Chapter 51

If given another chance, Ludwig absolutely would not have said those seven words—”might be lack of exercise”—to the male insect back then.

The male insect’s estate was vast, with the courtyard taking up a large portion of the area. The front courtyard and villa district formed the residence, filled with beauty and fragrance between them. But aside from the front courtyard, there was actually a large rear courtyard.

The backyard courtyard had not been part of the male insect’s initial plans, so it was overgrown with weeds. It would have remained in that desolate state indefinitely, but because of Ludwig’s offhand remark, it was about to usher in a rare spring.

In three days, he pulled out all those weeds clean, leaving him no time to tinker with the tiny parts of those devices.

After the backyard was tidied up, Vidonien’s cold had mostly recovered, but he was still deeply shocked that he had gotten sick at all.

Once he recovered, the large shipment of fast-growing bulbs he had bought from Andre Family’s interstellar flower market arrived. After the bulbs were planted, a strong wind blew, stretching the roots, and the various bulb plants grew swiftly with the wind in an instant.

The bulbs grew vigorously, and before long, they sprouted colorful flower buds.

On the day spring arrived and all the flowers fully bloomed, the silver-haired male insect crossed his arms and looked at the large grassy field in the middle of the backyard. He announced his combat training plan to Ludwig and “sincerely invited” Ludwig to serve as a moving punching bag.

Ludwig’s eye twitched. “…”

Who the hell practiced combat on a grass field?

And who the hell wanted to be a punching bag?

The female insect coldly rolled the haystacks to one side. He rummaged in the warehouse for a long time before finding the thick mats piled in the corner. After washing the mats, he dried them in the sun for a day, leaving them scented with detergent and sunshine.

Shen Yu came downstairs in slippers, lazily uncombed with a single cowlick sticking up in the air.

Ludwig stopped in his tracks.

Shen Yu’s mouth immediately opened, directing him to finish tidying up, then go change Lily’s water. After changing the water, tidy the courtyard again. After tidying, clean the storage room on the second floor. After cleaning, wash his clothes from yesterday, and after washing…

Ludwig: “…”

Male insects were indeed the most damnable creatures in the world.

Ludwig’s face was ashen and cold. He carried the thick mat to the backyard very coolly, then bent down and placed it heavily on the grass.

The female insect kicked it forward. The mat rolled ahead like it was fleeing, unfurling across the grass. In an instant, it became the training mat for the backyard combat arena.

Remembering the male insect’s instructions, Ludwig frowned deeply, then turned expressionlessly to change Lily’s water, tidy the courtyard, clean the storage room, and wash the clothes—

As for the male insect’s training plan, to be honest, Ludwig initially thought the male insect was just acting on a whim, but that notion quickly vanished.

Whether it was the male insect’s learning ability or perseverance, both were astonishing. Though his physical strength was innately weaker than a female insect’s, he was extremely skilled and showed remarkable talent in combat.

If not for lacking a spirit sea—unable to link to a mecha through it or summon an exoskeleton—this male insect could even have gone to the battlefield.

But genes predetermined everything. They should not even be compared.

“Hey—”

A swift straight punch flew toward Ludwig’s face. Ludwig tilted his head to dodge, and immediately after, Shen Yu’s sweeping kick struck cleanly.

The male insect’s silver ponytail was tied high, and he wore a black combat suit that outlined his lean form without an ounce of excess fat—smooth and slender curves bursting with explosive power in every movement.

Limited by his constitution, the male insect could not train the ferocious muscles of a female insect, but that did not mean he lacked lethality.

On the contrary, it granted him extreme agility and aggression.

Ludwig was tempted several times by the male insect’s brilliant combat techniques to counterattack, but one punch from him—not to mention across the entire interstellar, but even in the entire empire—few insects could withstand it. So he mostly focused on defense and guidance.

That was why he said Shen Yu had talent. Every guidance elicited an unexpected response from the male insect.

Ludwig could not tell if it was his fighting spirit being ignited or something else. He licked his dry lips and gazed darkly at the male insect before him.

In the final exchange, the male insect’s stamina could not sustain longer training. Ludwig narrowed his eyes, caught the male insect’s side kick, and calculated the timing.

Shen Yu’s hook punch struck toward Ludwig’s abdomen. Ludwig seized the moment, took the hit squarely, and at the same time hooked an arm around his shoulder. His knee drove down, taking the man down.

