Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

Morris leaned back, grasping Adrian's porcelain-white ankle. His thumb rubbed the smooth skin, which bore small scars from injuries Adrian had sustained sometime during the day.

“I didn’t mean anything by it.” Morris returned to his original position, looked up and asked, “My lord, do you have a way to save Colin?”

“Of course there is a way,” Adrian smiled, then changed his tone, “but I want payment.”

Morris paused: "...The reward?"

“Saving him wasn’t easy, and I don’t know how to explain it to Aran, so the fee is high. Let’s say you owe me 1,000 Yang Qi points for now, and you have one week to pay me back, or it will double.”

Adrian was very businesslike. As he spoke, he pulled out all the books and notebooks that he had previously hidden under the science encyclopedia.

"This book records a thousand poses you can use to pay off your debts, and each type corresponds to a different amount of Yang energy. I've studied it, and the best one can pay off 200, while the worst one can only pay off 1. Given that you owe me so much Yang energy, I suggest you choose 200."

Morris was completely confused. He didn't understand what Adrian meant by "yang energy value," so he picked up the yellow book in his hand and opened it to look at the cover.

*Desire* *Rotten*

Morris frowned. What a strange name.

Adrian didn't explain to Maurice either. The book that the cowardly survivor had thrown at him even had its title censored; Adrian could only piece together the two insect-like characters from it.

"Choose."

Morris opened the papers inside and saw the pictures. The drawings were simple, just a few strokes, but they encompassed all sorts of scenes he had imagined.

Adrian labeled each picture with a number and the amount of Yang energy it could withstand. Morris flipped through a few pages and hesitated, "...I choose 4, 17, and 35."

Adrian: “…”

"You want to choose three?"

Upon hearing this, Morris calculated the time. Four hours wasn't enough; Adrian's mental strength had just reached A level, and while the three positions were slightly more intense, they were still within Adrian's tolerance.

“Just these three. Subtract fifty for now, I can’t handle adding more.” Morris didn’t notice anything wrong. He lowered his eyelashes, closed the book, and handed it to Adrian.

Adrian looked at Maurice with the book in his hand. The female insect was half-squatting in front of him, still buttoning her shirt all the way up.

Color insect.

“Okay, I’ll let you know tomorrow.” Adrian tossed the book aside.

He nodded at Maurice, who stood up, unbuttoned his shirt with one hand, and knelt on one knee at the edge of the bed.

.

Adrian is very trustworthy in some respects.

He gave Maurice information about Blackrock Prison and set a time. It was a heavily guarded area by the Royal Guard, and Maurice could only stay for a maximum of ten minutes.

“I’ve forged a new identity for you. Get out in ten minutes, or Colin will die.” Adrian straightened Maurice’s collar, glanced at the mask on his face, and said, “Go.”

Morris nodded, spread his wings, and quickly flew into the sky.

His figure turned into a black dot and disappeared from Adrian's sight.

Adrian sat back down on the sofa in the villa. After Morris left, he put the countdown clock aside and pinched the bridge of his nose wearily.

The creature, clinging to life, murmured from the sky, "If Colin comes out alive, he'll want to kill you."

"I'd rather he came and kill me; it's my real problem if he doesn't." Adrian lifted his eyelids, his eyes shifting to the side as he asked, "Why is it still here? How long has it been crying?"

The man who was barely surviving snorted, "You don't need to worry about it."

Mental energy and high-intensity electric current merged and intertwined to form an aerial cage. The pink sphere, now shrunk back to its original size, floated in the center of the iron cage, its heart-shaped markings constantly cracking, with useless bandages covering the cracks.

[I don't want to like you anymore... I never want to like you again... Waaah... I hate you... I despise you the most...]

Adrian: “…”

The creature, seemingly oblivious to the pink ball, said, "It's love-struck; it only comes to its senses after being beaten."

Adrian smirked: "You didn't hit it hard enough. It doesn't look conscious at all."

To live a life of ignominy: "..."

The pink ball started crying as soon as it woke up, and it cried until it crashed and finally stopped. Once its energy was replenished, the pink ball started crying again the moment it woke up.

What is love in this world...? Alas, to be bound together by life and death...

Adrian couldn't sleep because of its noise, so he leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes to rest, and silently listened to the countdown of the alarm clock next to him.

Around the seven-minute mark, an alarm suddenly sounded from the pink ball.

[Waaaaah... Love is... Oh my god!]

Adrian was startled by its scream.

He turned his head and saw that Pink's affection level was plummeting. Colin's affection level had been slowly rising to nearly ninety over the past few days, but now it was dropping drastically like an avalanche.

From 90 to 85, it continued to drop sharply to 70, then fell to 63, paused for a few seconds, rose a little, and then continued to fall, stopping at 44.

Pink was terrified. Its sobs stopped, and the ball trembled as it clutched its data board tightly.

Nearly a minute later, the affection value fluctuated and finally settled at forty-three.

[What happened?]

Adrian frowned. The fluctuations in Colin's affection level occurred during the time Maurice was away. Now that Maurice was in Blackrock Prison, could something have happened to him...?

The countdown has entered its final minute, and the seconds on the screen are still decreasing.

Adrian's fingertips were icy cold. His eyes darkened for a moment as he picked up his keys and prepared to leave.

"Lord."

A gust of cold wind rushed up from the doorway. Adrian didn't have time to back away. He only saw a pair of black wings flash past his eyes before his forehead slammed into something hard in front of him.

Morris chuckled softly, then placed one hand on Adrian's back and asked, "My lord, why did you bump into me?"

A familiar scent lingered around Adrian's nose. He stood still, turning his face to the side with lingering fear: "Did anything happen?"

Morris folded his wings, lowered his head, and said in a deep voice, "Sean wanted to strangle Colin. All the female soldiers inside were transferred away, and Colin escaped on his own. I happened to be passing by and took him to the outside of the dense forest."

Adrian didn't even frown when he heard this. Sean was able to kill the insect babies in Ryan's belly because of the Insect Emperor's nightmare, and now he can kill Colin for the same reason.

Colin failed to bring any benefit to Sean; on the contrary, his background caused Sean to lose the Insect Emperor's favor.

Colin is already a useless son, and Sean has no reason to keep him around.

Now, Sean is attempting to regain the Insect Emperor's trust using the same methods he used before.

This requires him to personally deal with Colin—which is also a way for him to show Sean his loyalty to the Insect Emperor.

His folly lay in his excessive cruelty.

Adrian knew Sean's psychology inside and out, both in his past life and in this one.

"Did Colin recognize you?" Adrian asked.

Morris: "No, he's been unconscious for a while."

"Row."

Adrian relaxes his nerves.

He turned to look at the sky, where the pink ball was trembling, clutching its data board in the cage.

Next... he just has to wait for Colin to walk right into his trap.