EROS [Zerg]

Damaged mental strength?

Eros looked puzzled; it was the first time he had heard this word.

After noticing Eros's confusion, Alai turned slightly to Eros and whispered about Desail.

Desail, like Alai, was among the first batch of female insect students to enter the Comet Class.

Unlike Alai, Desail was originally an outstanding female soldier who had served in the army for six years. Unfortunately, she was damaged in her insect core during a mission, which caused her mental strength to atrophy and even affected her normal thinking ability, so she was forced to retire.

The nucleus is to an insect what the brain is to a human; the female insect's most important source of mental energy is the nucleus. Once the nucleus is damaged, the possibility of recovery is extremely slim.

Because of his declining intelligence, Desail has failed his graduation exams for five consecutive years, so he has been repeating a grade until now.

"..."

Upon hearing Alai recount Desail's story, Eros felt deeply ashamed of the condescending sense of superiority he had felt earlier, which had led him to despise Desail's love-struck mind.

This guilt prevented him from paying attention to the material throughout the entire lesson, so when he saw the long list of homework left on the blackboard by the teacher, Eros could only ask Alai for help with extra lessons with a bitter face.

"This is a course originally for the Celestial Class, so it's a bit too difficult to use it to teach the Comet Class." Alai opened the textbook, drew the important points for Eros, and patiently explained them again.

Eros put in some effort to understand and learn this knowledge, and he found it somewhat difficult to learn these things, let alone a female insect like Desel whose mental power had atrophied: "Is the Comet Class always like this?"

“It wasn’t like this before,” Alai explained. “The Comet Class used to have specialized courses that focused on learning practical techniques.”

"Now, the instructors who teach technology no longer teach the Comet class, so now most of the instructors are young people who come to teach the Comet class whenever they have time, so you will feel that there are many courses to learn and they are very complicated."

"There's nothing we can do about it. The instructors who taught practical skills used to be paid very well, but now the funding for the Comet Class has stopped, and we simply don't have enough star coins to pay those instructors' salaries."

When Evanson advocated for the creation of the Comet Class, he used his own wealth to establish a foundation specifically for hiring instructors for this Comet Class, which accepts students with disabilities.

But after Lieutenant General Evanson's death, all his assets were consolidated under the name of his powerful lord, Archduke Cavour, including the foundation he had established with his own private wealth.

Grand Duke Caveno terminated the foundation's financial aid to the Comet Swarm, at which point the Comet Swarm instructors couldn't even be paid their salaries.

“A senior technical instructor like Mr. Brandt can earn several thousand star coins for a single star hour of teaching. He has been able to continue teaching us until now because he gave up the teaching fees he could have received from the Comet Class.”

"If you do the math, Professor Brandt has essentially given up nearly ten million star coins in income."

Eros was quite surprised, as he still remembered that the contract he signed stated that if he failed to obtain the military mechanic professional qualification certificate within one year, he would have to pay him 100 million star coins in compensation.

He had initially thought it was a test, but when he heard Alai tell him about Mr. Brandt's tuition fees, Eros belatedly realized that Mr. Brandt had never intended to make things difficult for him.

After Eros figured it out, he lowered his head and chuckled self-deprecatingly, blaming himself for having such a narrow perspective.

After listening to the lesson Alai gave him, Eros clearly felt very hungry.

When it was lunch break time, he went into the cafeteria and bought two bottles of colorless and odorless cheap nutritional solution, just like he always did.

As Eros approached the cafeteria entrance, he saw Desail sitting on the steps.

He remembered what Alai had told him: Desail had been swindled out of all his living expenses by his online lover. Eros's heart skipped a beat. After a moment's thought, he slowly walked over and patted Desail on the shoulder.

"Desail, are you hungry?"

The female insect with dark circles under her eyes looked up blankly at Eros, who was approaching her. Suddenly, her eyes widened as if they were shining: "Commander Evanson?!"

"Huh?!" Desail looked at Eros's face, then tilted his head in confusion. "Did I mistake you for someone else? You don't seem to be Commander Evanson?"

“Desail, I’m your classmate, Eros.” Eros wasn’t angry that Desail had mistaken him for someone else; he tried his best to be patient.

"Are you not going in to order food because you're hungry?"

Desail nodded: "I gave all my Star Coins to Waika, so I don't have any Star Coins left on my meal card and can't buy food."

Eros asked, "Then how will you eat if you don't have any star coins?"

"My father-in-law will transfer the money to me next month."

“But it’s only the beginning of the month. You can’t possibly go a whole month without eating, can you?” Eros handed a bottle of nutrient solution to Desail: “Here, take this.”

“I know what this is.” Desail took the nutrient solution and examined it closely. “This is a nutrient solution, but Commander Evanson doesn’t like drinking it.”

As Desail spoke, he twisted open the bottle of nutrient solution, stuck out his tongue, and licked the viscous liquid inside. He immediately frowned, his face contorting in disgust, showing just how much he couldn't stand the taste of the nutrient solution.

"It tastes awful, I don't like it." Desail shook his head repeatedly and handed the nutrient solution back to Eros.

Eros looked at the nutrient solution in his hand. Actually, he thought the taste was alright, not strange at all. It was just that the consistency was so thick, like glue with flour added, that it was difficult to swallow. He didn't understand why so many insects disliked the taste.

Seeing Desail's lonely figure, Eros pulled it up from the steps on the ground: "I'll order you a set meal."

"Really?" Upon hearing that someone was inviting him to dinner, Desail immediately stood up and grabbed Eros's paw. "I'm so hungry!"

Female insects that have served as military females naturally have large appetites. Eros then led Desel to a window where they could get a lot of food and wait in line.

"The C-type meal is very large. Although the taste is not very good, it's the only thing I can afford now, so I'll just have to make do with it."

Desail picked up the food and quickly began to eat, wolfing it down without any regard for decorum; it was clear he was very hungry.

“Eros, your bug is really good.” He smiled. “You’re as good-looking as Lieutenant General Evanson, and your bug is just as good.”

Eros thought to himself: I would be happier if you didn't compare me to that officer.

Eros smiled, wanting Desail to eat in peace, but then Desail said something that made his jaw drop.

Desail looked at him with sincere eyes, her cheeks flushed slightly, and earnestly said to Eros, "You are truly a wonderful insect. May I pursue you?"

Eros: ...?

what? ! ! !