In the flip, the red-haired female insect arched his waist, his two sturdy long legs instantly straddling the male insect’s narrow, powerful waist.

One arm protected the male insect’s back from behind, while the other hand grabbed his wrist and pinned it above his head, pressing the male insect to the ground.

Ludwig stared at the male insect beneath him, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “That’s enough for today.”

Shen Yu lay on his back on the training mat beneath him, chest heaving, pale neck emerging from the black combat suit. His jaw lifted slightly, full sharp red lips parted slightly from breathing, the tip of his nose beaded with fine sweat like dewdrops.

The damp sweat between the male insect’s forehead strands wet his silver hair. Beneath pale fan-shaped lashes, a pair of inhuman ice-blue eyes stared straight at him.

Ludwig suddenly realized how ambiguous their current position was.

His thighs clamped the male insect’s waist and abdomen sides, covered in thin muscle. Through two thin layers of fabric, he felt the narrow zone connecting below the ribs to above the hips—the narrowest part of the male insect’s waist, dipping into two C-shaped curves.

Through the combat suit fabric, Ludwig’s thighs felt a suffocating sink, and the very thin layer of flesh on the male insect’s waist.

The hand gripping the male insect’s wrist clenched fiercely, knuckles like iron clamps, surging heat alternating.

After intense exercise, the male insect beneath him finally took on the warmth of life. Where their skin touched, it was no longer eerily cold.

Dappled sunlight fell in this narrow space. At such close range, every pulse tugged at each other’s temperature, the air between them suddenly thickening.

The female insect’s recent performance satisfied him greatly, so Shen Yu did not mind giving a little leeway for this clearly presumptuous act.

Shen Yu stretched his post-exercise muscles. His wrists were crossed and pinned upward, nails neatly trimmed, fingers slender and now dangling lazily downward.

The bases of his fingers were pale white; in the sunlight, faint blue-purple veins were visible. His fingertips were light pink, like unopened flower buds on a branch, tempting one to kiss them—and if possible, lick them too.

Shen Yu flicked his fingers upward, drawing Ludwig’s attention back. He asked him, “How long are you going to hold on?”

Ludwig frowned. He was silent for a moment, then released the male insect’s wrist as instructed. His palm felt empty, still retaining the male insect’s temperature.

A wondrous chill, like a handful of snow under sunlight—occasionally warming.

But just as snow melted away in the sun, that warmth would vanish too.

The female insect rubbed his fingers. He stood up and extended a hand to Shen Yu. “Want me to carry you back?”

Shen Yu’s stamina was depleted, his limbs sore and unwilling to move, but he had not fallen to the point of needing to be carried. He reached out and slapped away the female insect’s hand without mercy. “Go make your damn food.”

That slap had no weight. Ludwig raised a brow, looking at the very stubborn silver-haired male insect lying on the mat. “You sure you don’t need me to carry you back?”

Shen Yu lifted his eyelids coldly. “Want to die?”

Ludwig quickly strode away to cook.

Shen Yu was already exhausted. Once the person left, his back relaxed, and he rolled to the side. A sudden drop hit him.

Shen Yu’s eyes snapped open. He realized he had rolled onto the grass beside the mat.

Fortunately, the mat was not too thick, so there was no impact.

The scent of soil, green grass, and fresh flowers instantly smothered his face.

“…”

Shen Yu’s body stiffened, but thinking no one saw this embarrassing moment, he gradually relaxed.

The courtyard grass was cleaned spotless. Sunlight filtered through the treetop gaps, faintly carrying the scent of lake water from Vila Forest and the distant ocean.

Shen Yu lay contentedly in the flower-scented sunlight, closed his eyes, golden light filtering through pale lashes as he fell into slumber.

Ludwig finished cooking, removed his apron and hung it on the hook, then strode from the side door to the backyard. He leaned on the doorframe, scanned the courtyard, and did not see the male insect on the mat.

The backyard was enormous, surrounded by endless vinewood trees. Flowers and trees swayed in Virasen Avenue’s wind, dappled light shuttling through endless deep green.

Ludwig skirted a cluster of overgrown bulb plants. Perhaps Azure Sparrow Hill’s soil was especially suitable for plants—they grew exceptionally well, tall clusters with huge blooms, better than those in the Imperial Rear Garden tended by master gardeners.

Thinking this, the female insect suddenly halted.

