Chapter 22 Vividness

Chapter 22: Vitality

"Brother, I'm hungry."

Samuel helped tidy up the flowers and plush toys before collapsing onto the sofa, famished. He'd had nothing but water since morning. Just walking a few steps now made him dizzy and nauseous.

He didn't know if it was his imagination, but he felt his health had deteriorated since coming to the insectoid world.

"99—" Idris had just called out when he was interrupted by a movement on his shoulder—the male insect was leaning limply against him, looking as if he could barely hold himself up.

"Brother," Samuel said weakly, "99 can't cook; it can only reheat food."

Hearing this, Idris slightly turned his head. The male insect was facing him sideways, and in that moment of turning, his lips almost brushed against the male insect's.

Despite the dangerously close distance, the male insect seemed oblivious, still clinging to his shoulder, waiting for a response.

"Your Excellency," Idris didn't deliberately adjust his position. Staying as they were, he asked gently, "Aren't you tired of always being like this?"

Samuel paused for a moment while playing with his sleeve, lazily humming in acknowledgment, his voice tinged with confusion.

Idris lowered his gaze, his eyes resting on the male insect's fingertips, smiling faintly without a word.

"Brother," Samuel placed his hand on Idris's arm, leaning forward slightly, looking pitiful as he said, "I'm not tired; I'm hungry."

The male insect was playing dumb.

Forget it.

Idris didn't press further. He pushed Samuel gently aside and stood up from the sofa. "What would Your Excellency like to eat?"

Hearing that he could order food, Samuel happily sprang up. Fortunately, Idris was always attentive and reached out in time, or else he would have surely fallen flat on his back.

After steadying Samuel and getting his answer, Idris turned and headed toward the kitchen.

Watching Idris leave, Samuel sat back down, hugging the plush toy, absentmindedly stroking it as he lost himself in thought. It wasn't until the aroma of food wafted from the dining room to the living room, making his stomach rumble like thunder, that he snapped out of it.

Dining room.

Samuel leisurely ate his belated lunch while Idris sat beside him, back straight, scrolling through documents on the Star Network. Skimming past the division of rights and responsibilities between Party A and Party B, his gaze settled on the profit-sharing ratio at the very bottom.

A minimum of 60 hours of live streaming per month, an annual salary of 800,000 Star Coins, and a 50-50 split on gifts?

Seriously, which company has the audacity to exploit a male insect like this?!

During a break in his meal, Samuel looked up and noticed Idris frowning deeply, his expression not looking too good either. "Brother, is there a problem with the document?"

"Hmm," Idris scrolled back to the beginning of the document, giving it another quick read before cautiously speaking up. "Your Excellency, this contract isn't particularly favorable to you."

Samuel put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and said, "But the job postings on the recruitment websites list similar conditions."

He wasn't entirely sure about the salary standards for jobs in this new world, but to be cautious, he had compared the terms offered by other companies on recruitment websites. This contract wasn't exceptionally bad.

Idris disapprovingly furrowed his brows, patiently explaining, "But that's in comparison to other insects. As a male insect, you should be offered much more favorable terms. Moreover, there are hidden clauses in this."

"Brother, are you saying they're trying to cheat me?" Samuel tilted his head.

"Not exactly," Idris stood up, moved to the opposite side, pulled out a chair, and sat down next to Samuel. He projected the document and pointed to a line of text that wasn't highlighted in red. "It's fine for the company to own the agency rights to your works, but they aren't just signing your works; they're signing you personally. This means all your works belong to the company, and you can't update content on other platforms."

"What if I do update elsewhere?" Samuel asked.

"The company can sue you for breach of contract," Idris said seriously.

Samuel blinked slowly, then broke into a smile. "Brother, I'm not good at these things. Could you help me figure out how to handle this contract?"

Idris didn't agree immediately. From the moment he opened the contract, he had been puzzled—male insects, once they come of age, could register for marriage and receive more than half of their spouse's assets. So why was this one intent on working to earn money?

Could it be that the male insect didn't realize that, given his rank, plenty of insects would be willing to spend their entire fortunes to support him?

"Why did Your Excellency suddenly decide to work?" Idris fiddled with the document on his fingertip, his tone casual and indifferent.

"To support myself," Samuel replied after swallowing a bite of food.

