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| The Beloved Little Mother Insect (LITTLE MOTHER) |
"It's sweet, for you to drink."
The soft voice seemed to still linger in the scorching air, starkly out of place in this barren desert.
The Beast's murky eyes reflected Pearl's figure, a flicker of confusion emerging beneath the dense darkness.
A rich sweetness permeated the nearby air.
The StarCloud Hound's pupils glimmered slightly as its previously gaping maw gradually closed, replaced by a warm tongue lapping water from Pearl's palm.
Unaware that he had just narrowly escaped death's door, Pearl pursed his lips and asked softly, "I-It's very sweet, right?"
The little Artificial Human's voice was light and soft—potentially pleasant, yet hindered by his speech impediment.
He stuttered, but not from birth.
Due to a "flaw" during his creation, Pearl reacted slowly and spoke slowly, and was often getting interrupted. He had never fully expressed his thoughts, resulting in his current halting, disjointed speech.
His volume remained small, a testament to the timidity and sensitivity born from frequent interruptions.
Water cupped in his palm seeped through his fingers, while Mycelium from the StarCloud Hound extended tendrils to catch the falling droplets.
The Beast's tongue—somewhere between rough and supple—thoroughly moistened Pearl's palm. The Artificial Human, who hadn't yet quenched his own thirst, wiped the StarCloud Hound's damp chin with his wrist and habitually whispered, "More, to drink?"
No.
I'm not thirsty.
The Beast's scorching breath blew against Pearl's fingers. It drooped its eyelids and nudged the Artificial Human with its head, driven by a peculiar restlessness where destructive urges and appetite had been suppressed, urging him to drink the water.
But it forgot its head was large, while Pearl was small.
Thus, with that single nudge, the half-crouching little Artificial Human—mouth slightly agape in surprise—toppled over effortlessly and landed flat on his back.
Like a little turtle stuck upside down.
Beast: "..."
Pearl: "..."
[Pfft.]
[Kinda adorable.]
[Scared me for a second—thought the new species was done for.]
[Checking the time, it's almost time when the High-level Narga open the Beast trial grounds.]
[Hope this new species doesn't get mixed up in that... I genuinely think he's weak, not pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger.]
The sender of the barrage comment, whose mind had been filled with peculiar emotions, found their jumping nerves settling back into place after this incident.
Though many Narga members watching the live feed instinctively pressed their hands over their hearts, the separation of screens, light-years, and cosmic dust meant such palpitations were truly rare for the Narga, whose genes were ingrained with coldness.
So rare it felt like the illusion of eating irradiated mushrooms.
Within the frame—
For a moment, both human and Beast fell silent.
The former widened their pale blue eyes, surprise tinged with confusion and bewilderment, while the latter rubbed their forelimbs awkwardly, ultimately taking responsibility for the "accident" they had caused.
The massive StarCloud Hound lowered its head, gripping Pearl's tattered clothes in its mouth to lift him. This time, it restrained its strength even more, nudging Pearl's lower back with its snout and pushing him toward the water's edge.
Pearl pursed his lips, the dimples by his cheeks barely concealed.
Following the large dog's prompting, he groped his way back to crouch by the water source, finally relieving his dryness.
It was already afternoon in the northern region of the Irradiated Wasteland. The light had weakened, and a faint orange-red hue was visible on the horizon.
Nightfall wasn't far off.
After drinking, Pearl was gripped by the waist and lifted by the StarCloud Hound, his slender limbs dangling limply in the Beast's mouth like a young pup.
Despite the readily available "delicacy," the Beast suppressed its innate desires this time.
The StarCloud Hound, single to this day without a mate or offspring, inexplicably—along with the Symbiotic Mycelial Carpet within it—took on the role of a "male mother"—
It bundled up the feeble little Artificial Human and tossed him onto the soft meadow of the desert oasis.
As Pearl struggled to free himself from his own long white hair, the Beast, guided by the Mycelium's information gathering, found several berries and unceremoniously stuffed them all into the arms of this frail youngling.
