Chapter 1, Section 1: The Zerg cannot live without a Queen.
The Zerg cannot exist without a Zerg Queen; this is a consensus among all species in StarCraft.
*
Star Calendar 3723.
Three hundred years have passed since the death of the seventh insect queen.
For three hundred years, no more insect queens were born.
The Zerg's journey begins with their reckless and frantic search, followed by unease, despair, and cruel self-destruction, culminating in a final state of peace and death.
No matter how much time passed, every insect firmly believed that one day the insect mother would reappear.
Their new king, like every king before him, will hold the core of all the insects in his hands and control the lives of all the insects.
Then--
To soothe all the unease of the Zerg, and to make every Zerg feel that even death is a kind of happiness.
This is their only motivation to endure inner desolation and mental turmoil and persevere in living.
What they need to do is prepare all the offerings before the queen appears.
Precious gems, unmutated plants, life-extending treasures, countless planets...
Kalo is one of the many planets dedicated to the Insect Queen. The planet is rich in beautiful and dazzling Kalo stones, which are so precious that they can only be detected and mined using mental power.
The sky over Carlo Star is a dull grayish-purple.
The cold, hard rocks on the ground form a range of undulating, continuous mountains.
A strong wind blew by, scattering dust from the rocks and making the already gloomy sky even more somber.
At the foot of the mountain, figures wearing electronic shackles awkwardly weaved through the crevices of the mountain.
Their faces were pale, their clothes were tattered, and their exposed bodies bore wounds of varying depths.
However, their spiritual power was incredibly strong, completely incongruous with their appearance. The extended spiritual power was attached to the sharp weapons in their hands, and they mechanically chiseled the rocks in front of them.
Ai Ying is one of them.
She stared blankly at the hard, reflective rock before her, her short blade striking it rhythmically, appearing remarkably diligent.
Only upon close observation can one notice that her movements are slightly slower than those of the people around her, by a mere half-second.
Throughout the day, she may seem to be constantly chiseling stone, but she can actually slack off for half an hour longer than those around her.
Ai Ying took a deep breath, lowered her head to hide the despair in her eyes, and continued with her actions:
Who would have thought that upon arriving in the interstellar world, her most useful skill would be the laziness and slacking off she had mastered in the modern world?
Just half a month ago, she was an intern Gu Master living in modern times, busy every day improving the living environment of Gu worms.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in her current body.
The original owner was a low-class citizen on a deserted interstellar planet, an orphan who died unexpectedly during a riot on the deserted planet.
Then Ai Ying got the 'bargain'.
As the riots on the desolate planet became more and more frequent, she knew that if she stayed any longer, she would only face certain death, as her survival skills were far inferior to those of the original owner.
In order to survive, she had no choice but to board a starship.
Even though she suspected that the starship that came to the abandoned planet was probably not a good one, she still had no other choice. Dying tomorrow was better than dying now.
Whether it was lucky or not, the starship's purpose wasn't her organs or her life, nor was it to sell her on the black market for star coins.
Ai Ying exhaled and slammed the short blade in her hand into the rock with the most effortless yet still diligent arc.
The starship's ultimate goal was to get her to mine on the mining planet.
She smiled wryly:
On the bright side, coming to a mining planet is actually a pretty good option.
Although the 'overseers' here are terrifying, they deeply understand the importance of sustainable development and will give them a bottle of potion to restore their mental energy from time to time so that they don't die from mental exhaustion.
She had only been mining for less than seven days, but she had already mastered the use of mental power and had even learned, without a teacher, how to use mental power most efficiently.
If she were still on that abandoned planet, let alone practicing her mental abilities every day, she'd probably be a mess of random bits and pieces.
Ai Ying comforted herself for a long time, and finally her mood calmed down a bit.
But no matter how she tried to comfort herself, there was one thing she still couldn't accept.
How can a mining planet be without insects?
She didn't pray for the existence of Gu worms in this strange world, but how could such a large planet not even have a single ant?!
There were no insects, no moths, no bees; no tiny, antennae- or winged worms that would cautiously but carefully land on her.
Not a single one.
Ai Ying has always been optimistic and determined, and she set her future goals without much effort.
Once she has a better grasp of mental power, she will find an opportunity to leave the mining planet.
Then work hard to earn star coins, travel to all the planets in the interstellar space, and you will eventually find (scratch that) worms!
Thinking of this, a hint of anticipation appeared in Ai Ying's eyes:
I don't know what the difference is between interstellar insects and modern insects.
