228 The Knell for You Was Rung by Your Own Hands [Four-in-One, Requesting Monthly Votes!]

Why is Gloria’s magic form a cat?

This is a question.

Gloria claims she chose a cat form simply because she likes cats. But is a magic form really such a trivial thing? The magic form of the Archbishop of the Gewu Star is a treant with a halo above its head... was that just because he likes trees?

Lu Chen suspects two possibilities for Gloria’s cat form. First, her true form is a cat-girl. Second, her rank as a phantom demon is so high that she can manifest any magic form she desires.

The question is, why has Kundi Augustus been so fixated on Gloria?

After careful thought, Lu Chen realizes it is very possible that the *Justice Hunter* was indeed the culprit who pursued Gloria, ultimately causing her ship to crash. Although Gloria’s exact crash site after an emergency jump was unpredictable, one could roughly narrow down the range; as long as they were in the vicinity, it was highly likely they would go to the Roguel star system to resupply.

In this light, he has this rooster-man to thank for his encounter with Gloria.

The issue remains: why was he tracking her?

"Do you know Gloria’s true identity?"

Augustus’s spiritual sense flickered, and he said cautiously, "Although I am not yet certain, I have obtained many top-secret clues... She is no simple witch. Sooner or later, she will drag you into the abyss... Rescue me, and I will tell you!"

Lu Chen shook his head and smiled. "Salise said you belong to a major Federation family and that she wouldn't dare kill you. Do you even need me to rescue you?"

Augustus glanced at Salise out of the corner of his eye and said, "I do not wish to return to my family, and besides, I cannot leave. The relationships within the twelve families are tangled and complex. Salise is far smarter than you imagine; she will likely inherit the family business in the future."

Salise was indeed not to be judged by her appearance—Lu Chen had realized that long ago. But likewise, Lu Chen had overestimated Augustus.

"Do you think you can escape death every time based on your own strength, rather than your bloodline? And you even managed to rank among the Hundred Thousand New Generation? Of all the Hundred Thousand New Generation I know, you are the weakest."

"..."

Augustus stared at the young man before him. Two months ago, when he first took notice of this unremarkable young Spirit Mechanic on a desert planet in the Roguel system, the boy hadn't even reached Level 20. In just two short months, he had ascended to Level 47, his brow already carrying the air of a king. He was now on equal footing, and even someone like Salise would personally receive him.

It seemed he was someone of consequence.

Suddenly, inspiration struck him! He whispered via spiritual sense:

"How about we cooperate? Let’s pull off something big and turn this star system upside down. I will seize a high-tier Star-Insect ship, and you rescue the human women here. I guarantee that you, too, will be able to advance into the Hundred Thousand New Generation in one battle!"

*As if,* Lu Chen thought. *Why would I, a victorious general, need to cooperate with a loser to stir up trouble?*

Lu Chen shook his head, smiling. "You underestimate the security forces here. Not to mention you... I might not even be able to get out myself."

Augustus shook his head in anger, glaring at him. "You young man, you have no guts at all!"

Lu Chen shrugged. "You have plenty of guts, yet you lost all your teammates while you survived solely by the power of your bloodline."

"You—"

Augustus felt a wave of darkness before his eyes. A mouthful of blood sprayed out. This proved that he actually cared quite a bit about the death of his teammates. But it was also an indisputable fact that he acted too recklessly.

Lu Chen patted his shoulder and said calmly, "Since we are both trapped here, you might as well tell me Gloria’s identity."

Augustus gritted his teeth and said, "Unless you let me leave this place, it is absolutely impossible."

Lu Chen sighed helplessly and said, "I also have a secret. Do you know who it was in the Zu’an Nebula who drove you into that desperate situation and killed your teammates?"

Augustus did not know this. The Wolf-Fang Company hadn't been sure either; they had simply splashed mud on the *Leoning* because it happened to be in the vicinity... and it just so happened they were right.

Augustus closed his eyes and sighed deeply. After a long while, he said, "I have moved past such things."

Lu Chen laughed. "Is that so? I will find out Gloria’s secret sooner or later on my own. What you know are merely clues, and not even certain ones at that. But I do know the enemy who killed your teammates... and this person is standing right before you... Farewell."

Augustus’s eyes froze, and his spiritual pressure surged instantly. "I'll kill you!"

With an "Iron Mountain Lean," he suddenly slammed his shoulder toward Lu Chen’s forehead, moving so fast that Lu Chen could vaguely see an afterimage. The air exploded from the force of the strike. Lu Chen even received a danger warning, which showed just how powerful this blow was.

Fortunately, Lu Chen had raised his right hand half a second early, pressing it against Augustus's shoulder. It appeared to be a very light defensive movement, but a ripple spread from his palm, instantly gathering at the top of Augustus's head.

With a *squelch*, Augustus’s head was split open. The skull atop his rooster-crest, along with the fiery red crest itself, burst open, blood and brains splattering outward. Augustus clutched his head, his frozen eyes staring at Lu Chen as he collapsed into the recliner.

The insectoid nurses were terrified and rushed to perform emergency care...

Lu Chen clapped his hands, turned, and left the nursing home. He vaulted over the fence and returned to the group with a flourish. Spreading his hands, he said with an innocent face:

"You all saw it, right? He was the one who attacked first."

Salise was not particularly worried about Augustus. In her view, Augustus had a special bloodline and was difficult to kill completely. Moreover, there was surveillance footage at the scene proving it was an accident—the attacker was Augustus himself, and the other party had merely defended himself in passing.

The problem was, she had underestimated this young Captain Lu. Level 47, killing a Level 50 Augustus in a single strike... such a thing was not so simple.

"What did you two talk about?" Salise asked curiously.

Lu Chen did not hide anything. "He suggested we join forces—he would seize a Star-Insect ship to leave, and I would be responsible for rescuing the human women here, all to charge into the Hundred Thousand New Generation in one go."

Salise’s insect-brows furrowed; she hadn't expected Lu Chen to be so frank.

"And what did you say?"

Lu Chen shrugged. "Naturally, I refused. My entry into the Hundred Thousand New Generation is already a certainty; do I need to go through all that trouble? Besides, what’s with 'human women'? They’ve broken my heart—are they even worth saving?"

Salise was slightly stunned. She hadn't expected such a handsome human man to have had his heart broken by human women. She looked at his two teammates; indeed, they were not human women. Only then did she relax slightly and sigh, "There are too few human men as cute as you."

Ai Li stifled a laugh nearby. Gloria rolled her eyes at Lu Chen... *You really have a way with words!*

Salise summoned the director of the nursing home, whispered a few words into his ear, and soon a ship was dispatched to take the heavily injured Augustus away.

"I’ll take you to see our Star-Insect factory."

"Good!"

...

Shortly after, Salise led the group to board a cruise ship and sped toward the sixth planet. The sixth planet suffered the most from grey fog and acid rain, and its surface ecology was somewhat harsh. The ground was covered in mutated insects, making one’s scalp tingle.

The governor of the sixth planet was Salise’s younger brother, the Ninth Prince, a tech-geek who wore opaque glasses.

"What interest does sister have in visiting me?"

"I’ve brought friends to pick out a Star-Insect ship."

"Ships that haven't been pre-ordered aren't of a very high level, you know!"

"Let’s take a look first."

The Ninth Prince sent two technicians to lead Salise’s party to the underground factory. Lu Chen arrived at the massive underground shipyard. There were roughly a hundred Star-Insect ships under construction simultaneously. It looked quite spectacular. None of the Star-Insect ships were below Level 50, and the scene was not as bloody as the Star-Beast shipyards.

Lu Chen took a closer look; the engineers working on the front lines were all young insectoids, looking much alike. They likely shared the same human mother, who possessed talents in beast-taming or spirit mechanics.

The technician introduced proudly: "Insects have high obedience and hard shells, while their interiors are mainly insect-fluid with very little nervous distribution, making them much easier to deeply modify into long-range ships. With the Star-Beast herders being investigated by the Empire, our business will only get better."

Lu Chen hadn't originally had any thoughts about Star-Insect ships, but now, he suddenly felt like getting one to fly. He went to the parts section and saw a black cube covered in crimson spirit patterns. It was much more advanced than the cube in the firefly ship and operated very stably.

"Your new version of the neural server is quite advanced. It wouldn't have been developed in-house, would it?"

Neither technician dared to answer easily, turning to look at Salise.

Salise smiled. "The core technology was bought from the Empire, but the neural spirit-insects inside the server are bred by us. So far, they are more stable than fungi and have greater computing power. It is not yet finalized; this is front-line research... Alien-bred fireflies, withered-face butterflies, and flower-thread worms are all backup options."

