The next time he saw the "Tail-swishing Guy" was in front of the warship that was about to depart.
The other man stood there expressionlessly with a few accompanying members, having clearly waited for quite some time. Most of those who joined the armed squad were Core-species females; they were tall, imposing, and looked fierce enough to be formidable combatants.
The moment Sarkadi appeared, the Tail-swishing Guy quickly retracted his hand and tucked it into his chest, radiating an aura that screamed, "Don't even think about shaking my hand again."
This departure was low-key. Neither Clark nor Sarkadi wanted to draw excessive attention, so according to the arrangements, the Grey-wing tribe and other management levels did not show up.
Gera was flanked by En and Enna. They had been reassigned to the Information Nest, where they were responsible for guarding the safety of the males in addition to their daily training.
After a period of instruction, the two youngsters had learned a lot of the Common Tongue, but they were still reluctant to speak it. They preferred to huddle together and mutter in their own language, and their communication with the other males mostly consisted of buzzing chirps.
En was a low-grade male, while Enna was a mid-grade female. Their mimicry forms looked terrible, and the scales across their bodies hadn't fully receded yet, but between the two, the male was clearly the one in charge.
They followed Gera to the starport, but the moment En saw Sarkadi, he began to bare his teeth and hiss.
The pitch-black Core-species raised an eyebrow and flexed his wrist.
This action made the sub-adult male hiss even harder, glaring at him while tucking his tail between his legs.
Though he was afraid, he refused to stop his show of aggression.
This sort of sharp combativeness was quite rare among the male camp.
Seeing the farewell scene turn rowdy, the white male insect expertly scooped the bristling youngster into his arms. His tail coiled around the other’s stiffly tensed tail-hook, suppressing the sword-drawn atmosphere.
En instantly powered down.
He burrowed against the white insect, who was a head taller than him, turning into a limp puddle of a bug.
Gera had a real knack for mental soothing. No matter how panicked the males newly sold to Ja were, they would quickly settle down under his care, let alone these two sub-adults who had lacked tribal care since childhood.
They almost regarded the older Gera as their own kin.
Sarkadi had specifically discussed this with his companion.
"If these two brothers can grow up smoothly, they will be very suitable to serve as guards for you and the other males."
The Core-species had been expressionless when he said this. Protection and the rational utilization of resources were not contradictory; when arranging the placement of each insect, he could maximize individual value without a shred of misplaced sympathy.
"Adult females are dangerous. When I am pressing down on them, they have no choice but to comply with my methods. But the local residents of Ja still harbor a contemptuous attitude toward males. Once a situation arises where I cannot return in time to provide support, their suppressed nature will be exposed again."
He didn't actually hold any special hope for such things.
Humans had their base instincts, and so did insects.
Having seen enough of it, he could understand the reality that in a large forest, all kinds of birds fly.
Adult females were like adult humans; their formed concepts were difficult to change. Their way of thinking was molded to be very stable, and obedience to the strong was written into their genes.
When the Core-species took over the energy planet, all the residents learned to be polite to the males and the old, weak, and disabled. This didn't mean the insects' morality had suddenly improved; rather, they were showing submission to a new victor.
"That’s why I assigned these two to you. They are in the early sub-adult stage, having been shipped around as cargo, and haven't had the chance to accept any inherent prejudices. You need to train them yourself."
"In their relationship, En, as the male, is actually the decision-maker. This is a good check and balance. If Enna later displays aggressive desires due to his female nature, his male brother can use their shared habits to suppress him."
The Core-species' words sounded somewhat cold, but Gera understood his meaning, so he had agreed to the approach.
But right now, Sarkadi only found this decision quite an eyesore.
It was one thing for En to be a male, but Enna, as a female, also wanted to squeeze close to Gera. Sarkadi grabbed the two angrily squirming brothers, one in each hand, and hauled them off to the side.
Against a background of indignant hissing, he leaned in for a "touch" with his companion.
Gera’s scaled tail tightly coiled around his tail-whip as if unwilling to let him go, but when Sarkadi patted the other’s head, that length of slender tail slowly unraveled.
This couldn't go on.
The other had only dropped "little pearls" twice, but the Core-species was truly helpless against it. Thus, he quickly changed the subject: "I’ll be back soon. The 'gift' is on the ship; find a chance to familiarize yourself with it, but you aren't allowed to sneak off and fly it for fun. There will be an exam later."
"I’ve finished reading the materials I asked you to find for me. Help me look for more news related to human starships. You can send it to me anytime once you’ve collected it."
The white male had already calmed his emotions.
He nodded, peeling himself away from the other’s side and taking a deep breath.
"Don't worry."
Gera took two steps back, trying to make his tone sound as calm as possible. "Serlin and the others will look after Ja. There won't be any trouble."
As he spoke, he waved at the Core-species. "Go on, hurry up."
There was a hint of a smile in his voice.
"Come back early."
However, until Sarkadi boarded the ship and set off, the other remained standing in place.
