Chapter 180: Encounter
Baroque slept for a whole day before waking up.
She started sobbing as soon as she woke up, and sat up in bed rubbing her eyes while sniffling.
"Waaaah... Mommy and Daddy..."
Upon hearing Baroque's commotion, Anno immediately dropped the book he was holding and sat down next to him.
Baroque let out two dry howls, but immediately stopped crying upon seeing Anno.
He subconsciously shrank his neck and looked at her with a hint of respect.
He didn't know what was wrong with him, but he suddenly felt that Xiao Qi was different from before. Apart from being taller than him, what else was different?
He liked her even more, a liking tinged with reverence and admiration.
Although Xiao Qi in front of him had grown a lot, he could still recognize her at a glance.
Many images of Xiao Qi would unconsciously float into his mind.
At the dinner table, Baroque was eating heartily. He hadn't had a proper meal in many days and had been hiding in that dark place the whole time.
As he ate, he kept glancing at Xiao Qi. An instinct told him that he couldn't sit with Xiao Qi like this; it was wrong.
Anno heard Baroque's words in the consciousness network and reached out to touch his head.
Baroque is now a member of the Zerg. Although he has converted, he has not yet been guided.
His consciousness network was already established the moment he was transformed; it just hadn't yet incorporated him.
She could sense his consciousness, but he couldn't sense theirs.
It's like the system hasn't been activated yet.
Anno never intended for Balrog and his companions to become part of the Zerg, but he never imagined that Balrog was on asteroid G751, mingling with that group of corrupted beings.
She had marked tens of thousands of Fallen Ones, but she couldn't identify them one by one. She could only sense that it was the energy of Fallen Ones, and she wouldn't mark anyone other than Fallen Ones.
Anno waited until Baroque finished his meal before asking him about what had happened to him.
"At that time, my maternal grandmother and paternal grandmother were taking us to the Firefly Star. The spaceship was flying just fine, but we encountered bad guys halfway there, and I was separated from my maternal grandmother, paternal grandmother, older brother and sister."
As Baroque spoke, his eyes began to redden again.
He said with a sob in his voice, "I miss my mom and dad. I haven't seen them in so long."
Anno asked him softly, "Aren't Mom and Dad with you?"
Baroque shook his head. "Shortly after you left, Xiaoqi, your parents said they had something very important to do, and Liuliu never saw them again."
Anno then asked, "Do you remember what happened after you encountered bad people?"
He frowned and tried hard to recall: "I encountered bad people... It seemed like there was an explosion. I heard many voices. Someone took me away. And then... and then I ended up in a dark place."
At this point, a look of fear crossed his face. "That place was truly terrifying. Huge wild beasts roamed everywhere. I was too afraid to come out; I always hid..."
Baroque looked confused as he spoke, remembering that he seemed to have been on that dark planet the whole time.
He was terrified and kept hiding, going hungry the whole time. He couldn't remember much of what happened in between.
"The Northern River System has placed fixed-point teleportation portals in various exile sites, specifically for exiling Fallen Ones. After Baroque became a Fallen One, he was teleported there."
Caesar spoke through the consciousness network, having been monitoring Anno within it.
Anno asked, "Even someone as small as Baroque will be teleported there?"
With the North River system in such chaos, why are they still thinking about dealing with the Fallen Ones?
Moreover, they regularly clean up the corrupted species. Compared to sending the corrupted species to the exile area, isn't it more convenient to deal with them directly?
Caesar sensed what Anno was thinking and replied, "Your Highness, the Northern River Federation now also uses the Fallen as a weapon."
Upon hearing this, Anuo immediately understood.
Those exile sites are all located in the outer defensive asteroid belt of the Northern River system. The Fallen race is highly aggressive and does not distinguish between friend and foe.
But the Northern Rivers have ways to prevent them from attacking them, while other races do not.
If they want to break through Beihe's defensive line, they must go to the asteroid to fight Beihe. The Fallen Ones are a very large and powerful army to Beihe.
In the past, they also had to deal with the Fallen Ones, for fear that the Fallen Ones would grow too strong and multiply.