Ahead, amid flower trees, a silver-haired male insect lay with eyes closed, sleeping peacefully under a canopy of fragrance and sunlight.

Nearby branches swayed in the wind, casting dense tree shadows over the male insect’s deep, beautiful face. He drooped pale silver lashes, breathing lightly, chest rising and falling faintly.

Like a soft little animal in hibernation.

A soft little animal?

Ludwig lowered his gaze.

Ludwig, just who gave you the confidence to have such an absurd illusion?

He was truly regressing the longer he lived.

The red-haired female insect narrowed his eyes. He crossed his arms, his gaze lingering long on the male insect, facial contours hidden in dim shadows, indistinct.

Ludwig stood in the tree shade until the male insect grew uncomfortable from the hair tie on his ponytail and frowned slightly in his sleep, turning his head.

Virasen Avenue’s wind blew in, completely blocked by the female insect’s broad back.

After a long while, this female insect who struck fear across the world sighed and slowly bent down. He sat cross-legged on the grass.

Ludwig reached out to steady Shen Yu’s shoulders, letting the male insect pillow on his thigh, then carefully removed the hair tie from the ponytail.

The hair tie retained a faint trace of the male insect’s pheromone scent. The familiar object, familiar touch, familiar aroma pulled him once more into a dark quagmire.

Ludwig bowed his head, dark clouds surging in his eyes. His fingers tightened, clenching the black hair tie firmly in his palm.

The hardest ore in the interstellar was formed from the bones of evil heretics. Mixed with black rock ore, heretic bones became the rarest, toughest material—one essential for mecha skeletons.

The interstellar had three major deposits of this substance, the largest belonging to the empire’s marshal lineage, the Faen Family.

The Double Swords Banner illuminated the path ahead; Faen glory shone among the stars.

No wonder—even if the Faen Family never showed signs of rebellion, it remained a hidden needle, a shadow buried in the imperial heart.

Only when Faen announced withdrawal from politics, its reputation tarnished, did the empire ease its suppression.

Yet even this hardest ore could be crushed and cracked in the heaven-shattering power of an SSS-rank female Zerg.

But these soft things, these soft objects, could only repeatedly merge into flesh, blood, and marrow amid surging impulses of destruction.

Pain from his palm snapped Ludwig back to awareness.

The female insect looked at Shen Yu in his arms. In sleep, the male insect nuzzled his thigh lightly. Ludwig lowered his head, lids drooping.

Your purity beneath the cold, resilience beneath the arrogance, softness beneath the dominance, beauty beneath the malice.

Was it—

Presented solely for me alone?

Ludwig lowered his gaze and reached out, gently gathering Shen Yu’s silver long hair to one side for more comfortable sleep.

The hair felt silky smooth, warmed slightly by the sun.

But at the ends, the warmth vanished; the touch turned icy cold, like a basin of cold water dashed in his face. Reason gradually returned.

He seemed to hear the devil in his heart say:

Ludwig, you’re done for.

Shen Yu felt like his head was pillowed on a hard rock. One second he had been on soft grass, and the next he plummeted straight from heaven into hell, tumbling into a pile of rocks?

He opened his eyes, and a fierce, malevolent face filled his vision.

Shen Yu: “……”

Confirmed. It was a nightmare.

Shen Yu closed his eyes, trying to switch to a different dream.

But with the beautiful dream already gone, he obviously couldn’t revisit it.

Shen Yu sighed inwardly and resignedly opened his eyes. He casually stood up, shook out his hair, and said to Ludwig, “Hey, let’s go.”

Ludwig suddenly spoke up. “I’m not called ‘Hey’.”

“?”

Hearing the female insect’s words, Shen Yu was a little surprised. After all, not long before, the female insect before him hadn’t been willing to tell him his name.

That said, Shen Yu had only asked casually back then. He didn’t care if he didn’t know the female insect’s name—he wasn’t that petty about it.

So it was completely fine if the other didn’t tell him.

Shen Yu turned his head, his silver hair cascading like a waterfall down his back. The tips seemed adorned with brilliant flowing light as they fell to his waist, drawing the eyes of onlookers.

The silver-haired male insect stood in the courtyard, his red lips parting slightly as he spoke in a cold, indifferent tone, utterly unconcerned.

“Ah, I don’t need to know your name.”

“I’m called Ludwig.”

The two voices overlapped, emerging almost simultaneously.

Shen Yu hadn’t caught his name clearly.