Chapter 81
"Your Majesty, we have arrived."
The suspended vehicle stopped in front of a heavily armed building. After verifying the identity of the bug in the car, it made several reports before finally having a smooth journey.
The warden had been waiting at the door early. When he saw His Majesty's car pull up, he hurriedly and attentively went to greet him, but was then bid farewell by the military maid who had been guarding him all the way.
"Everything is ready, please come this way."
Yael got out of the car and, guided by the insect in front of him, entered the building in front of him.
From the bright sunshine outside to the inside of this prison, the temperature around me dropped significantly, as if I had stepped into a cold and gloomy cave. I could even smell a faint smell of blood at the tip of my nose.
"...During the days since she was captured, the female insect has been resisting. We have used all these methods to get her, but she still refuses to reveal any information. The deadline given by His Majesty is getting closer and closer..."
The warden kept talking about the difficulties of prison, but Yerle ignored him while secretly sorting out the various reasons why he came here.
Logically, he should have refused to contact the source of danger privately, but Lance had been arrested and imprisoned, and there was no possibility of harming him.
Moreover, he had a hypothesis that he wanted to clarify, and searching for information alone could easily lead to partial answers. It would be best for him to come and meet the person in person, and maybe he could find out something.
"The interrogation room of the female insect is in front of us. Your Majesty, are you going in now?"
There was a hint of coldness in Yael's eyes, and he adjusted his expression in almost the blink of an eye.
"Come in."
…
Soon after he entered, another floating vehicle stopped outside the door. The deputy warden hurried over after receiving the news and was stunned the next second.
"Yuan Yuan Yuan, Marshal?! What are you…"
He had just heard the news this morning and learned the latest progress in the hunt for Anto, but just a few hours later, the bug driving a mecha to kill in the news teleported everyone before his eyes.
The afternoon sun was blinding. Xize narrowed his eyes slightly, looked towards the gate not far away, and walked in quickly, walking past the deputy warden.
Bai Lang snorted at the dazed bug and waved his hand, "Keep quiet. There's no need to inform His Majesty or prepare anything else. We'll just go in and take a look and then leave."
"Well, then..."
*
The interrogation room is separated by a transparent barrier. On one side sits the person being interrogated, and on the other side is where the interrogation takes place. Visitors are also allowed at the same time, but surveillance is required throughout the process.
When Yael entered, the lights were on and it was obvious that everything had been prepared for his arrival.
He raised his eyes calmly and saw the female insect sitting behind the barrier——
"Good afternoon, Your Majesty."
Lance was looking at him carefully, with a gentle smile on his face, "I didn't expect that Your Majesty would actually come. I am really flattered."
There are no conditions in prison, so the female insect can only let her long white hair down and wear ill-fitting prisoner clothes, but she does not look dirty or messy.
He had shackles around his neck and limbs, but he sat upright with an elegant posture, as if he was not being interrogated, but sitting on a luxurious sofa in the Duke's Palace, calmly receiving guests.
“…”
There were clean towels, boiling coffee, and even a rose on the table here. Yael glanced at them casually and then turned his attention back to the female insect in front of him.
"Did you plant the explosives under the palace?"
He asked so directly that even Lance was stunned for a moment, and then he smiled in surprise, with an impeccable look of surprise on his face.
"How could it be me? I am busy with family business all day long and only enter the palace occasionally. There is no chance for me to bury explosives under the heavily guarded palace--"
"Did you force the Second Prince to detonate the explosives?"
Yael interrupted him directly, without taking his eyes off the female insect's face, and reached out to get out of the chair and sit down, crossing his hands on the table.
Lance seemed to suddenly realize something, his expression was gentle and a little resentful, with a slight redness at the corners of his eyes. If someone didn't know the inside story, he might really be fooled by this gesture and become soft-hearted.
"Since Your Majesty has found out, why bother coming here to deceive me?"
He smiled slightly and uttered cold words mercilessly.
"It was indeed that idiot Felix who detonated the explosives. He was also the one who planted the explosives. Although he was a complete idiot, I didn't expect him to have the guts to die together with everyone else... It's quite funny."
The prince, who was raised in pampering and surrounded by countless flattery and pampering for the sake of benefits, has long developed a naive character. To put it bluntly, he is a fool who is easily manipulated.
People with this kind of personality can easily suffer a mental breakdown under high pressure and do extreme things.
The information he found showed that Felix had been sent to the hospital many times shortly after marrying Kano, but because he had become Kano's queen, even the royal family could not say anything about it.
