Chapter 8 Protection

Chapter 8: Upholding

"Your falling in had nothing to do with my brother."

"It was me."

Bulan: Your Excellency, how can you lie so brazenly?

Idris: That is entirely unnecessary.

Samuel walked in front of Idris, shielding him while positioning himself between the two insects.

Li'an looked Samuel up and down, then glanced at the female behind him, a haughty look on his face: "How dare a useless insect who can't even speak stand in front of me? I'll give you one second, get lost now!"

"I won't!"

"Your Excellency Li'an, mind your language!" Idris stepped to the side, shooting the insect opposite him a cold look.

If not for this male's incessant pestering, he would have returned to the military headquarters long ago. What is there to like about such a willful and disrespectful male insect?

Is it simply because he is a male insect?

"What's wrong with my language?" Li'an pointed at Samuel, his tone dripping with sarcasm: "Can't even talk, just waves his hands around like a lunatic, what else is he if not a useless insect?"

"Your Excellency Li'an, it is extremely rude for you to insult another insect like this! Is this the upbringing of the Vester family?" Bulan couldn't help but question sternly.

As a Director of the Male Insect Protection Association, Bulan instinctively defends the interests of male insects in any matter involving them. Therefore, when Li'an fell into the water, his first reaction was to check if Li'an was alright. After confirming he was fine, he intended to go through the formalities of questioning Idris.

But who would have thought Li'an would be so brazen, insulting another male insect. When an incident involves two Excellencies, the higher-ranking male insect takes priority.

Li'an is an A-rank male insect, while Samuel is suspected to be S-rank. The insect race hasn't seen an S-rank male insect for a long time, which is also the main reason Bulan is so attentive to Samuel.

"Tch, a sub-female, so what if I insulted him!" Li'an shook the water off his hand indifferently, commanding imperiously, "Can't you see I'm soaked through? What are you standing around for? Hurry up and take me to change clothes!"

"Even if he were a sub-female, you shouldn't be allowed to insult him like this." Idris looked straight into the eyes of the male before him, his tone icy, "You should apologize!"

"Ha! You want me to apologize to this lowly female?" Li'an widened his eyes, looking down his nose at Samuel, "Im-pos-si-ble!"

"Your Excellency Li'an, the one before you is not a sub-female, but a male insect!" Bulan said sternly, hinting subtly, "You really should apologize to this Excellency."

"A male insect?" Li'an was startled upon hearing this.

Bulan was usually gentle and rarely spoke to a male insect with such severity. Could this male insect's rank be higher than his?

Curious, Li'an took a step forward. Idris reached out to block him, but it was of little use—as a female, he couldn't forcefully lay hands on a male insect.

"Hey! Are you really a male insect? Why don't you speak? You're not really mute, are you?" Li'an curiously waved his hand in front of Samuel's eyes, finding this beautiful male insect who resembled a sub-female quite strange.

He showed no reaction at all to those highly aggressive words just now. Since when have male insects become so mild-tempered?

Samuel wasn't indifferent to those words; it's just that they stirred up many unpleasant memories from his childhood.

"Look! The little mute is out again!"

"Hey, don't get so close, you'll become stupid too."

"Hahaha! Look, the little mute is crying again! Crying at his age, he really is an idiot!"

"Everyone, come quick! Look at the little idiot crying! Hahaha."

Memories of being bullied in childhood played on a loop in his mind, negative emotions, amplified by his mental state's fluctuations, indirectly exacerbating the turbulence in his Mind Sea.

Samuel hung his head, hands clenched tightly, his body trembling in waves, almost unable to stand.

Bulan and Idris noticed the male insect's abnormality and were about to approach. Suddenly, Samuel looked up at Li'an. Those originally jet-black eyes were now dull and empty, like a soulless walking corpse.

Li'an met those hollow, indifferent black eyes and stumbled back in fright. A sense of fear and suffocation, as if being watched by a venomous snake, gradually swept over him.