Will it be similar to 'Xiaomi'?
That worm with light yellow skin, a round body, and small, cute antennae, that rolls around and acts adorably.
The 'Xiao Mi' was perfectly fine except that it wasn't her Gu worm.
Unbeknownst to Ai Ying, while she was reminiscing about the Gu worms, the Gu techniques she had mastered were unknowingly integrated into her extended spiritual power.
Carrying a faint trace of Gu magic spiritual power, it silently dispersed from her center.
The other end of Carlo Star.
Under the grayish-purple sky, two 'overseers' stared into the distance, occasionally hissing.
They look somewhat like humans, but their scarlet eyes, cold and sharp forelimbs, and tentacles protruding from their hair reveal their true identity.
The Zerg have acquired human-like features and are so powerful and insane that they inspire fear.
"These humans are truly repulsive to insects." The brown-shelled insect clenched its forelimbs, its cold pincers reflecting a chilling dark light.
In Keo's crimson compound eyes, there was an uncontrollable killing intent and... jealousy.
"Why should they have a king?"
In human empires, every time an emperor dies, another one takes his place.
They can never be completely eradicated, and they will never disappear.
But their king has been missing for three hundred years.
The gray-shelled insectoid creature beside Keo hissed and stuck out its tongue, the forked tip of which was so red it looked as if it had been stained with the blood of countless humans.
"The King of Humanity?" The controller holding all the human shackles on Planet Carlo was clamped between the worm pincers, and the worm tightened its grip cruelly. "He has nothing to do with these humans. Even if he dies, no human will shed a single tear for him."
How can something that doesn't even qualify as a symbol be compared to their noble king?
Upon hearing his words, the crimson in Keo's eyes gradually faded, revealing brown vertical pupils that matched the color of his outer shell.
He tilted his head, and the antennae in his brown hair twitched.
"king……"
What would a Zerg race with a king be like?
When the king was mentioned, his antennae twitched uncontrollably, then he bowed reverently to his head, his voice unconsciously softening:
"What will the king be like?"
Keo had only been born from an egg for a little over a hundred years, so he had never seen what the insectoid race looked like when the queen was still alive.
Even if I wanted to fantasize, I couldn't recall anything.
The hissing voice of Villa, who was born decades later than him, sounded remarkably certain:
"Our king is, of course, the most powerful and valiant being in the galaxy!"
"She possesses immense spiritual power capable of intimidating all insects; she has a pair of powerful and hard pincers that kill insects as easily as drinking water; and she has the most beautiful and noble skin and antennae in the entire galaxy."
"With a wave of her hand, she can shatter a planet; with a glance, she can make all insects crawl on their knees!"
Villa was lost in his own imagination, and even the insect core, which had been filled with disgust for the riots, calmed down a little:
"When the king was in power, every insect could feel an unprecedented peace."
“We can also personally dig out our pincers and insect cores and present them to the king.”
His vertical pupils narrowed slightly, and he couldn't contain his excitement at the thought of personally entrusting his life to the king.
To die at the hands of the king was the happiest thing he could imagine in the life of an insect.
After killing him, would the king even glance at the insect core he left behind?
Listening to Bilia's description, Keo, standing to the side, didn't dare to breathe too loudly, for fear of shattering this exquisitely beautiful imagination.
But after this brief dream fades, what follows is an overwhelming emptiness and despair.
There is no king.
The king has been missing for three hundred years and has not yet reappeared.
Many insects, from birth to death, never saw the king.
Crimson light filled Keo's eyes, and turbulent mental energy surged within his insect body.
Every insect without the comfort of its mother carries within its core a madness of self-destruction and the desire to destroy everything.
He turned his head to look at Villa beside him, his antennae trembling as he struggled to regain his senses:
This insect must not be killed.
He could let him imagine what the Zerg looked like when the King was still alive.
Keo turned his head and looked at the humans mining ahead.
Human blood is pure red.
The sounds made when limbs are torn off are also quite pleasant.
Beside him, Villa also raised his pincers, eager to pounce.
Just then, a very light breeze, carrying a faint, almost nonexistent spiritual energy, silently drifted past the two insects.
Both Keo and Villa were frozen in place, their insect bodies completely still.
What does this feel like?
It was as if they had returned to the egg...
No, this is a feeling they never experienced even when they were in the egg.
Warmth and reassurance, as if something was gently embracing them.
