Chapter 39
"What did you say?"
These words were almost chewed up and squeezed out from between teeth, and the anger in them is self-evident.
In the 3D projection, the female soldier in neat military uniform had a gloomy expression.
The medal on his chest and the magnificent office background behind him all demonstrate his superior status.
"That female insect was taken away?!"
The female soldier's sharp eagle eyes pierced straight outside the screen, where a group of timid female insects stood.
On the floor, there lay several tattered corpses of female insects.
Looking closely, the wounds are all very horrific. Each cut was made to the most painful spot. After all the cuts, there is no trace of the insect left. After being buried in the snow for a long time, it has become a pool of frozen rotten meat. It is extremely disgusting.
The bugs that did it seemed to hate them very much. They killed them after squeezing out all their value. They were not dug out until two days later by worker bugs from the female slave exchange. After a round of shirking of responsibility, the truth was finally revealed.
"Admiral, this is my fault!"
The one standing in the front and bearing the wrath was also a female soldier, her expression serious but with a hint of panic suppressed.
Facing such an existence that is beyond their reach, anyone would feel panic, especially since this admiral was obviously very angry.
Anto Edeka, a legendary military heroine.
He shone brilliantly in that world-renowned battle. When the commander-in-chief misjudged the situation and was about to lose the war, he single-handedly led the army to turn the tide and win the victory. He was eventually canonized as a general.
He is the second youngest admiral in the Empire after that one, but he is still more dazzling than that one...
The female soldier, who was inexplicably distracted, stopped thinking immediately and concentrated on answering the admiral's questions.
"That female insect was taken to the torture chamber and has been tortured at the highest level for a year. After it was found that her mind was completely destroyed, she was sold at a discount and then disposed of in batches as defective products."
"No insect told me what was special about that female insect, so I didn't pay much attention to it until the worker insects at the female slave exchange found the corpse."
"The computers of these worker insects have recent transaction records with the female slave's number '36' as a note, proving that they secretly resold the female insect to make money under the guise of processing. During this period, they resold a lot of these defective products. I wonder if they offended someone and got killed."
The young female soldier with a pale face stopped talking, stood at attention and saluted, "I'm sorry! After I find the female insect, I am willing to accept the punishment!"
"Recently?"
Anto's eyes were extremely cold, as if he wanted to skin and bone all these idiots in front of him, "What's the specific date?"
"Report! It's December 22nd!"
Today is the 28th.
It was just that he had escaped for a week and hadn't caused any trouble. In the videos that were sent to him, the female insect had become so disabled that it couldn't even crawl on the ground...
Week after week...
The female soldier's expression relaxed slightly, but then turned stern again the next second. She suppressed her anger and asked, "Where is Lemande?"
"Report! The major general is currently suppressing the riots on Mix Planet and may not be back in a short time!"
"It's all just rotten crap!"
The enraged Anto slashed at the communication with a knife, and the screen suddenly spun around and even started to freeze.
The female soldiers and worker insects here were silent, and no insect dared to touch the mold at this time.
After a long while, the computer was picked up and thrown on the table, and a cold and hard command came over -
"Tell Lemand to contact me! Wherever he is on this bullshit mission, get him back now, immediately, right now!"
The next second, the communication was interrupted.
A fist slammed into the meteorite desk, leaving a dent.
Anto gasped heavily for a moment, then suddenly threw away all the piled documents on the table, and there was a sudden "crackling" sound.
"Damn it! Something went wrong at this time. If we had given him some breathing space and tried to contact his soldiers..."
"He should have been killed right away!"
The female soldier growled, and with the corner of her eye she saw the medal, which represented the highest honor, framed and hung on the wall. In her anger, she inexplicably felt an uncontrollable sense of uneasiness and fear.
"Has it been confirmed that his mind has been completely destroyed? A week? Ha, even if we give him a moment, he might be able to stir up chaos."
That guy is not an embroidered pillow, nor is he a piece of soft bone soaked in the rotten life of the aristocracy.
He is a weed with numerous roots that cannot be easily pulled out. As long as he encounters a little light, he will continue to grow wildly. If left unchecked, there will be endless trouble.