As far as Lu Chen knew, the Empire had long ago banned the development of neural network servers. However, the Federation had no such ban, so it was common for many teams to move their experimental projects there. Still, entrusting such cutting-edge work to insectoids clearly showed that they valued the fact that they could directly use humans for experiments.

In this light, the insectoids of the Balher family were not mere slave owners; there was likely a larger benefactor behind them. Lu Chen even suspected that they might be using more than just insects to manufacture these neural network servers... they might even be using insectoids.

*I really underestimated this place!*

And the First-Generation Star-Insect descendant that Lu Chen was chasing was, by comparison, the most unremarkable thing here.

Lu Chen continued to tour the insect ships with Salise. Suddenly! He saw a Level 65 centipede ship. It was being modified, with tranquilizers, toxins, and corrosive agents being injected into its feet, and rocket boosters being added.

This reminded Lu Chen of someone. The centipede-man from the Battle of Meiyu Star, Shanti Peter. His Level 60 centipede ship looked just like this one!

He asked nonchalantly, "This centipede ship looks good. What is the price?"

Salise shook her head. "You cannot afford the price of this ship, and besides, it was pre-ordered by someone else."

Lu Chen said with a smile, "Could it be... the Centipede family?"

Salise was slightly startled. "Are you here to spy?"

Lu Chen shook his head, smiling. "What kind of spy announces their affiliation? I was teammates with Shanti Peter in the Meiyu Star battle in the Zu’an Nebula. Come to think of it, his *Hundred-Legged Bug* was also accidentally damaged by my star-shattering attack."

Salise opened the news again and finally found the name of Shanti Peter of the Centipede family in an obscure spot. She suddenly looked up and stared at Lu Chen.

"I suspect you came here on purpose..."

...

Lu Chen spread his hands and said with an innocent face, "I’m truly here to shop."

Salise nodded slightly and explained, "For the last dozen years, the Centipede family has had business and technical exchanges with us. Shanti Peter going to the Zu’an Nebula was likely an attempt to get a Green-Winged Dragon’s dragon-pill. Unfortunately, you obtained it. The Centipede family is a major family within the Empire's third-tier alliance. You took his dragon-pill and damaged his *Hundred-Legged Bug*; that is very dangerous."

Lu Chen felt a certain threat. "I think it’s fine. The man is quite straightforward. Having seen my strength with his own eyes, how would he dare move against me?"

Salise was not quite sure of Lu Chen’s strength. She probed, "The firefly ship that *Feisheng* took to sea twenty years ago was our highest level of modification at the time. Now, with generations of new insectoid engineers growing up, raised on Imperial textbooks, our technical level has already surpassed that of the Federation headquarters' Star-Beast ships... The power of unity is invincible.

"But we still lack some like-minded friends. Why not stay? Although our races are different, we welcome geniuses like you, as well as beast tamers and witches."

Lu Chen smiled. "Thank you for the invitation, Princess, but my mission is adventure; how could I stay in one place for long? The Star-Insect ships here are indeed a bit too expensive; I’d have a hard time affording them. I see that highly concentrated corrosive liquid is being injected into the centipede feet—it seems to be the insect-fluid of a First-Generation Star-Insect descendant. I wonder if it’s produced here? I need one such insect to help me fully digest the Dragon Spirit in my body."

Salise’s expression turned cold. "Are there no Star-Insect ships you like? Or is it that you only came here to find an insect?"

Lu Chen spread his hands. "You could say that."

Salise’s expression became unsightly. "This kind of insect is rare, but as long as you spend more money and more time asking around, you have a chance to obtain one safely... Is it really worth breaking into the Balher family’s territory just for one small insect?"

*What else would I do?* Lu Chen spread his hands innocently and said, "Isn't that just a coincidence, bumping into that runaway frozen firefly ship? There's no time like the present; it’s destiny."

"..."

Salise was completely speechless. She turned to look at Feisheng, her eyes full of killing intent. Feisheng broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly explained, "I was just trying to pick a suitable husband for the Princess! At the very least, it could facilitate a business deal."

*A fiancé picking a suitable husband for his fiancée... Incredible!* Lu Chen struggled to suppress his laughter.

Salise stared straight at Lu Chen, and after a long while, she said, "I will take you to see my father... This is the first time I have ever hoped a human man would survive."

Lu Chen asked curiously, "How strong is your father that you’re worried I won't survive?"

