As Qi Heng walked, he suddenly stopped.
He looked in a particular direction and frowned.
Ever since earlier, he had felt as though someone were watching him.
At first, he assumed it was merely his imagination. The trading area was crowded with Zerg, so mistakenly sensing someone’s gaze was not unusual.
However, after he left the trading area and the sensation still refused to disappear, something was clearly wrong.
Yan Ning asked in confusion, “Brother Qi, what are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
Qi Heng withdrew his gaze.
The Zerg secretly watching him was clearly targeting him. There was no need to tell Yan Ning.
On the way home, Qi Heng repeatedly felt a gaze falling upon him.
It was easy to determine that the other party was following from behind and remaining fairly close.
[A0, see who’s following me.]
【No problem, Overlord.】
Qi Heng did not need to identify the target or provide a detailed explanation.
The system’s powerful analytical capabilities and its full, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree scanning function had already located the follower he meant.
A high-definition image appeared on the system interface.
【Overlord, this is the one following you. He is a female Zerg.】
A0 said cheerfully:
【Overlord, your charm is truly remarkable. You merely left the house and already brought home an admirer.】
Qi Heng ignored A0’s unnecessary commentary.
The female Zerg was only following him and had taken no other action, leaving Qi Heng unable to determine his intentions.
[Mark him.]
【Yes.】
【The system has determined that this female Zerg bears no hostility toward you. Assigning a yellow marker.】
Anyone observed by the system would be recorded.
Depending on the likelihood and nature of their future interactions with the Overlord, the system assigned them markers of different colors.
Three colors had appeared thus far.
Yellow represented neutrality.
Blue represented allies.
Red represented hostility.
Under normal circumstances, the system recorded an individual automatically, after which A0 evaluated the person’s threat and friendliness levels before assigning him to a category.
In a smaller number of cases, as with this follower, Qi Heng actively ordered the system to record someone.
Most of those manually added markers were yellow or blue.
Until Qi Heng and A0’s objectives aligned earlier, the system’s Hostile List had remained completely empty.
That was no longer the case.
The moment Qi Heng chose to step actively into this world and formally placed himself on the side of Tianjia Civilization, a large number of previously harmless yellow markers instantly transformed into a vivid, blood-red color.
First, the number on the Hostile List jumped from zero to sixteen.
Then, judging from the intensity of the colors corresponding to their threat levels, it was obvious just how strongly the system, or rather A0, wished to eliminate every one of those red markers.
Had this still been a game, it would have been equivalent to the system declaring a personal vendetta against the One-Horns.
Not one of the One-Horns whose markers had turned red and whose names had entered the assassination list would be allowed to escape.
The system’s principles were simple.
First: No danger capable of harming the Overlord was permitted to exist. Any such danger had to be eliminated immediately.
Second: Any crisis capable of threatening the survival of the civilization had to be extinguished before it could develop and eventually endanger the Overlord’s life.
Who had those red markers originally belonged to?
Every One-Horn Qi Heng had encountered in District 49 thus far.
The One-Horns were the administrators and representatives stationed on Tianyun Star by the civilization that imprisoned the Tianjia Zerg there.
To Qi Heng, that made every one of them an enemy.
【Overlord, the follower has left.】
A0’s voice sounded as Qi Heng entered Yan Ning’s home.
[Mm.]
“You take care of Lele. I need to go out,” Qi Heng said, setting Yan Le down.
His original plan had been to deliver the prey and then return to check on the plump Zerg.
The energy crystals he had left for it were probably already gone. He had not visited for several days and did not know how it was doing.
At the dead-egg pit, Qi Heng walked through the passage excavated by the Devourer.
When he passed an additional opening, he stopped.
Only several days had passed since his previous visit, yet the area beneath the dead-egg pit had changed considerably.
This entrance had not existed last time, and traces of artificial construction could be seen inside.
【Overlord, this should be the entrance to the third underground level.】
The Hatchery had been constructed with four underground floors.
The lowest level, where the plump Zerg lived, was the fourth underground level.
