Qi Heng had overestimated his patience and underestimated just how clingy the plump Zerg could be.
Fortunately, he was not afraid of insects. Otherwise, he probably would have reached his limit the moment the creature pressed itself against him.
Then again, it would have been stranger if he were afraid.
He had not reacted particularly strongly when he first saw the Primordial Zerg either. It was as though, on a subconscious level, he was extremely familiar with these creatures.
Needless to say, that sense of familiarity must have come from the Overlord.
As for whether he feared the Tianjia Zerg, what was there to fear when they all had human appearances? Even when Higher Zerg revealed their partial Zerg forms during battle, they only developed claws, wings, and a small amount of hardened armor.
To be honest, Qi Heng felt far more curious than frightened.
They remained deadlocked for fifteen minutes, with the plump Zerg clinging to his thigh.
In the end, Qi Heng admitted defeat.
“Let go.”
His voice carried a note of command.
Qi Heng knew that if this continued, he would certainly be the first one unable to endure it.
The plump Zerg gazed up at him with an enormous pair of sparkling eyes, their depths filled with distinctly human emotions.
Although it was reluctant to release him, it obeyed his command and removed its forelimbs from his thigh.
As it let go, the creature made an incredibly aggrieved sound.
“Aow…”
Qi Heng ignored its unwilling expression. After confirming that his commands had the same effect on it as they had in the game, he took a step backward.
Since the plump Zerg had been supporting itself entirely on its lower body, it immediately wriggled forward after him.
Qi Heng felt a vein throbbing in his forehead.
“Stop.”
The plump Zerg stopped moving and stared at him pitifully.
It truly performed one action for every command.
Qi Heng’s head began to ache. This was completely different from what he had imagined.
He had expected to obtain a powerful assistant.
Instead, it looked as though he had acquired another child who needed to be cared for.
Actually, that description was not wrong.
It really was a child.
After realizing this, Qi Heng remained silent for quite some time.
Today’s trip truly had been buy one, get one free.
Which meant the Zerg egg in his arms was probably another problem waiting for him.
“Aow…”
That cry was filled with pitiful grievance.
Qi Heng returned to his senses and shifted the egg into his other arm.
“It’s useless to keep crying ‘aow’ at me,” he said coolly. “I don’t understand you.”
The plump Zerg did not seem capable of speaking aloud. Ever since awakening, it had done nothing but call “aow” and “aow, aow.”
Qi Heng had no idea what species of insect could even produce that kind of sound.
Its forelimbs resembled claws, but like the rest of its body, they seemed to be covered in a soft outer layer. They looked like the hands of a plush toy.
“Aow!”
After hearing his words, the creature stretched its claws toward him, repeatedly opening and closing them. It was clearly itching to throw itself at him again.
The Commander’s juvenile true body was extremely cute.
Even its chibi image in the game had looked soft and adorable. The real creature appeared even more harmless. Even someone who disliked insects would have found it difficult to treat such a plump creature coldly.
But Qi Heng was no ordinary person.
He would not be deceived by the false impression created by the creature’s attempts to act cute.
If he did not stop it now, he would effectively be indulging its desire to approach him.
What awaited him afterward would be an endless assault of spoiled affection. At that point, it would no longer be sticky taffy. It would become a dog-skin plaster that could never be peeled off.
After three to five minutes, Qi Heng finally asked, “Have you calmed down?”
From the moment he saw the plump Zerg, Qi Heng had sensed that its emotions were extraordinarily intense.
Contact with his mental power had not calmed it. Instead, its excitement had only grown worse.
Most of this was because the Overlord had been missing for far too long. A smaller part came from its joy at seeing Qi Heng arrive to fulfill their promise.
The plump Zerg leaned its entire body forward and lay prostrate at his feet.
“Aow, aow, aow.”
Its tone was less excited than before, but filled with a child’s adoration for a parent.
Qi Heng watched as it affectionately rubbed its head against his lower leg, making no attempt to conceal its closeness to him.
