Chapter 76

Toto paused for a moment, lowered his eyes slightly, and remained silent. He felt a little bittersweet. He found it strange that hearing Wen Nuan's words made him feel sad.

He should have been smiling or full of gratitude, but he just sat there blankly, seemingly unable to process what was happening.

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves.

Red walls and black tiles, a young man in a white shirt.

The air was filled with the scent of flowers.

After a while, Fei turned his head and said, "Your father is also a C-level, did you know that?"

Toto shook his head. Fei had been unsure whether to tell him before, but now he had decided to.

"Madison has two children. The female is of higher rank, but the male is of lower rank. Aptitude determines lifespan, and genes determine altitude. This has always been the value system that has dominated the Zerg society. Therefore, from childhood, the two children have been treated very differently."

"About sixteen years ago, your father defied the Madison family and fled into exile, but was accidentally captured by space pirates."

“I don’t want to speak well of him, but if you go back to a family like that, you’ll probably face no better things than he did.”

Fei's gaze was calm, a gentle breeze ruffling his loose hair. He was refined yet indifferent: "Imperial Star Academy, he will never have the chance to come here. Although it is not written into law, such a place is not open to inferior insectoids."

Toto doesn't like it here. The little animals that live apart from the others always walk on their way home. He might live here, but it would be very lonely.

Fei didn't want Toto to do that, so he said:

"What you just heard has tormented many inferior Zerg for their entire lives, including your father. Perhaps they could have done something, but they were constantly denied, attacked by their relatives, friends, and society, and eventually lost all hope and resigned themselves to mediocrity."

Toto's eyebrows furrowed little by little, and his eyelids drooped. Fei thought Toto was sad. He felt that Toto must hate his father, hate his own background, hate why he was born into such a family, and couldn't be ordinary. He was all alone and pitiful.

Fei Gang was about to offer some words of comfort when the young man suddenly stood up: "Why don't you beat them up?"

Fei's outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

Toto's gaze was calm and stubborn. He didn't think he was wrong or needed comfort or pity. He seemed to be very confused about this relationship, and even his anger was suppressed: "In the past, when I encountered these kinds of bugs, I would beat them up badly."

"I guess it's because of some kind of noble family or something."

"What nobles? They're nothing but a bunch of vampires who live off others' labor. How are they any different from the slave owners back home?"

“I don’t accept this reason, not because I got into this school, but because even if I’m mediocre, I don’t accept the harshness and insults these worms have shown me.”

"Commander, I do not accept this."

The atmosphere was tense.

The older man's expression was somewhat gloomy, and his gaze lost its initial gentle warmth. Toto remembered that he was also a nobleman, and that he had benefited from the nobility.

But Toto didn't want any of that. He felt that no insect understood him, no insect listened to what he was saying. They seemed to be compassionate towards insects, but in reality, they were just as arrogant.

That gentleness, tolerance, and friendliness were all based on the premise that he was pitiful and obedient.

Once he stops being sensible and stops being a law-abiding insect, he will be abandoned somewhere and mocked: "You'll never be able to come back; be a scoundrel for life."

Would things be any different for Fei? Toto found it both funny and numb. He moved his lips and silently took off his school uniform. He didn't want these things. He wanted to go home. He didn't want to be here.

A pair of large, calloused hands pressed down on his movements, the warm touch feeling like a piece of comfortable silk.

"Never make a decision about me without my knowledge."

Fei stood up. He was the same height as Toto, but he was refined and well-mannered, with a healthy physique and a cultivated demeanor. A gentle smile played on his lips. "When you judge a bug and decide to leave him, you should tell him your thoughts. Don't cause misunderstandings and add unnecessary complications to what should have been a heartwarming ending."

Toto was pulled into the female insect's embrace. He smelled the elegant and cool perfume on her body and felt his heart pounding. He was a beat slow to react and raised his hand in confusion, carefully placing it on the female insect's waist.

Fei said, "If you have enough courage, then following your heart is not a wrong choice."

"……Your Mightiness."

Fei smiled and let go of him: "Do you know Arnold's research area?"

Toto: "Genetic aptitude?"

"Many Zerg have studied this subject, but no Zerg has ever succeeded. Perhaps only the Zerg who are truly oppressed by this are determined to break free from this fate."

And you are the second person to pass the rigorous tests and receive the Green Medal to study on the Imperial Star.

After a brief embrace, Fei released Toto.

The two insects stared at each other silently for a moment, then Toto suddenly said, "Can I take my father out of Madison's house?"

Of course, but Fei still asked why. He felt that Toto would distance himself from his father because Toto had not offered to visit him again after that day, nor had he brought up the topic of his father.

If his father doesn't love him, then in Fei's opinion, it's best to never see him again.

Toto didn't answer, but he seemed to have already made up his mind.

Fei recalled that when he came of age, his uncle passed away. At that time, he was already disheartened and no longer talked about his youthful ideals. He was focused on returning to reality and didn't care about marriage at all.

Before his uncle passed away, he made a special trip to see him. Perhaps it was a sigh of regret for the cooling of passion, or perhaps it was out of concern for Fei, but he advised Fei not to agree to the family marriage.

Fei, who had just recovered, said impatiently, "There's nothing wrong with marriage alliances. Virtue, character, wealth, beauty—you can get whatever you need. As for those lowly insectoids, who spend their lives scheming and plotting, is it right to marry them?"

My uncle said, "That's not how it is..."

Fei and his uncle argued for a long time, and neither could convince the other. In the end, the uncle passed away, and Fei hardened his heart and did not go to see him one last time.

But he would occasionally recall what his uncle had said during a heated argument: "Does this world require us to measure whether someone is worthy of love before we can be loved, or whether they are worthy of kindness before we can be treated kindly? We who consider ourselves extraordinary, even our closest family insects are being evaluated for value before we invest our emotions in them."

It sounds stupid and naive.

Fei had once been dismissive, but now he was wavering. He felt that the young man in front of him truly deserved to be loved and treated kindly.

Fei, who had arrived in a hurry, did not stay long. He had lunch with Toto as promised, sat for a while, and then his driver came to pick him up. After saying goodbye to Toto, he quietly left the Imperial Star Academy.

Toto watched the Commander's hovercar disappear into the distance, a slight smile appearing on his lips. Then, he touched his face strangely, regaining his calm expression.

Complete the enrollment procedures, fill out the relevant forms, and tidy up the dormitory.

The C-level males also have their own dormitories on the ground floor, with a lush tree outside the window that blocks out all the sunlight.

Toto turned around, opened the study materials he needed to preview for tomorrow's class, and began to read them carefully.

Author's Note: