The Strange Male Insect Cub

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At the dinner table, Papar xing looked at Wei’an, who was nestled in his male father’s arms, holding a bottle in both hands and sucking intently, feeling not only curious but also itchy.

“Does it taste good?” His voice was very gentle, making anyone who heard it feel comfortable.

With a soft pop, Wei’an took the pacifier out of his mouth and handed the bottle to him. “Xingxing, you drink.”

The milk Wei’an was drinking had been replaced with formula specially adjusted for his body after his first birthday, and even the flavor had been carefully crafted. It was quite good.

By this time, other cubs had long been weaned, but only Wei’an, who was reluctant to stop, was indulged by Alhandra.

Papar Xing didn’t mind Wei’an calling him by his name like that.

He refused the milk bottle that Wei’an handed over. He was just curious after watching him drink so happily, but that didn’t mean he wanted to try it.

By the time they finished breakfast and had rested enough, Krillochuan and Shang You, who had almost pulled an all-nighter last night, finally climbed out of the virtual cabin.

The little guys had only fallen asleep in the middle of the night, and now, yawns seemed endless as they woke up.

“You didn’t sleep enough, why don’t you continue sleeping~” Wei’an looked at them with wide, confused eyes.

Shang You scooped a mouthful of food and stuffed it into his mouth. Hearing Wei’an’s question, he chewed twice haphazardly and swallowed, “We’re going to the amusement park.”

“I want to go too~” Wei’an stood up from his male father’s embrace, raising his hand.

“Of course, we’re all going together,” said Krillochuan, who was busy eating but found time to respond.

Wei’an, overjoyed at the response, flashed a row of tiny baby teeth. He slipped out of his male father’s arms and went to Papar Xing’s side, tugging at the hem of his clothes with his chubby little hand. “Let’s go together~”

“Alright,” Papar Xing pinched his chubby cheek, his skin soft and smooth, making Papar Xing want to take him home and raise him.

After finishing their meal and getting enough rest, the little cubs, along with the big male Papar Xing, lined up neatly on the lawn and began practicing with their small wooden swords.

Papar Xing didn’t find it childish at all, he smiled as he earnestly copied their movements, even shouting along with them as they practiced.

At first, he didn’t think much of it, but as time passed, his smile gradually faded. His golden eyes fixed on the smallest figure standing at the front, thoughts swirling in his mind.

Rather than saying that a male Zerg’s spiritual power could suppress and soothe EY matter, it would be more accurate to say that EY matter was the best nourishment for male Zerg spiritual power.

From birth, a male Zerg’s spiritual power is already at the upper limit of what their body can bear at that time. This is why nearly half of male cubs die young.

Because from birth, their mental power will continue to plunder the EY substances in the air to become nutrients, allowing themselves to grow crazily.

Therefore, male cubs must be raised by male Zerg, as only they can completely prevent the male cub’s spiritual power from independently drawing EY matter from the air before they have fully mastered it.

Born at their peak, any increase in spiritual power after birth comes at the cost of the male Zerg’s life force, causing the color of their wings to gradually dim.

It’s like a water balloon that can only hold 100 milliliters of water, but you keep pouring in more. Eventually, the balloon bursts with a “pop.”

The biggest threat to a male Zerg’s life is the inability of their body to grow in sync with their spiritual power.

However, just now, Papar Xing noticed that his body was undergoing a very slow change. This change might be imperceptible to female Zerg, but to a male Zerg who has mastered spiritual power to the utmost, it was easy to detect.

As for whether this change was good or bad?

Papar Xing glanced at Alhandra, who was quietly watching them from a distance. If it were something bad, Alhandra wouldn’t be this calm.

In that instant, Papar Xing’s spiritual web spread across the lawn, like tiny eyes closely observing Wei’an’s every move and the changes in his surroundings.

As time passed, Papar Xing realized that while EY matter was being drawn into Wei’an’s body, some other substance was being expelled.

And as they swung their wooden swords, this expelled substance, drawn by a strange force, entered their bodies.

In other words, the energy that could strengthen male Zerg’s physical constitution also came from EY matter, they just couldn’t absorb it.

How ridiculous!

A tear silently fell from Papar Xing’s eye, landing on the grass below.

