My entire class and I traveled to the year 3035. Once at the top of the food chain, humans have now become an endangered and highly protected species.

Student A: ‘Ah, this is incredible! We get food, shelter, and even baths. Steak, lobster, and little cakes.’

Student B: ‘Air conditioning, waterbeds, swimming pools—seventy-eight degrees is perfect.’

Student C: ‘Oh my, why do they keep looking at me? Do they like me that much?’

Only I felt my hair stand on end, my mouth dry.

Everyone, you forgot that as an endangered species, besides being pampered and adored, we are also subjected to forced breeding, a fate worse than captivity itself.

01

I was the last one to be captured.

As a student majoring in Animal Science, we were on our way to observe a wild panda in €the forest when our vehicle overturned. When I woke up, we had collectively traveled to a post-apocalyptic world.

My leg was injured, and I got separated while looking for food. When I woke up again and struggled to climb eastward, the Soft-hearted Insectoid Big Brother who had been secretly following me, wearing gloves and looking quite brawny, appeared again.

I struggled hard to run, frantically picking up nearby stones to throw at it, but the Soft-hearted Insectoid Big Brother just watched me with its Compound Eyes and made a low, harmonious chirping sound, as if telling me not to be afraid.

It seemed to have no ill intentions.

I was already exhausted, my foot wound bleeding again. The Insectoid behind me made a soft call, and this time I stopped limping and turned back.

It placed a fruit on the ground.

I swallowed hard, and as I looked at the fruit, I felt a slight sting on my foot. A thin Insect Needle spread a paralyzing effect throughout my body.

I was anesthetized, and when I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a completely different base.

Two Insectoids guarding the door opened it, and the silver-white buildings shimmered in the sunlight.

Light screens and rotating icons formed incomprehensible information.

In the transparent houses on either side, a few humans with oddly shaped faces huddled in the corners, looking up at me.

These people seemed to have some problems; their eyes were misaligned, spaced too far apart, and their hair was sparse.

When I was lifted out of the transparent electronic box, the base was in an uproar.

All the Insectoids gathered around.

They chirped anxiously and excitedly, their Compound Eyes staring at me unblinkingly. One Insectoid, who seemed to be the leader, extended its antennae and gently touched my head.

There was a chirping sound like laughter, and the pupils of the countless small eyes in the leader’s Compound Eyes dilated.

Judging by human emotions, this was excitement or happiness.

It seemed that these Insectoids really liked humans, especially our smooth skin and soft hair.

02

I was taken to a place similar to a medical room.

My foot wound was treated with Insectoid medical care. Unlike human treatment, the Insectoid method was quite rough. The damaged flesh was directly removed without medication, just waiting for it to grow back.

When the anesthesia wore off, the pain almost made me faint.

At this moment, an Insectoid Nanny responsible for my care brought a basin of freshly squeezed milk with a fishy smell, which I drank with gritted teeth.

The Insectoid Nanny was very happy, carefully observing me for a while, and then touched my head with its gloved antennae.

I fought back the revulsion, not daring to act rashly, and focused on eating and observing.

Because of my obedience and silence, I quickly received a reward.

That day, after I finished eating, the Insectoid Nanny carefully lifted me up.

It activated the Illuminated Conveyor Belt next to it with iris recognition, and we were transported down a brightly lit corridor of unknown material.

We stopped in front of a large house. The door opened, and inside were various antique items from human society, like chairs and benches, with ten Nutrient Chambers at the far end.

Each chamber contained something.

In the outermost chamber, with eyes closed, was my classmate.

Seeing them here made me nervous.

The Insectoid doctor in the Nutrient Chamber chirped and gestured for my Insectoid Nanny to put me down when they saw my reaction.

I limped forward, looking at each chamber. In the middle one, someone woke up—it was our Class Belle, Ada.

I reached out to knock.

A mechanical arm suddenly extended from the front Nutrient Chamber, displaying a line of text in mid-air, probably some sort of introduction.

With a trembling voice, I called out, ‘Ada.’

My Insectoid Nanny immediately let out a sharp, happy chirp. This was the first time I had spoken in days.

It said something to the doctor on duty, and after a while, the chamber doors began to open. The Class Belle was the first to be taken out by the mechanical arm, followed by other classmates waking up, rubbing their eyes and looking at me.

I felt tears welling up, but I held them back.

The awakened classmates laughed lightly.

03

They had been captured half a month earlier than me.

They knew more than I did.

This was Earth, but not entirely Earth.

The Earth had long been occupied by alien Insectoids. Once numerous, humans were now nearly extinct, protected as an endangered species by the Federation.

They were the pets of the new Insectoid rulers of Earth.

The total number of captive humans did not exceed one hundred.

They were being protected with national-level effort.

Seeing that I still didn’t understand our situation, the Tom laughed first: ‘Think about the treatment giant pandas used to get. That’s our treatment now.’

The Class President also comforted me: ‘Don’t be afraid; we’re safe now. They won’t hurt us. We were all worried about you.’