He dared not look anymore, shifting his gaze elsewhere. His previously insistent mouth was now tightly shut, even trembling slightly.

"Idris, try to calm His Excellency quickly, don't frighten him." Bulan, understanding Samuel's condition, guessed he was likely being triggered again.

"Your Excellency, are you alright? How about I take you back to your room to rest?" Idris cautiously approached step by step, deliberately softening his voice to ask.

But Samuel showed no reaction, still expressionlessly scrutinizing Li'an. 'Brother' said that if bullied, there's no need to retort with insults; just strike back at the bully's most vulnerable spot, hit them until they are afraid.

This person bullied him.

He should retaliate, shouldn't he?

Successfully convincing himself, Samuel's neck moved slightly, turning his head extremely slowly to one side.

Those ink-black pupils gradually shifted towards Li'an. An icy gaze swept over his terrified face, finally settling on that slender, delicate neck—left once, right once, moving back and forth like chopping meat.

Being stared at like this, Li'an felt a chill shoot up from his tailbone straight to the crown of his head. His heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst out of his chest. Instinct urged him to retreat, but his ankle was suddenly caught by something extremely thin: "What do you want to do! I'm a male insect, you can't hurt me!"

Step by step, Samuel slowly straightened his head, revealing a cold, predatory sneer. Surging mental power transformed into threads, swarming out from him like snakes, coiling around Li'an's neck, then intertwining and tightening circle by circle.

Suffocation arrived as expected. Li'an struggled, trying to pull the invisible yet oppressive mental threads away from his neck. But his strength was insufficient; he could only gasp futilely, desperately trying to snatch the increasingly thin air.

On his neck, scratch marks overlapped heavily one after another, like red graffiti on a white wall—striking, chaotic, yet carrying a beauty of torment.

"Save me, sa...ve me..." Tears streaked across his flushed face. Li'an gasped like a broken bellows, his hand stretching desperately towards the two insects not far away.

The scene before them shocked Idris and Bulan. It was well known that male insects' mental power was very gentle and completely non-aggressive.

But what was going on with this male insect's mental power? Had it mutated?!

Having no time to ponder this bizarre situation, Idris rushed forward and grabbed Samuel's wrist: "Your Excellency, stop, please don't act impulsively!"

"Your Excellency! Li'an is a male insect from the Vester family. If something happens to him, even if you are a male insect, you certainly won't get off easily." Bulan watched anxiously from the side.

Li'an's face was already reddening. If the mental threads tightened any more, he would surely die. In desperation, Bulan tried to approach to rescue Li'an but was repelled by the male insect's mental power.

Idris released his mental power to catch Bulan. After thinking calmly for a moment, he extended his own mental power, winding it around the threads Samuel had shot out, slowly drilling in, wrapping them one by one, and pulling them back.

The Vester family was notoriously protective of their own. Li'an, being a rare A-rank male insect, had been pampered since childhood and was especially treasured.

If something happened to him, the consequences would be unimaginable, and Idris would bear the brunt of it.

'Hmm?'

The warmth transmitted from his wrist and the fluctuations in his Mind Sea interrupted Samuel's train of thought. He turned his head and met a pair of eyes filled with worry and anxiety. Every time he was bullied, 'brother' would show this expression while applying medicine for him.

'Brother', Mingxi doesn't hurt, don't be sad.

Gazing confusedly into those purple eyes for a long time, Samuel turned, stood on tiptoe, rubbed his cheek against Idris's cheek in a dependent manner, just as he usually snuggled into his brother's embrace, and closed his eyes peacefully.

As Samuel fell unconscious, his mental power was completely withdrawn. Li'an collapsed on the ground, clutching his neck, breathing rapidly, his expression terrified, clearly badly frightened.

Bulan rushed over to check on Li'an's condition. After confirming that the male had just been shaken up and the injury on his neck wasn't serious, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With Li'an rescued, Idris also relaxed at last. He looked down at the insect sleeping in his arms with a complex expression, strongly tempted to dump this hot potato.

