Chapter 29
"————"
The entire universe fell into eternal silence in that instant, and the impact of the explosion ignited right before our eyes without needing to go through a screen.
Even female insects, with their exceptional physical attributes, would find it extremely difficult to survive such a horrific explosion, let alone the vulnerable males.
The cold, menacing black armor instantly covered Celt's body and face, and his massive bone wings suddenly unfurled, forcefully propelling the spaceship through a dark, charred hole and towards the explosion site.
"marshal--"
Dick pressed his hands to the control room, staring at everything with bloodshot eyes.
"But this aircraft doesn't have a self-destruct mechanism at all—"
How could it explode?
"Beep beep—"
Gust's anxious voice came through: "Southeast, Dick! There's a large warship that doesn't belong to the military in the southeast direction—"
"Royal insignia present! Communication request ignored. It is currently impossible to confirm whether it is Prince Sirius or Prince Nathaniel—"
"Where is the Marshal? Requesting communication from the Marshal—"
Dick stared blankly at the enormous, sky-covering bone wings rushing toward the explosion site at an undetectable speed. For a moment, he even thought the marshal wanted to commit suicide for love.
This is terrifying; it was just a low-level male insect with ulterior motives—
Much later, he heard his own voice, but it was swept away by the gale blowing in from the torn hole: "Marshal, it's out of control—"
Immediately after receiving an injection of the new inhibitor, without any warning, the condition spiraled out of control.
"Marshal, they're heading for the warships—"
——
Beneath the crossed halberds, a torrent of blood rained down. The massive ship stood majestic and imposing. The hatches were opened, revealing a passageway made of rare metal suspended in mid-air, like a golden road.
A slender hand gripped the escalator as he stepped out, the strong wind whipping his dazzling golden hair like a proud banner. His sapphire blue eyes swept across the area stained with explosions and bloodshed.
Not far from him stood a fully transformed female insect.
The insect was completely covered by a jet-black armor, and the insect patterns were moving rapidly, making it look like an uncivilized star beast rather than someone living in a civilized world.
It was an indescribable, terrifying battle intent; thick smoke filled the air, and crimson eyes devoid of any reason. Huge bone wings, exceeding five meters in length, flapped in mid-air, each flap sending shivers down the spines of the insects.
The Empire's only 3S-class female insect after the Insect Emperor, she has consistently occupied the top of the Empire's combat power, with no other insect able to surpass her.
A female insect dared to confront the empire's massive warships.
The warship carried the faint aura he was searching for.
Sirius remained unmoved, slowly turning the ring on his hand, a cold smirk playing on his lips: "Is this how the future queen greets her lord?"
The fully transformed female insect was unable to answer his question. Dozens of female guards behind Sirius spread their bone wings and stood in front of him.
Fear made their bone wings tremble; in one-on-one combat, no insect wanted to face Marshal Celt, that was an indisputable fact.
Despite having an overwhelming numerical advantage, the powerful female insect still managed to break through the encirclement, and blood rained down in mid-air. Sirius turned and walked into the warship.
"Activate Annihilation 73".
The guard said worriedly, "Your Highness, annihilation weapons require approval, which could very well destroy the Marshal—"
Sirius continued walking, his voice cold: "Dead or alive—"
The weapon, representing destruction, began to charge up and could be fired in three seconds. Inside the warship, in a compartment entirely made of nutrient solution, countless medical insects were rushing around.
"Breathing is weak, use a machine to continue breathing—"
"Weak heartbeat, degraded pheromones—"
"A call to the capital planet is needed; we require the deployment of the Type 689 robotic insect—"
"Your Highness Sirius—" the healing insect bowed to Sirius, "His Highness's will to live is extremely weak, almost imperceptible. You know that the second advancement is inherently fraught with danger, and His Highness has always been physically weak, so the hope is very slim—"
"I suggest we immediately notify the Insect Emperor and His Majesty the Insect King, otherwise it is very likely..."
I won't be able to see him one last time.
A flicker of emotion crossed Sirius's calm blue eyes. He closed them and, after a short while, entered the nutrient solution tank.
The young male insect lay in the emergency chamber, his limbs connected to countless tiny, transparent medical tubes, his face covered by a ventilator that obscured his features. His breathing was weak, and each heartbeat was forced by the machine.
“Good boy Hill,” Sirius stroked the pale eyes and brows of the little male through the transparent glass capsule, “Don’t scare your brother.”
I secretly let you leave the holy city so you could be happy, not so you could come back like this. How am I supposed to explain this to the male and female fathers? You silly bug, what can't you have?
Whether it's Celt or any other female insect, you will get what you want, and no insect can bully you.
How could she choose to give up her own life and cause her brother such worry?
Whether he heard it or was still trapped in his nightmare, clear tears welled up in the corners of the handsome little male insect's eyes once again.
——
On the outer reaches of Ticas, at a desolate military base.
Annihilation weapons are currently the highest level of weaponry in the Empire; their destructive white light can be seen even from distant lands.
“Even a 3S-class female insect would have a hard time surviving the Annihilation Weapon. If Marshal Selt dies, you would be the most likely candidate to become the Marshal among the four generals,” Brandon said in a low voice, gazing into the distance.
