MCDWTBS Chapter 22
by VolareLeaving Ilot standing outside the door in shock, Serra passed through the intricately patterned, expensively crafted door and entered Colean’s study.
He didn’t spare a glance for the exquisitely decorated artworks and energy stones within the study, offering only a bow to Colean.
Truthfully, as a four-headed cub, his movements appeared somewhat awkward, but Colean didn’t seem to mind. In private, his flamboyant arrogance was considerably restrained, his refined features, inherited from the royal family, displaying a hint of capriciousness. He sized Serra up for a moment before speaking:
“Ilot says your mental tendrils are black. Do you know what that brings to mind?”
Before Serra could reply, he continued in rapid succession, “The divine children, hahaha, those first-generation divine children who died so long ago that nothing remains of them. How amusing. Only a foolish and ignorant female like Ilot could utter such an absurd thing. Wouldn’t you agree, Duke Serra?”
“It’s merely a coincidence. I would think the Church, not myself, should be embarrassed by this insignificant peculiarity of mine, shouldn’t they? My noble birth makes them uneasy,” Serra replied, neither servile nor arrogant, naturally directing the blame towards the Church. As expected, Colean burst into laughter, a golden-red phantom flashing behind him.
“You’re an interesting insect, my Duke. I hope you develop quickly. The royal family needs assistants like you.”
He spoke with a smile, but his eyes remained cold. Serra wasn’t bothered by this. He knew Colean’s so-called assistance was merely using him as a pawn against the Church, but wasn’t he also using Colean in return?
“I came precisely to assist Your Highness,” he said calmly, placing the bracelet that Edwin had assembled earlier on the study robot’s tray. He looked up at Colean, who roughly inspected the bracelet after it was scanned by the robot.
“The Church’s actions have been too rampant these past few years, Your Highness. They’ve encoded mental energy into the robots’ core programming. As you know, that’s a divine power bestowed upon us by the insectoid mother. The Church outwardly pretends to be dignified, upholding the insectoid mother’s sanctity, but secretly abuses divine power, combining it with crude code to prompt self-updating of the programming, enticing all male insectoids to purchase them.”
“But the male insectoids don’t know that the robots they spend their days with are all pawns in the Church’s hands. Are we truly the robots’ masters? When the robots punish the female and sub-male insectoids in our stead, are the whips that fall upon them truly ours, or the Church’s? Who is their male master?”
Serra’s questions grew increasingly aggressive, provocatively stirring the male insectoids’ masculine pride. This tactic wasn’t particularly clever, but based on Serra’s understanding of male creatures, it usually worked.
As expected, Colean’s fingers twitched nervously, as if he’d thought of something. The golden pupils in his eyes glowed with a more intense blood-red light. He suddenly unleashed his golden-red tendrils, piercing the core of the Church robot beside him.
The sound of tearing metal skin and exploding circuits was deafening. The robot quickly turned into a pile of scrap metal. Colean’s breathing grew heavier as he stared intently at the bracelet in his hand.
“Duke, the Church has been propagating the threat of the female insectoids, selling punishment series robots. I underestimated their wolfish ambitions. Those bitch-like female insectoids, as long as you show them a little kindness, they’ll swarm you like bees, even if they pretend to be haughty, they’re nothing but lowly things in their bones, what threat could they possibly pose? Only inferior male insectoids with weak abilities would feel powerless against punishing female insectoids.”
Colean grinned, mockingly ridiculing the Church in a near-malicious tone, “They prepare weapons for the inferior breeds, compensating for their lack of divine power, indulging them until they think they can sit on high and be on equal footing with true nobles… but as you know, my Duke, a group of inferior insects who can’t even control their own bitches, don’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as us.”
He tapped the silver bracelet with his slender finger and asked, “What’s the use of this?”
“Monitoring, Your Highness.” The young male insectoid, sporting a vintage bow tie, regained his university lecturer persona, loosening his collar as he spoke eloquently, “Its purpose is monitoring and management. You know how ranches brand all their livestock? That’s for better grazing, location, and summoning. It’s not as powerful as the Church’s punishment robots, I must admit, but it will undermine the Church’s reputation, Your Highness. You also believe that those male insectoids with inferior bloodlines don’t deserve the privileges the Church bestows upon them, do you not?”
The young male insectoid’s tongue was as sharp as a lotus flower. Colean’s expression shifted constantly, still seemingly hesitant. Serra roughly knew what he was worried about, so he slowed his tone and said, “Your Highness, the empire’s power has already begun to tilt toward the Church. My poor male father, when his mental energy collapsed, the Church’s robots merely stood by and watched.” Serra spoke whatever came to mind, dumping bucket after bucket of dirty water on the Church’s robots, “The key to undermining the Church isn’t just about equal substitutes. As you said, what is there to fear from the female and sub-male insectoids? This bracelet reduces the severity of the punishments inflicted upon them, coupled with appropriate… truth revelation, the Church’s years of planning will crumble, and then, in every insect’s heart, there will only be Your Highness.”
“The male insectoids’ enemies will always be the male insectoids with wolfish ambitions. What is there for us to guard against in inferior species like the female and sub-male insectoids? They’re just livestock.”
Serra said coldly. These words certainly weren’t from his heart. He would never denigrate any intelligent species like this, but he knew that such words would quickly dismantle the defenses of Colean, who believed in male insectoid supremacy and bloodline supremacy.
