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| The Beloved Little Mother Insect (LITTLE MOTHER) |
Yellow sand surged, darkening the skies.
The SSS-ranked Giant Sandworm possessed devastating destructive power. Coupled with the thousands of radiation-maddened Mutated Beasts behind it, even high-ranking Narga in their primal forms were struggling to withstand the assault.
To some extent, high-ranking Narga and the Mother Insect were intrinsically connected—
The Mother Insect, with their soothing abilities, would open their psionic power to embrace their Offspring to purify them and alleviate the effects of Frenzy Syndrome. The closer the psionic link, the more effective the Mother Insect's soothing and purification would be, significantly enhancing the combat prowess of the Narga People.
As the soother, the Mother Insect also benefited. Their psionic power would strengthen through repeated purifications and deepening the bond between Offspring and them while embarking on a unique evolutionary path exclusive to the Mother Insect, ultimately becoming the undisputed King of the Narga.
However, throughout the history of the Narga Empire, successive Mothers Insect had never progressed far on this path to becoming "King."
Now, in the 416th year since the Narga lost their Mother Insect, the shadow of Frenzy Syndrome continues to erode the minds of high-ranking Narga. Although Hui and Ega had briefly received unconscious soothing and linking from the Little Mother Insect, it was far from sufficient.
—Their New King was still immature, so his mastery of psionic power was like the most delicate stamen within a flower bud, soft and harmless.
And the four-century void could not be filled by mere minutes of soothing and contact.
Thus, when these Narga warriors faced the long-lurking SSS-ranked Sandworm on the barren planet, along with the endlessly surging Beast Tide, their disadvantage began to show—
Beneath the chaos, slaughter, and violence lay a dull, throbbing pain in their psionic senses.
The original purpose of the Beast Proving Ground was to channel frenzy through violence, but fighting poison with poison was only a temporary solution, and unsustainable in the long run. Otherwise, high-ranking Narga wouldn't ultimately choose psionic self-destruction.
Before long, the desert was drenched in pools of blood.
And Pearl once again heard the agonized murmurs of the high-ranking Narga.
[Hurt.]
[It hurts... Kill.]
[M-Mother... I feel so awful...]
Protected in Olovikin's embrace, Pearl—who had briefly established a psionic link with Hui—clearly sensed the other's torment through this connection. He also "saw" the increasingly dense dark shadows clinging to Hui's form.
Terrifying and foul, they threatened to completely devour him!
A chilling sensation shot through Pearl's nerves.
Pearl had a premonition: if those dark shadows fully solidified and completely engulfed Hui, he instinctively knew something terrible would happen.
He could also "see" similar turbid shadows on Ega and Olovikin, though not as vividly as on Hui.
Sitting dazedly in Olovikin's arms, the little Artificial Human bit his lower lip hard until he tasted blood, then suddenly snapped back to reality. His mind flashed with scenes of the big guys caring for and protecting him recently.
They had mistaken him for their Mother, and he had stolen this identity. Since he had enjoyed the monsters' preferential treatment, it was only right that he pay the price.
Pearl anxiously bit his fingertips.
He tried to recall the sensation of his previous psionic connection with Hui, like a reckless and ignorant little rabbit, pricking up its ears and plunging headfirst into a pit.
The Psionic power to the Mother Insect was like fish in water. Even though Pearl was naive and knew nothing about the Narga, he was the Mother Insect—the king who had been missing from the Narga for over four hundred years. When he attempted to follow that hazy feeling and extend tendrils of psionic power, everything began to simplify—
The psionic tendrils of the fledgling New King of the Narga were delicate and frail, flickering in faint, subtle clusters of white light. They bypassed the Beasts and affectionately brushed against the larger figures.
Almost instantly, the psionic power of the three high-ranking Narga People, who were battling the Beasts, trembled in unison. It was like a soft lip pressing against bruised and battered flesh while carrying boundless tenderness to kiss their wounds.
No Offspring could withstand it.
They couldn’t help but form a shallow psionic connection with Pearl, like dogs catching sight of a bone.
The agony inflicted by Frenzy Syndrome eased, and the Narga People’s battle intent erupted like bursting sparks, nearly overwhelming everything.
—Clang!
Pearl, curled in Olovikin’s embrace, shuddered violently. Fine beads of sweat dotted his temples and his skin taking on a cold, pale hue. His eyes stared vacantly as he weakly arched his neck while trembling and gasping softly.
He was almost entirely pressed against the monster’s chest as his slender, pale fingers clutching at the fallen strands of his hair while convulsing uncontrollably. Even the tips of his toes flushed with a delicate red, curling and tucking between the platinum Pincer Legs.
As his psionic power deepened its contact with the Offspring, Pearl let out a whimper like that of a young animal, as if being utterly drained...
The Mother Insect’s psionic power would strengthen with repeated use, but attempting to soothe three high-ranking Narga People in his newborn state nearly gave Pearl the illusion that he was on the verge of breaking. He could only whimper and weakly retract those fragile psionic tendrils.
But would dogs with a bone ever let go easily?
The fragile Little Mother Insect drifted in and out of consciousness and kept trembling in his daze, while the Narga People, invigorated by the psionic power, fought with bloodshot eyes.
—DPS with a healer was terrifyingly strong at this moment.
