Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lu Cian nodded in agreement. Moving rocks, he could do.

He walked over to the excavated ore, which was the size of a basketball.

Lu Cian didn't think the ore looked particularly heavy. He bent down to lift it, but... it didn't budge.

Stunned, Lu Cian put his back into it, trying with all his might, but only managed to make the stone wiggle slightly.

Lu Cian: "..."

He refused to believe it!

With a final, desperate surge of primal strength, Lu Cian tried again—

After several grunting attempts, Lu Cian collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted and drenched in sweat.

Blair, who had just unearthed another piece of ore, turned around and saw that the stone had only moved a couple of steps. He fell into deep thought.

"Have you not eaten in days?"

Lu Cian: "..."

Was this a jab at his strength, implying he hadn't eaten?

Fortunately, though Lu Cian hadn't known Blair for long, he didn't seem like the type to casually mock others.

Wiping the sweat from his face with his sleeve, Lu Cian apologized, "Sorry, this ore is too heavy... I can't lift it..."

As he spoke, he watched Blair effortlessly pick up the ore, toss it onto the platform, and then return, looking at Lu Cian with confusion. "What were you saying just now?"

Lu Cian: "..."

Lu Cian meekly replied, "I said... I'm too weak."

Blair nodded sagely. "Your strength is indeed a bit lacking. How does someone as weak as you have the courage to dye your hair black and fake deep-set eyes?"

"Dye? Fake?" Lu Cian was puzzled, not understanding why Blair would say such a thing.

So he stated directly, "I didn't dye my hair. My hair is naturally black, and my eyes are black too."

This time, it was Blair's turn to be shocked, his expression almost comically exaggerated. "By the Insect God, you're actually black-haired and black-eyed?! I thought you'd dyed your hair and altered your eye color!"

Then, Blair suddenly smacked his own head, looking utterly chagrined. "I must have lost my mind! I completely forgot you're from a barren planet. A place like that wouldn't have the means for you to dye your hair or change your eye color!"

However, Blair's confusion only deepened, and he blurted out bluntly, "If you're naturally black-haired and black-eyed, how are you so weak?"

Lu Cian: "..."

Lu Cian wanted to know the same thing. He was 1.8 meters tall; by normal standards, that wasn't small.

His strength was also within the normal range. While not superhumanly strong, he wasn't weak either.

But in this world, compared to Blair, who claimed to be the weakest in this prison, Lu Cian couldn't even compare to one of his fingers. He wondered just how strong other insectoids were...

So, it must be that the species here were incredibly powerful, not that he was too weak!

Lu Cian didn't know how to explain why he was so weak, when Blair spoke up. "Could you be a mutant?"

Blair stroked his chin, muttering to himself as he pondered. "The Empire shouldn't have any such cases. Even mutations aren't this extreme; it's like two completely different poles!"

Then, Blair's eyes sparkled as he looked at Lu Cian. "Friend, let me see your insect wings. They're not black too, are they?"

"I-Insect wings?" Just as Lu Cian was about to ask what insect wings were, he finally realized that the "insects" the other party mentioned must be what he understood as bugs.

So these alien species really were insectoids!

Understanding the race of these alien species, Lu Cian breathed a slight sigh of relief, but then immediately pondered how he should disguise himself here, falling into a dilemma.

He had no insect wings. How could he explain it away? What should he do in the future?

He couldn't run forever.

Was he going to have to live in fear like this forever?

That didn't align with his Lu family's values!

But it was better to live miserably than to die.

He had miraculously survived falling off a cliff, only to arrive in another world.

Even the heavens didn't want him dead, which meant he had great fortune, perhaps even a great destiny, and might even be able to return home someday.

He had family who loved him, friends who cared, and a poor roommate who needed his comfort back home.

So he had to survive!

"I don't have insect wings."

After saying it, Lu Cian pondered how to perfectly concoct a story to deceive Blair, so that the other party wouldn't discover his unusual identity...

They say a divine opponent is better than a pig teammate, but the other party once again provided Lu Cian with a perfect excuse.

This wasn't a pig teammate; this was clearly a divine teammate!

When Blair saw Lu Cian's troubled expression after admitting he had no insect wings—his mouth opening and closing, looking pitifully hesitant—Blair's mind concocted countless stories.

Still, Blair reached out and lifted Lu Cian's shirt, revealing the insect markings on his neck and his smooth back with no wing sacs.

"It really is just insect markings, no insect wings..."

Speaking of the insect markings on his back, Lu Cian remembered—those were just herbal temporary tattoos his other roommate had put on him.

His roommate had gotten a girlfriend who wanted to buy pretty and effective tattoo stickers. She asked her boyfriend for advice, so he bought several products and had them try them out to choose the most durable and attractive one, so he could impress his girlfriend.

