Zerg: Cold and aloof Major General, stop pretending to be innocent, I have a headache!

The little insect blinked, looked at its female father and then at its male father, and suddenly giggled: "I know, I know! The female father has hidden so many pictures of the male father!"

In that dark room, there was a whole box full! The female father, feeling shy, secretly took a picture of the male father.

Jiang Xu raised an eyebrow and looked at Fei: "Really?"

Fei's face flushed instantly. He coughed lightly, turned his head away, and didn't say a word.

The room was quiet for a while before he spoke, "No."

"Eek—" Jiang Yi perked up, looking at Fei with a serious expression: "The female father is lying, there are clearly many. The male father has seen them all, hasn't he?"

He turned to Jiang Xu for confirmation, and Fei then realized that Jiang Xu was just teasing him, and his face turned even redder.

Jiang Xu chuckled a few times as he looked at the female insect's embarrassment. He didn't know whether to say that the female insect was bold or timid.

Fei lowered his head, the blush on the tips of his ears spreading to his neck. Just then, a new message he received on his wrist saved his life.

He immediately changed the subject, saying, "Um... the battle report is in! The West has lost!"

Jiang Xu had already anticipated this outcome. Seeing that Chong was clearly trying to change the subject, he stopped teasing him and cooperatively asked, "What exactly happened?"

"Just received news that the western army has suffered a complete rout, and the allied forces from the three insectoid zones have already penetrated into the western heartland," Wenxi said, turning on his communicator to project a map.

"Most importantly, we seized a batch of documents at the Western Command headquarters, and guess what?"

"What?" Jiang Xu also dropped his joking expression.

"The origin of the strange beast comes from Jiang Qin, a branch of the Jiang family in the south."

"Jiang Qin?" Fei frowned. This made a lot of things make sense.

"Yes, it's him." Wenxi nodded. "According to the data, Jiang Qin has been secretly funding the western insect region, providing alien beasts and weapons."

In exchange, the West promised to grant Jiang Qin's trading company a monopoly on trade throughout the entire insect region after the war.

Jiang Xu sneered, "You've got quite an appetite."

"That's not all," Wenxi continued. "According to the prisoners, Jiang Qin's real purpose wasn't as simple as making money. He wanted to use the power of unifying the insect planet in the west to bring down the Jiang family and take over for himself."

Fei looked at Jiang Xu: "My lord..."

Jiang Xu waved his hand: "It was expected. Jiang Qin's branch of the family has had a long-standing feud since my grandfather's generation. I just didn't expect them to go this far."

Once this incident occurs, this branch of the Jiang family will inevitably be removed from the Jiang family name, and they will no longer enjoy the benefits brought by the Jiang surname.

As the battle drew to a close, all the insects returned to their positions.

Three days later, Jiang Mian returned with a family of insects.

This was his first time visiting Qingcao Street and seeing Jiang Xu's residence.

Jiang Xu looked surprised when he saw him.

"Aren't you going to invite me in for a seat?" Jiang Mian raised an eyebrow and cut straight to the point, "Xiao Xu."

Jiang Xu led him to the living room, where the two male insects each found a sofa to sit on. Fei and Zoran consciously gave up the living room space for them.

"You know?"

Jiang Mian took a sip of tea and glanced at him indifferently: "Hmm. You still have the Butterfly Jade?"

Jiang Xu was stunned for a moment, then took it out of his pocket. He had kept it very carefully after Jiang Mian gave it to him, afraid of losing it by accident.

He placed it on the coffee table, and soon Jiang Mian took out an identical butterfly jade pendant from his person and placed it on the table.

"During this time, we went to the south." Jiang Mian sighed. "The source of this war was nothing more than a scheme that Jiang Qin began to set up more than 30 years ago."

Jiang Xu was stunned.

"More than thirty years ago?" Jiang Xu frowned, reviewing all the events: "When you fell into the chaotic star?"

"No, even earlier," Jiang Mian said. "Jiang Qin's branch began secretly researching the breeding and control techniques of alien beasts a long time ago."

