Because he had made an appointment with Nán Xīng to sign the contract on Monday, the next day Kān Nà got up early. He didn’t expect that as soon as he entered the living room, he would see Lǎo Lā bent over, peering through the peephole to look outside.

“What are you doing?”

Lǎo Lā immediately made a shushing gesture and whispered, “Gā Lè Tè hasn’t left yet. What should we do? We still have to go sign the contract later.”

Kān Nà bit his lip, his expression turning cold. “What should we do, we’ll do it.”

If it really comes to it, he could just call the police; he didn’t believe Gā Lè Tè would dare to kill him on Yǐ Zú Xīng.

After breakfast, Kān Nà tidied himself up and opened the door. Sure enough, Gā Lè Tè was squatting at the entrance.

It had been a whole week since Kān Nà left Yǐ Zú Xīng, and Gā Lè Tè had hardly eaten or slept. Even a physically strong 3S-level female bug couldn’t hold up under such conditions. Before finding Kān Nà, he had been hanging on by a thread, and now that he had found him, after suffering such a heavy blow, he was really struggling to keep it together. He was currently leaning against the wall, eyes closed, trying to rest.

Looking at Gā Lè Tè’s wrinkled shirt, dry hair, sunken cheeks, and the heavy dark circles under his eyes, he looked both haggard and pitiful. Female bugs usually paid attention to their appearance; the last time he looked this disheveled was probably when he had just entered the military and was bullied by rogue male bugs.

Kān Nà glanced at him lightly, furrowing his brows, and couldn’t help but lighten his footsteps.

Lǎo Lā was furious. “What’s wrong with you? Why do you still feel sorry for him?”

The male lord was still sleeping; can’t he show a little sincerity?

Kān Nà looked at the male bug behind him with a look of disdain. “…I just don’t want to wake him up and cause trouble.”

However, Lǎo Lā’s words ultimately startled the half-asleep female bug. Gā Lè Tè suddenly opened his eyes and struggled to crawl over, hugging Kān Nà’s ankle. “Male lord, male lord… I was wrong, please don’t abandon me.”

Perhaps because he hadn’t had water for too long, Gā Lè Tè’s voice was hoarse, sounding like a sheriff scratching a cat scratching board, making Kān Nà’s scalp tingle.

“Let go.” Kān Nà shot a cold glance at the female bug at his feet.

Gā Lè Tè just shook his head vigorously while holding onto Kān Nà’s leg.

“Damn it, we’re all adult bugs; can’t you have a little dignity?” Lǎo Lā had just shouted to wake Gā Lè Tè, and now feeling guilty, she saw Gā Lè Tè hanging onto Kān Nà’s leg and got even angrier. She quickly walked back into the room and yanked the mop handle from the cleaning machine bug’s hands, swinging it down at Gā Lè Tè.

“Bug scum, let go of me!”

Although the mop handle was hollow, it was still a thick and long iron rod. Lǎo Lā swung it with force, and it hit Gā Lè Tè’s back with a dull thud, sounding quite painful.

However, the female bug didn’t dodge at all, not even letting out a cry of pain. He just arched his back and silently held onto Kān Nà’s ankle even tighter.

Compared to being abandoned by the male lord, Gā Lè Tè would rather take the beating; he could endure any amount.

Moreover, it was his fault for making the male lord angry in the first place, so he deserved this beating.

“Damn! I’ve never been this tired except for going to bed!” Lǎo Lā hit him about a hundred times, panting heavily, and finally threw the stick to the ground, rubbing her palms where they had turned red. “Forget it, I’ll go get a kitchen knife and just chop him up.”

Kān Nà frowned slightly, staring at the female bug by his leg.

Although the female bug had good physical qualities, he wasn’t completely immune to pain. The higher the level, the stronger the recovery ability of the female bug, and their sensitivity to pain could even be higher than that of male bugs. Gā Lè Tè had been hit a hundred times, and his shirt on his back was already torn, revealing swollen, bleeding skin. He was now lying on the ground like a rag, but his hands were still tightly gripping Kān Nà’s ankle.

A glint of determination flashed in Kān Nà’s eyes. He gestured towards the mop handle and exchanged a look with Lǎo Lā. The male bug understood and carefully handed the iron rod to Kān Nà.

Kān Nà took the mop handle, removed the plastic ends, turning it into a completely hollow iron rod. Taking advantage of Gā Lè Tè’s moment of rest, he used the metal end to jab at the female bug’s knuckles.

