Sakti gently patted Gela’s back, helping him slowly calm down.
His originally chaotic thoughts had been completely derailed by the male insectoid who had charged at him like a small cannonball. His emotions felt as if they had hit a bug and were forced to reboot on the spot.
“ I didn't know you were such a little crybaby.”
Entwined like an octopus, the Core Species didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he let the other hold him.
The white insectoid was fully displaying the traits of his species, clinging to Sakti like he was bolted to a wall, an inseparable component.
“I’m fine,” Sakti said softly. He reached out and gave the tip of Gela’s tail a little squeeze, making the male shudder.
Having regained his composure, Sakti felt a wave of exhaustion. The ridiculous thing was that even now, he maintained his habit of quickly stabilizing his emotions. This was a part of himself he had once considered "important."
The male insectoid kept kissing him, as if kisses could wash away all his troubles.
Absurdly enough, it actually seemed to work.
“Don’t worry about me, I—”
“Ah...”
The sudden exclamation from the Red Tai Sui startled the Core Species, making him look up at the starship that had abruptly broken its silence.
On the hangar’s ceiling, so high it was almost out of sight, countless Eyes of Horus responsible for capturing imagery were pointed downward. The cameras swiveled left and right, searching for the best angle.
The cold indifference the ship had shown during their first meeting was a mere facade; its true nature was that of a gossiping spectator.
Sakti: “...”
He couldn't feel sad anymore even if he tried.
“Truly incredible,” the starship continued its observation, as if updating its data records, recording the scene from every conceivable angle.
“Do you remember Rupert from the Fourth Army?”
“When he confessed to the human he liked, you perched on the wall, cheering loudly and pulling party poppers, which caused the woman to turn around and leave immediately.”
“We all thought you would be the only one in our three-man squad to stay single until old age.”
“Congratulations.”
“You have always been the most outstanding; even in this regard, you are far ahead of the curve.”
Sakti immediately covered the male insectoid’s head.
*Don't listen. It’s a bad review.*
He frantically mouthed the words “Shut up” at the Red Tai Sui.
Gela was also startled by the sudden voice. He wiggled and poked half of his small head out from between the female insectoid’s arms, looking around.
“Who is that?” he asked in a whisper.
Sakti sighed and turned around while still holding him. “Let me introduce you. This is my friend, Red Tai Sui.”
Then, he looked up. “And this is my partner, Roxanne.”
The moment he heard that name, the male insectoid’s tail tucked tight.
He had recklessly charged alone toward the strange, crimson giant ship just to see his partner. But the Red Tai Sui was indeed terrifying enough to be a source of instinctive trauma for almost every insectoid.
Fear, though delayed, finally arrived as his reflex arc caught up.
After the starship said a calm “Hello,” Gela gripped Sakti’s hand for security while whispering a greeting back.
This was likely the most mind-blowing day of his life.
Charging into the interior of the Red Tai Sui and greeting it in Human Common Tongue—not even a Sub-Queen from another tribe could pull off such a feat.
Thinking of it that way, his curled-up little tail felt a sudden urge to stand up proudly.
“Why are you here?”
The Core Species suddenly remembered the blind spot in his logic. He had nearly forgotten the most important matter, and his voice turned serious. “Is there something wrong with the habitat nest area?”
“No, the nest area is fine.”
The male insectoid was still holding onto him, firmly embraced by the pitch-black female insectoid.
Realizing the starship could see them, he suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. This overly humanized emotion was something even he found difficult to distinguish.
“The other Core Gene tribes have all retreated. Kleman said he was coming to provide support; he was worried you’d lost contact and something had gone wrong, so I came with him. I wanted to see if I could salvage part of the Great Information Nest.”
The Great Information Nest that the Red Tai Sui had harvested like a cactus fruit.
Sakti’s head throbbed.
“I see...”
He was considering how to explain this.
“The Great Information Nest is under my temporary custody,” his old friend cut in, exposing the truth ahead of him.
“It will be transferred after arriving in a secure zone.”
“My mission is to maintain human survival. I will take compulsory measures against any malignant events that may affect human-habitable sectors.”