With the cost of living so high in the insectoid world, if he didn't plan ahead, wouldn't he end up living on nothing but air in the future?

"Your Excellency, your rank is very high," Idris reminded him.

"I know."

"Then why..." Idris was cut off by the calmness in the male insect's eyes.

The male insect didn't seem to think this was particularly important.

Samuel indeed thought so. Propping his head up, he said sincerely, "I don't want money from other insects, especially not money earned by soldier insects risking their lives in battle. I want to support myself."

"But there's no precedent for male insects working in the insectoid world. It will be very difficult..." Idris's voice was soft, as if afraid of shattering the male insect's dream.

Samuel didn't argue. Of course, he knew it would be difficult. The insectoid society had almost sealed male insects inside an ivory tower; why would they actively open the doors and allow them to step out?

But he wasn't an insect of this world. The insectoid mindset couldn't confine him, and the magazines and books he had read at home were his sharpest weapons.

Even if he couldn't carve out a path, even if his efforts ended in failure, he still wanted to try and see if he could chisel out a crack.

After all, he had nothing better to do.

Thinking this, Samuel smiled with determination and a brilliant glow. As long as he could ignite a single spark, why fear that it couldn't start a prairie fire in the future?

For some reason, from within the male insect's smiling eyes, Idris vaguely saw a flickering flame. That flame was scorching, dazzling, like early summer—vivid, passionate, and full of vitality.

Such vitality was something he had never seen in any other male insect of the insectoid world.

Idris shifted his gaze back to the document, steering the conversation back on track. He focused and earnestly explained to the male insect the points to watch out for, as well as what would be an appropriate salary and profit-sharing ratio.

After finishing, he asked if the male insect had understood. The male insect nodded but moved his chair closer, extending his wrist and offering his Stellar Ring, pleading, "Brother, I'm not good with words. Could you help me negotiate with this insect... please?"

Idris really didn't want to speculate about the male insect's sudden closeness and the exposure of his forearm.

It's just that he could have simply taken off the Stellar Ring, yet he chose to wear it and offer it right in front of him, making it impossible not to read too much into it.

But the male insect's expression didn't seem intentional. Idris pushed aside the convoluted thoughts in his mind, pulled up the keyboard, and began sending messages to the Super Administrator.

After several rounds of negotiation, the contract was successfully settled: live streaming hours limited to 60, a salary of 1.5 million, gifts split 20-80, with the company taking 20% and Samuel taking 80%.

Samuel watched intently as Idris engaged in a verbal battle with the Super Administrator, utterly impressed.

As expected of brother! Amazing!

With the contract successfully signed and the misunderstanding cleared up, Samuel felt completely refreshed. He switched to the backend, ready to post some bonus content.

Idris saw that it was still early, so before the male went upstairs, he informed him and instructed 99 to clean up the kitchen before heading out.

The hovercar descended slowly at a manor of ancient style. The door clicked open, and Idris stepped out. The butler, who had been waiting at the entrance, hurried forward to greet him.

Idris nodded in acknowledgment and proceeded inside, with the butler following closely behind. Sensing the situation, the butler discreetly mentioned that the mistress was out and only the head of the household was home.

When they reached the door, Idris gave a faint "mm" in response. The butler stood respectfully with his hands at his sides, and seeing no further instructions, bowed and slowly retreated.

Idris stood before the door for about a minute before pushing it open and entering. The interior was as cold and quiet as ever. The spacious house, as far as the eye could see, contained only furniture, decorations, flower arrangements, and paintings—not a single servant in sight.

Idris calmly scanned the living room. On the sofa, a gray-haired, purple-eyed male was reclining against the backrest, legs crossed, lazily scrolling through his Stellar Ring.

Hearing the door open, the male glanced lazily toward the entrance. Seeing it was Idris, he suppressed his surprise and casually remarked, "You're back."

His tone was flat, devoid of any joy at the long-awaited reunion, as if the one before him was not his long-absent child but a stranger he had met only a few times.

"Father," Idris bowed slightly, his tone calm, showing no sign of minding the cold treatment.

Yisang gave a faint "mm" in response, his gaze returning to Idris. After studying him for a moment, he remarked softly, "You've grown quite a bit taller."