He had withdrawn his mental power earlier. Unable to sense it, the creature could only use the most primitive method to express its submission and attachment.
More than ten thousand years ago, the Overlord and the Commander, which was about to undergo Second Rebirth, had made a promise.
The Overlord had promised to come and collect it personally once its Second Rebirth was complete.
He had also promised to take it across the vast sea of stars, not for the sake of war, but to see a galaxy no longer filled with conflict.
To Qi Heng at the time, it had only been a promise made to an NPC in a game. It had not seemed important enough to remember.
He had made several similar promises.
When Qi Heng had agreed so casually, he believed he would continue investing a great deal of time in the game. He had never considered what would happen if he broke them.
Who could have imagined that his interest would vanish in an instant?
Most absurdly of all, the game had turned out to be real. Along with it, every insignificant promise and agreement he had made had also become real.
What were the consequences of breaking a promise?
Was the plump Zerg before him not the best possible example?
Qi Heng could hardly imagine how it had endured more than ten thousand years of waiting.
Its life had been reduced to a faint breath, yet it had stubbornly exhausted every possible method to survive, all for the sake of a promise that should never have been fulfilled.
In the end, it had truly managed to wait until Qi Heng returned.
Qi Heng had made it wait for so long, yet when it finally saw him, it showed no resentment whatsoever.
There was only overwhelming joy that he had finally arrived.
Qi Heng could not help feeling slightly guilty.
Although he had interacted with the plump Zerg in the game, every interaction had been for the sake of accomplishing some objective.
He had regarded it entirely as a useful tool, a weapon that helped the civilization he created win every external war.
Perhaps the Overlord had not seen it that way.
Qi Heng thought of the memories he had yet to fully obtain and the many peculiar conversations that had appeared throughout the game.
The Overlord’s memories spanned more than ten thousand years. So far, Qi Heng had seen very few memories of the Overlord interacting with the Commander.
If the Overlord was Qi Heng himself, it would be perfectly reasonable for genuine affection to develop over such a long period together.
Qi Heng did not speak, so the plump Zerg maintained its position without moving.
For the creature, waiting for the Overlord’s return had been the entire meaning of its Zerg life.
Opening its eyes and immediately seeing the Overlord who had come to fulfill their promise filled it with so much joy that it wanted to fly.
Had it not been so weak, it would have demonstrated by launching itself straight into the air.
The moment the plump Zerg opened its eyes and saw the Overlord, the first memory that returned to it was of the Overlord personally carrying its unconscious body back from the wilderness.
Without the Overlord, it would have died long ago.
The plump Zerg remained perfectly quiet.
Although it could not press itself against him, being this close was already enough to satisfy it.
It did not know how long it had slept.
It only knew that it had been a very, very long time, so long that the last time it awakened, it had believed it no longer had enough time to keep waiting.
“Get up.”
Qi Heng sighed and released his mental power, establishing a mental link with the plump Zerg.
This allowed them to speak directly. It was far more efficient than trying to guess what every “aow” meant.
The plump Zerg raised its body.
At the same time, its childish voice reached him through the mental link.
‘Overlord.’
“Mm.”
Qi Heng lifted a hand.
Before he could do anything else, the plump Zerg consciously placed its head beneath his palm.
‘Pet me.’
Qi Heng was somewhat speechless.
However, after remembering how pitifully the creature had been “deceived,” he obliged and rubbed its head twice.
“…All right.”
‘I waited for you for such a long time. I thought you weren’t coming.’
The plump Zerg’s voice sounded like that of a young child.
“I’m sorry. I came too late.”
The creature hurriedly shook its head.
‘It isn’t late. It isn’t late at all. As long as you came, it could never be too late.’
‘I’m so happy that you still remembered our promise.’
Qi Heng did not know what to say.
Anything he said now would sound like he was making excuses for himself.
“I told you that when I came to collect you, I would give you a name.”
‘You still remember.’
The childish voice was filled with surprise and delight.
During the Commander’s ten thousand years of life, the things it did most often were:
Sleep.
Wake up and fight.
