Chapter 51
Inside the café.
Yael looked at the female soldier sitting opposite him and said expressionlessly, "What do you want to say?"
Just now, Leimand threw something like a mechanical ball around him, and then an invisible barrier seemed to appear out of thin air. The speed of his mental attack slowed down a lot, and he could only sit here and talk to him.
"It seems that you care a lot about the female slave you picked up."
Leimande said this casually, then quickly lowered his eyes in annoyance, "Forget it, there's not much time left, I'll just talk about the main points."
"You probably don't know that the slave girl is a war criminal who has committed serious crimes."
Yael's pupils shrank slightly, but it remained unnoticed on his face.
He even tilted his head and looked at Lemand, questioning him sharply.
"Court judgments, news reports, video footage, lists of defectors... just pick out any piece of evidence."
Leman's movements froze.
All his actions came from the admiral's secret communications and orders, but there were no substantive documents, and there could not be any.
Lynching and insect experiments were violations of the Imperial Constitution and were just tacit amusement among the nobles, and were not acceptable at all.
But in front of the male insects, convicting a lowly female slave is always a matter of a word. Just put a false accusation on her and give her enough compensation, and the female slave will be kicked out immediately.
Although Leman thought the male insect in front of him had good character, he would at least think twice before charging him with such a serious crime as a war criminal.
But Yer stood on the side of the female slave without even a second thought, his words and actions showing undisguised trust and protection.
"None of them? Just based on the lieutenant colonel's one-sided statement, it's hard for me to believe that my female insect is a war criminal."
"Even if he is the military chief, he has no right to convict a bug without the judiciary. It is really offensive to directly say that my female bug is a war criminal without any evidence to support it."
Yael was not a talkative person, but this time he kept yelling at the female soldier in front of him, which was enough to show how bad his mood was.
“…”
The male insect on the screen frowned angrily, with the corners of his eyes slightly raised, looking a little fierce, but in Caesar's eyes, he was adorable in a way that was hard to describe in words.
and--
That's enough.
Xi Ze's icy expression softened, and he looked at Yael on the screen intently, his eyes deep.
The fact that he chose to believe and protect at the first moment has completely eliminated his resentment.
The delusion that I had been searching for for many years and then had been shattered was actually realized in this place and in this situation. It was really...
Xi Ze's tongue felt slightly pale and trembled subtly for a moment.
I could almost still smell the pleasant scent of the male insect, a hint of burnt sweetness mixed with the refreshing scent of melted ice and snow.
But his eyes swept over the snow that had not been wiped clean off the male insect's body, and his eyes turned cold again. He switched to another channel and urged.
“Speed up.”
Do you like grabbing someone's collar so much? I wonder if you'll still be so mean after being caught.
Inside the café, this negotiation, which was not really a negotiation, was still going on.
Feedback of the attack had already come through the earphone. He had brought only a few subordinates with him, and most of them, both overt and covert, had lost contact. But these few minutes were enough to gain.
Lemand sighed, feeling very embarrassed, and softened his tone after thinking for a while.
"Perhaps you have misunderstood something."
"Let me start from the beginning... I took over this female insect five months ago."
Five months ago.
Leman received a secret communication from the admiral of the First Legion who had taken office a few years ago. He said in a serious tone that he would send an important war criminal to Etal and let him be in charge of the interrogation.
It was a wounded female soldier, naked, with both hands and feet bound with restraints. Her body was folded in half and stuffed into a small box, which was then smuggled into the garbage room of the starship.
On the surface, he was in charge of the border defense forces stationed in the border galaxies, but secretly he was also conducting illegal interrogations on behalf of the nobility and the military.
He had dealt with many "important war criminals" sent over like this, and he no longer had any unnecessary emotional fluctuations.
Underground torture is far more brutal and bloody than regular interrogations. Countless female soldiers have died in it, and it has long become a fear-inducing existence.
Only the same kind understand each other best, but they are also the most cruel and brutal. Every punishment is designed to target the weak points of the female insect, with the aim of completely destroying the female insect's body and spirit in the shortest possible time.
