The black Core Species was busy enough to lose his head. Every day was spent either overseeing production or handling administration—if it could even be called that. He even had to carve out time to sequester himself within the subterranean structures, tinkering with mysterious projects.
Fortunately, Gera was a mature insect who had long since learned to manage his own schedule. He led Xiao and several other males through their routine training, followed by the daily cycle of work at the Information Nest.
Once the new batch of males was passably trained, Gera’s workload lightened significantly, giving him more time to gather information on human starships and high-level genetic lineages—subjects the Core Species found particularly interesting. The data regarding starships was especially convoluted, a mix of truth and fabrication that was difficult to parse; he planned to organize it all before sending the entire package to Sakti.
The staff at the Information Nest had grown to twenty-five. Most were males, along with a few elderly females from Ja in their twilight years, or low-to-mid-tier worker females with genetic defects. These insects couldn't find suitable work under Sakti’s direct command, nor could they make a living at the energy mines. Most were in a state of quiet resignation, simply waiting for death. Consequently, after a strict screening process, Gera had taken in this group of "difficult cases."
By the time he realized something was amiss, three or four small cycles had already passed.
He and his prospective mate had reached a point of near-zero communication.
Every day, both insects worked themselves to exhaustion. They would return to the nest in the middle of the night and collapse into sleep, only to crawl out the next morning and head their separate ways.
Just as the male was pondering how to squeeze in a little more time together, Sakti knocked on the door of the Information Nest.
And he had brought a shocking "gift" with him.
Selin had scouted a pair of early sub-adult runts from a recently defeated tribe—one male and one female.
Interestingly, in this pair, the male was the dominant one. He kept his female companion protected behind him and sternly refused to join the Information Nest, insisting he would go wherever his companion went.
The brown mid-tier species questioned them further. After a difficult communication process, he learned that this low-tier male, named En, had looked after his fellow tribesmate—who had hatched much later than him—through many changes of hands before they were finally sold to the energy planet. He had even given his companion a name: En-na.
When Selin reported the matter to Sakti, the latter almost laughed aloud at the low-effort names, which sounded like a simple "Mm" and "Mm-hmm."
However, one could hardly expect much from sub-adult insects who had lost their kin since birth. Thus, he waved a hand and said, "If he wants to join the combat reserves, throw him into training. If he and his female companion can endure it, they can be assigned to Gera as guards later."
Ja was in a period of restless upheaval. Given Sakti's status as the controller of Angon and a partner in the energy mining operations, it was inevitable that some unidentified black-market insects or locals would harbor ill intentions. They wouldn't dare directly confront Sakti—who had personally twisted the head off the previous King of the Sacrificial Grounds—but the safety of Gera and those males needed to be prioritized.
Currently, the short-wing species took turns on guard duty, but they were simply too busy. He needed to delegate this task to specialized personnel as soon as possible.
To his surprise, En endured the training remarkably well.
His mimicry was poor; scales still lingered on the surface of his body, and his strength was far inferior to that of a female. However, his proficiency with thermal weaponry shocked the short-wing tribe. He could master basic weapons almost instantly after a single disassembly and reassembly, and with a bit more training, he could handle higher-grade armaments just as well.
Sakti didn't care about resource depletion during training. Everything wasted now would eventually return to him a thousandfold in profit once the energy refinement went into production. His focus was on how to cultivate the most excellent talent—or rather, "insect-talent"—in the shortest amount of time.
Thus, En and his female companion spent nearly all their time at the training grounds.
Sakti had encountered him once. The boy was a rare male who didn't tremble in fear at the sight of a Core Species. He was experienced and fierce when protecting the female, alert as a wolf cub, ready to pounce with his fine accessory teeth at any moment.
The black Core Species unceremoniously beat him into the dirt three times.
The heartless victor of Angon felt no guilt whatsoever for pummeling a child. In the eyes of many insects, sub-adults were already at an age where they could fight and hunt.
Every time En scrambled up and charged at him, Sakti easily laid him low again. By the end, the look in En’s eyes suggested he wanted to commit murder.
Sakti let out a laugh. "Do you know why I'm keeping you around?"
The other only responded with a hiss.
Neither En nor En-na spoke the Common Tongue well. When communicating with Selin and the others, they often mixed a few Common words into a barrage of emotional vocalizations. Having been displaced since birth, these two sub-adults never had the chance to grow up under the proper nurture of kin. Arriving on Ja shortly after entering their early sub-adult stage, they were like the "feral children" of human legends raised by wolves. Their grasp of formal language was a mess, and they frequently communicated with each other through a series of buzzes and chirps.