With a yelp, Gā Lè Tè’s finger was punctured by the metal, instinctively pulling back his hand. Kān Nà seized the opportunity to toss the bloodied stick aside, grabbed Lǎo Lā, and ran down the stairs without looking back.

*

“Damn, that was too close! Is Gā Lè Tè out of his mind?” In the shared starship, Lǎo Lā rubbed her fragile chest, glancing back at the building with lingering fear. “We can’t stay here; I think we should move quickly.”

Kān Nà lowered his gaze in thought. “Moving is just a temporary measure; it doesn’t solve the root problem.”

The most critical question now was why Gā Lè Tè would go through so much trouble to dig him out of Yǐ Zú Xīng, abandoning his military work to travel thousands of miles to find him, and shamelessly ask to remarry.

In his previous life, Gā Lè Tè didn’t choose to divorce him through an agreement but directly killed him, likely to maintain the bug structure and save costs.

But in this life, he had already publicly criticized Gā Lè Tè online and had actively initiated an online divorce agreement. The purpose of maintaining the bug structure was no longer achievable. Therefore, for Gā Lè Tè, the lowest-cost option would be to directly agree to divorce him. Even if he was angry about the post affecting his bug structure, he should have come to take revenge, not to plead for reconciliation.

Kān Nà closed his eyes, irritably rubbing his temples, feeling that the whole situation was spiraling out of control in a bizarre direction, completely disrupting his plans.

Suddenly, a sharp scream pierced his ears. “Kān Nà, Kān Nà, you have to see this! Hòu ěr is dead!”

Kān Nà’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”

Lǎo Lā pressed a button on her smart brain, and a virtual screen immediately appeared, displaying an announcement from the royal official account. The title was written in bold black letters: “The Third Prince Hòu ěr suddenly fell ill and died at 6:17 PM yesterday, at the age of 29.”

Hòu ěr was actually dead, and it was so unclear?

Kān Nà felt a flash of insight in his mind; all his previous doubts were answered.

Hòu ěr definitely didn’t die today; he had already died in the struggle for the throne before Gā Lè Tè arrived. Seeing that marrying into the royal family was hopeless, Gā Lè Tè had to settle for second best and come to Yǐ Zú Xīng to find him, wanting to coax him back to continue being the model male lord, managing internal affairs, soothing mental energy, while also resolving the crisis caused by his posts leading to the collapse of the bug structure.

Killing three birds with one stone; what a clever plan.

When Kān Nà shared his thoughts with Lǎo Lā, she slapped her thigh hard. “I told you, none of these female bugs are good!”

The female bug he had found back then was also like that, sweet-talking him into taking all the inheritance left by his female father, saying they would go to the border to do business and come back to marry him after making it big. But when the company grew, she turned around and married a noble-born male bug. When he went to demand an explanation, that female bug not only hid in the manor but also had the guards at the door mock him.

But he didn’t back down either; he called the male protection association on the spot and had the two guards at the door arrested, which was a bit of a relief.

“So, don’t get emotionally involved with female bugs; it never ends well.” Lǎo Lā gritted her teeth. “What are you planning to do?”

“What to do?” A cold glint flashed in Kān Nà’s eyes. “Gā Lè Tè likes to put on a show, right? I’ll let him act and see how long he can keep it up.”

He had previously worried that after arriving at Yǐ Zú Xīng, he would never have a chance for revenge again, but now the opportunity had presented itself.

“What do you mean by that?”

Kān Nà smirked. “Didn’t you just hit Gā Lè Tè with that mop handle this morning?”

Lǎo Lā was confused. “Yeah, so what?”

“Hitting him with a mop handle isn’t enough; we need whips, sticks, and electric collars too.”

*

“You guys finally made it.” As Kān Nà and Lǎo Lā just stepped off the starship, they saw Nán Xīng waiting for them outside the office building.

Kān Nà smiled and nodded. Just as he was about to enter the nearby office building, Nán Xīng pulled him back.

“Our company isn’t here.”

Lǎo Lā, as Kān Nà’s assistant, quickly looked down at the address Nán Xīng had sent them. “Skyscraper, that’s right.”

“The address is written here for your convenience. Our company is inside.” Nán Xīng grabbed Kān Nà’s wrist. “It’s fine; just follow me.”

Kān Nà followed Nán Xīng around the skyscraper and walked into a residential area. After winding through several turns, they were finally led into a residential building.

The paint on the outside walls of the residential building was peeling, and the hallway was dark and dingy, with mottled walls that looked like they hadn’t been renovated in at least twenty years.

