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| The Beloved Little Mother Insect (LITTLE MOTHER) |
That evening, they rested beneath a giant weathered rock.
During this time, Olovikin and Hui attempted to contact the empire's upper echelons using the only intact Observation Sphere. However, due to the intensifying Radiation Storm, they received no response and could only continue their protective duties.
Of course, with the presence of the Mother Insect, the empire would surely dispatch high-level Starships capable of entering the planet's radiation zone—it was only a matter of time. All they needed to do was ensure the Little Mother Insect's safety while waiting.
Though the desert at night was quiet, it was not necessarily safe.
Pearl was still curled up within Ega's exoskeleton, with his soft white hair spilling over the black monster's chest spines like a tiny, winding river.
Late into the night, Pearl found himself unable to sleep. Hugging his legs, he rested his chin on his knees as his vacant, lifeless eyes gazed toward the distant edge of the desert.
The experiences of the past few days felt quite novel to an Artificial Human whose entire life had been confined to within a hundred meters of the auction house.
His scheduled destruction had failed, and then he found himself in an unknown desert, where he encountered Big Dog and later three oversized monsters.
The monsters were searching for their mother and had even mistaken him for her.
But he... he had deceived them.
At this thought, Pearl's mood sank.
He anxiously twisted his fingers, wanting to blurt out, "I'm not the person you're looking for," yet he clung greedily to the warmth the monsters offered, turning himself into a despicable thief.
As he bit his lip in contemplation, a familiar, cool sensation suddenly brushed against his calf.
Pearl shivered from the chill, and the tail hook, seeking warmth, crept up and coiled lightly around the Little Mother Insect's lower leg.
It was Ega.
Ega possessed a matte black, slender, and flexible tail hook covered in fine scales, resembling a scorpion's tail but much longer. It extended from the monster's lower back that was thick at the base—wider than Pearl himself—and tapered to a fine point...
Like the tip of a small snake's tail, it coiled perfectly around Pearl's calf and instinctively pressed closer to the warmth.
Pearl reached out, pinched the slender tip of the tail hook, and traced the neatly arranged scales.
He couldn't help but imagine: What did this giant, who could lift him so effortlessly, really look like? With cool, smooth scales, a pointed little tail, serpentine yet with agile limbs...
Pearl furrowed his brow. His speculation about the monster's appearance momentarily pulled him out of his self-loathing. Spurred by curiosity, he extended his fingers again to touch the tail hook.
In response to his affection, the tail hook rubbed against him once more and, emboldened by wild instinct, dared to creep a little higher.
The scent emanating from the Mother Insect was the greatest temptation for these parched Offspring.
The fragile Mother could soothe the restlessness of the Offspring after their frenzy, yet also provoke their most depraved desires in that frenzied state.
The Radiation Storm was intense, affecting not only the Beasts but also the advanced Narga People in their frenzied state.
The Tail Hook coiled around warm flesh, with its tip curling inward.
It longed to reach a warmer place.
But this attempt was unsuccessful.
In the night, slender pincer limbs shimmering with dark gold pressed down on Ega's Tail Hook. Olovikin, draped in elytra resembling coronation robes, blocked the other's movement.
While pressing Ega's Tail Hook down, he gently hooked the loose hem of Pearl's garment that had slipped to his upper thigh and pulling it all the way down to cover his knees completely.
Amid Pearl's bewildered reaction, Olovikin naturally scooped the Little Mother Insect into his embrace. His massive elytra shielded Ega behind him while emitting a buzzing at a different frequency to warn the muddle-headed creature.
[Ega, don't act like a beast in heat.]
[He still understands nothing.]
Pearl didn't comprehend this slightly deep murmur at all.
The Narga People produced dozens of different buzzing sounds through their mouthparts, each frequency carrying distinct meanings. Combined with their militaristic society, these varying frequencies also served as a means of communication in battle.
Ega's Tail Hook tensed and emitting a threatening hiss. Instinct driven by bestial nature urged him to charge forward and reclaim his little pearl, but the calm Hui blocked him with pincer limbs, determined to prevent his approach to Pearl.
—The beast only wished to burrow into a warm nest.
Blocked by his own kind, Ega grew increasingly agitated.
A hoarse, urgent hiss escaped his throat as his Tail Hook twitching restlessly and repeatedly striking the sandy ground and stirring up clouds of dusty yellow sand.
Yet, having once received the Mother Insect's soothing influence, mad as he was, he hadn't completely lost control. He could barely restrain this restlessness, though his wavering mind still clearly emphasized his craving for the Mother.
[Want, want Pearl.]
[Pearl, my pearl.]
Hearing the chaotic murmurs calling to him, Pearl turned his head, his misty eyes filled with concern.
He knew Olovikin held him in his arms as his bare calves pressed against a section of cold pincer legs, which made him uneasy. He instinctively shrank to the side, as if trying to reduce the space where he made contact with the other.
He had a physiological fear of Olovikin. No matter how gently the other acted, like brilliant sunlight, Pearl's animal instincts were sharp enough to sense the shadows hidden beneath the elegant noble's mask.
