Reborn as an insect, eventually reincarnated as Galactus

I mean, yes, but..."How long have you been standing there?"

Aite looked down the hall, as if he would rather go back and do something else he was doing. Kind of like he didn't want to talk to me at all. It kind of stabbed my heart, but it wasn't an unusual way of behaving, especially for a soldier. Sure, I've been researching for hours (still not sure if it's ethical to breed soldiers through cloning), but whenever I walk into the hall or anywhere, the soldiers look at me with a slight fear. I think I can understand, but it still hurts a little.

Art pointed to the hallway and said nonchalantly, "Listen, I abandoned my squad about a minute ago, so if I can't keep up, I'm pretty sure they'll report me to HR."

"No, wait! Don't leave! I pleaded, jumped up, put my arms around one of his arms, and wrapped my tail around his left corner. Art froze in place, and there must have been a glint of despair in my eyes.

I didn't mean to let him stay, but somehow, my loneliness slipped away.

Aite stared at me, even though his eyes were obscured by his helmet, so it was hard to see.

I suppressed the loneliness in my heart and covered it up with a smile. "Please? I was just...... We can talk, right? I'm sure the lieutenant will understand. "

Hmm—" Art touched my smooth hand with his gloved hand. Of course, man. As long as you don't tell the other soldiers. I stared at him silently, my big eyes prompting him to explain. So far it has worked. Considering the way Aite scratched his neck, the trick worked again. Octopus eyes for victory. "I guess they're... They were a little scared. Do you blame them? One moment there was a strange creature on our deck, and the next it could be a living planet. "

Well, I think I understand." But you're not scared, are you? "

He stared at me for a few seconds, like a man weighing the pros and cons of lying to a child." ... Of course. Of course I'm not. A gloved, armored hand fell down and patted me on the head.

Falsehood? Still, I chose to believe him. Not because I doubt my ability to perceive emotions, but because I know that confrontation is not good for either of us. I want to be friends with him, and sometimes, that means swallowing a white lie like a bitter pill.

I smiled big at him. "Oops, that's good! Because I really don't have any danger, Yanno? I fight for the Empire! So everyone is fine! Maybe, just maybe, if I continue to work with them, they may have enough spare resources to save some slaves.

Aite looked at me as if I was the most innocent person he had ever met. "As long as you keep thinking about yourself, I think you'll be fine, kid."

Well, now that I think about it, maybe Art can give me a better insight into the subtleties of the world? Like why the Republic is so bad (except that they use evil space wizards as space cops) or why the Empire hasn't done much to combat slavery. These are very good questions, but I'm actually going somewhere. I'm not sure how long Tiffin will be awake, so I'd better get there as soon as possible.

So, I grabbed his hand and began to pull him down the hallway. He tried to resist, but after realizing that I was surprisingly strong, he let me drag him along. Ha,

I looked back at him. Thoughts swirled in my head. "What's so terrible about the republic?"

Art's face turned pale.

"I know that the empire is much better, but what exactly did the republic do wrong? You're over seven years old, so you should have experienced a little bit of a republic, right? Sorry if I sound ignorant, the archives are a little... Incomplete? I don't know, I guess not sure.

For a few seconds, Art seemed to be trying to gather his thoughts, his gaze sweeping over the interior of the hallway.

“...... You really don't know anything, do you? Aite asked rhetorically. Then, he sighed. "I should have guessed. Well, I mean... I'm just a teenager, so I don't think too much critically about anything, but at the end of the day, it's politics. I remember it took years for the Senate to make even the slightest decision. In the event of the outbreak of war, by the time they decided to intervene, the battle had already ended in massacre. I grew up on the middle edge, so I don't know much about it all, but once the combat and engagement get to the core, you can really feel the galaxy cracking. "

In my research, I found some information about the various ways in which huge galaxies are separated. The main three are the outer rim, the middle rim, and the core, with the inner core being the richest and the outer core being the poorest. Beyond the Outer Rim, there are only wilderness and uncharted areas full of questions.

Ah, it's funny that we're now outside of wilderness space, returning to the Outer Rim from an unknown region.

"Throwing all this power into the war with too many people is not going to work. We need to act decisively, but the Senate has not given us that opportunity. For some reason, the words dragged out of Art's helmet began to become a little faint, almost scripted. The galaxy needs a doer to end the war and unite the people. And so he became the emperor. May the empire survive a thousand years under his benevolent rule. In the end, it feels like dry cheese is not fresh.

I hummed softly.

"What do you think would have happened if the Republic, not the Empire, had found me?" This is a purely hypothetical question, and I hope he will be able to answer it without suppressing his true opinion.

"That's—" Aite looked at me almost pitifully. It seems to me that there is no doubt that you will be killed. First, they will try to kill you with ships and ion torpedoes, and then they will send their personal watchdogs. Despite your size, I suspect you won't survive a hundred so-called peacekeepers. "

Truth or falsehood. Maybe a little bit of both? At least he looks contradictory.

...... Judging by the current situation, it does not seem good for the soldiers to talk about the bad things about the Empire. Logically, this makes sense. If your soldiers don't discuss why your country is bad, they won't dislike it, and their morale will be stronger when fighting. However, judging by Art's attitude, it feels a little more terrifying than that. A good nation will stop their soldiers from swearing, while a more evil country will punish those who swear.

This does not bode well. However, I guess this should be expected, because this is a dictatorship?

Well, the more I think about this, the weirder it gets. Art doesn't seem to be too willing to tell me the whole truth, so I guess I hope Tiffin can fill in the gaps.

Of all the people in the room, he was the most outspoken one. I think. Fern is also blunt, but not in a "this is how the galaxy works" approach. Ha.

Speaking of Tiffin, it looks like we're finally at his door! I hovered for a second, my hand still holding Art's hand. The soldier didn't seem too excited about the sudden meeting of his superiors.

"Uh, listen, kid... Isn't this the commander's room? I nodded deeply. The room he's in now? I nodded again. ...... Well, look, I still have guard duty to go. You don't mind, do you?

I looked at him with a frown. Do you really have to? He nodded silently. Well, then....

I let go of his hand. He rubbed it and waved goodbye. However, the moment he turned around, his footsteps suddenly stopped. He looked back at me. My tail unconsciously wrapped around his ankle again. I release him. He said goodbye again and left. My gaze lingered on his back for a few seconds, then turned to the door.

I knocked on the door.