Bullied by the cruel lord and secretly pressured by the scheming duke, Felix soon developed mental problems, but he became extremely dependent on Ganno, even to the point of being pathological.
At the explosion site, Cize and Ogsger were caught off guard and stood in the inner circle, while Cano and other insects had already quietly left, so it was impossible for them to be unaware of this.
...But since there are only reasonable guesses and no conclusive evidence, it is impossible to accuse Lance of the biggest crime.
Yael looked at him with sullen eyes, but did not ask any more questions. His fingertips tapped on the table from time to time.
"Does your Majesty have anything else to ask?"
Click.
At this time, in the monitoring room separated by a wall.
"You can hear their conversation from here, don't you? . . . ?"
The deputy warden rubbed his hands, wondering if he had misunderstood the marshal's meaning, and looked at Bai Lang for help.
"No, I'll go to the side room."
The side room is a very small room next to the interrogation room. Compared with the monitoring room, you cannot see the images, but you can hear the sounds as if you are in the situation, which can be unexpectedly useful during the interrogation.
Caesar nodded to Bai Lang, locked the door from the inside, and sat down on the only stool. The sounds from next door suddenly became clear, and even had some echo due to the small space.
"You're the one who requested to see me, don't you want to say something?"
Yael threw the question back to Lance.
"It's nothing, actually. I just think it's a pity that Your Majesty has been on the main planet for so long, but I haven't even seen him once. After all, I am Hillzer's sire, right?"
Lance's body relaxed a little and he leaned down on the table in front of him, as if this topic made him happy. The smile on his face deepened.
"He looks like me. I disliked him back then. Generally speaking, if a cub looks like its male father, it will be loved more by the male father, and will also like its female father more... What a pity."
"Ridiculous."
Yael lowered his eyelashes and looked at the smiling female insect, not noticing that his tone had become a little colder.
"Is that what you've always told him? That the color of your eyes and hair made you unpopular?"
"Yeah, he didn't like his eyes and hair for a long time. When he was two years old, he tried to dye them with ink. It was so silly and cute."
Those golden eyes were filled with mocking smiles and inexplicable malice.
Although they were of similar shape and almost identical color, they looked particularly dull compared to Xize, and even made the insect feel disgusted.
"At that time, I still had the patience to act like a loving father. I would often comfort him that it was none of his business, and then I would bribe a female servant to gossip about him behind his back. After a few times, he hated himself to death."
Yael suddenly understood something.
Why was Cize deceived by him time and time again, and could not let go of the hurt and constraints he suffered, until he was framed to death, and finally gave up all his fantasies?
Because of that brutal male insect, Lance is a weak person who is easily hurt and needs a lot of protection and love in Caesar's mind, and those gentle and beautiful masks further deepen this impression.
He would pretend to be embarrassed and tender like a female father, or suddenly utter vicious words with a smile, and then apologize sincerely to gain forgiveness, repeating this process over and over again.
That is enough to leave a deep scar in a young cub's heart, developing a precocious, sensitive, painful and easily stressful personality, and then turning it into a puppet with no control over its own will, controlled by the unclear love and hate.
No wonder Xi Ze is so upset sometimes, it turns out the source is here.
Yael's expression gradually turned cold, and he stared at the female insect opposite him without blinking, his lacquered eyes deep.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?"
As if he found his expression very interesting, Lance stood up on his elbows, stared closely at the male insect's expression, and spoke even more fiercely.
"Then I thought, forget it. I can't change her appearance if it's not what I like, but as long as she's well behaved and obedient, it's not bad..."
Yael glanced at the still boiling coffee, an ambiguous expression on his face.
"Want to splash my coffee? This is a barrier made with the latest technology. Even the blaster on the starship can't penetrate it. Your Majesty, please give up this unrealistic idea."
Lansmin caught his gaze sharply, and a hint of pride was revealed in her gentle smile, not because of the protection of the barrier, but because she thought she had broken through Yael's defense.
"What happened next?"
Yael suddenly spoke up.
"What happened next? I wanted to make him behave better, but I failed. I was really annoyed that he had such a bad personality. I had no choice but to throw him away."
In fact, Hillzer listened to him very much at that time. He knew a lot of things at a very young age. His eyes were often lit with anger and hatred, and were as sharp and cruel as a beast.
But when facing him, the cub's face was full of worry, self-blame and a strong desire to protect him. He was very careful, fearing that his wounds would hurt again or that he would be bullied by other females.
At that time, he should have been thankful that he had successfully forged a knife that only obeyed his own commands, was handy and convenient, could be used at will to gain benefits, and could recover from damages on its own.
