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| The Beloved Little Mother Insect (LITTLE MOTHER) |
The gravel was leveled and the dead branches cleared away.
A path that was originally uneven had been meticulously swept by the flexible tail hooks and sharp pincers of the High-level Narga, awaiting the New King's footsteps.
Pearl had no clue what was happening in the world beyond his sight.
He simply felt his way while using the tips of his feet as a guide, until he completely stepped into the dimness where two enormous shadows intersected.
The chaotic murmurs that had echoed in his mind suddenly fell silent.
Uneasy, Pearl tilted his head slightly, feeling somewhat at a loss.
It was too quiet.
He couldn't even hear the breathing of the one pleading for help anymore.
Pearl whispered, "Are... are you still there?"
He feared this was a prank.
Pearl had experienced many such pranks before.
Back when he had just gone blind, he would grope along the walls, waiting for his stray dog to return at the auction house's back door.
At that time, mischievous brats from the black market would mimic pitiful cat or dog cries, luring him away from the familiar alleyways.
They would circle around him, push his shoulders, tug his long hair, and laugh, calling him stupid and gullible, a fool who never learned.
But Pearl was afraid—what if it really was his dog?
When they saw him on the verge of tears and frantically asking where the dog was, the ringleader would condescendingly curse him as "no fun," "crybaby," or "little stutterer," then shove him into the auction house alley, stuff the dog into his arms, and run off laughing.
Pearl didn't like pranks.
But if being bullied meant the dog came back safely, Pearl thought, then he could endure it.
And now? Was this a prank too?
Just as fear crept into Pearl's heart and he prepared to step back, the previously vanished heavy panting returned.
Relieved that he hadn't been tricked, Pearl let out a small sigh and mustered the courage to take another step forward.
Then—
Thump!
Pearl froze, his head having bumped into "a wall." Slowly, he raised a hand to rub his slightly sore forehead.
Within seconds, a faint red mark bloomed on the Artificial Human's snow-white brow.
Ega, who hadn't expected the Little Mother Insect to bump headfirst into his pincer, was equally stunned.
Mother's skin... so soft and tender...
His pincer, not tensed for combat, relaxed its force. Unlike its battle-hardened state, the scales and cells transmitted the joy of being touched by the Mother Insect up close, filling the pincer's owner with envy so intense he nearly ground his sharp mouthparts to dust.
Why couldn't he be one of those scales?
Hui was the first to react from the side, emitting a reproachful hiss as if scolding Ega for his carelessness.
The small Artificial Human covering his head let out a soft "ah."
Just that single sound immediately silenced the two enormous monsters, who dared not make another noise.
Pearl rubbed his forehead and groped around with an outstretched hand.
Until his palm pressed against a cool pincer limb and gradually feeling his way to the highest point he could reach—even standing on tiptoe with his arm and fingers fully extended, he couldn't measure the full height of the one seeking help.
"...So tall!"
The small Artificial Human expressed astonished admiration, but the next moment he thought of the equally tall and sturdy Big Dog.
Pearl's expression darkened briefly, but he quickly rallied his spirits and carefully rubbed against the cool surface beneath his palm. "Wh-what should I do? Are you injured?"
Knowing he stuttered and fearing it might annoy the one seeking help, Pearl kept his words brief and somewhat fragmented.
This question actually stunned the High-level Narga in their confused state.
After biological evolution, the Narga bodies could be described as steel armor, with injuries from ordinary causes accompanied by superhuman recovery capabilities. External healing devices were even inferior to their own cellular regeneration—as long as they weren't dead, most severely injured Narga People could return to lively activity after just two days of rest.
And High-level Narga were even more exceptional.
Whether Ega or Hui, they were both top-tier powerhouses of the Narga Hivemind Imperium. Though trying to kill each other moments before, their wounds had mostly healed within a few breaths. If not for the lingering strong scent of blood, no one would likely believe they had been injured at all.
But... Mother wanted to help them...
This was Mother after all...
They must satisfy Mother.
The instinct of male creatures to curry favor with their desired ones was deeply engraved in the High-level Narga's nature.
Without needing extensive communication, Ega raised his tail stinger and mercilessly used the tip to reopen his mostly healed wound; Hui lifted his pincer limb and used his mouthparts to tear off newly grown scales.
Everyone wanted to receive the Mother's compassion and care.
Thus, taking advantage of their pitiful little Mother's blindness and naivety, they crafted lies, pretending to be weaklings in need of pity and attention.
The scent of blood flowing around them seemed to grow stronger again.
Before Pearl could investigate carefully, a section of cool sensation brushed against his arm. As his hand moved downward, he felt his palm become completely soaked.
The wound beneath his hand was so long it alarmed Pearl, making his fingers tremble slightly.
Yet the injured giant seemed completely unconcerned, only emitting deep breaths while carefully brushing this thick tail section against the Artificial Human's waist and subtly coiling around it.
