Zerg: I ​​was picked up by the cold and beautiful Major General at the start of the game.

The Insect King awoke from a bout of dizziness.

He sat up abruptly, only to find in astonishment that he was not on the soft bed in the palace, but on a cold metal chair.

All around were alloy walls gleaming coldly—this was the underground, secluded chamber of the palace, never open to the public!

As his memories returned, he remembered that the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Tok's respectful yet unusually calm face, and the glass of water he was handed to him...

There's something in the water!

He's...being imprisoned!

A chill instantly ran down my spine.

Tok? Who's behind him? Tok himself could never do something like this!

Who would dare to lay a hand on him in the heart of the empire, within his own palace?!

Just as he was thinking this, the heavy metal door slid open silently, and a figure he never expected slowly walked in.

Wearing a crisp marshal's uniform and with his silver-gray hair perfectly styled, he was none other than the Imperial Marshal he trusted so much—Arnold.

The Insect King's golden pupils suddenly contracted, his face filled with disbelief. He abruptly stood up, his voice rising with shock and anger:

"Arnold?! It's you?! How could it be you?!"

It was as if he was truly getting to know the Imperial Marshal who had been by his side for decades for the first time.

"I've doubted every insect! I've even doubted my own prince! But I've never doubted you!"

"Marshal Arnold, the most loyal pillar of the Empire, has actually rebelled?! And he rebelled against me?!"

Arnold stood quietly in the doorway, his expression one of near-still calm.

He did not avoid the Insect King's sharp, knife-like gaze, but simply stared at the other party quietly.

"Why?! Arnold! Tell me why?!"

The Insect King's voice was hoarse with excitement. He strode forward, almost grabbing Arnold by the collar.

"I have treated you well! The Empire has treated you well!"

"Have you forgotten the days we fought side by side? Have you forgotten the vow you swore to protect the honor of the empire and the royal family with your life?!"

"As the Imperial Marshal, what exactly are you doing right now?!"

Despite the insect king's fierce attacks and questions, Arnold remained silent.

Until the Insect King's emotions seemed to have calmed down a bit, and he recalled his past memories:

"Arnold, we weren't always like this."

"Do you remember? Back then, when life and death hung in the balance, you took that fatal blow for me... We made a promise to build an even stronger empire together..."

"You once said that you would be loyal to the Empire and to me to the death."

Upon hearing this, a slight crack finally appeared on Arnold's face, which was as frozen as a lake.

A faint smile, a mixture of pain and mockery, flickered across his lips.

He raised his eyes, his silver-gray pupils finally meeting the Insect King's golden eyes. His voice wasn't loud, but it was like an ice pick, each word sharp and clear:

"Yes, I remember, I remember it very clearly."

He took a step forward, his gaze seemingly trying to dissect the insect king's disguise, which he was trying to conceal with tenderness.

"Your Majesty, what about you? Do you still remember the promise you made to me on the palace terrace when you were just an A-rank prince?"

Arnold's voice remained calm, yet sounded extremely heavy:

"You said that as long as I help you ascend to the throne, you will dedicate yourself to changing the lowly situation of female insects, building a fairer empire, and ensuring that all female insects who shed blood for the empire receive the respect and... hope they deserve."

His gaze was fixed on the Insect King, not allowing him to look away.

"And I believed it."

"Then please tell me, Your Majesty, the newly enthroned Insect Emperor—"

Arnold's tone suddenly turned cold, filled with suppressed anger and deep disappointment.

"After you secured your throne and gained supreme power, what... did you do?"

"Have you kept your promise from back then? Or were those words merely a... stopgap measure to gain my loyalty?"

The Insect King opened his mouth, but faced with Arnold's calm yet incredibly sharp question, he found himself speechless.

Those youthful, passionate promises, under the erosion of power and the heavy pressure of reality, have long been deliberately forgotten and cast aside by him.

He enjoyed privileges, consolidated the old order, and even... feared the "instability" that Arnold might bring.

At this moment, under Arnold's all-seeing gaze, all the carefully constructed excuses and pretenses seemed so pale and powerless.

The sealed room fell into a deathly silence.

Only two insects that once stood side by side, separated by decades of time and betrayal, stand in silent confrontation.

Looking at Arnold's expressionless face, the Insect King knew that any explanation he could offer would be futile.

He took a deep breath, as if shedding all pretense, and leaned back into the cold chair, his posture even carrying a strange sense of relaxation.

"Alright, Arnold." The Insect King's voice returned to its usual tone, but it was even colder.

"Looks like you're not going to let me out. Well then, get to the point, what do you want to do with me?"

His golden eyes were fixed on Arnold: "Supporting an obedient prince as a puppet? Or perhaps..."

His voice suddenly rose: "You want to sit in that position yourself?!"

Faced with this blunt question, Arnold remained expressionless, simply responding calmly:

"I don't need to report my plans to you."

"Is that so?" The Insect King seemed to chuckle very lightly, the sound of which sounded particularly eerie in the empty, secret chamber.

"Speaking of which, Arnold, I have to thank you."

Arnold's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

The Insect King kindly "explained" the matter:

"As you know, I cannot tolerate anything that gets out of my control. And you, my dear Marshal, you hold the empire's sharpest blade—military power—which keeps me up at night."

He shrugged, making a helpless expression.

"What can I do? In order to have the power of 'absolute control', a power strong enough to suppress any potential threat, I can only... be 'forced' to upgrade to S-rank."

Arnold listened, his tone carrying an undisguised sarcasm:

"It seems your greed for power and your desire for control have reached a vicious level."

"Of course!" The Insect King actually admitted it frankly, a twisted smugness even appearing on his face.

"This is me! I have an extreme thirst for power and an intense desire to control everything! Didn't you know that from the beginning?"

He seemed to recall something amusing and chuckled.

"Oh, right, of course you don't know how hard I had to pretend to be in order to gain your and the military's support before I finally climbed to this position."

He changed the subject, seemingly genuinely curious, and looked at Arnold:

"So, since you've imprisoned me, why don't you just kill me to prevent future trouble? Wouldn't that be the right thing to do?"

Before Arnold could answer, he seemed to suddenly realize something, drawing out his words with an air of confidence:

"Oh—I understand."

"Is it because of your mental sea? A mental sea that has been personally soothed by an S-rank male insect is probably... no longer able to accept the rough and barren soothing of other lower-ranking male insects, right?"

He leaned forward, his eyes filled with a condescending pity despite his imprisonment, and asked, word by word:

"Is that so, my dear Marshal?"

The air in the sealed room instantly became even more stagnant and dangerous because of his words.