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 everyone in the news teleported 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.
那個時候他本該慶幸，成功煉就了一把只聽自己命令的刀，趁手又方便，可以随意使用來獲取利益，損耗也能自行恢複。
但不知道為什麽，一對上那雙熔金的眼睛，他就忍不住滿心厭惡，甚至有種莫名的灼傷感。
——那雙眼睛裏愛與恨都坦蕩而赤忱，實在不像是能做地下交易的樣子，指不定以後會在什麽地方反捅一刀。
當時他很快找到了合适的借口，順理成章地決定要丢了這個幼崽。
“什麽意思？”
耶爾臉上的神情終于微變，沒有掩飾聲音中的冰冷。
“你對西澤做了什麽？”
原本正打算講述的蘭斯愣住，好像很難以置信似的，甚至都靜止了一瞬，好半晌才笑了一下，重複了一遍。
“西澤？你叫他……西澤？”
他捂住了臉，幾乎笑得上氣不接下氣，一邊笑一邊斷斷續續地道。
“冕下，您不知道嗎？這是一個象征着抛棄和恥辱的名字，拿這個當昵稱，您怎麽想的啊？”
“那家夥真的不會心生怨怼嗎？”
一牆之隔的房間。
西澤神情平靜，一雙眼眸眨也不眨，放在膝蓋上的手卻顫抖了一瞬，而後瞬間攥緊，修長的骨節泛起一絲蒼白。
耳邊的聲音熟悉又陌生，讓他恍惚了一瞬，好像周身都泛起雪地裏的刺骨冰涼，讓身體下意識緊繃起來。
在那些笑聲中，卻不再能聽見雄蟲的聲音，好似唯一一縷暖意散去，連心髒都開始一寸寸冰封。
“帝國虐待幼崽的罪名還是很嚴重的，也很難制造出意外死亡，所以我以旅游的名義将他帶到了一顆邊緣星。”
蘭斯終于止住笑，将那段從未宣之于口的過往徐徐道出。
那顆星球非常落後，終年下着漫天大雪，氣候非常惡劣，唯一漂亮的只有寥落的雪原和高聳的山巅，在陽光下閃閃發光。
好不容易出來玩一趟，總是強裝成熟的幼崽開心到一晚沒睡，連寒冷都顧不上，在又厚又松軟的雪地裏撲騰打滾，來回奔跑。
那裏的雪山腳下，生存着一個神秘的部族，供奉雪山的神靈，定時舉辦着大型祭祀活動，吸引了不少游客去參觀。
但他不是真的來游玩的，徑直找上了部族的族長，進入熟練地交易流程。
那群披着鬥篷的家夥給了希爾澤一個星幣，這就是買他的價錢，然後蘭斯在交易的合同上随便填了一個名字。
“你以後就叫做西澤，不再有蒙特這個姓了，這裏的**都是這樣的，意味着……”
祭祀品。
他含糊了那個詞，只告訴希爾澤這只是一個扮演游戲，他需要扮演那個可愛的小羊，玩完游戲後就能和雌父一起回家了。
那片黑色的森林在雪地中突兀存在，被劃分開一條泾渭分明的線，他們站在潔白的雪地中，而咫尺就是無邊黑暗。
蘭斯擡眼，看見了一雙雙鮮紅的眼，亮着垂涎的光。
然後他一步步後退，把滿臉茫然的幼崽留在了原地，上了停靠在不遠處的小型機甲，迅速啓動能源起飛。
只要他一回過頭，就能看見越來越遠的雪地裏，一個拼盡全力跑向他又被絆倒，連滾帶爬地想要追上他的小身影。
聲嘶力竭，哭聲悲涼。
但也許是不想見到野獸分食的血腥場面，又或者是有其他原因……他一次也沒有回頭。
“我其實不知道他是怎麽活下來的，畢竟從來沒有過這個先例。”
蘭斯緊盯着雄蟲的神情，真情實感地困惑了一瞬。
這是貴族之間心照不宣處理“廢品”的手法，和那邊已經達成雙贏交易很多年，沒有突然網開一面放過希爾澤的道理。
不過這并不重要，最重要的是——
“您生氣啦？”
他從眼前的雄蟲臉上，看到了被點燃的憤怒和恨意，讓那雙漆黑的眼睛變得極亮，像是出鞘刀鋒上的寒芒。
蘭斯臉上的笑也淡下去，“冕下不是雄蟲嗎？也會感同身受雌蟲的痛苦嗎？”
“……”
耶爾和他對視許久，把臺面上的手放了下去，隐藏住了那不斷顫抖的手。
他突然明白，在就西澤這件事上，他很難取得上風或者勝利。
因為蘭斯并不在乎甚至極其厭惡，所以能毫不留情地進行挖苦、诋毀，侮辱和攻讦，将自己曾經的幼崽當成武器和盾牌。
