Chapter 67

The Dead Egg Pit is four floors underground.

"Father Xiong, I've done everything you asked me to do." Fatty Chong saw him coming and called out affectionately through the mental link.

Seeing it looking up at him, begging for praise, Qi Heng, like an old father, smiled and praised him, "Xiao Lan has never let me down."

“Ah~”

The fat bug monster sheepishly pulled out a silk cocoon from its belly pocket and presented it to him like a treasure: "Look, father Xiong, it's about to wake up."

It was a silk cocoon about the length of a thumb. The pure white cocoon had circles of light silver spiral lines on it. At first glance, it did not look like a living creature, but more like some kind of carefully carved ornament.

And at first glance you can tell that it is different from other original Zerg.

Even though they were both born from cocoons, this one is much more beautiful than the bluetail butterfly cocoon, and it exudes an "I am very expensive" temperament.

It is indeed very expensive.

The cocoon of this larval brainworm cost eight thousand energy points to nurture, and to catalyze it to adulthood, at least fifty thousand energy points must be fed.

Of course, the harder it is to feed, the greater the reward - upon reaching adulthood, the rank will be directly promoted from the upper Zerg to the Overlord.

Brain Worm: A higher-level Zerg in the Primordial Zerg hierarchy. The consumption of 8,000 energy points = 1 larva is not much for a higher-level Zerg. Among the many types of Primordial Zerg, it is a type of tool worm that consumes energy in the later stage.

Unlike the tool worms that focused on assisting in combat, they focused on mental power. Even the larval brain worms possessed an innate talent for mind control, and they also possessed the ability to split their mental power to create clones that resided in the minds of others, becoming the host and controlling the actions of the living being.

After advancing to the king insect, they can use the information network woven by the blue-tailed butterflies to obtain the collective wisdom to command the original Zerg in battle when the group base is sufficient.

The original Zerg has a wide variety of tool worms, each of which has its own use. The existence of the brain worm is to solve the problem of being able to fight and act independently when the Overlord and the Commander are both unavailable.

It takes a lot of resources to cultivate an excellent brain worm at the king level. Even Qi Heng didn't cultivate many in the game. After all, the number of original Zergs that provide them with "wisdom" is limited.

Originally, he had not planned to give birth to the brain worm so early, but after thinking carefully about how the brain worm could help him solve many critical problems, he moved the plan forward.

What Qi Heng lacks most now is people. They are not companions with similar ideals and goals, but subordinates and tools who can obey his orders and not betray him.

For example, the unicorns and the Ikars in the research base are all very useful tools. We cannot abandon them just because of their identities. That would be the most foolish thing to do.

It is easy to control them temporarily, but it is difficult to make them obedient for a long time. If he does not find a way to solve this problem, he will have to be on guard against their betrayal all the time... So he thought of the brain worm. The innate abilities of the brain worm larvae can just solve his problem.

Qi Heng took the cocoon and placed it in the palm of his hand. The cocoon began to shake slightly, and then a tiny hole appeared from the inside to the outside.

It woke up.

Unlike other insects that break out of their cocoons, brain worms devour the entire cocoon from the inside out, revealing their own appearance only after the cocoon is eaten away bit by bit.

The thumb-sized white bug looks somewhat similar to the fat bug. At first glance, it looks like a kawaii smaller version of the fat bug.

It has a pair of transparent white wings on its back, with some faint silver patterns on them. When it matures, these patterns will become clearly visible.

The larvae of brain worms are so fragile that they have wings but they have no wings at all. They can neither fly at high speeds like blue-tailed butterflies, nor do their soft bodies are as tough as those of mining worms to absorb impacts, and they do not have the hard armor that combat worms have to protect themselves.

If you're not careful, it could fall to the ground and be trampled to death, and it would be hard to notice.

Like other primitive Zerg species, brain worms can grow by devouring energy. Energy allows them to develop their bodies and create clones, but their favorite food is mental power.

Normally, a brain worm needs to devour the scattered spiritual power of at least 10,000 original Zergs a day to feel satisfied without plundering the spiritual power of other creatures... The scattered spiritual power can only be collected by the spiritual network built by the blue-tailed butterfly, but this condition is not available at the moment.

Qi Heng was not in a hurry about this. He had already found a long-term meal ticket and bodyguards for this brain worm.