Sure enough, Colean walked halfway around the desk and then made a final decision, “My financial officer will discuss the details with you, Duke Noah. Your ideas please me greatly. The royal family will cooperate with your technology company. You must know, no matter what the Church’s lackeys say, the insectoid mother will always be with us.”
The stone in Serra’s heart fell to the ground. He smiled, revealing a small dimple, and bowed to Colean, “The insectoid mother is with us, Your Highness.”
That afternoon, he discussed the contract with Colean’s aides and financial officer. Serra maintained his sharp thinking throughout, and by the time the contract was signed, he was exhausted into a small insect pancake.
His mind was filled with the desire to crawl into Edwin’s large pectoral muscles and take a good suck, and he wanted to find his male parent with his head down. He couldn’t be by Edwin’s side today, although he had arranged for the quick-witted Sison and the remodeled robot Xiao An to accompany him, and he had prepared enough nutrient injections and energy fluids for all the female and sub-male insectoids in the Duke’s Mansion, he was still endlessly concerned about Edwin in his heart.
When he was a human, he hadn’t worried about anyone except his group of fragile and reckless college students. After transmigrating into an insect cub, he used the worries of two lifetimes on Edwin, who was too honest and didn’t know how to protect himself.
But just as he found Edwin’s group, the palace attendants came to notify them to attend the celebration tonight. Serra was so annoyed that he bumped his little head against Edwin’s leg, causing Edwin to bend down worriedly, placing his palm on Serra’s forehead.
The black-haired female insectoid’s hair fell, and the silent worry and tenderness spread in his azure eyes, causing the male insectoid cub’s heart to beat too fast, and his two little ears became scalded. He tilted his head, rubbing his little chubby face against Edwin’s palm, and the black tendrils quietly stretched out, grabbing Edwin’s ankle.
“Male parent, just hold on a little longer, we’ll go home soon.”
The young male insectoid coaxed himself and finally strode forward with his little chubby legs, leading the female and sub-male insectoids of the Duke’s Mansion towards the square where the celebration was being held.
Capital Star was a strange planet. It was huge and moved relative to a dying planet, so the sunlight wasn’t very strong. Even the Heart of the Empire, the royal family’s palace, which floated in mid-air and was closest to the star, enjoyed long nights.
But tonight, to celebrate Duke Noah’s succession, the celebration lit up the entire sky, setting off the sacred royal palace, making it magnificent and beautiful, like daytime.
As Serra and his party moved forward, countless streetlights in the shape of insect wings of various shapes and sizes dotted the lush vegetation and exquisite lampposts, emitting a moving, almost sacred light.
Serra was captivated by the unparalleled beauty for a moment, and then keenly realized that Edwin’s body suddenly stiffened like a statue. He was still mechanically moving his legs, but with every movement, Serra could hear the strange sound of bones rubbing together.
Serra looked up at him worriedly, but Edwin rarely avoided the cub’s dependence, instead staring blankly ahead. Serra’s heart clenched. He tugged at Edwin’s clothes, turning to look at the silent female and sub-male insectoids present.
Their faces were shrouded in sacred soft light, and the smiles at the corners of their mouths were just right, but not a single female or sub-male insectoid appreciated the exquisite “streetlights” as wantonly as the male insectoid did.
Among the Duke’s Mansion’s attendants, the young sub-male Ilia let out a sob of anger mixed with pain. He approached his male parent, Sison, and tightly grabbed Sison’s clothes until the veins on the back of his hand were exposed.
Serra’s heart suddenly sank into the bottomless darkness, and the blood in his body ran cold. When he looked up again at those exquisite, insect-wing-shaped streetlights, he saw a gloomy graveyard.
Each “lamp” was a wing torn alive from a female insectoid. Every casual decoration was the grieving soul of the female insectoids and their dripping flesh and blood.
“Don’t go any further, let’s go back.” The young male insectoid’s face was extremely ugly. He raised his short hands, desperately trying to reach Edwin’s hand, but instead of a gentle return, he felt an icy cold.
Edwin didn’t seem to hear his words, but continued to move forward. Directly in front, under the golden and magnificent main hall’s entrance, a pair of huge, snow-white wings emitted a dazzling glow, sacred and powerful, captivating and soul-stirring.
A stream of blood flowed from the corner of Edwin’s lips. He trembled and muttered to himself, staring straight at the wings that once belonged to Marshal Ax, and hideous insect patterns appeared on his face. The wing sheaths on his shoulders moved, and his hands grew claws under the urging of energy.
“Marshal…”
His sobbing, blood-like voice almost shattered the young male insectoid’s heart, causing Serra to feel like his heart was on fire. The space behind him twisted, and the rising anger distorted his chubby face a little. At that moment, the Church’s male insectoids walked over. Bishop Alec, with heavy eye bags, followed behind Sandersfi, looking resentful because Serra had successfully inherited the dukedom. He happened to see Edwin looking like he was about to attack, and immediately shouted in shock and anger:
“What is this lowly female doing?! Is he rebelling?! Kill him! Attack him!!!”
Countless robots aimed their weapons at Edwin, and several Church male insectoids also extended their tendrils, attacking Edwin’s neck.
The young male insectoid’s eyes instantly turned from soft caramel to blood red:
“Let me see who dares to touch him!”