Transmigrated into a Redemption Novel as a Disciplinary Bug - Chapter 14

“Ugh!”

Carlos acted as a cushion, feeling as if every bone in his body was about to shatter, and his internal organs were on the verge of spilling out.

The insect in his arms, Zelan, was truly a “heavyweight” creature.

Lying on the ground, Carlos forced himself to recall every happy moment of his life to keep from crying out in pain.

Holding the female insect in his arms, he tried to help her up, only to feel a sticky, slippery sensation on his hands.

His hands, which had been resting on the female insect’s arms, now felt awkward and out of place.

“Are you okay? Maybe… maybe you should get up first?”

Carlos felt as if a mountain were pressing down on him. He couldn’t push the insect away, nor could he lift her up, so he forced the words out through gritted teeth.

Zelan didn’t understand. The one who had acted as the cushion was the disciplinary insect, yet the first thing this insect did was ask if she was hurt.

Why would the disciplinary insect do such a thing?

She knew very well that she had been reduced to an insect slave, and in the eyes of the disciplinary insect, she was nothing more than a disposable tool. So why had he caught her?

Now, face-to-face with Carlos, tangled together on the floor, the scent of shower gel lingered in the air, mixed with a faint hint of lemon.

It was like sitting under a lemon tree after the rain, enjoying the cool breeze.

This wasn’t perfume. It was more like the pheromones of a male insect.

But the disciplinary insect before her clearly had a pair of antennae. How could that be? Zelan felt she was being absurd.

She struggled to push herself up from the ground, facing Carlos directly and looking into his eyes.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

Carlos looked puzzled.

“You didn’t have to care about me.”

Carlos didn’t know why he had acted so impulsively, becoming a human cushion. His body had moved before his mind could catch up.

If he had to give a reason, it was probably the spirit of altruism ingrained in his bones. But while he thought that, he certainly couldn’t say it out loud.

“No reason. You’re going into the arena tomorrow, and right now, you’re the insect slave under my charge. I don’t want you to embarrass yourself up there.”

“Now, go back and clean yourself up properly.”

The female insect didn’t ask any more questions after hearing his words. She simply turned around silently and walked back into the bathroom.

After what had just happened, neither of them was seriously hurt. The most severely damaged thing was the bathroom door, which had already separated from its frame and lay tragically on the floor.

When Zelan entered the bathroom, she picked up the door panel and tried to reattach it to the frame, closing the door.

But all she heard was a loud “crack.”

The entire door panel shattered into pieces, scattering across the floor, officially declaring its demise.

“I…”

Zelan’s hand remained frozen in mid-air, looking utterly stunned.

For once, Carlos saw an expression of “shock” on the female insect’s face.

He almost groaned and buried his face in his hands again. He really shouldn’t have expected anything from this shoddily constructed dormitory.

“You… just continue.”

The sound of running water echoed from the bathroom once more.

Time passed minute by minute.

But Carlos could still see Zelan’s large green wings. The female insect couldn’t reach her back, clearly having not washed at all, not even getting them wet.

“Do you need help?”

Carlos asked tentatively.

After all, his current identity was that of a disciplinary insect, and on the surface, his stance was completely opposed to Zelan’s. To Zelan, he was nothing more than a knife-wielding executioner. It was only natural for the female insect to resist him.

“Mm-hmm.”

Mm-hmm? She agreed just like that?

“Then I’m coming in.”

Carlos slowly walked into the bathroom. The cramped space felt quite crowded with two insects inside.

The white wings before him blocked most of his view. He squeezed a large dollop of shower gel into his hand and began rubbing the female insect’s feathers.

“I’ve actually been wanting to ask you something for a while.”

Carlos didn’t stop his movements, but he couldn’t suppress his curiosity any longer.

“When you flap your wings, feathers fall out. Don’t you worry about going bald?”

Zelan: …

“No.”

Hearing this, Carlos completely abandoned any sense of restraint. He fixed his eyes on the largest feather within reach, immediately and mischievously plucked it, pretending nothing had happened, and secretly tucked it into his pants pocket.

He had been craving a feather for a long time.

Although losing feathers didn’t mean going bald, it didn’t mean Zelan couldn’t feel anything either.

He could clearly sense what Carlos was doing behind him.

Ever since that day when his wings were subjected to a wing-destroying potion by the disciplinarian insect, he had been unable to feel his wings for several days.

He thought over and over again that he should have bitten through the disciplinarian insect’s neck and perished together with him.

But reason always prevailed in his heart. He knew he still had things he must do, and he had to endure and bide his time.

He hated everything here.

Yet now, as the disciplinarian insect worked on his wings, a familiar tingling sensation spread through them. He could even sense Carlos secretly plucking a feather.

His wings were actually gradually recovering.

