After the Empire Fell, I Met My Rebel Group Chat Friends IRL

帝国覆灭后我和叛军群友们面基了[虫族]

after-the-empire-fell-i-met-my-rebel-group-chat-friends-irl

Hatchling

Settling In

Online Friends

Alai

The Visitor

Service

Injured

Strange

Hero

Jealousy

Short on Money

Hiring

Model

Blood-Crack Marks

Mr. Xin always wore the same gentle smile. Wherever he went in the medical center, sub-females passing by greeted this supposedly kind-hearted man.



 Ordinarily, conflicts ran deep between military females and sub-females. Either the military females looked down on the pretty, delicate sub-females who stole the male insects&#x27; attention, or the sub-females envied the military females&#x27; innate physical advantages. Yet none of that theory seemed to apply to Mr. Xin. At least, as he carried Gu Ting toward the confinement rooms, every sub-female who saw him seemed almost more excited to see him than they would a male insect.



 So what species of insect was this Mr. Xin, exactly? How did he possess such astonishing charm?



 &quot;—We&#x27;re here. This is it.&quot;



 Mr. Xin stopped at the end of the basement corridor in the medical center. It was noticeably colder here than upstairs, where the temperature was kept constant. The long scarf Mr. Xin had wrapped around Gu Ting&#x27;s feet was proving useful for warmth.



 The medical center&#x27;s basement was reserved for confinement rooms for military females who had fallen into frenzy and could no longer be controlled with medication. It was cold and dark here, and heavy black iron bars cut off freedom. Like cages in an abyss, the rooms never saw daylight and felt suffocatingly enclosed.



 Gu Ting sat obediently in Mr. Xin&#x27;s arms, instinctively repulsed by the confinement rooms whose full extent he had not even seen.



 Mr. Xin entered the password. With a crisp beep, the iron-cage-like door opened. They followed a narrow path through several turns and arrived before a room sealed by an iron door.



 Mr. Xin had regained his usual refined demeanor and even began, whether sincerely or not, to show concern for the male insect in his arms. &quot;When you see Tuins in a moment, Your Excellency, please don&#x27;t be too frightened. He&#x27;s only a little ugly right now.&quot;



 &quot;Ugly?&quot; Gu Ting froze, confused.



 At the young male insect&#x27;s soft question, the iron door opened, revealing a huge black shadow bound in chains.



 Mr. Xin carried Gu Ting inside. In the faint light from the ceiling, Gu Ting finally saw the shadow clearly. The hospital room before had also been shrouded in darkness, so he had never known what the female insect who had caught him looked like. But only now did the word &quot;insect&quot; suddenly acquire a tangible reality for him—



 Enormous. Cold. Inhuman.



 Half human, half insect. His face remained handsome and human-shaped, but his eyes were covered in a milky film, with only jet-black dots at the centers of his pupils. From his shoulders extended dark green, axe-like forelimbs—massive and sharp. Insect markings of the same color wound down his exposed skin, across the orderly planes of muscle over his waist and abdomen, and below them were the metallic hind legs of a mantis.



 Two pairs of powerful legs supported his lower body. Off-white, coarse bristles clung to the ends of their tibias, prickly and unruly. One glance was enough to tell they belonged to a prickly troublemaker who refused to yield.



 He truly refused to yield. When Tuins had first joined the Giant Axe Legion, even after alien beasts had bitten off his tarsi, he had kept crawling and swinging his forelimbs to shred them. He had been a king born in the fires of war, not an insect meant to be trapped in a cage.



 Gu Ting&#x27;s pupils contracted. What he felt now was neither fear nor disgust, but a beauty so startling it shook him to his core.



 Tuins, curled on his side in the corner, moved his head. His film-clouded eyes turned and fixed directly on Gu Ting.



 Mr. Xin held the young male insect with one arm and raised his other hand in greeting. &quot;Long time no see. I never expected we&#x27;d meet again under these circumstances.&quot;



 He and Tuins were not close. Strictly speaking, they had only crossed paths a few times, and every encounter had been unpleasant. Mr. Xin despised Tuins&#x27;s coarse, savage, blood-drinking habits, while Tuins likewise looked down on Mr. Xin&#x27;s false gentleness and ingrained hypocrisy.



 &quot;Heh. There&#x27;s plenty you haven&#x27;t expected.&quot; Tuins snorted. He had no interest at all in Mr. Xin&#x27;s arrival, focusing instead on the young male insect in the other man&#x27;s arms.



 Tuins&#x27;s burning gaze made the hairs rise on Gu Ting&#x27;s back.



 The bound female insect moved his insect-form forelimbs. Bracing himself, he began to approach, step by difficult step, despite the chains that periodically sent currents jolting through him.



 Half-insectified, Tuins was far too tall. Even Mr. Xin, at six foot three, looked small beside him.



 &quot;You&#x27;re an F-grade male insect?&quot;



 Though he had heard part of the story about this Lord Gu Ting afterward, Tuins did not believe it in his heart. An hour after drinking the male insect&#x27;s blood, the frenzied factors raging through his body had been visibly soothed. They had gone from crashing about wildly to becoming docile and compliant, even easier to control than they had been at his peak.



 Tuins had never received psionic soothing from a high-grade male insect, but he knew an F-grade male insect&#x27;s blood could never produce such an effect.



 His skeptical gaze fell on Gu Ting, as if he wanted to see through the young male insect&#x27;s slight frame and uncover whatever secret it concealed.



 Ever observant, Mr. Xin noticed something strange about Tuins as well. His gaze moved between the female and male insects, his eyes deep and unreadable. Perhaps only he himself knew what he was thinking.



 &quot;Yes, I&#x27;m an F-grade male insect.&quot; Gu Ting nodded, admitting his grade openly.



 That surprised both female insects present.



 In insect society, male insects stood above all others, and their grades were sharply distinguished. Male insects with lower psionic power often felt ashamed of their grade. A male insect like Gu Ting, who could state his grade with such complete indifference, was almost unheard of.



 Doubt flashed in Tuins&#x27;s eyes. Then his expression shifted, and a reckless smile curled across his handsome face. &quot;Young male insect, how do you want to punish me? By having me die on a barren planet?&quot;



 He had probably already envisioned his fate: his forelimbs cut off, then exile to a barren planet... Yet Tuins bore no particular grudge against the Empire&#x27;s injustices. Without the Empire, he might not even have survived to adulthood. He had lived long enough, and his frenzy was beyond his control. Rather than be locked up every day, waiting for some male insect&#x27;s kindness, he would rather eke out his remaining days on a barren planet.



 Gu Ting pressed his lips together.



 He might be angry that this female insect had bitten him without rhyme or reason, but after years of living in insect society, Gu Ting also understood the sorrow and helplessness of these females. In this matter, his injury was like tripping while walking and scraping himself. Since he was standing here whole and unhurt, why was there any need to punish a military female who could not control himself?



 &quot;No punishment. I won&#x27;t pursue it,&quot; Gu Ting said quietly. &quot;Just apologize to me sincerely.&quot;



 He could not wholly regard himself as a citizen of the Empire, but he sincerely admired the military females who fought alien beasts on the battlefield for the Empire&#x27;s safety.



 Gu Ting looked up. Though he was only a tiny bundle in Mr. Xin&#x27;s arms, he somehow seemed to shine with golden light. &quot;You&#x27;re a hero. A barren planet should never be your fate.&quot;



 At that moment, Tuins&#x27;s heart trembled and his throat went dry.



 Though he had earned countless merits in the Giant Axe Legion, no one had ever called him a hero, simply because he was an aberration who resisted male insects.

Hero

OldSenpaiOwl