Thinking of his roommate, Lu Cian's mood couldn't help but sink.

His fall off the mountain was purely due to loose railings.

But Ji Ming had invited him to hike, and he had unfortunately fallen.

This had nothing to do with Ji Ming, but there was an indirect connection. He was afraid Ji Ming would blame himself entirely, and also afraid his parents, in their grief, would resent Ji Ming.

This was human nature.

But he wasn't dead, was he?

Lu Cian wanted to sigh again.

After all, he was just an eighteen-year-old college student who had just come of age, and had been pampered by his parents since childhood.

Suddenly finding himself in an unfamiliar place, with no family, no friends, not even a single familiar face, and surrounded by alien species—even though Lu Cian was already a grown man, he still felt a little uneasy.

"Friend, you're truly pitiful—you're actually a deformed female insect."

Blair's words pulled Lu Cian out of his sorrowful thoughts. "Deformed female insect?"

Blair nodded. "Yes, how pitiful!"

Lu Cian: "..."

Great. Not only was he weak as a chicken and physically deformed, but now even his gender had changed!

Lu Cian's heart churned violently, with nowhere to vent, so he could only fume like a pufferfish.

He... he was just too aggrieved!

Lu Cian truly couldn't imagine any other transmigrator living as miserably as he was. He must be the most pathetic, useless, and pitiful among all transmigrators, right?

While Lu Cian was feeling sorry for himself, Blair was also observing him.

Noticing the myriad expressions on his face, Blair became even more convinced.

Blair thought to himself: *Would those space pirates really be so kind as to catch an insect and then just abandon it instead of taking it away?*

Now he understood—they must have caught a deformed insect, one that couldn't fetch a good price, or might not even sell at all, and would still need to be fed.

Space pirates wouldn't do a business that lost money.

Blair sighed. His new friend was not only physically deformed but also had some mental issues, not even knowing he was a female insect. He truly deserved sympathy. He would definitely take good care of this underage insect!

If asked why he didn't think Lu Cian was a male insect?

That was simply ridiculous. Who had ever seen a male insect accused of being a stowaway and not resisting?

And who could evade the identity scans of a prison guard?

If he wasn't a male insect, then he must be a female insect.

Moreover, Lu Cian had no trace of male insect pheromones.

As for why Rocco didn't use a professional machine for further examination of Lu Cian?

A joke. Their planet, Larenha, was just an ordinary small planet—lacking resources, lacking unique features. Even a high-ranking male wouldn't bother to mention its name, let alone personally set foot on this planet.

Wasting machine tests, with no one to reimburse Rocco? He wasn't a fool.

Blair patted Lu Cian's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. Stay here for now. Once I finish mining my share of ore, and after lunch, I'll talk to Brother Rocco and ask him to arrange a simple job for you."

Lu Cian was deeply moved. He never expected to meet such a kind friend in this foreign world. He was almost moved to tears!

After speaking, Blair went back to mining.

Lu Cian didn't just stand idly by. He noticed that the large ores Blair dug out had smaller fragments. Since he couldn't move the large ones, he helped pick up the smaller pieces.

Blair saw, and was naturally pleased to have his assistance.

They worked until noon, and Lu Cian's stomach was rumbling with hunger. He was about to ask Blair when they could eat.

Suddenly, a whistle sounded in the distance. Blair dropped the ore in his hand, his insect claws retracting to normal, and grabbed Lu Cian, pulling him into a run. As they ran, he said, "The whistle means we can go to lunch now."

Lu Cian nodded, making a mental note, and was dragged along by Blair. He was pulled and tugged all the way, finally arriving at the cafeteria, panting.

Forgive him, the journey was too far, and Lu Cian had been hungry for a long time and had no strength left. Blair had dragged him the entire way.

Just as he stood still, before Lu Cian could even catch his breath, half of his body felt as if it had been scraped by steel. A powerful shove sent Lu Cian stumbling, almost falling to the ground.

Fortunately, Blair, who was beside him, immediately caught him, otherwise he would have had a close encounter with the ground.

Lu Cian was already famished and in a bad mood. Now, suffering this unprovoked attack, he felt a surge of anger.

Who was so ill-mannered?

He was a grown man standing right there. Were they blind? And they still crashed into him?

And didn't even apologize after hitting someone!

When Lu Cian turned around, he saw a hulking figure, identical to Rocco.

Lu Cian instantly fell silent.

Huai En, the insect who had bumped into him, looked down. His initially nonchalant attitude changed instantly when he saw the other party's black hair and black eyes, his pupils contracting for a moment.

But then he noticed the number on the prisoner's uniform and Blair standing beside him.