Lin Xi remained silent. He said nothing, not intending to put any more pressure on Bryce and Elisa during this special time—he looked at his brother and Elisa, somewhat surprised to find that the two of them looked so vulnerable and panicked.
This made Lin Xi feel a subtle pang of heartache.
He finally realized that before this incident, he had been unconsciously relying on the two of them. In his subconscious, both Bryce and Elisa were omnipotent and invincible.
Elisa always handled everything on the spaceship with ease, and Bryce remained unfazed even when faced with the most difficult and horrific wounds. But this stubborn impression shattered at this moment.
He witnessed firsthand how Elisa was almost incoherent when she spoke, and how Bryce, despite being pale, gritted his teeth and tried to protect the others.
This made Lin Xi waver.
He wanted to protect those two people; he had to.
Just like they did when they were protecting themselves before...
Moreover, deep down, Lin Xi had a strange feeling.
Although he also felt fear and dread, he seemed much less sensitive to it than Bryce and Elisa.
The mutations of the people on the ship and this series of strange events...
Lin Xi had thought countless times that he would be scared to the point of madness, but in the end, he always managed to pull through.
What does this tell us?
Perhaps, as the crew kept saying, he did indeed possess some evil qualities?
"let's go."
Lin Xi suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind, turned around, and intentionally or unintentionally stood between Robert's corpse and Bryce.
“No matter who made the move, or what they intend to do, we’d better get out of here,” Lin Xi said. He paused, then added, “'He' may still be lingering and wandering around here, and I never want to encounter such a monster.”
"Just leave it like this? We don't know what that guy is trying to do..."
Bryce habitually began to feel anxious and worried.
Elisa reached out and pressed on the back of his hand.
Then, the vice-captain, who had somewhat regained his composure, shook his head at his lover: "Lin Xi is right, let's leave here first, and we'll talk about what happens next later."
Bryce was persuaded by Elisa. He took one last look at Robert's body parts, and the insect-like structure revealed beneath the human skin sent a chill down his spine.
“God, he’s disgusting,” Bryce muttered, then inadvertently voiced his true feelings, “But look at him now. I don’t know whether to feel relieved or scared—there’s a monster on this ship capable of doing something like this. If Robert was a monster, then the thing that killed him might have been a visitor from hell.”
Lin Xi nodded at Bryce.
He was about to say something in agreement when a jolt, like an electric shock, ran down the back of his neck.
"Um?"
It was that strange yet familiar feeling of being watched that made Lin Xi suddenly raise her head and look up at the top of the corridor.
He always felt there was something there—
But apart from the bright lights and the metal walls of the corridor, there was nothing there.
Lin Xi frowned.
He had lost count of how many times he had felt this way. Normally, he might have called it nervousness, but with Robert's body parts in front of him, he couldn't remain calm.
Lin Xi raised his gun and fired several shots in quick succession at the direction from which he had previously felt the spying.
—At the moment of pulling the trigger, Lin Xi didn't know why she suddenly felt nervous.
But apart from leaving several black scorch marks on the metal wall with the pulse bullets, nothing else happened in that area.
"What's wrong?"
Lin Xi's sudden action startled Bryce.
"No, it's nothing."
Lin Xi shook her head and said softly, "It's just... I want to confirm some things... but maybe I'm being too sensitive. I felt like something crawled over there just now."
He mumbled something indistinctly.
"Maybe it's an insect."
Elisa said.
“I saw a lot of bugs in Robert’s office before. I don’t know where they came from. Maybe they scurried in from outside the protective shield, or maybe Taran hatched something for his weird religious beliefs.”
Upon hearing the word "incubation," Lin Xi's eyelids twitched.
The image of "Number One," and the ugly pupa in which it was now, flashed quickly through his mind.
Oh, damn it, why would he think of "Number One" at such an inopportune time?
Lin Xi forcibly suppressed the unease in her heart.
Then he turned to face Bryce: "What should we do next?"
"We need to go to level B-1."
Bryce thought for a moment, then said decisively.
"Level B-1? Why do we need to go there?"
Bryce's answer was somewhat unexpected by Lin Xi. He had thought they would try to escape to the bridge and ask others for help.
"Because Solian is there."
Bryce answered.
The moment he finished speaking, Lin Xi couldn't help but show an expression of annoyance.
"Wait, why are we going to find that guy...?"