But for some reason, as soon as he met those molten gold eyes, he couldn't help but feel disgusted, and even had an inexplicable burning sensation.
——The love and hatred in those eyes were frank and sincere. They didn't look like the kind of people who could do underground transactions. Who knows, they might stab you in the back somewhere in the future.
He quickly found a suitable excuse and naturally decided to abandon the cub.
"What do you mean?"
The expression on Yael's face finally changed slightly, and he did not hide the coldness in his voice.
"What did you do to Cesar?"
Lance, who was about to tell the story, was stunned. He seemed to be in disbelief and even remained silent for a moment. After a long while, he smiled and repeated it.
"Cize? You called him...Cize?"
He covered his face, almost laughing to the point of being out of breath, and spoke incoherently while laughing.
"Your Majesty, don't you know that this is a name that symbolizes abandonment and shame? What do you think of using this as a nickname?"
"Will that guy really not feel resentful?"
A room separated by a wall.
Xize's expression was calm, his eyes didn't blink, but his hands on his knees trembled for a moment, and then clenched tightly, and his slender joints turned pale.
The voice in his ear was familiar yet strange, making him dazed for a moment, as if his whole body was filled with the biting coldness of the snow, making his subconscious tense.
Amidst those laughs, the male insect's voice could no longer be heard. It was as if the only trace of warmth had dissipated, and even the heart began to freeze inch by inch.
"The crime of abusing cubs in the Empire is still very serious, and it is difficult to create accidental deaths, so I took him to a marginal star in the name of travel."
Lance finally stopped laughing and slowly told the past that he had never spoken of.
That planet is very backward, with heavy snow all year round and a very harsh climate. The only beautiful things are the sparse snowfields and the towering mountain peaks that sparkle in the sun.
After finally getting out to play, the cubs, who always pretend to be mature, were so happy that they stayed up all night, not even caring about the cold, and rolled around and ran back and forth in the thick and soft snow.
At the foot of the snow-capped mountains there, lives a mysterious tribe that worships the gods of the snow-capped mountains and holds large-scale sacrificial activities regularly, attracting many tourists to visit.
But he didn't really come here for fun. He went straight to the tribe's chief and started a skilled transaction.
The guys in cloaks gave Hilzer a star coin, which was the price for him, and then Lance filled in a random name on the transaction contract.
"From now on you will be called Cecil, and no longer Monte. That's what all the girls here do. It means..."
Sacrificial offering.
He vaguely used the word and only told Hilzer that it was just a role-playing game and that he needed to play the role of the cute lamb and that he could go home with his dam after the game.
The black forest stood out in the snow, divided by a clear line. They stood in the pure white snow, and there was endless darkness just around the corner.
Lance raised his eyes and saw a pair of bright red eyes, shining with greed.
Then he stepped back, leaving the confused cub there, got on a small mecha parked not far away, and quickly activated the energy to take off.
As long as he turned around, he could see a small figure in the snow getting farther and farther away, running towards him with all his might, tripping and falling, and crawling to catch up with him.
The voice was hoarse and the crying was sad.
But perhaps he didn't want to see the bloody scene of the beasts eating each other, or maybe there were other reasons... He never looked back once.
"I don't know how he survived. This has never happened before."
Lance stared at the male insect's expression and was genuinely confused for a moment.
This is the unspoken way among the nobles to deal with "waste", and they have reached a win-win deal with that side for many years. There is no reason for them to suddenly let Hillzer off.
But this is not important, the most important thing is——
"Are you angry?"
He saw the ignited anger and hatred on the face of the male insect in front of him, which made those dark eyes become extremely bright, like the cold light on the blade of a drawn sword.
The smile on Lance's face faded. "Your Majesty, aren't you a male insect? Can you also empathize with the pain of female insects?"
“…”
Yael looked at him for a long time, then put his hand down on the table to hide his trembling hand.
He suddenly realized that it would be difficult for him to gain the upper hand or win in the matter of Caesar.
Because Lance doesn't care and even hates it, he can ruthlessly mock, slander, insult and attack, using his former cub as a weapon and a shield.
He was full of love and care, and he felt heartbroken at the very beginning. Anger burned every inch of his sensitive nerves and flesh, making it difficult for him to maintain his sanity.
"But even so, he still couldn't forget me after returning to the main planet."
Lance stared at him closely, his expression becoming a little more illusory, and he said quickly and lightly, "He can't figure it out and can't let it go. What does it have to do with me?"
"He risked his life to kill that male insect and won this title and family for me. He almost lost his life because of it. Didn't he tell you the truth?"
