Dust-covered Memories (a chapter that was previously missed)
"Why would Mu Xiao run away? What they want is a machine that won't fight back. If the machine doesn't obey orders, the best way is to force it to change the orders and then destroy it after it's been used." Morse leaned against the door frame, looking at Mu Xiao, who was curled up on the bed, with pity.
Mu Xiao curled up his body and hugged his calves as if seeking a sense of security. The other party's tone was gentle and clear, but every word was precious. He raised his head that was resting on his knees, and a glimmer of light flashed in his cloudy eyes. He bent his waist and crawled to the end of the bed as if under control.
Morse pinched Mu Xiao's chin, poured the liquid in the glass into his mouth, and watched him swallow it before leaving.
"Can I trust you, Morse, with our seven years of relationship?" The female insect waiting for him against the light at the stairs had an unpredictable expression.
"Honey, don't you want to compensate him? All Mu Xiao wants is to be himself again. Does the means matter?" Morse's tone gradually turned cold. He stood on the steps, lowered his eyes and looked down at the tangled and awkward Nuowen, then turned around and went back to his room.
Mu Xiao's messy thoughts were smoothed out, and a strong sleepiness pulled him into a dream. White petals were flying all over the sky and dancing wildly with the hurricane. He, who was standing nearby, suddenly felt his feet suspended in the air and was swept into this dance.
His eyes were filled with white. He removed the petals covering his eyes. Suddenly, the scene changed. The vast world shrank into a cramped and claustrophobic space. The deepest memories in Mu Xiao's brain were opened. He struggled in resistance. The electric shock chair that fixed Mu Xiao determined that there was no good intention. A strong electric current ran through his body, and the whole insect twitched.
"I ask you again, what is the most important thing?" A cold voice sounded from the judge's seat.
"Freedom, insect rights, I demand my rights as an independent individual." The dying Mu Xiao raised his head with difficulty and forced a disdainful smile.
After a few seconds of silence in the judgement seat, Mu Xiao was lifted from the chair by several female insects and pressed to the ground. A hard-soled leather shoe crushed his back fiercely, and a leather glove pulled the roots of his hair, forcing him to look up. The dim space made it impossible for him to see the other person's face clearly.
"Zeyu, block his thoughts of resistance. I want to see what you, who are pursuing insect rights, will look like when you become a tool."
“No, no…”
Mu Xiao woke up from his dream. Something seemed to be growing in the wound on his back that was pierced by the dense forest vines. It gnawed at the female insect's flesh and blood. With a "hissing" sound, green branches pierced through the cortex and grew out. As Mu Xiao's spiritual sea was in turmoil, it wrapped around the host little by little.
"Why...why..." The punishment ring around Mu Xiao's neck kept tightening, flashing a red light. While suffocating, he unwillingly asked this question that no one could answer.
Sensing something strange, Ze Yu rushed over. He used his mental threads to try to stabilize the female insect's chaotic mental sea while holding Mu Xiao's shoulders: "Are you crazy? Don't get excited, you will hurt yourself!"
Mu Xiao scoffed a few times and pushed the hypocritical male insect away with a cold look: "Get lost."
Ze Yu knew that it was useless to say anything now. He tried his best to curb Mu Xiao's spiritual sea that was about to collapse. Forced comfort was extremely risky. For the comforter, improper operation could easily be fatal. He glanced at the unconscious Mu Xiao with the corner of his eye, covered his mouth with a handkerchief, and spat out the blood that was surging up.
Exhausted, Ze Yu had no time to do anything else. He covered Mu Xiao with the quilt and said to Alred, who was standing at the door, "You are still so sensitive after losing your mental power. Everyone has their own responsibilities. I know you understand this."
Alred didn't reply. He sat down next to Mu Xiao and gently stroked the female insect's furrowed brow. "But why is he the sacrifice in your plan?"
"We all are, including you—Commander Alred."
The bright insect-made moon in the underground city was filled with the silver light of Alred's hair. He lay beside the female insect, patting Mu Xiao's back gently, and using his shrunken spiritual sea to clear the vine spores from the insect in his arms.
"It turns out we've been connected for a long time."
When Mu Xiao woke up, the first thing he saw was her beauty. He shook Alred's shoulder in confusion and asked, "Why are you here?"
The male insect, who had been watching over the female insect all night, saw that she had no recollection of what happened the previous night, so he made up an excuse: "I was a little sleepwalking."
Mu Xiao was even more puzzled: "Then why didn't you sleepwalk before?"
"Indirectly."
“…”Mu Xiao felt that he was hiding something from him.
After two days of renovation, all the insects gathered in the living room to discuss the matter of the dense forest. Ze Yu gave each insect the "male insect mental force field simulation" bracelet developed overnight by the research institute.
Andrei took the credit and said, "I was the one who proposed it to the higher-ups."
Mu Xiao hummed a few times perfunctorily and pressed on, "Disguise us as male insects, and then what? Won't the vines just absorb our mental energy?"
"No, the microwaves emitted by the bracelet can take us to its habitat." Ze Yu shook his head and explained.
After agreeing on a time, they set off. Mu Xiao arrived at the dense forest after a few days, and his mood had changed. He glanced at the other insects, not wanting any of them to get into trouble again.
The six insects walked for the whole morning without encountering any trouble. Mu Xiao picked up the water bottle on his waist and drank a sip of water. He didn't know when a blond male insect appeared beside him.
"You actually pretended to have amnesia, why?" Morse looked at Mu Xiao with some surprise.
Mu Xiao glanced at the other insects that were a little distance away and said softly, "I want to repel the Toad Tribe. I just want to protect the Zerg Tribe. I will leave after I'm done."
"Don't you hate it?"
"I hate it, but I have enough ability and I can't ignore my responsibilities."
Mu Xiao's words were beyond his expectations, but Morse was not naturally interested in this kind of heroism. He asked one last question: "Why don't you expose me?"
Mu Xiao didn't answer. He ran towards Alred who was waving at him, leaving Morse alone in the shade of the tree.
Just as he was about to pounce, green vines suddenly formed a net from the ground and wrapped around Mu Xiao. Alred quickly grabbed him and was contained inside. When the insects caught up, the cocoon-like vines dived into the soil and moved quickly.
The remaining bugs looked at each other, feeling like they were here to offer sacrifices.
Mu Xiao protected Alred. He clenched the winged sword in his hand, and after the vines under his feet stopped moving, he cut a hole and the two of them crawled out. The damp, fishy and salty smell hit his nose directly. Mu Xiao frowned in disgust, his eyes scanning the surrounding environment.
It was just an ordinary hole in the ground, but there were follicle-like objects stuck on the wall of the hole. The muddy white follicular fluid seemed to be wrapped with unknown objects. He took a closer look and saw something like a hair-like entanglement.
Mu Xiao looked at Alred, then pointed at the unidentified object. After getting the other party's consent to cut it open, he immediately started.
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