Chapter 72

Chapter 72

"Wuwuwu, Papa, wuwuwu..."

Inside a speeding hovercar, a pair of plump cubs, one black and one white, huddled together in the back seat, trembling and clinging to each other.

Perhaps because the cubs were too young, they hadn't been restrained.

But the rickety hovercar rattled and lurched along, making the cubs bounce and jostle in their seats.

Bai Bai and Mei Mei instinctively pressed themselves even tighter against each other.

Bai Bai, overwhelmed by fear, couldn't hold back his sobs. He cried until his eyes were red, looking wronged and pitiful.

Mei Mei was terrified too, but being a bit bigger than Bai Bai, he did his best to hold his brother close, letting him hide behind him, trying to shield Bai Bai with his not-exactly-broad body.

Bai Bai couldn't be bothered about the grime now. He clung tightly to Mei Mei's arm, as if he could draw some sense of safety from it.

The two cubs, not yet a year old, nestled together—a sight that would make any bug's heart ache with pity.

The big, hulking female sitting in the front passenger seat, with a scar across his brow and a menacing look, couldn't stop craning his neck to peek at the cubs behind him.

He seemed to have zero clue how scary he looked, not noticing at all that with every turn of his head, the terror in the cubs' eyes only intensified.

Seeing Bai Bai bawling so miserably, the scarred female couldn't help but speak to the black-haired female in the driver's seat beside him, "Boss, this little male cub keeps crying. What if he cries his eyes out? Should we comfort him?"

The black-haired female glanced back, saw that the delicate-looking little male cub was indeed sobbing miserably, and paused. "Then you go comfort him."

The scarred female happily agreed, but just as he turned, a thought struck him. He looked back, confused. "Boss, how do you comfort a cub?"

The black-haired female's expression froze a little, and he snapped, "I don't have any kids myself, how the hell would I know? Just mess with him a little, give him something tasty or fun to shut him up!"

The scarred female's eyes lit up in understanding. He nodded eagerly and started digging around the car for something usable. But after digging around, he came up empty, and in the end, he pulled out his own hardtack to offer the cubs.

The black-haired female caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye, and his face went black. He snapped, "You dumbass, look at what you're holding—it's so hard I can't even bite it. Can a cub eat that? Do you even have a brain?!"

With that, the black-haired female pulled a few fruit candies from his pocket one-handed and chucked them at the scarred female.

The scarred female didn't get mad. He just grinned dumbly, thanked his boss, and cheerfully turned to the two cubs, candies in hand.

He forced what he thought was a friendly smile and said in a squeaky, baby-talk voice, "Aww, sweet little boy, please stop crying, okay? Uncle's got some candy for you! And you, little black one, want some too?"

But the second those words left his mouth, the cubs shook even harder.

Bai Bai cried louder, and Mei Mei's eyes also glazed over with a fearful sheen.

The scarred female's terrifying face plus his words hit the cubs like a ton of bricks.

Ever since that mix-up at Mei Mei's hundred-day banquet—even after finding out that female wasn't actually a cub-snatcher—Nevi still got chills thinking about Mei Mei thoughtlessly taking food from a stranger. After that, Nevi had given both Bai Bai and Mei Mei thorough safety lessons and run through multiple practice scenarios.

Right now, the scarred female's behavior was basically screaming to Bai Bai and Mei Mei: he's a bad bug, trying to trick them with candy, and if they fall for it, they'll never see their papa again!

The scarred female slunk back, defeated. He gently tossed the fruit candies beside the cubs and coaxed softly, "Don't be scared, little ones. Uncle's not a bad bug, so quit crying."

But the result was the cubs shrinking back even further in fear. The few candies sat scattered on the seat, totally untouched.

The scarred female shrank back, confused. "Do the cubs not like fruit candies?"

The black-haired female beside him snorted, ruthlessly calling him out. "You're too scary-looking. Just stay away from the cubs, and they won't be scared."

The scarred female felt hurt and started to argue back, but when he turned to look, he was stunned to find the cubs had actually calmed down a bit.

That realization shut the scarred female up completely.

But after a while, he bounced back and couldn't help sneaking peeks at the cubs again, his eyes full of adoration.

"Boss, do we really have to hand these two cubs over to the orphanage? Can't we just keep them? Two such adorable, beautiful cubs..." The scarred female leaned close to his boss and muttered quietly.

The black-haired female shoved him away, warning, "Are you out of your mind? These two cubs are obviously not your average kids. We're about to leave—stay low in these final days and don't cause trouble!"

The scarred female shrank back but stubbornly countered, "Two cubs this beautiful—who knows what they'd face in an orphanage. Every orphanage in the empire is rotten to the core, even on the capital star! They'd be better off living with us on the starship—free, well-fed, and clothed. At least we'd raise them properly! And Boss, don't you like them too?"