The berries were sweet.
Just two made Pearl feel his stomach swell.
He clutched the remaining berries and carefully tucking them into the torn, loose hem of his clothes, then reached out to feel for the Beast's head before offering the largest, roundest berry he had picked to its mouth.
Good things are meant to be shared.
The StarCloud Hound Beast disdainfully snorted and knocking the berry from Pearl's hand with a flick of its nose.
"...It fell."
Pearl pouted before leaning forward to feel through the grass, retrieving the berry and holding it close again.
Perhaps finding it amusing, the Beast, like a playful large dog, waited until Pearl had gathered them, then mischievously knocked all the berries from his embrace with its nose.
Rolling—
The bright red berries scattered around Pearl, encircling the porcelain-like Artificial Human; the misbehaving Beast shook its head while emitting a contented rumble from its throat.
Then, it got a poke on the nose from Pearl.
"Bad dog."
There was little reproach in the words; instead, it was like a soft marshmallow, emitting only a faint, fluffy squeak when provoked.
In the desert oasis, the massive StarCloud Hound lay prone with its chin resting on its crossed forepaws and fluffy Mycelium quivering around it, constantly capturing environmental data.
Within its line of sight knelt the Artificial Human that diligently gathering the berries.
The Beast trial grounds, fraught with danger at every turn, had transformed into an adorable fairy-tale world, but such peace would not last long—
The pale orange-red on the distant horizon gradually deepened. As warm hues spread across the desert, two crescent moon shadows emerged against the blue-bleached sky.
The air grew stifling and oppressive. Even the slow-witted Pearl felt uneasy and instinctively moving closer to the Beast.
The Observation Sphere's lens rotated, capturing the changes in the sky.
[Damn, two moon shadows... It's a Radiation Storm!]
[Why is this year's Radiation Storm arriving so early? I remember it usually appears a month after the Beast trial grounds open. This is only the first day!!]
[Tsk, the Beasts are going to go crazy, right?]
[Even if the Beasts go mad, it's just an appetizer for these elite Narga undergoing the trial.]
[This year's Radiation Storm came early, and the Beasts are more ferocious. This might help the advanced Narga end their frenzy period sooner! And with the Empire's military parade approaching, we Royal Guards are waiting for Lord Olovikin's return!]
...
The arrival of the Radiation Storm made the barrage comments grow chaotic.
Countdown numbers starting from 10 appeared on the light screens standing in various military districts of the Narga Empire.
Ten, nine, eight, seven...
When the silver-white numbers flashed to "0," thunderous roars erupted from multiple directions across the Irradiated Wasteland, accompanied by eerie vibrations.
The Observation Spheres deployed across different regions witnessed all anomalies—
The advanced Narga who had been waiting on the wasteland shed their handsome, elegant masks. Their restrictive military uniforms tore apart under sharp Exoskeletons, and their full muscles swelling to reveal the most primitive and wild forms of their respective insect species.
Bizarre spines, scythe-like forelimbs, and compound eyes with inorganic coldness...
While Narga in the interstellar era retained minimal insectoid characteristics, they were unrelated to earthly insects. They were a new race sculpted by the magnificent cosmic mother, possessing both highly evolved humanoid forms and primal forms, which can be called perfect war machines.
They inherited the Hive Will that required guidance and domination, with plunder and slaughter etched into their genetic code.
Even after the Narga rose to become one of the five major interstellar empires under Star Alliance treaties, their nature remained unchanged. Coldness and violent pursuit were rooted in their souls, and their long lives yielding only to the Insect Mother—their one and only sovereign.
But the Narga had been without a sovereign for too long.
Thus, they held nothing back.
In this moment, absurd and bizarre alien aesthetics were interpreted to their extreme.
They appeared more terrifying and fierce than the Beasts, yet this provoked thunderous cheers from Narga members across all military districts.
They were cheering for the strongest and chiefs of their respective insect species.