His chaotic mind, which had been in turmoil since birth, also calmed down.
However, the wind was too light, so light that it began to dissipate before they could even feel it.
Keo stared blankly at the sky, its antennae reaching upwards with all its might, but it still couldn't sense anything.
It was as if everything that had just happened was a hallucination caused by his twisted mind.
He suddenly looked at the insect beside him:
"Did you feel it?"
Villa carried the still trembling insect pincers on his back:
"How do you feel? Have you contracted some strange parasitic infection?"
Without waiting for Keo's reply, he continued on his own:
"It's time to go and keep an eye on those humans!"
"We must present the most beautiful karos stone to the King!"
With a whoosh, Villa unleashed his hidden insect tail, which braced itself against the ground and propelled him forward, trying to find the origin of the gust of wind before Keo could.
Just then, a gentle breeze blew.
Both insects remained still, unwilling to move an inch.
When the wind subsided, they suddenly came to their senses.
They faced each other, shell to shell, staring fervently into the distance, whipping their tails to accelerate, and vanished in a rustling sound.
Before long, Villa and Koo, who had said they were going to supervise humanity, stood together again in neat rows, their insect tails practically flaming from friction.
Not only them, but all the insects still alive on Carlo Star came here.
The emotion in the eyes of every insect was the same: fanaticism.
They stared intently at everything around them, trying to find out where the gust of wind came from.
A note from the author:
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This story only features Yingying as the 'Insect Queen', so I won't spoil it for you.
By the way, here's a recommendation for a fantasy pre-order:
The Golden Finger is the ability to transform injuries and illnesses into cultivation.
Copywriting:
Xie Tingwan was born with the ability to transfer other people's injuries and illnesses onto herself.
After being imprisoned, tortured, and killed, she returned to the day her abilities were discovered, and also gained the ability to transform transferred injuries into cultivation.
The more fatal the injury or illness, the more cultivation one can convert into.
-
Having been reborn, Xie Tingwan turned her gaze to the cultivators who, due to severe injuries, had to give up their cultivation, and whose lives were in imminent danger.
They were all exceptionally talented, some being unparalleled geniuses who appeared only once in a thousand years; some were once the number one cultivator in the world; and others were vicious villains tormented by deadly poisons...
These wounds and poisons are incurable.
They were abandoned and forgotten by everyone, left only to await their predetermined fate.
These people, whom everyone despises and avoids like the plague, are the very supplements Xie Tingwan needs right now.
Such severe injuries are enough to elevate her cultivation level to the top.
But before that, she needs to make thorough preparations:
Carefully probe and assess their character, approach them subtly, and gradually divert their attention from their injuries and illnesses.
Then, concealing their actions, they reveal, at just the right moment, the familiar scars on their bodies, meridians, and sea of consciousness.
Xie Tingwan has a deep understanding of human nature, so she knows even better how to exploit it.
She wants the cultivation level that comes from transforming injuries and illnesses;
She wanted to accept all their guilt and gratitude.
This time, she will firmly grasp her destiny in her own hands.
*
Pei Wushuang was once the most brilliant genius in the cultivation world, admired by all.
Even the most outstanding genius, once unable to cultivate, will only become a repulsive burden.
Just when she herself wanted to give up, a miracle quietly occurred.
Her injuries, which all her precious treasures had been ineffective against, were inexplicably improving day by day.
She thought it was a miracle from heaven, until one day she saw the exact same scar on someone's vein.
From then on, her sword was used only for one person, and it ended only for one person.
-
No one knew that the ruthless and merciless Demon Lord had been plagued by Nightmare Poison since the day he was born.
This deadly poison, capable of driving even Mahayana cultivators mad, has lingered in Chi Jiuyuan's body for hundreds of years without a single day of remission.
Until one day, I had no dreams all night.
...
Not long after, someone suddenly noticed that the Demon Lord, who was feared by all, had suddenly become 'kind and friendly'.
However, there is a prerequisite.
That was Xie Tingwan present.
Not only the Demon Lord, but also the patriarch of a noble family born with an illness, the mysterious and unpredictable Immortal Lord, and the once peerless genius of the cultivation world...
Their status was clearly high and mighty, and all cultivators had to bow down to them.
But in front of Xie Tingwan, they were all similarly cautious.
There was no plundering, no oppression, and even getting close to her required careful consideration, for fear of upsetting her.
It was as if Xie Tingwan was their god, someone they could only dream of but never touch.
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