Perfect closed loop
“Has it started yet?”
Alyssa was holding a miniature camera in her hand. The camera was flying around her before, but suddenly stopped moving.
"Your Majesty Alyssa, the show has started!" Miranda pointed excitedly at her smart brain projection screen.
The app Miranda downloaded was the spider version. The interface frame was a dense spider web, with a lot of crystal clear morning dew hanging on the milky white translucent spider silk. In the center of the spider web was Alyssa's face.
It looked as if the little insect queen had been caught in her web. Miranda knew that this thought was quite rebellious, but she honestly felt that Her Majesty Alyssa, jumping around like prey in a web, was doubly adorable.
Alyssa turned around. Almost all the insects around her were watching her livestream. Ryan's screen showed a forest covered in a thick layer of fallen leaves and rot, with sunlight casting dappled shadows through the dense foliage. She looked like an elf moving through the dense forest. Flora's screen showed a geometric, layered honeycomb, and she looked like a queen bee nestled within it.
“Why are everyone’s interfaces different?”
When Alyssa learned that the application received a warm response from the online submission call and that versions for all races had been developed, her face became hot.
The enthusiastic response from the entire Zerg race certainly made Alyssa very warm. These versions each have their own ingenuity and are very much in line with the preferences of various races.
But Alyssa could see more clearly that in these more than a thousand versions, Seville's intentions could not be ignored.
Even though the design didn't require much effort, Sewell and the team behind him must have put in a lot of effort to incorporate so many materials.
"Thank you...thank you...you."
She looked into the camera in her hand, her eyes and brows filled with inexpressible gratitude and affection.
Based on the insect mother's mood at the moment, small elements favored by various races appeared on the projection screen. Fresh resin began to drip from the dense forest, and sweet nectar oozed from the beehive.
The netizens' barrage of comments has covered the sky and the sun. Today's throne's barrage area and live broadcast interface are separated to ensure that when netizens share their feelings, the barrage will not cover the mother of the worm.
Alyssa felt a little bit of the pleasure of cheating. Perhaps all the insects thought that the insect mother's words of gratitude were directed at him, but Alyssa knew that the one she wanted to thank the most would definitely receive it.
Seville locked himself in a separate room, drew the curtains tightly, didn't turn on the lights, and watched the live broadcast with his tired eyes.
His version was specially customized, unique to him. The interface material used his own wings, and in the dim room, it looked like Alyssa was spreading her colorful butterfly wings, covered in mating patterns, towards him.
Seville was so exhausted he almost collapsed, but he couldn't bear to miss a single move from Alyssa. Alyssa's sex glands weren't fully developed, so he had to restrain himself from constantly courting her, from emitting pheromones to stimulate her sex glands. But in this room that belonged only to him, listening to this thank you that belonged only to him, Seville let his pheromones flow freely, grinning like a fool.
In the dim room, a large butterfly with wings flapping in the shape of a courtship pattern gradually appeared.
Today was the first day of the Throne of Today broadcast, and it was also the day Flora was sent home. The first political activity the Zerg witnessed during the live broadcast was Alyssa hosting a luncheon in the audience hall to send Flora off.
Flora will return to the front line guarded by the Third Legion with the military insects whose primordial honey in the spiritual world has been cleared by the insect mother, as well as the first batch of tiger armored guards who have been replaced.
Those who had used the First Honey would be dismissed. The Zerg, finally understanding why Drake and his subordinates had so willingly accepted their orders, were filled with anxiety. After all, they had disobeyed Her Majesty Amelia's order to ban the use of the First Honey, and their military discipline had been lax. Fortunately, Drake had expressed his willingness to accept them. They would form a guerrilla pioneering force, and once Flora officially took over the Third Legion from Drake, they would depart for the outer reaches of the star system, searching for more resource planets for the Zerg and the Zerg Queen.
Alyssa was deeply reluctant to part with Flora. In her eyes, Flora was a rare and remarkable female general, a life she couldn't even imagine. While she only had enough strength to hold her harp, Flora could send a multi-ton opponent flying with a single headbutt.