Cling to the Overlord while acting spoiled and cute.
Then return to sleep once it grew tired.
The amount of time it had spent studying during all of this was negligible.
After returning to its juvenile stage, this made its already immature mentality seem even more childish.
However, that did not mean it had forgotten what it had once learned.
It was not truly a three-year-old child incapable of forming coherent sentences. Its organized answers to Qi Heng’s questions made that clear.
Qi Heng gave a quiet acknowledgment.
“I remember.”
He did not suffer from amnesia.
Unlike the plump Zerg, which had genuinely spent more than ten thousand years in this world, only two months had passed for Qi Heng since he made the promise.
The promise had included more than personally collecting the creature and bringing it home.
He had also promised to give it a name.
Judging from this, the Overlord had never named it either.
Qi Heng did not know why.
Did certain matters need to be acknowledged by both Qi Heng and the Overlord before they could become real?
‘Then… have you decided on my name?’
The plump Zerg asked expectantly.
Its body felt somewhat like cotton beneath Qi Heng’s fingers. He continued rubbing its head while thinking, treating the gesture as an expression of affection.
“Tianyun Star is the planet assigned to you, and the continent where you live is your fief.”
“Your given name will be Lan, and you will take my surname.”
“Are you willing?”
As he spoke, Qi Heng lowered his head and looked at the plump Zerg.
‘I am! Of course I am!’
The creature could not help bouncing excitedly.
The wings on its back spread and fluttered, scattering tiny particles of golden light.
Had it not been reluctant to lose the head pats, it would have flown several circles to express its happiness.
‘So I’m your child now, right?! Can I call you Male Father?’
For a moment, Qi Heng’s expression twisted beyond his control.
How had their conversation developed into this?
How had it suddenly decided to recognize him as its father?
Qi Heng could not help wondering whether he had missed something.
He had merely given it a name. How had that earned him a son?
This had to be a joke.
At most, it could count as a pet.
After seeing how emotionally expressive the plump Zerg was, Qi Heng knew he probably could no longer treat it as a mere tool without guilt.
He had thought keeping it as a pet might be acceptable.
The excited creature failed to notice the change in his expression. After speaking, it pressed itself against him like an enormous, clingy dog.
Before Qi Heng could reject the idea, the plump Zerg’s even more excited emotions and cries flooded through their mental link.
‘I can finally be your child!’
‘You’re finally willing to accept me! Wuwuwu, I’m so happy!’
Qi Heng fell silent.
Why was it suddenly so difficult to refuse?
“You really want to be my… child?”
‘Mm-hm!’
The plump Zerg recited what it remembered with absolute certainty.
‘They said that when someone gives you a name and you share the same surname, it means you should call him Male Father.’
Qi Heng desperately wanted to know where it had heard such a claim, but this was clearly not the right time to ask.
He considered whether denying it now would cause the creature’s extreme joy to turn instantly into sorrow and make it burst into tears.
Forget it.
There did not seem to be much difference between raising a pet and raising a son.
“From now on, your name is Qi Lan. Your nickname will be Xiao Lan.”
Qi Heng put very little effort into the name.
This was the first time in his life that he had named someone. It was unrealistic to expect him to produce something unique and filled with profound blessings.
‘Anything you choose is good.’
The plump Zerg stared enviously at the egg in Qi Heng’s arms.
‘Male Father, can you hold me the way you’re holding him?’
The corner of Qi Heng’s mouth twitched.
Absolutely not.
An egg slightly more than forty centimeters long and a plump Zerg more than eighty centimeters long were in completely different weight classes.
Qi Heng finally understood why the creature had kept glancing at the egg in his arms.
He had wondered what it wanted.
It turned out to be jealous of the egg’s treatment.
“I have some things to ask you.”
Qi Heng withdrew his hand and rubbed the space between his brows, deciding to return to the main subject.
The plump Zerg gave a disappointed “aow,” but quickly regained its energy.
‘What do you want to ask, Male Father?’
Having unexpectedly become a father, Qi Heng was not yet accustomed to hearing the creature call him “Male Father” every other sentence.