The Jiang family possesses all the information they have regarding the Butterfly Jade. The instrument in the Jiang family study is also an heirloom passed down through generations.

I remember you visited the Jiang family ancestral home, so you should know about the sculpture in the center of the small gathering hall there.

Whether it's the butterfly jade or the instrument, they are actually just accessories.

That instrument possesses a certain property: it can break the genetic chains within living organisms, a method used in ancient times to eliminate strange beasts.

No one expected that Jiang Qin would actually think of using it for genetic modification of alien beasts.

Fei frowned: "What are they trying to do?"

"Who knows?" Jiang Mian sighed deeply. However, he didn't know whether he should thank that insect, because without Jiang Qin, he might not be where he is today.

Jiang Xu's eyes turned cold: "The Third District should have already issued an arrest warrant by now... it's about Jiang Qin."

"Yes, but he ran away," Jiang Mian replied.

He took a document out of his bag. "This is the record of Jiang Qin's asset transfers that we intercepted. Over the past seventy years, he has transferred more than 50 percent of his assets to other star systems every year."

It seems he had long been prepared to flee if he failed.

Fei took the documents and flipped through them, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper: "So much... he must have made quite a bit."

"An astronomical figure," Jiang Mian shook his head and said calmly, "and it's not just a matter of money. We raided one of their laboratories."

They discovered they were also researching something even more dangerous: a biological weapon capable of controlling the minds of the Zerg on a large scale.

The room was deathly silent.

After a long pause, Jiang Xu finally spoke: "Where is the laboratory?"

"It's already under military control," Jiang Mian said. "But the main researchers and core data are gone; they must have been moved beforehand."

Jiang Qin has also disappeared; we suspect he has fled to another star system.

"It won't go far." Jiang Xu stood up and walked to the window. "Although the alien galaxy is vast, it will eventually show itself."

As the sun sets, the sky is bathed in a warm golden hue. A ferret in the yard chases its own tail in circles, and the grass sways gently in the evening breeze.

He looked at the two female insects talking on the lawn, and his gaze softened.

The war is over, the conspiracy has been exposed, those who should flee have fled, and those who should be arrested have been arrested.

Life seems to be getting back on track.

But Jiang Xu knew that some things had changed.

He turned to look at Jiang Mian: "Grandfather, how are you so sure I am Jiang Xu, a human?"

Jiang Mian walked towards him gently, gazing at the few insects frolicking in the courtyard for a while before reaching out to pat Jiang Xu's head: "How could I not recognize the person I raised?"

Perhaps at first, he did think the other party was his own grandson, but gradually, he began to discover that Jiang Xu had many little tricks that Xiao Xu didn't know about.

This is also why he sent Jiang Xu back to Qingcao Street. Jiang Xu himself didn't know, but he saw it clearly.

Jiang Xu curled his lips into a smile, but said nothing. The room remained silent for a few seconds before he turned to Jiang Mian and said, "Grandpa, why don't you stay for dinner tonight? I'll let you see if my tea-making skills have deteriorated."

Jiang Mian laughed: "Okay."

The little insect with pointed ears looked at Jiang Xu and Jiang Mian: "Father, what are we eating? I want to eat too!"

"?" Fei turned her head and looked over. Although her expression remained aloof, the happiness in her eyes was undeniable. "My lord, is there anything I need to prepare?"

Jiang Xu waved his hand: "All we need is a grill."

Just then, Wenxi poked her head in through the door: "What are we eating? Can I freeload?"

Zoran had long since shed his air of authority. He looked at Jiang Xu and Jiang Mian with a warm smile and said, "How about I join you?"

"Come on, come on!" Jiang Xu waved his hand. "Let's celebrate—celebrate the end of the war, celebrate the reunion of the insect family, celebrate..."

He looked at Fei and slowly curled the corners of his mouth: "Celebrating the superb skills of a certain female insect in taking candid photos."

Fei's face turned red again.

A burst of laughter echoed in the courtyard, drifting far away on the evening breeze.

The war is over, and life goes on. This time, they have a better future.

******

The story is finished! Hooray! No extra chapters!

See you in the next book.