Last time, she didn't feel comfortable asking about Drake's Third Legion's battle at the border of the star field. This time, Flora was a female and she had no other official business in the near future, so Alyssa asked her about life in the border star field.
Flora certainly did not reject the approach of the Zerg Queen. She was very happy that the Third Legion, which was considered a ragtag army of low- and middle-level Zergs by the higher-ranking families, had entered the Zerg Queen's sight.
"The Third Legion is experiencing a serious overabundance of primordial honey," Flora said. "The army bugs I brought here are from the rank of brigade commander and above. I estimate that more than half of the lower-level soldiers have used primordial honey."
As if worried about Alyssa's displeasure, and perhaps remembering that she was still livestreaming, Flora added, "Actually, the Third Legion has a large number of non-commissioned military insects, half civilian, half military. They're all from border planets whose homes were destroyed by alien species and who were left homeless. Drake recruited them and raised them. Military tranquilizers weren't enough for the military insects, so Drake tacitly allowed the Third Legion to use the primordial honey."
"I know many Zerg believe that the Third Legion is wealthy because we can sell the remains of alien species to cover military expenses. But in reality, maintaining this group of extraneous Zerg consumes the vast majority of our income. Drake leads his army to hunt alien species for profit, and with so much fighting, he's become less stable."
Finally, Flora had completed her crucial secret mission—saving Drake's face in front of the Insect Queen. Unable to contact Alyssa, Drake turned to harassing Flora, especially after the Insect Fight. He sent her a message almost daily, prompting Flora to repeatedly mention his difficulties to Alyssa. Flora was practically annoyed by him.
Alyssa felt a little depressed when she heard this, and her beautiful big eyes drooped: "I didn't know that the border star field was so difficult. It's my fault."
"Your Highness, this isn't your fault." Gabriel brought Alyssa a glass of honey water and rolled his eyes at Flora. These righteous army worms, whose brains were more complex than their guts, couldn't afford to say nice things during Her Highness's first livestream!
This problem didn't arise during Her Majesty Alyssa's tenure; it existed long before the four armies were divided into their respective garrisons and responsibilities. Even after thousands of years, several successive generations of the Insect Mother had failed to resolve it.
His Majesty Amelia was determined to change this situation, ignoring the candidates for consort proposed by the higher-ranking families and instead secretly marrying Wolf Black Armor, a member of a middle-class border family. Under His Majesty Amelia's care, the Third Legion was faring much better than before.
As expected, even when choosing a royal consort, one must choose one with good status and financial resources. Just look at the other bugs who have expressed affection for Her Majesty Alyssa. Drake only stirs up trouble and plays the victim, while Sewell can use the entire family's money and resources to pave the way for Her Majesty.
Gabriel decided to be nicer to Sevier in the future.
Flora didn't think this was Her Majesty Alyssa's problem, but she was already the commander of the Third Legion, and it was always good to get more attention from the Zerg Queen for the Third Legion.
Alyssa's focus wasn't on Drake. Her mind was filled with Flora's thoughts about the displaced and homeless extra-combatants. "So, can these extra-combatants fight? Will their lives be difficult?"
"They'll do some basic battlefield cleanup, decompose alien debris, and repair weapons and starships in exchange for food and basic living supplies. Most of these insects have been injured in alien attacks and have certain limb disabilities, making them unable to withstand the burden of fighting against aliens."
“Can’t the local government guarantee their livelihoods?”
Flora didn't notice Gabriel winking frantically behind the Insect Mother. She said honestly, "Most of their planets have been destroyed by the xenos, leaving them without local governments. They're interstellar refugees. Most of the governments on border planets are very poor and can't afford to support these refugees with little labor."
Gabriel was speechless. She didn't know how Flora's words would be received online, but Her Majesty Alyssa's ignorance of the plight of the citizens of Border Star was a significant drawback for a politician. They didn't care that Her Majesty had only recently returned, had only just mastered the language and written language, and had been caught off guard by a series of unexpected events. The people simply assumed that as the supreme leader, you were supposed to understand the feelings of all people, even those thousands of light years away.
