Barren Star – Chapter 15
by Little PandaAre you worried about me?
The Insect Race who had their mental connection with the Insect Race Queen severed were easily brainwashed. The “little bee” in the hourglass bottle was shaken until completely disoriented, and after being released, it had lost its instinct to attack. Ning Buyi showed great interest in the “bee,” but right now what needed attention most was the Insect Race invasion of the Barren Star. Her “domination” ability wasn’t strong enough yet, and currently couldn’t even cover the entire base.
This Insect Race quickly revealed its accomplices. Besides itself, three other Insect Race had descended upon the Barren Star, with the purpose of searching for Hua Zhuoyu’s whereabouts. However, they hadn’t taken it too seriously, after all, during the chaos of battle back then, no one knew which planet Hua Zhuoyu had fallen onto. Moreover, given the state of dark pollution all over their body, even if they weren’t dead, they’d be crippled. Although Da Xia hadn’t announced the birth of any new Arbiters, what if they were keeping it under wraps? With this thought in mind, the Insect Race planned to make a quick round and return, but they hadn’t expected the conditions on Barren Star to be so terrible. Their spaceship’s energy was insufficient and couldn’t enter the interstellar orbit. They came to the base this time because they had recently detected signals and thought there might be resources here.
“Who are the other three Insect Race that arrived on Barren Star?” Hua Zhuoyu asked calmly.
“Lady Monasha, Benjamin, and Jack Ray,” the “little bee” spat out three names.
Ning Buyi didn’t recognize these names, thinking they must be minor characters who never appeared in the novel. However, when she noticed Hua Zhuoyu frowning, her thoughts stirred, and she asked: “Are they important figures among the Insect Race?”
Hua Zhuoyu slowly repeated three syllables: “Monasha.”
Ning Buyi: “What’s their identity?”
Hua Zhuoyu replied carelessly: “A defector.”
“Huh?” Ning Buyi showed a trace of surprise, “A human?”
Hua Zhuoyu gave Ning Buyi a somewhat speechless glance, and after a while said: “Where is your mind wandering? They’re Insect Race. They were the former queen’s royal guard, but now they’re a trusted confidant of the new queen Krys.”
Ning Buyi had never heard of these matters, and hadn’t expected the Insect Race to have “palace struggles,” but then again, they were one of the three great civilizations after all, so power struggles were quite common.
“The current Insect Race Queen Krys, also known as the Wings of Betrayal, didn’t obtain her throne through legitimate means – she seized it from her sister Syl. At first, she was just an unremarkable guard captain under Syl, after all, their mother had given birth to far too many offspring. Who could have imagined she’d end up like this.” As Hua Zhuoyu spoke of the Insect Race’s past affairs, a hint of gravity flashed across her eyes. The previous Insect Race Queen’s style of rule was relatively mild, but this one was swift and ruthless in her methods. As soon as she took the throne, she began eliminating opposition, killing all her siblings – oh, that’s not quite right, at least former Queen Syl is still alive.
“The Insect Race, as you know, their society is different from humans. The Queen, as the head of the entire race, also bears the great responsibility of reproduction – this is actually their instinct. The former queen became a prisoner before she could choose a king consort. But the current one has suppressed her reproductive instincts through sheer willpower. She’s dangerous.”
Ning Buyi listened to Hua Zhuoyu’s words, thinking about the novel’s description of this “Queen” – except for her entangled grudges with the male protagonist Xia Tu, her life trajectory was blurred, not even mentioning her past of seizing power through a coup. She realized that the novel’s plot she knew was like an instruction manual a hundred versions behind, not very useful anymore.
After digesting the newly added “data” with a complex expression, she met Hua Zhuoyu’s gaze and asked about what concerned her most: “Can you handle those few Insect Race?”
Hua Zhuoyu tilted her head with a smile, saying leisurely: “Are you looking down on me?”
Ning Buyi didn’t give Hua Zhuoyu any face at all: “But you became a stray dog precisely because you were attacked by the Insect Race. Moreover, your mecha hasn’t recovered to its peak condition.”
Hua Zhuoyu’s smile was meaningful: “But it’s enough to deal with a few down-and-out little bugs.”
Ning Buyi wasn’t really doubting Hua Zhuoyu’s abilities – as the female protagonist, she was a child of fate, but one’s own fate was often proven through some terrible events. If something happened to Hua Zhuoyu, wouldn’t all her efforts and investment during this time be wasted? Or if Hua Zhuoyu was too harsh and directly crushed those little bugs to death, wouldn’t her “worker bee” plan go down the drain? Neither extreme was something Ning Buyi wanted to see. After frowning in thought for a while, she said seriously: “I’ll go with you.” She needed to use external organisms to test her “domination” skill.
“Are you worried about me?” Hua Zhuoyu “reverted to old habits,” when saying the word “worried,” her tone gradually became ambiguous, and those beautiful eyes carried a different kind of charm. If someone else had said these words with a different face, Ning Buyi wouldn’t have felt her heart tremble, but Hua Zhuoyu’s features happened to match perfectly with her aesthetic preferences.
“Whatever you say.” Ning Buyi was tired and took on the attitude of someone who had given up.
Forget it, no need to argue with Hua Zhuoyu, it’s just letting her take some verbal advantage, right? It’s not like she’ll lose a piece of flesh! But in the future, when the base produces any delicious things, she’ll definitely give Hua Zhuoyu one piece less!
Ning Buyi’s non-response left Hua Zhuoyu somewhat disappointed. She crossed her arms and continued: “If you want to go, that’s fine, but since there’s no cover in all four directions, you can only travel with me.”
“This traveling together means—”
“Staying in the mecha cockpit.” Hua Zhuoyu thought for a moment, “But combat is different from manually operating to dig ground earlier. To improve combat efficiency, we’ll need to activate the mental link, and you, sitting in the co-pilot seat, are no exception. Though you won’t need to issue combat commands, you’ll just need to overcome that—” Hua Zhuoyu’s tone suddenly paused, and after a while finally found the word, “mecha sickness feeling.”
Ning Buyi: “How is it different from motion sickness?”
Hua Zhuoyu replied with an ambiguous smile: “Well, it’s just the difference between feeling sick for an hour versus feeling sick for a month.”
Ning Buyi: “…” Isn’t this asking for her life?! She knew piloting a mecha required extremely strong physique and vast spiritual power, but she hadn’t expected being just a “passenger” would have such high requirements.
Hua Zhuoyu changed the topic: “Of course, I can also operate manually, reducing that dizziness to a minimum. However—”
As soon as Ning Buyi heard the word “however,” she knew Hua Zhuoyu was about to make demands.
“However, what’s in it for me?”
Ning Buyi glared at Hua Zhuoyu angrily.
The trouble was caused by her, yet she had the nerve to ask for benefits!
“Of course I’m willing to solve the problem, but Miss Ning Buyi, you wanting to tag along for ‘sightseeing’ is just adding to my difficulties, isn’t it?” Hua Zhuoyu spoke with a serious face, “I won’t make any requests that would trouble you – I just want to be the first to taste the fresh fruits and vegetables from the base, that’s all.” With the previous “melon” incident as a lesson, she was afraid that if Ning Buyi became unhappy, she would again be denied her share of things from the fields.
Knowing that Hua Zhuoyu was still thinking about the watermelon that cost “100,000” each, Ning Buyi was completely speechless.
Was it really worth it just for a bite of melon?
One shouldn’t be stingy on one’s mischievous wife. 🤭