But the male's medical episode was somewhat related to him. Idris couldn't stoop to the discourtesy of abandoning him. He reasoned that, both emotionally and logically, he had to take the insect to the infirmary—think of it as a humanitarian act.

Having convinced himself, the female bent down, carefully picked up the male, and hurried toward the military headquarters building.

*

Idris was once again in the crosshairs of the Male Insect Protection Association. The reason was still a male, but this time it reportedly involved two Your Excellencies.

The web was buzzing with all sorts of theories. The most widespread rumor was that the two Your Excellencies had come to blows over Idris, with one of them ending up in a coma as a result.

It was said that the comatose male was short in stature, not only ugly in appearance but also non-verbal and suffering from a mental illness, with an extremely violent temper who'd kill you at the drop of a hat.

The other Your Excellency had merely argued with him a few words before he attacked, which was absolutely horrifying.

As soon as this news broke, the StarNet blew up.

"Folks, I'm losing it, why is there another male after Idris again, ahhh! Are there no other females in this world?"

"Ah, well, I can understand. After all, Idris is one of the rare military females in recent years with both looks and military merits to his name. What male wouldn't like him? However, I'm just curious, did a male really fall into a coma?"

"A friend of a friend of a friend who works at the hospital said the Major General did carry an insect into the hospital yesterday, but he walked too fast, so it wasn't clear if it was a male."

"It must be! I'm so curious, is that male really that ugly?"

"...Everyone, um, is it possible this news isn't true? Those above calling the insect ugly, watch out for a slap in the face."

"Hey, don't leave, the poster above! If you know any inside information, spill it!"

"Everyone, be careful what you say. If the MPA sees you attacking a male, they'll probably start clamoring to have you thrown in the punishment chamber again. (Eye roll)"

"Speaking of the punishment chamber, our Idris isn't going to get taken away again, is he?!"

"That'd be rough! All I want to say about this is: I call for males to stay home eating, drinking, and having fun!! Give us females some peace!!"

"+1"

"+1000086 [a play on '+10086']"

Plus, plus, plus my ass.

The uniform replies infuriated Ray so much he wished he could dive into the StarNet and give those brainless bandwagon-jumpers a good beating. They truly believed every rumor they heard, lacking any judgment of their own.

How is that Your Excellency ugly? Those calling him ugly should look at themselves first. If that Your Excellency was ugly, then eighty percent of the males in the imperial capital could be called utter freaks. And that Your Excellency had a great temper! Not violent at all! Super cute! Seriously!

"Was the Male Insect Protection Association bombed? Usually, they're on the scene at the slightest hint of trouble. This time, Your Excellency has been slandered like this, and not a single insect from them has been seen." Ray angrily tapped away on his Stellar Ring, bundling up all the offensive comments to report them. But there were too many messages; he couldn't possibly report them all.

Idris closed his pen, sorted the processed documents, neatly stacked those needing to be sent to various departments separately, and signaled for Ray to take them away.

"The Protection Association is probably in complete disarray right now. They likely have no energy to spare on handling these matters." Idris stood up, straightened his uniform, put on his military cap, and headed for the door.

"It's been three days, and Your Excellency still hasn't woken up?" Ray quickly followed.

"Mhm. I'm going out for a bit. Leave a message if anything comes up." After a moment's thought, Idris turned his head and instructed in a low voice, "Notify the insects in the Information Department to monitor the direction of public opinion on the StarNet. Deal directly with any inappropriate language."

"Got it." Ray instantly perked up, grinning as he said, "I knew the Major General couldn't stand to see Your Excellency being insulted."

Idris shot him a sharp glance, and Ray immediately fell silent, raising his hand to mimic zipping his lips. Only after the female's figure disappeared did he mutter quietly, "That's exactly what it is, and you won't let me say it. Stingy, dictator!"

Sigh, another day of overtime.

Speaking of which, the Major General has been leaving work quite early these past few days.

Could he have another date?

Author's Note:

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Stellar Calendar 4056, July X, Thursday

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