In the end, the thing that harmed them and the thing that could save them were one and the same.

The Zerg had searched for this answer for thousands of years, with countless male Zergs dying with regret, only to find the solution in this tiny male cub.

At that moment, no words could describe the sorrow he felt inside.

He stood there quietly, letting the gentle breeze tousle his hair.

…

“He’s still young. The only thing he can do now is improve the physical constitution of these few male cubs,” Alhandra said, standing by the window, watching Wei’an below, who was diligently packing things up with his little legs, preparing for their outing.

Alhandra had raised Wei’an personally, little by little, and of course, he could sense the differences and peculiarities.

What Alhandra didn’t know was that for Wei’an, the more Zerg there were around, the better.

The more Zerg there were, the more he could absorb the black mist without limit, and then transfer the red mist to other Zerg.

If the red mist wasn’t transferred into another Zerg’s body, it would return to the atmosphere.

The next time he absorbed black mist, the red mist would be more concentrated, and the barely-formed blade inside Wei’an would stop working, leaving him helplessly craving sweets to soothe the bitterness.

Even with Shang You and the others around, there was a limit to how much red mist they could absorb. So every time they swung their wooden swords, Wei’an would end up crying with teary eyes from the bitter taste.

“Yes, I know.” Papar Xing smiled softly. “He’s just one Zerg. No matter how special or favored by the Zerg God he is, he can’t carry the entire Zerg race alone. Just knowing there’s hope and direction is already good enough. The rest is up to us.”

Alhandra turned to look at him. Papar Xing still wore a gentle smile, but his words were as resolute as stone, “I will spend my whole life accomplishing this.”

“And if you can’t?” Alhandra’s question was cold and commanding.

“If I can’t, there will be other male Zerg. If not this generation, then the next. Haven’t male Zerg been doing just that all these years?”

The male Zerg in front of him was only nine years old, still within the range of high mortality for male Zerg, yet he stubbornly wanted to use his frail back to support the future of male Zerg.

After a long while, Alhandra patted his shoulder. “I told your male father long ago not to let Uncle Vash raise you. He made you understand too much too early, and that’s not necessarily a good thing for you.”

Thinking of the unreliable male father, Papa Xing smiled and said, “I’m glad I wasn’t brought up by the male father.”

“Let’s go, the little one is eager to head to the amusement park.”

As soon as they got downstairs, Wei’an, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed over and hugged Alhandra’s leg, complaining in a babyish voice, “Male father, why did you just come down? Wei’an has been waiting for so long~”

Alhandra lifted him up and held him in his arms, “You couldn’t wait for just a little while?”

Wei’an giggled, rubbing his little head against his shoulder, “I want to go out and play~”

“Alright, alright, let’s go out and play, we’re leaving now.”

Instead of taking Wei’an and the others to a specialized male cub amusement park, Alhandra opted for something else. In his mind, the male cub park, due to the scarcity of male cubs, lacked any real fun atmosphere.

What do the little cubs go out for? To enjoy the lively and fun environment.

So they went to the largest cub amusement park on the capital planet.

As soon as they stepped inside, word quickly spread among the females in the park that six male cubs had arrived.

Even though they were excited, having seen many big events, they suppressed their reactions, so as not to disturb the male cubs’ experience, pretending as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Meanwhile, they kept a close eye on the situation, just in case anything went wrong.

That’s the reason the park informs the females about the male cubs’ arrival. No matter how carefully planned things are, there are always moments of oversight, and that’s when the females present step in to keep an eye on things.

Papar Xing, sensing the females’ whispered discussions, paused for a moment. He thought to himself, he shouldn’t still be considered a male cub, right?

Noticing his thoughts, Alhandra raised an eyebrow, lightly pushing Wei’an, who was in his arms, forward, “Go play!”

Papar Xing glanced at the cubs, all only as tall as his waist, then looked back at him. When did he fail to notice this uncle had such a mischievous side?

“Xingxing play~” Wei’an, still in his arms, tugged at his sleeve impatiently, pointing ahead.

Shang You and the others, upon entering, immediately ran off to choose the starships they’d pilot later.

Papar Xing patted his head, “Let’s go play something else. This isn’t suitable for you.”

