Chapter 40 Forced Matching Early morning, Murphy and Attia...
Early in the morning, Murphy and Attia carried steaming hot breakfasts out of the kitchen one after the other.
Back at the table, Murphy noticed Attia's pale face and turned to ask with concern, "Did you have a nightmare last night? How are you today? If you're not feeling well, you should rest at home."
Atia looked up and saw his own reflection filled the dark pupils. It was very different from the one in his dream. He was gentle, powerful, and mysterious. He was the kindest male insect he had ever met.
Atiyah shook his head. "I'm fine."
Seeing that he didn't seem to be alright today, Murphy reached out to touch his forehead, compared it with his own, and found that his temperature was normal, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
The two insects ate a cozy breakfast together, and it wasn't until they were about to leave that Atia realized that Morpheus seemed to have been following him all day.
"A powerful ruler?"
"What's wrong?"
"Don't we need to go to the Male Insect Academy today?"
Murphy chuckled, "No rush, what's more important now is getting my female lord worm to the legion."
"Go to the Legion... why send them?" Atia tilted his head slightly, indicating his confusion.
Thinking this way, he asked the question bluntly.
Murphy grabbed Attia's hand, her voice aggrieved, "I just wanted to see where Attia works, how far it is. Doesn't Attia want your friends to see me?"
There were tests and court proceedings before, so there wasn't enough time. We should have sent him off on Atia's first day with the Legion, but thankfully it's not too late now.
Attiyah: ...
Atia thought slowly.
Ah... it seems like I've inexplicably been charged with a crime.
Atiyah had no choice but to agree.
It wasn't until they set off that Murphy realized that getting to work in Attia was quite troublesome every day. They had to pass through two gates in the inner core area and then use the black hole in the outer area to quickly reach the military base.
Black hole jumps are extremely fast. It felt like only a blink of an eye before he was transported to a planet. The planet was lush and green, and it was clear at a glance that it was a very beautiful resource planet.
So this is where the Dawn Legion is stationed. Dawn, dawn, it's quite fitting, it's very close to where the sun rises.
The planet was filled with the entire legion, with training insects constantly coming and going, their steps hurried, but their expressions were relaxed, as if they considered being here a happy thing.
"The Legion Commander, the worm!"
Good morning, Legion Commander!
Every now and then, insects would greet him, their eyes fixed curiously on Mephiel behind Atia, as if they were looking at a rare species. Seeing a male insect in the legion was indeed a rare sight.
Murphy smiled politely at them, but unfortunately he didn't see Rupert and Palmer and couldn't greet them.
Soon they arrived at the main gate of the military camp. The soldiers standing guard at the top of their lungs and the patrols going back and forth looked magnificent, as if each of them had a sharp aura and was ready to be thrown into battle at any time.
"...Then I'll leave you here."
Murphy was a little reluctant, but he stopped. He was supposed to return as soon as he entered the planet in his little hovercar, but he chose to hold Atia's hand and walk with him for a while longer.
He could sense that Attiya standing here was very different from Attiya at home. Almost from the moment he entered the place, or from the moment he put on his military uniform, his temperament became cold and sharp, like a long spear ready to be unleashed, poised to sweep into the enemy camp at any moment.
His wife is so handsome, Murphy's eyes sparkled.
Atiyah stopped as well. His black and gold military uniform made him look exceptionally tall and imposing. He hesitated and said, "It's too far from here. Let me take you back."
Murphy shook Attia's hand. "So we've gone around in circles and come home again. Doesn't that make me look useless for bringing you here today?"
Murphy said goodbye to him, "Alright, go inside now."
“But…” Atia hesitated.
Although it is actually very safe to go home from here, as the black hole jump is a fixed point at both ends and will immediately teleport you back to the central star once it begins, Murphy is, after all, just a male insect, and he is still worried.
Not far away, behind the trees and in the grass, at the military camps, heads peeked out one by one, then quickly shrank back in.
"Is that S-class lord? I've only ever seen him on the StarNet, I didn't expect to see a real insect so soon."
"What brings you to the Legion today, S-rank sir?"
"Are you here to visit the legion?"
"..."
Suddenly, all their sounds stopped, as if they had become a pile of wooden stakes in the training room, their eyes wide open, completely still.
