Chapter 46

The speaker was an ordinary-looking middle-aged male insect, his build plump and his tone dripping with sarcasm.

He glared at Pei Rui, his expression a mix of complicated emotions.

This male insect was Pei Heng’s drinking buddy. In the past, he himself had been no match for Pei Heng. Now, even his own son couldn’t measure up to Pei Heng’s.

He had a female insect son of his own, but in terms of talent, the boy was far inferior to Pei Rui.

There was one thing, though, where he believed his son far outshone the Pei family’s troublemaker—and it finally let him hold his head high in front of Pei Heng.

That one thing was finding a male lord. His family’s female insect had secured one early on: a B-rank mental power male insect from a powerful family with deep resources. He couldn’t have been more pleased.

In the past, this middle-aged male insect had always felt inferior in Pei Heng’s presence, since his son had always lagged far behind Pei Rui. But over the last two years, ever since his own son found a male lord while Pei Rui still hadn’t—forced to endure mental power outbursts alone—he’d started to stand taller.

To put it bluntly, who knew if Pei Rui might one day fail to withstand it.

It was only thanks to his son’s male lord that the middle-aged male insect had gained the confidence to straighten his back around Pei Heng these past couple of years.

“Aiyo, your Pei Rui still hasn’t found a male lord? He’s not getting any younger. What if something happens—tsk tsk tsk.” The male insect’s eyes held a pretense of pity, but they gleamed with schadenfreude.

Pei Heng’s face darkened the moment he heard this. He shot Pei Rui a glare. He couldn’t take it out on another insect, but his own son? That was fair game.

With a cold snort, he said, “You finally bothered to come home. All you do is run around outside, and you can’t even find yourself a male lord.”

He made no mention whatsoever of any dangers Pei Rui might have faced out there, acting as if he knew nothing about his son’s situation.

Pei Rui’s consort father, Rui En, sat off to the side. He seemed to want to say something but held back, his eyes brimming with concern and affection for Pei Rui.

Though Rui En was Pei Heng’s female consort, his looks had faded over time, and with Pei Heng constantly bringing in new concubines, he’d gradually lost all presence in the household.

If not for Pei Rui’s own accomplishments—and the strictures of Interstellar Law, which forbade casually replacing a female consort—he might have been swapped out long ago. After all, Rui En had never borne Pei Heng a male offspring, and that lack was the main reason for his insecurity.

Indifference filled Pei Rui’s eyes. He’d known a scene like this was waiting for him, and he’d long grown accustomed to Pei Heng’s behavior.

With a sardonic curl of his lips, contempt in his gaze and mockery in his voice, he said, “What’d I come back for? To clean up your messes for you, or help you scout out some new concubines?”

Besides his endless pursuit of concubines, Pei Heng had another vice: gambling.

Pei Rui’s own looks made it clear that his father wasn’t unattractive—quite striking among male insects, in fact. Coupled with B-rank mental power, he’d drawn countless female insects back in his youth.

Male insects had their share of flaws, after all. Might as well pick one who was easy on the eyes.

Pei Heng’s method for selecting female insects was straightforward. He’d go after standout sub-females or wealthy military females.

Only with enough money could he indulge properly; the government subsidies barely covered basics.

But as the years wore on, the rich ones grew scarcer. His gambling habit, however, never waned. So he turned to his offspring for support.

Mainly Pei Rui.

This wasn’t the first time Pei Rui had dragged a broke and broken Pei Heng home from the casinos, but the old insect never learned.

Eventually, Pei Rui had cut off his funds, and things quieted down for a spell.

Before long, though, Pei Heng had hatched a new scheme: finding a male lord for Pei Rui.

That was the real reason Pei Rui no longer wanted to come home.

Having his dirty secrets aired in front of company by his own son left Pei Heng mortified.

The nosy male insect, eager to stir the pot, jumped in. “Aiyo, Pei Rui, is that how you talk to your male father? If word got out that the revered General treats his father with such disrespect at home, who knows what people would think.”

Pei Rui withdrew his icy stare from Pei Heng and fixed it on the meddler.

No ordinary insect could withstand that bone-chilling gaze. The male insect faltered for a moment before blustering on with false bravado. “What’re you looking at? You planning to hit me? You know assaulting a male insect is against the law—even for a General.”

Pei Rui let out a cold laugh. Hit him? He might dirty his hands.

He crossed his arms over his chest and stood before the middle-aged male insect, gazing down at him imperiously.