If it weren't for the help of his female father, that thing wouldn't even be able to get close to that guy.
Anto took a deep breath and calmed himself for a while. Then he remembered something and made another encrypted call with extremely cold eyes.
It was too far away and the military was busy with too many things, so he couldn't get there in a short time. But it didn't matter... there were more secretive and more suitable insects to choose from.
Meanwhile, Mixin.
"Bang!"
A dull bang arose out of nowhere, and the chaos that had lasted for a long time finally subsided, leaving only scattered dust.
The tall female soldier looked indifferent as she surveyed the battlefield from above. After making a judgment, she made a stop gesture.
The black hole of the weapon behind him was emitting heat, and it was obviously the culprit for the mess.
The female soldier was surrounded by a murderous aura, and no one dared to approach her at this time. However, the communication was really urgent, so the adjutant took a step forward timidly.
"Sir, there's a communication for you!"
The female soldier raised her chin slightly, and a sharp green slid under the shadow of her hat brim.
*
Yael placed the small bowl in his hand on the tea table. The silver-blue powder in it had been used up.
He stroked the female insect's bare back through a layer of gauze and asked in a low voice, "How does it feel now? Does it hurt?"
The female insect was lying on the sofa, exposing her naked back.
The powder of the Sicilian ore burned the wound like hot magma, making every inch of his muscles tense and bulge. The blue veins on his arms meandered up, looking somewhat scary.
He was trembling slightly, with beads of sweat covering his upper body, even wetting his half-closed eyelashes. Hearing this, he spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Fortunately... the pain is not as severe as the last few times. It's a little itchy inside, as if something is growing."
The bony wings are extensions of the female insect's endoskeleton. They are usually folded and gathered on both sides of the spine, and released when needed. The flesh and blood accumulated inside are tearing and wriggling, and the severe pain affects the female insect's sensory judgment.
Xi Ze raised his body with some effort, took the coat beside him and put it on, and whispered to comfort the male insect.
"Maybe it has grown a little inside... I'll try to expand it then."
This simple and rough treatment has been going on for several days, and the effect is unknown, but there is no other way. I can only wait and find a time to go to the hospital for a follow-up check.
"good."
Just as Yael was about to ask 015 to clear the things on the coffee table, he heard it barking in surprise in the kitchen.
"There's no food at home... ahhh, I forgot to buy New Year's goods!"
Yael blinked slowly and finally realized that he seemed to have forgotten something.
Fortunately, 015 suddenly realized something was wrong when he was tidying up the kitchen. If he had only remembered it on New Year's Day, the day lily would have gone cold.
"You should take a rest first. I'm going to the department store to buy some things."
He said hello to Cesar and quickly put on his down jacket and scarf, but when he picked up the black umbrella leaning against the side, he suddenly paused.
【If you need to go out, take your female insect with you. 】
Alvin's words flashed through his mind. After hesitating for a moment, Yael let go of the umbrella handle and stepped back to the sofa.
"How about you take a rest and come with me later?"
"What's wrong?"
Xi Ze looked a little confused, but he didn't ask any more questions. He quickly got himself ready and winked at Yael, "No need to wait, let's go now."
"Can you do it now?"
Yael pursed his lips and hesitated, "Why don't I go by myself? It's not..." how far.
"It's OK."
Caesar put one hand on his shoulder and led him to the door, while he picked up the big black umbrella with the other hand.
015 put his hands in his pockets and sent them out together, "Remember to buy everything on the list... and go home early!"
＊
"You have arrived at your stop, please get off."
The suspended car glided along the space track and stopped smoothly at the destination station, and the mechanical broadcast sounded at the same time.
The door was closed, the track emitted a faint blue light, and the suspended car continued to fly towards its next destination.
This is the central city area of the planet Etal. There are strangely shaped buildings crisscrossing each other, spider-web-like streets extending in all directions, and countless bright neon lights flashing, like a field of bright stars.
"It's been a while since I've seen this place so lively."
Yael exhaled a breath of white air. The last time he saw such a scene was when he first arrived on this planet.
A sudden gust of cold wind blew. Even with my plush hat and scarf on, the wind could not penetrate my face, but it still hurt. At the same time, my fingertips felt a stinging pain from the cold.
