Chapter 96
Professor Arnold needs Toto's help in the lab.
He was very generous in ordering Toto around.
There are no holidays; every day is a workday.
While eating, you can just grab a bite or two and perhaps even discuss your research topic.
Sleep, while a necessary activity, must be done at a strictly regulated time to enter deep sleep earlier.
Entertainment is a complete waste of time.
Socializing, meaningless small talk is a waste of time.
Toto was caught in a high-intensity work routine, which he discovered in the lab.
It's quite normal for a research project to take three to five years to complete, and most of the time, a researcher's research may never be of any use or significance in their lifetime. After they grow old and pass away, the research data they generated will most likely be swept into storage and become a pile of waste paper.
Toto only realized after following the professor that his current knowledge was too shallow and he could only help the professor in very few ways. He didn't have exceptional talent, nor was he quick to grasp things. There were many Zerglings more suitable for this position than Toto, so it wasn't absolutely necessary for him.
Toto was not discouraged. He didn't want to be a burden on Professor Arnold's research, so he worked very hard. But sometimes he felt frustrated and asked Professor Arnold, "Should we find a more senior and suitable assistant for you?"
Professor Arnold stood with his hands in his pockets, his expression indifferent. After a moment, he took off his glasses, revealing red eyes behind the lenses, glistening with moisture from lack of sleep.
"What did you say?"
Do you need a different assistant?
Professor Arnold didn't speak. He touched the experimental equipment and said after a moment, "If I don't succeed, they will be locked in the warehouse along with my experiment. And if it's not locked in the warehouse, I'll have to blow it up."
Toto didn't understand what the professor meant, and the professor didn't ask him to delve deeper. He was simply told to look at the data from the next set of instruments.
Because of the immense pressure and their refusal to ask other insects for help, the professor required him and Toto to complete all the experiments, keeping the lab busy day and night.
As time passed, Professor Arnold's hair gradually turned white, and more and more Zerg came to find him.
First, the principal of Imperial Star Academy gave the professor a star card, hoping he could go on a trip and spend the rest of his time peacefully, but the professor refused.
Professor Arnold said, "If I die in the lab, let this be my final resting place. I will become a ghost and guide the students who are willing to come to this lab."
The principal immediately stated that he had no intention of coveting his laboratory and asked him to focus on his work.
Zos and his newlywed male also came to see Professor Arnold, but Professor Arnold was not friendly to them. He only exchanged a few words with Zos and his beautiful new male before leaving Zos and his new partner and heading into the laboratory.
Toto was left standing there, looking at each other in bewilderment.
Zos became very impatient after the professor left, but the annoying brat opposite him, despite being sleep-deprived, had bright eyes and a calm expression. He looked like he was not easily fooled, so he definitely wouldn't be allowed into the lab.
Toto put his hands inside his white lab coat and frowned.
The smiling male insect wasn't angry at all. He handed Toregia a fragrant business card: "Please tell Professor Arnold that I will never take back my proposal."
Toto didn't reach out to take it, but his attitude wasn't cold: "I have no obligation to relay anything for you. I'm just here to make sure you lock the door after you leave."
The male insect's smile froze.
What business card, or what suggestion, Toto was numb and indifferent. All he wanted to do right now was go home and sleep, what he missed most was the Commander, and what he least wanted to hear was Professor Arnold's urging...
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The next day, when Torregia went to the lab, she found Professor Arnold moving things around.
There were only a few boxes in total, and they looked old. One box was not closed, and inside was a very beautiful dress with a blue Elune corsage.
Generally speaking, blue Elune is only worn at weddings.
Could it be that the professor has been married?
Toto was startled and immediately looked away, no longer trying to pry into the professor's secret.
Just then, the sound of a door closing came from the laboratory bathroom. Professor Arnold, dressed in pajamas and pale-faced, slowly walked out. After seeing a few boxes, he muttered, "So fast," and then calmly gestured to Toto, "My legacy. See if there's anything you like."
His nonchalant attitude was as if he were inviting Toto to dinner.