It sounded even stranger than “Overlord.”
However, words spoken were like water poured onto the ground. He had already accepted the new form of address.
“There’s something I need to tell you first.”
The plump Zerg tilted its head and looked at him in confusion.
“It has been more than twelve thousand years since you began Second Rebirth,” Qi Heng said calmly.
‘Twelve thousand years?’
The plump Zerg’s eyes widened.
Had he said only a few thousand years, the number might not have meant much to it.
Twelve thousand years was different.
That was even longer than the time it had spent following the Overlord, or rather, following its Male Father.
It remembered every moment of that earlier time.
Those had been the happiest years since its birth.
“What happened after I left? Do you remember?”
The little plump Zerg, Qi Lan, fell into a daze.
Only when it heard its Male Father’s voice did it return to its senses.
‘After you left…’
Qi Lan struggled to recall the past. The golden wings on its body slowly folded shut.
‘I remember the Imperial Chief Consul came to see me. He said you had disappeared and wanted to search for you through me.’
When the plump Zerg mentioned the Imperial Chief Consul, an exquisite face surfaced in Qi Heng’s mind.
As the Zerg that had remained beside the Overlord the longest, the Commander also possessed a mental imprint.
It was one of only two Zerg capable of reversing the connection to the Overlord and locating him.
Chu Xiu, the Imperial Chief Consul, must have been unable to find Qi Heng through any other means.
Only then would he have disregarded the consequences and forcibly awakened the plump Zerg from Second Rebirth to make another attempt.
“What happened afterward?”
‘I couldn’t find you. I couldn’t connect to you through the mental imprint either.’
The plump Zerg choked back a sob as it spoke.
Before Second Rebirth began, the Overlord had already severed the mental connection.
Afterward, Qi Heng quit the game and never logged in again. Naturally, the Commander had been unable to reach him.
‘Oh, right. I remember the Imperial Chief Consul asked me to approve the Total War Authorization. Then… he told me to continue Second Rebirth.’
‘I asked whether I would ever see you again. He said I would see you when I woke up.’
‘He was completely right. I really did see you as soon as I woke up.’
“Did you ever see him again?”
‘No. He never came back.’
The plump Zerg’s tone became subdued.
‘Once Second Rebirth begins, my perception of the outside world is sealed. Unless an Imperial Chief Consul of equal authority forcibly interrupts it, I can’t tell whether he visits.’
“What did you do to survive until I came, after more than ten thousand years?”
‘I woke once when Second Rebirth reached completion, but I didn’t see you, so I chose to continue sleeping.’
The plump Zerg lowered its head like a child who had done something wrong.
‘After that, I don’t know how much time passed. My life energy was no longer enough to sustain my sleep.’
‘I could sense other life energy nearby. It was very weak and scattered, but there was a great deal of it.’
‘I gathered it together to delay my body’s decay and prevent my mental entity from dispersing.’
Before Qi Heng could ask, the plump Zerg confessed its wrongdoing.
‘I’m sorry, Male Father. I disobeyed your command and absorbed other life energy.’
‘You told me that I no longer needed to do such things.’
“You know where that life energy came from, don’t you?” Qi Heng asked.
‘Yes. I know.’
‘That life energy came from the same source as me.’
That was also why the plump Zerg had confessed without hesitation.
The Hatchery had originally been built so that Zerg eggs could come into contact with the Commander’s aura, increasing their chances of hatching.
If the Commander could influence the eggs, the eggs could naturally nourish it in return.
Extracting their life energy was effortless for it.
Qi Heng did not need to think to know where those weak, scattered traces of life energy had originated.
The place where the Hatchery had once stood above them was now the dead-egg pit.
Countless dead Zerg eggs and a smaller number of dying ones had been discarded there.
Before the last traces of their life energy could fully dissipate, the plump Zerg had absorbed them.
For the creature to survive long enough to see Qi Heng again, the right time, the right place, and the right circumstances had all been indispensable.