Repeating its core mission, the Red Tai Sui’s voice remained calm.
“The disintegration of the Fahner Model and the collapse of the Time River Port both have a certain probability of triggering resonance. I will not release it under unstable conditions.”
“You said you recovered and visited all the remaining models just to find me.” Sakti gave a polite smile; he was quite the one for holding grudges. “I remember now. When we first met, you even pretended we weren't acquainted.”
“I asked if you could temporarily stabilize the King’s Nest. How did you answer? ‘Maintaining the stability of the Great Information Nest and the Time River Port takes precedence over that.’”
“The two mission objectives are not in conflict. Furthermore, I required a certain amount of time to evaluate you.”
This conversational pattern was familiar. Every one of the starship’s “eyes” moved in sync with Sakti’s movements.
“I can sense the Great Information Nest. Its disintegration triggered a data tsunami. It is calling out to those of the same origin.”
“So it’s still there, right?” the white male insectoid asked. He didn't know which imaging device to look at; the Red Tai Sui had quite a few “eyes.”
“It is still there, currently in a state of deep self-repair.”
The starship’s voice was peaceful, carrying the stability unique to artificial intelligences.
“Please do not worry, Roxanne.”
“Thank you.”
Then Sakti felt the male insectoid grab his hand, whispering in awe, “I’m saying thank you to the Red Tai Sui!”
That white tail wagged slightly. “It’s like a dream.”
“Do you wish for me to inform Evelyn of all this?” the observing starship inquired.
“Even if I said I didn't wish for it, it would be hard for you to comply.” The Core Species sighed. “You belong to the human faction. Temporarily seizing a Great Information Nest, entering insectoid space in violation of regulations, interfering in the generational battles of Core Gene tribes... these have far exceeded the criteria for mandatory reporting. There’s no way you aren't preparing a briefing.”
“I am referring to your partner.”
However, the Red Tai Sui wasn't concerned with the same thing at all. It explained solemnly, “This involves your personal privacy and emotional matters. I need to seek your consent first.”
*You just want to gossip.*
Sakti let out a cold laugh.
“Go ahead,” he said slowly. “Why not? It’s not like I’m the perpetual bachelor anymore.”
“You’d better describe in detail just how cute my partner is.”
Gela was so flustered he started tugging at Sakti’s hand.
The male insectoid didn't have much strength, but his scales were turning red from embarrassment.
However, neither the sorrowful nor the joyful atmosphere lasted long.
Fate gave him no chance to rest.
Simply because the main force of the Armed Species, which had been following closely behind the male insectoid, had just arrived—and they were scared half to death by the scene before them.
They thought the humans had launched an invasion, and the string of ships behind them, trailing like little chicks, were captured tribe members.
Under the immense pressure, Kleman nearly opened fire on the spot.
Especially when he saw Sakti’s Alpha warship following behind the crimson giant ship in the standard posture of a captured prize, he immediately ordered the other Armed Species to disperse their formation and prepare for a rescue.
Sakti had to personally intervene to stop the misunderstanding.
When they met face-to-face again, Kleman’s expression was completely off. They were now all crowded onto Sakti’s Alpha warship, with the unignorable crimson giant ship flanking them.
“What is going on?!”
The tail-swishing brother’s voice was strained through gritted teeth. He looked like he wanted to twist the black female insectoid’s head off.
“The former Sub-Queen blew up the entire nest area. Clark is the new Sub-Queen, but he’s heavily injured right now.”
Explaining the situation as quickly as possible, the Core Species patted the other’s shoulder. “The one outside is... temporary off-site rescue. It preserved the Great Information Nest, which counts as indirectly saving Clark and all of us.”
This wasn't exactly a lie.
The Red Tai Sui had at least used its force field to catch the crumbling King’s Nest; otherwise, a large portion of them—including but not limited to Clark, Arthur, and the excavated Grey-Winged survivors—might have perished inside.
As it turned out, the one who looked like he was about to crumble now was the tail-swishing brother.
“You call that thing temporary off-site rescue?!”
