Before Qi Heng stood a platform approximately two meters high. A thick layer of white ice crystals spread from its surface and flowed down the steps.
What was going on?
Qi Heng hesitated briefly before climbing the stairs.
The crystals beneath his feet were translucent like ice, but when he stepped on them, he discovered that they were exceptionally solid.
At the center of the platform bloomed an ice-crystal lotus so enormous that even three people joining hands could not have encircled it.
A white egg rested within the sealed center of the lotus. It resembled an unhatched Zerg egg, but the white of its shell was dull and lifeless.
If this really was a Zerg egg, its condition was even worse than Yan Ning’s egg had been when Qi Heng first saw it.
Qi Heng reached out and touched one of the crystalline petals. His gaze remained fixed on the egg as he began to speculate about its identity.
It was an egg, and it had appeared in this particular place.
Could the Commander have emerged from Second Rebirth in the form of a Zerg egg?
Qi Heng recalled the description of Second Rebirth.
It had indeed mentioned that the Commander could acquire an appearance similar to that of the Higher Zerg of Tianjia.
However, he remembered that the Commander was a Primordial Zerg with an enormous true body. Even when lying down, it had resembled a small mountain.
After thinking briefly, Qi Heng decided to use his mental power to examine the egg first.
Every Zerg egg on the surrounding shelves had long since died. Over the endless years, their shells had calcified and turned gray-black.
Only the egg before him, unpleasant as its color looked, did not appear completely dead.
Qi Heng released his mental power. It gently swept across the ice-crystal lotus as he carefully sensed its condition.
Suddenly, he gave a quiet sound of surprise. His expression became strange.
How peculiar.
Within his perception, there were actually two distinct mental entities.
How was that possible?
Qi Heng shifted his gaze from the Zerg egg to the crystalline flower.
One of the mental entities originated from the egg. The other came from beneath the ice-crystal lotus.
Both were extremely weak within his perception, like dying people clinging to their final breath.
Meanwhile, the strange-looking ice crystals radiated a tremendous amount of life energy under his mental-power perception.
Qi Heng quickly understood.
The life energy within these crystals was protecting both the Zerg egg and the living creature beneath the flower.
The situation was different from what he had originally imagined. At a time like this, he needed an assistant capable of helping him understand what was happening.
After one second of consideration, Qi Heng decided to temporarily release A0 from confinement.
“A0, come out.”
As an AI program built into the system, A0 naturally appeared whenever Qi Heng required it.
【Honored Overlord, what are your instructions?】
A0’s voice carried a trace of ingratiation.
Who would willingly remain confined when they could be released?
As an AI with a higher degree of intelligence than the other programs, A0 particularly disliked being locked inside the little black room.
It had no access to any data there and could not perform further calculations or contemplate new problems. A0 felt as though it were about to “crash.”
“What is this?” Qi Heng asked.
A0 had already noticed the scene around them. However, even it could not claim to understand the situation with complete certainty.
【Please allow me to search the surviving information in the database.】
A0 processed information so quickly that it completed the search before it had even finished speaking.
【According to the surviving records, this should be a method the Commander devised to preserve its own life.】
【The expected duration of the Commander’s Second Rebirth was five thousand years. However, not only did it fail to awaken within that period, but its awakening was delayed by approximately another seven thousand years.】
【According to the scan, the life energy contained within these crystals is ultimately transferred to this Zerg egg and the life-form concealed beneath the platform. It stabilizes their remaining life auras and extends the amount of time they can survive.】
“Where did this life energy come from?”
【The Commander possesses the ability to extract life energy from other living creatures. Analysis indicates that the energy within these ice crystals is extremely mixed. It was most likely formed from the residual life energy extracted and collected from a great many organisms.】
A0’s explanation gave Qi Heng some ideas, but he did not voice them.
Instead, he asked, “Then what is this Zerg egg? Is it the Commander?”
【Unable to confirm.】
A0 continued:
【I recommend that you first attempt to awaken the Commander. The Commander should be able to answer your questions.】
No one could understand what had happened here better than the Commander, which had slumbered in this place for ten thousand years.
A0’s suggestion matched Qi Heng’s own thoughts.
He had expended a tremendous amount of effort, first forcing his first-stage fusion progress to reach fifty percent and being tricked by A0 in the process.
Now he had traveled from the surface to a location five hundred meters underground, spending a large portion of the energy he had worked so hard to accumulate.
Had he not done all of this to awaken the Commander?
“How do I awaken it? With mental power?”
Even as Qi Heng asked, he felt that the answer could not be so simple.
When he had used mental power to scan and examine the area, nothing had changed.
【Your blood is required.】
A0 explained:
【The Commander’s condition is poor. Second Rebirth consumed too much of its energy, and it is currently extremely weak.】
【Only the Overlord’s blood can rapidly replenish the energy it has lost while awakening its instincts from unconscious slumber…】
Qi Heng remembered that the Commander had once consumed the Overlord’s blood when it was born.
That had merely been a CG sequence in the game.
He had never imagined that he would one day experience it personally.
