The Cannon Fodder Male Insect Refuses the Crematorium - Chapter 1

Lu Qing had a dream.

In the dream, a small sub-female with short silver-gray hair lay in his arms. His ruby-like eyes stared unblinkingly at Lu Qing’s chin, as if the sub-female’s entire world was centered on him. Their fingers were tightly interlaced, warming Lu Qing’s icy palms.

“Lu Qing,” the small sub-female murmured, rubbing against his lower abdomen. “Stay forever.”

Upon waking, the dream dissolved into nothingness.

Lu Qing opened his eyes and stared blankly at the canopy of the bed, remaining silent for a long time. The communicator by his ear emitted a sharp, short beeping sound that suddenly pierced the silence of the room and stung his eardrums.

Lu Qing turned his head to pick up the device, sliding his finger across the screen. A hurried male voice came through the speaker.

“Lu Qing, are you ready?”

The voice was rough and carried a hint of raspy weariness.

Lu Qing nodded and said, “Yes. Tell me the time.”

“Before six o’clock tonight, have the ingredients ready and start cooking,” the voice commanded.

This was currently the 3,500th era of the Zerg race, known as the New Zerg Age.

Ever since the Seradi War initiated by the Insect Queen a hundred years ago, the rights of sub-females had received significant attention. Seizing the opportunity, a group of Zerg began selling products using sub-females as the primary selling point.

Parsons was a sub-female who had caught onto this business opportunity. Having once suffered abuse at the hands of a male master, he harbored a rebellious spirit. He loathed male insects deeply and understood exactly what sub-females needed. To satisfy his own desires and interests, Parsons sought out male insects who were handsome but down on their luck.

Lu Qing was one of the fallen males he had discovered.

With gentle, downturned dark eyes and a handsome, fair face, Lu Qing looked like someone easy to bully and devoid of sharp edges, despite his tall stature.

Parsons was very satisfied. He offered various benefits and discounts, but the male insect in the old-fashioned trench coat remained unmoved. Parsons said unwillingly, “It is just live-streaming some cooking, watering flowers, talking, and filming daily life. It will not be much trouble.”

To his surprise, Lu Qing looked up, paused for a moment, and actually nodded in agreement. “Alright.”

Thus, Lu Qing signed a contract with the Blue Star streaming platform and became a rising star anchor. He had been streaming for nearly a month now.

Parsons had been busy handling other newly recruited anchors and only recently remembered the little anchor he had brought in a month ago. He contacted him in a rush and hurried over.

Lu Qing was naturally and fluidly bundling the data sticks.

Parsons had worried that this frail male might have developed a temper after being ignored for a month, or that he would be too clumsy to handle things. Arriving an hour early, Parsons was surprised to see the equipment and live-stream sticks already set up.

“Good afternoon,” Lu Qing greeted him in a gentle tone.

Parsons’ nose twitched. Looking around, he saw a plate of gold and red tomato scrambled eggs sitting quietly on an old wooden table.

“You made this?” Parsons swallowed hard. The sweet and sour aroma stirred the hunger in his empty stomach, causing his mouth to water.

He had been so busy dealing with those troublesome new recruits that he had not been able to eat lunch. He had called Lu Qing in a hurry without resting. Originally, he wanted to film the male insect’s inability to cook, capturing flustered and messy scenes as a selling point for the stream. A male insect with teary eyes and skin stained with oil and salt would create a sense of contrast, providing psychological comfort to the traditionally disadvantaged sub-females.

But to his surprise, this “vase” of a male insect, who looked good but seemed useless, could actually make a decent home-cooked dish.

Lu Qing said, “Just practicing before the stream.”

Parsons impatiently pulled out a chair and sat down, picking up a piece of scrambled egg with his chopsticks. But in the next instant, his hand paused. He scratched his short-cropped hair awkwardly and turned to Lu Qing. “Can I try a taste?”

Lu Qing nodded. “You may.”