Upon hearing this, Idris’s fingers curled slightly. He stood respectfully with his head bowed, offering no reply. In front of his father, he always felt at a loss.

Yisang was accustomed to Idris’s silence. He waved dismissively at the insect before him, signaling him to make himself at home, but just as Idris bowed and turned to leave, he added offhandedly, "Your other parent should be back before dinner."

Understanding the implication, Idris turned back, bowed again, and replied obediently, "Thank you, Father," before quickly heading up to the third floor.

The third floor of the manor was different from the others. The entire floor had been opened up and renovated into a small library, housing many rare and unique collections. In his childhood, whenever conflicts erupted between his fathers, he would immediately hide here, shutting the war outside the door.

After being away for so long, this place remained completely unchanged.

Closing the somewhat heavy wooden door, Idris glanced past rows of bookshelves, his gaze settling on the shelves against the back wall. He remembered that books related to males were kept there.

Last time, Ray mentioned that the drug had appeared hundreds of years ago. It was clear who such a drug was made for.

Based on Bulan’s reaction, Idris speculated that the drug might have been secretly prevalent for a certain period. That would also mean many males might have been injected with it. Considering the context of the conversation at the time, it was highly likely that males were abused after being injected with the drug.

Given that males are physically weaker than females, and with their self-healing abilities stripped away while being abused and imprisoned, the probability of developing mental issues was extremely high.

If, on top of that, they were forced to release pheromones to soothe females or even help them through their heat or mental turmoil periods, the likelihood of males suffering mental breakdowns or even death was very high.

Extrapolating from this, during the period when the drug was secretly prevalent, the number of male deaths must have skyrocketed. Even if the Empire tried to cover it up, traces would inevitably remain.

Idris quickly pulled books from the shelves, flipping through them. After repeating this dozens of times, he suddenly paused while browsing *The Evolution History of Males*.

On the open page, at a time point almost coinciding with the appearance of the drug, there was a record of a mental plague that spanned several years. This plague targeted only males and was first discovered on the Imperial Star, where thousands of males collectively suffered mental breakdowns and committed suicide overnight.

From then on, the plague spread throughout the Empire’s territories. The Empire dispatched many scientists to investigate the cause of the outbreak and spent vast sums in an attempt to contain it, all to no avail.

In the end, countless males contracted the mental plague, losing their sanity in this horrific epidemic. The number of those who self-harmed or committed suicide was incalculable, and the male population plummeted to half of its original size. Before this, the male-to-female ratio had been maintained at roughly 1:50.

Had there really been that many males before?

Idris’s purple eyes widened in shock.

Scanning the series of numbers on the page again, Idris furrowed his brow.

How could it be such a coincidence that the plague didn’t harm females? Moreover, thousands of males committed suicide almost simultaneously on the same day. Even if influenced by the plague, such synchronization seemed impossible.

Could the drug be related to the mental plague?

Suppressing his speculation, Idris continued browsing. He noticed that scientists, after comparative studies, found that after the plague, newborn males who underwent secondary differentiation commonly exhibited uncontrollable emotions in specific situations.

It was also after this event that males began losing control of their emotions, engaging in abusive behavior toward females.

All of this, along with the mental plague, was buried in the past. The Empire’s current basic education and specialized male studies courses for females never mentioned it.

The Empire seemed intent on hiding this part of history.

Idris instinctively felt that this plague was not as simple as it appeared on the surface. He activated his Stellar Ring, photographed and saved the relevant content, quickly finished flipping through the remaining books, carefully restored them to their original positions, and then went to his room to retrieve something before returning to the first floor.

In the living room, Yisang was still in his lazy posture, propping up his head. Seeing Idris come downstairs and noticing there was still some time, he beckoned, signaling Idris to come closer.

Idris obediently approached. The moment he stood with his head bowed, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of a live-streaming interface flashing by on the side.

It looked somewhat familiar.

After calling him over and pointing to the nearby sofa, Yisang slowly retracted his legs, sitting upright. But his opening words were like a thunderbolt: "I heard you’re living with a male. Has he undergone secondary differentiation? What’s the current progress between you two? When do you plan to apply for a match?"

Idris stiffened: "?"

Author's Note:

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Stellar Calendar 4056, August X, Sunny, Weekday X

He’s different.