This violent carnival belonging to the advanced Narga had officially begun.
...
Pearl, blind to the visual world, curled up beside the Beast.
Unaware of what was happening, fear and anxiety gripped him as he tightly clutched the fur of the large dog beside him.
His beautiful, pale face looked utterly pitiful.
Thus, the iron-blooded Narga watching from beyond the screens felt that peculiar heartbeat once more.
The Narga members who had just been cheering for the elite among elites, the males among males, gradually fell silent. Their gazes withdrawn from other screen sections, they found themselves irresistibly drawn to the footage from Observation Sphere No. 8.
They stared at this "new species" that remained enigmatic to this day, possessing a peculiar allure.
So young, so fragile—such a beautiful life perhaps ought to be properly nurtured.
Even...
How could he wear such a lost and vulnerable expression? Such emotions shouldn't belong to him! He should have been born to be loved, cherished like a precious gem, protected, and offered all the finest treasures across the entire galaxy!
That's how it should have been!
The pupils of the Narga member's humanoid form contracted to pinpoints, faintly revealing a fervor even they struggled to recognize. Vague, surging impulses lay buried deep within their veins, waiting for the right moment to break through.
But before that breakthrough could occur, the radiation storm arriving days ahead of schedule wouldn't spare any life on this planet—
At this moment, affected by radiation, the StarCloud Hound symbiotic with the Mycelial Carpet emitted pained gasps. Its eyes were pitch black without any light and fangs bared, radiating terrifying ferocity.
Hunger was amplified infinitely, and the scent of fresh flesh driving it mad.
Pearl's ears twitched slightly, catching the distinctly unusual breathing sounds.
His intuition told him to stay away, but the little Artificial Human who wanted to repay a single kindness tenfold bit his lip.
He hesitated.
Pearl suddenly remembered that stray dog—how it used to snarl and growl at him initially, its dark eyes completely filled with blackness. But when he tried to touch and embrace the dog, it would quickly calm down, even extending its soft tongue to lick his fingers and the back of his hand.
Perhaps... he could try too?
Pearl licked his somewhat dry lips, heart pounding wildly.
He couldn't do anything—weak, burdensome; this useless defective product was just as the auction house owner said, had no reason to exist.
Having been verbally diminished since birth, Pearl licked his lips, wanting to be bold just once.
Bracing against the Beast's heavy breathing, he squeezed closer as his trembling hand finally gently landing amidst the Beast's fur. "Are... are you okay?"
The StarCloud Hound instantly bared its fangs.
When he was knocked to the ground, he crush the berries and his arm scrape against the rocks until blood seeped out, Pearl was afraid. Yet he always remembered how the big dog had led him to water and found fruits for him to eat.
He had received so little kindness that even the smallest goodness was enough to make the poor little fool offer everything he had.
Good and bad, concern and fear wrestled within him, but before any outcome could be determined, Pearl had already followed his instincts and made a choice—
Trembling, he gently grasped the dark fur beneath the Beast's neck while tightly shutting those pale blue eyes that couldn't see anything.
As if waiting for the guillotine to fall.
The shadow of the Beast's fangs descended and the scent of blood seeping from the Artificial Human's arm carried by the wind and sand into the distance.
Meanwhile, in the distant desert—
The high-ranking Narga discarded the remnants of the Giant Sand Scorpion's head he had torn off. He extended his forked, slender tongue to lick the serrated black-blue scales on his forelimbs. His compound eyes was cold, frozen with frost.
The release of his primal form, along with the venting of bloodlust and violence, brought Hui, whose mental state neared collapse, a sigh of satisfaction.
Just as he prepared to seek his next prey, his acute olfactory cells detected something in the dry wind.
Sweet, like... honey?
So fragrant...
Hui's pupils instantly contracted to pinpoints, radiating a cold, intense craving.
He tilted his head as his profound gaze shifting until it finally locked onto the northern region of the Irradiated Wasteland.
Found it.
— In that direction.
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