Salise said coldly, "He is about to attempt a breakthrough."

Lu Chen made a quick calculation. Twenty-seven years ago, Balher was about to attempt the 60th-level breakthrough. Judging from the earth-shaking changes in the Sengu star system, Balher had gotten rich over these twenty-seven years. Even his daughter was at Level 56; it was impossible that he was still attempting the 60th-level breakthrough after twenty-seven years. That could only mean the 70th-level breakthrough. It might even be the 80th...

The three of them exchanged glances, realizing that the situation had become quite grave. Lu Chen, fighting with real blades and guns, was barely equal to Gloria in combat power, and he couldn't possibly bridge the gap to defeat a Level 70 or 80 powerhouse. Moreover, the Sengu star system had a complete defensive system and tens of thousands of insect-tide fleets.

Robbing them by force was unrealistic. However, up to this point, Lu Chen had not received any danger warnings. Could it be that Balher was not actually that strong? Or was Balher very merciful?

*I can only take it one step at a time. If it really comes to it, I’ll just run up a tab and put something up as collateral. If Balher doesn't let us leave, I’ll just cause a scene and force my way out; running away is still doable. As long as the danger guide doesn't give a warning, I can mess around as much as I want, even if it’s to the detriment of others.*

Thinking this, Lu Chen nodded and smiled: "Good, I would also like to meet Mr. Balher." He secretly changed Balher’s title.

Salise frowned and looked at him, but said nothing. She immediately took the group back to the ninth planet. After arranging the defense work for the ninth planet, she piloted another Level 60 sea-louse Star-Insect ship and carried everyone to the first planet.

...

The first planet was not large. It was the administrative and scientific center of the Sengu star system. Viewed from outside the atmosphere, it was a completely modern, pastoral world, with beautiful buildings of all kinds integrated into the jungle. Lu Chen could not imagine that this was a homeland built by insectoids.

The defensive level of the first planet was extremely high; even for Lu Chen and the *Leoning*, it would be very difficult to force an entry.

As soon as Salise’s ship reached the atmosphere, she received a video call from the palace’s Chief Information Officer. On the other side was a female insectoid with a head full of antennas, looking like an insectoid version of a Teletubby. She said with a serious face:

"Princess Salise, please state your purpose!"

Salise said calmly, "I am here to see my father. A friend wishes to meet him."

The "Teletubby" said hurriedly, "His Majesty has gone to the neighboring Changcan star system for business. The first planet is currently under a no-landing status. His Majesty will return in half a day. I have already submitted the visit invitation for the Original Star-Dome Adventure Group to His Majesty in advance."

"Hmm, then I will wait half a day."

Salise closed the video and immediately called her father, confirming the email he had left behind and verifying the matter. However, she thought in her heart, *This is too much of a coincidence...* In recent years, the Sengu star system had rarely had guests, and her father rarely went out. As a result, the moment her father was away, outsiders arrived.

She felt a bit of vigilance in her heart, but her face remained calm as she sighed: "Sigh, it can’t be helped. Father said he was talking business, but he’s actually attending an internal meeting of the *Morning Glory*. You don’t mind, do you?"

"Of course not."

Lu Chen remained calm on the surface, but he was ecstatic inside! Balher was not home; no wonder the danger guide hadn't given a warning until now. He suddenly felt a sense of *when the tiger is away, the monkey becomes the king!*

He thought, *The Morning Glory Adventure Group is the one Ban Yue mentioned before, the humanoid adventure group that trades with humans and has made it to the Three Thousand Star-Evil.*

Why did Salise take the initiative to mention this? Could it be that with Balher away, she was a bit scared? Afraid that he would cause trouble? After all, the Original Star-Dome Adventure Group had been causing trouble all along the way, leaving behind many legendary stories.

Thus, he probed again: "Since His Majesty is away, how about we go see the Star-Insect descendant ranch first?"

Salise frowned slightly, fell silent for a moment, and then said, "Fine."

...

Just like that, Salise’s sea-louse ship did not land on the first planet and instead turned to the largest solid planet in the Sengu star system: the third planet.

Outside the atmosphere of the third planet, Salise received an inquiry from the third planet as well. In the video, there was a male insectoid indulging in wine and pleasure; he was about twice Salise’s size, but his aura was far inferior. It was Balher’s eldest son, Shalke I.