"Firstly, of course, is because he's a mercenary, and the most skilled one on the ship. He and his men currently possess the most weapons on board. If we really want to deal with these strange people on the Sun God, we must get his help. As for the second..."
As Bryce spoke, he tapped his personal terminal.
"Remember those medical records? We didn't get a complete list of everyone, but we at least know about Solian. He injured his brain in an accident when he was a child, and then he had an intracranial electronic assist chip implanted... He was probably among the first people in the entire country of A to receive this treatment."
"Oh, for God's sake, really..."
Before this, Lin Xi had no idea that the "medium" she was looking for would be that troublesome guy.
"Then we must pray that Solian hasn't been bewitched by Taran and turned into an insect by now."
Lin Xi said dryly.
The three of them quickly left the blood-soaked corridor.
And it wasn't until their footsteps gradually faded away that the metal wall next to Robert's body began to lose its mimicry.
Number One slowly shook its wings and climbed down from the wall.
There were some inconspicuous black scorch marks on the edge of its wings, which were caused by Lin Xi's previous shot—but Lin Xi only had a vague feeling, and the position of his shot was slightly off.
Although Lin Xi attacked him without hesitation again, "Number One" felt much calmer than before.
It had become somewhat accustomed to Lin Xi's cold attitude towards it, especially since Lin Xi hadn't even hit its body this time.
"Number One" used its hind legs to bring the charred edges of its wings to its front, and carefully used its teeth to gnaw off the parts that had been hit by the pulse gun.
However, after doing all that, "Number One" couldn't help but stare at its gnawed and pitted wings for a while.
Some of them don't look very good anymore.
It thought vaguely.
"nice".
"ugly".
"nausea".
These are all new words that "Number One" has learned during this period.
Although as a newborn insect, "Number One" could hardly summarize the meaning of these words accurately, after experiencing so much, it still had some vague understanding.
For example, in Lin Xi's eyes, its current appearance is "disgusting".
Its earlier juvenile stage was "beautiful".
And its wings now... must be... "ugly".
As she thought this, a feeling of emptiness, as if she had been starving for a long time, struck "Number One" once again.
Its long antennae drooped all the way down its back, and the tips of its wings involuntarily tucked in.
The wings it's using now are newly grown. Its previous wings had become tattered and had long since fallen off. And when it grew new wings, "Number One" deliberately imitated its previous appearance.
Before it could even muster the courage to show Lin Xi, it was broken again.
"Number One" rubbed its forelimbs somewhat uneasily.
It turned its head and looked at the pieces of meat that it had carefully chopped and arranged.
The color on its body gradually began to fade.
It had initially thought that Lin Xi would be happy if that annoying guy disappeared. However, in the end, "Number One" could only sense a strong sense of wariness from Lin Xi.
However, in any case, it protected Lin Xi.
As intelligence gradually increases, "Number One" has gradually developed a desire for self-comfort.
However, some subtle and distant vibrations momentarily interrupted "Number One's" thinking.
"rustle……"
"rustle……"
...
Number One smelled that disgusting odor again, the same bitter smell that had pierced his brain before.
This time, however, the flavor was exceptionally strong.
The wings of "Number One" suddenly tightened, and the constantly changing colors solidified into a red and black color scheme that represented a warning.
It suddenly straightened its body, hooking its forelimbs tightly to its chest. Its tentacles stood up, and the feather-like receptors at the tips of the tentacles constantly analyzed the strange scent in the air.
"Lin Xi".
"Number One" muttered to himself somewhat nervously.
"Lin Xi, I want to protect her."
As the strange voice faded, "Number One" was no longer in its original position—it chased after Lin Xi and the others at an alarming speed.
...
At the other end of the Helios spacecraft.
Taran was wriggling his deformed body, slowly moving to the center of the bridge.
The bridge is the central area of the Helios, and for the past three hundred years of its service, only authorized senior officers have been allowed to enter and exit it.
However, it's a bit overcrowded now.
The exploration team members in orange exploration suits, the maintenance personnel responsible for the basic repairs inside the spaceship, the mercenaries who were drawn to this mission by the money, and the low-ranking crew members who are usually inconspicuous...
They swayed and jostled around Taran, their empty, lifeless eyes reflecting the man's incredibly ugly body.
Taran gazed at the people with satisfaction.
Oh, these will all be his people.
He thought to himself with a sense of satisfaction.
If all goes well... these people will build the most primordial divine kingdom for him.