Following this reasoning, the number of eggs thrown into the pit over the past ten thousand years must have been astronomical.
Those eggs were neither relatives nor acquaintances of Qi Heng.
Nevertheless, the thought that they might originally have survived cast an involuntary shadow over his mood.
“The situation isn’t what you think. You don’t need to blame yourself too much.”
Seeing the plump Zerg’s confused expression, Qi Heng briefly explained the Tianjia Zerg’s present circumstances.
‘What?! How could this have happened?!’
Had anyone other than Qi Heng been speaking, the creature would never have listened quietly. It would have leaped up after the very first sentence.
Its reaction was far more intense than Qi Heng’s had been when he first learned what had happened to the Zerg.
Its entire body jumped three chi into the air.
The Devourer beneath the platform sensed the Commander’s rage and immediately flattened itself against the ground, trembling and too frightened to move.
‘They actually lost! Damn it, damn it! If I had been there, we never would have lost!’
The plump Zerg hurriedly ran in circles before leaping in front of Qi Heng.
‘Male Father, don’t worry. Once I recover, I’ll kill every last one of them.’
The corner of Qi Heng’s mouth twitched.
Looking at the creature’s sincere determination to take revenge, he found himself momentarily speechless.
What was he supposed to say?
That he did not feel that deeply toward Tianjia Civilization and had no intention of doing anything?
“No…”
Qi Heng had barely opened his mouth, not yet finishing his attempt to tell it not to get so excited, when the plump Zerg interrupted with an immediate answer.
‘That isn’t enough, right? I also think it isn’t enough.’
The creature waved its foreclaws and bared its teeth.
‘They dared harm your people and destroy the civilization you built.’
‘Simply killing them would be far too merciful. I’ll eat every one of their home planets and completely annihilate their civilizations, aow!’
The creature spoke with such excitement that Qi Heng’s calm expression cracked.
How could it deliver the vicious declaration of a great villain so naturally?
Wait.
The plump Zerg had always remained beside the Overlord.
It had been taught by the Overlord’s words and example.
In that case, there was nothing strange about it. The Overlord had taught it, so this was perfectly normal.
“What I meant was, don’t get so excited. Calm down.”
Qi Heng raised a hand and pressed it against the plump Zerg’s head.
He was now grateful that the creature was in its juvenile stage.
Had it been an adult, he probably would only have been able to press against its stomach while telling it to calm down.
The plump Zerg was highly obedient to Qi Heng.
Under the force of his head-pat attack, most of its murderous aura dispersed.
However, thoughts continued pouring through the mental link:
‘I’ll make them pay.’
‘I’m Male Father’s sharpest sword. I’ll cut them all down.’
The creature might now be lying obediently before him like a well-behaved child, making it look easy to bully.
In the past, however, it had served as the Grand Marshal of Tianjia Civilization’s vanguard armies in their campaigns across the stars.
The combined number of star systems and civilizations it had trampled and destroyed might not have reached one thousand, but it was certainly no fewer than eight hundred.
It had slaughtered until entire regions of civilizations no longer dared covet Tianjia.
When the plump Zerg spoke of “killing them” and “eating everything,” it meant those words literally.
Qi Heng had once followed the principle of developing his civilization efficiently and never wasting resources.
Civilizations he destroyed were generally eliminated together with their entire home systems.
Adult Devourers among the Primordial Zerg acted like cleaners, consuming an entire star system until nothing remained.
Not even a single particle of interstellar dust would be left behind in a system they had cleared.
“What can you possibly do in your current condition?” Qi Heng asked soothingly.
The Primordial Zerg were powerful, but even the greatest commander could accomplish nothing without an army.
To rebuild the species, the plump Zerg first needed to recover its adult form.
‘Male Father, don’t worry. I’m only weak because I’ve been hungry for too long.’
The plump Zerg’s gaze fell upon the Devourer below the platform.
It said excitedly, ‘As long as I eat a little more, I’ll recover very quickly.’
Qi Heng nearly laughed aloud.
That would not be “a little.”
It would be a hundred million little.
