Chapter 115

Chapter 115

At this moment, one of the leading female insects left behind by the Red Hemp Star came to seek instructions regarding the "Love Pearl" venture.

"Y-your Excellency, Chairman and the others have already made the spacefold jump. W-would you like to... take a look at the Love Pearl business?" the female insect stammered, her teeth chattering.

This female insect was timid but highly capable. It had taken immense courage for her to approach Lu Cian about the business. Upon arrival, she noticed his low mood and intense aura, which nearly made her lose the nerve to speak. She had to keep steeling herself just to stutter out her words.

Only then did Lu Cian remember—he still had a gemstone business.

Fortunately, he had left some insects behind to manage the gemstone trade externally. Otherwise, his newly established An Nan brand would have already gone bankrupt.

After reviewing the financial reports, Lu Cian realized that compared to the exorbitant selling prices, the cost of purchasing the gemstones was practically negligible.

Well, the insectoid race didn’t value raw jade much. Jade was more fragile than gemstones and couldn’t fetch high prices. When he had initially purchased them, he had used connections through the male insectoid channels, securing them at very low prices—almost half-sold, half-gifted.

It had nearly drained all of Lu Cian’s star-credits, but they had managed to acquire a substantial stockpile of jade.

Currently, in the empire’s market, the An Nan brand had only one product—the Love Pearl. The insectoid staff left behind by Timothy were highly competent and had handled the operation perfectly, earning a substantial amount of star-credits.

However, Lu Cian felt a bit guilty. He had been so preoccupied with other matters that he had completely forgotten about the gemstone business. Now that an insect had come to seek his guidance on the next steps, he was caught unprepared.

Unprepared, Lu Cian could only improvise.

"The Love Pearl business is nearing market saturation. The empire is already familiar with the An Nan brand. Now is the time to compete on design and influence. We need to expand An Nan Jewelry to every planet in the empire as quickly as possible to establish our brand’s reputation."

Then, Lu Cian asked, "Are the insects we’re doing business with reliable?"

The female insect quickly shook her head. "N-no problems. They’re longtime associates—very meticulous in their dealings."

Lu Cian nodded. "Good."

"The jewelry design industry in the empire has a wide range of quality. Buyers care about the designer’s reputation as well as the quality of the designs."

"Right now, we can’t afford famous designers, so we’ll credit all our designs to the brand itself without specifying which master created them."

"But if a particular piece sells exceptionally well, I’m not stingy. The designer will receive not only a bonus but also a share of the profits."

"..."

After going on for a while, Lu Cian’s mouth grew dry, and he finally ran out of things to say.

"You’re already an experienced team. Learn to read market trends."

"These are my suggestions. From now on, handle subsequent matters independently. Resolve what you can on your own. If you’re truly unsure, consult your leader, Timothy, and have him report to me."

"Also, An Nan Jewelry’s quarterly earnings must be reported to me once every quarter."

The reporting female insect nodded repeatedly, jotting down His Excellency’s instructions. Once dismissed, she hurried away in relief.

Fortunately, Lu Cian was still preoccupied with the spacefold jump and didn’t notice her odd behavior.

After sending away the insects seeking his guidance, Lu Cian realized he still couldn’t observe the space station’s operations. Feeling gloomy, he returned to the flagship.

The spacefold test proceeded smoothly. The journey was brief, and Nair Inan returned quickly.

When Nair Inan came to find Lu Cian on the flagship, he saw him sprawled lethargically and asked with concern, "What happened?"

Nair Inan guessed: Had he been overworked and suddenly collapsed from exhaustion now that things had settled?

"Have you been overworking yourself lately? Maybe you should take a break."

Nair Inan did feel a bit sorry for Lu Cian. The young male insect wasn’t as tough as their female insects. With so many responsibilities weighing on him, Nair Inan couldn’t help but feel like he was working him too hard.

But he himself was also overwhelmed.

In Nair Inan’s view, the tasks Lu Cian handled were important, but none were as critical as preparing military supplies. Sooner or later, they would go to war with the empire.

But judging by Lu Cian’s attitude, he wanted to strengthen the federation first before facing the empire directly.

This process was difficult. Lu Cian probably knew it too, which was why he was in such a hurry, juggling multiple tasks and inevitably letting some things slip.

On one hand, Nair Inan also wanted to develop the federation’s strength gradually. On the other hand, he had to oversee the federation’s military affairs, often providing additional drills for the Five Army Corps.

They had rescued many insects before, and with multiple tribes coexisting, there were plenty who could serve as female soldiers. But when distributed among the Five Army Corps, the numbers proved insufficient.