"Brother, I want to bring friends to see the Star-Insect descendants."

In the pool of wine, Shalke I had no vigilance at all, saying hazily: "Raising Star-Insects, even descendants, is prohibited by Federation law... What kind of friends are they to deserve such favor from my sister?"

Salise thought for a moment and said, "An important friend."

Shalke I didn't care at all. "Come over then. As long as you take responsibility if something goes wrong. Although I am the crown prince, Salise, you are the strongest among us brothers and sisters, and sooner or later, you will be the one in charge."

Salise was speechless and said calmly, "I have never had such thoughts... brother."

The *Leoning* stopped outside the atmosphere. Salise’s ship landed on the surface. As the ship slowly descended, Lu Chen looked down at the ground. The vast ninth planet was a giant insect ranch. The air was also filled with acid rain and grey fog. The sky was hazy, the earth somewhat desolate yet filled with strange plants growing tenaciously.

Groups of giant insect shadows were migrating across the land... It was a bit like a scene from Hayao Miyazaki’s *Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind*.

The ship landed in a hidden valley. There was a cave entrance in the valley. There was a fleet in the air and a land army stationed on the ground. However, their discipline was somewhat lax; it wasn't until they saw Princess Salise that they instantly stiffened, saluted, and said:

"Princess Salise!"

"Open the door."

"Yes!"

The cave door opened, and under the lead of an insectoid captain, Salise led the group underground. Before this, Lu Chen had secretly released his little bee drone. To safely obtain a Star-Insect descendant, he had to be fully prepared.

Underground was a fortress. Passing through layers of iron doors and security measures, they finally arrived at the insect nest in the deepest part of the underground fortress. This was an insect nest held in a giant cage. The nest was bowl-shaped, a bit like China’s FAST telescope. Strict arrays were set up all around.

Inside the cage, there were dense crowds of soft-bodied cockroaches, each larger than a human, and all Level 30 or above. However, the total number was strictly limited to under ten thousand. If there were more, something might go wrong.

Lu Chen and the others boarded two floating cabins to enter the insect nest for a tour. The mobile glass cabin was an extremely sturdy viewing device. It seemed the royalty of the Sengu star system also quite liked watching insects.

One glass cabin could only carry four people. Lu Chen, Gloria, and Ai Li were in one cabin. Salise, the captain, and Feisheng were in another. The glass cabin went deep into the interior of the nest. When viewed up close, the glass was instantly covered in insects.

Looking closely, they were a bit different from cockroaches. Their bodies were soft, with no shell, but hidden inside the soft flesh were sharp, sickle-like weapons, which looked quite terrifying. Their mouthparts were specialized for spraying corrosive agents, and in the blink of an eye, the outer wall of the glass was blurred.

Fortunately, this type of specialized glass cabin could defend against the corrosive agents sprayed by the cockroach-insects. Furthermore, there was a cleaning device similar to a windshield wiper. The cockroach-insects tried, but failed to corrode the glass and stopped climbing it.

Lu Chen looked down.

...

There was no mother insect in the nest; in the center stood a cubic neural network server, constantly releasing pheromones. The inner walls of the nest were all grid-shaped, like a chessboard. The cockroach-insects climbed and moved on them in an orderly fashion, seemingly calculating some kind of insect-power computer, very much like the human computer of Qin Shi Huang in *The Three-Body Problem*.

It was likely that the staff was just finding something for the insects to do. It could maintain the physical motility of the cockroach-insects and also exercise their intelligence, so they wouldn't just think about breeding all day or go berserk upon seeing humans.

As the glass cabin approached, the insects raised their heads in unison. Their intelligent purple compound eyes reflected the figures of the group. Gloria and Ai Li felt like vomiting. Lu Chen also felt goosebumps all over his body.

After all, these insects had a certain level of intelligence. Star-Insects were an intelligent race, possessing group intelligence, and had a brilliant civilization before humans conquered the galaxy. In other words, Star-Insects and humans were species of the same level, and they were essentially different from spiritual beasts.

Humans could not possibly exterminate the insect race completely. Therefore, the surviving nomadic Star-Insects had become one of the four great calamities of the New Era. Lu Chen had previously encountered Star-Locusts, which were only third-tier descendants, yet under the control of the mother locust, they had sent an insect tide to lure human ships and then slaughter them; their intelligence was evident.

