As Lin Xi whispered, the light in the resting space began to flicker as if it were unstable.

A few seconds later, the holographic projection function was stopped, and the pure white, narrow and monotonous rest space revealed its most primitive appearance to Lin Xi.

Only the small pool in the corner of the room remained shrouded in mist, emitting warm water vapor.

"...Hot springs can effectively reduce the stress accumulated by pregnant women during long-term space travel and also help with childbirth..."

Just as Lin Xi stared blankly at the pool, a rectangular projection panel slowly descended, and the rigid electronic woman continued her incredibly monotonous speech on the screen.

However, at this moment, Lin Xi could more or less discern the hidden message Scripps was conveying to him from those carefully selected and pieced-together words.

Judging from the current situation, Scripps' attitude toward Lin Xi giving birth to his first child is indeed quite positive.

Lin Xi couldn't help but feel a faint, subtle emotion.

"I don't understand why you care so much about my descendants..."

Lin Xi looked at the woman in red on the projection and then said.

However, the intense discomfort ultimately led Lin Xi to slowly enter the hot spring, just as Streep had hoped.

"Splash..."

The sound of water ripples.

Because of their concern for Lin Xi and the unfamiliar hot spring pool, Xavier entered the water with Lin Xi.

The humid and warm environment made the baby in Lin Xi's womb feel a little more at ease.

Lin Xi breathed a sigh of relief, and then felt Xavier's burning gaze. The man was staring straight at Lin Xi. Because of the heat, Lin Xi's skin was pink, and his finally relaxed face made Xavier involuntarily become mesmerized.

"Xavier?"

Lin Xi opened her eyes wide in surprise, and then a faint warmth quickly spread across her cheeks.

Before Xavier appeared as a giant insect, Lin Xi had never felt anything like this. Whether it was being naked in front of him or the union between him and Xavier that was enough to make ordinary humans lose their minds, it was all perfectly natural to Lin Xi.

(Of course, he also had to admit that if time had gone back to before the Apollo's emergency landing, and if he had known that he would one day be with such a terrifying insect, he probably would have chosen to shoot himself.)

But ever since Xavier transformed into such an incredibly handsome and robust man, many of its characteristics as an Ohmu have become somewhat "obvious".

It was so obvious that it could even stir up a certain unease, shyness, and emotion unique to humans deep within Lin Xi's heart.

"I like...I like Lin Xi..."

Xavier murmured.

Unbeknownst to it, the distance between it and Lin Xi grew closer and closer, so close that it felt as if it could kiss Lin Xi's lips at any moment—

"Sizzle... sizzle..."

At that very moment, that damp, sticky sound rang out.

Lin Xi's face turned pale, and her body swayed suddenly.

"it hurts--"

Lin Xi said painfully, his whole body went limp, and he hugged his head tightly, using all his strength to suppress the sudden mental attack.

It was those...those nematodes...

They were rampaging through Lin Xi's mind, unleashing a wild, violent, yet incredibly pure longing.

Lin Xi was in so much pain that she could barely speak.

At the same time, Xavier abruptly turned to face the closed door, his eyes suddenly turning a dark, crimson red.

At the same moment, the screen that had been lowered flickered and displayed some slightly distorted images.

That was the live surveillance footage outside the door of this rest area.

Lin Xi was shocked to see the strange things gathered at the doorway; they were the human-faced worms he had seen before.

Lin Xi still remembered the worm, after all, the mimicry of the girl's head on the worm was indeed unforgettable.

However, Lin Xi was certain that what was appearing outside the door now... was definitely not the one she knew.

Because inside the worm's translucent body, one could vaguely see countless things clustering and wriggling... those rumpled, unruly white marks were the bodies of those nematodes.

—After devouring the human-faced worm, this thing's bodies stuck together and formed a near-perfect mimicry.

And now, they are mimicking the very worms that they have devoured.

They even mimicked the most prominent features of those human-faced worms.

"Please help me, please help me..."

A sharp, eerie, goosebump-inducing human voice.

The monitoring system accurately transmitted the simulated screams of the white nematodes into the room, making Lin Xi feel like she was about to vomit.

"Hiss..."

Xavier's broad back blocked Lin Xi's path.

"Don't be afraid."

Lin Xi heard Xavier speak to him cautiously.

"I'm not afraid..."

Lin Xi bit her lip in response.

He just had a very bad feeling.

Those white nematodes mimicking things have a higher intelligence than the original.

