Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Security on Class-IV planets was lax, but Class-III planets rigorously vetted the identities of pilots entering their airspace.

Nair Inan couldn't land through conventional means. Relying on his exceptional piloting skills, he had to smuggle them in, then carefully evade urban centers to avoid accidental exposure and capture.

Lu Cian was vexed; he'd forgotten they were now fugitives.

While Nair Inan and the others still held recognized imperial identities, the critical issue was their status as wanted criminals!

Lu Cian slapped his forehead. Ever since his rescue, he too had been branded a fugitive.

A thought struck him. "Don't spaceships require registration? Won't we be discovered if we land on Trota like this?"

Damon reassured Lu Cian, "Don't worry. Our ship's systems have been meticulously modified to deceive their scanners. We won't be detected."

According to their intelligence, this planet had recently changed hands and was temporarily without an owner. The new planetary ruler likely hadn't had time to update the monitoring systems. If they could exploit this window of transition, it would be even simpler.

Lu Cian nodded, slightly relieved. "But what about our identities? We're all undocumented, with no ID. How can we enter cities to trade for supplies?"

Damon fell silent. This was indeed a challenge. They currently lacked the technology to forge identities that could bypass the StarNet's detection.

However, purchasing supplies in a city wasn't their only option. If they were lucky enough to find a trading post outside the urban areas, acquiring provisions wouldn't be a concern.

But Lu Cian didn't share Damon's optimism. If they couldn't resolve this, returning empty-handed would mean significant losses.

Stroking his chin, Lu Cian pondered deeply. He refused to believe that with four of them, they couldn't devise a solution.

Then, Lu Cian recalled something Brother Nan had once explained to him.

Among the insectoid races, there was another group whose status was akin to that of undocumented individuals: female slaves.

Female slaves possessed the lowest citizenship status, yet it was still superior to being undocumented or a fugitive.

The mention of female slaves brought to mind the Female Slave Exchange.

Establishing a new planet demanded immense labor, resources, and capital; they needed many insects.

By law, only male insects could purchase female slaves.

However, male insects rarely personally selected female slaves. The exchange had to be flexible.

They only catered to female insects accompanied by their male masters, who had to present authorized documents.

This was problematic. Lu Cian had hoped to acquire some female insects—they were readily available—but it seemed they couldn't purchase them.

These female slaves should not be underestimated. Before their demotion, many might have been highly skilled insect talents in advanced scientific and technological fields.

It was rumored that research positions in the Empire were challenging to secure. The Emperor, despite his grand ambitions, was set in his ways, focusing solely on territorial expansion and eliminating dissent, rather than fostering development. In such an environment, crucial research positions became highly coveted, and inflexible researchers were inevitably marginalized.

"I'd hoped to find some undervalued talent, but it looks like we might miss out this time," Lu Cian sighed. None of them were male insects.

If only he were a male insect…

A thought flashed through Lu Cian’s mind.

Although their team had no male insects, why couldn't they pretend to be one?

Male and female insects looked identical externally; their differences were internal. No one would constantly carry a scanner, checking every insect they encountered to determine their gender.

Among them, Lu Cian was the least likely to be exposed if he pretended to be a male insect.

Lu Cian had no insect wings or markings, and even if scanned, he lacked a reproductive pouch.

All these factors aligned. Why couldn't he be a male insect?

Male insects resembled humans in appearance, and likely internally as well. However, male insects possessed psychic abilities and pheromones—traits humans could not possess.

If Lu Cian intended to impersonate a male insect, lacking these two crucial abilities would make it impossible to deceive female insects.

Psychic ability was relatively easier to fake; male insects didn't constantly project their psychic energy, nor did female insects identify males solely by it.

They relied on scent; male insects emitted pheromones.

Secondary identifiers included height, appearance, and the presence of insect markings.

Male insects possessed a unique scent. Even when not actively releasing pheromones, traces lingered in their sweat, saliva, and tears.

The distinct difference in male and female insect scents made them easily distinguishable.

Lu Cian's task was to continuously emit a pheromone-like scent from his body.

This scent differed from artificial perfumes.

Male insect pheromones had a calming effect on female insects, whereas ordinary fragrances lacked this property. Female insects with acute senses would find synthetic scents irritating; even high-end perfumes wouldn't make them comfortable.

Female insects were highly sensitive to scents. They avoided areas with abundant flowers, especially military females, for whom strong scents were overwhelming.

This trait also made military females unpopular with male insects. Male insects generally had duller senses, significantly inferior to females. A pleasant trip to a resort planet could be ruined if the accompanying female insects constantly sneezed, greatly diminishing the male's enjoyment.

