Hera.

He inexplicably felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

026, holding Little Pusuo, followed behind Yang Ming, curiously looking in Hera's direction, subconsciously sucking on a finger, and muttering softly:

"Looks like it's delicious."

Yang Ming's mouth twitched slightly.

But it seemed that there was no hidden danger about Hera.

The shuttle took them directly to the room entrance, and Yang Ming signaled 026 to take Pusuo for a leisurely stroll, pushing open the door himself and walking in.

Hera had already turned around, her big eyes calm as a tranquil lake. With Yang Ming's call, there were minor ripples in the lake.

"You're back?"

Yang Ming sighed, opening his arms willingly.

Hera initially wanted to be reserved, taking a few slow steps forward, but she couldn't suppress the impulse within and rushed over to Yang Ming, biting her lip as she jumped into his embrace, her slender legs wrapping around his waist, leaning down to kiss him.

Yang Ming gave her a fervent response.

If not for Yang Ming turning his head and catching out of the corner of his eye, 026 and Pusuo staring wide-eyed from the glass room's corner, he wouldn't have hit the brakes so quickly.

Yang Ming temporarily pushed Hera away, who was already breathing heavily.

026 hurriedly covered Pusuo's wide eyes and turned to run to a slightly further room.

"Is that, your child?"

Hera frowned and asked, then realized how unladylike she appeared hanging on Yang Ming, quickly jumping down.

"Her," Yang Ming sighed, "in a way, I am her child, though only partially genetic... She is Valkyrie."

"I have heard Lyu mention her."

Hera looked suddenly enlightened, then squinted at Yang Ming, reaching to hook his neck again.

"Can't this place turn opaque?"

"Of course," Yang Ming snapped his fingers.

In the Thought Space, Lyu mumbled "Galaxy Drifter," "Casanova," "This is humanity," and turned the glass room into full blocking mode.

Later, after some time had passed.

Yang Ming and Hera lay on the float in the swimming pool, a towel draped over their bodies.

Hera, yawning tiredly, spoke softly, "You haven't had any female companions lately?"

"I have... Why do you ask?"

"Exhausted," Hera muttered, "although I'm a woman with regular physiological needs, your stamina is a bit too good."

Yang Ming chuckled, "Weren't you the one who insisted on going wild?"

"Ugh, I'm a lady."

Hera turned sideways, propping her cheek with a hand, her damp hair clinging to her face, gazing at Yang Ming with deep affection in her eyes.

"Ming, I missed you."

"I missed you too," Yang Ming sighed, looking at the starry sky projected on the ceiling, muttering softly, "Now that you're back, don't leave."

"I have to go back later, my research work isn't finished yet."

Hera lightly bit her lip, returning to lie down, her right hand groping to hold Yang Ming's left hand.

She whispered, "Sorry, I lost my mind a bit after my father's death last time."

"I understand."

"Aren't you going to ask why I came back?"

Yang Ming laughed, "Need money, ships, equipment, robots, don't worry, I'll prepare everything, since I've fallen for your charm."

"It's not that, my current research, humanity's current instruments are no longer useful," Hera contemplated for a moment, "I'll report my current research direction first, boss."

Yang Ming cleared his throat, "Proceed."

"I've maintained ongoing communication with the queen. Last time, before the queen led a hundred billion Insect Swarm to invade the New Federation, she attempted to assimilate my consciousness."

"Assimilate consciousness?"

Yang Ming immediately sat up, frowning at Hera.

Hera hurriedly said, "No need to worry, I'm still Hera, human Hera, the queen ultimately chose to give up."

Hera gently sighed and began to recount her experience at the time.

Back then, she refused the queen's terms, and an abyss of consciousness appeared before her, swallowing her whole.

"Being of different species, our understanding of the universe differs; our interpretation of the concept of death is also different.

"Back then, the queen intended to assimilate my consciousness, making me an insignificant part of her vast conscious entity. But she soon realized, I was still human.

"The queen determined if my consciousness was assimilated, her expansive conscious being would undergo a pathological change, akin to being influenced by humanity's perception.

"Of course, the Insect Race's understanding of the universe and space is closer to the essence; they're not afraid of human culture and civilization. What she's concerned about is..."

"Concerned about what?" Yang Ming asked.

Hera said, "Human pleasure."

"What?" Yang Ming's expression was full of confusion.

Hera chuckled softly, speaking in a gentle tone, "The Space Worm Clan are high-dimensional beings. The first-rank to Sixth-Rank Insect Race are in their larval development stage. What must be mentioned is, the only individual the Insect Race acknowledges is the Mother Worm itself."

Yang Ming said, "I've come to know about these."

"What is pleasure?"

Hera posed the question and answered it herself:

"Pleasure is a primitive self-reward mechanism in low-dimensional universe beings, like us humans, based on bodily hormone secretion and neuronal circuit construction.

"Simplifying the rules of biological evolution—when an organism performs a behavior advantageous to its survival, the brain forms a pleasure circuit to drive repetition of the behavior.

"For instance, the joy from positive interaction for reproduction, the satisfaction from obtaining food after hunger, the relief from resting when extremely tired, and achieving a long-cherished dream can also provide pleasure."

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