The order from above was to torture them directly, and to inflict as much torture and pain as possible while ensuring that the female insects did not die.
At least during the period when Lemande was in charge of the punishment, no insect could complete the entire set of torture. They either collapsed halfway or died from the unbearable torture, without exception.
The military lady named Nishizawa was the only exception.
The admiral meant not to hold back at all, and even ordered Lemand to send the torture surveillance over for inspection. His attitude was so cautious that the insect was shocked... or maybe he was not inspecting, but just admiring the sight of this female insect being tortured.
But he soon understood why Anto was so cautious.
That female soldier with bright golden eyes and silver hair, no matter how she was tortured, whether she was a bloody mess or a pile of mud, whether she was crying silently or gasping silently.
As long as he is allowed a moment to catch his breath, he will recover his spirit slowly and endlessly, just like the weeds on the roadside that can never be pulled out.
Those clear golden eyes were stained with blood, pus and countless filth, and were mostly dazed and blank, filled with pain that was overflowing. Even the female insect that was executing them did not dare to look them in the eye.
But as long as those eyes are not closed due to coma, or completely dissipated due to death, they will always contain a broken golden light that cannot be extinguished by any torture or humiliation.
Leman even considered gouging those eyes out, but he soon realized that would only be an insult and proof of his own failure.
After three rounds of interrogation, Lemande felt extremely complicated.
As there were no more orders from the Legion, he stopped and went to quell the rebellion in the area that had been invaded by pirates.
It was not until the admiral came to question him that Lemand learned that the female insect was missing. Further investigation revealed that it was intercepted by Yelle.
"That's what happened. This is the normal process for dealing with serious war criminals. I can't go into too much detail, but you can search Starnet and you'll know. I'm not lying."
Lemand selectively omitted some things that did not meet the specifications, and only systematically explained the process of reviewing female insects. It was normal to try to put pressure on Yael, and refusing to hand over the female insects was obstructing military affairs.
Yael remembered the military boot on Caesar's head in the video he had seen before, and at this moment he instantly matched the identity.
The anger rising in his chest burned his heart, making his tone gradually colder.
"So, you are the one who has been torturing the female insect?"
Leman's breath caught.
He didn't expect that the male insect's focus was this.
Xize's speech speed unconsciously slowed down when he gave orders. He stared closely at the male insect on the screen, and his Adam's apple rolled for a moment.
Even though you knew his identity was questionable and that his existence would bring a lot of trouble and danger, didn't you have even the slightest thought of abandoning him?
Reimand clenched his hands at his sides into fists, and a nameless anger rose in his heart.
"It's me! But hasn't that female insect been deceiving you all along?!"
"I can see that you like this female slave very much, but I'm afraid he hasn't confessed his true identity. When it comes to bad intentions, I pale in comparison!"
"Oh, but what's that to you?"
Yael rolled his eyes, his tone was cold and indifferent, and his refusal to cooperate was very obvious.
The backup plan I brought with me was already being used up, the casualty feedback in my earphones had slowed down a bit, but the negotiations were already at a stalemate.
Leman took a deep breath and suddenly changed his tone.
"Or, have you ever thought about making good use of this opportunity? We can work together."
Yael, who originally didn't intend to reply, pricked up his ears and became alert. "What do you mean?"
"It's not that I don't want to tell you the true identity of this female insect directly, but it has already involved too many things. He is in a very complicated situation, and it is not something that cannon fodder like us can interfere with. But--"
"The current situation is a good opportunity to take advantage of the complex interests involved and make a fortune."
“This is an opportunity for me.”
Lemand raised his eyes, his wolf-like cold and fierce eyes concealed a strong ambition.
"The main star system is too far away. No matter how long Admiral Anto's arms are, he can't reach here for the time being. There is no need to hand over this female slave. Just spread the news that he has escaped to the main star system to confuse the military temporarily. Then I will take the initiative to apply to go and give chase."
"At this time, with the help of my family, I can be transferred from the border defense post, connect with the army, and return to the main planet smoothly."
"You're quite the daydreamer."
Yael sneered, with a hint of annoyance in his eyes, "Then tell me what benefits it can bring to me?"