And the insects before Lu Chen’s eyes were first-tier descendants; their intelligence was definitely above that of the Star-Locusts. This was why the staff here did not dare to keep the mother locust in the nest and could only use a server to impersonate her, issuing orders to the nest.

Ten thousand Level 30 insects—if organized by a mother locust, even a Level 100 powerhouse would have a hard time dealing with them.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen got straight to the point. "I need one such cockroach to refine medicine, but for the sake of safety, I will absolutely keep it a secret for you."

The two glass cabins could communicate via a local area network. The insectoid captain stared at Lu Chen in surprise, thinking he had misheard something.

Salise extended one finger and said calmly, "One million."

Lu Chen was taken aback. "What?"

Salise explained, "One million spirit stones, and I will accommodate you with my brother to help you secure one."

Lu Chen felt that Salise was deliberately making things difficult for him. "What if I must obtain an insect, but don't have one million spirit stones?"

Salise smiled. "Then you’ll just have to stay here and be my husband."

Gloria tilted her head, suddenly interested. "So, our captain is worth one million? You give me one million spirit stones, and I’ll leave the captain here to be your precious husband."

Salise shook her head. "You all have to stay."

"Pfft!" Gloria couldn't be bothered to bring it up again.

Lu Chen immediately took out the Demon-Slaying Sword and gestured with it in the air. "This is a ten-thousand-year-old Demon-Slaying Sword. Can it be put up as collateral here in exchange for an insect? I’ll come back once I’ve earned the million."

Salise shook her head. "No."

Seeing that Salise would not budge, Lu Chen decided to change tactics. "Then I don’t want it."

Salise frowned. "What do you mean, you don’t want it?"

"I don’t want the insect."

"What about the insect ship?"

"I don’t want the insect ship either. Thank you for your hospitality, Princess."

Saying this, Lu Chen controlled the glass cabin to ascend, preparing to leave the nest. As a result, halfway through, the glass cabin locked up. No matter how Lu Chen operated the controller, the glass cabin remained motionless.

Salise’s voice came from inside the cabin. "You cannot leave."

Lu Chen looked up and saw that Salise’s glass cabin had already flown to the exit, looking down at the three of them.

"What is the meaning of this, Princess?"

Salise sent a screenshot of an adventurer’s forum post into Lu Chen’s glass cabin. "The news says the firefly ship you captured was still intact, but you disposed of it privately. That is my father’s property."

Lu Chen hurriedly looked at the image. It was a photo taken by one of Ai Li’s fans who had spotted the *Leoning* towing the firefly ship halfway, posting it on the adventurer’s forum. The post was excitedly captioned: "The rise of a genius beast tamer!"

Ai Li covered her forehead in silence, feeling very guilty. But Lu Chen remained as calm as usual. Salise’s sudden change of face was within his expectations. This was also a good thing; if Salise hadn't changed her face, he, being a guest, would have felt embarrassed to rob the insects they were raising—even if the insects were contraband prohibited by the Federation.

But that was none of his business as an adventurer... He had no reason to intervene.

Lu Chen smiled and continued to play the weak card: "In that case, how about I go back and retrieve the firefly ship to return to you?"

Salise laughed coldly and shook her head. "No need. Just stay here yourself."

Lu Chen feigned toughness again: "Does the Princess really want to do this? To challenge me while His Majesty Balher is away? I only wanted an insect for cultivation."

Salise sighed and said, "This is a creature whose breeding is strictly prohibited by the Empire and the Federation. You don’t really think you can leave here after knowing these inside secrets, do you?"

It seemed Salise had long planned to detain him. Lu Chen came up with another plan: "That’s simple. You give me an insect, and then use some memory-erasing medicine, so that after I leave, I won't remember where the insect came from, right?"

However, the more Lu Chen tried to find a way out, the more aggressive Salise became. "There is no such medicine, only this..."

She took out a green enslavement pill and smiled. "Swallow this pill and be my slave, serving me for a lifetime. How about that?"

Lu Chen thought about it, and goosebumps rose all over his body. "And my two teammates?"

Salise did not want to provoke Lu Chen completely. "I can protect them and let them stay on my ninth planet as household slaves. I won't let other men touch them. How about that?"

"Huh?"

Gloria hadn't expected that anyone would dare to make her a slave, and she reached out to draw Lu Chen’s Demon-Slaying Sword. Lu Chen hurriedly stopped her and said to Salise:

"You’re actually quite nice, aren't you? What, are you afraid of pushing me too far? Shouldn't the correct approach be to lock us in the basement and feed us to the insects?"

