Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Wawen shook his head, perhaps having grown immune to the daily fare of steaks and meat pies, his tone tinged with disapproval. "The Heir Apparent has tasted all kinds of delicacies—he’s surely met skilled chefs before. He must have suffered too much in prison, eating awful food, which is why he thinks Lu Cian has some talent."

The Starnet had reported cases of female insects with no culinary training whipping up one or two decent dishes by sheer luck.

Damon disagreed sternly. "Who do you think the Heir Apparent is? How could he be fooled? How dare you question him?"

Damon felt Wawen was pushing his luck—enjoying the benefits while complaining. The latter had eaten his fill earlier but was now badmouthing others.

Wawen opened his mouth, looking somewhat guilty. "But he’s so weak—can he even lift a pan? He relied on machines in the ship too."

Damon raised his chin. "I told you, stay out of the Heir Apparent’s business."

He didn’t know what the Heir Apparent was thinking, but Wawen’s insubordination would surely earn him a disciplinary beating.

Wawen was so mad he nearly fell over. "Damon, you’re really asking for a beating!"

Damon remained unfazed—better than actually getting beaten.

Seeing the long journey ahead and fearing Lu Cian might overheat, Nair Inan snapped his wings open and carried him toward the camp.

Wawen had been grumbling internally, wondering why the Heir Apparent hadn’t used his wings earlier, forcing them all to walk.

Now, watching the Heir Apparent go so far as to carry Lu Cian in flight, the four remaining insects were stunned.

Among their kind, only younglings and male insects were typically carried in flight—injured companions were merely dangled unceremoniously.

Wawen muttered, "Did you see that? The Heir Apparent flew off with Lu Cian in his arms..."

Damon looked dazed. "Yeah, we saw."

Yannick boomed, "Saw it!"

Fletcher scratched his head sheepishly. "Me too."

"!!!!"

The four exchanged glances, silently screaming: *For heaven's sake, their Heir Apparent really does like female insects! And such a puny one at that!*

Fletcher blinked at the stunned group. "Shouldn’t we follow? The Heir Apparent’s already far ahead."

Coming to their senses, they unfurled their wings and gave chase.

With wings, the journey became exponentially faster, cutting the travel time to a fraction.

---

Lu Cian was startled when Nair Inan picked him up. Since he was a baby, only three people had ever carried him—his mom, dad, and older brother.

Now, there was a fourth: Brother Nan.

Lu Cian had already decided to consider Brother Nan as family, so being carried was no skin off his back.

But why the sudden bridal-style carry?

Only when they were airborne did Lu Cian realize Brother Nan had noticed him struggling and taken flight to spare him.

*Brother Nan is such a great guy!*

Staring at the rippling wings, Lu Cian marveled: *So these are insect wings?*

His fingers twitched with the urge to touch them but he held back, not wanting to throw off his flight.

"Brother Nan, aren’t you tired carrying me for so long?"

Wawen, catching up, chuckled. "Lu Cian, our Heir Apparent’s wings can shear through warships. Carrying a little female insect like you is nothing."

Lu Cian didn’t know what warships looked like, but the name suggested something hulking like a starship. His admiration for Brother Nan grew even more.

Ignored, Wawen muttered on. "...Honestly, what was the Heir Apparent thinking earlier? Why didn’t he let us use our wings? We trudged for nothing..."

Damon promptly rapped Wawen’s skull.

"Ow! Damon, don’t think being the Heir Apparent’s favorite means you can hit others!"

The two began scrapping mid-flight. Lu Cian overheard Wawen’s muttering and worried they might take a tumble, but they remained steady despite the wrestle.

Turning back to Nair Inan, Lu Cian wondered why he hadn’t flown from the start.

A secret part of him guessed Brother Nan didn’t want him to feel left out, seeing others with wings while he had none. But that seemed too vain.

"Brother Nan, did you walk because you didn’t want me to feel bad about not having wings?"

Lu Cian watched closely as Nair Inan replied tonelessly, "No. I just forgot."