"You don't have to do anything. This female slave is still yours. When the time comes, you just need to spread the word that you are the male master of this female slave and can provide the location of the female insect."
"You can take this opportunity to ask the military admiral for many benefits, such as star coins, housing, resources... You can even use this as a stepping stone to enter the upper-class society and become a higher-level noble."
"If you still like this female slave, you can keep her in the basement and hand her over when the truth is revealed. This will be a way to save your life."
Leimande narrowed his eyes and asked, "What do you think?"
Yael suddenly raised his eyes and looked at the female insect, then stood up suddenly.
"I have said it many times, he is my female worm, I will not sell, transfer or give him as a gift."
“沒有其他選項可言，我也不會考慮你說的那些東西。”
他還記得那晚撿到西澤的時候，雌蟲的情況有多麽凄慘，差點就死在了雪地裏，後續更是表現出了嚴重的創後應激障礙。
那些傷害只是被藥物治愈了，但絕不代表施暴者已經被原諒。
他更沒有資格代替西澤，壓抑着厭惡和憎恨去尋求這些利益合作。
更遑論那根本不是合作，而是一種更加殘忍的酷刑和無盡的羞辱，是能生生将一個軍雌磋磨至死的惡毒做法。
“如果接下來中校仍然不打算說出一些實質性的東西，只有這些漫無天際白日做夢的誘導，那麽現在就可以走了，因為我的答案不會改變。”
說到這種程度，萊曼德已經放棄了曉之以情動之以理，豁然站起身來，沉聲直接撕破了臉。
“就算沒有法律條文又如何，就算不情願又如何，得罪一名軍部上将的後果，閣下有想過嗎？！”
“所有晉升途徑都被堵死，被迫欠下巨額債款失去工作和容身之地，甚至被暗中搞掉公民身份成為黑戶，終生活在惴惴不安的威脅和追殺中……不要以為那位做不出來這種事。”
萊曼德終于看到對面的雄蟲神色微變，又立刻緩和了語氣道。
“将這個雌奴賣給我恐怕是最簡單的辦法了，既能得到滿意的報酬，又能不得罪軍部上将，何樂不為呢？”
“還以為中校會有其他想說的，沒想到來來回回都是這些威脅，真是讓我失望。”
耶爾的神色徹底陰沉下來，直視着萊曼德的眼睛，一字一頓道。
“有這閑工夫還不如去求求那個上将，說不定還能得到一份假的逮捕令，而不是跟星盜一樣死皮賴臉堵在別蟲家門前，強買強賣大肆威脅。”
他幾乎是直接開罵了，完全沒給萊曼德留多少餘地，跟個小刺猬一樣突突往外紮刺。
卻是将家裏的雌蟲埋在了軟軟的肚皮下，保護着不被搶走和污蔑。
耶爾直視着萊曼德的眼睛，點漆似的眸光因為憤怒被燒得極亮，像是劃破長夜的一點星光。
“滾！”
和這一聲一同響起的，是店門的玻璃猛然碎裂的聲音。
砰——！！！
“接到報警電話，這裏有雄蟲疑似被挾持，裏面的蟲通通不要動！”
一支全副武裝的軍隊破門而入，穿着防爆衣戴着金屬頭盔，渾身挂滿了武器和彈藥，無比強硬的命令被耳麥放大，充斥在咖啡廳中。
耳機裏的頻道徹底陷入沉默，萊曼德眸光冷凝，在耶爾被分散了注意力的瞬間伸手向他抓去——
“砰砰砰砰砰！！！”
但那只手還沒有到雄蟲身前，就瞬間被激光槍射穿，刺眼的藍色極光伴随着血肉橫飛，
萊曼德咬牙吞下悶哼，掙脫了跑上來按住他的軍雌，拼命掙脫了沖到耶爾面前，聲音嘶啞地道。
“他一直在騙你……名字、身份、軍銜……有幾個是真的？閣下這麽相信他，想要尋找折中的辦法，小心以後被背後捅一刀！”
他沒能繼續說下去，耶爾就被拉入防爆軍的層層包圍和保護之中，隔絕了一切傷害，同樣包括制服萊曼德的慘烈場景。
“閣下，您有沒有受傷？”
包裹得嚴嚴實實的頭盔下傳出一道沉悶的聲音。
耶爾有些警惕地看着他們，一時間搞不清楚這是什麽狀況，“沒有，你們是……？”
“維護星球治安的。”
沒等領頭的回答這個問題，旁邊就有一個比較活躍的搶先道，從頭盔下可以看出那呲着的大牙。
小隊長猛地怼了他一把，才轉頭沉穩地道。