The thought of the stories recorded in the books he had read since childhood would make Taran tremble with joy... even making him forget the extreme pain caused by his physical transformation.
However, this pleasant mood faded considerably after he saw only a few close confidants around him.
Looking across the entire bridge, there are very few people like Robert who have clearly shown signs of insectification. After all, Taran has a limited supply of active earth milk, and what troubles him is that if he doesn't give others enough earth milk, he won't be able to achieve the insectification effect.
Taran could only choose a few people he thought were most promising and half-tricked, half-force them to drink high-concentration earth milk. As for the others, all he could do was mix the earth milk into the raw materials in the food bags.
This did indeed allow his population to increase exponentially in a very short period of time, but trouble soon followed.
Those who only exhibit mild mutations appear dull and lifeless, their minds become rigid, their intelligence decreases, and their personalities become brutal and bloodthirsty. Of course, these aren't the fatal problems; the fatal problem lies in…
Taran had no way to control them.
No matter how hard Taran tried, how much he wanted to demonstrate the legendary "collective perception ability," he never succeeded.
He couldn't sense anything at all...
He is still himself, and the crew members are still crew members.
This is completely different from the records in the classic texts.
Taran had to constantly tell himself that the reason these people had become like this was because their level of alienation was not high.
However, those who had gradually begun to transform did not seem to respond to his instructions.
"God's calling... God's grace is always special..."
Taran slowly and laboriously made his way onto the captain's command seat.
Well, his current body couldn't fit into that position, so he could only barely sit next to the command seat.
During this process, the wet, sticky mucus continues to be secreted uncontrollably.
Taran felt proud of the strange sensation in his body, but at the same time, he couldn't help feeling extremely irritable.
"Huff... huff..."
Just then, Taran heard a heavy breathing coming from beside him.
Taran turned his head warily and saw one of his closest confidants staring straight at him. The man's usually dull and lifeless eyes flickered slightly, revealing a hint of fear.
"Ta...Taran...Captain?"
Seemingly noticing Taran's gaze, the confidant slowly turned his head, staring at Taran, and uttered a muffled, shocked whisper.
Then, as if realizing something, he gasped for breath and struggled to raise his hands, which were covered in black bristles and fine nails, his facial muscles contorting.
"Is this a nightmare? Oh my god... what is this... how could this be..."
Taran frowned, and somewhat roughly tore off a pendant from his neck, taking out some powder from it and placing it in his palm.
He then ignited the powder in his palm.
A strong, incense-like aroma emanated from the slowly burning powder, drifting towards the crew member who was vaguely conscious.
Taran watched coldly as the crew member's eyes gradually returned to a deathly stillness.
Amidst the swirling smoke of incense, his thoughts seemed to drift back to the distant past.
He thought of his childhood, a dark childhood that no one could imagine.
"Mongrel".
"insect."
"Disgusting monster."
...
His neighbors, his classmates, his teachers, and even his perpetually weeping mother all called him that.
Before he fled that horrible and isolated town, he was subjected to a barrage of malicious insults throughout his life.
Yes, just like the rumors circulating secretly on the Sun God, Taran did indeed have Sunu blood flowing through his veins.
However, no one knows where his bloodline actually comes from.
His father had a diluted Sunu ancestry, which made him look quite different from Earthlings. The man cleverly took advantage of this, after all, in those days, the Sunu hadn't gone mad yet, and Earthlings' curiosity and desire to explore the Sunu were incredibly strong.
Almost everyone was immersed in the Sunu craze. His father cleverly disguised himself as a member of the so-called Sunu delegation and claimed to be a priest of the high-ranking Sunu temple. With his fake identity and unusual appearance, his father swindled his way inland.
It is said that the man swindled a lot of money from the conservative and remote townspeople, and also caused many innocent and simple town girls to have pregnant bellies before they even went to university—that summer, almost every few houses had several tightly locked black boxes buried under the trees in their backyards.
Those deformed lumps of flesh became a permanent taboo for the entire town.
But……
Taran's mother was not so lucky.
Taran was eventually born, as a monster.
He lived there for more than ten years, a life worse than death. He couldn't even remember how many times he woke up to his mother's wailing, only to find himself deeply buried in the mattress with a thick pillow covering his head.
As he weakly pulled the pillow off his head, his mother's wailing instantly turned into a terrified scream.
Before realizing he was different, Taran was incredibly saddened by it. He even foolishly tried to gain the approval of his mother and others, for which he paid a nightmarish price.
