The powerful leader was tough on the outside but soft on the inside; the aloof major general fell fo

In the moment when his consciousness completely faded into darkness, Cen Li vaguely saw Ashel rushing towards him, his expression one of utter panic he had never seen before.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry—!!"

"A gentleman is seriously injured, and the bleeding won't stop!!"

"Immediately notify the blood bank to prepare blood! You have a penetrating heart injury; your condition is extremely dangerous!!"

A group of well-trained medical staff rushed out of the ambulance, pushing a stretcher. The patients in the lobby who came for treatment felt a sharp gust of wind brush past their ears.

The swarm of insects had already pushed the stretcher away, and Od couldn't even see the insect lying on it clearly. He only saw a large patch of bright red blood, which even dripped down the pale, limp arm onto the ground, looking horrifying.

A dazzling strand of golden hair flashed past his eyes, and Od was startled, finally seeing the female insect's profile clearly—exquisite and handsome.

It looks familiar, like something I've seen in interstellar news.

The female insect was dressed in military uniform and wore rank insignia; she was clearly a major general.

"Xiao Li, how is it?!"

The moment Derek heard the news, he rushed over from home.

Behind him followed Duke Jolai and a bunch of other insects.

There was only Ashel, a single insect, at the entrance to the emergency room.

Ash looked at Derek, his voice strained, "...Father, the doctor said the situation is very dangerous, and they are still trying to save him."

Derek's chest heaved. "Of course! A chest injury like that, how could it not be serious?!"

Ash's lips trembled, and he lowered his head, biting his lower lip tightly.

"I've contacted the Empire's best surgeons," Yole said. "Little Li will be alright."

Derek coldly stared at the female insect beside him. "What exactly happened? Why did Xiao Li suddenly get into trouble? You'd better explain yourself clearly."

Cen Li said he would stay at Ash's house for a few days. Derek initially disagreed but couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he didn't interfere with his decision. The little bug was supposed to come back tomorrow morning, but something happened out of the blue. Everything was too sudden.

Especially when he saw Ash standing lively and energetic in front of him, while his own bug cub lay on the cold operating table, its life hanging in the balance, an inexplicable anger surged within Derek.

"It's because..."

Ash's hands and feet were ice-cold, and his voice was stuck in his throat, sounding muffled and unable to be uttered.

Faced with Derek's terrifying, worm-eating gaze, he swallowed hard and told his father-in-law everything that had happened.

"So you're saying... if Xiao Li hadn't gone out to look for you, he wouldn't have gotten hurt? It was that escaped female insect who harmed Xiao Li?!"

Derek stared intently at the female soldier in front of him. Her shirt was stained with a large patch of blood, and Derek knew that the blood was not Ash's.

It's his little bug, Cen Li's.

This realization made Derek's face turn so dark it was almost dripping with water.

Ash's head drooped lower and lower. "It...it should be that S-rank female insect. I fought it before..."

The female insect turned and left immediately upon seeing him. Ashel still remembered his red eyes, and the residual mental energy on the male's wounds was indeed of S-rank.

"I asked, 'Was it because Xiao Li went out looking for you in the middle of the night that she got injured?!'"

Ash's face turned pale instantly, but he couldn't utter a single word of "no." "...Yes."

The single word had exhausted all his strength; Ash's head drooped sharply, no longer daring to look at Derek's horrifying expression.

Ash heard the cracking sound of a fist clenching. He saw Derek clench his fist and suddenly raise his hand, as if he was about to swing it at him.

Ash's heart skipped a beat, but he had no reason to avoid it, nor did he want to...

The female father was right...

None of this would have happened if it weren't for him, if the powerful ruler hadn't come looking for him.

If anything were to happen to the male ruler, Ashel felt he would be crushed to death by the boulder lodged in his chest; he couldn't breathe right now...

"Oh."

Ash suddenly opened his eyes and saw Derek slamming his fist down.

I won't touch you.

Ashel looked up, his expression somewhat surprised.

"Xiao Li has a bit of a crush on you. If he wakes up and finds out what I did to you, he might make a scene."

Derek scoffed coldly, "You'd better pray that Little Li is alright."

Under normal circumstances, Ash would have been secretly delighted to hear his female father say that the male master had some affection for him, but now... these words were like a soft knife slowly torturing Ash's heart.

The pain was unbearable.

However, it is less than one-thousandth of what the powerful ruler is currently enduring.

"Where is that female insect named Ethan?"

Ashel suddenly raised his head.

Derek stared at him, as if deliberately saying it to him, "If Xiao Li likes this female insect, then it's simple, just take her as his concubine."

"If they've already had a relationship, that would be even better. Maybe they're already carrying the Duke's bloodline in their bellies, and they could just pack the insect into the manor along with them."

Ash's lips gradually lost their color, and Derek saw this and a cold smile appeared on his lips. "To prevent some insect from being spoiled by the male master and becoming lawless, and actually thinking that the male insect can only have him by his side for the rest of his life, I think Xiao Li could marry a hundred female insects and still manage to marry them."

"Ashel, what do you think?"

Asher responded with difficulty, "Yes... Father."

"I'll leave this to you. Bring Ethan to me and let me see him."

Derek wanted to see what kind of female insect had captivated his little insect. If Cen Li liked her, it would be a simple matter of a word. Couldn't the Duke's mansion afford to feed one more person?

This put Ashir's delusions to rest; he actually dared to argue with the powerful ruler.

In Derek's view, all the mistakes were Ash's fault.

Ash stared blankly at Derek for a long time, only snapping back to reality when the other asked, "What? You don't want to?!" He murmured, "He does want to, I'll bring him to you to see."

Derek snorted loudly.

Just then, the door to the emergency room opened.

Derek immediately stepped forward and asked, "How is it? Is my bug cub out of danger?"

Ash's gaze also locked onto the female insect doctor, a hint of tension flashing in his eyes.

The doctor shook his head, his brow furrowed, his expression extremely grave. "Your condition is not optimistic. I hope your family will be prepared."

Derek felt a loud bang in his ears, and his face turned extremely pale. "What does this mean? Could it be...?"

Derek had already guessed what the doctor meant, but... how could that be?

His insect offspring are still so young...

Ash, standing to the side, looked no better than Derek. His mind was filled with the doctor's words that the master's condition was not optimistic, and for a moment he felt extremely guilty.

The doctor explained, "Your heart was injured. Your S-level mental strength is too ferocious. If the wound had been any more off-center, you wouldn't have been able to receive emergency treatment."

"Of course, the situation isn't much better right now, so the family members should prepare for the worst."