Yael frowned and realized that he had forgotten to wear gloves. His fingertips and joints were frozen pink and so stiff that he could hardly bend them.
"ah……"
This down jacket had no pockets. He fumbled for a while and finally chose to put his fingers under the scarf, but his neck was frozen again.
There seemed to be a sigh from the side, but it was inaudible due to the cold wind.
But soon, a hand reached out from the side, pulled his hand out from under the scarf and held it in his hand.
The female insect in front of him had her eyelashes drooping. She was holding a pair of black half-finger gloves and was pinching his fingers one by one to put them in.
Finally, he tucked the openings of the gloves neatly into the cuffs of his down jacket and patted them as if he was coaxing a child.
那黑色手套明顯大了一碼，原本應該露出一個指關節的，但現在只能露出一小截指尖，也不太服帖，但……
他感覺自己的耳尖正在逐漸發燙，半晌回過神來，埋入圍巾裏掩飾般低咳了一聲，“……謝謝。”
“走吧。”耶爾有些慌亂地垂眸，率先走向前去。
“……正好有點餓了，看看有什麽吃的。”
和上次去到的偏僻小集市不同，這裏已經接近他上班的地方。
但這也意味着，很多蟲是認識他的，甚至戴了帽子圍巾也能一眼看出。
“閣下，新年好啊！”
耶爾被攔下的時候還是懵的，視線裏是一個陌生又熟悉的雌蟲的臉，但是怎麽也想不起來名字。
“你好……？”
“閣下還記得我嗎，我是哈德，之前還邀請您一起共進晚餐，雖然您拒絕了（小聲）不過沒關系，我可以再再再邀請您和我共進晚餐嗎……”
但他還沒說完，就被一只手推到了後面去，另一張臉擠了上來。
雌蟲清了清嗓子，用非常明顯的氣泡音沉聲道，“閣下，晚上好，我能邀請您和我共度良宵嗎？”
“大膽！你個不要臉的家夥！居然敢邀請閣下……做那個事！”
可能是受氛圍感染，雌蟲們格外熱情，一張張臉讓耶爾幾乎應接不暇，甚至懷疑自己在幻聽，不然怎麽會聽到連聲重疊的“閣下”。
和那些牛高馬大的雌蟲相比，被圍在正中間的雄蟲顯得格外不起眼，但他偏偏又是無可否認的焦點，像被巨大面點圍住的一只蝦餃，白白淨淨，又格外香甜。
“啊，不好意思……”
西澤被擠到了外圍去，卻沒有上前将耶爾拉出來，看着他有些無措地應付各色寒暄，唇角不知何時微微揚起。
他早就知道，星星就算落入泥沼，也會因為耀眼和溫暖，而自發吸引來無數的喜愛和觊觎。
沒有生靈會不渴求将星辰擁入懷中，但又因為莫名的神聖感和疏離感，不敢真的伸手亵渎，頂多就是花孔雀一樣努力開屏，企圖能被青睐一眼。
“……”
西澤将圍巾扯松了一點，唇角溢出白色的霧氣。
不知道是不是寒風太刁鑽，從衣領間隙鑽了進去，他驀地感到有點冷，細微清苦蔓延上舌根，好像還夾雜着一絲澀意。
但西澤垂眸仔細感受了一下，信息素并沒有溢出。
奇怪。
“……喂！”
一道有些惱怒的低聲傳來，西澤耳尖微動，然後倏地擡起眼。
才發現自己已經成了視線焦點，而不遠處雄蟲神情有些窘迫，一雙眼眸睜圓了瞪他，磨了磨牙後無聲做了個口型——
快來救我！
西澤怔了一下，藏在圍巾下的唇角倏忽勾起。
那絲苦意變成了回甘，好似一顆糖抵在舌尖，甚至讓他忽略了寒風刮面的冰冷。
“你誰啊？？不是，別推我……！”
“不是你到底誰啊？！”
不知道雌蟲怎麽做到的，但裏三圈外三圈的城牆迅速裂開一條縫隙，西澤撥開蟲群走到他面前時，甚至連衣領都沒有亂。
肩寬腿長的軍雌是天生的衣架子，一身黑色毛呢大衣分外颀長挺括，微垂着眼看他時神情倦懶，唇角抿着一點笑意，向他伸出手，“來。”
耶爾仍然有些郁悶，但看到面前雌蟲寬大修長的手，還是伸手握住了。
覆着硬繭的指腹無意識地摩挲了一下，然後反手握住雄蟲的手腕，将他輕松提溜了出來，半攬在懷裏隔開了那些雌蟲。
