Chapter 55 Part 1

Panic sounds came from the Earl’s Manor, faintly drifting into this serene corner.

Lights dotted the shrubbery like stars in the night sky. At the base of the shrubs lay firefly eggs, glowing with a watery blue hue. A translucent blue light flew into this enclosed space, illuminating the sapphire gem on that cufflink.

Shen Yu lowered his eyelids, his gaze drooping.

Ludwig’s eyes fixed on Shen Yu’s face—profound and aloof brows, misty clusters of lashes veiling the light in his eyes, beneath which sat a high, straight nose bridge and plump, vivid lips.

Shen Yu’s face showed no expression, yet it made Ludwig’s heart itch.

He pressed his tongue hard against his teeth, an unprecedented pleasure flooding his entire chest in an instant. Even though he had imagined their reunion, this terrifying emotion still caught him completely off guard.

Ludwig furrowed his brows. His heart pounded violently, entirely out of control, nearly bursting from his veins and leaping out of his body. His fingers clenched tight, veins bulging at his temple as he desperately reined in this rebellious organ.

Shen Yu’s gaze followed that gem, slowly shifting upward, taking in the entire severed arm. His face remained expressionless.

Moonlight and lamplight blended together. The arm wasn’t particularly bloody; even the fabric of the clothing was neat and clean. The cross-section was remarkably intact, with blood only dripping from that one spot downward.

Ludwig spoke: “Sadro, you didn’t seem to like him, so I took matters into my own hands—”

Shen Yu narrowed his eyes.

Noticing Shen Yu’s expression, Ludwig pursed his lips, then smiled: “Alright, to be precise, it was I who didn’t like him.”

A rusty copper scent mixed with floral fragrance, creating an odd aroma.

Blood congealed on the ragged fabric at the cross-section, forming a dewdrop-like bead.

One drop, then another.

The blood droplet fell into the air and splattered onto the water-sprinkled cobblestone ground with a “plop,” sounding clearer than the clamor from the manor.

The female insect’s red hair grew even richer in the darkness.

From the moment Ludwig appeared, Shen Yu hadn’t uttered a word. Ludwig pursed his lips, subtly studying his expression.

The progress was too slow.

Far slower than in the previous world.

There was no helping it. In this world that prized reproduction above all, with his current identity and persona, he couldn’t use conventional seduction methods. Most people couldn’t distinguish between love and desire—some mistook lust for love, others love for lust. The boundaries had long blurred.

Even in a normal world, separating those boundaries was next to impossible, let alone here.

Heavenly Dao, come on then.

I’ve been waiting for you so damn long.

How many ruthless means must I employ? How many times must I venture into the tiger’s den, wagering my life, just to survive?

Shen Yu lowered his lashes, light filtering through them to cast shadows. The slender needle from the terminal popped out, pressing into his skin. The needle tip pierced the blue vein on his wrist, injecting the inducing agent into his bloodstream.

007 sensed his mood. The White Dumpling bounced around in his mind, diverting his attention, and spoke: 【Host, 007 doesn’t want to go into the Little Black Room.】

Shen Yu lifted his eyelids and asked it: 【Why?】

007: 【It’s pitch black, like being forgotten by the entire world.】

Shen Yu pursed his lips and rubbed his chin: 【Now that you mention it, I don’t want you to go either.】

007 was instantly touched: 【But with those words from the Host, this system is already satisfied.】

Shen Yu sighed: 【If you go into timeout, that’s one less viewer appreciating my acting skills.】

007: 【……】

An utterly unexpected reason.

Truth be told, Shen Yu quite enjoyed the thrills that came with acting. His mission was to win her over, so his own emotions didn’t matter much. But he was human, not a machine; he had feelings, and they arose naturally.

As a strategist, he couldn’t let his emotions show, nor could he release them easily. Every step he took was on a knife’s edge—one misstep, and he’d shatter into pieces.

So what was he to do with his emotions? Suppress them? No, emotions were proof of existence. Shen Yu didn’t want to eliminate his own. Thus, he quickly found an outlet within his persona and self.

Starting from the previous world, he had experimented with acting as a way to vent his emotions, and the results were surprisingly effective. Shen Yu even found himself enjoying it.

The only issue was the small audience.

There were downsides too. Sometimes, Shen Yu experienced emotional misalignment, making it hard to separate himself from the role.

Shen Yu knew he had many worlds ahead, and he was just an ordinary person. The capture targets grew harder one by one, the worlds more dangerous. It was a path with no end, emotions destined to swing wildly, love and hate entwined.

These feelings were all too immense.

Emotional memory visualization was a brilliant invention. In this world, he acted with even more abandon.

But the audience was still too small.

Shen Yu said regretfully: 【Sometimes I act so immersively, but with no audience, I feel truly regretful.】

007: 【……】

007 urgently retracted its sense of being moved.