Male insects disliked military females not just for their large size, rough appearance, and lack of charm, but for very specific reasons.

"I want to concoct a scent," Lu Cian declared stubbornly. He wanted to try; what if it worked?

While Nair Inan and the other two insects went out to scout, Lu Cian remained on the spaceship.

Lu Cian was no fool. He knew he couldn't naturally formulate a scent that mimicked pheromones. Even if they could buy synthetic pheromones, they wouldn't find a source, nor could they afford them.

Lu Cian took an alternative approach, intending to find calming herbs to create a soothing sachet.

Pheromones could calm a female insect's mental sea. If a certain scent could invigorate the mind, would it create the illusion for female insects that it was a pheromonal effect?

However, invigorating herbs were not easily found.

Nair Inan brought back many wild plants, but Lu Cian found none suitable. Some mixtures of plant juices even nearly created a toxic gas bomb.

Finally, he found a plant very similar to mint, and Lu Cian grew excited.

The extracted mint juice was quite concentrated, with impurities, and its scent differed slightly from Earth's mint.

Lu Cian purified it using a machine, and the final product was quite satisfactory.

Lu Cian only found it pungent when he sniffed it up close; from a distance, the scent was very faint.

Lu Cian believed that with Brother Nan's craftsmanship, he could create a small device to hold the mint juice, allowing for controlled diffusion of the scent.

Mint's invigorating aroma had a similar effect to pheromones in calming agitated female insects. However, whether it could truly deceive female insects still required testing.

"Brother Nan, what do you think of this scent?" Lu Cian felt somewhat confident, yet still anxious.

After smelling it, Nair Inan's response did not disappoint: "Seems rather interesting."

Nair Inan was somewhat uncertain. He did feel a momentary clarity of mind, but as for his mental sea being soothed, Nair Inan felt no significant change.

Was the effect of this plant juice too subtle, or was his mental sea already calm, making the soothing effect imperceptible?

Nair Inan was somewhat shocked. Could Lu Cian have truly concocted a medicinal juice capable of calming a female insect's mental agitation?

But Nair Inan hadn't seen Lu Cian use any specialized pharmaceutical tools; it seemed he had only used... a juicer and a purifier?

Or had he missed something? After all, Lu Cian had been secluded in the room for several days.

"You..." Nair Inan's voice held a hint of emotion.

"Can this really fool them?" Seeing Nair Inan's unusual expression, Lu Cian felt uneasy and grew worried.

He had tested so many plant juices, and this was the most successful. If even this didn't work, he truly had no other options.

Hearing Lu Cian's words, Nair Inan's turbulent thoughts slowly calmed. "It does have some effect. How did you prepare it?"

Lu Cian shook his head. "How could I have the skill to concoct it? I just found a special plant whose scent is quite unique and has an invigorating effect, which might create an illusion for others."

After this explanation, Nair Inan's heart became as still as water. It really was just an illusion.

"It should be enough to deceive them," Nair Inan said. "If any female suspects something's off, we can just claim it's because it's low-grade."

Lu Cian's eyes lit up. "Then it should be foolproof!"

Seeing his excitement, Nair Inan didn't want to dampen his spirits, but some things needed to be clarified: "You should prepare yourself. There's no guarantee this will work."

At this, Lu Cian's excitement subsided considerably, and he began to re-evaluate his plan, acknowledging its many flaws.

First, they needed to deceive the insects at the exchange. Nair Inan, Damon, and Wawen's identities were problematic; they couldn't be treated as normal female insects. They would have to impersonate female slaves accompanying him.

However, they lacked the suppression rings that restricted female slaves' combat abilities, and it was uncertain if they could create undetectable fakes.

A male insect traveling alone without a properly identified female attendant or guard would also raise suspicion.

The local currency was star credits, and they possessed neither comms devices nor star credits.

"Should we steal a comms device?" In Lu Cian's understanding, comms devices weren't much different from mobile phones. To avoid being traced by the owner, they could factory reset it and discard it after use.

Or they could buy a second-hand one.

Nair Inan rubbed his forehead. Comms devices weren't particularly rare; they were merely carriers. However, they contained chips that corresponded with the microchips embedded in insects' bodies, serving as identification and having a tracking function.

"That probably won't work," Nair Inan explained. "But we can modify some standard comms units."

Buying a new comms device in a store required identity binding, which none of them possessed. Standard comms units were blank slates without identity binding. There were a few on the ship that Fletcher could modify.