Sakti once again flipped the cub—who was baring his fangs and trying to bite—onto the ground. This time, before the other could get up, he easily pinned the male by the throat, his fingers tightening.
His second pair of golden eyes snapped open, and alienated black scales instantly covered his body.
At the very least, he remembered that En fell into the category of the opposite sex and refrained from using pheromones to suppress him.
The threat of death from a high-tier species finally cowed En in that moment. The scrawny male began to shake.
Beside them, the female, En-na, let out a thin chirp and threw herself onto her companion. Trembling with fear, she tried to pry Sakti’s hand away. She let out a mournful wail, her wings and tail pressed tight against her body in a posture of curled submission, nearly prostrating herself before the Core Species.
This made Sakti feel, for a fleeting moment, that he had overdone the intimidation.
He released his grip and stepped back, crossing his arms as he allowed the transformation to recede.
En and En-na huddled together, their tails entwined, looking at him with eyes full of terror—like two cats terrified by a cucumber.
The "cucumber" himself cleared his throat.
"I want you to learn the Common Tongue," he said. "I've found you... a bunch of teachers."
Then, carrying one sub-adult insect in each hand, he brought them to the Information Nest.
When Gera emerged, his face bore a look of helpless resignation that said, *'Here we go again'* and *'They're increasing, they're increasing again.'* He was fully prepared to accept this "gift," but he jumped in surprise when he saw En, whose face was covered in blood from being knocked down earlier.
The wounds had already healed, but the pink blood was still smeared on his body, looking rather gruesome.
"What happened?" Gera reached out to take the male, but Sakti pulled the two sub-adults back.
This unusual behavior prompted Gera to press further. "Who hit him?"
The Core Species showed a rare flicker of an emotion called embarrassment.
The female touched the bridge of his nose and coughed. "I did."
Gera: "???"
His expression clearly read, *'I don't understand'* and *'My hearing must be failing.'*
"Who?" he asked again.
"Me."
Sakti looked truly awkward now. Every time the white male looked at him, it was as if he were looking at the most virtuous insect in existence, causing Sakti to unconsciously shoulder the burden of maintaining a good image.
His black whip-like tail flicked a few times as he set the two cubs on the ground.
"We were sparring at the training grounds earlier. It got a bit out of hand. I was a little too heavy-handed."
When he trained others, he generally didn't distinguish between genders; he trained them all to within an inch of their lives. After all, the enemy on the battlefield wouldn't care about your sex. Every bit of mercy shown now would turn into spilled blood in the future, paid back twofold.
But males were indeed more fragile than he had imagined.
Gera found the sight of the other's black tail swishing back and forth rather amusing. He stepped forward, carefully observing the pair of sub-adults, and then led En toward him.
"You must be the En and En-na that Selin mentioned."
The white male hummed softly, nuzzling the other in a friendly greeting. En was very scrawny—in fact, almost all males who newly arrived on Ja were scrawny. Gera could have easily picked them up.
The Core Species warily pulled En-na back.
"The other one is a female. No nuzzling."
This was simply too funny. Gera felt the unease brought on by their lack of communication lately melt away in an instant. He patted the heads of both early sub-adults, then approached Sakti, entwining his tail with the other's.
"So, why did you bring them here? I heard they refused to join the Information Nest before."
"If anyone can squeeze out some extra time, they can teach them the Common Tongue," Sakti said. He tilted his head and saw the two sub-adult cubs standing there blankly after having their heads patted, their faces turning a mysterious shade of "overheated" red.
"Right now, they only know how to grunt and chirp."
"I can do that." Gera agreed readily, his white scaled tail wrapping a few more times around the deep black whip-tail. "I'll explain it to the other members of the Information Nest. Have them come straight here after they finish training every day."
"There's one more thing." Sakti thought for a moment, finally deciding to handle another long-delayed item on his to-do list. "Come back early today? There's something I need to confirm with you."
"I understand." Gera let out a low drone, nuzzling him briefly. He could sense that the other's emotions were relaxed and stable, so it clearly wasn't anything dire. "I'll be back early."
Then, he received his second shock of the day.
The Core Species had returned to the nest early and was sitting there, prying the shell off a beast's leg, seemingly preparing the food to be placed in a container. A small bowl of nectar was also set on the table.
Seeing the male enter, Sakti stood up and wiped his hands. His tall frame made the entire nest seem even more cramped.
"I want to discuss something with you," Gera heard his prospective mate say.
"Can I see your transformed state?"
The white male, who was in the middle of closing the door, slowly turned his head like a slow-motion shot in a movie.
He uttered a single syllable that perfectly represented his current state of mind.
"Huh?"
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