"I just don't understand why the reason why the Third Prince secretly dealt with the Marshal should be attributed to the Lord. Won't this make Prince Sirius and Marshal Celt even more hostile to the Lord?"
Hilgard's approach to Celt, concealing his identity, whether out of a fondness for insects or a thirst for battle, is a matter between him and Sirius, and has nothing to do with us.
“In essence, they are all our enemies.” Hessen maintained his gentle smile.
“If Hilgard approached us simply because the Insects liked him, Celt wouldn’t punish him cruelly. But if his origins are related to us, he would automatically categorize it as a battle between the Queen Insects.”
That's why he went to such great lengths to use the Hessen family's spaceship to pick up the family insect, who was originally a male insect.
The struggle itself is ruthless, especially for an ambitious female insect like Selt who is determined to fight for supremacy; any obstacle that affects her ambition will be eliminated.
"Hilgard's second advancement failed, Celt's secret breeding of male insects was exposed, and the marriage with Sirius automatically failed. By any measure, we are the beneficiaries."
"As for hatred, that's something we can discuss after Hilgard and Selt survive."
Hesen glanced at the time gently and smiled, "Hilgard is, after all, the Lord's younger brother. The Lord is coming soon, so let's get ready to welcome him."
——
Darkness, endless darkness, where is the Marshal?
I was scared. I heard the wind and a sharp screech. What was that?
He slowly opened his eyes and saw the azure sky, a transparent glass pane, and birds screeching towards him with sharp claws and ferocious faces.
—Star Beast.
He returned to that dream.
His nightmare at age thirteen—no, perhaps it was a beautiful dream.
The Insect Emperor became pregnant with another egg at the end of its reproductive period, and at first all the insects thought it was just a female egg.
The Insect King and Insect Emperor already have two male offspring, which is already quite remarkable given the average birth rate of 10 to 1. Almost no insects believe that the Insect Emperor will be able to get another rare male egg this time.
Female insect eggs are usually very hard, and they won't cause any problems even if you take the egg to the battlefield, but this one is a fragile male insect egg.
All the insects were amazed by the Insect Emperor's incredible luck. He was born on the battlefield, was extremely weak at birth, and lived in a nutrient tank from the moment he hatched.
As a child, Hill always believed that the world was made of glass because he lived inside it and there was always a fragile barrier between him and the world.
Gifts from his female father, male father, and older brother all had to undergo strict sterilization before being brought in; he could not be hugged, comforted, or even brought close.
The outside world is highly toxic to him, and could trigger an infection at any time, bringing him to the brink of death.
As he painfully opened his arms for a hug, his father could only comfort him from outside the glass window, telling him to be good and not to cry.
When Hill was thirteen, he was transferred to Nuka, a planet dotted with lakes of varying temperatures, some scalding hot like boiling lava, others perpetually frozen.
The hot springs here proved beneficial to his health, and the male father decided to let the family of insects move here for a short period of time.
Later, the female father had to return to the capital planet due to urgent official business, and the male father's ffq was sent to the capital planet. The two female insect brothers also left after their military leave ended.
Only Nathaniel, Cyrus, and he remained on the entire planet.
Unable to endure the tedium, Nathaniel led a large number of guards to a nearby planet to capture a rare type of Pegasus. At the moment when the defenses were at their weakest, the star beasts suddenly attacked.
The guards took Sirius away. He lived in a house made of glass and could go nowhere but to wait for death. In the most critical moment, the medical equipment attached to his body could not be removed.
He would die if he left these devices.
Cyrus said he would come back to save him and told him to wait, but he knew he probably wouldn't make it.
The Star Beast feeds on the Zerg, and he watched helplessly as his guards were chewed up and swallowed, believing that was his fate.
Until the arrival of Celtic.
Like a god descending into his life, he carried him into the sky before the star beast's sharp beak could strike, and they soared into the heavens.
Countless tubes were torn from his body; they were the sharp claws that bound and gripped him. He broke free from them all.
The female insect's strong arms cradled his knees and back, warm and reliable, not the cold, constant temperature of glass, but a real embrace.
The rapid ascent made his heart pound uncontrollably, and he experienced a brief ringing in his ears. The sky was getting closer and closer; he realized what the sky was like without glass.
The blue was so clear and beautiful that it made his heart clench; it was an infinite freedom.
He thought he would die the moment he left the glass room; his breathing was rapid and his hands and feet were sweating.
He thought he wasn't afraid of death, but when death truly came, he couldn't help but tighten his arms and hug the neck of the strange female insect tightly.
He was terrified.
The female insect lowered her head. She had a pair of cold, gray eyes, the color of cosmic dust. Her huge, jet-black bone wings flapped, and her brow bones were deep and strong, as if sculpted.
He said, "Your Highness, do not be afraid."
The wind stirred the little male insect's long silver hair, and he answered silently in the free sky, in Celt's embrace.
I'm not afraid.
Because you are here, I am not afraid.
Even if it means being close to death, even if it means being shattered to pieces.
Author's Note:
My house was burgled. They stole the cash, but they didn't steal my updates and my love for you all [heart emoji] (So corny, I can't take it anymore, I'm outta here)
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