Having received permission, Parsons ironically found himself hesitant to move his chopsticks. It was common knowledge that male insects were rare in the Empire. Usually, sub-females did the cooking while males were responsible for enjoying themselves.

These eggs were golden and smooth, looking almost too beautiful to be normal scrambled eggs. He wondered if Lu Qing had added some kind of chemical binding agent.

Parsons turned again and asked tentatively, “This is just ordinary scrambled eggs, right? Did you add anything other than tomatoes and eggs?”

Lu Qing said, “Yes.”

With a loud clack, Parsons slammed his chopsticks down and stood up. The chair legs screeched against the floor. “I knew it!”

Lu Qing said slowly, “Sugar, salt, and green onions.”

With a thud, Parsons sat back down.

Parsons took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The sudden shock had made him even hungrier, and the hunger bugs in his stomach were acting up so much that his stomach began to ache. He told himself that when he was a mercenary, he had eaten all sorts of mess, so a plate of tomato scrambled eggs was nothing to fear.

Closing his eyes and hardening his heart, Parsons took a large bite of tomatoes and eggs together as if he were heading to an execution ground.

However, the expected taste of being deathly salty or sickeningly sweet did not appear.

The tender, smooth eggs and the soft, cooked tomatoes exploded in his mouth. The sweet and sour juice filled his palate, forcibly suppressing his stomach’s silent protest and warmly filling his belly.

Parsons swallowed the bite, feeling a sense of total comfort. His stomach had been ruined during his early days as a mercenary and by a male master who intentionally withheld food. This dish was appetizing and light. It was perfect.

Parsons felt ashamed of his previous malicious speculations about Lu Qing. There were many lazy male insects, but that did not mean they were all like that.

“It is delicious, very delicious.” Parsons never thought he would be won over by a simple home-cooked dish, but his favorability toward this gentle male insect skyrocketed.

“I am glad you like it,” Lu Qing said.

“Could I… I did not eat lunch today, could I…”

Parsons stammered for a long time without finishing his sentence, but Lu Qing understood. “I also boiled some wide noodles. You can mix them in and eat them together.”

The sturdy sub-female immediately broke into a delighted smile.

After devouring two large bowls of noodles and scraping the plate of tomato scrambled eggs clean, Parsons smiled sheepishly and licked the leftover tomato juice from his lips.

Lu Qing skillfully cleared the dishes and took them to the basin to wash. The sound of flowing water brought a strange sense of spiritual peace. Parsons’ agitated emotions from work were smoothed over as if by a pair of warm hands. A warm afterglow flooded his mind, leaving him so relaxed he did not want to move a finger.

But as he watched the male insect’s back while he worked in an apron, he decided to call a good friend. “Hello? It is me. Yeah, I want to buy a promotion slot for an anchor. Is there any left?”

On the training grounds of the Imperial Military Academy, a young sub-female was bare-chested, wildly swinging his tanned arms with every punch landing with a heavy thud.

Crystal beads of sweat clung to his firm abdomen, and his smooth, beautiful back rippled with his movements like a butterfly about to take flight. His muscular physique was not exaggerated. It was a thin, perfectly developed layer that exuded power and beauty.

He was not alone. Another bare-chested sub-female was sparring with him.

Bright purple-red insect markings climbed up the opponent’s face, and one of his hands had undergone a semi-transformation, resembling a scythe. His punches carried the wind, moving much faster than a non-transformed Zerg. Even so, he rarely managed to hit the young sub-female. Finally, he was struck by a punch and collapsed to the ground.

“No more, no more.”

The fallen sub-female waved his hand exhaustedly and let it drop with a thud, not wanting to move again.

A hand reached out to him.

The sub-female squinted and rolled his eyes at the owner of the hand, then weakly placed his hand in it, muttering, “Elliot, I am your superior after all. Could you not go easy on me?”

“In the military, that would be considered contempt for a superior,” Elliot said calmly as he pulled him up.

“But we are not at the military headquarters.”

Elliot let go as soon as his superior was steady.

