Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

After waiting outside for a while, barely a few minutes later, the pink ball floated out of Colin's room.

It consciously crawled back into its previous cage, concealing all its light and returning to darkness.

Not caring much about surviving, it put the cage aside and prepared to go downstairs to find Adrian.

[Was I wrong?]

The system remained silent, offering no answer. Each system was programmed with a fixed sequence of actions, and the pink ball simply followed the program, perhaps unaware of its own motives.

They barely managed to survive and left the second floor.

……

A week later, Adrian received news about Arran.

The Insect Emperor placed him under house arrest inside the palace, and Fabian was not allowed to enter. He spent these days figuring out the number of guards inside and outside the palace, and then passed the message to Adrian.

Adrian is still waiting.

Two days later, Colin asked to meet with Adrian. Morris, worried that the two insects might clash, simply stood guard outside the door.

"How many insects died in total?" Colin asked, placing the photos on the table.

"There are 64 known so far, and about 30 females that are missing but whose bodies have not been found." Adrian pushed the file to Colin. "This is their basic information."

Colin picked up the documents on the table and flipped through them page by page, confirming the location where the female insects were buried.

After about five minutes of silence, Colin said, "I'll go."

Adrian fiddled with the red pearl button on his sleeve: "Think it over. This matter has many implications. If you're captured by the female soldier, I won't bother to save you."

Colin sneered, "I don't need it."

“That would be best.” Adrian clapped his hands and stood up. “I’ve prepared a helper for you. You can go with him. If there are any problems, we can contact each other via the quantum computer.”

Colin looked up at Adrian, paused for a moment, and finally nodded in agreement.

Adrian was still uneasy about Colin. They both knew perfectly well whether this helper was a genuine ally or just a female insect used to monitor Colin.

Colin didn't make a big deal out of it in the end. Adrian had planned the route for him, and Colin left the villa that very night.

Morris's week-long vacation was over. He re-bandaged his right eye, preparing to use his connections in the military to enter the palace in a few days.

Adrian gave him a final reassurance before he left. His intentions were clear, and Maurice sensed his increasingly intimate touches several times.

Adrian has not applied a deep mark to him so far, mostly just adding temporary marks. And the final result of this "try it out" is truly just a "try it out."

Morris knew the timing was wrong, so he closed his eyes slightly as he accepted the mark, carefully sensing Adrian's presence.

“Maurice, Fabian will contact you once you’re inside.” Adrian kissed the Reshirobia Black Gold Insect pattern on Maurice’s back, as if reluctant to part, yet also displeased at the thought of separation, finally leaving a row of teeth marks on his back. “Be careful.”

Morris's wet hair clung to his forehead, and he felt breathless. He buried his head between his arms and mumbled a vague "hmm."

Seeing this, Adrian sighed helplessly. He kissed each of the bite marks as compensation, gently soothing the extremely unstable mind of the female insect beneath him.

"I'll wait for you to come back."

……

The Insect Emperor's condition worsened. By mid-March, he was already unable to get out of bed, and now he is completely paralyzed on one side, with a dedicated female insect taking care of his daily needs.

During this period, news of the insectoids roaming various planets spread like wildfire. Initially, it only circulated within a certain asteroid, but then one day, for some unknown reason, it made headlines on the StarNet and occupied the top three spots on the trending searches within two hours.

The pictures posted inside were extremely gory. Most of the photos of the dead female insects were pixelated, but some female insects processed the images and extracted the original, un-censored ones.

The gore was comparable to the tortures inflicted by the Zerg; as the images were displayed, every male and female Zerg player was terrified.

Some insects noticed something different in these photos, and after carefully comparing the appearance of the dead female insect, the StarNet exploded with discussion.

"This female insect... isn't that Will from the military? He went missing a while ago; I didn't expect he was harmed by other insects..."

“The female insect in the third photo is my brother! He’s my brother! We’re still looking for him. He’s only nineteen and studying at business school… Give him back to us!”

"Where is the body? Where is the military? Are they really not going to do anything about something this serious?!"

The situation on the StarNet escalated. The Zerg who posted the photos was very alert. A dozen minutes later, he deleted the content and deleted his account, but the photos were still saved by the Zerg who were watching.

The military dispatched a special team to investigate. Initially, they thought it was a rumor, but following the clues provided in the photos, they actually unearthed remains in nearly eight locations, including the back hill, the city center square, and the north gate.

These female insects seemed unrelated; their families, personalities, appearances, and so on—they had nothing in common. But by tracing the insect swarms they had come into contact with, they soon found themselves inside the palace—and also revealed the Sean hidden deep within.

Princes are subject to the same laws as commoners. However, this does not apply to the Zerg, except for male Zerg.

They were already at the top of the Zerg society, and since Sean was a rare A-grade male Zerg, the Zerg Emperor only confiscated 80% of Sean's property and extended his imprisonment.

The Zerg on the StarNet were extremely angry. A few days later, they staged a large-scale march in the city center and strongly demanded that the Zerg Emperor severely punish Sean.

More and more Zerg joined in, and in less than a week, small-scale conflicts broke out on nearly 90% of the planets around the Zerg Empire. Reactionary forces mixed in seized the opportunity to stir up trouble, and alarm lights lit up everywhere.

Under pressure from external circumstances, the Insect Emperor issued another order, which was to punish Sean with fifty lashes and strip him of his status as crown prince.

These punishments were too lenient in Adrian's eyes; the lives of dozens of female insects only brought Sean a little physical pain.

It seems that the Insect Emperor still favors Sean over Aran. Aran is a female insect, and for that reason alone, the Insect Emperor will not abandon Sean in favor of him.

Adrian narrowed his eyes. He remained impassive, continuing to fan the flames from the shadows.

As long as the Zerg people are dissatisfied with the severity of the Zerg Emperor's punishments and repeatedly demand harsher penalties for Sean, the Zerg Emperor will not turn a blind eye. Although he is terminally ill, he knows that the will of the people cannot be defied at this critical juncture.

Sure enough, after a week of turmoil, the Insect Emperor issued his third order—to reclaim fifty percent of the princely power held by Sean.

On the very day the Insect Emperor issued his decree, Sean rebelled.