Chapter 47

Jing Chi grew bored while waiting. He opened his Light Brain and discovered that entertainment options in this world were pitifully few.

No wonder these insects spent all their time fixated on that one thing and nothing else.

Back in his old life, there had been endless fun games to play, dramas to binge, novels to devour, and more. If such distractions were available here, society would probably be far more harmonious.

In an era of such advanced technology, massive virtual MMOs should have been all the rage.

Sadly, the only virtual offering was the Training Field—and even that was restricted to female insects.

Male insects were firmly kept outside.

After all, entering the virtual world relied on an insect’s mental power. Male insects were too fragile and precious to risk; any injury there could lead to mental power loss, which simply wasn’t worth it.

In truth, though, the place was perfectly safe, nowhere near dangerous enough to cause harm.

Jing Chi saw a golden business opportunity.

Ding!

His Light Brain chimed. Jing Chi knew it was Pei Rui replying.

The interface displayed three simple words: Got it.

It fit the man’s style to a tee.

Jing Chi smiled, not sensing any brush-off.

Quite the opposite—he figured Pei Rui must have read his message carefully. With this insect’s personality, he no doubt ignored most incoming messages without a reply.

While waiting for the female insect to return, Jing Chi slipped into the galaxy’s most buzzing social site.

One post’s title shifted rapidly from gray to blazing red, complete with a red exclamation point.

It reminded him of Weibo from his past life, except here every comment was verified via real-name mental power scan.

That made posters cautious, which in turn ensured the site’s info was reliably solid.

Shock! Empire General Suddenly Appears at Pheromone Matching Center—What’s the Deal?#

Jing Chi’s brow twitched. He had a hunch this involved Pei Rui. The Empire had more than one general, sure, but something told him it was this one.

He tapped in. The lead text jumped out at him.

【Word from an insider: This afternoon, Admiral P made a sudden appearance at the Pheromone Matching Center for a matching test. Even female insects can’t dodge settling down with a male lord in the end—and even an Empire general isn’t immune. But hey, it’s just insect nature. Now the real question: Which lucky male insect will match with the general? Talk about hitting the jackpot.】

The replies kicked off below:

1st Floor: 【Jackpot? Everyone knows how cold-blooded this general is. What male insect wants a frosty female consort with an aura so intense it leaves you gasping for air?】

2nd Floor: 【Nah, upstairs is off base. Maybe he’ll soften up once he has a male lord. And have you seen his war chest? Empire rules give fat subsidies for every victorious campaign. He’s got a spotless record over a dozen battles. Marrying him is like wedding a mobile bank.】

3rd Floor: 【You all are so materialistic. I genuinely wish our Empire hero finds his happiness soon. Blessings all around!】

…

34th Floor: 【Blessings all around!】

These were obviously from female insects—mostly well-wishes, with only a smattering of negativity.

But then the vibe in the thread took a turn.

69th Floor: 【Oh ho, wasn’t it someone claiming they didn’t need male insects? Look at you now, eating your words.】

…

73rd Floor: 【Imagine if he matches with some ugly, ancient male insect with trash mental power. What a spectacle! Serves him right for turning down all those prime catches before. Now at his age, matching’s his only shot. Haha!】

…

85th Floor: 【Damn, wonder what bagging the Empire General feels like. Him all high and mighty out there, but groveling at home? Delicious.】

The comments only got uglier from there.

Jing Chi’s fists clenched hard. He wanted to reach through the screen and pummel those stinking male insects.

“System, can you kill this post?”

The idea of all those male insects leering over Pei Rui turned his stomach, like he’d swallowed a fly.

“No problem,” the system replied crisply.

In this high-tech age, nothing beat leveraging the system itself.

“Not just the post—leave a little surprise for those few male insects with the filthiest mouths, too.”

Jing Chi’s face was stone-cold, his voice like ice.

“Got it, Host.”

The post was quickly taken down. Those few male insects who had been commenting so enthusiastically suddenly discovered they couldn’t reply anymore. They were feeling pretty frustrated about it.

Then, the very next second, a massive ferocious beast’s head popped up on their light brain screens. It bared its bloody maw right at them, as if it meant to swallow them whole.

Caught completely off guard—and none of them having ever gotten this close to one of those things before—the male insects were utterly terrified. Some of them ended up with such a deep-seated fear that they didn’t dare open their light brains again for a good while.

Meanwhile, Pei Rui was on his way back to Imperial View Garden.

The name “Reis” kept flashing insistently on his light brain. Pei Rui’s brows furrowed slightly. He knew Reis wouldn’t initiate a direct comm like this unless it was something important.