After realizing that no one was responding to them, the mimicking "worms" became extremely anxious, their soft bodies constantly wriggling and rubbing against the tightly closed door.

Spurts of slime trickled down the metal door from where they had crawled.

A few wisps of inconspicuous blue smoke rose from the ground; that was their slime corroding the metal.

Noticing this, Lin Xi involuntarily turned her head to look at Xavier.

Those acids...

He thought of Xavier's methods for dealing with those nematodes, and his chest grew heavier and heavier.

He never imagined that those guys could completely replicate Xavier's acid secretion function in such a short time.

Just as Lin Xi was staring intently at the "worms," ​​a mechanical foot suddenly stepped forward and crushed the "worm's" body.

Countless nematodes suddenly scattered, bursting out of their mimicry shells and wriggling on the ground.

But Lin Xi's attention wasn't on the nematodes at this moment, but on... the thing that was crushing them.

At first, Lin Xi didn't even recognize what it was.

They have bizarre bodies; their upper bodies look like clusters of festering tumors, with long, thin metal tentacles extending from beneath them.

If it weren't for the electronic eyes of the mechanical warrior hidden in the crevice of the constantly writhing flesh, Lin Xi would never have imagined that the gigantic thing in front of him was actually a mechanical warrior...

"Are you kidding me?" Lin Xi was utterly shocked.

At this moment, he finally realized why Streep had used such a violent method to burn the nematodes, without even considering that such high temperatures might harm him and Xavier.

These nematodes, genetically modified based on the offspring of the previous generation's nematode mother, possess the unique ability to attach to and modify machinery.

Those mechanical warriors have now become special individuals that are half biological and half mechanical.

Even with your eyes closed, you can tell that those "mechanical warriors" are much more difficult to deal with than before.

"Mother... Mother..."

The white nematodes inside the mechanical warrior's helmet mimicked one bizarre human face after another, their distorted lips gaping wide as they shouted incessantly into the hatch.

Immediately afterward, the mechanical warrior made its move, its tentacles nimbly reaching towards the metal hatch, and the small cutting machine at the top landed directly on the outer door of the lounge, sparks flying from the metal.

The situation was very bad, but Lin Xi had no way to resist at all.

His body fell heavily backward, landing in the warm water.

A sharp pain shot through his abdomen, making him question the meaning of his life.

In his memories of the alien species, no insect queen had ever experienced such immense suffering—after all, reproduction was their most basic instinct…

But now he is enduring the unparalleled pain of childbirth, just like a human woman.

A few seconds later, Lin Xi smelled a fishy and sweet odor.

The translucent mucus seeped into the warm pool water, followed by a strong smell of blood.

Then... the excruciating pain, which was almost tearing one's nerves apart, suddenly came to an abrupt end.

Lin Xi felt her body suddenly become exceptionally light, as if she were about to float away in the next second.

Lin Xi looked down at her body in shock…

For a brief moment, he could hardly comprehend it.

What exactly is that thing...?

Xavier pounced on it before the thing could react.

It grabbed Lin Xi, then hugged him and dragged him out of the warm pool.

Then it blocked Lin Xi's way and issued a series of urgent and high-pitched warnings to their newborn child.

That child...

It looks very difficult to understand.

Lin Xi thought he was mentally prepared—that his children would be forced to hatch prematurely due to external dangers, and that was the worst-case scenario.

He would produce a nest of tiny, powerful, and constantly wriggling worms from his own body.

But the child he saw now was more maddening than the swarms of insects.

Lin Xi didn't even know how to describe that thing; it was a large mass of fresh flesh that suddenly began to writhe and expand.

It looks more like some kind of slime mold... or more like a symbiotic organism formed by countless tiny worms intertwined together.

Under Lin Xi's gaze, the surface of this brand-new offspring's body rapidly began to boil. Lin Xi clearly saw countless tiny eyeballs suddenly appear on the surface of the scarlet flesh, and insect mouthparts emerged, opening and closing.

However, this thing is a whole, not countless individuals.

Lin Xi knew this because after it was born, its powerful will was directly reflected into his soul.

Mother

The other person kept calling out to Lin Xi in her mind and expressing her longing for her.

Then, it slowly surged towards Lin Xi's direction...

Lin Xi involuntarily took a step back, and then he subconsciously looked at the surveillance footage of the doorway that Scripps had provided to him.

The worms and nematodes there are trying to open the hatch in the lounge.

At this moment, Lin Xi had a vague feeling that her newborn child and the terrifying nematodes outside the door seemed to have some similarity.