“What is the condition inside?”
Qi Heng did not enter.
【Scanning. Twenty energy points will be deducted…】
【Overlord, this level retains seventy-five percent structural integrity. Twenty-five percent of the area has collapsed, and all fundamental facilities have been destroyed. The remaining structure is generally similar to the fourth level.】
“It’s too dark.”
Qi Heng frowned.
His night vision was good, but that did not mean he wanted to live in darkness.
Unlike the fourth level, which had still possessed functional illumination during his previous visit, the third level was so dark that one could not see a hand before one’s face.
Even with Qi Heng’s vision, he could not see far.
As he continued toward the fourth level, he considered possible solutions.
The lighting problem would need to be resolved later.
When he reached the fourth level and found it equally dark, without even the slightest light, Qi Heng decided that the matter could not wait.
A pair of glowing eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness.
The next moment, Qi Heng felt a familiar force crash into him.
“Aow.”
The plump Zerg’s voice entered his mind through their mental link.
‘I missed Male Father so much, wuwuwu.’
Qi Heng reached out and rubbed its head.
“The lights broke.”
‘Mm. They suddenly stopped glowing.’
‘It’s so dark. It’s frightening, wuwuwu.’
Qi Heng fell silent.
Such a large Zerg, yet it still refused to speak properly.
Did it truly believe it was still a tiny child?
‘Male Father didn’t come for such a long, long time. I thought you didn’t want us anymore.’
The plump Zerg rubbed its head against Qi Heng’s waist.
Its voice sounded so aggrieved that it seemed ready to cry, and its emotions contained unconcealed panic and fear.
Qi Heng sighed.
He understood that the creature had been psychologically scarred by the Overlord’s previous “disappearance.”
“I won’t abandon either of you.”
Qi Heng paused, then asked in confusion, “Why are you alone? Where is the egg I told you to watch?”
The plump Zerg raised its head and blinked.
Then it suddenly cried out so loudly that Qi Heng nearly suffered cardiac arrest.
Before he could speak, the creature pulled him forward.
‘I can feel Little Brother’s aura becoming weaker and weaker, but I can’t do anything…’
They traveled through the darkness until the plump Zerg brought him to the platform where Qi Heng had first discovered them.
The egg rested quietly on top.
White objects had been arranged around it to prevent it from rolling off.
“Don’t panic. Let Male Father examine him.”
Qi Heng soothed the plump Zerg while bending down to inspect the egg.
For an egg from ten thousand years ago to survive tenaciously into this distant future, two conditions had been necessary.
First, the inherited genes and bloodline it possessed had to be exceptionally powerful.
Second, the plump Zerg had shared its own life energy with the egg without reservation.
Had Qi Heng not known that female Zerg needed frequent, intimate contact with a male Zerg throughout pregnancy for their eggs to develop properly, he might have suspected that the egg was somehow related to him.
But that was impossible.
After all, in a moment of complete insanity, he had only ever slept with an NPC once.
A pair of cobalt-blue eyes and the cold, beautiful face associated with them surfaced in Qi Heng’s mind.
Hiss…
Stop.
He could not think about it any further.
The more he thought, the worse his head hurt.
It was already outrageous enough that the Overlord had slept with someone and then disappeared.
If he had also left behind an egg, then the Overlord would truly have been inhuman.
There could not possibly be an egg.
Even if conception had occurred, it most likely could never have developed successfully.
That would have completely contradicted the Tianjia Zerg’s reproductive requirements, making miscarriage almost inevitable.
Qi Heng repeatedly reassured himself of this while cutting open his palm and placing it against the egg.
He allowed the egg to absorb the blood flowing from the wound.
Several Tianjia Zerg branches possessed exceptionally pure and powerful bloodlines known as Royal Blood.
It would also make sense if this egg had been left by one of them.
Qi Heng estimated how much blood he had lost.
After a while, he lifted his hand.
[A0, heal the wound.]
The Overlord’s blood possessed remarkable effects upon the Zerg.