The moment he connected the call, Reis launched into a rapid-fire explanation:

“General, were you at the Pheromone Matching Center? Word of your visit got leaked, and it’s blown up on Star Net already—shot straight to the top of the trending list. That post is getting tons of discussion. Should we shut it down?”

As for the nasty comments in the thread, no matter how dense Reis could be, there was no way he’d repeat those to his general.

Pei Rui frowned. He’d known news of his visit couldn’t stay secret forever, but he hadn’t expected it to spread this fast.

“Send me the link.”

Reis suddenly turned hesitant, stammering a little. “General, just say the word on whether to seal it or not. There’s nothing worth looking at in there.”

From that tone, Pei Rui could tell it was nothing good. But so what? He’d weathered far too many verbal attacks over the years and had developed skin thick as armor.

“Reis.” His voice came out cold.

Only then did Reis reluctantly send over the link, dragging his feet the whole way.

When Pei Rui tapped it open, the page came back with a “not found” error.

“There’s nothing here. You sure this is the right link?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Now it was Reis’s turn to be baffled. He pulled it up himself—and sure enough, same error.

He perked right up. “No idea which expert just nuked that page, but damn, that feels good! Justice served!”

Pei Rui, however, only frowned deeper. Ultimate control over Star Net had always rested with the military—that was why Reis had checked with him first upon seeing the post.

For some insect to wipe out a page that quietly and cleanly, their technical skills had to be exceptional.

“You’re actually happy about this? What if that insect turns those skills toward stealing Empire secrets? Wouldn’t that put the whole Empire at risk?” Pei Rui said coldly.

Reis had no choice but to admire him. The general was the general for a reason, always thinking several steps ahead. His own awareness clearly wasn’t up to par.

He wiped the grin off his face at once, turning serious. “Got it, General. I’ll dispatch someone to investigate this thoroughly.”

But something like the system was high-tech beyond anything Reis could hope to trace.

Jing Chi would never have imagined that his little act of revenge for Pei Rui had been escalated—in Pei Rui’s mind, no less—to a matter of Empire-wide security.

If he’d known, he probably would have laughed and cried at the same time.

By the time Pei Rui wrapped up his talk with Reis, he’d arrived downstairs at Imperial View Garden.

He tilted his head up toward the twelfth floor. A soft light glowed there.

In the past, only an empty, ice-cold room had awaited his return. Things were different now. Another insect lived in that room.

After having the system obliterate the web page, Jing Chi had idly poked around on Star Net for a bit.

That was when he heard the door open.

He shot to his feet, his voice bright with pleasure. “You’re back?”

Pei Rui stepped inside and was greeted by the youth’s smiling face. Beneath the warmth of that smile, his own expression softened unconsciously. He murmured back, “Mm.”

Jing Chi wasted no time grabbing Pei Rui’s hand and tugging him toward the sofa, eager to show off the light brain in his grip.

Pei Rui didn’t resist. He let Jing Chi pull him down to sit.

“Look—I got a light brain too.” The youth fiddled with it happily, but Pei Rui’s gaze wasn’t on the device. It lingered on Jing Chi’s face.

Which meant that when Jing Chi glanced up, their eyes locked.

Before Pei Rui could come up with an excuse for staring, Jing Chi beat him to it with a playful tease. “Am I that good-looking?”

He even batted his eyes for effect.

Pei Rui’s brain short-circuited for a second. Without thinking, he blurted, “Not bad. But not as good-looking as me.”

The words were out before he realized what he’d said. A headache bloomed behind his eyes. Him—comparing looks with another insect? And with Jing Chi, of all people?

The air grew thick and awkward in an instant. Anyone would be pissed hearing that.

Pei Rui was still scrambling for a way to smooth it over when he suddenly felt something brush against him.

Jing Chi hooked the man’s chin with his fingertip and leaned in close, as if examining him carefully. His gaze traveled from the man’s brows and eyes to the tip of his nose, and finally lingered on his lips.

The distance between them was quite intimate—the closest they’d been since that one previous time.

Pei Rui stared at Jing Chi, now right in front of him, the other man’s scent filling his nostrils. In that instant, a sudden realization hit him.

The man’s ears flushed red immediately, though he didn’t notice it himself.

Jing Chi did, however. He leaned in even closer and murmured deliberately into Pei Rui’s ear, enunciating each word: “You know… your ears… are red?”

In the next moment, Jing Chi was shoved away by the insect.

It was as if some sensitive spot had been prodded. Pei Rui shot to his feet, turning his back to Jing Chi and forcing a calm tone as he said, “You’re seeing things. And next time, don’t get this close to me without my permission.”

Jing Chi watched as the door to the Female Insect’s bedroom slammed shut with a bang. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the insect had fled in a panic.

He curled his lips into a silent smile.