Public opinion surges

During tonight's live broadcast, Her Majesty Alyssa's piano music was particularly lingering and sad.

Guqin music is always full of songs expressing homesickness. Alyssa tirelessly played one song after another, and the insects seemed to be able to see with their own eyes the helpless wanderer her music portrayed, a lonely soul in the universe, not knowing where home was.

"Her Majesty Alyssa..." Internal Affairs Officer Gabriel stood bewilderedly behind Her Majesty Alyssa, holding an exquisite plate containing the Worm Mother's barely touched dinner. "Please eat a little more. You ate too little tonight. Your body needs to be healed."

Alyssa pressed down the strings: "... Take good care of your body so that you can give birth to the next insect queen?"

Gabriel immediately knelt down: "That's not what I meant! It's just, it's just..."

She seemed to be racking her brains for the right words, and after a long while she whispered, "Your Highness, many cubs are watching your live broadcast... They all care about you and even regard you as a role model for their eating habits. Please set a good example for them."

The word "cub" seemed to touch a soft spot in Her Majesty Alyssa's heart. She sighed, put down her zither, and began to eat.

[Wuwuwuwuwu, my Queen Alyssa, even though she's already so upset, she still forces herself to eat for the sake of her cub.]

Brothers and sisters, I can't take it anymore. My tears are almost blurring my compound eyes into single ones. My sternum feels like someone is tearing at it. If it weren't for the soothing effect of your majesty's piano music, I would be so upset that I would have soaked my spiracles in water.

[When I think about His Majesty working so hard to make us sweet despite the pain in his heart, I feel like a total emo.]

[Even primitive Zerg that haven't evolved intelligence know to desperately protect the bullied Zerg Queen. But what about us intelligent Zerg? Haha.]

[Why did Nie Ma take three star years to rescue the Worm Queen? ]

"I don't understand. I remember that almost as soon as the insect mother's egg fell, the Saint Hobel Palace mobilized the entire clan to conduct a telepathic search to locate the insect mother's egg. They even overdrawn a lot of energy from the planet's meteorites to conduct the search. But why did the rescue operation take so long?"

[Perhaps this is the reason? -Click this link to jump to the Star Network Forum to view-]

The bug who posted this barrage posted a post titled "What I know about the rescue plan of Her Majesty the Bug Mother" on the Star Network Forum:

[Conflict of Interest: I happen to have some inside information regarding Her Majesty the Insect Mother's rescue plan. I was working in diplomatic affairs for Her Majesty the Insect Mother's rescue plan, primarily responsible for negotiating with humans. The following is proof. (Work ID photo.jpg)]

[Forgive me for being so thick-coded and anonymous. Actually, posting this now is a huge risk. But after seeing Her Majesty Alyssa's tearful accusations during the livestream today, I simply can't remain silent. I must share the parts of my doubts I had at the time.]

[Three years ago, when the Zerg Queen's egg fell, the Saint Hobelu Palace sought the help of the entire clan to locate it using their psychic powers. This is well known. However, the location they located revealed that the egg had fallen into the human star domain, and that the area was experiencing space-time turbulence. At the time, our relationship with humans was not very good (and it certainly isn't much better now). The Saint Hobelu Palace did not publicly disclose the Zerg Queen's egg's fall into the human star domain. Instead, we secretly formed our team and began negotiations with humans, hoping that they would open their star domain to allow the Zerg to enter for rescue.]

To be fair, humans haven't hindered us in rescuing Her Majesty the Zerg, but have been very cooperative. Perhaps humans also believe that if the Zerg, without the Zerg's comfort, were to degenerate into alien species, it would be a cosmic disaster. After we submitted the coordinates of the star region requiring in-depth rescue, humans made several demands: 1. They limited the size of the starships involved, the tonnage of fuel they could carry, the number and type of weapons, and the total number of Zerg soldiers involved. 2. They required a detailed rescue plan, along with a commitment not to operate outside the agreed star region or take any actions not outlined in the plan. 3. Humanity hoped to monitor from a relatively safe distance.

I wonder what everyone thinks after reading this? Anyway, I think these conditions proposed by the humans are quite generous, considering the standoff between our frontline and the human army. It's like agreeing to allow the enemy's vanguard troops to enter the interior during a war.

However, I didn't expect that the conditions proposed by the humans would actually lead to a protracted, stalemate on our side. My team and I presented the humans' requirements to the Palace of San Joseph, and it was like throwing a stone into a deep pool—there was a momentary response, but nothing happened after that. We even raised questions with the Palace of San Joseph, and they replied that they were still evaluating the humans' requirements and were still going through the process.

"I don't understand. Isn't rescuing Her Majesty the Worm Mother something we need from humanity? These aren't harsh conditions, so what exactly is Saint Joseph's Palace worried about that requires such back-and-forth discussions? Isn't this a long process that wastes Her Majesty the Worm Mother's time?"

[Just kidding, the human representative I was meeting with at the time privately pressed me several times, asking if the Zerg were still planning to rescue the Zerg Queen. The coordinates suitable for the rescue mission were within a chaotic star field under human control, where the magnetic storms were relatively stable for less than two months a year. Every time the storms were about to stabilize, he'd ask me where we were with the process, saying we'd have to wait several more months if we missed the deadline.]

After watching the livestream, I have a terrifying suspicion. Perhaps some Zerg are evaluating Her Majesty the Zerg Queen purely from a functional perspective. So, they need to take the time to assess the pros and cons. For them, rescuing Her Majesty the Zerg Queen isn't something they need to do at all costs.

