Ashley held a crowbar and exerted force several times before the Bug Lolita’s head, embedded in the ice block, finally loosened slightly.
She pried it free, and Delwei, standing at the bottom of the ladder, caught it with both hands.
The face looked serene, shrouded in white mist that emanated an extreme chill. Licking it with her tongue would surely stick fast.
“Hah…”
Delwei let out a soft sigh and gently wiped the surface frost with her slender fingers, revealing the exquisite pale purple crystalline insect shell contours.
The elegant nose and thin, moist lips resembled a fine work of art, too delicate to touch for fear of smudging it with dust. Viscous, transparent cerebrospinal fluid still flowed within the deep freeze, a testament to its tenacious vitality.
“Poor little thing, just gained consciousness and got chopped into pieces.” Delwei flicked the Bug Lolita’s skull, producing a crisp, pleasant sound.
“I’m very curious—why do the Lord of Insects and the King Insect both want to become humanoid?” Ashley asked.
“Humanoid and human are two different concepts. Were humans’ ancestors humanoid?” Delwei countered.
Ashley was stunned. This perspective was novel. Upon reflection, humanity’s evolutionary path—from marine creatures to amphibians to ancient apes—didn’t start with a humanoid form. She wondered if the humanoid shape facilitated the emergence of intelligence, or if evolving into humanoid form was a prerequisite for sapience.
Perhaps terrestrial lifeforms all converged toward humanoid shapes in the end, just as most marine life resembled fish.
In just half a minute, the Bug Lolita’s head thawed. Its olive-tip-shaped compound eyes were alluring and mesmerizing, its antennae trembling faintly.
Delwei plucked at the antennae like playing a harp—among insects, antennae exchanged information, and her fingers served as equivalents.
She frowned at times, nodded at others. After a while, she looked up and said,
“She agreed to serve you.”
“That simple?” Ashley asked in surprise.
“I just said I’d eat her, and the kid nearly fainted from fear, hee hee. For bugs, the ultimate terror is being eaten. So when I offered loyalty as a path to survival, she agreed without hesitation and even thanked me profusely.” Delwei licked her lips.
“So cruel…”
“Bugs have no friends. Anything outside their own kind is food—even their own kind.”
“What if she pretends to submit and then runs off?” Ashley asked, propping her cheek.
“Don’t worry. I’ll install a ‘TA Mechanism’ in her brain. It’s a parasitic biological organ with a timed poison sac that needs regular activation via your fingerprint lock. Otherwise, the sac explodes. Its main component is my digestive fluid—it’ll instantly break down everything in the skull into nutrients, and then I can slurp it all up!” Delwei hugged the small head, pressing her lips to it and sucking noisily, as if gnawing on spicy rabbit head.
Then, she opened her chest and abdomen, stuffing the head into the tentacle canyon. Moments later, she pulled it out again.
“All done?”
“As long as she doesn’t resist, the modification is easy.”
Delwei rotated the head, showing two bean-sized elytra near the brain stem on the shell.
As Ashley’s fingers approached, the elytra unfolded, revealing two holes in the shell.
“The first time records the fingerprint…”
Under Delwei’s guidance, Ashley slowly inserted her index and middle fingers at an angle. Amid sticky wrappings, they reached the end, and she pressed the tips to engrave the print.
Once finished, Ashley noticed the Bug Lolita’s antennae drooping dejectedly. <i>Poor bug</i>, she thought. <i>It knows it’s enslaved now and must be heartbroken. But you served the King Insect and harmed fifty thousand people—this is your retribution.</i>
The Lord of Insects’ regenerative ability was extraordinarily powerful. As long as the shattered body’s fractures aligned, crystalline flesh buds would wriggle and reconnect them, though full healing took days.
“You were born from the Nether Queen’s body—a brand-new life. Let’s call you Mingyue.” Ashley clapped her hands.
“Yes, Master.”
Mingyue pinched the hem of her purple crystalline insect-shell dress and curtsied gracefully.
Her insect legs extended downward into alien crystal high heels, making her a head taller than the other two lolis, with the height mostly in her legs, giving her an especially statuesque figure.
Mingyue’s ability to reflect the Nether King’s death ray was called “Mirror Reflection,” a spatial power that could only rebound non-material, direct-line extraordinary forces. As a utility ability, it was undoubtedly top-tier with broad applications in countermeasures.
Ashley’s tactical arsenal had grown again.
–
One gift remained.
Ashley arrived downstairs from Amber’s home.
Her uncle and aunt detested her—no one would answer the door. So she snuck to the window below Amber’s room, took off her shoes, and climbed up using hands and feet.
A normal person might be mistaken for a thief, but a loli? They’d only worry about her falling.
Clinging to the window frame mid-air, she peeked inside slyly.
Amber, buried in homework, heard the tapping. She grabbed an eraser and chucked it at the glass—<i>thunk</i>—but ultimately opened the window to let her in.
Ashley clambered through the window and knelt on the desk, legs tucked neatly to the side. She bowed her head regretfully:
“What a shame—my stockings got torn.”
Sure enough, the white stockings were riddled with holes and scratches, misty snow-white blending with clear pale skin, along with her delicate feet whose joints were barely discernible.
“Who told you to climb up?”
Amber’s sparkling eyes darted away, avoiding the temptation right in front of her. Staring too long would turn her into a silly loli, brain muddled and at the other’s mercy.
“Why didn’t you come to the celebration? Chloe was so grateful you helped save her mom.” Ashley leaned in and asked.
“It had nothing to do with me. Teacher sent a letter for me to pass to Lord Meroi for the rescue,” Amber replied.
“I have a gift for you.” Ashley pulled out a small box.
“No merit, no reward.” Amber turned away.
“I know you don’t like Xixi, so you skipped. But we’re good friends, right? I came to thank you on behalf of Chloe and the Little Doctor.” Ashley blinked.
Amber fell silent. She didn’t dislike the girl with the dreamlike hair color—she feared her. And it wasn’t Xixi she feared, but confronting her own heart.
Tolerating Ashley’s gray-area maneuvers meant abandoning her principles. Upholding justice meant clashing with Ashley.
Lately, her resolve had shaken even more.
She didn’t approve of Chief Judge Meroi’s entrapment tactics, but calling it out would get her kicked out that day.
This weighed heavily on her.
<i>What am I even fighting for?</i>
After some reflection, Amber finally understood: she couldn’t uphold anything.
In every incident, she was a negligible side character. Her voice came from others’ respect for her teacher. Without Letisia, she wouldn’t even get to speak.
First, she needed power—the power over life and death or resource allocation—to enforce her will.
Amber felt herself growing wiser… like her brain was finally developing.
“Before leaving Rift City, Teacher said to train you,” Ashley said.
“Teacher wrote about it in the letter…” Amber nodded lightly, a hint of melancholy in her expression. “You’re already amazing and improving so fast, while I’m still just ordinary Amber.”
Ashley frowned. This was worse than a sulky brat—at least sulky brats didn’t give up. No matter how tragic Chloe’s ordeals, the light in her eyes never faded.
“Let’s set a small goal first—become a cadre!” she declared suddenly.
“A cadre? Me?” Amber looked at her puzzled.
“Exactly!” Ashley leaned closer, eyes gleaming as she stared at her little face. “Think about why Teacher took you as a disciple. Your talent is way more than this. And it’s you and me—together! Starting today, I’m living at your place. Let me wear your stockings!”
Ashley hopped off the desk and rummaged through the cabinet.
“Huh? Why mine?!” Amber finally reverted a bit to her old self, face flushing as she protested.
“Because mine are ruined.”
Ashley tilted her head, flashing a sly, sweet smile.