西澤臉上的神情淡了些，朝那些驚愕的雌蟲簡單颔首，禮貌道，“他今晚有約了，不好意思。”
這麽簡單就脫身了？
一直到遠遠走開，耶爾還有點沒回過神來，下意識想回頭看一眼，卻被耳邊的聲音吸引了注意力。
“想吃糖炒栗子嗎？”
“哪裏？”
耶爾瞬間忘記了剛才的事，順着雌蟲示意的方向看去，果然看到一個賣糖炒栗子的攤販，“走走走。”
等拿到了一包熱乎乎又軟糯香甜的栗子，他開始心無旁骛地剝栗子吃，将剛才的小插曲徹底丢在了腦後。
這裏的栗子大到像是變異了，但是果肉很多很好吃。
又因為只在表面開了很小一個口，需要非常用力才能捏開，有一些比較硬的甚至捏到手都紅了也紋絲不動。
“？”
耶爾自诩力量不算小，至少絕不是擰不開瓶蓋的嬌軟型，但手心裏青棗一樣的栗子又硬又滾燙，簡直像是一塊火山石。
他不信邪地把袋子給雌蟲抱着，兩只手去掰那個栗子，滾燙熱度滲透手套，讓他只能一邊捏一邊吹，指尖都被燙紅了。
這時西澤用那包栗子，将雄蟲手裏的換了下來，“吃這個。”
耶爾後知後覺地看向袋子裏面，被褪了皮的栗子圓滾滾地擠在底部，散發着香甜的氣息。
餘光看見西澤将栗子轉到拇指和食指中間，輕輕巧巧地一搓，那死硬的殼柔順地一分為二，然後果肉又被放進了袋子裏面。
他看看栗子又看看西澤，神色逐漸複雜。
西澤将手上的碎屑拍掉，察覺到一旁雄蟲的注視，彎了彎眼睛，“怎麽了？趁熱吃。”
“……你也吃。”
耶爾挑了幾顆特別圓的，放進雌蟲手心裏。
街道上的店鋪和流動的小攤很多，将整片市區點綴得明亮又熱鬧，在冰涼的空氣中升起騰騰的熱氣，随着寒風飄散在空中。
“這個感覺好好吃！”
雄蟲指着一條小臂粗的鱿魚腿，眼睛發亮，幾乎把“我想吃”挂在了臉上。
旁邊的攤販正把它煎得滋滋作響，軟彈嫩滑的鱿魚腿卷曲起來，被撒上孜然粉和辣椒粉，誘蟲的香味瞬間爆了出來。
西澤看了兩眼，“這是尤由裏海獸的觸手，肉質很硬，您可能咬不動。”
“給！您拿好！”
旁邊的雌蟲接過那根巨大的觸手，選擇性蟲化出了利齒，将那條“鱿魚腿”咬得咯吱咯吱響，仿佛是刀在亂七八糟地切割一塊頑固的肉。
“……”
耶爾下意識後退了一步，忙不得把雌蟲推走，“……我們去下一家看看。”
路過一家好像賣果凍的零食攤，他停了下來，看着那一排排裝在小碗裏透明軟嫩的果凍，裏面好像還有各式的果醬夾心。
“這個好像缽仔糕哦，是什麽來的？”
出于謹慎，耶爾還是多問了一句。
西澤看了一眼，“是深海星獸未受精的卵，往裏面注射夾心後冰凍一晚上，就成了現在這樣。”
“……啊？”
耶爾神色呆滞，看看他又看看那卵，神色逐漸不可置信。
“走走走。”
他仇恨地看了一眼那疑似缽仔糕，實則是巨獸卵的東西，憋着一口氣把雌蟲拉走。
“蟲族到底有多少奇奇怪怪的食物……”
他小聲吐槽，為自己存活至今感到了劫後餘生的慶幸，“沒被毒死真是運氣爆棚。”
一般蟲不會稱呼自己的種族為蟲族。
西澤眸底閃過一絲疑慮，但并沒有深思，只是放輕了聲音寬慰雄蟲。
“不都是那麽奇怪的，這裏是邊緣星，難免會有很多帶着民俗特色的食物，到了主星就會好很多。”
耶爾突然轉頭看他，眉心微蹙，“但是你怎麽比我還熟悉這裏，我還以為……”
雌蟲不是一直被關押在雌奴交易所嗎？
而且如果之前身居高位，應該也不會這麽了解邊緣星系的特色小吃？以至于看兩眼就能說出來。
“以前在垃圾星和邊緣星上生活過好幾年，成年了才去到主星的，所以了解得多一些。”
西澤語氣輕描淡寫，似乎不想過多談論這個，微擡下颌示意道，“前面那個味道很不錯，您要試試嗎？”
耶爾若有所思，但還是順着雌蟲的點點頭，“好，過去看看吧。”
事實證明，還是有很多正常的食物的，有了靠譜的向導，這條潛藏着“明刀暗箭”的美食街頓時變得明朗起來，開始放心地這裏吃吃那裏吃吃。
堪稱樂不思蜀。
解決了晚飯，耶爾終于想起采購年貨的任務。
他翻了翻光腦中的清單，指尖在“購買整套新衣服*3”這一條上停了停，正好馬路對面就是一家服裝店。
“進去看看？”
他再一次拉住雌蟲的袖子，抿着笑示意道。
要過馬路，西澤将手裏拎着的食物都換到另一只手，被拉住的袖子輕輕掙開，反手圈住雄蟲的手腕，沿着小臂一路往上，寬大的手掌卡住臂彎。
十分牢固且熟練的牽引手法。
“好，小心。”
耶爾沒有掙脫他，眉眼間卻有些無奈，“我又不是需要手拉手過馬路的幼崽。”
西澤仔細注意着過往來車，分心回答道，“小心一點總是好的。”
“邊緣星的交通系統不太完善，意外車禍很多，艾塔爾的管理還可以，但還是要多注意。”
一直到過了馬路才松開手，袖子被攥得皺巴巴，雌蟲又幫忙拍了拍……感覺真的被當成了需要照顧的幼崽對待。
從服裝店出來是半個小時後。