Was it a mistake? Or was it intentional on the disciplinarian insect’s part? Zelan didn’t hesitate to assume the worst about every insect in Sweet Home. Yet, while Carlos spoke the cruelest and most malicious words, his actions were different from what Zelan had imagined.

He truly couldn’t see through Carlos’s intentions.

“Alright, you can handle the rest yourself.”

Just as Zelan was lost in thought, the disciplinarian insect had finished washing his wings. Carlos didn’t overstep any boundaries—everything was done with restraint, making him seem almost gentlemanly?

Zelan was lost in thought in the bathroom, but outside, Carlos hadn’t been waiting long.

“Finished washing, right?”

Hearing movement from the bathroom, Carlos judged that Zelan had finished bathing. He instinctively looked up. But this glance nearly took his breath away.

Zelan was wearing a white bathrobe, not yet changed into the insect slave pants. The belt was loosely tied around his waist, and with every step, glimpses of skin on his chest and between his legs were revealed, glowing with a radiant whiteness. His freshly washed snow-white hair and wings seemed to emit a holy light, making it almost impossible to look directly at him.

It was no wonder that despite his disfigured face, Zelan was still classified as a high-level insect slave by Sweet Home and prepared as an auction item.

For the first time, Carlos deeply realized that even flawed jade was still a priceless treasure of unparalleled beauty.

“You… you should change your clothes first.”

Carlos quickly handed Zelan a brand-new set of insect slave clothing.

Unexpectedly, Zelan made no attempt to hide. Right in front of Carlos, he took off his bathrobe and changed clothes on the spot.

Why did he just strip like that? Without even covering up a little?

Carlos quickly averted his gaze, only daring to look directly after the female insect had finished changing.

After all, back on Blue Star, he was 24K pure gay. No matter how pure his thoughts were, he couldn’t possibly remain completely unaffected with such a stunning insect standing right in front of him.

“You should know what going to the arena entails.”

“Yes.” The female insect remained as cold and unresponsive as usual.

Carlos took out a neck collar and fastened it around the insect’s neck.

“This collar contains countless electrode patches and hidden needles. If the insect slave fails to obey commands, it will die instantly. I believe neither of us wants to see that happen.”

With a click, he secured the collar’s lock firmly.

Carlos’s hand lingered on the insect’s neck. He could even sense Zelan’s breathing growing heavier, as this was undeniably cruel for any insect.

Only after Carlos led Zelan out of the dormitory did they speak again, though not much was said.

However, Zelan wondered if it was just his imagination.

As the overseer insect departed, Carlos leaned down and whispered a sentence into his ear.

“Don’t be afraid.”

The words were so soft they seemed to vanish into the wind.

Deep within the dark prison, Zelan habitually looked ahead, trying to peer through the endless walls toward the unknown tomorrow.

Wait, perhaps it wasn’t entirely endless—the overseer insect was right next door. Zelan leaned against the wall and suddenly realized.

His eyelids grew heavy. Tonight didn’t seem as unbearable as he had imagined.

–

Dawn approached, and daylight began to break.

Carlos woke earlier than usual today. While Sweet Home remained quiet, he began his preparations.

【Host, why are you up so early? The arena battle isn’t starting for several hours yet.】

The metallic sphere system appeared beside Carlos, its small head filled with big questions.

“Early rising…”

【Early insects get eaten by birds?】

“Bah, bah, bah! Don’t say such unlucky things.”

Carlos pressed down the system that was flying around and gave it a look that could only be understood, not explained.

“We’re going to be the bird catcher.”

To make it on time, Carlos sped up his actions.

“Success comes from secrecy. Soon you’ll understand what I’m doing.”

After Carlos spent the morning busy with his plans, he went to see Zelan in the prison.

Zelan in the cell seemed much better mentally compared to before, and his body had mostly recovered.

The green ointment Carlos applied earlier was ugly but indeed accelerated the female insect’s recovery, especially after the insect retracted its wings, allowing the ointment to absorb more thoroughly.

“Zelan, it’s time. Let’s go.”

Carlos extended a chain from the controller in his hand and connected it to the collar around Zelan’s neck.

He loosely held the chain in his palm, not dragging the female insect but making the appearance complete.

“Can I know who my opponent will be?”

Zelan tentatively asked. He knew the coming ordeal would be tough, but if there was even a sliver of hope, he wanted to fight for it.

“You don’t need to know.”

Upon hearing Carlos’s cold reply, Zelan remained silent, unsurprised deep down.

From childhood, he never believed in fairy tales from storybooks. They were tricks to deceive insect children. In unseen places, reality was far crueler than imagined.

In this current hell, he shouldn’t harbor any fairy-tale fantasies.

No insect would come to save him; he could only rely on himself.

The light before me gradually expanded, and waves of fervent cheers from the audience echoed in my ears.

A wrought iron gate slowly came into view.

Beyond that gate lay the arena.

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