“Do you know your son is having a terrible time with his male lord? He’s nearly lost his life several times. I’ve heard he’s begged repeatedly to come home, but you’ve refused every time because you’re afraid of losing face. A male insect like you deserves to be a consort father?”

Pei Rui’s words shattered the superficial gloss of the male insect’s respectability. His face darkened immediately. He wanted to retort, but under the intimidating presence of the female insect, he could only stammer stubbornly.

“Which family’s consort hasn’t gone through this? Just endure it, and it’ll be fine.”

Unable to withstand Pei Rui’s frightening aura any longer, he slipped away first.

“Old Pei, I’m heading out. I can’t afford to provoke your family’s female insect,” the middle-aged male insect sniped before departing.

With the outsider finally gone, Pei Rui’s consort father Rui En hurried over.

“Rui Cub, are you hurt?” His voice brimmed with concern as he gently touched Pei Rui’s cheek.

Hearing this familiar yet distant nickname, Pei Rui paused for a moment, then accepted it with a helpless sigh.

Only his consort father would call him that.

His expression softened. “Consort Father, I’m fine.”

Over on the other side, Pei Heng slapped the table and snorted. “He’s fine, but I’m not. So just tell me—when are you going to find yourself a male insect?”

Pei Rui didn’t hold back against Pei Heng. “Probably the day you can’t move anymore, sir.”

The male insect was successfully infuriated by Pei Rui’s retort and immediately broke into a fit of violent coughing. “You trying to anger me to death?”

Rui En stayed silent on the sidelines. He never meddled in other matters, but he was deeply anxious about Pei Rui finding a male lord.

After all, he was profoundly worried about Pei Rui’s health.

“Rui Cub, you really should find a male lord. Your consort father is so worried. Every year during your mental power outburst, I live in fear of getting bad news.” Rui En’s face was shadowed with sorrow.

Seeing that no one was paying him any mind, Pei Heng recovered and switched to threats.

“If you don’t find a male lord, you know Pei Yi’s almost eighteen. You and I won’t be able to control him then, but I can still make decisions for Pei Yi.”

Pei Yi was Pei Rui’s blood brother, born to the same consort father.

The words hit Pei Rui like a punch; his fists clenched hard. He knew this insect was fully capable of following through.

After all, Pei Rui couldn’t stand guard here every moment of every day. If Pei Heng pulled something while he was out on a mission, there’d be no way to intervene in time.

“Fine, I promise. I’ll go do the pheromone matching.” Pei Rui’s eyes flickered.

He had agreed to the matching, but he hadn’t promised to actually take a male lord.

“That’s more like it.” Pei Heng was satisfied.

Pei Rui turned to Rui En with instructions. “Consort Father, take good care of yourself. I have to go. I’ll make arrangements for Pei Yi.”