The armed species walked with synchronized steps, their wings and tail-whips swaying, leaving this backward planet behind without a hint of lingering attachment.
Sarkadi walked at the rear and did not look back.
It was only when the warship ascended into the sky that he took one last look.
The white male had become a solitary little dot, still waving his hand down there.
This was the first time they had been apart since they met.
Having lived two lives as a "Solitary King" with neither partner nor child, he suddenly understood why so many parents overindulged their children.
He had never experienced this kind of clingy interaction before; experiencing it once made him realize the terrifying nature of "sweet cannonballs."
It was truly hard not to indulge him.
Even he had a split second where he thought about just bringing the other onto the ship.
Once this Alpha-class warship quickly broke out of the energy planet's range, he was just about to switch into work mode and start thinking about the next steps when the leader of the armed species belonging to the Grey-wing tribe stood before him without warning.
The Tail-swishing Guy glanced at him, his tone cold and stiff: "You are far too good to that male."
He seemed to imply that Sarkadi was neglecting his duties and losing his ambition over a plaything.
Good grief, a "straight-insect chauvinist" was right by his side.
This conversation starter was so ridiculous that Sarkadi, as a fellow Core-species, momentarily wondered if the other was here to provoke him.
He sincerely returned a look of confusion.
"Who are you again?"
Technically, he wasn't wrong; he really didn't know the other's name. He only knew that this group of armed species made a loud *clack-clack* sound with their tails when they walked.
Setting aside his identity, he was quite easy on the eyes if viewed simply as a male model.
But the Tail-swishing Guy in front of him seemed to have suffered a great insult; his grey wings and black scales all flared out.
"Are you provoking me?"
Female pheromones instantly flooded the bridge. As expected of an insect specialized in fighting, he immediately entered a combat-ready state.
The other armed species also cast their gazes over. This kind of struggle to determine hierarchy was very common for them. A ship could not have two dominant leaders; the leader of the Grey-wing species was destined to quickly settle scores with Sarkadi, the outsider.
"I’ll tell Clark."
However, Sarkadi wasn't about to indulge the other, nor was he in the mood to waste energy on a fight.
Fighting was only worthwhile when there was a profit to be made—like challenging the Core-species in Angon at the start, or provoking Katra later. Fighting was just a shortcut to achieve a goal. Only a fool would throw hands when there was no benefit.
"Think about it. Just minutes after takeoff, your boss will receive a communication saying that because of your lack of cooperation, this trip has to be canceled or rescheduled."
"He will be very disappointed in you."
In reality, Clark didn't care about any of that. He wanted his goods delivered; even if the Core-species' legs were broken, he would have to crawl to get the cargo there.
Being powerful and useful was the foundation of their cooperation. If he were neither powerful nor worth utilizing, his "plastic" partner would immediately kick him off and replace him with a brand-new manager.
This was a journey where the pressure was entirely on him, with no room for error.
But the armed species didn't know that.
These battle-maniacs were very straightforward, and they were extremely obedient to their direct superiors, which made it very easy for Sarkadi to bluff the fool.
The Tail-swishing Guy in front of him looked like he was about to go insane with rage.
"Are you a little larva?"
He hadn't encountered this "running to kin for backing when you can't win a fight" approach in many years. A normal adult insect simply couldn't pull off such a shameless tactic.
This rogue attitude almost shocked him.
Sarkadi was exactly that shameless.
And he could be even more shameless.
He stood up lazily from his seat—this warship, a "friendly sponsorship" from Clark, actually had decent taste. It didn't have those lymph-like spiral patterns; the hull was smooth. Aside from adhering to the usual ring-shaped exterior and being a bit dark inside, it was standard in all other aspects.
While marveling at the rarity of an insect with normal aesthetics, the Core-species reached out and patted the Tail-swishing Guy’s shoulder.
"If you don't cooperate, I’ll tell Clark. If you want to fight me, I’ll tell Clark. If your attitude provokes me, I’ll still tell Clark."
"It doesn't matter if he believes me at first. If you bully me, I’ll file ten complaints a day against you. Eventually, he’ll start to suspect that there’s a problem with your professional competence."
What terrifying demonic whispers.
"He specifically designated me to be in charge of this voyage. You are merely the escort and cannot go against his wishes to kill me during the journey."
"—So, let’s clarify the hierarchy. Any action you take that interferes with my decision-making will be viewed by me as a provocation."
"And I am a pacifist. I don't like fighting. I can only tell my... how should I put it, my higher-level supervisor."
The cold female insect opposite him was now so angry that his scales had spread all the way up to his neck.
The grey-winged armed species twisted his tail-whip until it made a creaking sound. He looked like he wanted to twist Sarkadi’s head off the next second, but he forced himself to hold back.
They had never lost a fight and carried the pride and arrogance of being from a Core-gene tribe, but when it came to an argument, they couldn't last a single round against a scoundrel like the one before them.
"Is there something wrong with you!?"
The Tail-swishing Guy finally squeezed out a roar, abandoning his superiority as a high-ranking species for the first time, hissing in pure fury.
***