“Stop looking. That’s the only one here. There aren’t any more.”
The Sky Crystals produced by adult Devourers could help the plump Zerg reach maturity sooner.
However, the number of Sky Crystals required would be enormous. Qi Heng currently had nowhere to obtain them.
“I have my own plans.”
The plump Zerg trusted him completely.
It did not suspect that Qi Heng had no intention of seeking revenge. Instead, it assumed that it was the one holding him back.
‘Male Father, I can work hard on my own too.’
Its voice sounded soft and sweet, but the words it spoke were thoroughly brutal.
‘I can produce ordinary lower-order Zerg even before reaching adulthood.’
‘They aren’t very useful, but they can barely serve as your guards.’
“There’s no need. Take your time recovering.”
Qi Heng would not agree to its proposal to “work hard on its own.”
Agreeing would be equivalent to allowing it to devour freely. The resulting disturbance would be far too great.
There was no need to do that yet.
‘You’re so good to me.’
Wuwuwu, Male Father was truly far too good to it.
The plump Zerg silently decided that it needed to recover quickly so that it could help its Male Father.
“As I should be.”
Qi Heng wanted to sigh again, but restrained himself.
It was impossible to learn what had happened to Tianjia Civilization from the plump Zerg.
As it had explained, it had remained asleep and knew nothing of the outside world. By the time it was capable of awakening, far too many years had already passed.
“One final question. What is the story behind this Zerg egg?”
A child slept inside the pure-white egg.
It possessed none of the wings or claws characteristic of female Zerg, and there were no markings on its shell.
This indicated that it was a male-Zerg egg.
‘I don’t know. It was lying on top of me when I woke up.’
The plump Zerg looked bewildered.
“Why did you protect it?”
Without the plump Zerg, this egg would have died long ago, just like every other egg here.
‘It was with me. I couldn’t abandon it.’
The creature struggled to explain.
It had protected the egg alongside itself purely by instinct.
Qi Heng remembered the egg sealed inside the ice-crystal lotus and roughly understood what had happened.
Then the creature continued:
‘You like Zerg children. I wanted you to be happy.’
‘I… couldn’t save the others. At least I still had this one.’
The plump Zerg looked at the empty racks, its eyes filled with sorrow.
“You’ve already done very well.”
Qi Heng liked Zerg eggs?
He assumed that must have been the impression he had left on the creature in the past.
Embarrassed by the praise, the plump Zerg added:
‘It was also because the egg feels very familiar. I like it.’
‘I wanted it to stay with me.’
The creature extended a claw and gently touched the egg. It leaned closer and gave the shell a kiss.
‘He carries your scent.’
“My scent?”
Qi Heng was surprised.
Why had he not sensed it?
‘Mm.’
The creature had apparently reached the limits of its knowledge. After thinking for a long time, it finally produced a fragmented explanation.
‘Blood. The same. The scent smells good.’
Blood?
Qi Heng remembered the blood he had released earlier.
It had seeped into the ice crystals, transformed into mist, and been absorbed by both the plump Zerg and the egg.
Was that what had caused it?
“When the child inside the egg hatches, he can remain here and keep you company,” Qi Heng said.
The plump Zerg looked confused.
‘He stays with me? What about you, Male Father?’
“I can’t remain here all the time,” Qi Heng said reassuringly. “But I’ll come to see you often.”
‘Why? I want to stay with Male Father.’
The plump Zerg returned to its old behavior and wrapped itself around his thigh again.
It had finally found him. It refused to separate from him so quickly.
The juvenile plump Zerg looked completely different from the Tianjia Zerg. Qi Heng certainly could not bring it into District 49.
The Zerg egg was also impossible to take.
If Qi Heng, a “female Zerg who had never produced an egg,” suddenly returned while carrying an egg, especially a male-Zerg egg, it would attract unnecessary attention given how rare male Zerg were in District 49.
In that case, it would be better for the egg and the plump Zerg to remain together as companions.
“It’s currently inconvenient for me to take either of you with me.”