“之前斐山星盜團襲擊艾塔爾，我們臨時被請調過來維護治安，剛才有蟲看到這裏的情況後報了警。”
“這樣……辛苦你們了。”
耶爾半信半疑地道，很快又道，“那我現在可以回家了嗎？”
“不辛苦，都是我們該做的，讓我護送您回去吧，之後會在周圍加強巡邏，您有什麽需求都可以叫我們。”
小隊長打了一個手勢，包圍圈裂開一個口子，卻沒有散開，而是變形成了一條通道，一直通到外面巷子口，更遠的就看不到了……
可能一直通往家門口去了。
出到咖啡廳外，耶爾才看到這樣的士兵來了多少，此刻正訓練有素地清掃戰場或警戒四周，看起來嚴肅而專業。
他默不作聲地跟在小隊長後面，一路上都能感覺到無數隐晦的視線，或好奇或探究地看過來，但都沒有什麽惡意。
【這就是上将的雄主？】
一個抱着槍站崗的軍雌身形挺拔，沒有多餘的動作，頭盔上黑色玻璃卻完全擋不住其八卦視線。
【看起來好像……嘿嘿。】
【管好你臉上那對綠招子，小心上将給你雙倍訓練量！】
旁邊的軍雌猜出他所想，開玩笑地白了他一眼，卻無奈地注意到對面更多灼熱的視線。
【滾滾滾滾！】
小隊長有些尴尬地咳了一聲，轉頭低聲道，“不好意思啊閣下，這個……”
“沒關系。”
耶爾剛才正出神，恍然間似乎明白了什麽，但又沒有确切的證據。
“你們……我不太了解，但你們有從屬于哪個軍團嗎？”
軍雌默了默，啞聲道，“曾經的……”
後面的話他說得含糊不清，耶爾有些疑惑，但還是沒有追問。
前面幾步就是家門口，他從口袋裏掏出鑰匙，身後的軍雌很有分寸地停住不動了。
但沒等他把鑰匙插進去，門就從裏面打開了。
西澤正站在門內，神色柔和中帶着擔憂，垂眸低聲叫他，“雄主。”
在被拉進去前，耶爾想起什麽，轉頭對着外面的軍雌道，“謝謝你送我回來。”
那軍雌隔着幾米注視着這邊，聞言擡起手比了個手勢，确認門關上後整理了一下背着的槍，小跑着下了樓道。
……
耳機裏傳出的聲音猶在耳側，西澤許久才完全回過神來，緩慢地眨了眨眼。
情況已經被控制住了，比他預想的好得多，而在這場可以稱作威脅的談判裏，他從始至終都沒有成為被舍棄的一方。
雄蟲的脾氣一直很好，這次直接冷了臉開口罵滾，是不是因為聽到那些不好的經歷，所以在心疼他？
想到這裏，那雙金眸中難以掩飾地，一點點聚攏起光和喜悅，西澤克制地抿緊唇角，努力平複在身體裏激蕩的異樣情緒。
一直到雄蟲回家，這份悸動依然沒有消失。
“雄主……”
西澤将門反手關上，将身前的雄蟲攬入懷中，手心下瘦削冰冷的身體讓他心尖微澀，“雄主。”
耶爾還在思考剛才混亂的局面，聞言擡眼看向他，輕聲道，“我剛才遭遇了威脅，你知道嗎？”
雌蟲動作一滞。
耶爾沒有等他開口，繼續道，“那個叫萊曼德的軍雌說，你一直在瞞着我你的真實身份，這件事我知道，但……到現在也還不能說嗎？”
“你應該不是戰犯吧？”
他的聲音中帶着一絲遲疑，雖然覺得無比荒謬，但還是忍不住追問了一句。
“我不是。”
西澤頓了頓，按住雄蟲的肩膀拉開一點距離，那雙金眸專注地凝視着耶爾，聲音緩慢而顯得無比鄭重。
“雄主，我從沒想過背叛，您是相信我，還是相信他？”
耶爾對上那雙眼睛，突然笑了一下，“我當然信你。”
西澤有些緊繃的下颌驀地放松，明明他們之間的問題還沒有解決，他還是難以抑制地彎了彎唇角，眸光微亮。
“但——”
耶爾眉梢微揚，語調看似輕快，實則有些咬牙切齒，他伸手捏住雌蟲臉頰的軟肉，往外狠狠一扯。
“我等不了那麽久了！敵軍都打上家門口了，你還瞞着我！”
“說說吧，這件事到底怎麽回事？你到底是誰什麽身份，怎麽淪落到這種地方的，有什麽目的？”
雌蟲俊朗的臉被扯得變形，看起來有點滑稽，聲音含糊道，“這件事情有點複雜……”
“你說，我聽着。”
耶爾好整以暇地看着他，顯然不打算像之前一樣輕輕揭過。
西澤猶豫許久，似乎是在醞釀詞措，最終卻還是沉默下來，又輕又含糊地道，“……對不起。”
耶爾定定看了他一眼，松開了捏着臉的手指，那裏赫然有一塊紅色的指印，看起來有點凄慘。
“看你剛才的樣子，還以為早就打好了腹稿，找到更合适的理由了。”
雌蟲一頓，輕聲道，“只是不想再騙您。”
耶爾都快氣笑了，深吸了一口氣。
“你騙我還少？再說了，你不說怎麽解決問題，到時候軍隊真打上門來怎麽辦，我不在家的時候，那什麽中校少将的又來搶蟲怎麽辦？”
說到這個西澤反而鎮定下來，語氣顯得篤定而可靠，“不用擔心，我會解決好的，絕對不會波及到雄主的。”
“今天這樣的事，不會再發生第二次。”
At this point, how could Yael not understand that the identity of this female insect was definitely not simple, and she might even be a major general or admiral in the military. He just didn't know how she ended up like this.
He suddenly asked, "What about you?"
Xi Ze was stunned.