Start using them now as weapons against the Zerg Allies.
They just didn't expect that the Fallen Ones could be marked by the Overlord and become a branch of their Zerg race.
No one spoke in the palace except for the intermittent voices of the Baroques.
His memory was incomplete and he couldn't clearly explain the whole incident, but after Anno finished listening to him, he also simultaneously reviewed his memory in his consciousness network.
His consciousness was wide open, and she could see his memories without having to specifically connect with his consciousness, just like when Bazel had just woken up.
Bazel was traveling to Firefly with Winnie and the others because the main planet was no longer safe.
The rebels are causing daily riots on the main planet, and most people are starting to migrate to other planets.
Although Firefly is located in the inner periphery of the North Star system, it is very far from the other major planets, and war would basically not affect this planet.
Winnie and Conson, along with the children, wanted to escape the war by going to Firefly Star, but the route had already been occupied by the villainous army, who were determined to disrupt the North River system and drag everyone into the war.
They recklessly used large quantities of TG3 black medicine and drugs that could cause the Northern Star people's genes to mutate into corrupted species.
In Baroque's memory, Anno saw their spaceship hijacked by the rebels. Crimson smoke filled the entire cabin. Tao Tao Le was the first to transform into a beast, followed by Ota and Bai Zhou. The younger the children, the less resistant they were to the drug.
They all mutated into degenerate species.
After temporarily repelling the rebels, the Northern River Federation forces on this route teleported all the Fallen Ones in the ship's hold to the place of exile.
Baroque and Peach were all assigned to different places of exile.
Anno saw that during the time Baroque was in exile, he hid in fear every day, not daring to show his face.
Even though he had become a corrupted species, his beast form was still just a fawn, and he remained as timid as ever.
Seeing his plight reminded her of her own experience when she was stranded on Earth, just like him.
She embraced Baroque and gently stroked his back.
"Xiao Qi, you're so warm and smell nice."
When Baroque was hugged by Anno, his sadness vanished instantly, replaced by an indescribable sense of peace.
After hugging for a while, Baroque said in a puzzled voice, "Strange, I think I can hear a lot of people talking?"
Baroque looked around, trying to find the person who had spoken.
Anno placed his hand on the back of his head, activating his consciousness network.
Baroque's pupils contracted as his consciousness darted wildly through the Zerg's consciousness network. Augsis spotted the little guy in the network, caught his consciousness, and helped him stabilize.
Baroque fell asleep in Anno's arms, and when he woke up again, he would have already received the Zerg's legacy.
Anno sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the Baroque for a while before walking out of the palace.
She is now heading to the front-line headquarters to quickly end the battle in Beihe.
With the Alliance war raging so fiercely, there needs to be an Overlord to hold down the fort on the front lines.
Sevier and Augsis sensed in the consciousness network that Anunu wanted to go to the main base and immediately followed.
Sevier could no longer allow her to go outside the Zerg territory alone.
Upon hearing Anno's summons in his consciousness network, Caesar immediately appeared at the palace gates.
He just wanted to hide away after opening the portal for her since he couldn't see her yet.
"Sweetie Nunu, wait a minute!"
Augsis called to Anunu and put a shimmering energy mineral bracelet on her wrist.
"Anunu, stay with your mother on the front lines, don't run off alone, okay?"
Anunu hugged Augsis. "I know, Dad. Don't worry about me in the palace. I'll take good care of myself."
Augustus stroked her fluffy head and then pulled her into his arms and hugged her.
How could he feel at ease with Anunu not in front of him?
He doesn't know how he got through the three hundred years since he lost Anunu.
Sevier slept in the abyss again, with no one to confide in about his suffering. He had to bear this immense pain alone. Now that Anunu had returned, his heart was finally at peace.
Compared to Sevier, who had just awakened, and the other Zerg who were her companions, he, as her father, bore the brunt of it all.
If Anunu is not found, he will not be able to face Sevier and will forever feel guilty.
Thankfully, Anunu returned and came back to his side.
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