The brain worm opened its small blue-green eyes. It didn't need to try to distinguish anything. The first thing it sensed was the commander's mental power falling on it, and then the master's.

Fat Bug used his claws to pull out a diamond-shaped energy crystal from his pocket and placed it in his hand. It was only two centimeters in size, but it contained 500 units of energy.

He put one pill after another until he took out five. Then the fat worm let out an "ow" to indicate that these were for the brain worm.

The brainworms, still in their larval stages, couldn't eat the ore. This pure energy crystal, carefully removed from the fat worms, was even purer than the energy crystals. Few bugs could enjoy the energy crystals; after all, it was like snatching food from a tiger's mouth.

It was only after Qi Heng spoke that the fat worm condensed some crystals and handed them to him.

If it wasn't to make up for the loss of the brain worm's clone, he wouldn't have let the fat worm do that. Qi Heng put the crystal in his pocket, rubbed the fat worm's head and reminded him: "Remember to eat more to make up for the lost energy, okay?"

“Ouch.”

"I know."

"Don't worry, father. I can breed all the insects you want before tomorrow."

Seeing that Fatty Chong was still so energetic, Qi Heng felt relieved and left with peace of mind.

…

He climbed out of the dead egg pit with nimble movements. On the backs of the blue-tailed butterflies surrounding him lay larval brainworms, with a transparent silk thread fixing their bodies to the backs of the blue-tailed butterflies.

At this moment, there are still forty-five minutes before the sun sets completely and night falls... This time is enough for him to rush to the mining area and take action.

The temperature on Tianyun Star will become lower and lower after the sun sets, until even the strong Zerg can no longer bear it. Therefore, the female Zergs rescuing in the mining area will leave before dark and wait until the temperature rises during the day the next day to continue the rescue.

Although the unicorns with specially modified physiques are much stronger than the current Zerg, they are supervisors themselves, and they can naturally hide away when the Zerg do not go out.

——For example, most of the one-horned men who are in charge of managing the mining area are now in their own houses.

Probably because the Zerg have always been very honest, they do not patrol at night, which makes it convenient for Qi Heng who is preparing to make a move.

Compared with the area extended by the intricate underground mine tunnels, the above-ground area of ​​this mining area is not large, only about one kilometer at most, and the seven one-horned men in charge of managing this area are evenly distributed within this range.

Among the seven unicorns, one had a particularly different status, so he was lucky enough to be chosen by Qi Heng to become one of the future food suppliers for the brainworm.

The number of clones that a larval brain worm can produce to parasitize is limited. Five is its current limit. Any more will have an adverse effect on its development.

"Eat it."

He placed an energy crystal near the brain worm's mouth, watched it open its mouth, revealing its beautiful steel teeth, and bite the energy crystal in its mouth. After closing its mouth, it swallowed the crystal in a few bites.

Qi Heng, who had already figured out which house his target lived in, quickly completed the entire process of sneaking in, knocking the person out, and letting the brain worm split and parasitize the unicorn's mental body. Then he pulled a chair over, sat in front of the other person, and kicked him awake.

One-Horned Man 49-051 woke up with a sharp pain in his abdomen. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a cold and indifferent face under the bright light.

He remembered that it was the other person who had just barged in and knocked him unconscious! How dare a mere female insect do that to him! Furious, 49-051 didn't think too much. The rage that filled his body made him lose some of his ability to think.

Just as 49-051 was about to shout in anger, he suddenly felt a pain in his brain as if it were being pierced by hundreds of needles. He could only fall to the ground and curl up in agony.

What on earth is going on… Why can’t I even utter a single cry of pain even though I’m in so much pain and want to scream? 49-051 tried hard to regain his ability to think amidst the pain, but found that he couldn’t come up with an answer no matter how hard he tried.

The excruciating pain didn't last long, but it subsided in a moment, so quickly that it seemed as if the inhuman pain he had just experienced was an illusion. However, the lingering feeling and the cold sweat that soaked his clothes told 49-051 that it was definitely not a dream.

49-051 opened his mouth, expecting to be speechless like before, but then he heard his own voice.

"Who are you."

Qi Heng thought to himself that this question was the most frequently asked question he had heard recently, so many times that he didn't even want to answer it.

"You don't need to know this." He let the blue butterfly land on his fingertips, watching it gently flutter its wings and watching its shadow fall on 49-051 who was lying on the ground.

