Chapter 43 Imperial Marshal Talos asked Old Hansen at the tavern...

After asking old Hansen at the tavern, Talos turned his gaze to the half-open black clinic. It was almost evening, and the light was not very good. From the outside, only a half-length dark passage could be seen, with a faint white light coming from inside.

He gripped the energy gun at his waist and cautiously walked inside step by step. He had seen the message from Doris, but he didn't think it was Doris who sent it. That loud-voiced idiot would have called him over by shouting, not by sending a message.

Doris is quite skilled, so the fact that her communicator was stolen suggests either that her opponent is extremely strong or that there is more than one insect.

He had already sent an emergency call for his subordinates to come as soon as possible, and all he needed to do was to stall for time and save Doris's life.

"Oh, are you here to help?"

A light, cheerful sound came from somewhere, making Talos's hair stand on end instantly. He drew his gun and fired, but only hit the empty wall.

How strange! There was clearly no device transmitting sound around him, yet he felt as if the sound had appeared out of thin air in his ears.

Talos stood there observing for a long time until no more sounds came, then cautiously took two steps forward again. His body was still hidden in the shadows, but his vision suddenly opened up. Apart from the terrifying bottles and jars, he immediately saw the figure standing not far from the entrance of the passage—it was Doris.

"Run!"

Doris remained in a bizarre starting position, unable to move, and shouted with all her might the moment she saw Talos's figure.

Doris's body seemed to be controlled by something invisible; even moving her eyes was difficult. She shouted with all her might, and her antennae stood up.

Meanwhile, another figure, a black-haired worm wearing a blood-stained white coat, was standing in the center of the room, a strange smile on his lips, tilting his head and staring at him without blinking. He seemed to be the worm that had made the sound earlier.

This situation was truly bizarre. Talos instantly realized that this was not something he, a single insect, could handle. So he decisively turned around, but unfortunately, his usually smooth movements were now like those of a rusty machine insect, choppy and slow, and his thinking also became somewhat sluggish.

It's all over...

Doris has provoked... what kind of monster...?

The black-haired monster, who had been standing some distance away in the room, walked up to him step by step. Its light footsteps were quite noticeable in the otherwise quiet room. The black-haired monster looked into the passageway and gave a regretful look. "Ah... are you the only one here?"

With the dust settled, the two brothers, now trapped together, found themselves unexpectedly wiped out by the research insects after their pheromone riot failed to defeat them.

Doris looked at Talos, who was being controlled and standing beside him, with teary eyes.

"Waaaaah, it's all my fault..."

"Won't our entire ship become experimental subjects for this strange insect?"

"Talos, we're really going to die together this time, sob sob sob..."

"Shut up." Talos's face was bulging with veins.

He was trying to communicate with the other insects, but Doris was chattering away beside him, making it impossible for him to concentrate.

Finally, through his persistent efforts, his thumb touched the sheet-like object between his index finger and thumb. This was a miniature emergency notification device, connected to the ship's emergency broadcast system, capable of instantly notifying all insects.

Just then, the black-haired monster, who was putting one of the processed materials into the jar, suddenly turned its head and looked at them, causing Talos to freeze.

However, the black-haired worm didn't seem to notice his actions, and simply asked sincerely, "Could you call some more worm soldiers over for me?"

The black-haired worm tapped the jar, seemingly troubled. "With so few worm hands, it might be a bit troublesome to move my collection."

"Quick! Is this where Captain Bug's hair was?"

"Found it!"

"Charge! Charge! Charge!"

"..."

Doris asked earnestly, "Are all the bugs on our ship a bunch of idiots?"

Talos was utterly speechless and had clearly given up trying. "How smart can I be if I hang out with you?"

“That’s too much of a blow to the bugs, Talos.”

"Oh my, oh my," the black-haired worm obviously heard the sound too, and grinned excitedly. He put his hands together in front of him and smiled with satisfaction, "That way, the worm hands will be enough."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the insects that had squeezed in from the passageway froze in place, while the captain and second mate, who were also frozen in place, stared at each other wide-eyed.

With the captain, second mate, and key members of the Pure White Pirates captured, the change of ownership of the Pure White Pirates became a natural consequence.

Under the mournful gazes of the pirate crew, the black-haired worm chuckled lightly, "I didn't expect everyone to be so enthusiastic. Knowing there's a lot of stuff, you still sent so many worms. I'm so touched."

"Then let's begin."

They paraded through the streets, one or two at a time, carrying the collectibles designated by the black-haired monster.

The insects who knew them on the street were about to go up and greet them, but when they saw their stiff faces, strange gaits, and the jars of insect body fragments they were carrying, their expressions changed drastically, and they ran faster than rabbits. Then, one insect after another spread the word, and the Pure White Star Pirates were inexplicably shrouded in many bizarre rumors.

But the Pure White Pirates couldn't care less about that now. Each of them was heavy-hearted, unsure of what awaited them next. This black-haired monster was not only abnormally strong, but his hobbies were also visibly perverse. What if they turned into those fragmented tissues in the jars after they finished moving everything...? Waaah...