Unfazed, Lu Cian nodded. "Oh, okay. But I remember Wawen giving you a look earlier, and you ignored him."

Nair Inan remained expressionless. "You saw wrong. He had sand in his eye."

Lu Cian: "..."

*Wow. Brother Nan can lie with a straight face. Impressive.*

Giddy with validation, Lu Cian felt like he’d won a prize.

*Brother Nan was just like family now.*

After an hour’s flight, they reached the desert’s hidden defensive structures.

The underground shelter, invisible from the surface, was detectable only by life-detection scanners.

Damon stepped on a concealed mechanism, opening a downward passage. They flew in, and the door sealed behind them.

Lu Cian’s heart raced at the moment straight out of a pulp adventure.

Every teenager once dreamed of treasure hunts. Though past that phase, Lu Cian still loved exploration.

Too bad he’d landed in a star-faring world, not a martial arts one.

One bomb could easily obliterate everything.

After passing through a long tunnel, they finally reached the underground chamber. The previously pitch-black surroundings suddenly brightened.

The space was bathed in light, but it was soft and not harsh on the eyes.

Nair Inan lowered Lu Cian to the ground and said, "Let's go."

Once Lu Cian steadied himself on solid ground, he knew they were nearing their destination and followed the others.

The path through the tunnel wasn't long, but the winding route was quite complex, with many splits—some in two directions, others in three. When the group ahead finally stopped, the space suddenly widened.

The hall was crowded with insects. Having likely heard the commotion when Nair Inan and the others entered, they had all come out to greet them.

"Brother Wawen, Brother Damon, Brother Yannick, Brother Fletcher, you're finally back! And you even rescued the Heir Apparent—you're all incredible!"

Wawen patted the head of the eldest little female insect and said, "Alright, Lily, did you all behave while we were gone? Did you listen to Grandpa Anda?"

Lily pouted. "I'm the leader here—I have to set an example! Besides, Grandpa Anda is getting old. Even at my most unruly, I wouldn’t make him angry. Brother Wawen, if you keep doubting me like this, I’ll get mad!"

Wawen raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, Lily, I was wrong. How could I doubt you? I was just checking."

Behind them, Nair Inan approached and interrupted their reunion. "Where are the others?"

Lily trembled before the Heir Apparent. Though he was younger than Brother Wawen and had never scolded them, the young females all cowered before Nair Inan.

Lily flinched and stammered, "Th-the group that went out for food the day before yesterday hasn’t returned yet. The others... are still on their way to rescue you, Heir Apparent, and haven’t come back either."

Nair Inan nodded and continued, "Where’s Grandpa Anda? Take me to him."

Lily pointed to a room. "An-Grandpa Anda is in there, Heir Apparent, you..."

Before she could finish, Nair Inan strode toward the room, with Lu Cian quickly following behind—he was Brother Nan’s shadow, after all.

Lily stood frozen as they walked away. Though she feared the Heir Apparent, she also felt a sting of disappointment at not being noticed by him, her head drooping dejectedly.

Wawen chuckled at Lily. "The Heir won't bite. Why are you so nervous?"

Lily sighed like a weary elder. "The Heir Apparent has this... aura of command. I... I’m scared."

Yannick burst out laughing at Lily’s words. "Lily, if you’re even afraid of the Heir Apparent, you’ll never reach my level of fierceness!"

Yannick had a fiery temper, and the little female insects feared him too—but Wawen wasn’t intimidated. He retorted, "As if you’re not scared of the Heir Apparent either. Stop pretending to be tough."

Yannick glared at Wawen, his face darkening. "You!"

Wawen glared back defiantly. "What, wanna fight?"

Fletcher, watching the two on the verge of a brawl, looked baffled. He pulled the little female insects back, worried they might get hurt if the two actually started fighting.

Damon stepped between them. "Everyone’s afraid of the Heir Apparent. It’s nothing to be ashamed of."

Both scoffed in unison at Damon’s peacemaking words—but when they realized they’d done so in unison, they both turned to glare at each other again.