Seeing that Toto didn't make a move, Professor Arnold added, "Don't worry, I've already sold the most valuable things."
Toto wanted to ask, but hesitated for a moment and didn't bring up the dress at the beginning. Professor Arnold, on the other hand, stared at the dress for a while while tidying it up, his expression anything but pleasant. Finally, he threw the dress into the laboratory's high-temperature treatment chamber, where it was burned to ashes.
The professor's experiment had reached a critical stage, and Toto was helping him day and night.
At first, Toto just felt a bit of a cold. He got some medicine from the school doctor and continued to stay in the lab.
Later, her cold symptoms worsened, accompanied by shortness of breath and headaches, so Toto increased her medication dosage. However, her discomfort continued to worsen, and she once even fell asleep in the lab.
When he woke up, he saw that his hair was half white and Professor Arnold was sitting in front of him looking at him.
Toto felt a little dizzy, and his voice was low as he tried to get up.
Professor Arnold stopped him from getting up: "I'll give you a break."
Toto turned around abruptly, half surprised and half confused. Professor Arnold took out a file folder and forcefully shoved it into Toto's hand: "This is the information I borrowed from the principal. It's the data of outstanding graduates. You should start dating someone. Your heat has arrived, Toregia."
Toto: "..."
Holding the file folder, I returned home in a daze. Pushing open the familiar door, I was almost moved to tears.
Six months later, Toto found that the furnishings in the house had not changed much, except that Merck seemed to be away from home. Toto found that his cold symptoms had subsided, but he started to feel feverish. He thought it might be due to dehydration, so he gulped down a large glass of water.
Suddenly having nothing to do and feeling exhausted, he almost unsurprisingly fell asleep in bed. In his half-awake state, he seemed to have insectoid creatures beside him, helping him take off his coat.
Toto felt that the smell was familiar and he missed it. He almost cried in his dream, tightly embracing the warm breath that was different from the cold instrument. The breath was very stiff at first, as if it struggled a few times, but when Toto frowned, it stiffly moved back on its own.
Toto, having regained what he had lost, began to breathe steadily.
In the dim light, two dark gray shadows overlapped. The female, dressed in a crisp military uniform, sighed softly, then gave up in despair, turning away to embrace the sleeping male.
No insects know Fei's feelings.
Toto drifted into a tender dream. In the dream, he was on a high hillside, trying to find his way home in the night. He saw the orange light in the tent, but no matter which way he looked, he couldn't reach it.
He stood blankly on the grassland, looking around. His female father was gone, and his male father did not respond to his calls. Toto suddenly felt very sad. He lowered his head and walked forward recklessly.
Suddenly, someone hugged him from behind. The feeling made him feel safe and secure. He had someone to share his loneliness with. Toto turned around and hugged him, and they fell into the grass together.
The Zergling wasn't angry. He gently touched Toto's face, from his forehead to the bridge of his nose, and finally touched Toto's lips.
Toto suddenly opened his eyes.
The first light of dawn.
He saw a refined, handsome face belonging to a female insect; it was very beautiful and strangely familiar.
Toto's heart began to beat faster. He looked at Lord Fei, not wanting to disturb him, but also unable to resist wanting to look a little longer at the commander sleeping peacefully beside him, completely unguarded. They hadn't seen each other for almost half a year.
Toto gently moved back a little, and at that moment, the female insect lying next to him opened her eyes.
Toto: "Good day, Your Excellency."
Fei hummed in agreement, rubbing his temples. "Awake?"
Toto nodded, then after a moment, he remembered, "Your Excellency, I wish to find a Zerg to date."
Fiji:"……"
Fortunately, he controlled himself well, and Fei calmly lowered his arm.
While he longed to see Toregia, the other probably didn't miss him, never treated him like any other insect, and never considered him an object of fantasy.
Fei had never felt so lost, but he said nothing.
He sat up and told the young male insect, comforting and encouraging him, without letting him see any clues or the emotions hidden in his eyes. He wanted to say no, Toto, but what he said was: "Of course you can, Toregia."
Author's Note:
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