The insectoid looked completely broken, his emotional language mixing with Common Tongue, his tail lashing out with loud cracks. “You call that thing a rescue?!”
“Have I gone mad, or have you? Is humanity preparing to declare war on the Grey-Winged tribe?”
“Yes, a friendly rescue, a testament to our friendship with humanity.”
No matter what, Sakti had to stick to this story. If handled poorly, this really could become the fuse for a war.
Currently, the Broad-Winged and Pedipalp tribes were already on his hit list—not a single one of them would escape. Therefore, the Grey-Winged tribe had to be brought onto his "pirate ship" no matter what, bound together as a community of shared interests.
“You need to look at this with a fresh perspective,” he said solemnly.
“The insectoids and humans have been at peace for so long; a little humanitarian aid is nothing.”
“Do I look like a fool?!” The Armed Species leader glared at him, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Sakti and Gela.
Sakti avoided that accusatory gaze in a split second.
How should he put it? Sometimes the guy was indeed fun to mess with because of how blunt he was.
The black female insectoid had always enjoyed teasing honest people—and honest bugs.
He hadn't even mentioned the news that the Red Tai Sui had swallowed the Great Information Nest yet, barely restraining himself from adding that final straw to the other’s near-exploding mental state.
The other insectoids were just as distraught as Kleman.
Every member of the Grey-Winged tribe felt as if the sky were falling.
The Red Tai Sui had entered their tribal habitat; for all they knew, it might wipe them all out in the next second. They just wanted to install a new Sub-Queen and fight a civil war; who knew they would end up summoning *this* thing? It was an absolute catastrophe.
Amidst the gloomy atmosphere, Clark woke up.
As an insectoid with a direct Core Gene foundation, his physical constitution was practically a cheat code.
Sakti had personal experience with this.
Back when he fought Katra, he had also been unconscious for a full day, only to be able to stagger around on his feet afterward, even limping out to meet the silver-gray female insectoid who had brought a whole army to knock on his door.
The tables had turned.
Now, Clark was the one lying immobile in a treatment pod, while Sakti was the one lively and active.
“Arthur... the Grey-Winged tribe...”
Moving was a struggle for him; he used all his strength just to grab Sakti’s arm.
The deep alienation state had not yet worn off. He was in a completely non-human form; Sakti had been forced to find an oversized treatment pod just to fit him inside.
“Arthur is fine; he’s receiving treatment elsewhere,” the pitch-black female insectoid answered softly. “The Grey-Wings are fine too. Most of the direct-line units have been recovered. The neighboring Core Gene tribes have retreated. Your tribe members are safe.”
“I want to see... see...”
The massive wound stretching from his chest to his abdomen clearly affected his speech. Two pairs of pale gray eyes looked at the Core Species who was recounting the situation.
He was afraid that everything before had been a hallucination from the brink of death.
“Arthur... was... crying... I want to see him...”
Sakti remained expressionless.
Clark didn't yet know what had happened in the Old King’s Nest area. Sakti’s only remaining thought was: *Friend, your obsessive parent brain is getting a bit out of hand.*
The human youth was still on the Red Tai Sui receiving further treatment. If he moved Clark out now, he worried his boss would suffer a massive hemorrhage the moment he saw the crimson starship.
“Not today. Tomorrow,” he finally said.
“At least wait until you can crawl out on your own.”
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
红太岁 | Red Tai Sui | A legendary human starship/AI.
荷鲁斯之眼 | Eye of Horus | Imaging/surveillance devices on the Red Tai Sui.
鲁伯特 | Rupert | A member of Sakti's former three-man squad.
伊芙琳 | Evelyn | A person of authority the Red Tai Sui reports to.
法赫纳模型 | Fahner Model | A structural component of the insectoid nests.
时间河港口 | Time River Port | A spatial/temporal location in the insectoid territory.
大信息巢 | Great Information Nest | A massive data/biological repository of the insectoids.
亚王虫 | Sub-Queen | A high-ranking insectoid rank below the King/Queen.
阿尔法战舰 | Alpha Warship | Sakti's personal vessel.
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