all liked me a lot and would give me lots of delicious food." Kamehameha nodded proudly. "Eros used to bring me my favorite little cakes every day when he came home. He really liked me!"

"I get to eat cake every day, and I don't think my father's female slaves like me that much..."

"Maybe they all like your father? Unlike me, Eros likes me the most." Kamehameha said, his bright eyes shining as he unconsciously showed off to his two friends next to him.

The terminal was placed on the table. The boys' classes were not intensive. They had a maximum of two classes a day, and the rest of the time was free time.

Because Kam communicates with Eros almost every day, it amazes a group of young males of similar age around him. They are all curious about what kind of insect Eros is that makes the young males like it so much.

As soon as get out of class ended, the group of males surrounded Kamo, clamoring to see Kamo's female insects.

Kamehameha loves Eros and likes to show off his Eros to everyone, but seeing the bewildered and envious look on the little boy's face, he kindly comforted him:

"Once you have a queen, you'll know how much they love us."

Kam held up his little paws and addressed the little boys around him.

Eros took in all of Camus's little actions. The little male's sweet and cheerful voice, coupled with his cute appearance and sincere expression, made it hard for the female insect not to be tempted.

Eros could also see this from the faces of the other female insects around him.

"What adorable little males! I wish my future males would look like this." Lim, who had been following Eros, looked at the soft, pink male insect offspring on the screen, and when his gaze returned to Eros, he felt a surge of jealousy.

The ultimate goal for a female insect in marriage is to be able to sleep peacefully with a good-tempered male insect that won't whip her, smelling his sweet pheromones, and ideally, have her belly filled with his genes and carry an egg.

"Didn't you already have a chosen male insect?" A female insect who was on good terms with Lim nudged him with her elbow upon hearing this, teasingly asking, "Isn't one enough?"

Lim was reminded by this shove that he had a male insect that was betrothed to him by his family, but this male insect had never really liked him since he was a child.

Thinking of his future lord, Rim's face, which had been filled with joy, fell slightly: "Don't even mention it, I'm already prepared to live in the military headquarters after the wedding and never go home."

“That’s very typical of female insects.” Several female insects around them nodded in agreement.

"Why?" Kam and the other males were puzzled, and some of the males even frowned. "Why don't you go home? Don't you miss your little ones and the males?"

“My father-in-law is also often away from home.”

"My father-in-law is one too!"

"So why don't you like going home?"

Lim scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed. He couldn't very well speak ill of the male insects in front of these little males, could he?

They say that since the male insects don't give pheromones and like to beat insects, and they have to go back to work the next day after being beaten, they might as well not go home at all?

That's really hurtful to say.

Seeing Lim's troubled expression, Eros decided to lend a hand, since it would be their fault if the boys were upset.

Eros thought to himself that a gentle and handsome smile was rising in his mind: "Because we spend all our time looking at our male insects and offspring, our minds are always on home. This means we can't do our work properly, and if we don't do our work well, we can't earn star coins for our male master."

Lim stood to the side, looking at the gentle smile on Eros's face, and couldn't believe that such a smile could appear on the face of a female insect.

Now, Eros looked to him like a beautiful and gentle insect trafficker luring away baby insects, but there was something strange about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

No matter how awkward it felt, Lim was still grateful to Eros for coming to his rescue at that moment.

Perhaps Eros's face was too deceptive, because the little boys believed him one by one with some doubt.

Taking this opportunity, Eros winked at Lim, who immediately understood and began to introduce the building in front of them to the young boys.

Eros broke free and stood aside to listen to Lim introduce the academy. Along the way, they passed the library, teaching buildings, laboratories, physical training grounds, virtual combat arena... and finally they arrived at the mech training ground.

The mech training ground was deserted at noon. All the mechs had been driven to the maintenance bay for maintenance. Kadian only talked about some of the most basic things, such as what kind of glass the mech training ground had, how many floor tiles there were... Things that few insects would usually pay attention to were explained by Kadian in a mysterious way, as if the mechs couldn't operate without these floor tiles and glass.

Eros listened with embarrassment, while the male insect offspring on the other side of the screen were successfully intimidated by Kadian, their tiny eyes filled with admiration.

"Alright, everyone, that's all for today. Our afternoon class will start soon. I hope you enjoyed it."

After shutting down the communication, Cardian breathed a sigh of relief:

"Taking care of the little bugs is really tiring. It seems Pius is in for a tough time."

Eros was puzzled by this, since Commander Pius had been perfectly healthy before.

"Is Commander Pius feeling unwell?"

"He's in great health. During this long holiday, he's decided to put all his effort into getting an egg from his male." As he said this, Cardian recalled the discordant sounds he heard during his call with Pius yesterday at noon, and his heart couldn't help but ache. Why are all the good male insects from other insect families?

His own partner... although he didn't enjoy humiliating females like other male insects, his excessive desire to control females was something he found hard to accept.