"You only need to know one thing."

"That is, your life is in my hands now."

"If you make me unhappy, you will get more than just the small punishment you just received. Do you understand?"

49-051 He suddenly felt a little regretful about turning up the lights so brightly. Under such bright light, he could clearly see the other person's expression as he lowered his head and looked at him.

"I..." 051 wanted to refute the words of the person in front of him, but the next moment he found that he was speechless again.

Not only that, the feeling of being in pain to death just now came back - what the other party said was true, and his life really was in his hands.

051 endured the severe pain and crawled up from the ground and knelt in front of the black-haired man. He leaned over and knocked his head to the ground, using this gesture to show his submission.

Qi Heng looked at 051, who was trembling and lying in front of him, and signaled the brain worm to stop.

He knew why 051 surrendered so quickly.

The pain of a damaged spirit body not only reflects on the physical body, but also causes damage to the spirit. The pain it brings is unbearable for ordinary people. Moreover, in order to give 051 a warning, he deliberately increased the severity of the punishment.

After taking in the situation, 051 didn't dare to relax even after the pain subsided. He remained in a prostrate position, not daring to move, fearing to anger the person in front of him again.

"Don't be nervous. I'm not a bad person." Seeing 051 trembling with fear, as if he were a murderer without blinking an eye, Qi Heng said calmly, "As long as you complete the task I assigned, I promise that nothing will happen to you."

I have become accustomed to the setting of this villain. After all, to them, I am not a good person.

Qi Heng said, "Stand up and talk."

The average height of a unicorn is 1.6 meters, which is already short enough. Now they have to lie on the ground with their heads down to talk, and their necks become stiff after a long time.

"No, no thanks. I think it's good to listen to you like this."

It was clearly a question, but his cold voice made it sound like a statement: "Are you planning to disobey my orders?"

051 shuddered, not knowing what came to his mind from these words. Anyway, he stood up tumbling as Qi Heng finished his words.

"—I dare not."

Although 051 stood up, he looked extremely wretched and servile with his hunched back and a fawning smile. At this moment, 051 didn't show any of the condescending attitude he had in the past, ordering the female insects around.

Qi Heng found that no matter how many times he watched, he was speechless about how quickly the unicorns changed their attitudes. Words like bullying the weak and fearing the strong, taking advantage of the powerful and trampling on the weak, and being fence-sitters were the most appropriate to describe them.

051 asked nervously, "Your Excellency, what do you want me to do?"

After hearing this, Qi Heng came back to his senses and saw 051's slightly flattering face.

“…”

He was silent for a moment, then said, "My request is simple. When the ore is handed over on the night of Falling Star Day, no extra unicorns should be present."

051 suddenly opened his eyes wide when he heard this, and subconsciously raised his head to meet the eyes of the black-haired man sitting on the chair, but in the next second his attention was distracted by the light blue butterfly on the other's fingertips that was dazzling in the light.

I was just about to mention this blue butterfly...are there any butterflies like this around here? I have no recollection of them.

But more important than this was the fact that the other party's request was actually related to the Falling Star Day. 051 suddenly had a lot of thoughts. Could it be that the other party was not the female insect from Tianyun Star, no, 49? Why would they be interested in the Falling Star Day?

It is impossible for the Zerg on Tianyun Star to be interested in the Falling Star Day, and it is even more impossible for them to be interested in the handed over ore, so he is not a female Zerg on Tianyun Star, or he is not a Zerg at all.

——He is an outsider!

"Are you interested in that batch of ore?" 051 asked indirectly.

But even outsiders should not be interested in the ore. The one coming to receive it is one of the main fleets of the Ikal civilization. Once it is discovered that they are trying to oppose the Ikal civilization, they will definitely face crazy revenge.

Is the other party crazy? Or does he have the strength to compete with the main fleet of the Ikar civilization?

This kind of strength that can directly attack his spiritual level is indeed not bad, but it is not enough to face the main fleet of the fourth-level civilization. Thinking of this, 051 couldn't help but curse in his heart. Until now, he didn't know how the other party controlled him.

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The author has something to say: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-09-11 21:49:47 and 2022-09-12 23:34:34~

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: 5470078710 bottles; 1 bottle of General Attack and Pink Ink Inversion;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!