After consuming it, the egg’s condition visibly improved.
However, fully stimulating it into awakening would probably require considerably more.
‘Male Father, does it hurt? Wuwuwu. Why don’t you use my blood instead?’
【Overlord, this egg’s condition is far too weak,】 A0 said, unable to remain silent.
“I’m fine.”
Qi Heng divided his attention, answering the plump Zerg while listening to A0.
Even if the creature’s blood had been useful, Qi Heng would never have allowed it.
He had not forgotten that the plump Zerg was both a genuine juvenile and afflicted by a state of severe weakness.
【You are currently different from your former self. Although your blood during this early stage of fusion can aid the egg, each bloodletting must provide no less than three hundred cubic centimeters if you wish to stimulate sufficient activity…】
[How many times?]
He had already taken responsibility for the egg.
Qi Heng could not now stand by and watch it die.
Furthermore, whether because one of its parents might have been a loyal subordinate of the Overlord or because an adult Royal-Blood Zerg would possess extraordinary power, Qi Heng could not remain indifferent to its death.
【Five times.】
A0 did not want to answer, but its programming prevented it from refusing any direct question from the Overlord.
【You must perform at least five more bloodlettings, with no interval longer than five days.】
That meant losing blood once every five days for five consecutive sessions, requiring roughly a month.
Then he would do it.
He should be able to endure the short-term blood loss.
Qi Heng wiped away the blood remaining on his newly healed palm.
“Xiao Lan, can you contact the Blue-Tailed Butterfly?”
‘Um… I’ll try.’
Part of the plump Zerg’s own consciousness remained attached to the Blue-Tailed Butterfly.
In its current condition, that was the only distant Zerg it could contact.
‘Male Father, I reached it. Do you have an order for it?’
“Ask how far the excavation has progressed.”
‘They’ve completed half.’
Halfway.
That was approximately consistent with Qi Heng’s estimate.
He considered what he needed to accomplish and decided it would be better to complete the tunnel as quickly as possible.
“Have the Blue-Tailed Butterfly notify Hui Ge that this is my command.”
“Order all one thousand mining workers to devote themselves entirely to opening the tunnel.”
“They may suspend Obsidian Crystal excavation temporarily.”
“Aow~”
The plump Zerg relayed every word of Qi Heng’s order to the Blue-Tailed Butterfly.
Elsewhere, the Blue-Tailed Butterfly supervising Hui Ge and the others abruptly stopped flying.
It connected with Hui Ge’s mental entity and transmitted the Overlord’s latest command.
【With all one thousand mining workers excavating at full strength, the tunnel will be completed no later than the day after tomorrow.】
【Overlord, this differs from your original plan.】
Qi Heng descended from the platform.
He retrieved all the remaining energy crystals and placed them before the plump Zerg, which followed him closely.
“I remember a Primordial-Zerg species called the Glow Zerg.”
“They can produce white luminescence in darkness. The luciferin synthesized inside their bodies also causes the plants living symbiotically with them to emit a faint glow.”
“After consuming these energy crystals, use seventy percent of their energy to gestate Glow Zerg larvae.”
“With them here, this place will no longer be so dark.”
The Glow Zerg was a lower-order Zerg.
In the past, its primary function had been underground illumination.
It provided natural, environmentally sustainable biological lighting, with no need to worry about maintenance if the system failed.
As for Glow Zerg that died, their bodies were either consumed by “cleaner” units or buried beneath their symbiotic plants, allowing those plants to grow better and shine more brightly.
The plump Zerg became extraordinarily excited upon hearing Qi Heng’s instructions.
With an enthusiastic “aow,” it threw itself onto the energy crystals.
It chewed with loud cracking sounds while speaking indistinctly.
‘Male Father, mm… don’t worry. Next time you come, crunch crunch, it’ll be very bright, crunch…’
Qi Heng disliked darkness.
The plump Zerg disliked it as well.
Underground Zerg did not truly need a bright environment.
However, the Commander had always been raised by the Overlord and had grown accustomed to what he preferred.