The black-haired monster counted them one by one, clearly in a good mood, "Oh dear, not one is missing, thank you all for your hard work."

The crew members standing in front of him gave a smile that was more like a grimace. No, it wasn't hard work, it was just bad luck.

However, after saying that, the black-haired monster completely ignored them. Instead, humming a little tune, it took out unprocessed tissue from the incubator under the operating table, held a scalpel in one hand, and happily began to create the perfect collectible.

Talos waited and waited, completely clueless about the situation. Finally, amidst the expectant gazes of the crew, he spoke, "Excuse me..."

As soon as he spoke, the black-haired monster stopped moving. It slowly turned its head, the shadow of its black hair falling on its eyes, making its face half-lit and half-shadowed.

"You haven't left yet? Do you have any ideas about my collection?"

The upbeat melody hides a sense of displeasure at being disturbed, making it sound somewhat eerie.

"Or... do you want to become one of them?"

All the crew members shook their heads violently, one after another, stepping on each other, and surged out. The last one didn't forget to gently close the door, even though he had never been so quiet in his life.

It wasn't until they ran out the door and inexplicably regained their freedom that the crew members were all a bit confused. But after several days of repeated attempts, they discovered that the black-haired monster really didn't care about them at all.

As long as you don't have designs on those collectibles—and who would have designs on those things anyway—that black-haired monster is actually quite easy to talk to; he even thanks you when you bring him food.

But if you accidentally damage one of his collectibles, he might accidentally turn the insect in question into a collectible himself—that's what the strange insect said...

Aside from that, they can navigate normally, their only requirement being that they stop occasionally at those battlefield ruins.

The black-haired monster, dressed in a white lab coat, squatted calmly in the post-war ruins filled with various smells. Not only was he not suffocated by the stench, but he also smiled and hummed a tune in a cheerful mood.

"Ah... what a pity, it's burnt..."

"The texture is so perfect..."

"Not bad, not bad..."

"Come on, move all of these to my lab."

Talos stood not far away, watching with pity the underlings carrying the insect fragments. This scene would happen almost every time they arrived at a ruin, the difference being that there were more or less, and some had none at all. In the words of that strange insect, they were all inferior products, not worth studying.

Fortunately, this strange insect wasn't very interested in living creatures, although it's possible that it considered them all inferior...

As time went by, the cautious space pirates gradually began to revert to their true nature, becoming more carefree and undisciplined.

"It seems the Federation and the Empire are about to start peace talks. Will they attack the Chaos Starfield together after they make peace?"

Doris lay sprawled on the sofa.

Talos carefully wiped the energy blade in his hand and said, "Hmph, the Federation is too busy taking care of itself to bother with us."

Doris clicked his tongue. "I wish they would send troops to give them a good talking-to, and ideally, to flatten all those bastards from Scarlet."

"However, why is the Federation so preoccupied with its own problems? Didn't they just produce an S-class male insect recently? They're riding high right now."

Upon hearing this, Talos paused in his actions, then slammed his hand on Doris's head, causing him to howl in pain.

"I told you not to listen carefully to the report. There has been a rebellion in the Federation. The leader is currently unknown and is very mysterious. However, the fact that they defeated and annexed three major legions overnight and reaped thousands of resource stars is enough to prove their strength."

"Moreover, he is very clever. The Federation's only two S-class male insects have both gone to neutral star systems for peace talks. The Federation has no insects to hold the fort, and the major legions are acting independently. It is the best time to defeat them one by one."

Doris said, "Ha, that's really impressive. But the Federation's damn male insect protection system needs to be reformed with insects. Even the Empire is better than them."

...

The atmosphere within the Pure White Pirates fleet has been quite oppressive lately, because their leader, that black-haired monster, has failed to find anything satisfactory in over a dozen ruins.

Although he still has a smiling face every day, his gloomy aura makes every insect that sees him avoid him, for fear that some part of his body might accidentally end up in those strange bottles and jars and become a collectible.

"Boom—"

"Boom—"

Suddenly, the entire starship began to shake violently, and the alarm bells inside the ship started beeping.

"Enemy attack—Enemy attack—"

Talos immediately ran to the control room, where a huge starship with red crack patterns on its exterior was displayed on the screen. "It's the Second Fleet of the Crimson Pirates."

After a round of bombing, a one-way communication came through immediately: "Get out of the way!"

Besides sounding extremely arrogant, the voice also seemed to carry a hint of hidden panic. What was going on? The Crimson Star Pirates were already a dominant force in the Chaotic Star Sea, yet they were still feeling panicked?

Talos quickly understood the reason: closely following the Crimson Pirates' fleet was a huge black and gold starship. Its sleek design and numerous new cannons were undoubtedly far superior to the Crimson Pirates' small, dilapidated ship.