The ambitious offspring thoroughly marked the Mother with their scent.
Pearl sensed a feeling of being needed.
Pursing his lips, his heart swelled with emotion. After a brief hesitation, he gently pulled on the edge of the giant's tail—
Of course, the tall black monster cooperated fully. When the Mother Insect reached out to grasp it, he actively raised his tail, creating the illusion that Pearl could actually move him.
Pearl wanted to take the big guys to the water source to clean their wounds.
But with only his left hand holding the edge of the tail hook, he forgot there were two offspring waiting for their "mother's" attention.
Hui: Feeling wronged.jpg
After taking just one step, Pearl felt something cold and hard block his waist.
—It was the serrated hooks on Hui's forelimbs.
Those hooks capable of tearing apart Beasts were now gentle as they merely acted as barriers, enveloping the petite Artificial Human within their shadow.
Hui, known as the "Cunning Fox Sage" within the Narga Empire, held his breath and pushed his massive forelimb toward Pearl's right hand, adopting a "I won't move unless you hold me" rogue attitude.
Ega, who had already enjoyed the privilege of having his tail hook held, silently clicked his mandibles, sending a threatening signal to his kind.
But how could Hui possibly be intimidated?
Almost the instant the two High-level Narga's hostility emerged, Pearl vaguely sensed something.
Without even having time to think, he instinctively reached out and grasped the pincer limb on his right before stammering: "I-I didn't forget you!"
The little Artificial Human, who had naturally mastered the skill of balancing attention, raised both hands. The massive tail hook and pincer limb both rose and swayed according to his will, never exerting any force in Pearl's palms.
Pearl: "We'll hold both."
...It was like a kindergarten child trying to lead two difficult adults to play.
The finest ingredients often require the simplest cooking methods, and the rivalry between offspring for favor only needs a small gesture from the Mother Insect to resolve.
On the barren desert, the slender little Artificial Human walked in the middle.
With both hands half-raised, his narrow palms held only about one-thousandth of the High-level Narga's body surface area, creating a bizarre contrast that seemed to belong to different dimensions.
Extending upward from the black and dark blue limbs in Pearl's palms were towering behemoths standing seven meters tall, one on each side, blocking out the sky and appearing like gods of slaughter.
Yet these very same gods of slaughter, who had once fought to the death over a single berry, were now carefully crouching down—one raising its tail hook, and the other lowering its pincer limb—to ensure they could be held by the petite Mother Insect's hands.
Bizarre yet somehow heartwarming.
Like a distorted fairy tale variation, the story of a miniature prince and terrifying giant beasts.
Pearl's sense of direction wasn't particularly sharp, but the two Narga beside him knew the way.
When they heard the Little Mother Insect slowly say he wanted to take them to a place with water, without Pearl needing to determine the direction, the two giant beasts "holding" the Little Mother Insect slightly adjusted their course and brought Pearl back to the oasis.
The desert's rare lake was exceptionally clear. The two massive Narga People crouched by the lakeside, their enormous shadows covering the limited oasis space, frightening away every Beast from the area.
Meanwhile, Pearl, surrounded by these "terrifying" beings, remained completely unaware.
To this day, he only thought the two big guys were tall, but just ordinarily tall—
Perhaps like the security personnel he'd seen at auction houses before, around six feet or six-foot-six, tall and muscular.
Of course, Pearl had never imagined that the two big guys he was holding hands with actually stood seven meters tall.
By the lakeshore, the busy little Artificial Human tore off half of his hem, dipped it in clear water, and carefully wiped the wounds on Ega and Hui's bodies.
From the matte black tail stinger to the deep blue pincers, each was icy cold and hard, and covered in fine, dense scales—
The former was long and curved, and felt extremely slippery while the tail stinger alone measured at least five meters, but to avoid frightening the tender New King, Ega extended only one-fifth of it, making himself appear small and harmless.
The latter was relatively rough and robust, studded with protruding serrations that each wider than Pearl's palm yet razor-sharp. Hui curled them inward into a tire-like shape to prevent scratching Pearl's fragile skin.
Under their "disguise," the blind Pearl could only feel the cold, thick long tail and a seemingly endless arc-shaped section.
With limited knowledge of the outside world, Pearl tilted his head, piecing together fragments from his memory, which prompted him to whisper in confusion:
"So, are you a snake, and... and a snail?"
The extra-large mutated kind.
Cold, thick long tail = snake
Seemingly endless arc = snail
It seemed... logically sound?
Ega, the top assassin of the Narga Empire that were known as the Empire's Dagger and Chief of the Stinger Scorpion Unit: ?
Hui, the Chief of the Order Alliance who governs the Narga Empire's upper echelons and nicknamed as Cunning Fox Sage: ?
Yes, Mother, we are.
Whatever Mother says goes.
Sorry, Mother, we only found out today that we're actually snakes and snails.
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