"Ega, wh-what's wrong?"
Pearl was worried about the big guy's condition.
[My dear little pearl, he's going mad.]
[He'll be fine in a while.]
Pearl's pupils contracted slightly. He tried to turn his head to look at Ega, but his empty, dark vision couldn't accomplish the motion. Instead, a platinum pincer leg gently pressed against his chin, turning his face back.
[My lord, what are you worried about?]
Pearl's voice softened, his fingers lightly pinching the tip of the pincer limb against his chin. "I—I can help him. Soothe him, psionic power link, wh-whatever it takes."
His tone trembled slightly, like dewdrops clinging to a leaf—pitiful, damp, doing his utmost to demonstrate his "usefulness."
Hearing this, Olovikin lowered his head and slowly looked at the Little Mother Insect cradled in his arms.
So small.
Not even as big as their pincer legs—how could something so tiny have the audacity to say something as rule-breaking as "I can do anything"?
Pearl could sense that scrutinizing gaze falling upon him. Suppressing the creeping fear on his scalp, he suddenly realized in a daze that perhaps this was part of the reason he instinctively feared Olovikin?
He swallowed, his exquisitely crafted Artificial Human features slightly furrowed as he mustered courage: "I r-really can."
"You protect me, I... I know that. There are many strange things here. Without you, I... I'd be eaten. I want to help too. I can s-soothe Ega, I can form psionic links..."
"B-but I'm not very good at it yet. I need you to teach me... I'll study hard."
Pearl rarely spoke such long sentences. He used to fear the auction house owner's impatient interruptions and the mockery of bad boys in black market alleys—but now he gathered his courage and stammered out his thoughts.
What supported his bravery was Olovikin's gaze resting on his face, and the indulgence that never once interrupted him.
The prolonged silence made Pearl's tentatively extended little feelers retract again.
Just as he wondered if he'd said something wrong and upset the big fellows, Hui, who had remained silent, reached out with his forelimb and gently touched the top of his head.
Followed by a soft sigh.
[You're too generous.]
It would spoil greedy, insatiable monsters.
Just as they were about to say more, the desert beneath their feet suddenly began to tremble with obvious vibrations—wave after wave while carrying a strange frequency.
Olovikin protected the Little Mother Insect in his arms while Hui and Ega scanned their surroundings, alert to environmental changes.
The tremors originated beneath their feet, yet it was difficult to pinpoint their exact direction in that moment.
Almost within half a second, Olovikin—who had been standing in place—suddenly spread elytra with over eighteen-meter wingspans and ascended into the sky. The spot where he'd been standing collapsed into a fifty-meter-wide sand pit, revealing a massive mouth filled with fangs.
This was a Giant Sandworm with a biological level exceeding SS, measuring five hundred meters from head to tail. So enormous it resembled a city wall and so colossal that even the original form of high-level Narga People appeared diminutive in comparison.
Too big...
Clearly it had lived on this planet for a long time and was just lurking beneath the yellow sand for so long that the Narga Empire never knew such a lethal weapon existed within their trial grounds.
The Giant Sandworm had clear targets. After failing to kill Olovikin, it quickly turned and burrowed into the sand, continuing to advance toward his position.
Within the platinum-colored figure's embrace hid a trace of sweet fragrance that attracted it.
Pearl still sat in Olovikin's arms with his heart tense and his breathing barely audible.
Protecting the Mother Insect was of utmost importance.
Almost as soon as the sandworm changed direction, Ega and Hui rushed forward from the sides, positioning themselves beneath Olovikin while their mouthparts vibrated with buzzing sounds.
The synchronized vibrations conveyed the same message: protect Pearl. But before Olovikin could shield the Little Mother Insect and retreat from the battlefield, movements erupted from all other directions—
It was a thunderous roar.
The earth-shaking rumble of thousands upon thousands of creatures stampeding across the ground.
Ega and Hui, who had been cooperating to counterattack the Giant Sandworm, turned simultaneously to see a dark mass of Beasts surging beneath the billowing yellow sand.
And not just on land—even the sky echoed with the flapping of wings as tens of thousands of avian Beasts approached from the distance, resembling a disciplined army.
In that moment, the two high-ranking Narga People suddenly realized—
The Giant Sandworm had become a king commanding other Beasts. It had even used its psionic power to mask the movements of the Beast Tide, preventing any of them from detecting the anomaly.
With such terrifying psionic power, this Giant Sandworm’s biological level must undoubtedly be SSS-class!
The law of the jungle: the strong rule.
This was a premeditated, organized Beast Tide, and their target was precisely the Mother Insect—a small, intensely sweet-smelling morsel—currently shielded in Olovikin’s embrace.
The SSS-class Giant Sandworm reared up over the desert, its hundred-meter height rising like a mountain, casting a shadow that completely enveloped Olovikin.
In the next instant, it opened its fifty-meter-wide maw like an abyss and plunged downward—
It sensed instinctively that if it could devour that sweet-smelling little creature, it might completely break free from the shackles of radiation mutation…
It was determined to eat him.
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