Qi Heng paused, then imitated the way Yan Ning usually coaxed Lele.
“Xiao Lan is so obedient. You’ll agree to Male Father’s request, won’t you?”
‘…Yes.’
No!
It did not want to be separated from Male Father at all. QAQ
But it needed to be an obedient child that Male Father would like.
Disobedient children could never earn the Overlord’s, no, Male Father’s affection.
After receiving its answer, Qi Heng descended from the platform.
“Would you like to explore the place where you’ve been sleeping for so long together with Male Father?”
A strike with the stick followed by a sweet date.
Qi Heng was highly skilled at this tactic.
In truth, he also disliked seeing the creature hanging its head in dejection. It always made him feel as though he were bullying a child.
‘Yes!’
“Follow me.”
With that, Qi Heng began exploring the lowest level.
Although this floor of the Hatchery was not the largest, it still occupied a considerable area.
Qi Heng walked in front while holding the egg. The plump Zerg followed closely behind him, matching every step.
As for the Devourer, it remained prostrate where it was after the plump Zerg secretly ordered it not to follow.
There were no unnecessary objects here.
Every usable portion of the chamber had been filled with tall metal racks. Each level of the racks contained rows of round depressions.
In the past, a Zerg egg would have rested in every hollow.
Eggs that had difficulty hatching stood a greater chance of survival beneath the Commander’s aura.
Now, however, only a small number of those spaces still contained eggs.
Dead eggs.
Their exteriors had petrified and become extremely brittle. Even the gentlest handling caused them to crack apart instantly.
Qi Heng tried lifting one and did not attempt it again.
Most of the facilities on this level had been destroyed. Even with backup energy, they could no longer be activated.
Furthermore, the overhead lights continued failing as Qi Heng explored.
Only forty to fifty percent of the chamber remained illuminated.
The first time a light went out, Qi Heng acquired another ornament hanging from his thigh.
Fortunately, his physical strength was decent. Otherwise, he truly would have struggled to explore the entire area while dragging along the frightened plump Zerg.
This building was more than ten thousand years old.
Its equipment had deteriorated after endless years without maintenance. Sudden failures were perfectly normal.
Qi Heng returned to the backup-energy storage area and removed one energy crystal.
“Fat—cough, Xiao Lan, get down first.”
Qi Heng had nearly called it the wrong thing out of habit.
“You know what this is, don’t you?”
The plump Zerg nodded and gave an “aow,” its gaze following the energy crystal wherever it moved.
Energy crystals could replenish its energy.
Among crystalline ores, they counted as one of the better-tasting varieties.
“Take it.”
Qi Heng handed the crystal over.
‘Can I eat it?’
The plump Zerg hugged the crystal and looked at him eagerly.
“Go ahead.”
That was why he had taken it out in the first place.
A crisp cracking sound rang out.
The plump Zerg placed the incomparably hard energy crystal into its mouth and bit off one of the corners.
More cracking sounds followed in rapid succession.
It took bite after bite. The crisp noises produced as it chewed through the crystal made the strength of its teeth abundantly clear.
Qi Heng watched its cheeks constantly bulge as it wolfed down the crystal.
“Eat more slowly.”
The plump Zerg made muffled sounds around its food and reduced its chewing speed. It stopped stuffing its cheeks until they were completely full.
Unlike an adult Commander, which could swallow an energy crystal whole and digest it directly, the juvenile creature needed to bite and chew it apart for better absorption.
Qi Heng turned toward the control panel at the backup-energy switching station.
He spoke silently within his mind.
[A0, can you connect to the control program here?]
【There will be no problem.】
The nine intelligences within the system had once governed the entire network of Tianjia Civilization.
For A0, infiltrating this program was no different from returning to its own home. It established a connection almost instantly.
【Connection complete.】
【Destruction level of the Hatchery’s main control system: 95%.】
【The backup management program on the Hatchery’s lowest level has been rendered 97% inoperative. The remaining functions can provide illumination only.】
The plump Zerg beside Qi Heng’s feet was extraordinarily content.