"May his wish come true," Eros said, his eyes crinkling with a smile.

The afternoon's Weapon Science and Technology class was to be held at the mech training ground. Eros checked the time on his terminal and realized that there wasn't much time left before class, so he decided to wait there.

After seeing that most of the female insects had dispersed, Kadian walked up to Eros and asked him if he wanted to experience what it was like to pilot a mech.

“But I don’t have a mech.” Eros sat on the lounge chair, looking at the mechs, each tens of meters tall, in the maintenance bay. As far as he knew, these mechs were the private property of the female insects, and they were all bought with military merits or star coins.

“You don’t have one, but I do,” Cardian patted Eros on the shoulder. “Come on, I’ll take you to see my Abit.”

Eros recognized the name of Kadian's mecha: "Abit... I've read about it in a mythology book. Abit, the god of speed, the second insect offspring of the insect god. Did you name it after him?"

"I named it when I first started school. Back then, it was very popular to name mechs after the Insect God and his famous descendants." Cardian walked to a heavy alloy door, pressed the red button next to it, and the door slid open to both sides, revealing a transparent sensor panel inside.

The panel was three meters tall, and a beam of red light swept up and down. Cardian remained still, and soon his identity was displayed on the panel.

Kadian pressed his claws onto the reflective panel that displayed his identity. Soon, several beams of shimmering blue light appeared on the panel, and the entire panel flipped back to reveal a not-so-spacious cabin.

Kadian entered the cabin and stretched out his paw at Eros, saying, "Come in quickly."

As soon as Eros stepped into the cabin, he felt a dizzying sensation, as if he had been shoved into a missile and launched. When the shaking subsided, he found himself sitting in the mech with Cardian.

“You still need to practice.” Cardian, holding the control lever on the seat, smiled and released it as he looked at Eros’s slightly pale face. “Give it a try.”

"What?" Eros thought he had misheard.

“I told you to pilot the mech.” Cardian patted Eros on the shoulder, pressed a button on the seat, and soon Eros and Cardian switched seats.

"But I can't."

“If you don’t know how, then learn.” Cardian pointed to several buttons on the control panel and explained the function of each button to Eros.

“Then you just need to move this and this, and you can get out.” Cardian pointed to the control panel on the console: “Try it.”

Eros was also very interested in the mecha, and in order to get a job to support himself after graduating from the academy, he wanted to become a mecha repairman.

Knowing that Cardian was willing to let him operate the mech, and unwilling to give up this rare opportunity because of his lack of skill, he replied: "Okay."

Actually, Eros's hands were a little shaky when he gripped the controller, but he thought that Cardian was also in the mech, and Cardian would definitely help if he made a mistake. With that in mind, Eros gripped the control stick, pressed the start button, and carefully manipulated the huge mech to move.

Kadian sat in the passenger seat with his legs crossed, looking relaxed, not at all like someone piloting a mech like a freshman. He even said, "You can be a little bolder. The coating on the building materials in the mech training ground is made of special recycled mineral liquid, so it's not so easy to damage."

Eros was sweating profusely, but he still refused to stop, maneuvering his mech in circles around the training field.

"Try airplane mode."

Seeing that Eros was nervous but quick to get the hang of it, Cardian pointed to a blue button: "Press this button to switch from land mode to flight mode."

Eros pressed the button, and two images appeared on the display screen in front of the mech. Just as he was wondering which one to press, Cardian's voice rang out again: "Try pressing both. You can't learn how to operate something by just listening to others talk about it without doing it yourself."

Eros tried touching the wing-shaped image on the display screen, and immediately two pairs of wings made of several sharp metal pieces appeared on the back of the mech, with an energy thruster installed in the middle.

“Pretty good, isn’t it?” Kadian’s tone carried a hint of pride: “Abit was my darling back in the day.”

As he spoke, Kadian pointed his claw at another image: "It's in manual mode now, you can try this one again."

Eros clicked on the image, and suddenly a glass dome appeared above the roof, enclosing his entire insect inside.

Eros: "?"

"Put on the equipment inside, and then infuse it with your mental energy," Cardian said.

“Mental strength…” Eros felt a little heavy-hearted. Although his mental strength level was measured as A, he had never used his mental strength for anything in his memory.

"Give it a try. You're an A-level female insect, so piloting the mecha shouldn't be a problem for you."

Following Kadian's instructions, Eros attempted to infuse his mental energy into the mecha. Soon, he felt a force connecting his body to the mecha, as if the two had become one.

This feeling was faint and indistinct. Eros wanted to understand it more clearly, so he continued to pour his mental energy into it. He was so focused on training to pilot the mech that he didn't notice the surprise that flashed across Cardian's face beside him.

Kadian saw that the values ​​on the mental energy detector on the mech had completely exceeded the intensity used by an A-level female insect in battle, but Eros showed no sign of fatigue.

Recalling his superior's words, Kadian became even more convinced that the Eros before him was definitely not an A-grade female insect.