As a result, the underground chambers where its true body had once lived had been exceptionally well illuminated.
The plump Zerg ate quickly.
Within several minutes, it had finished every energy crystal.
‘Male Father, wait for me for a little while. I might need to sleep.’
The creature burped, then lay down directly beside his feet without moving elsewhere.
Gestating Zerg consumed a tremendous amount of energy.
Sleeping reduced unnecessary energy expenditure during the process.
【Overlord, why did you choose to have the Commander gestate Glow Zerg?】
【This useless lower-order species possesses only auxiliary functions and cannot be considered combat power at all.】
【I believe you should select lower-order Zerg capable of forming combat strength in the short term, create a Zerg tide, and directly consume Tianyun Star. For example, according to Plan No. 72…】
A0 spoke without pause and repeatedly attempted to recommend its various plans for “occupying Tianyun Star.”
“I know what you want to say.”
Qi Heng sat on the ground.
After rubbing the plump Zerg’s head, he interrupted A0.
“Why am I not doing what you suggest?”
“There are three reasons.”
“First, the Commander in its current condition is unsuitable for gestating large Primordial Zerg.”
“It cannot yet produce the combat-capable species you mentioned. Don’t forget that it remains in its juvenile stage.”
【The Commander only requires sufficient energy to enter adulthood. You could…】
“Mm. You’re correct.”
Qi Heng continued, “But my second reason is that I’m currently very poor. I have no surplus energy.”
A0 had not expected the second reason to be so simple and unadorned.
More importantly, it had no way to refute it.
“The system requires energy to operate and activate its functions.”
“We’ve gathered some recently, but if I removed all restrictions and started using it freely, the amount we possess would be practically equivalent to nothing.”
“My primary energy source is currently Obsidian Crystal.”
“It is also foreseeable that this will remain my only meaningful energy source for a very long time.”
“After the tunnel is completed, the excavated Obsidian Crystal must not only support the system, but also provide a portion for the little plump child.”
“Calculated that way, no matter how rich this mineral vein is, it still won’t be enough to feed both of you.”
The energy Obsidian Crystal provided to the system appeared substantial, but in reality, it was not especially large.
Dozens of metric tons of Obsidian Crystal converted into only several thousand system energy points.
As for the plump Zerg and the Primordial Zerg it produced, building a swarm with meaningful combat strength would require an ocean of resources.
Qi Heng currently had the word poor written across his entire body.
He wished he could split every energy point in half before spending it.
For the time being, he had no spare resources with which to raise an army.
【Your reasoning is sound, but I still do not understand why you chose Glow Zerg.】
“Because of the fungal mat.”
“I remember that the Glow Zerg’s list of symbiotic plants includes a luminous fungal mat that can provide food for the Primordial Zerg.”
“It can serve as both illumination and food…”
Qi Heng glanced at the plump Zerg.
The little creature was afraid of the dark.
Qi Heng could not remain here constantly, so naturally it would be better to make its surroundings more comfortable.
Furthermore, Qi Heng understood that the Primordial Zerg population would never remain at its present size forever.
Growth and the appearance of new species were only matters of time.
He had no intention of feeding every newly born larva ore indefinitely.
Nor would he force the plump Zerg to expend additional energy accelerating every larva into adulthood.
For the juvenile Commander, doing so would consume too much power and reduce the energy it retained for itself.
【You are referring to the Dreamglow Fungal Mat,】 A0 immediately said.
“Mm. Its seeds can be exchanged using energy points, correct?”
【Twenty energy points per seed.】
Plants that had formed symbiotic relationships with the Primordial Zerg could no longer be considered ordinary vegetation.
To a certain extent, they were subordinate organisms belonging to the Primordial Zerg.
“Expensive.”
Although Qi Heng said this aloud, his expression displayed no pain over the cost.
“Exchange for twenty.”
Good steel needed to be used on the blade’s edge.
The same was true of energy points.
Qi Heng believed that the energy he spent now would inevitably bring him returns ten or one hundred times greater in the future.
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