"What are you going to do? Where are you going? I don't know your true identity and purpose. I don't even know if this is your real name. When you leave... where am I going to find you?"
The male insect's voice was very soft, his emotions were deeply suppressed, and his speech speed was a little hurried.
A complicated identity means inevitable responsibility and separation. When Lemand came to the door, the things that he had deliberately not thought about before were laid out in front of him.
Thinking that the female insect in front of him might disappear without a trace one day, and that the universe was vast and the planets were numerous, and that he knew nothing about her name and identity, he could only stand there in a daze, not knowing where to look for her.
He understands that things are sensitive and can't be spoken out easily, but he can't accept being kept in the dark like a fool. This would make him feel that this relationship is built on a castle in the air and has no reality at all.
"I'm sorry, this matter will be over soon, and I will tell you everything in person when the time comes."
Maybe the balcony door was not closed properly, allowing the snow and wind to leak in. Yael stepped barefoot on the carpet and felt cold from head to toe.
He reached out and pushed Caesar away, took a few steps back, turned around and walked into the room.
"Don't follow me. Let me be alone for a while."
The author has something to say:
Yaye and the general have hidden many things from each other, but the general didn’t mean to keep his mouth shut. The next chapter will explain the secrets to the babies!
But both of them are good at protecting their shortcomings.
Yeah Yeah:
Are you hiding something from me? I should ask myself. Why are you trying so hard to sow discord between us?
Have you ever tortured Xi Ze? Rubbish! Rubbish far away! (Little hedgehog is fierce)
General:
Tortured yourself? Still able to stay calm.
Did you pull the male master down and make him eat snow? What a filthy hand! Chop it off! (Hehe)
Leman did not die, he escaped and has a role in the later scenes.