Suddenly, the handsome male insect with black hair and black eyes grinned and then "smack" kissed the face of their usually cold and serious legion commander, who seemed like a great demon king.
"Go on in!" The black-haired male sneered as he ran away after the kiss, waving goodbye as he turned back. "Bye-bye! Remember to miss me, I'll come pick you up tonight!"
Ughhhh!
It's true that good male insects always belong to other insects. Doesn't the Great Demon King wake up laughing in his sleep if he has such a cute male insect at home?
Insect droppings!
...
Palmer was about to enter the office building when he suddenly caught a glimpse of Rupert in the corner and walked over.
"Rupert, what's wrong? You look terrible."
Palmer sensed something was amiss, and upon approaching, Rupert was unusually silent.
"..."
"I received a forced match." Rupert lowered his head, unusually quiet, just squatting in the corner with a bewildered expression, looking quite large.
Normally, Palmer might have teased him a bit, but today he was completely absorbed in the matter, his voice unconsciously rising a little, "Forced matching? How is that possible?"
High-ranking males have the right to force females below S-rank to mate, and the females cannot refuse. However, males that are forced to mate are generally not of good character.
This might be a good thing for ordinary female insects, as they will likely no longer have to worry about mental domain issues. After all, many female insects rely on pheromone drugs to survive mental domain turmoil throughout their lives. Being able to gain the favor of male insects, whatever the reason, is probably indeed a good thing.
But for Rupert, the Legion was his home, he loved it, and he believed that he would rather die a glorious death on the battlefield than die in the male insect's den.
He never imagined that forced matching, something that targets beautiful female insects, would happen to him. Now, upon suddenly receiving this devastating news, he was completely stunned.
After all, not every male insect is a Murphy. Most male insects marry female insects only to accumulate wealth. After obtaining them, they leave the females in the house and continue to indulge in debauchery outside.
After a week of preparation, Rupert will have to move into that male insect's house, and he will most likely never be able to return to the legion before he dies.
He... didn't want to live that kind of life.
...
Atia finally managed to compose himself, then dragged out a bunch of idle female insects who were just watching for extra training before entering the legion's gate. But as soon as he entered the office building, he saw a large Rupert squatting dejectedly in the corner, with Palmer standing beside him with a furrowed brow. The two insects were clearly acting strangely.
"What's wrong?"
"Legion Commander Worm".
Seeing Attiya arrive, Rupert forced himself to stand up and greet him along with Palmer.
Atia wasn't fooled by the two of them, and stared at Rupert, asking, "Rupert, what happened?"
...The Legion Commander is as sharp as ever.
When Rupert was asked the question, he slumped down like a dehydrated mushroom. Palmer, who was standing next to him, answered for him, "Rupert was forced to match."
Atia's relaxed mood vanished, and the atmosphere around her became somewhat tense.
"Who is it?" Atia lowered his eyes slightly, a sharp glint flashing within them.
"Grade B male insect Valen."
Valen, a familiar name. Atia knew him; he was a male insect who had always followed Bennett, and also the one who had killed Rupert once.
Now that Bennett has fallen from power, the male insects that followed Bennett suddenly choosing Rupert for forced mating again is hardly a good outcome.
He thought of the memories he had regained last night.
It turned out that only his fate changed because of the arrival of Murphy.
Yes, he knew that the Murphy in his memory was not like this at all, and even the name was wrong. That male insect, who was cruel and greedy from beginning to end and regarded insect life as worthless, was not worthy of being compared with the current Murphy.
Even though Rupert's fate has been largely disrupted, the thread that represents his predetermined destiny still stubbornly continues to drift in the original direction.
But female insects like them are powerless to struggle in such a society.
...
Recently, several serious incidents have occurred in the central star region where the glands of high-ranking male insects have been deliberately removed. The number of complaints sent to the male insect protection association is increasing daily and has already piled up into a small mountain.
"Can't your company find any clues about the insects?"
The president of the Male Insect Protection Association was also a high-ranking male insect. At this moment, he looked extremely agitated, pacing back and forth in front of the table, occasionally glancing at the messages on his personal terminal. However, he was clearly even more annoyed after reading them, and the sound of him stepping on the floor was quite noticeable.
The man sitting opposite him was wearing a federal police uniform and had several lines on his face, making him look quite old.
