Chapter 67

Chapter 67

With a loud bang, Naiwei's mind went completely blank.

Vitkay's mouth was opening and closing, but Naiwei couldn't hear a single word.

The immense shock on top of his exhaustion filled his head with a buzzing tinnitus that nearly overwhelmed him. His body went weak, and his hands gripped the handles of the baby stroller so tightly that his fingertips turned white, scarcely able to remain standing.

What was Vitkay saying?

That he wanted to strip him of his custody rights, to take away his babies?

What right did they have to do this?!

Seeing Vitkay take a step forward, seemingly about to approach him, Naiwei hastily retreated two steps back and shouted sharply, like a startled animal: "Stop right there! Don't come any closer!"

With that, Naiwei didn't hesitate to summon Little Black from inside the house.

"Little Black, I need your help!"

The moment Naiwei's words fell, the door behind Vitkay was thrown open with force, and a figure appeared before Naiwei at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

"Mr. Naiwei, I'm here."

Little Black looked at his visibly shaken master, then glanced at the few bugs standing across from him in the walkway, and had no trouble pinpointing the source of his master's panic.

A red glint flashed in Little Black's dark eyes. His body tensed, and he shifted into a protective stance, positioning himself sideways, shielding Naiwei and the babies behind him.

Compared to his usual gentle and harmless demeanor, Little Black now looked sharp and formidable, his presence was intimidating.

Clearly, Little Black had activated his defense mode.

This was the first time since joining Naiwei that this household security-type intelligent butler had ever fulfilled his instinctive duty.

Little Black's voice, as warm and steady as ever, felt like a ray of sunshine on a winter day, greatly easing Naiwei's panic and anxiety, helping him calm down just a little.

But Vitkay, on the other side, was the exact opposite. After Little Black appeared, his calm, self-assured demeanor finally cracked.

The worker bugs behind Vitkay were still muttering about who this unexpected stranger was, but Vitkay, with his keen eyes, was the first to notice the red flash in Little Black's eyes, and then spotted the tiny serial number on his neck.

In an instant, Vitkay's mind was thrown into chaos.

Wasn't this the latest biomimetic intelligent butler from Nasheng Technology Company?!

Just recently, his Male Master had been browsing Nasheng's newest online internal sales exhibition with envy and reluctance. The company had released an extremely limited number of units for sale, and even with money, his family had no connections or channels to purchase one.

But what was going on with this intelligent butler before him?

Wasn't Naiwei just an ordinary streamer with no background, merely an exceptionally striking appearance?

How did he get his hands on this intelligent butler, and one that seemed to be a model never revealed in the online internal sales exhibition at that!

At this moment, being fixed with a stare by Little Black, Vitkay felt a creeping dread, as if he were being stalked by a Star Beast. He froze in his tracks, genuinely not daring to take another step forward.

"Vitkay, no! These are my babies! What right do you have to try and take them from me? What authority do you have, what qualification do you have to just strip away my custody rights?! No, I'm telling you, this is impossible, I will never agree! My babies will only stay by my side, and no one is taking them away!" Naiwei shouted, his emotions spiraling out of control.

"Mr. Naiwei, please don't get upset. I know this is hard for you to accept, but we truly have the babies' best interests in mind. You're currently single and unmarried, with no female spouse or female consort, not even a single female bug by your side to care for you. As a male bug, it's already hard enough to take care of yourself. From what I understand, you even have to spend a significant amount of time streaming every day. Given how busy and exhausted you are, how can you possibly have the extra energy to properly care for the babies?" Vitkay gave a helpless smile, trying to sound persuasive. The shock of the intelligent butler had at least caused him to soften his tone.

"And look at the community you're living in now, the house you're staying in—this is far below the standard an ordinary male bug should have. You're struggling so hard to get by on your own. Yet with your qualifications, finding a female bug would be no trouble at all. Though I don't understand why you've made this choice, do you really want to drag the babies into suffering with you?"

Vitkay's expression became disapproving. "They are extremely rare, high-grade babies with the best innate talents—true treasures of the Empire. With proper nurturing, their future achievements would be beyond our imagination! If you'll pardon my bluntness, your current circumstances simply cannot provide the babies with the standard of living they deserve. It's truly not suitable for them to continue living with you. But rest assured, we will find suitable foster homes for them. You'll still be able to visit them."

Naiwei was trembling with rage at Vitkay's utterly shameless, bandit-like rhetoric.

He was the babies' biological father—would he ever mistreat them?!

What did the babies need? What would an outsider like him know about it? And what right did he have to stand on some moral high ground, pointing fingers with that pitying look on his face?!

Just because he was an official of the Juvenile Protection Association?

Was this how the Association operated—arbitrarily tearing families apart based on their own whims?

Was material wealth really a necessity for the babies at this point? Had they ever considered how painful and devastating it would be for two-month-old babies to be forcibly separated from their own parent?

This was absolutely absurd!

The angrier he became, the calmer and more rational Naiwei grew. His mind was racing at full speed, countless thoughts and clues weaving together into a coherent thread.

Fragments of the past kept surfacing in his mind. Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him, and he demanded sharply, "Who's your mastermind?!"

Naiwei's sudden question made Vitkay's pupils contract. His words were like a stone thrown into a lake, stirring up the already restless waters of his mind.