Pei Heng might have threatened him once, but Pei Rui would never let him succeed a second time.

~~~

Meanwhile, Reis was strolling idly with Jing Chi along the main street.

“By the way, Jing Chi, you don’t have a light brain yet, do you? Let me take you to buy one. Consider it my welcome gift.” Reis suggested suddenly, his enthusiasm toward Jing Chi unmistakable.

Jing Chi’s face filled with surprise. “That doesn’t seem right. I can’t accept such an expensive gift.”

After all, even the most basic light brain cost a full hundred thousand star coins—a considerable sum.

Jing Chi’s wallet was currently spotless: utterly empty.

“No worries, no worries. This way, it’ll be easier for you to contact the general.” Reis waved it off carelessly and ushered Jing Chi into the light brain shop.

Jing Chi hadn’t intended to accept at first, but the convenience of contacting Pei Rui changed his mind.

Inside, light brains of every variety lined the shelves. Some boasted exquisite designs like diamond-encrusted bracelets; others were plain models, simple unadorned rings.

Each one came with a manual detailing its functions, the price listed at the bottom.

As expected, the prettier the light brain, the more dazzling the price tag.

Jing Chi, however, couldn’t appreciate their sense of style. He preferred the simplest one—elegant and practical.

“Come on, Jing Chi, pick one out. Don’t worry, bro’s got the cash.” Reis thumped his chest proudly, his form of address shifting casually.

Jing Chi smiled, then carefully surveyed the selection before pointing to the simplest model—the cheapest in the shop.

“Deputy General Reis, this one.”

“Yo, which country bumpkin is buying their first light brain, huh? Picking the cheapest one.” A snide voice drifted over from nearby.

Reis recognized the voice instantly. He curled his lip and bellowed, “Harrison, if you can’t say anything nice, shut your mouth.”

Jing Chi turned to look and saw it was a sub-female with a head of golden long hair. He was quite pretty, but the arrogance tugging at the corners of his eyes ruined that beauty entirely.

Reis leaned in close to Jing Chi’s ear and whispered, “He’s not after you, actually. He’s gunning for me.”

“A few years back, when the Male Lord was picking a Female Consort, he chose me over Harrison. He’s held a grudge ever since.”

“Before that, Harrison loved flaunting his good looks, but once the Male Lord passed him over, plenty of insects laughed behind his back. He felt humiliated, so he’s been picking fights with me nonstop. What could I do? He’s a sub-female—if I laid a hand on him, it’d look like I was bullying the weak.”

Sudden understanding dawned on Jing Chi.

“Hey, what are you two muttering about over there? Reis, does your Male Lord know you’re buying a Light Brain for some other female insect?” Harrison crowed, sensing he’d caught Reis red-handed.

“Mind your own business. If you’ve got the guts, go tattle to my Male Lord yourself.” Reis rolled his eyes.

Reis’s Male Lord was one of the milder personalities on this planet.

Harrison’s face drained of color in an instant. For some inexplicable reason, Reis’s Male Lord always avoided him like the plague. Complaining was out of the question—he could barely get an audience.

Seeing the sub-female’s expression sour, Reis burst into laughter. But he didn’t press further and turned to Jing Chi instead. “You sure you want this one? I think that other one’s better looking.”

Jing Chi followed Reis’s pointing finger and spotted a Light Brain in the gaudiest colors imaginable. He shook his head vigorously.

Reis’s taste in aesthetics left much to be desired.

Fuming at being ignored, the sub-female stomped his foot. Realizing he couldn’t win a war of words with Reis, he spat a final threat. “Don’t let me catch you two next time.”

With that, he whipped around and stormed out of the shop.

“Just wait—he’ll say the exact same thing next time you cross paths,” Reis grumbled.

Jing Chi just smiled and said nothing.

Once they’d finished buying the Light Brain, they wandered the shops a bit longer until Jing Chi had gotten his bearings. Then Reis escorted him to Imperial View Garden.

After seeing Jing Chi to the door, Reis took his leave.

Jing Chi punched in the password Reis had given him and stepped inside.

The living space that greeted him was stark, furnished solely in black, white, and gray. There was barely any furniture—just the bare necessities—like a showroom model.

The floors gleamed spotless, a clear sign the owner was a stickler for cleanliness.

Jing Chi blinked in disbelief. Pei Rui had lived in a place like this for years?

He shook his head with a helpless sigh.

Settling onto the living room sofa, he began tinkering with his new Light Brain.

This was his first encounter with such advanced tech. The System didn’t count—it was sophisticated enough but wouldn’t let him mess around with it and had a habit of going rogue.

He checked the time first: already five in the afternoon, and still no sign of Pei Rui.

Reis had treated him to lunch earlier that day.

The familiar aroma of real food had nearly brought tears to Jing Chi’s eyes.

On the Main Star, most male insects despised Nutrient Liquid—it was bland and chalky, offering no real pleasure. Fortunately, the planet boasted a thriving food scene with virtually every cuisine imaginable. The catch? It wasn’t cheap.

As a result, the majority of female insects stuck to Nutrient Liquid.

Jing Chi pulled up the contacts list. Only two numbers were saved: Reis’s and Pei Rui’s, the latter added by Reis.

After a moment’s thought, he opened the messaging app and fired off a note to Pei Rui.

Meanwhile, Pei Rui had just wrapped up a pheromone extraction session.

A notification pinged on his Light Brain from an unfamiliar number. He usually ignored those, but something made him tap it this time.

The message sprang open:

【It’s Jing Chi. When are you coming home? I’m already at your place!】

【This afternoon, Deputy General Reis took me shopping. He bought me a Light Brain—insanely expensive at a hundred thousand Star Coins! I felt awful accepting such a lavish gift, but I didn’t want to turn down his kindness. I’ll pay him back once I’ve saved up.】

【Surprised? I just got the Light Brain and figured out how to use it right away. Smart, right? The very first message I sent is to you [smiley].】

Pei Rui read through Jing Chi’s barrage of messages. The foul mood from his extraction session lifted somewhat, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.

This was the first time an insect had nagged him endlessly about such trivial matters.

The feeling wasn’t half bad.

Meanwhile, Reis, who had just returned home, heard his light brain chime.

Puzzled, he glanced at it and saw a notification for one hundred thousand star coins deposited into his account. The sender turned out to be Pei Rui.