He seemed to want to completely enrage the male insect. His tone became more and more urgent, and the content of his words became more and more excessive.
"She really lacks love. As long as you show a little tenderness and regret from a female father, she will soften her heart and come close to you eagerly. But after a piece of her flesh is bitten off, she will feel the pain and start to stay away."
"Shut up."
Yael stared at him fiercely, and the two words seemed to be ground and squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying with them a gradually rising hatred.
The veins on the back of his fair hand bulged, as if he had endured it to the extreme, and the armrest of the chair was clenched with a click.
"Time and again, like a dog that only remembers the food and not the beating."
Lance's face twisted slightly, tearing apart his always gentle appearance. Countless malevolence mixed with excitement flowed out from the holes in the mask.
He looked into the male insect's shrunken pupils and saw the love inside like a broken glass bottle, the fragments were sharp, cutting his heart into a bloody mess, and flowing out with the pumping blood.
"No, it's still different. He's worse than a dog."
Lance sighed softly and finally smiled with satisfaction.
"You just said that this barrier can withstand blast artillery?"
Yael spoke suddenly, and before Lance could come to his senses, the sound of chair legs rubbing against the ground was heard, loud and piercing.
And the moment he suddenly stood up, a terrifying mental pressure suddenly erupted -
Click, click, click, click, click...!
Spider-web-like cracks spread in an instant. Before he could react or even blink, the solid barrier exploded! !
Thousands of sharp fragments flew in all directions, instantly cutting through the soft skin and bringing out pieces of bright red blood.
Lance's pupils shrank suddenly, and his subconscious screamed for warning and escape, but before his muscles tensed up, his hair was violently grabbed, and he was pressed down by severe pain and pressure——
Phew!
The sound of flesh being torn was heard, and the sharp fragments suddenly pierced through the eyeball, and the bloody tip pierced out from behind the ear, nailing Lance directly to the table.
“Aaaaaaah!”
“Aa ...
A hoarse scream squeezed out of the throat, no longer pretending to be gentle, it was full of pain and hatred, like the harsh noise of a knife scratching on glass, and one could not help but feel disgusted when hearing it.
"I said, shut up!"
Yael's eyes were cold. He picked up the cup of boiling coffee with his other hand and poured it directly on Lance's head. The thick liquid slid down from mid-air and splashed onto the table.
The black coffee mixed with the bright red blood stained his messy white hair, making him look as if he was immersed in mud, unable to raise his head forever.
"Who said this coffee won't splash on your head?"
The sudden outburst startled the monitors, and a chaotic commotion spread, with the sound of doors banging behind them.
Yael pretended not to hear and continued to exert mental pressure, squeezing Lance under his palms until he was convulsing and couldn't even scream.
He bent down, his voice was very soft, but every word was clear.
"I tell you, I will always prefer him. We still have hundreds of years to spend together to slowly heal the wounds that have been left. Sooner or later, he will forget about you, a piece of trash."
"And you, tomorrow, will become a pile of rotten meat, which will be processed by the wormhole and made into fertilizer for the flowers. And soon, Cano will come to accompany you."
He gave a short laugh.
"You will stay there, being spat upon by passing insects and urinated upon by animals, and will rot and stink forever."
The door behind him was finally opened, and the warden and the interrogator rushed in with a large number of guards, but they didn't even dare to get too close to His Majesty the Male Insect, for fear of being affected.
"Your Majesty?!"
“Your Majesty! He he he is still useful! We still need to interrogate him for some information…!”
"Don't... oh, this... be careful not to burn your hands!"
Those mental powers were still as sharp as knives, solidified in mid-air, making a rustling sound that could make insects shudder, and the advice they spoke could not help but weaken.
Yael stood up, but did not loosen his grip on Lance.
That terrifying mental power was instantly recovered from the air and pierced directly into his mental picture, mercilessly searching for something inside.
The female insect's body twitched violently, as if it was enduring severe pain, but was suppressed by the mental force and could not move at all, and could only make hoarse sounds from its throat.
"Before he was imprisoned, a small portion of the Duke's property had been laundered through improper means and transferred in batches to..."
"He hid a batch of arms on the planet Kohler A-077, which was specifically for Anto and the pirates to use. That desolate planet has become a fixed base. A large pirate group docked there just last week."
"There is also a large amount of explosives buried under the spare palace... notify His Majesty to leave there immediately!"
While searching through the memory storage in his mental picture and digging out useful things, Yael quickly spoke out the information and signaled the recorder to write it down quickly.