It had food to eat and could lean against the former Overlord, now its Male Father.
This kind of life was simply too wonderful.
It was like returning to the old days.
No, that was wrong.
Even in its dreams, it had never imagined anything this wonderful.
[Aside from the aboveground structure being flattened and the upper subterranean floors being bombarded, some sections of the Hatchery should still remain intact.]
[Could those floors also contain backup energy?]
【That is highly probable.】
【What do you intend to do?】
[Is there any possibility of repairing the main control program?]
【With your current capabilities, the probability of successful repair is below one percent.】
[Is that so?]
[In that case, forget it.]
Qi Heng had originally wanted to determine whether the main control system could be repaired.
It did not need to be fully restored. He only needed it functional enough to confirm whether the floors above contained energy crystals he could use.
Since that method was impossible, he could only use another.
He glanced at the plump Zerg, his brows drawing together with concern.
A0 had scanned its present condition earlier.
To be honest, it was not good.
Its energy deficiency was so severe that even eating all twelve energy crystals would not be enough.
Having raised the Commander before, Qi Heng knew perfectly well how much this plump creature could eat despite not even reaching half a person’s height.
Raising it to adulthood would not be easy.
However, he had already decided to raise it.
He could hardly allow it to starve.
That meant he would inevitably need to find high-energy substances for it to consume.
Only after replenishing its energy and restoring its weakened body would it be able to assist him.
‘I finished eating.’
The plump Zerg tugged on the hem of his clothes.
“Do you feel any better?”
“Aow.”
Its voice sounded more energetic than before. It should have improved somewhat.
Qi Heng relaxed slightly.
He removed another energy crystal and warned it, “You may only eat the remaining crystals after I return and give them to you. Understand?”
“Eat this one first. I need you to produce a Blue-Tailed Butterfly. Can you do that?”
“Aow.”
No problem.
The plump Zerg began its second round of eating.
After noisily finishing the second crystal, it closed its eyes and lay down on its side.
Qi Heng saw a faint light emerge from its abdomen. It brightened briefly before rapidly dimming again.
After approximately five minutes, the creature opened its eyes and stood upright.
It extended a claw into something resembling a newly formed brood pouch on its abdomen and rummaged inside.
The plump Zerg withdrew a cocoon that radiated pale-blue light.
Holding it carefully between both claws, it presented the cocoon to Qi Heng.
The next second, the cocoon split open.
First came a pair of trembling antennae.
Then the body emerged.
Finally, a pair of water-blue butterfly wings unfolded.
This was the Blue-Tailed Butterfly Qi Heng had requested. Its body was approximately eight centimeters long.
After remaining completely motionless for around ten seconds, the Blue-Tailed Butterfly fluttered its now-dry wings and rose lightly into the air.
It danced around Qi Heng.
When he raised a hand, the butterfly gently landed on his fingertip.
“Don’t make trouble.”
Qi Heng was speaking both to the Blue-Tailed Butterfly and to the plump Zerg.
The Blue-Tailed Butterfly served to transmit information.
It was a small communication Zerg created in the early days, when the Primordial Zerg’s mental network had not yet achieved sufficiently broad coverage.
Later, it had been chosen to serve as the external representation of the Primordial Zerg Commander.
“The mining workers are too far away from you. In your present condition, you can’t contact them through the mental network.”
“I’ll take the butterfly with me.”
The Blue-Tailed Butterfly was essentially an extension of the plump Zerg’s consciousness. It could not have been more suitable as an intermediary.
“Aow.”
The plump Zerg asked through their mental link:
‘Can it stay with Male Father afterward?’
Qi Heng considered it briefly.
“Yes.”
The Blue-Tailed Butterfly flew into the air. Its path became noticeably more cheerful, perfectly reflecting the plump Zerg’s present mood.
Qi Heng led the creature back beneath the platform, with the Blue-Tailed Butterfly resting lightly on his shoulder.
After receiving permission, the Devourer moved closer to them.
It then received a new order from Qi Heng:
Excavate the areas previously marked by the Overlord.
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