Alyssa lowered her head and thought for a long time before saying, "How about sending these disabled extra-service insects, especially the young ones, to Saint Joseph's Palace during the first rotation?"
Flora was startled by these words and instinctively denied them, "Your Highness, this won't work. These bugs don't have much combat power. You can't use your elite Tiger Guards to replace them. This will weaken your defenses."
Gabriel certainly disagreed even more.
They wanted to persuade him, but they felt a flash before their eyes. They were no longer in the solemn and artistic reception hall, but were pulled into Alyssa's spiritual world.
The empty desert began to come alive as it incorporated more of Alyssa's trusted insect spiritual anchors. Gabriel and Flora glared at each other in their insect form. A moment later, a large beetle emerged from under the tree, and Ryan was also pulled in by Alyssa.
"I forgot that you can only be in bug form in my spiritual world." Alyssa said apologetically, "But my every move is being broadcast live to everyone now, so I can only bring you in this way to have a private conversation."
"Remember that trick we used at the Bug Fight?"
Flora, Gabriel, and Ryan instantly understood what Alyssa meant. Flora, through her spiritual connection with the Insect Queen, had gained the vision and combat awareness of the Insects like Ryan and Gabriel, greatly enhancing their combat effectiveness.
Using a telepathic link to bolster the Worm Mother's defenses might actually be a good idea. Gabriel would never forget how, even before the Pompeii reached Saint Joseph's Palace, news and footage of the Worm Mother's rescue had leaked, prompting a rather rude audience from the Second and Third Legions. In the three years since the Worm Mother's lingering presence in human society, Saint Joseph's Palace had likely been thoroughly infiltrated.
The higher-ranking families also had their own interests to consider; they were simply avoiding the Worm Mother's current political prestige, temporarily avoiding her. Alfonso might not be an isolated case.
Thinking about it this way, the defense around the Insect Queen is more about quality than quantity.
They reached a consensus within the Zerg Mother's mental world. Meanwhile, upon noticing Alyssa's eyes turning golden, Sewell directed the camera to stop focusing on close-ups and instead capture a full panorama of the entire scene. Thus, all the Zerg watching the livestream were given a free tour of the Garden Palace's reception hall, constructed from the husks of Zerg martyrs.
Then they witnessed in the live broadcast that the Bug Queen reached a consensus with the Chief Internal Affairs Officer, the Guards Commander, and the Third Legion Commander to exchange the most elite Tiger Guards for a group of military bugs from the Third Legion on the verge of deterioration, as well as disabled refugees and cubs from the border stars.
Damn, what’s the difference between this and reaching the sky in one step!
There were all sorts of things going on in the barrage, and of course, there was the acid. The bugs of the higher-ranking clans, along with those of the mid- and lower-ranking clans and outlying planets, clashed in the barrage, ultimately being outnumbered and defeated. Since they were outnumbered and couldn't engage in physical combat online, these higher-ranking clans came up with a clever solution: use money to blast the screen with special effects.
Even the barrage special effects had a racially specific version. A dazzling array of kryptonite barrages, shaped like beetles, cicadas, bees, and butterflies, exploded around the insect queen, who smiled and ate peacefully. This characteristic was so pronounced that gradually, these high-ranking families began to compete with each other: if a beetle barrage had a thousand, the cicada clan would immediately follow with two thousand; if a bee clan had three thousand, they would be mocked and then add another two thousand...
"Crazy... all crazy..." Isabella muttered as she watched the skyrocketing backstage figures. "This is only the first day of the Throne of Today!"
On the other side, Balin, who had come specially to take charge, laughed heartily and threw down ten thousand butterfly-shaped krypton gold bullets: "Hahahahaha! Come on! Let's see who can keep up with the number of our butterfly tribe!"
Isabella: "Father! Calm down! We don't have most of the profits!"
Yes. The vast majority of the profits belong to the Saint Joseph Palace and the Zerg Mother. And the Zerg Mother has promised to use this money to improve the lives of the lower-class Zerg.
It's truly a perfect closed loop.
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