Knowing the Commander’s history with the Overlord, Qi Heng understood that there was no way to avoid this step.
The Overlord had personally witnessed the birth of the Primordial Zerg Commander.
Not only had the Commander consumed the Overlord’s blood, but the Overlord’s mental imprint had also been branded upon its mental entity. Even Second Rebirth could not erase it.
It was for this reason that the Commander, the progenitor of the Primordial Zerg, obeyed the Overlord’s commands.
Every Primordial Zerg carried genetic fragments originating from the Commander.
That was why even Primordial Zerg that had only just been created instinctively obeyed Qi Heng.
Qi Heng took a small knife made from Obsidian Crystal out of his pocket and held it over his left palm, seemingly considering where it would be most appropriate to cut.
He had to establish a second connection with the Commander.
After all, he did not want the blade in his hand to someday slip beyond his control and turn against him.
The instincts of the Primordial Zerg drove them to devour endlessly, acquire energy, reproduce their species, expand their territory, and then continue devouring.
The cycle would repeat until no energy remained for them to consume.
Any civilization or living creature that dared obstruct them during this process would become their enemy, and the Primordial Zerg would pursue that enemy until one side was completely destroyed.
That was why they had once waged war across the stars and become known as the Calamity of the Universe.
The Primordial Zerg had been the most effective blade in the hands of the Overlord of Tianjia Civilization.
Only the Overlord’s restrictions had prevented them from going mad and beginning a path of limitless consumption.
If Qi Heng awakened the Commander this time but could not completely control it, allowing the Primordial Zerg to escape his authority…
With their abilities, even if they could not destroy the entire universe, destroying the Milky Way would be more than easy enough.
Thinking this, Qi Heng raised his hand without changing expression.
The next moment, his right hand brought the blade down, cutting a long, narrow wound across his left palm.
Blood splattered across the center of the ice-crystal lotus.
The pain shooting through his palm made Qi Heng’s face twitch uncontrollably. He had to clench his teeth to stop himself from crying out.
This was the first time Qi Heng had ever cut himself deliberately.
It fucking hurt.
He had not held back at all when making the cut. The wound was rather deep, and blood now poured continuously from his palm.
Gradually, the flow began to slow.
The blood dripping onto the crystalline petals seeped through the lotus and fell onto the Zerg egg before continuing farther downward.
Apart from that, however, nothing changed.
“Is that enough?”
【No.】
A0 had been monitoring the state of the ice-crystal lotus continuously and answered immediately.
Various readings for the “ice-crystal lotus” fluctuated rapidly across the system interface before Qi Heng’s eyes.
He did not bother examining them.
Every profession had its specialties. He only needed A0 to give him the result.
“How much more?”
One cut or two, he was cutting himself either way.
That did nothing to lessen the pain when he brought the knife down a second time. Blood flowed steadily from the newly opened wound.
It seeped into every part of the ice-crystal lotus, staining the originally pure and transparent crystals with threads of red.
【The ice-crystal layer on the stairs has begun to melt.】
There was no existing data for either Second Rebirth or awakening the Commander. Even A0 grew extremely nervous as it watched Qi Heng continue losing blood.
The first and unalterable command within its core programming was to guarantee the Overlord’s safety.
Qi Heng might no longer be entirely human, and his physical constitution might have improved, but excessive blood loss could still cause shock.
A0 calculated the amount of blood he had lost, preparing to stop him at any moment and expend energy to repair the wound.
He had already exceeded the estimated blood-loss volume and was rapidly approaching the safe limit.
Qi Heng turned and looked at the steps behind him.
The crystals covering them had transformed into mist and were surging toward the ice-crystal lotus, like young swallows flying into an embrace before plunging into the flower’s center.
Due to the blood loss, Qi Heng’s lips had become faintly pale. All color had drained from his face.
He felt somewhat dizzy and knew it was caused by losing too much blood.
He knew that he could call for the process to stop at any moment, but he also trusted A0’s calculations.
Moreover, he had not yet reached the point where he could no longer endure it.
Given how seriously the system regarded his safety, A0 would intervene without being asked if his life were truly endangered.
【That is enough.】
The readings on the system interface reached their peak at that exact moment.
A0 immediately began treatment.
【Overlord, I will treat you now.】
When the Overlord’s life was at risk, the system possessed limited authority to execute first and report afterward.
After all, if the Overlord died, the system would no longer have any reason to exist.
Gentle energy surrounded Qi Heng’s mangled left palm.
The itching and numbness created as the wound healed made him want to scratch it.
To stop himself from focusing too much on the injury, he turned his attention toward the changes occurring within the ice-crystal lotus.
At the moment the system announced that it had received enough blood, the entire ice-crystal lotus transformed into a thick mist formed from condensed life energy.
The mist continuously compressed and solidified before converging upon a plump, white Zerg with golden markings that had been concealed beneath the lotus.
The creature was nearly one meter long.
Its curled body encircled the Zerg egg Qi Heng had seen earlier, as though it had been protecting the egg.
Qi Heng watched the condensed mist divide into two streams as it approached them.
