D-level males reached the pinnacle of life by living off women.

After holding Lu Yuan tightly for a while, Rhine felt her somewhat agitated emotions gradually calm down before getting up from Lu Yuan's embrace.

He looked at Lu Yuan with bright eyes, determined to teach his powerful lord a lesson.

"My lord, the first thing I'll teach you is this: when dealing with matters, never follow the lead of other insects."

Then, in front of Lu Yuan, Rhine turned off Lu Yuan's communicator, placed it on the coffee table, and continued speaking.

"Ignore these calls and don't need to return them."

Seeing Rhine's actions, Lu Yuan hesitated for a few seconds before stammering, "Ah! Isn't it a bad idea to just ignore them? Won't those bugs think I look down on them?"

Lu Yuan is a type of person who likes to reply to messages instantly. Occasionally, if he misses a call or message from another person because he is busy, he will reply as soon as he sees it.

If Lu Yuan doesn't reply to Bie Chong in time, he'll always feel like something's on his mind.

As for the calls he didn't answer because he didn't know how to respond, Lu Yuan originally planned to wait for Rhine to tell him how to reply before returning them one by one.

But now Rhine says he's going to ignore these calls, which is very different from Lu Yuan's usual way of doing things, and Lu Yuan doesn't quite understand it.

Seeing the confusion on Lu Yuan's face, Rhine patiently guided him.

"My lord, tell me, who are these insects calling you right now?"

"The highest-ranking officer of each planet within the defense line."

"So, what is their status to you?"

Lu Yuan almost said "leader," but then he realized, "Oh no, according to the edict, he's now in charge of the entire Alaqi defense line, which means he's their leader."

"Uh, they are my subordinates." Lu Yuan's tone still carried a hint of uncertainty.

As soon as Lu Yuan finished speaking, Rhine nodded immediately and gave Lu Yuan an approving look.

This made Lu Yuan unconsciously puff out his chest, feeling inexplicably a little proud.

It felt like being called on by the teacher in school to answer a question you didn't know the answer to, and then you actually guessed it right and got praised, which was a very pleasant surprise.

"Besides the highest-ranking officials from various planets, what other insects are calling you?" Rhine continued to ask.

"There are also nobles whose fiefdoms happen to be nearby."

"Among these nobles, are there any whose titles are the same as yours, or even higher?"

Lu Yuan first shook his head, then thought for a moment and added a sentence.

"I didn't receive any calls from the nobles, but there are still many calls I haven't answered. I wonder if any of those calls are from nobles with the same or even higher rank as me."

Seeing Lu Yuan looking as if he was afraid of saying the wrong thing, Rhein smiled and said.

"My lord, I can tell you with certainty that there is no nobleman in the empire with a higher rank than you, and no nobleman with the same rank as you lives in this area."

"In other words, in this large area where we are now, you, my lord, have the highest rank."

Lu Yuan nodded, seemingly understanding, but not quite. He didn't quite understand why Rhine was emphasizing this.

Rhine didn't rush to explain; he continued to ask.

"My lord, what other kinds of insects called?"

"The rest were all people who came to me offering themselves, saying they wanted to work for me."

"So, you're saying it's an insect that needs something from you, its master, right?"

Lu Yuan nodded again.

"So, my lord, these bugs who call you are either your subordinates, nobles of lower rank than you, or bugs who need something from you. In other words, to you, my lord, they are all subordinates."

"Those in positions of power don't need to care about the feelings and thoughts of those in positions of power. If their calls bother you, just ignore them and don't answer. Turn off your communicator for a couple of days, and they'll learn their lesson."

"They should be the ones who are anxious and uneasy about not answering their calls, not you, my lord."

"Your Excellency has just become a duke, and you certainly have a lot to do, but that certainly doesn't include answering these calls from subordinates."

"We should do what is most important to us first."

While I agree with the advice not to follow others' lead, I also agree with Rhine's point that we should prioritize what is important to us.

However, Lu Yuan did not quite agree with Rhine's argument about superiors and subordinates.

Lu Yuan's core belief has always been that everyone is equal. Even though people have different jobs and positions, everyone should maintain basic respect for others (except for bad people).

Of course, Lu Yuan also knew that he was now in the insectoid society, where there were nobles, and nobles were a privileged class that was clearly defined by law.

Here, insects of different classes are not equal.

Moreover, Lu Yuan also knew that even in the place before he transmigrated, there were people who, because of their family background and privileges, were superior to others, but they did it less obviously and tried their best not to let ordinary people know.

Lu Yuan knew that reality was cruel, and his concept of equality for all was too naive in the eyes of many, but he just didn't want to change.

He couldn't change other people's opinions, nor could he change society, but at least he could keep his own principles unchanged.

However, although he disagreed, Lu Yuan did not intend to refute Rhein.

Lu Yuan felt that one's mindset couldn't be changed in a few words, so there was no need to refute Rhine. Instead, he would take some practical actions to gradually influence Rhine.

Moreover, it doesn't matter if Rhine doesn't change. Lu Yuan believes that even the closest partners don't need to have completely identical views; it's enough if they don't have conflicts on some fundamental issues.

Rhine, of course, also noticed Lu Yuan's disapproval, because Lu Yuan's thoughts were very easy to guess; his joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness were almost entirely written on his face.

Especially when facing Rhine, he made absolutely no attempt to hide anything.

Rhine could guess why Lu Yuan disagreed, because Lu Yuan's actions had already given Rhine the answer: when facing those lower-ranking insects, Lu Yuan showed no awareness of being in a superior position.

However, Rhine did not intend to change Lu Yuan's mind, because he felt that there was nothing wrong with Lu Yuan being a little naive. As long as Lu Yuan was happy, that was fine, and he could protect him anyway.

Furthermore, Lu Yuan will soon be handling some affairs within his fiefdom, and perhaps in the process of handling these affairs, Lu Yuan will naturally change.