Vitkay paused, struggling to maintain the smile on his face. "Mr. Naiwei, what are you talking about? There's no mastermind. We're all acting purely out of sincere concern for the babies."

"Stop making things up. You've all been planning this for a while, haven't you? You went to great lengths to get the babies tested for their grades, seemingly just to find an excuse to take them from me. You were already scheming last time, weren't you? If not for you, I would never have taken the babies to get tested so early. And this time—I explicitly told the doctor bug to keep it confidential and not upload the information yet. But you found out in an instant, and even... arrived at my new address before I did. I've only been here for a few days..."

Naiwei carefully observed Vitkay's expression as he calmly laid out all the anomalies. The more he spoke, the more fluent he became, without a single pause.

As Naiwei spoke, the worker bugs behind Vitkay exchanged uneasy glances, their faces filled with doubt and uncertainty.

Clearly, the few bugs who had simply been following Vitkay's orders also sensed that something was off. One of them weakly asked, "President... is that so? Does President Hai know about this? This seems..." not quite in line with regulations.

Before the last few words could leave his mouth, the worker bug fell silent.

There stood Vitkay, usually so warm and approachable, now staring at him with a completely expressionless face, his gaze indescribably cold, tinged with a hint of menace.

The worker bug shrank back. The vice president before him felt utterly foreign, as if he had never truly known him at all.

According to the proper procedure for stripping custody rights, multiple rounds of investigation and verification were required—this was absolutely not something that could be decided in such a short time.

And most importantly, it required the president's review and signature. But the president was clearly still on an off-world business trip and hadn't returned to the capital star yet. The authenticity of the documents in Vitkay's hands was obvious.

They were just ordinary worker bugs. They had assumed this was an arrangement that the vice president and president had been tracking for a long time. But hearing this male bug's accusations now... it seemed that wasn't the case at all?

It wasn't just him—the other two bugs beside him had also caught onto the suspicious details. Within moments, all of them were having second thoughts.

The crime of abusing public office, especially involving babies and a male bug—that wasn't something they could afford to bear.

"I suggest you all leave immediately, or I will report this to the authorities as a case of baby trafficking. The countdown begins now—ten seconds."

"Ten, nine, eight..."

With Little Black's mechanical warning, the bugs behind Vitkay's face turned pale. They immediately abandoned any thought of staying, some hastily muttering "Sorry, Vice President, I'm leaving first," while others, silently resentful, simply turned and walked away without a word.

After the bugs behind him scattered before his very eyes, Vitkay's composure finally cracked.

He stared at Naiwei in silence, not saying a word. Accompanied by Little Black's cold countdown, his gaze was filled with emotions Naiwei couldn't decipher—complex beyond measure. Just as the countdown was about to end, Vitkay finally stepped back.

He retreated slowly, step by step, until he was out of Little Black's warning range, and only then did he stop.

This retreat seemed to signal a shift in Vitkay's attitude.

Observing the reactions of Vitkay's other colleagues with a cold, detached gaze, Nevi's heart finally settled a little. He looked at Vitkay with disgust and confusion, speaking coldly, one word at a time: "I'll give you one chance. If you're just a pawn of the mastermind, then tell me who's behind this and their purpose, and I'll overlook everything you've done."

With that, Nevi paused, and when he spoke again, his tone was resolute and forceful: "Otherwise, I swear I'll hold you accountable for everything you've done to me and my cubs, no matter what it takes. You'll have to face the wrath of the Male Insect Association and the netizens. I'll give you one minute to think it over. If you don't give me an answer by then, I'll call the police."

It was his first time bluffing by borrowing someone else's authority, and though Nevi's voice trembled with nerves, it worked surprisingly well.

Recalling the storm of public opinion this very person had stirred up not long ago, and then looking at the still-unreleased new intelligent housekeeper standing protectively in front of Nevi, Vitkay was finally hit with deep regret.

He visibly deflated, his entire demeanor drooping. Vitkay was silent for a moment, then spoke before even a minute had passed: "Mr. Naiwei, you're not quite what I imagined. You're sharp and clever."

And far tougher than he'd expected, too.

Nevi looked at Vitkay indifferently, offering no response.

"Forgive me, but I really can't be too direct... Just pretend you haven't noticed anything. With how sharp you are, you'll figure it all out soon enough. Be careful of those around you. As for what that person is after—think about what you've recently turned down." Vitkay said with extreme subtlety.

With that, Vitkay wore a bitter smile, bowed deeply to Nevi, and hurriedly left.

Leaving Nevi standing there, dazed and deep in thought.

Just as Vitkay's figure was about to disappear, a familiar deep voice suddenly rang out from behind Nevi.

"Nevi, I'm back. What are you looking at? Hey? Isn't that a worker bug from the Cub Care Association? Has something happened?"

Nevi turned around and saw Wenoy, who had been out of contact for two days since coming home. He was holding a briefcase, looking travel-worn and full of concern.

Suddenly, Nevi's heart gave a jolt.

*

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Author's note: Thanks to Kongkong and Xiaonü for their mines and grenades (gifts)—I'm truly flattered. I'll work hard to get an extra chapter done this week!

Thank you all so much for your support. I'll keep up the good work!