而他滿心愛意和在乎，單是剛開始就已經感到心疼，憤怒燒灼每一寸敏感的神經和血肉，讓他連理智都很難保持住。
“可是就算是這樣，他回到主星之後還是忘不了我。”
蘭斯緊盯着他，臉上的表情變得虛幻了些，又輕又快地道，“他自己掰扯不清，割舍不斷，關我什麽事呢？”
“這個爵位和家族，也是他冒着生命危險去幹掉了那個雄蟲，為我搶過來的，甚至因為這個差點沒命，他沒告訴你實情吧？”
他像是要徹底激怒雄蟲，語氣越來越急促，話語中的內容也越來越過分。
“真的很缺愛啊，只要展現出一點點雌父的溫柔和悔恨，就會忍不住心軟，然後巴巴地湊上來，被咬下一塊肉後又知道痛，開始遠離。”
“閉、嘴。”
耶爾眸光狠戾地盯着他，兩個字像是磨碎了從齒間擠出來，帶着逐漸升騰的恨意。
那白皙手背上青筋鼓起，像是已經隐忍到極致，椅子上的扶手被攥得咔一聲響。
“一次又一次，和記吃不記打的狗一樣。”
蘭斯臉上微微扭曲起來，撕破了那始終溫柔的表象，無數的惡意混合着興奮，從面具的破口流瀉出來。
他看向雄蟲驟縮的瞳孔，看見裏面的愛意像被打破的玻璃瓶子，片片碎片鋒銳，切割得心髒血肉模糊，随着泵出的血液流竄。
“不、還是不一樣的，他比狗還要賤。”
蘭斯很輕地嘆息一聲，終于露出一個心滿意足的微笑來。
“你剛才說，這個屏障能抵抗住沖擊炮？”
耶爾突然出聲，還沒等蘭斯回過神來，椅子腿摩擦地面的聲音響起，響亮刺耳。
而在他豁然起身的瞬間，堪稱恐怖的精神威壓猛地爆發——
咔、咔咔咔咔咔……！
蜘蛛網般的裂紋在瞬息之間蔓延，來不及做出任何反應，甚至來不及一眨眼，那堅固的屏障就轟然炸開！！
萬千尖銳碎片朝四面八方迸濺，瞬間切割開柔軟的皮膚，帶出片片鮮紅的血。
蘭斯瞳孔驟縮，潛意識尖叫着預警和逃離，但在渾身肌肉緊繃起來前，頭發就被猛地攥住，劇痛和壓力劈頭摁下——
噗嗤！
血肉撕裂的聲音響起，尖銳的碎片猛地穿透眼球，帶着血的尖端從耳後刺出，将蘭斯直接釘死在那張桌子上。
“啊啊啊啊啊！”
“啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊！！”
嘶啞的尖叫從喉間擠出，不複假裝出來的柔和，痛極恨極，像是刀尖劃過玻璃發出的刺耳噪音，聽見就忍不住心生厭惡。
“我說了，閉、嘴！”
耶爾眸光冷戾，另一只手拿起那杯滾燙的咖啡，直接澆到了蘭斯頭上，濃郁的液體從半空中滑落，噼裏啪啦地濺到桌面上。
黑色的咖啡液混着鮮紅的血，污染了那片淩亂的白發，讓他仿佛浸在一片爛泥裏，永遠也擡不起頭來。
“誰說這咖啡潑不到你頭上？”
這突然的爆發驚呆了一衆監察蟲，一片混亂的騷動蔓延開了，砰砰地砸門聲在身後響起。
耶爾恍若未聞，不斷地施加精神威壓，将手心下的蘭斯直接擠壓到赫赫痙攣，連尖叫都叫不出一聲。
他彎下腰，聲音很輕，卻一字一頓無比清晰。
“我告訴你，我會永遠偏愛他，我們還有上百年的時間一起度過，去慢慢治療曾經留下的傷口，他遲早會忘記你這個垃圾。”
“而你，明天就要變成一灘爛肉，被蟲道處理做成花肥，而不久後，迦諾也會來陪着你。”
他短促地笑了一下。
“你們就在那裏，被過路的蟲吐口水被動物撒尿，永遠發爛發臭吧。”
身後的門終于被開啓，典獄長和審訊官帶着大批警衛闖了進來，卻甚至連雄蟲冕下的身邊都不敢靠得太近，生怕被波及。
“冕下？！”
“冕下！他他他還有用！我們還要審訊出一些信息……！”
“您別……哎呀這個……您小心燙到手！”
那些精神力仍然尖銳如刀，凝固在半空中，發出讓蟲膽寒的簌簌聲，說出的勸告都忍不住弱了下去。
耶爾起身，卻沒有放松鉗制蘭斯的手。
那股恐怖的精神力從空中瞬間回收，直接刺入他的精神圖景中，毫不留情地在裏面搜刮着什麽。
雌蟲的身體猛地抽搐起來，似乎正在忍受劇痛，卻又被那精神力壓得一動不能動，只能從喉間發出嘶啞的氣音。
“在入獄之前，公爵府的小半財産已經用不正當手段洗白，分批轉移給了……”
"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.