Of course, what made Talos immediately recognize the black and gold starship was the golden iris emblem, the national flower of the Dawn Empire and a symbol of its army.

Talos found it amusing and felt much more relaxed. It seemed that the Crimson Star Pirates had acted too recklessly and accidentally provoked the tiger, and now they were being chased and beaten. They probably had inadvertently blocked the Crimson Star Pirates' escape route, so they were hit a couple of times as a result.

Just as he was thinking of finishing off the enemy with a couple more hits and slipping away, a bug suddenly stood up beside him, its aura incredibly low.

At the same time, a hand reached out from the side and quickly pulled Talos away.

Talos gestured to Doris with his eyes to see what was wrong, then saw the horrified, bitter smile on Doris's face and the broken shards of the jar in her hand.

Talos understood instantly, a look of sympathy on his face. It seemed that the Scarlet Star Pirates' bombing had inadvertently destroyed this fiend's collection, and things were definitely not going to end well now.

"What's going on? Do these Pure White bugs want to die? Why aren't they moving aside?"

Captain Barney of the Crimson Star Pirates' Second Fleet was furious, but his back was soaked in cold sweat.

Since becoming the captain of the second fleet of the Crimson Star Pirates, he has acted without any scruples. A couple of days ago, he slaughtered a small planet and had a few drinks. He was so hot-headed that he fired a few shots at a passing fleet, but he didn't expect to cause such a big problem.

This Imperial fleet has been chasing them for days now. They could have easily blasted them to smithereens, but instead, they've been toying with them like mice, running across almost half of the Chaotic Starfield, letting countless insects see their pathetic state.

He dared not go to the main fleet of the Crimson Pirates. If Captain Bug found out that he had caused such a big problem and brought it back to his hometown, he would be dead for sure.

"Get out of my way!"

Barney once again charged up his energy cannon, intending to blast the Pure White Pirates blocking his way into ashes.

Unexpectedly, the pure white starship suddenly changed direction and charged straight at him, spraying shells like they were free, weaving a huge net of shells with no blind spots.

"What?! Have they gone mad?!"

Barney quickly fired, causing two of the shells to explode in the middle, and then fled to the side.

Unexpectedly, the pure white starship followed closely behind, using the force of the explosion to quickly catch up. With two more loud booms, the rear wing of the fleet was mercilessly blown to pieces.

This maneuver actually brought the Imperial fleet behind to a halt, seemingly bewildered as to why the pirate groups had suddenly started fighting.

Barney had been chased and humiliated for days, and he was already furious. Now that the Imperial fleet had stopped, he was being chased and beaten by the Pure White Pirates, whom he had previously looked down upon. This only fueled his anger.

"What are you Pure Whites? I'm already being chased by the Imperial Fleet, and you dare to come up here and act so presumptuously. I'll beat you to dust if you're dead, and slice you into pieces if you're alive."

He abruptly turned his starship around, aiming the dense array of cannons at the charging Pure White Starship. His starship, in terms of configuration, performance, and size, was far superior to the Pure White Star Pirates' small, dilapidated vessel. It was just waiting to be blasted into dust by his firepower.

"Boom—" Shells sprayed out like rain.

Who knew that the pure white starship was like a slippery eel, making the most of its small size. No matter how dense the network of shells it fired was, they could always emerge from unexpected angles and rush straight towards it at a speed that seemed to want to blast it to smithereens, as if they were going to perish together.

Are you crazy? Have you gone mad?

Barney was so startled that he instinctively took two steps back, tightening his grip on the control panel in an attempt to retreat.

However, it was too late.

On the left, right, and rear wings, smaller, pure white starships nimbly maneuvered around the crimson starship. The continuous bombardment made the crimson starship unable to maintain its balance, and it couldn't even turn around and escape again.

Barney heard the shrill alarm of the ship being damaged and the chaotic footsteps of his subordinates rushing toward the escape pods.

The Crimson Pirates were originally a disorganized group; once their advantage disappeared, they could run away faster than anyone else.

The battle lasted less than half a week from start to finish, leaving the Imperial fleet watching in awe.

"Your Excellency Marshal, I never expected that there would be such agile and powerful insects piloting starships in the Chaotic Starfield. It seems that we don't even need to take action. That reckless fleet that dared to provoke us is about to be destroyed."

In the starship's command center, standing at the very front was a blonde female insectoid dressed in a black military uniform. A military jacket was casually draped over her shoulders. Her delicate and handsome face showed some signs of age, but the years only added to her charm.

"How about we take down that little pirate gang and let that bug pilot come to us to atone for his sins?"

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Author's Note: Thank you AAA baby for the gift! Hehe, little dog sends love [starry eyes][heart eyes][cheers]

Thank you, Yezi, for the gift! *kissing sounds* [starry eyes][heart eyes][cheers]

Thank you to "晴空万里" (Clear Sky), "Collapsar." (Collapsar.), "75106423" (75106423), and "hfkjhj" (hfkjhj) for the nutrient solution! [Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers][Go for it!]