“Fine, fine, you are right. Just my bad luck.”

Tanqi twisted his wrist and leaned lazily against the railing of the training platform. “Hey, a new restaurant opened in the cafeteria. Do you want to go?”

A terminal emitted a sharp, beeping sound. Elliot’s brow twitched, and his expression finally showed a subtle change. He clicked off the communication, turned, and put on his jacket.

Tanqi crossed his arms, admiring his subordinate’s physique. “Hey, kid, are you going?”

Elliot shook his head. “Sorry, I have something to do.”

“What is it? A fiancé?”

“No.”

Elliot finished changing and vaulted over the railing with one hand. By the time he spoke, he was already at the door. “We will talk about the recruit training later. I am leaving.”

Tanqi was stunned for a moment. In the blink of an eye, the training room was empty except for him. He shook his head helplessly. “Tsk, you kid. You are in such a rush you would think you were on a rocket.”

Elliot hurried across most of the military base back to his office.

The terminal had not sounded in a long time. Looking at the clock, it was already seven minutes past the scheduled 6:00 PM start time.

Elliot pursed his lips and quickly logged into his account. A hazy white mist filled the screen because the male insect’s broadcast had already begun.

“Today I am making freshly boiled sliced meat porridge,” the male insect said, his voice flowing gently. He was wearing an apron with a “little cub” pattern.

Elliot did not notice that when his ID entered the room, the male insect’s voice faltered slightly.

In the stream, Lu Qing stood before an old, chipped pot that looked like a child missing front teeth. The naughty pot gurgled and hissed, spraying hot steam that enveloped the male insect’s face. The sharp yet slender outline of his chin was barely visible through the blur.

Elliot stared intently at the gentle male in the stream. His deep red eyes were like a bottomless whirlpool, carrying a deep yearning he had not even noticed himself.

When the male insect looked up, he did what he did in every stream. He looked at the notification comments and smiled slightly. “Welcome, Lu7in, to the stream.”

The expression in Elliot’s eyes softened. He sent several Small Spaceships in the stream.

“Thank you, Lu7in, for the Small Spaceships.”

User [When can I find a male master and stay single no more]: “Luoluo is so beautiful! Another day of licking the screen for Luoluo!”

User [sh4869]: “I sent a small bicycle, hurry up and praise me.”

A few sparse comments drifted across the blue and white virtual screen. These were all “little angels” who had accompanied him until now.

Lu Qing took out a bag of items and replied with a smile, “Thank you, sh4869, for the bicycle.”

He was about to take out the ingredients he bought today when he suddenly paused. He noticed the number of online viewers jump from a dozen to over a hundred.

“Many new friends have arrived today.”

As Lu Qing spoke, a wave of comments questioning him began to appear, interspersed with a few questions about the dish.

User [All male insects are idiots]: “Sliced meat porridge? Hilarious. A pampered little male insect would probably be too disgusted or scared to touch a dead thing. Better just follow the Imperial Matching System and find a strong sub-female to marry.”

User [When can I find a male master and stay single no more]: “The male host is so handsome, sob sob.”

User [So annoyed, let the Empire be destroyed]: “Oh? How has a male insect fallen so low that he has to stream cooking to earn money? Is it not better to find a rich sub-female?”

User [I am hungry]: “What dish is the male host making? I was attracted by the title ‘Daily Life of Male Lulu.’ I did not expect to catch you cooking.”

User [After my male master abandoned me, he regretted it]: “+1, same here.”

Elliot’s gaze fell on the mocking comments. The muscles on his shoulder blades tightened, and a cold, poisonous light shot from his eyes, though a hint of discomfort flickered in his heart.

No matter how far Lu Qing had fallen, he was still a legitimate young son of the Locke family. Since when was he subject to such ridicule and abuse?

His hand was already on the communicator, ready to investigate the identities of those mocking Lu Qing, but he suddenly stopped.

He heard Lu Qing’s calm and gentle voice.

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