The inducing agent entered his body. Shen Yu shuddered, his waist and back arching against the cold corridor pillar.

Beneath his clothing, the male insect’s pale back tensed like an invisible full moonbow drawn taut.

A heat surge instantly roiled upward through his body.

During a male insect’s heat period, physical strength dropped sharply while releasing massive amounts of inducing pheromones, drawing female insects into heat and reproductive frenzy.

A male insect’s heat period was crucial, often coinciding with adulthood.

Many believed only male insects who survived their heat period were truly mature.

Once a male insect entered heat, it inevitably triggered massive female insect heat riots. History recorded countless wars sparked by this.

Female insect heat symptoms differed entirely: their physical qualities strengthened further, reason vanished, plunging them into mad craving for male insects.

Before stabilizers were developed, the Zerg had a glorious era of male insect dominance. Lacking mental attacks, they used heat periods to induce female insects to slaughter each other, consolidating Zerg structure and ensuring male insect rule.

Shen Yu’s body had been modified, delaying his overdue heat period until now.

Damn it.

Why now, of all times?

Ludwig quickly noticed his subtle anomaly and stepped forward.

His senses felt coated in a damp, filmy bubble. In Shen Yu’s lowered vision, Ludwig’s cold military boots stepped onto the watered stone path. In his peripheral vision, faint red lingered from the blood.

A smoky scent flooded his nose. In the already cramped space, the female insect drew closer, as if trying to force him back.

But Shen Yu’s back was against the pillar; there was no retreat.

As the female insect neared, Shen Yu’s chest heaved. He narrowed his eyes and finally spoke their first words since meeting: “Who permitted you to approach me?”

Ludwig’s steps halted.

Shen Yu lifted his thin eyelids. Cold blue eyes landed on the tall female insect before him, a mocking sneer curling his lips—arrogant and cutting:

“Get lost.”

Ludwig wasn’t angry. He stared at those lips, aching to crush this male insect in his arms, pin him down, steal those lips, and kiss that fleeting smile.

Noticing Shen Yu’s gaze, he tossed aside the offending arm and laughed: “Not satisfied with the gift? Just throw it away then—”

Ludwig’s words cut off abruptly.

At such close range, the air squeezed out a familiar scent like a sponge.

Ludwig first thought it an illusion, until the scent thickened, crashing over him like an ocean wave. His nostrils flared.

The aroma seemed gentle, but once inside, it seared like a red-hot iron down his throat into his gut, igniting instantly.

The male insect’s back pressed hard against the pillar, fine sweat beading at his temple, wetting strands of soft silver hair.

“Fuck.”

Ludwig scowled, cursing lowly.

Given Shen Yu’s state, if Ludwig still didn’t understand, his life had been wasted.

This male insect before him was in heat.

Even with stabilizers now, a male insect’s heat could still spark mass panic—especially a rare high-grade one like this.

And without relief, a male insect’s heat was excruciating.

Ludwig’s brows furrowed instantly.

Female insects’ senses were innately superior. The chaos at the Earl’s Manor soon quieted.

Ludwig heard footsteps.

Damn, insects were heading this way.

His expression changed sharply. He immediately shrugged off his jacket, strode forward, and draped it firmly over the male insect on the verge of heat, arms spread wide.

Their distance closed in an instant, breaths mingling. Warm, scorching air enveloped Shen Yu.

Shen Yu instinctively tried to use mental power to activate the mental shackles for attack, then recalled the situation.

His mood plummeted to the worst. His lips parted to curse, but suddenly his body lightened.

A fervid arm hooked under his knees, palm pressing his thigh firmly. Another arm slid behind his back, scooping him into a princess carry.

Ludwig held him close, even bouncing him lightly.

Shen Yu: “……”

Shen Yu kept a numb expression: 【I hope situations like this happen as few times as possible in the future.】

007 wanted to remind its host that this had already happened four, five, six, seven, eight times, but as a smart system, it chose silence.

Cold insect armor instantly covered his jaw. Two massive bone wings unfurled from Ludwig’s back in a flash. Though chilly wind blew, it couldn’t dispel the heat within.

Ludwig frowned, shielding Shen Yu securely in his arms, and soared into the air.

The female insect’s bone wings swept through the night sky like dark clouds, blending seamlessly with the darkness.

The Manor Bungalow lay shrouded in tree shadows—one of Ludwig’s properties in Pochidu. Ludwig retracted his bone wings. At such close range, he lowered his head, nose brushing the male insect’s hair top. Cold pheromones flooded his body.

Though icy, the pheromones spread like wildfire, unstoppable through his limbs.

Heat surged in his lower abdomen. Ludwig’s arms, like pythons, tightened. Dark red churned in his eyes. He gripped Shen Yu steady and kneed open the heavy door with a “bang.”