Of course, in the end... in the end he came to his senses.
In the dusty attic, he found some sealed boxes filled with ancient books from another planet, and sacrificial items made of gold and gemstones that still gleamed and radiated a mesmerizing light after so many years.
On that very day, Taran suddenly understood something that no one in the entire town understood.
His father was not the fraudster as rumored... his father was a high-ranking priest from that distant planet.
Otherwise, no one could explain where those profound and unfathomable classics, those obscure and incomprehensible notes, and those priceless sacrificial items came from.
Years later, after Taran had devoted countless hours to translating those ancient texts into Sunu script through his self-taught learning, he finally understood his destiny.
The evil and illusory God of Earthlings was never his god... The Star God was his destiny, his love, and his everything.
The Sunu blood flowing through his veins was far more noble and sacred than that group of disgusting, foolish Earthlings, and ironically, these lowly creatures around him actually mocked him for it.
On the night he translated the story of the Mother of Insects, Taran had a dream.
That was God's first calling upon him.
This was also the first time Taran had received the favor of the Star God.
In his dream, Taran experienced all that was incredibly sacred and sublime. He felt an overwhelming sense of control, watched his kingdom expand its territory in the vast universe, and stroked his children, those alien beings that Earthlings considered terrifying.
That was the most beautiful dream he had ever had, and the perfect future he could glimpse.
When he woke up, he knew that he had been chosen.
He is the mother of all insects, the mother of all alien species, the lover of the star god, and the only king in that vast and dark kingdom...
...
From the day he opened those dusty books in that dark attic, Taran spent decades gradually coming to God's side.
Taran has made all the preparations to face his destiny.
but……
Something seems to have gone wrong.
Even now, he still needs to rely on those incenses of unknown composition that he found in the attic to control the kin he himself transformed.
"—These are all props your liar father used to fool people! He's just a thief. If he has any connection with that damned Sunu priest in this life, it's that he stole things from that unlucky priest!"
"Taran, you've gone mad! You've completely lost your mind! There are no scriptures at all, no Star Gods whatsoever! That disgusting fraudster admitted it himself before he died—it was all a hoax..."
...
In a daze, Taran seemed to hear once again the shrill scream of the woman he should have called his mother.
He suddenly shivered, his expression contorted.
"Liar. Don't try to fool me... You've been lying to me all along..."
After many years, he still couldn't help but speak to his mother as he remembered her.
His mother always said that his father was a liar, and she said it so confidently and certainly that Taran almost believed her many times.
Fortunately, each time, he held firm to his beliefs at the last moment.
Yes, thankfully...
If it weren't for his unwavering will, how could he have come here? To this land of the gods...
How did he shed his ugly and evil human body and ultimately transform into a more sacred and noble form?
However, just as Taran was trying to convince himself, the incense in his hand was like a cruel interrogation, constantly piercing his faith in the Star God.
Why, even at this point... does he still need to rely on this incense to control his kin?
Especially recently, the alienated members of the clan seem to have become more restless and disobedient than before.
Things like the previous confidant suddenly waking up have become more and more frequent.
This made Taran extremely anxious—
If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have made that mistake.
"Elisa".
Taran muttered the familiar name.
He didn't dislike Elisa; she was a good work partner and a competent deputy.
But that's all.
Elisa is just a lowly Earthling.
She could never be Taran's companion.
What's more, she even managed to witness his sacrificial ceremony...
About half of the people on the ship had not successfully become his followers.
These people will all become his troubles later.
Taran wasn't naive enough to think that Elisa would keep quiet after seeing all that.
If she manages to incite the rest of the group, Taran's long-standing devotion to the Star God and the progress of his ritual to become the Mother of Insects could very well be disrupted.
That last point was something Taran could never accept.
Not to mention... whenever Elisa is mentioned, Taran inevitably thinks of Lin Xi.
A surge of intense hatred instantly swelled in his chest; his desire to kill that man far surpassed that of Elisa.
...
Perhaps he needs to offer more sacrifices to the star god.
Taran thought to himself, annoyed.
“Elisa,” he relit the incense, its strong aroma spreading throughout the bridge, and mumbled to the crew, “…find Elisa and bring her to me.”
"Find Lin Xi, kill him, or devour him."
"Go... my beloved family... go..."
His voice, accompanied by the fragrance, gradually seeped into the mouths and noses of the dull-eyed, wooden sailors.
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