In their time together, they had learned to understand and interpret some of the Insectoid rulers’ intentions.

Because of their intelligence in understanding these intentions, they received unprecedented attention from the Insectoids.

This positive feedback loop meant continuous care and upgraded pampering, giving everyone a sense of being princes and princesses.

The Class President said: ‘Based on the inscriptions on us and the Insectoids’ excitement, I estimate the total human population is now even less than the number of giant pandas used to be. We’re betting: John says three thousand, the Class President says one thousand, the Class Belle says eight hundred. Rachel, what do you think?’

How many? I said I didn’t know.

I turned around and saw the Insectoid who had brought me here was wearing cleaning gloves and tidying up the Monitoring Room. It kept glancing at me.

In that moment, I sensed a complex emotion in its Compound Eyes, as if it was… worried.

Worried about us, the endangered ones, getting hurt?

Ridiculous. Humans, as ancient and precious living fossils, had thrived on Earth for five million years with their strong adaptability.

They had driven nearly eighty-five percent of wild mammals to extinction and consumed almost half of the plants, once becoming the masters of Earth.

A thousand years later, they had become an endangered species.

Wait, endangered species!

I suddenly remembered the humans with misaligned faces outside the base when we arrived. There was once a globally shocking case in Australia about a family’s inbreeding tragedy. The offspring suffered severe health issues, some with facial deformities, poor aesthetics, or poor vision, and some couldn’t speak.

Could the humans in the base be…

A horrifying thought emerged.

At this moment, my classmates were still cheerfully discussing.

Tom: ‘Ah, this is incredible, no need to be a corporate slave, food, shelter, baths, steak, lobster, and little cakes.’

Class President: ‘Air conditioning, waterbeds, swimming pools—seventy-eight degrees is perfect.’

Class Belle: ‘Oh my, why do they keep looking at me? Do they like me that much?’

Only I felt my hair stand on end, my mouth dry.

Everyone, you forgot that as an endangered species, besides being pampered and adored, we are also subjected to forced breeding, a fate worse than captivity itself.

04

There were eight of us together now, all from the same vehicle, and we used to have fun together.

The Class President, Tom, the Alaric, and Chandler were boys.

The Class Belle, Celeste, my introverted roommate Brianna, and I were girls.

Exactly four boys and four girls.

At this moment, we all wore collars on our wrists and necks. The girls wore silver ones, and the boys wore gold ones, probably to distinguish gender. The hieroglyphs on the collars seemed to be numbers.

If I guessed correctly, my number was 8.

Hearing my horrifying guess, the youngest, Chandler, had the strongest reaction. His face turned red, and his mouth opened slightly.

The Class Belle rolled her eyes in embarrassment: ‘What are you looking at?’

She casually tucked her beautiful curls behind her ear: ‘It can’t be that bad.’

The Class President and the Alaric were silent for a moment.

‘It shouldn’t… or at least not so soon.’

‘We need to find a chance to escape.’

We looked around, realizing that the 360-degree monitoring left almost nothing out of the Insectoid Nannies’ sight.

Their Compound Eyes focused on us.

This time, even the Tom shivered: ‘No way… I’m still a virgin.’

My roommate Brianna was almost crying: ‘What do we do, Rachel?’

Insects’ Compound Eyes can have thousands of small eyes, each capturing every action and subtle change, transmitting it to the brain. To them, our every move and expression was in slow motion.

So when Brianna cried, her Insectoid Nanny moved immediately. I quickly said: ‘Stop crying, smile.’

Brianna forced a crying smile: ‘Why?’

‘They can’t understand our words, but they can judge our status through our expressions. If you keep crying, they might think we’re attacking you… think about how we separate playful or fighting lab mice.’

Everyone fell silent. At this moment, I realized there were far more Insectoids outside the lab than expected.

I didn’t know when they had arrived, but there were too many.

From my outdoor and medical treatment experience, I found that the Insectoids distinguished identities through the necklaces on their necks.

Ordinary people wore necklaces made of stones or tree beads.

Doctors wore crystal necklaces or other Earth gems.

Higher-ranking managers wore gold necklaces from cosmic explosions.

The larger the beads, the higher the rank.

At this moment, outside the observation room was an Insectoid leader with a large gold necklace.

Its antennae gently swayed.

Insects’ antennae are evolved from legs on their heads, the most vital sensory organs. Some can detect food flavor, others can detect sound, and some can sense smell. At this moment, the Insectoid leader’s antennae were constantly moving.

I then noticed that the Class Belle had used perfume and meticulously groomed her hair.

When I looked at her in surprise, she shrugged: ‘A girl should always be refined, right? That was the last bit of perfume.’

The last bit was enough to attract the Insectoid leader.

The next second, the Insectoid leader pointed at the Class Belle with a claw.

An Insectoid Nanny came in carefully and took the Class Belle out.

The Insectoid leader nodded in satisfaction and looked at the rest of us.