Feisheng turned pale with fright, not daring to let out a breath. Salise’s gaze turned cold and sharp, staring straight at Lu Chen.

"I gave you a chance. This is what you asked for. If you truly have the ability to escape, you can keep as many insects as you catch!"

Saying this, she left the insect nest and locked the door. She also deactivated the defensive spirit patterns of Lu Chen’s glass cabin.

Lu Chen rubbed his hands, no longer feeling any psychological burden. "Time to catch some bugs!"

...

Third planet.

Salise broke into Shalke I’s office. She connected to the emergency cabinet meeting via video. Attending were: seven princes, two princesses including Salise, the first planet’s information officer, and the commander of the Sengu star system’s first fleet. A total of eleven people.

The information officer spoke first: "Princess, isn't this Captain Lu your friend?"

Salise ignored this typical buck-passing behavior. "This is an undercover agent for the Adventurer’s Association who arrived just as Father left. We must transfer the important laboratories immediately. Once the three of them are dead, the insect nest must be destroyed with a nuclear bomb."

Shalke I was still soaking in the wine pool, three walls away from the office Salise was in. "Such a big thing, and we aren't waiting for Father to return?"

Salise said calmly, "The moment the *Leoning* entered my star system, I had already notified Father and the *Morning Glory* fleet. Father will receive the information in at least half an hour, it will take an hour for a reply to be sent back, and it will take more than two hours to rush back. That is why I have summoned all my brothers and sisters; we will decide by vote."

"There are still many suspicious points. How can the Princess be sure that this ship belongs to the Adventurer’s Association?"

"Taking advantage of Father’s absence to visit, Captain Lu knows the Kundi Augustus we harbored, is very knowledgeable about the Centipede family, focused heavily on human women, neural servers, and Star-Insect descendants, yet had no interest in our insect ships... In the past, he exposed the Empire’s conspiracy on the planet Saion and has rescued slaves transported by the Wolf-Fang Company. This is a dangerous idealist!"

"Why didn't we just kill him outside? We have a Level 60 fleet; killing three people should be easy."

"It might not be as easy as you think. Gloria, at Level 58, was only at Level 38 ten days ago, and she possesses a phantom demon body. Once she loses control and transforms, even a Level 60 fleet will have a hard time suppressing her. The consequences would be unimaginable."

"Besides, what if they have some special background? If we kill them and our coordinates are exposed, it will be difficult to pull out."

"Come to think of it, we haven't done anything too wrong, have we? The server experiments haven't even fully succeeded yet. Moreover, it hasn't reached the Empire’s most advanced level; it’s just raising a few thousand human women and keeping ten thousand Star-Insect descendants in violation of the rules. As long as we spend money to clear the relationships, it might not be a serious problem."

"How about we do as he said, give him an insect, let him leave, and erase his memory?"

"You think someone with the medical skills to mix insects with dragon-pills would be affected by memory erasure?"

"Isn't he locked up? It’s only a matter of two hours until Father returns, or one hour until we get a reply."

"If they are easily eaten by the insects, it means they have neither background nor ability, so their deaths are inconsequential. If they can survive, we might have trouble. The Adventurer’s Association, or some other mastermind, might continue to send people to investigate."

"Regardless, as long as someone outside our plan has noticed us, we must change locations. Regardless of how much money we lose, it’s better than having our experiments halted."

The group was eventually persuaded by Salise. They immediately transferred some of the key laboratories! After all, His Majesty had always doted on Salise and appreciated her abilities.

At the same time, the group did not reach a consensus on how to deal with the three of them.

"Time waits for no one. Let’s decide by vote!"

Salise gave three voting options: First, let the three of them fend for themselves in the underground insect nest. Second, move them to another location for detention until Father returns to decide. Third, do not give them an insect, but let the three of them leave.

In the end, in the secret ballot:

Seven to four to zero!

The temporary resolution committee composed of eleven people chose to let Lu Chen and his group fend for themselves in the underground insect nest.

However, the moment the voting result came out, Lu Chen’s figure appeared on the public screen.

Lu Chen stood atop the shattered glass cabin. As if occupying the moral high ground, he looked down at the eleven kings, princes, and ministers on the screen, and sighed helplessly:

"You have rung your own funeral bells."

(End of chapter)