After the equality movement failed, the Federation split into two factions. Each took control of its own territory, and fighting became constant.
The unaffiliated zone on the border between their territories was ravaged by war and filled with deserters, criminals, and illegal merchants. It was dangerous and chaotic.
Violence broke out every day, and bombings came without warning. No insect would ever consider this place a comfortable home.
Except Kailandi, who had just transmigrated from a cyberpunk world.
He took a deep breath of the filthy air, thick with the smell of blood and engine oil. "Confirmed. This feels like home."
Kailandi should have died in an attack by a cyberpsycho, but for some unknown reason, he transmigrated instead.
The bad news: there were crazies here, too, who went on killing sprees when their mental domains collapsed.
The good news: a perfect stabilizer existed, one that never caused drug resistance.
In the local language, it was called "male insect pheromones."
And he had just happened to become what they called a male insect.
Kailandi decided to make a living the way he knew best. As for the materials for his cybernetics... he could just salvage them from decommissioned battleships.
At some point, a rumor began to spread quietly through the borderlands:
No matter whether your limbs or exoskeleton were damaged, as long as you brought enough money, you could get a mechanical prosthesis at the clinic beside the battleship graveyard.
Even healthy insects could have wings, stingers, and toothed blades that didn't belong to their species assembled there...
The modified insects were all formidable fighters, and both factions' military commands immediately clamored to recruit them.
Both sides even made offers to Kailandi, hoping to bring him into their ranks.
Kailandi left them on read and focused on running his cyber clinic.
He familiarized himself with the local insects' tastes and the contentious issues between male and female insects, then put out an advertisement: New service! If you don't want to be a female insect, come get a cyber tail hook installed. Choose your own size and style.
When word got out, male and female insects alike were shocked. After hearing about it, the leaders of both factions could only exclaim, "It's gone too far. Everything's gone too far!"
Pheromones had always been a scarce resource. In this lawless land, a male insect was no different from a walking vault.
But no insect knew where that doctor got his pheromones, and no one would dream of robbing him.
Kailandi's own strength was unfathomable, and the hired thug always by his side was none other than the infamous "Graveyard Guardian." Anyone who provoked that madman would regret it dearly.
Kailandi stroked the head resting on his knee and teased him quietly. "You've made a name for yourself. Every insect in the borderlands is afraid of you now. How impressive."
The insect markings arranged symmetrically along his back glowed like electronic neon, as the female insect received comfort from his male master's pheromones.
He fluttered his translucent wings, displeased with his reputation. "They should be grateful that I'm their opponent, not you."
"By the way, General Reggie, your beloved commander is calling you back."
"I'm not General Reggie. I'm your Goliath."
*Steady, handsome gong x mad-dog shou
*The gong is taller and stronger than the shou, both mentally and physically
*The insect-tribe and cyberpunk settings are both heavily reimagined
*No equality, just making a fortune off the war (not really)
*The gong is the center of the world, and everything in the plot serves the thrill
*An imaginary setting. Please don't draw parallels to real life.
Theme: Having a skill is important