He shook his head and said, "The murderer is an insect that is very familiar with the core area. Although all the surveillance cameras are without blind spots, it's as if he knows the location of every single one of them. He blocked the cameras before he even appeared in their range."
The chairman then raised another question, "What about the aerial patrol robot? Can it predict these things in advance?"
The middle-aged insect in police uniform explained, "During the same period, all the robotic insects that passed the crime scene had their tracks disrupted, as if there was a membrane over the crime scene. Once the patrolling robotic insects reached that membrane, they would change their tracks and leave. It must have been because a special shielding device was used."
Chairman Gallagher abruptly stopped, took a deep breath, faced the middle-aged insect, spread his hands, and raised his voice, "Director, I really want to understand you, but this matter has really blown up too much, you know that, right?"
“Every high-level male insect is very important to the Federation. Now, five high-level male insects have had their limbs broken and their glands removed, making them completely useless insects. If we can’t produce anything, those panicked male insects will come to our door sooner or later, and His Excellency the President will definitely hold us accountable. At that time, we will be in deep trouble.”
"No matter what, you have to think of a way quickly. You must find the murderer no matter how hard you try."
"..."
The middle-aged bureau chief was silent for a while, seemingly also somewhat agitated. He said in a stiff tone, "I'm sorry, sir, no clues means no clues. You should use this time to think about what kind of announcement you can make to appease the other male insects."
"I have other things to do. I need to go to the site for inspection today, so I'll take my leave now."
After saying this, the middle-aged insect got up and left. Even though he was also overwhelmed with worry about this matter, the insects from the Male Insect Protection Association still had a condescending and scolding tone, and he really didn't want to indulge them at all.
"What? You..."
Before Gallagher could finish speaking, all that could be seen was the middle-aged insect's back. How dare he? He was the president of the Male Insect Protection Association.
"Bang!" Gallagher grabbed a cup and smashed it on the ground, shattering it into pieces.
...
"Da da da da da—"
"Knock knock—"
"..." The middle-aged police chief, Commons, was already reacting to the rapid footsteps and knocking on the door. His eyes were dark and swollen, clearly indicating that he hadn't had a proper rest in a while. He let out a long breath and said in a deep voice, "Come in."
The insect who reported the news was clearly in such a hurry that he hadn't even caught his breath. He took a deep breath and then exclaimed in panic, "Another...another high-ranking male insect has run into trouble!"
The director paused for a moment, then asked, "Who is it? Does Mr. Male Insect have any useful clues?"
The report insect carefully stated, "It's Lord Valen, a B-level male insect from the core area. His condition is the same as the previous few; he's suffering from panic and can't get anything out of him."
...
When Rupert received the news, he was still a little stunned because it happened so fast. He had just received the news of forced matching yesterday and was depressed for a day. Today, his future male master had his glands removed and became a useless insect.
The news quickly reached Atia. Rupert came to report it himself. Palmer said it was more appropriate for him to deliver the news. Rupert's face was full of joy. He couldn't refuse a B-grade male insect Valen, but he could obviously refuse a useless insect Valen.
Attiyah said, "I understand. Cheer up and go back to training."
"Yes!" Rupert left happily.
...
The office was quiet, with only Attiya remaining.
He slowly closed the report in his hand.
a long time.
"You did it, didn't you?"
"..." An unspeakable silence filled the air, and no insect suddenly appeared to answer Atia's question.
Atiyah showed no reaction, but continued to ask, "You want to change their fate?"
"..." There was no movement, no response; silence spread through the cold air.
After a long silence, Atia let out a breath, "...I understand."
Atia looked at the window in front of her and slowly blinked, as if she could vaguely see one of her eyes turn red in an instant, as red as blood.
...
"Valen is dead, Tiger, did you do it?"
In a dark corner of the Legion, Palmer respectfully asked the quantum computer.
"...The time I've been waiting for will come soon, so you should prepare in advance."
"yes!"
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Author's Note: Thank you AAA for the gift! Love you~ [heart eyes][starry eyes][cheers]
Thank you, Yezi baby, for the gift! Wow! It's a new baby! Love you~ [starry eyes][heart eyes][cheers]
Thank you to "Clear Sky" and "Soaring Clouds" for the nutrient solution! [Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers][Keep it up!]
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