Previously, they had fought for their respective tribes, which led to inconsistent skill levels. Mixing the tribes did prevent any single faction from dominating, but unfamiliarity among the soldiers made tactical coordination difficult.

Regular training and simulated battles exposed major weaknesses.

These shortcomings couldn’t be resolved overnight. Nair Inan could only intensify their training and build unit cohesion.

Rubbing his temples, Nair Inan thought: Lu Cian really knew how to load him with responsibilities.

Not only that, but this young male insect also loved shouldering additional duties for himself, increasing his own workload.

What an energetic and driven little male insect!

When Lu Cian heard Nair Inan suggest a break, he bolted upright. "A break? What would I even do on a break? A secretary must have a work ethic! What kind of secretary takes breaks?!"

His tone was laced with resentment, so palpable that even Nair Inan could feel it.

"Did someone bully you?"

Lu Cian gave him a pointed stare. "With you around, who would dare?"

His stare was so pointed it was practically an accusation.

For the first time, Nair Inan felt a twinge of guilt and cleared his throat. "Next time. Next time, I’ll handle it myself."

Lu Cian drawled, "There’s always a ‘next time.’ How many ‘next times’ must there be?"

Nair Inan: "..."

He hadn’t expected to be left speechless.

"I promise."

Lu Cian’s eyes lit up as if ready to press the issue, but Nair Inan stopped him. "Don’t push your luck."

Lu Cian’s expression fell immediately. "Fine."

If a third insect had been present, they might have thought Nair Inan was bullying him.

"Nan-ge, how did you return so quickly?"

"It’s just a spacefold. There and back—of course it’s fast. Nothing to it really."

Lu Cian stared blankly: "..."

Well, that killed the conversation.

Warp jumps are indeed quite uninteresting—whoosh there, whoosh back. So convenient, truly nothing special.

Lu Cian's expression soured. This was clearly similar to the teleportation circles from xianxia novels! What's so strange about wanting to experience it?!

In this world where warp jumps are commonplace, for female soldiers heading to the battlefield, warp jumps are as routine as breakfast—nothing unusual about it.

But Lu Cian just wanted to understand, even if it was just to get a sense of it!

"Can't you describe it at all? Just a simple explanation?"

Nair Inan couldn't put it into words, so he pulled out some recorded data for analysis and showed it to Lu Cian.

"You can take a look at this first. After you're done, I'll pass it to Timothy for research."

"What is this?" Lu Cian examined the black device, puzzled.

Nair Inan pressed a button for him, and the footage projected directly onto the wall.

The images were unmistakably from Nair Inan's warp jump test run.

"Begin."

At Nair Inan's command in the footage, the jump started.

Lu Cian was glued to the screen, not even noticing that Nair Inan was staring at him instead of the projection.

The initial footage was exceptionally clear, even capturing the minute changes in Nair Inan's pupils in detail. But once the jump began, the image started distorting.

Vast swathes of prismatic light distortions filled the wall, twisting into bizarre shapes, flickering rapidly, the changes growing faster and faster...

Lu Cian didn't dare blink, his eyes stinging from the flashing lights, tears welling up from the strain.

Suddenly, a pair of hands covered his eyes, blocking the harsh light.

"Don't push yourself."

"Once the station clears operational status, I'll explain the principles to you in detail."

"Really?" Lu Cian, unmoving with his eyes covered, pulled Nair Inan's hands away, his face brightening with excitement, all earlier discomfort forgotten.

Nair Inan paused, then sighed in resignation. "Really."

"You better mean that, Brother Nan!"

"Have I ever broken my word?"

"Not long ago, a certain someone lied to me." Lu Cian wasn't letting it go.

"I didn't lie. I told you to wait outside."

Lu Cian scoffed. "If I couldn't participate in the trial run, why not even let me observe?"

Nair Inan fell silent. This argument was going nowhere, so he dropped it.

Lu Cian didn't press on—he was out of ammo himself. Continuing would only lead to just making stuff up.

***

Back in the Federation.

Lu Cian turned his attention to the *Codex*.

That doorstop of a legal code had already been handed over to Wawen.

Wawen was efficient—he'd whittled it down to a few pages.

Lu Cian: "..."

"I know you hate the Empire and male insects, but did you really have to cut so many laws?"

Lu Cian knew the Empire was full of garbage laws, but he didn’t recall the regulations for female insects being that harsh.

Wawen: "Mission accomplished. It's up to you now."

With that, Wawen took off.

Lu Cian was stuck reading the legal text himself.

And then he realized the doorstop *Codex* was indeed complete BS.

Every damn paragraph shackled female insects, so harsh it was downright abusive. Even the laws specifically for them were nothing but patronizing sermons—endless toxic crap, worse than medieval torture manuals.