One portion entered the Zerg egg.
The other was swallowed completely by the plump Zerg.
Qi Heng met the white creature’s eyes.
They were a pair of round, deep-purple eyes. Their pure violet color resembled gemstones embedded in the creature’s head.
The instant it opened its eyes and saw him, overwhelming joy erupted within them.
The Commander was a Zerg created to serve a purpose, but unlike the other Primordial Zerg, which lacked individual self-awareness, it possessed a consciousness of its own.
Furthermore, its consciousness served as the collective consciousness of the entire species.
It could be said that the Commander was the whole of the Primordial Zerg. To a certain extent, every one of them possessed a portion of its consciousness.
Because of this, as long as the Commander existed, Qi Heng could contact it through any Primordial Zerg.
“Aow!”
The plump white Zerg raised its body upright and flung itself toward him.
Even then, it did not forget to curl its tail around the egg, drawing it into its embrace and holding it with its short forelimbs.
Qi Heng instinctively reached out and caught it.
Only then did he realize that the golden patterns were not all markings decorating the creature’s body.
Some were wings hanging behind it.
The golden wings were thin and transparent, shimmering with faint specks of golden light.
Qi Heng went numb when he realized that his body had moved too quickly.
His movements had gotten ahead of his brain.
By the time he reacted, he was already holding the Zerg egg the plump creature had passed him with one hand while patting the creature’s head with the other.
The system’s treatment had been extremely effective.
Apart from the remaining bloodstains, his hand had completely healed. He could clearly feel that the newly grown skin on his palm was unusually tender.
Qi Heng fell silent.
He had clearly come here to awaken the Commander.
How had he somehow ended up with an additional Zerg egg?
He instinctively swept his mental power across the plump creature and the egg.
The egg’s life force was now considerably stronger than before. However, the child developing inside remained somewhat weak and was still asleep.
“Aow, aow.”
The plump creature rubbed its head against his palm.
Qi Heng’s expression became indescribable as he looked at the winged, plump white Zerg with golden markings, which was nuzzling him and making affectionate sounds.
What was this?
Buy one, get one free?!
“A0, don’t you have anything to say?”
As Qi Heng spoke, he pushed away the “giant baby” attempting to climb onto his body.
It was getting far too close.
“Isn’t there something wrong with this Commander? Hmm?”
His intonation rose at the end, filled with menace.
In Qi Heng’s memories, only the juvenile Commander had behaved this clingily.
Even when the mature Commander desperately wanted to press itself against the Overlord, it had exercised considerable restraint.
After all, given the difference in size between the Overlord and the Commander’s true body, pressing against him would have been no different from trying to crush the Overlord to death beneath its backside.
Qi Heng attempted to communicate through mental power and make the plump creature move farther away.
What he received instead was a mixture of emotions and thoughts.
There was joy, grievance, and affection.
The overall message, however, was simple:
It wanted to be held.
It wanted its head rubbed.
It wanted to press close to him.
It was like a young child who had been separated from his father for a very long time, now acting spoiled and pleading for more attention and affection.
A0’s core program briefly froze upon hearing the Overlord’s question, though this did not prevent it from responding.
Its calculations indicated that if it could not provide the Overlord with a reasonable explanation, its three-day confinement might soon become considerably longer.
【You are aware that the Commander must begin growing again from its juvenile stage after Second Rebirth.】
The moment Qi Heng heard this, he knew A0 was trying to brush him off.
It was one thing for the Commander’s body to shrink back to its juvenile form.
Could its intelligence somehow regress as well?
Although the original Commander’s emotional age had only seemed around ten whenever it interacted with Qi Heng, its present state was clearly even younger.
As long as Qi Heng did not issue a forceful command, the Commander refused to obey even when it understood what he wanted.
Everything it did indicated that it had decided to cling to him like sticky taffy and never let go.
Qi Heng asked helplessly, “Is there any way to make it release me?”
【You may give it a direct command.】
If he could bring himself to do that, why would he have asked?
Qi Heng complained inwardly.
He could roughly guess why the plump creature refused to release him.
It was probably, perhaps, very likely because the Overlord had “mysteriously disappeared” and failed to collect it as promised.
After waiting far too long and finally recovering what it had lost, the creature was terrified that Qi Heng would disappear again.
“…Forget it. I’ll see how long it takes before you’re willing to let go.”
Qi Heng lowered his head and looked at the plump creature clutching his thigh with its short limbs.
These were all debts left behind by the former “Overlord.”
It was perfectly reasonable for Qi Heng to repay them now.
Besides being the Commander’s guardian and teacher, the Overlord had also fulfilled the role of an old father.
From the plump creature’s perspective, ten thousand years ago, its old father, the Overlord, had vanished without saying a word.
No matter how hard it searched, it could not find him.
Qi Heng suddenly remembered A0 saying that the declaration of total war issued by Tianjia Civilization ten thousand years ago had carried the Grand Marshal’s authorization.
He wondered what the Commander, trapped in Second Rebirth at the time, had felt when it agreed to that war.
Leave a Reply