“That startup company is saving costs; please understand, haha.” The pink-haired male bug chuckled awkwardly. “But it’s okay; once the company makes money, I’ll rent three floors in the skyscraper across the street.”

Kān Nà: …

Was it too late for him to run away now?

However, Nán Xīng wouldn’t give him the chance to escape. As soon as they exited the elevator, they saw a long red carpet laid out from the opposite door to their feet, with four sharply dressed employees standing neatly on either side.

With a command from Nán Xīng, the four employees began to clap in unison. “Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome!”

Kān Nà felt his scalp tingle and quickly patted Nán Xīng on the shoulder. “I appreciate the gesture, but we can skip the welcome ceremony to avoid disturbing the neighbors.”

“Stop.” Nán Xīng made a gesture and introduced Kān Nà to each of them. “This brown-haired female bug is our company’s operations director, Cuī Xī; the blue-haired sub-female is our business director, Tī Fēi; the silver-haired sub-female is our makeup director, Tuō Nī; and finally, that uncle from the Yǐ Zú is our logistics manager, Luó ēn.”

Lǎo Lā rolled her eyes and whispered in Kān Nà’s ear, “Hmm, one’s for data, one’s for advertising, one’s for haircuts, and the last one’s a handyman.”

Kān Nà shot her a glare and smiled at the four directors, nodding. “Hello everyone, I’m the new streamer signed by President Nán Xīng; you can call me Máng Guǒ.”

“Hello, Teacher Máng Guǒ!”

“Don’t just stand there; come in quickly.” Nán Xīng ushered them inside and continued to introduce Kān Nà. “The office area is concentrated on the first floor, and the second floor is reserved for your streaming space. Didn’t you say you needed a 24-hour streaming cat room? We’ve prepared it right next to your streaming room.”

Kān Nà took a tour upstairs and downstairs. To be honest, although the hallway looked shabby from the outside, the office was indeed well-decorated. The first floor had a fresh and clean style, with no clear distinction between boss and employee workspaces; it was just a long table for work and a circle of sofas for relaxation. The walls were free of chaotic motivational slogans, only filled with shelves of green plants and snacks.

The second-floor cat room was even more thoughtfully designed, with the entire room featuring a forest theme. Two wooden bug-made trees formed the main structure of the room. The tree holes were hollowed out to serve as cat nests, and various toys and platforms hung from the branches wrapped in sisal rope. Additionally, two particularly long branches were hollowed out, extending out to form a cat tunnel. The floor was scattered with various cream and light brown electric mats.

Although the materials weren’t expensive, the overall design was harmonious, and the color scheme was very pleasant, clearly done by a professional designer.

Kān Nà wore a grateful smile. “Thank you for your hard work.”

“All of this was designed and completed by Tuō Nī herself.” Nán Xīng pulled out the slender silver-haired sub-female. “My director Tuō Nī isn’t just good at haircuts; she’s a top student from a prestigious university’s design program, very skilled.”

Tuō Nī shyly smiled at Kān Nà and quickly returned to her spot.

As Nán Xīng spoke, he pulled over Cuī Xī. “You come and introduce our operational plan to His Excellency Kān Nà.”

“Okay.” The brown-haired female bug agreed and pulled out a concise and clear table from her smart brain. “We plan to operate in a matrix, using Teacher Máng Guǒ’s current account with a million followers and the soon-to-be-launched 24-hour cat streaming account as the core, extending outwards to register a series of accounts specifically for posting streaming clips and documenting the process of capturing stray cats, with the phased goal of aiming for the championship in the next quarter’s streaming points competition in the cute pet category.”

*

“This Dream Chasing Company is something else.” Even after signing the contract and being sent back to the starship by Nán Xīng, Lǎo Lā still felt a bit dizzy.

“If it didn’t have something, it wouldn’t be able to produce a phenomenon-level streamer with millions of followers.”

Kān Nà was also very excited; he hadn’t expected that signing the contract would turn out to be the right decision.

However, this excitement immediately dissipated when he saw Gā Lè Tè still squatting at his doorstep. Kān Nà put away his smile, walked up to Gā Lè Tè, and asked lightly, “You really don’t want a divorce?”

The grayish eyes of the female bug suddenly sparkled with hope, almost lunging towards Kān Nà. “I don’t want to, male lord, please…”

“Alright, not divorcing is fine, but there are conditions.” Kān Nà looked down at the dirty female bug. “Be my female slave.”