Chapter 231: Punishment
Her mother told her that there was a high probability that a male insect king would be born in the next few years. Whenever the insectoid swarm reached its peak, the energy of other breeding nests would be turned off and concentrated in one breeding nest, which would increase the probability of the male insect king being born.
In the Zerg race, only the Zerg Queen and the Zergling are single-female and single-male respectively. Other members of the Zerglings are also male, but they possess female genes. This gene segment is only for reproduction and is not expressed in appearance.
Moreover, this gene is only activated by the mother insect when reproduction is needed.
Therefore, Sevier granted those Fallen Ones the right to reproduce, allowing them and their families to continue living in the North River system, giving them one chance to reproduce.
Hicks' eyes widened slightly upon hearing this, and she looked at the row of her retinue standing behind her.
"Little Seven, you mean, they'll lay the eggs?"
The only thing the Zerg have made known throughout the galaxy is that they are oviparous.
Hicks couldn't believe that these tall and mighty servants could lay eggs.
On Skynet, the two most popular theories about the Zerg's reproduction are fission reproduction and sex mutation reproduction.
Fission reproduction is the process by which Zerg foes split off from themselves to produce the next generation, which is then fed with energy.
Sexual reproduction is when male insects transform into females during the breeding season to participate in reproduction.
But neither of these guesses is quite right.
According to Anno, it is the Ohmu that provide the gene fragments, which are then used by the family members to reproduce.
Anno glanced back at Tanville and the others, and nodded, saying, "That's right. From now on, they will lay my eggs. Higher-ranking family members don't need to be specially granted reproductive rights. They can have children whenever they want. The eggs they lay will definitely be the strongest, and they may even produce the next generation of little male insect kings. It's just that their fertility rate is not as high as that of other family members."
Just like the Ohmu, the higher the level, the more energy it needs. Lower-level members have a small chance of laying high-level eggs, but higher-level members will always lay high-level eggs.
Hicks felt his head buzzing after hearing this. There are many similar reproduction methods to the Zerg in the universe, but as long as they have formed advanced civilizations, they basically still rely on females to give birth to the next generation, or like the North River system, they rely on artificial reproduction.
Logan, standing nearby, was quite surprised to hear about the Zerg's method of reproduction. However, this was to be expected, since the Zerg only had one queen capable of reproduction. Given the current level of civilization of the Zerg, it was impossible for them to still rely on the queen to lay eggs continuously, like the most primitive ants.
Therefore, the propagation of anything must fall on the Zerg's vast kinship swarm.
Seeing Hicks's dumbfounded look, Anno patted him and teased him, "Don't worry, big brother, the Zerg eggs are very small, you can't tell they're pregnant."
Hicks' eyes widened even more, and she looked at the few members of her retinue behind her, glancing at their bellies.
No, he still couldn't imagine what it would be like for a group of grown men to get pregnant and lay eggs.
He could accept males bearing offspring, but seeing them in their tall and powerful human form was unacceptable and challenged his previous beliefs.
Anno guessed what Hicks was thinking and said leisurely, "Big brother, once you become a Zerg, you'll be able to accept it, and you'll even feel very honored."
Hicks's expression immediately twisted. "Little Seven, don't try to convert me. I still prefer to be a wandering mercenary. Once you've all settled down, I'll immediately go and take down those gangs."
Anno was amused by Hicks's expression and laughed so hard that he could barely stand up straight while clinging to Lokin's arm.
Luo Jin held her close, watching her smile with a mixture of helplessness and doting affection.
Karina couldn't help but smile. She patted Hicks on the shoulder and said, "Big brother, Xiao Qi was just teasing you. Zerg reproduce externally, they don't carry it inside their bodies."
After saying that, Logan couldn't help but laugh.
Tanville and Mingxiao couldn't understand Hicks's horrified expression when he heard about breeding. Breeding for His Highness was their honor, and hatching strong Zerg larvae would make them even more proud.
Reproduction should be the responsibility of the male.
