Yunyang didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until the next morning.
The memories of the previous night slowly returned. Still moving a beat too slowly, she opened her wrist terminal, only to discover that her video call with Leonardo had been disconnected at some point.
Yunyang was instantly wide awake. Ignoring the early hour, she immediately sent another video call.
The moment his terminal began vibrating, Leonardo jolted awake.
He glanced at the time on his wrist. It was only 5:17 in the morning—not even the insectoids were stirring yet.
But his female must have called him as soon as she woke up. She was worried about him.
The corners of Leonardo’s eyes lifted unconsciously. He silently got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him before activating the soundproofing system.
Only after making sure he wouldn’t wake the others in the dormitory did Leonardo answer the call.
When the familiar features of the little fox appeared on the screen, Yunyang let out a long breath of relief.
“Leon, how are you? Did you make it back to the military base?”
Seeing that Yunyang clearly hadn’t even had time to wash up, Leonardo’s heart softened.
“My female, I returned safely last night. I wasn’t injured.”
“You’d already fallen asleep before I got back, and there were other people in the dorm, so I ended the call.”
There were indeed no visible wounds on him in the video, and only then did Yunyang relax.
But when she thought of the little fox’s reckless actions the night before, she couldn’t help but lecture him a little. “Leonardo, you were lucky this time, but what about next time?”
“If you ever charge into an insectoid stronghold alone again, I’ll have Commander Lei Ou deal with you.”
Abandoning one’s post on the battlefield was a serious offense. Leonardo had not only left without filing a report, but had even gone to an insectoid stronghold.
If he hadn’t obtained crucial information, his contribution outweighing his offense, Commander Lei Ou certainly wouldn’t have let him off lightly.
“By the way, how did you find out about the Insect Queen?”
Yunyang suddenly remembered this crucial question.
The night before, she had been too worried about whether Leonardo could escape to ask him.
After all, beastmen and insectoids spoke entirely different languages. The Federation had tried all kinds of devices in the past, yet had never managed to translate the insectoid language.
Although the little fox had infiltrated the insectoid stronghold, how had he understood what the insectoids were saying?
On the screen, Leonardo’s expression stiffened for a moment.
He parted his lips, wanting to explain, but he was afraid Yunyang would despise him once she learned the truth.
Yet he didn’t want to hide anything from his female.
Leonardo lowered his head. After a long pause, he stammered, “I—I have a special ability. I can, more or less… understand the insectoid language.”
His female would despise him, wouldn’t she?
All beastmen were unable to understand the insectoid language, yet he could.
Would she think he had been infected by the insectoids?
Leonardo cautiously raised his eyes and stole a glance at Yunyang’s reaction.
The news had indeed shocked Yunyang, but that was all it was—shock. She had no intention of despising Leonardo, much less believing that he had been infected by the insectoids.
A female’s mental power was the insectoids’ natural nemesis.
If the little fox had really been infected, wouldn’t he have died long ago after using their spiritual forms together so many times?
Once she came back to herself, Yunyang looked at Leonardo in delight. “Then doesn’t that mean you can understand everything the insectoids say?”
Seeing the complete lack of disgust in those eyes, Leonardo’s heart felt as though it had been lightly scratched.
He suddenly wanted to return to Central Star and pull his female into a tight embrace.
“Yes.”
Yunyang thought of many things in an instant. If the insectoid language could be deciphered, it would be an enormous benefit to the Federation.
But she would not make that decision on Leonardo’s behalf.
So Yunyang only asked, “Her Majesty the Empress already knows that the Insect Queen was seriously injured. She probably won’t pursue the source of the information for the time being.”
“But once the Federation army begins its operation—or successfully kills the Insect Queen and returns—she’ll definitely ask.”
“Leon, how are you planning to explain it?”
Yunyang didn’t think Si Zhao would simply let the matter go.
Although the Empress appeared gentle and usually carried no airs, as a person in power, she could not possibly be without suspicion.
Leonardo understood that as well, which was why he had already made up his mind.
“I’ll tell Her Majesty the truth when the time comes.”
He wasn’t afraid of being seen as an outsider, nor was he afraid of being rejected by others. The only thing he cared about was what his female thought of him.
As long as his female didn’t despise him, other people’s opinions were meaningless.
“It’s fine as long as you’ve thought it through,” Yunyang said, unable to hold back a yawn.
She wasn’t used to getting up so early, and she was still a little sleepy.
Just then, someone knocked on the bathroom door.
A voice, deliberately lowered, came from outside. “Leonardo, are you in there?”
The leopard beastman had been jolted awake by the urge to urinate. It was only when he reached the bathroom door that he realized it had been locked from the inside.
He glanced back and saw that Leonardo was the only one whose bed was empty, so he called out.
The wrist terminal’s microphone was excellent. Yunyang clearly heard the leopard beastman’s voice.
She quickly said, “I’m going back to sleep. You should get out of there.”
“All right.”
Only after Yunyang ended the call did Leonardo hurry out of the bathroom.
The leopard beastman had already been holding it for far too long.
The moment he saw Leonardo come out, he didn’t even have time to say a word. He merely nodded at Leonardo before rushing into the bathroom.
After ending the video call, Yunyang flopped back down and went straight to sleep.
Leonardo, however, was no longer tired. He simply lay on his bed and flipped through the photos of Yunyang on his wrist terminal.
He had secretly taken all of them himself. None showed anything inappropriate; they were merely records of Yunyang’s everyday life.
Whenever he had a break these days, he passed the time by looking at Yunyang’s photos.
He hadn’t been looking for long when a message arrived from Adjutant Pan En.
[Assemble at the control tower at six.]
Leonardo instinctively checked the time. There were less than twenty minutes until six.
Everyone in the First Army knew that when Adjutant Pan En said to assemble at six, it was best to arrive by 5:50. Otherwise, they would definitely be subjected to a long lecture from the adjutant.
Leonardo got out of bed again, changed into his uniform as quickly as possible, and headed for the control tower.
Central Star.
Yunyang slept for another two hours before slowly getting up to wash.
Xuan Yu and Fu Shiyi had already prepared breakfast. Perhaps because she was on her period, she had little appetite and only ate a small amount.
Noticing that Yunyang was eating much less than usual, Xuan Yu immediately asked, “My female, is the food not to your liking today?”
Yunyang shook her head. “It’s delicious, but I’m not very hungry today.”
Only then did Xuan Yu relax.
Worried that Yunyang would get hungry soon, he baked some of her favorite cookies after breakfast and told her to eat them whenever she felt hungry.
Yunyang took a cookie and sat down on the sofa. As she nibbled on it, she opened her wrist terminal.
She had only just logged onto the StarNet and hadn’t even begun browsing when she received several photos from Cang Zhuonian.
Yunyang tapped them open without thinking and was instantly blinded by the sharply defined abdominal muscles on display.
