Chapter 46: Debt
Throughout several eras, the Northern River system has consistently been at the forefront of the interstellar alliance in terms of technology and resources. In particular, they possess the Fire Seed, which is the most important factor in maintaining the long-term stability of the Northern River system.
But the spark is not invincible.
There are countless races and civilizations in the universe. Every civilization will experience a period of decline during its development. No civilization can remain stable indefinitely. It all depends on whether it can survive the period of decline.
Many of the low points in the Northern River System are related to the Fire Seed. The Fire Seeds all have a common problem: their energy will collectively decline at a certain stage. The Fire Seeds rely on energy to support their bodies, and once the energy weakens, they will die.
The exact reason is the secret of the Northern River system, a secret known only to the most core personnel, even to the Fire Seed.
In the early days of Fireseed, the unique creature Fireseed was born from the fusion of the genes of the Zerg and their own genes in the Northern River System.
Although only a very small fragment of the Zerg gene was used, the combination has already formed a new species, and a new species that is very beneficial to the North River system. However, this small piece of Zerg gene also has a significant impact on this new species.
This influence stems from the inherently strict hierarchy within the Zerg genome.
Although there is no hierarchy among the sparks, a "King" is needed to lead and stabilize the genes. Once there is no King, the spark energy will collectively decline. Every once in a while, there is a very small probability that a "King" will be born among the sparks.
The King Seed Energy unconsciously stabilizes the flame, making it the strongest among them.
Even if the core is preserved after the death of the royal offspring, it can remain stable, like a continuously burning flame, but the core can only be preserved for a maximum of a thousand years.
For the past thousand years, those who have kept this secret in the Northern River System have been praying for the birth of a royal race. During the lowest point in the Northern River System, the lack of a royal race caused the other races to gradually wither and decline.
Three hundred years ago, the Interstellar Alliance was in turmoil, and several races launched a war, which also involved the North River system. At this critical time when the spark of life was most needed, the soul core of the royal race was extinguished, and the North River system failed to give birth to a new royal race offspring.
In order to ensure the continuation of the North River system and the spark of life, the young Supreme Commander Aled, with no other choice, turned his attention to the Zerg.
Every governor of the North River system knew the secrets about the Fire Seed and the Zerg. In peacetime, he might have waited for the birth of the royal offspring, but it was a special time. In war, it was a case of the big fish eating the small fish, and the small fish eating the shrimp. If they were defeated, the North River system would be severely weakened.
Most importantly, at this time, all the sparks will die from energy exhaustion. Without the sparks' power, they will be devoured by other star systems, shaking the foundation of the North River Star System.
At that time, Aled had only recently taken office as Consul General, and he clearly remembered the long sigh filled with infinite regret he gave at the bedside of the old Consul Colin.
"Arad, the burden of the North River system now rests on your shoulders. The Spark is our hope. I have never seen a royal seed since I was born. I have waited for over five hundred years..."
“I’m sorry, Allard, but I’m putting you in this difficult time to make a decision. You know what to do.”
Colin took off his personal computer and handed it to Aled. "I had this idea a long time ago, and I had long anticipated this war, but I always wanted to wait and was unwilling to take the risk."
“Aled, we need to be careful about this. If it is discovered, it will create the most powerful enemy for the North River system. I have been watching this little queen worm for a long time. The genetic code converted from her energy reaction can be well integrated with the genes of the Fire Seed. No queen worm has ever had such a good integration degree before. If we can obtain the core of this little queen worm, the Fire Seed of the North River system can be sustained for at least 10,000 years.”
Aled was shocked. Ten thousand years?!
The core of this one small king insect is equivalent to that of ten king insects.
His heart pounded wildly. No one could resist such a great temptation, especially someone in his position who had to consider the entire race and make a decision.
Colin said "sorry" to Aled again.
He patted Aled's shoulder with his aged hand, the last glimmer of light in his eyes gradually dimming: "Aled, many times we have no choice. You must treat Little Queen Worm well. If you can, one day you can also apologize to her for me."
Colin's hand fell to his sides, and he closed his eyes forever.
Alaed looked at the quantum computer that Colin handed him, his eyes gradually becoming more determined as he put the quantum computer on his wrist, completing the handover between the old and new Supreme Governors.
Many years later, when Aled thought back to the days when he made the plan, it was the most stressful and nerve-wracking time for him. As a newly appointed governor in the most chaotic period of the North River system, he had to take countless risks to steal the Zerg's Little Queen Bug.
At the time, several races were fighting in an asteroid field. The North River system used a war to lure the Zerg out and steal their little overlords.
Although the process was fraught with difficulties and dangers, he ultimately succeeded.
After obtaining the baby queen beetle, they found that the fire seed energy had already weakened to almost nothing because the baby queen beetle was still in its egg. They could not wait for the baby queen beetle to hatch.
Moreover, as she grows up, her energy aura will become increasingly intense, making it impossible for them to conceal. This would allow the insect race to discover that they had stolen the little queen insect.
Left with no other choice, they had to remove her core first.
They can use the core of the extinct past king to shroud the core of the little king, so that the Zerg will not be detected, but they cannot isolate the genetic aura of the little king.
They fused her with the genes of the Fire Seed, and as they expected, the fusion was excellent. Moreover, because she was a Royal Worm, she had a purer Royal Worm bloodline than the previous Royal Worms, and the resulting Fire Seed was the most powerful Fire Seed.
Later, in order to avoid being detected by the Zerg, and also because the Little Queen's energy was unstable, they planned to temporarily transport the Little Queen to another place to raise her. Once the Little Queen and the Fire Seed genes were fully integrated and the Zerg aura on her body could be basically concealed, they would bring her back to the main star.
However, during the transport, the little king beetle was lost due to the chaos of the war at the time.
The war caused spatial disturbances due to the use of high-energy weapons by both sides, creating several wormholes. The little king worm was sucked into one of these wormholes and disappeared without a trace.
For over three hundred years, Aled has been secretly searching for the Little King Worm.
He always remembered what the old governor Colin said to him before he died: "If you can, one day you should also apologize to her for me."
This is what they owe Little King Bug.
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