After this commotion, Anno's mood improved considerably. After confirming things with Logan and the others, he began to change his mind about Tangting and Ota.
After they are converted, they can still live in the Northern River System.
The Zerg are ranked according to their abilities, and then they are assigned jobs, each with its own responsibilities.
The Zerg, transformed from the corrupted races, now belong to a new branch. Their genes will be re-integrated, gradually merging this new branch into the Zerg.
After marking the last white boat, they all fell into a deep sleep, and the transformation would take several days.
Anno patted Bai Zhou's head, stood up, and turned around to see Karina standing behind her, her eyes fixed on her.
"Second Sister?"
Karina asked, "You really don't want to convert me?"
Hicks and Locke both looked at her with surprise in their eyes.
Even after spending so much time with Karina, her family still couldn't figure out what she was thinking.
Anno glanced at Luo Jin and shook her head at her.
I like you the way you are.
This way, I can spend some quality time with my mother, as she and Hicks are the only ones left with the Northern River genes at home.
Karina glanced at Tanvel and the others standing to one side and nodded: "I understand. You have enough followers. You don't need me."
These words sounded somewhat emotional, but Karina always spoke her mind directly and without emotion; she said what she meant.
Anno wanted to comfort her, but upon reflection, she realized that what Anno said made sense. She did not lack followers, but that was not the reason why Anno refused to convert her.
Karina added, "Don't rush to reject me. You can change me anytime you want."
Tanville and the others all looked at her.
They thought to themselves, "Your Highness, you'd better not try to convert her. Caesar alone is enough of a headache for us."
Speaking of Caesar, after he returned, he was thrown into the abyss.
The Queen didn't even consider the mine bottom anymore, and directly threw him into the abyss to reflect on his mistakes. His treatment inside was completely different from the Queen's previous treatment when he was sleeping inside.
The abyss was pitch black, with nothing but invisible energy. Caesar was isolated from the energy; all he could sense was emptiness, and he couldn't use his abilities.
Unless the Queen releases him.
This is a very severe punishment.
This time the Queen is truly enraged, and even if His Highness pleads, it will probably be of no use.
Moreover, if His Highness were to plead for leniency, Caesar would likely be punished even more severely.
So Anno didn't say anything; Caesar was going to have his temper tempered.
Besides Caesar, the other members of the family were also punished by being sent to the icy plains to be exposed to the cold wind. However, Tanvel and the others took turns being punished to ensure that Anno was not left alone.
The most unlucky ones here are probably Obsidian and White Flame. They didn't go to the parallel universe, but they were punished along with them.
Sevier felt that none of them had taken good care of Anunu, so Secris, who had been leading the battle on the front lines, was not punished.
Of these eight family members, only Secris is somewhat better in Seville's memory.
If the interstellar space weren't still in turmoil and not yet fully stable, she would have personally given Anunu and his few followers a warning.
This time, even Augsis was blamed by Sevier for not helping Anunu manage her few followers properly. Now they all know how to use Anunu's soft heart to manipulate her.
Augsis then went back to sleeping on the floor.
For the next period of time, Anno will stay at the front-line main base to observe the state of Tang Ting and the others after their transformation.
The war with the Northern River system has ceased, and she is not needed in the wars with other star systems; it is sufficient to send her high-ranking subordinates to lead the battles.
Sevier was in charge of the battle from the rear, while also handling the handover affairs in Beihe. Anno would occasionally follow her around and learn from her.
Anaya has been handling affairs on the main planet of the North River with Tianyun. The people of the North River system have been taken over by Tianyun and Yaori, and she will be very busy for some time to come.
As for Anno, the nominal Queen of the North River, she didn't have much to do, so Sevier took care of everything for her.
Through the Zerg consciousness network, she can understand all the tedious political affairs.
However, she is still too young for the Zerg, not yet an adult. After reaching adulthood, she will have a long period of maturation. With Augsis and Seville around, she will not need to take over Zerg affairs for at least three hundred years.
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