“Wanna play~”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah~”

“Alright then!” He gently patted Wei’an’s head with a soft smile, “But no crying.”

“Wei’an won’t cry~”

It was a low-stakes game similar to a space battle. Each little cub piloted a starship and, upon ascending to the skies, launched attacks at each other. Of course, the cannonballs were harmless, thick paintballs.

Papar Xing couldn’t bring himself to join in, so he stood by and watched.

Wei’an cautiously operated his starship, ascending into the air, when a purple paintball hit his window.

“Oops~” he exclaimed, panicking as he was continuously attacked. His little hands flailed on the control panel in a frenzy.

In the eyes of the others, the small starship that was suddenly attacked was flying up and down in panic.

At that moment, Shang You’s starship swooped in, smashing through and stopping in front of Wei’an’s ship. As he shielded him from incoming cannonballs, Shang You rolled up his sleeves and began launching counterattacks with fierce momentum, “Wei’an, don’t be afraid. it’s over if I can’t hit him.”

Seeing his friend come to his aid, Wei’an immediately calmed down, “Not afraid~”

The male cub on the other side, who had launched the initial attack, now found himself in a fierce battle with Shang You, with both starships covered in messy splatters of paint.

Now, having regained his composure, Wei’an puffed out his cheeks, found a spot, and began furiously pressing the fire button.

The opposing male cub was already struggling against Shang You, and with Wei’an now joining in, he shouted in frustration, “That’s not fair, you two!”

Shang You, caught up in the moment, stuck his head out and yelled back, “When have we ever played fair, huh? Ugh…” He promptly pulled his head back and spat out a mouthful of paint.

Wei’an, seeing this, was so mad that his baby voice cracked, “You sneak attacked~”

“Bleh bleh bleh…” The other male cub, smugly sticking out his tongue, had taken the opportunity to fire a paintball directly at Shang You’s face.

Fuming, Wei’an charged forward in his starship and crashed straight into the opposing ship with a loud “bang.”

The female cubs watching from below had never expected that today’s battle would be started by an adorable male cub. Originally just there to watch their own cubs play, they now found themselves unexpectedly thrilled.

Up in the sky, Wei’an and Shang You were being surrounded and attacked by male cubs summoned by the other side. Fortunately, Krillochuan arrived just in time with Cole, Naiman, and Shang Yan to assist them.

The battle was intense, with little cubs shouting, “Charge!”, “Hit them!”, and “Push in from the side!”

On the ground, Alhandra watched with interest, recording the whole scene. This was all part of growing up, something worth keeping for fond memories later.

The aerial battle grew more chaotic, until eventually, all the little cubs, losing track of friend and foe, ended up in a full-on brawl.

Standing below, Papar Xing softly smiled as he activated a shield, protecting himself from the splashes of colorful paint falling from above.

What Alhandra and Papar Xing didn’t expect was that even after Wei’an’s starship crashed and he fell onto the safety net, he wasn’t scared like they had imagined. Instead, his face, now covered in multicolored paint, beamed as he sweetly said, “That was fun~”

Alhandra, holding him up by the back of his collar, gave him a little shake, looking a bit disdainful, “You look ugly.”

“Not ugly~” Wei’an turned around and saw Shang You, Krillochuan, Cole, and the others with their faces all splattered in black and red paint. He opened his little mouth and uttered a single word, “Ugly~”

Upon hearing that, Shang You’s eyebrows shot up. He immediately pulled out a mirror from his terminal and placed it in front of him, raising his voice, “Who’s Ugly?”

Looking at his own colorful little face in the mirror, Wei’an bashfully covered his face with his hands, his muffled voice saying, “Everyone’s ugly~”

Tsk, he really wanted to take him home and raise him!

Papar Xing watched this scene, smiling to himself.

Alhandra glanced over at him, and Papar Xing looked up to meet his gaze, “Is uncle getting ready to return to Kato Star?”

“I’ll take Wei’an back with me,” Alhandra quickly cut off his intentions.

Thwarted, Papar Xing tried a different approach, “Hmm, does Wei’an still need an enlightener? I can share the worries for uncle!”

This kid wasn’t going to give up easily.

“Bring your own living expenses,” he said coldly.

“Of course, I won’t cause you any trouble.”

“Heh.”

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