Both of them are guys who don't know how to choose. They usually just buy something that looks good to wear. Even if they buy new ones, they usually continue to buy old styles and at most try different colors.
"I'll see if there's anything else I need to buy outside. I'll go to the department store to buy the rest and then deliver it back together."
Yael flipped through the long list.
He spent last New Year in a hurry, without thinking about preparing anything, and he didn't even go out during that time.
But 015 took it very seriously. He cleaned the house and updated the decoration in advance, and also carefully prepared this list.
We can't just refuse its kindness.
A few snowflakes were floating in the sky, covering the streets and shops lightly and landing on the shoulders of the moving insects. They covered the fireworks and silver flowers with a soft veil, making the place lively and almost warm.
Yael occasionally turned his head to look at Cesar next to him.
Sometimes the female insect stared at him in a trance, and only lowered her eyes and turned away when she saw him turn his head.
Sometimes I help him pay attention to the shops around him, and it’s kind of cute how he looks when he’s concentrating on searching.
“Hmm…”
Yael pursed his lips, and the corners of his lips hidden under the scarf couldn't help but curl up.
…
Only after he finally came out of the department store and put all the bags in his hands at the delivery office did Yael finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Let's go, we'll go back after a while."
The night deepens.
The city was still bustling with activity, and the buzzing of insects seemed to light up this gray planet all night long.
But my ears seemed to suddenly detect a slight rumbling sound, which was mixed with the cold wind and could not be heard clearly.
A faint red light flashed in the dark night sky, but was instantly covered by clouds.
Xi Ze's expression suddenly changed. He grabbed his arm and his voice became extremely gloomy.
"Let's get out of here right now."