Each one of them was shocking enough. The interrogator who rushed in was already dumbfounded, and he shuddered violently when he heard the last one.
"Quickly inform His Majesty!!"
The warden roared, and rushed to the office in two steps to dial the encrypted channel that could only reach His Majesty in the most urgent cases.
The shocking crisis was resolved in an instant, and every piece of remaining information was carefully recorded. If verified, it would be enough to uncover a large amount of incriminating evidence.
Finally, there was nothing left to look through. Yael lowered his eyes with some boredom. He let go of his hand, took the hot towel handed to him by the interrogator, and wiped the back of his dirty hand.
"He's not dead, and he's not crazy. Don't believe any of his bullshit. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I'll provide you with free after-sales psychiatric treatment."
He threw the towel on the table, without even glancing at the twisted Lance, calmly threw out a warning, and turned to leave.
The warden hurried forward and opened the door. "Your Majesty, please take care. Would you like to go to the reception room to rest for a while and have a cup of hot tea to relax?"
Before he could finish, he heard strange movements behind him.
The female insect was subdued on the table and the shackles were put back on. Each blow was merciless, further tearing the wounds that had penetrated her flesh.
"Heh... I'm right... You will abandon him one day... One dead and one mad, this is the most wonderful ending..."
Lance stared at the back with his remaining eyes, laughing intermittently in great pain, like the last bit of poison flowing from a rotten exotic flower.
Yael didn't turn around and left amid the female insect's hoarse and strange laughter.
Let that door block out all the chaos behind.
He was about to walk out the door, but when he looked up, he saw a familiar figure standing not far away. His expression suddenly changed from indifference to surprise, and then softened a little.
"Why did you come back without telling me?"
Yael took two quick steps, came in front of the stunned female insect, and waved his hand in front of him.
"...Hero Lord."
Caesar blinked slowly, came back to his senses, and gently held the waving hand.
He wanted to call out "Yell", but found that he was already hoarse and his Adam's apple rolled for a while before he said harshly, "I'm sorry."
The male insect was smiling, but there was no smile in his eyes. Perhaps he was angry about his secret.
Or maybe it's because they know about the rotten past and they feel it's a little subtle. After all, pain will cause heartache, and repeated weak compromises and unclear ideas will only cause disgust.
He knew long ago that Yael was much more resolute than him, and could cleanly and neatly cut through these tangled things and would not be easily soft-hearted.
Xi Ze's eyelashes drooped slightly, and he gently rubbed the male insect's wrist, brushing across the red mark on the back of the white hand splashed with coffee, with a look of some heartache.
Yael looked at him intently.
He didn't ask why he said sorry, but just pulled his hand back, then grabbed the female insect's forearm, and pulled him out of the door.
It was a sunny afternoon when I first arrived. I don't know how long I stayed in the interrogation room. It was already evening. The sunlight was no longer scorching, and the sky was full of gorgeous and soft clouds.
Yael took a deep breath, and the cold wind outside finally cooled his feverish head.
Then he turned his head and looked at the female insect intently, and saw the almost boiling anxiety in her eyes, and deeper inside, there was a small reflection.
It was like a cub that was left in the snow, clutching its hands in confusion, not knowing what to do or where to go.
Forever abandoned, so never grow up.
However, Yer saw his own past in that cub.
No matter how much love you gain later, or even true happiness, that small piece of dead soul has already died forever, staying quietly in the corner. When you occasionally encounter it, you will realize your own incompleteness.
His eyelashes drooped slightly, and when the tension on the female insect's face reached its peak, he suddenly raised his eyes and revealed a faint smile.
"fool."
Yael hugged Caesar tightly, buried his face in his arms, closed his eyes and absorbed the familiar scent of the female insect.
After a long while, he repeated in a muffled voice, "...I've never seen you so stupid."
My arms were filled with warmth, quietly soothing the slight anxiety caused by stress.
Xi Ze immediately hugged Yael back tightly, and did not refute when being called stupid. He eagerly rubbed the male insect's hair and ears, and whispered, "Majesty... Yael..."
"Yell."
His voice was trembling, but he couldn't stop muttering.
Just by holding this name in his mouth, an endless stream of sweetness soaked the tip of his tongue, dispelling all the coldness and pain, and bringing warmth and light back to his world.
Amid the brilliant glow of the sky, that corner was quiet and peaceful.
The child who was forgotten in time quietly ran from this body to another body that was close to it, found the familiar black corner, and held the hand of the other cub.
The dead are dead forever.
Those who are still alive are moving towards the light.
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