After school
When Alyssa returned to the Garden Palace, the residence of the Worm Queen, Gabriel was leading the internal affairs officers in two rows, standing neatly in front of the lily-covered archway of the Garden Palace, eagerly awaiting Alyssa's return.
Alyssa ran down the ladder almost as soon as it came to a complete stop. Amidst Gabriel's repeated warnings of "slow down" and "be careful", she threw herself into Gabriel's arms like a fledgling swallow.
"Mammy, I'm back!" For the first time, Alyssa experienced the feeling of having "family" waiting for her at home. Her heart was filled with warmth and satisfaction. She hugged Gabriel's thin waist tightly, and the pheromones were so sweet that they seemed to condense into honey.
"Mammy, I missed you so much." Alyssa looked up, her eyes filled with admiration and dependence. Having been an orphan for nearly twenty years, she freely expressed her long-suppressed need for love and feedback to Gabriel, the elder who fulfilled all her notions of "mother" and "family."
Gabriel, the female insect who had long since sworn to remain single and serve the insect mother for life, was so moved by Alyssa's straightforward confession that the three star years of losing the insect mother's eggs felt even more difficult than the eight weeks of waiting for Her Majesty Alyssa to finish school.
"Your Highness Alyssa, I miss you too." Gabriel was seriously considering whether to apply for a special education place at Rugong Xingyuan to accompany Her Highness Alyssa to school.
No. Gabriel steeled her heart. Her Majesty Alyssa was growing, and so too must she! She had to help Her Majesty Alyssa sort out so many political affairs, so that she could gradually return the power of the Worm Queen to Her Majesty Alyssa.
“Your Highness Alyssa, your performance in school today was truly excellent.” Gabriel and Alyssa warmly embraced each other and praised her highly.
Alyssa looked confused: “I haven’t told you yet, and you already know it?”
Not only did I know it, I also saw it.
In the garden palace today, no one had the heart to work. Everyone was watching the real-time broadcast of Her Majesty Alyssa's campus life sent back by Seville.
Gabriel nodded in agreement that Alyssa could go to school, and an important additional condition for Seville to accompany her was that Seville promised to record and report in real time every detail of Her Majesty Alyssa's school life.
The Star Core Cocoon Network Group possessed the finest micro-floating cameras, providing the best real-time signal feedback. If Alyssa had paid close attention, she would have noticed that from the moment she exited the airship's hatch, four cameras, each the size of her pinky fingernail, were circling her. The signal was transmitted back to the Star Core Cocoon Network, where their top-tier AI filtered out any interference and noise, adding subtitles and even emojis in real time before transmitting it back. Some particularly beautiful shots of the Zerg Mother could even be slowed down, allowing Gabriel and the others to clearly see the path of the Zerg Mother's hair.
Gabriel activated a cinema-level projection screen, striving not to miss any glances from the Insect Mother.
When Alyssa stepped into the lounge, the live camera was still on, so she opened her mouth and came face to face with the huge self on the projection screen.
She blinked. This was too... embarrassing!
Upon learning that her school life today was watched by Gabriel, the housekeeping sisters, and many Lugong Tiger Armor Guards, Alyssa's face flushed: she didn't understand a lot of things in class today and was distracted several times; she didn't know how to use the intelligent computer to take notes in class; at lunch, she secretly gave the bergen fruit, which was said to be very good for her health but tasted very bitter, to the cubs; in the afternoon physical education class, she ran 30 meters and was so tired that her pheromones exceeded the standard, so the instructor asked her to sit under the shade of a tree and only applaud the cubs... All of this was seen by the nanny!
She felt that her toes, which were spread out with the help of the soft rubber fasteners in her leather shoes, were getting restless, as if they were trying to dig out a big house from the white jade ground of this garden palace.
Gabriel and the internal affairs officers comforted the embarrassed Worm Queen: "Your Highness, don't worry, this live broadcast makes you look very cute."
"Yes, and we pay close attention to the lighting, angles, scale of the camera language, and your feelings. We don't broadcast everything. We leave some blank space and perspective changes, and we capture the interactions between other insects and you. It's very real!"
"It's obvious from the first glance that this was filmed with love for Her Majesty Alyssa..."
"Ahem!" Gabrielle coughed violently a few times to interrupt the internal affairs officers who were becoming more and more excited. Although she also thought so, there was no need to assist Seville.
As expected, Alyssa was a little afraid to look at Seville. Full of love? Seville's love for her? Well, it seemed that Seville was very good to her.
Given that Alyssa's gonads were damaged, Gabriel didn't want her to consider choosing a husband too soon. She needed to take good care of her body and not be constantly in a state of hormonal excitement. Therefore, Gabriel kept a close eye on any male insects approaching Alyssa's crown, especially Seville.
She brought up another topic to divert Alyssa's attention: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I have already informed the heads of the cubs who spoke disrespectfully to you today, asking them to pay attention to the etiquette of restraining the cubs."
Alyssa: “…”
She was a little anxious: "They didn't do anything! I'm not offended! Why tell their parents?"