The Sandworm, craving its sweet prey, shook off Ega’s Tail Hook attacks and reared up overwhelmingly before charging once more toward Olovikin. The latter flapped his platinum hive wings, dodging deftly through the air. One set of Pincer Legs firmly shielded Pearl, while the other was used for offense.
Hui swung his massive Pincer Legs, clearing another wave of encroaching Beasts. They seemed tireless as they kept repeating the motions of slaughter of severing the heads of the Beasts one by one.
A deafening crash echoed as something heavy hit the ground, startling the half-conscious Pearl to lift his head weakly in search of the source.
But faster than his reaction was the platinum Pincer Leg that gently pressed the Little Mother Insect’s head back down, lulling him to sleep once more in Olovikin’s embrace.
They had collectively eliminated at least a fifth of the Beast Tide, and the SSS-ranked Giant Sandworm had been slashed in half.
Realizing the futility of prolonging the struggle, the temporarily crowned Beast King Sandworm let out a piercing shriek before dragging its rotting flesh-like body back into the shifting sands. With a thunderous crash, it left behind only a massive crater that steadily shrank, while the Beast Tide it had summoned scattered in all directions, leaving chaos in its wake.
The chaotic battlefield fell silent once more, but the battle-crazed mad dogs still clung to the Little Mother Insect’s psionic power.
It was Olovikin who came to his senses first, his mouthparts vibrating with a low hum as he and Hui simultaneously severed the psionic link.
...The small pearl’s current psionic power was pitifully scarce compared to the demands of these monsters and so fragile that a careless moment could crush him into a soft, flattened little dumpling.
Ega, slower to react, reluctantly took one last sip. Only when the Little Mother Insect in Olovikin’s arms trembled violently did he slowly release his grip, allowing the pitiful, nearly drained psionic tendril to retreat into the Artificial Human’s frail body.
Unaware of his reprieve, Pearl slept soundly, his damp eyelashes the only evidence of what he had endured during the shallow psionic link.
【Poor little pearl.】
【All damp now.】
Olovikin’s pincer leg gently brushed Pearl’s flushed cheek and traced the redness at the corner of his eye, but Hui stopped him, urging him not to disturb their Mother’s rest.
The platinum-haired Narga person let out a soft chuckle before lowering his pincer leg to shield the slumbering youth in his arms.
The post-battle wasteland was in disarray, clearly no longer suitable for a temporary camp.
Yet it was evident that the Beasts were far more cunning than they had assumed—especially with an SSS-ranked Giant Sandworm lurking beneath the desert as a temporary Beast "King," an unpredictable time bomb. It was foreseeable that Beast Tide attacks would only increase in the coming days.
【Let’s continue to rendezvous with Xagai.】
【There are too many Beasts.】
No one could have anticipated the Mother Insect’s appearance in the Beast Proving Ground on this Irradiated Wasteland.
Hui vibrated his mouthparts and mentioned another companion’s name.
The Beast Proving Ground opened in batches annually, and this time, it was their turn—him, Olovikin, Xagai, and Ega.
If Frenzy Syndrome were measured on a scale of 10, he and Olovikin hovered around 6, with Olovikin even slightly milder; Xagai reached 7, while Ega stood at a full 8, the most severely afflicted among them.
【The Beasts are all heading to the northern sector. Given that mad dog’s love for fighting, he’s bound to chase after them.】
【We just need to keep moving toward the southern sector.】
Olovikin’s compound eyes swept over the scattered Beast corpses, his elytra slowly folding and settling quietly behind him like a gilded cloak.
Under the dim night sky, the towering Narga people pressed onward south with their Little Mother Insect.
A kilometer away in the desert clearing, the SSS-ranked Sandworm—its body torn into shreds by pincer legs and tail hooks—lay at the edge of the massive crater, its bloated form writhing as it devoured the lesser Beasts under its control.
Beasts surpassing SS-rank had entered the King-level and their psionic power massively amplified by radiation, enabling them to dominate inferior Beasts.
On planets inhabited by Beasts, ordinary Beast Tides were not the true threat—the real terror lay in Beast Tides led by King-level leaders—
According to the records of Mutated Beasts within the Star Alliance, King-level Mutated Beasts with biological ranks surpassing SS possess cognitive abilities and can even mimic human forms. Through mechanical imitation, they infiltrate human settlements and can guide the Beast Tides to hunt for sustenance.
If you encounter a King-level Mutated Beast capable of disguising itself as human, the uncanny valley effect would reach its peak at that moment.
In this interstellar era, all cosmic lifeforms are evolving.
This Sandworm exhibited an extremely rapid recovery rate.
Its torn flesh healed almost every minute and second, while the other controlled Mutated Beasts moved in a daze, completely losing any instinct to flee as they voluntarily advanced to become prey in the Sandworm's jaws.
One, two, three...
Countless Mutated Beasts crowded the edges of the giant pit.
For every few the Sandworm devoured, replacements immediately filled the gaps. After an hour, the wounds torn by the high-level Narga People had completely vanished, leaving only faintly raised flesh-colored scars.
Meanwhile, the perpetually churning Radiation Storm provided it with natural nourishment.
It was recovering while growing stronger by consuming radiation.
After a brief stillness, the massive fleshy worm grew a pair of human-like arms—long, slender, and nearly skeletal—along its sides.
It emitted a vibrating screech, as if calling for something, before burrowing back into the yellow sand and chasing the scent that belonged to Pearl.
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