I confess. Before seeing Her Majesty Alyssa's livestream, Her Majesty the Worm Queen was more of a symbol to me. After her return, I expressed doubts due to her frailty and humanoid appearance. But when Her Majesty Alyssa said she'd spent twenty years there, I suddenly felt a sense of fear. What kind of environment was she in there, and what kind of life was she leading?

It was after watching Her Majesty Alyssa's livestream that I realized Her Majesty the Zerg Queen wasn't just a supreme leader providing spiritual comfort to our Zerg. She belonged not only to the entire Zerg, but also to herself. She was picky about food, frightened when stranded in a different time and space, and cried when wronged... She was just like many ordinary Zergs around us. But what made her unusual was that, while she should normally be three years old, she had reached sexual maturity prematurely. This was all due to the delays in the rescue, which caused the Zerg Queen to be dislocated in time and space.

While we lament Her Majesty Elisa's unfortunate fate, shouldn't we also hold those responsible accountable? Should the Palacio de San Jose del Piero fully disclose the details of the rescue mission? What were their concerns, and what were the issues that got in the way?

Finally, I want to say sorry to Her Majesty Alyssa. I'm sorry that, as a member of the rescue team, I wasn't able to rescue you sooner.

【above. 】

This post caused a stir on the Starnet forums. Everyone accepted that the rescue mission was difficult and arduous, and that humans were difficult to deal with, which led to the delay. However, this post went so far as to claim that humans were cooperative and that it was only the higher-ups on their side who were delaying things due to procedural issues.

It was the Saint Joseph Palace that mobilized the entire Zerg tribe and asked everyone to contribute their mental power to locate and sense the Zerg Queen, and it was also the Saint Joseph Palace that was dragging their feet and not rushing. How could there be such a group of idiots who could let down both the Zerg Queen and the people!

Public resentment was boiling, and several official accounts of the Palace of Saint Joseph were about to be overwhelmed. If it were not for the fact that it was already past eight o'clock in the evening and the live broadcast of the throne had been closed today, I am afraid that the live broadcast barrage area would have exploded.

Soon, more insiders came forward to reveal the truth. When everyone pieced together the information, they discovered that most of the processes were stuck at the review stage of the decision-making court.

The list of members of the Court of Resolution, their resumes, and the families behind them were quickly dug out by netizens and posted on the forums, where they subjected them to various verbal and written attacks. They discovered that Alfonso, who had forced Her Majesty the Insect Mother to choose a husband, was actually the chief of the Court of Resolution.

[Case solved. The way this smiling tiger bullied Her Majesty the Insect Mother, I knew he was an old man without empathy.]

[Wasn't he the one who showed his insect form next to Her Majesty Alyssa at the last insect battle?]

[Most likely. They were so close, so they could only be Her Majesty Alyssa's right-hand man. I gave him some face during the live broadcast and didn't film him, but these antennae are definitely those of an assassin bug.]

I was startled while watching the livestream. Suddenly, a tentacle shot up from Her Majesty Alyssa's side. I thought some alien creature had attacked the VIP table. The captain of Her Majesty's guards must have been startled, too, and immediately carried Her Majesty away.

[Hehe, all insects calm down when Her Majesty Alyssa plays the piano, including the alien species. However, this old creature lost his mimicry after hearing the music. Who knows what he did? We can take him in for a detailed physical examination as well.]

[I suddenly remembered that when Her Majesty Elisa was attacked on campus, the student who deteriorated seemed to be a stink bug as well, right?]

[Yes! His name was Mayer Kuhak! After his degeneration, his entire family, including his servants, perished! His father even left a suicide note, expressing his guilt towards Her Majesty Alyssa, as if Her Majesty had driven them to their deaths! Later, Her Majesty Alyssa held a memorial service for his son Mayer!]

[The stink bug family is quite troublesome. It's really scary when you think about it. Why not investigate it thoroughly? Let's start with this one named Alfonso!]

Don't generalize! As a stink bug, I don't want to be represented by Alfonso!

[You're so stupid! Only after you investigate thoroughly can you remove the innocent stink bugs!]

The power of Internet addicts is formidable. In just a few hours, their rage almost led to Alfonso being put on trial.

Gabriel looked at the heated public opinion on Starnet and thought about the big hole Alfonso had dug for him today, and he finally felt relieved.

"Mammy, they scolded you too..." Alyssa felt a little guilty, the online voices uncontrollable. Gabrielle was also a member of the Saint Joseph Palace's upper echelons. As a representative of the incompetent faction regarding the delay in rescuing His Majesty, she was also heavily criticized.

"They're all right to scold me. I'm truly incompetent, which is why you've wasted so long in that alternate dimension." Gabriel gently hugged Alyssa. "Even if it was just an act, your crying almost tore me apart. If their abuse and malice are my punishment, I feel it's far from enough."

Alyssa put her arms around Gabriel’s slender neck and said, “What will happen next?”

"I can't judge other things, but I'm certain Alfonso will resign his position as Chief of the Court of Resolutions soon." Gabriel really wanted to find a place to laugh heartily. "The Court of Resolutions will no longer tolerate this huge stain of his. For a veteran minister who has served three Worm Mothers to leave the political stage in such a dishonorable manner would be more painful than death for him."

Elisa quietly embraced Gabriel. She didn't want to deceive the people, nor did she want Alfonso to step down in disgrace. But she still had much to do, and she had her own worms to protect. She had promised him the throne of Seville, and she wouldn't allow any worm to sway her decision.

Seville...

She missed Sewell a little.

As if her thoughts were fully in line with hers, Miranda appeared at the door of her bedroom: "Your Highness, Seville is here and is asking to see you at the door of the bedroom."

Alyssa’s eyes sparkled with great brilliance.