At the mention of orphanages, the scarred female's eyes burned with indignation. Having grown up in one himself, he knew all too well the darkness and misery within. His narrow, limited experiences had made him stubbornly believe that no orphanage was a good place.

Though his appearance was rough, he genuinely adored cubs. But with his status and circumstances, he would never have a male of his own, nor could he ever save up enough contribution points for artificial insemination. That meant he would never have a child of his own.

Now, seeing these two well-behaved, adorable twin cubs, he had to admit they were the perfect cubs he'd always imagined. He was utterly smitten.

The scarred female's final soul-searching question made the black-haired female hesitate.

Seeing this, the scarred female's eyes lit up, and he quickly added, "Boss, let's just take them! We've saved up enough money—we can leave early. As for trouble, ha, we're space pirates! Trouble is the last thing we're afraid of. Once we're back on our starship, no one will ever find us!"

The scarred female chuckled, his carefree words revealing a shocking truth.

They were space pirates.

They had no registered identities. They'd infiltrated this place with an employer's help to complete a job, but after the mission was done, the employer had gone back on their word, paying only half of the remaining fee.

The employer had arrogantly assumed they wouldn't dare cause trouble on the capital star.

And while they were furious, they truly had no choice but to swallow the loss.

But being vengeful by nature, they'd still caused the employer some minor trouble.

Short on funds and unable to afford fuel, they'd been secretly taking small jobs on the capital star to scrape together money.

Kidnapping these two cubs and delivering them to a destination was their final job.

As space pirates who'd grown up wild and rough, they had a shred of morality—but only a shred. They worried about the cubs being mistreated in an orphanage, yet never once considered returning them to their family.

At the end of the day, as space pirates, their own desires always came first.

And right now, they'd set their sights on those two plump, adorable cubs in the back.

Listening to the scarred female's persuasion, the black-haired female turned to look at the two chubby cubs. His eyes flickered, and in the end, he was tempted.

"Fine. Let's ditch this vehicle now and leave ahead of schedule as planned."

The black-haired female acted swiftly, already slowing the vehicle and turning it around.

"Ahhh, yes! Boss, we've got cubs now! From today on, they're new members of our Thunderstorm Pirate Crew! Hehe, I'll message Old Five to prepare some supplies for the cubs right away. Haha, that guy loves cubs too—when he sees these two adorable little ones, he'll be over the moon! This haul is amazing—we got a sturdy little black female cub and a gorgeous little male cub..."

The scarred female, thrilled that his boss had agreed, excitedly glanced back and pulled out his communicator to start sending encrypted messages.

Hmph, he was NOT a little black cub!

In the back seat, Mei Mei widened his round eyes and puffed out his cheeks in indignation.

But then he pouted, his eyes reddening like he was about to cry.

The two female bugs up front weren't bothering to lower their voices, clearly assuming these tiny grubs couldn't understand a thing.

So both Bai Bai and Mei Mei caught every word.

Mei Mei couldn't catch everything they said, but he got that these two big meanies seemed to want to take them away, somewhere unknown, and that they'd be their kids from now on.

They'd never see their daddy again.

At that thought, Mei Mei couldn't hold it in anymore—big ol' tears spilled out of his eyes.

Waaah waaah waaah, he didn't want to be their kid, he wanted his daddy!

Mei Mei sniffled, his pudgy belly jiggling, and wiped the tears from his eyes with his chubby little mitts.

He looked at his brother crying messily beside him, and his grubby little hand gave Bai Bai's head a comforting pat, leaving little dirt streaks behind.

He pressed his head right up to his brother's ear and whispered, "Bai Bai, don't be scared. I'll get us outta here!"

Bai Bai sniffled and squeaked a tiny "okay," not daring to say more—the scary female bug up front kept glancing at them.

After who knows how long, just as the rocking hovercar was about to put Mei Mei to sleep, it finally stopped.

Mei Mei blinked and snapped wide awake.

By now, both female bugs had gotten out, about to open the back doors.

Mei Mei wrapped his pudgy arms around Bai Bai, sneakily popping out his wings.

Not long ago, Mei Mei had just figured out how to tuck his wings away.

Mei Mei took a deep breath, as if psyching himself up.

Brave Mei Mei, no fear!

The moment the door swung open, Mei Mei gathered all his strength and, clutching Bai Bai, zipped right past the female bug's outstretched arm and flew straight up into the sky!

"Damn, that little black grub—how is he flying?! He's this big and can barely walk steady, but he can already fly? My kid, stop right there..."

"Fuck, quit your yapping and grab them!"

Hearing those bad guys panicking behind him, Mei Mei strained so hard his little black face flushed red.

His pair of fair, fluffy wings were nearly whirring with speed!

Yiya!

Mei Mei was taking his brother home!

*

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Author's note: So scary—those little grubs almost became space pirates roaming the starfields~

Thank you all so much for your support! I'll keep working hard!