The cold metal floor pierced Jiang Chan's thin prison uniform, sending a chill down her spine.
Every jolt made her stomach churn, and the heavy shackles chafed her wrists, drawing blood and becoming sticky with sweat.
She was huddled in a small metal cage, roughly carried by several tall Zerg soldiers through passageways that reeked of decay and metal.
The light was dim, with only a viscous substance on the walls emitting a faint green glow providing illumination, reflecting off the soldiers' limbs covered in hard armor and reflecting a cold light, as well as their emotionless compound eyes.
The war between humanity and the Zerg reached its end, and the original owner's planet fell...
As a prisoner of war, she had only two fates: to be assimilated, becoming part of the Zerg and losing herself; or to be torn apart and become nourishment for the Zerg hive.
I've heard that Queen Alyssa of the Zerg is extremely cruel and enjoys devouring people alive. Jiang Chan's palms were covered in cold sweat, and her nails dug deep into her flesh.
There was a sharp metal spike on the edge of the cage, which the original owner had secretly sharpened before...
At the end of the passage was a huge door made of some kind of dark purple carapace, covered with thick, vascular-like patterns that pulsated slightly, as if it were alive.
The door slid open silently. A stronger, more intense odor, a mixture of strange sweetness and a fishy, pungent smell, rushed out, almost suffocating Jiang Chan.
She was carried inside.
The space suddenly opened up. Unlike the rudimentary exterior, the enormous dome stretched to the horizon, flowing with soft, aurora-like bands of colored light. The ground was warm, elastic, dark red fleshy membrane.
Countless bizarre biological structures hung from the walls and dome, some resembling giant mushrooms, others like intertwined vines, shimmering with a faint light. This was the core of the insect hive, Queen Eliza's palace.
Jiang Chan's heart sank to the bottom.
She was placed in the center of the palace. The soldiers quickly retreated into the shadows, like cold statues. The air seemed to freeze, with only the bands of light flowing silently.
Then, Jiang Chan felt a tremor. Not from the ground, but from... ahead. A massive shadow slowly moved in from the depths of the palace.
Queen Eliza of the Zerg.
Her size far exceeded that of any insectoid creature Jiang Chan had ever seen; her enormous body resembled a moving small mountain. The carapace covering her entire body was a deep purplish-black, with edges that gleamed with a metallic sheen and were covered with strange geometric patterns.
Her head structure was complex, with huge, multifaceted compound eyes occupying most of it. At this moment, countless tiny points of light were flashing, like an eerie starry sky, firmly locking onto Jiang Chan.
Her mouthparts were hidden beneath several layers of sharp jaws, with a forked tongue covered in fine barbs protruding slightly before retracting.
Jiang Chan felt as if her blood had frozen. She could almost picture the weapon easily tearing her body apart. She gripped the metal spike tightly, her knuckles turning white, bracing herself for the final moment.
Alyssa stopped a few steps away. The shadow cast by her massive body completely enveloped Jiang Chan. Jiang Chan could hear a deep, humming sound, like countless tiny gears grinding together, emanating from the Queen's body.
The light in her compound eyes flickered even faster. There was no attack as expected. Alyssa tilted her enormous head slightly, as if examining something rare.
Then, an extremely flexible, yet exceptionally smooth, slender tentacle silently emerged from behind her. Unlike the grotesque weapons of other Zerg, it appeared... exquisite.
The tentacles cautiously, with an almost curious probing, gently, very lightly, touched Jiang Chan's arm.
Jiang Chan shuddered violently, almost screaming. But the tentacles felt cool and smooth, and didn't harm her.
Alyssa seemed drawn to the reaction. She emitted a higher-frequency, more rapid buzzing sound, sounding... a little confused, yet also a little surprised, and her tentacles gently poked Jiang Chan's hair again, carefully curling up a strand.
Jiang Chan stood frozen in place, too afraid to move. This was unlike any way she had ever imagined dying.
Alyssa's compound eyes turned to a high-ranking Zerg guard standing beside her. The guard was burly, with a dark iron-gray carapace, and his face consisted only of a pair of cold compound eyes and a mouth without lips, filled with sharp teeth.
He stood there silently, like a cast-iron statue. Jiang Chan felt his compound eyes sweep over her with an undisguised scrutiny and...indifference.
He is Kazzak, the Queen's lieutenant.
Alyssa emitted a series of complex, rhythmic hums, as if she were stating something.
Kazak remained silent for a few seconds before responding with a short, low syllable, devoid of emotion.
Alyssa seemed unconcerned about the adjutant's reaction; her attention was entirely focused on Jiang Chan. She extended several more similar slender tentacles, this time bolder, gently touching Jiang Chan's prison uniform, her cheeks, and even curiously fiddling with Jiang Chan's fingers, which trembled slightly with nervousness.
“Buzz… Chirp…” Alyssa emitted a unique chirping sound, filled with pleasant fluctuations. Jiang Chan couldn’t understand it at all, but from that sound, she caught a pure excitement in her ears, the excitement of a researcher discovering a new species.
Then, Alyssa turned towards the depths of the palace and issued a command. Several smaller worker insects with warm yellowish carapaces quickly crawled over.
Using a translucent, gel-like substance that emitted a faint grassy scent, they quickly constructed a... cage? Or rather, a relatively independent "room" next to Jiang Chan.
The walls and floor of this "room" were made of a gel that felt warm, soft, and elastic to the touch. Several luminous vines hung from the ceiling, emitting a soft white light. In the corner, there was a pile of fluffy, dry, moss-like material.
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