In Alyssa's opinion, if something happened at the cram school and the parents were found, they would most likely be beaten when they got home. Fearing that her child would be beaten, she said sternly, "Mammy, this is not right. Please don't act on your own next time. If you do this, I will have no friends."
Gabriel panicked after being explicitly disapproved of by the Worm Mother for the first time. "Ah, ah... But their questions to you were very rude... A youngster from a high-ranking family should strictly adhere to the etiquette and regulations for Worm Mothers..."
"They're still cubs, and they can't even manage their mimicry. We should be more tolerant of cubs." Seeing Gabriel's frustration evident in his words, Alyssa softened her tone. "Mammy is just too worried about me getting bullied. I know she means well, but I'm not that fragile."
"Your Highness, I acted presumptuously. I will seek your advice more often in the future... I will now dispatch an additional group of Tiger Armor Guards to retrieve the letter."
Alyssa thought for a moment and said, "Publicly, Mammy wants to maintain the dignity of the Worm Mother. Don't change the official letter. I'll send a private letter to express my apology."
So the family heads who received the warning letters with spider emblems were first shocked that the insect mother was in the same class as their own cubs; when they were thinking about the wording of the reply, they soon received a private message from the insect mother with lily of the valley emblems.
In her reply, the insect mother gently praised her cubs for their straightforwardness, expressed her hope that they could become classmates and friends, and also gave them some exquisite toys that the cubs would like.
This combination of punches really makes it difficult for the heads of these high-ranking families to deal with it.
Because the letter of warning was intended for the head of the family, while the Worm Mother's private message and gift were for the cubs. Was the Worm Mother... treating the cubs as peers, as representatives of a higher-ranking family, and befriending them? Was this an indication that the Worm Mother had already chosen the next head of their family?
The heads of these high-ranking families were so anxious that they wanted to ask for leave immediately for their young ones and call them back from Lugong Xingyuan for a good talk, but they were reluctant to give up the good opportunity for them to go to school with the Insect Mother and get closer to her.
Meanwhile, Luke Trent was on the comms.
He would soon be returning to the border star region bordering humanity to take charge. Before he left Saint Hobelue Palace, he greatly hoped to meet the Worm Mother once, but the Worm Mother refused all requests for an audience and went to school at the Worm Palace Star Academy.
If there's anyone who's most eager to get to the bottom of the truth behind Derek Blackarmor's dismissal, it's Luke Trent.
After all, he came here with the fired Drake!
He didn't know at what point Drake had angered the Insect Queen, nor did he know why the transfer of military power, which he thought was enough to shake the foundation of an entire legion, was passed off so lightly, as if no one in the Palace of Saint Joseph and the Third Legion thought it was a problem.
I hope the Worm Queen won't take her anger out on him because of that Drake.
"...Sir, I'm sorry to bother you. I have another question. Our Second Legion's report on increasing military spending for the next five star years has been submitted, but there has been no response..."
The person on the other end of the line smiled. "...I did receive it. However, this issue requires careful evaluation..."
"Military intelligence cannot wait, my lord. I cannot allow my men to engage humans in battle in rusted battleships..."
"Of course not. What we need to assess is the possibility and necessity of engaging in war with humans."
"My Lord, what do you mean?"
Screenshots of the Lugong Star Academy forum were sent to Luke's AI. The voice continued, "See, the young Zerg don't hate humans as you portray them to. They actually quite like Her Majesty the Zerg Queen, who has a human form. Perhaps, under Her Majesty the Zerg Queen's influence, lasting peace with humans is just around the corner."
"Honestly, I'm also curious. The Second Legion hasn't been involved in any combat in recent years, yet they keep asking for a budget increase. Look at the Third Legion. They're fighting fiercely against the cosmic beasts, but they haven't come to us complaining about their poverty."
"That's because the Third Legion has a high degree of discretion!" Luke's voice rose. "They can freely sell the materials obtained from hunting alien beasts! If they're broke, they can just go kill some alien beasts! But we must abide by the Regulations of Interstellar Engagement and the Areda System Convention. We can't kill prisoners or plunder. If we find a human starship that has signaled surrender, we must escort it back. Even firing must fully consider humanitarian considerations and aim to repel the enemy, not excessive killing! But our battleships require regular maintenance, patrols, and fuel! Our report has fully taken into account the lack of combat in recent years and is based solely on the needs of a normal legion exercise!"
"Luke, Luke. Calm down," the voice said. "I completely understand and appreciate your difficulties. Perhaps... you should take more action to show us the necessity of maintaining a long-term war with humanity."
Luke's green compound eyes lit up, signaling he was on alert. "What do you mean...?"
"I heard that humans are restless and often engage in provocative actions in the bordering star regions."
"Humanity doesn't..."
"Yes, we didn't catch them in the act, but the traces they left behind are enough proof." The sharp, slender, and somewhat faded claws tapped the tabletop, a steady "tap," "tap," "tap," as if tapping on Luke's heart. "Also... I heard that, despite being human, Her Majesty the Worm Queen's experience in the human world was not a pleasant one."
"Go and prove the necessity of fighting interstellar humans... I think, then... your report might be presented to the Bug Mother on an expedited basis."
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