The vacation of the galactic adventurer Vesk Marshevich was extremely unsuccessful. Having robbed another bank, he was going to have a cultural holiday on the planet of Innocent Entertainment, but contrary to his plans, he ended up on the Diamond Planet. His reputation, adorned with a considerable number of dark deeds, did not prevent him from becoming a centurion of the alien quarter there. Having taken up the duty of his new job to investigate a series of mysterious murders, Marshevich suddenly discovered that the Diamond Planet that sheltered him fully lives up to its name: the larvae of local ants are an invaluable commodity of interest to many civilizations in the Universe...