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| The Beloved Little Mother Insect (LITTLE MOTHER) |
Years ago when this Irradiated Wasteland was developed as a Beast Proving Ground, all Beasts on this planet had been carefully selected by the Narga People's upper echelons—their levels were moderate as it was concentrated between F-class and S-class, and was suitable for high-ranking Narga People to vent the brutality caused by their frenzy.
Should any Beast with potential to surpass S-class emerge, the Empire would promptly issue an extermination order to avoid nurturing a future threat.
Yet no one could have predicted that on this trial planet, aside from a King-level Giant Sandworm skilled at concealment that repeatedly evaded the Empire's biological level monitoring to develop covertly, there would now emerge another King-level StarCloud Hound.
According to Star Alliance records on Beasts of various levels, King-level Mutated Beasts possess extraordinary psionic power, enabling them to summon and control lower-level Beasts as their puppet subordinates. They can think and imitate, and when their psionic power reaches a certain threshold, imitating humans becomes a traceable behavior.
But no record has ever mentioned that King-level Mutated Beasts would call upon and unite with one another.
This was a bizarre and astonishing discovery.
As the first documented case, every Narga People present felt a chill of dread.
They formed an encircling formation around Olovikin, who held the Mother Insect, while remaining vigilant against the nearby SSS-level Sandworm and the distant StarCloud Hound whose biological level fluctuated between SS and SSS-level.
【Olovikin, get him aboard! We'll hold off the Beasts!】
Hui raised his pincer legs, his compound eyes gleaming with cold light.
The aftereffects of the King-level Mutated Beast's psionic-eroding screech still surged violently, causing dull pain and persistent ringing in his brain.
Xagai gnashed his mouthparts, his fangs sharp.
As he rotated his scale-covered neck—likely affected simultaneously by frenzy and psionic erosion—his entire visual field was bathed in a hazy crimson. His violently pounding heart screamed for slaughter, making his blood boil with intensity.
In just a breath's time, the previously stagnant Beast battlefield descended into chaos once more.
The towering Giant StarCloud Hound in the distance also began charging forward, seemingly preparing to support the equally King-level Sandworm.
...
Amid all this chaos, the only one enveloped in stillness was Pearl.
The Artificial Human's frail physique made it difficult for him to resist the effects caused by the Giant Sandworm's roar. In this dark and silent world, Pearl only knew that he was nestled in Olovikin's embrace and gently swaying with the other's movements as he resisted the Beasts and attempted to ascend.
But the swaying was actually quite slight.
Olovikin's hold remained steady.
Amid the turmoil, Olovikin finally found an opening and instantly spread his elytra, soaring toward the starship above.
At this moment, there were only 6 minutes and 27 seconds remaining in the Galactic-class Battleship's controllable hovering time.
Even with other high-ranking Narga People providing support, the number of Beasts remained terrifyingly high. As Olovikin ascended while holding the Little Mother Insect, the large avian Beasts circling overhead swiftly gave chase and constantly interfered with his movements.
The starship above targeted the Beasts, eliminating them one by one with firearms, but for every one killed, two or three more would surge forward the next second.
Breaking free from the entanglement within this Beast Tide was nearly impossible.
The melee continued, bloodshed permeated the air, the SSS-class Sandworm churned the battlefield, and the Radiation Storm became a stimulant for the Beasts' revelry.
Pearl felt his head was terribly dizzy. He bit his lip until the teeth marks on his lower lip already showed faint traces of blood but the stinging pain was distinct.
Yet Pearl, caught in the crisis, remained unaware as he instinctively needed some pain to keep himself from drowning in fear and anxiety.
The world after the buzzing was too quiet.
So quiet that Pearl couldn't perceive any sound.
Even as his lower lip was bitten ragged, he couldn't suppress the overwhelming terror.
He was trembling.
Olovikin, thinking the Little Mother Insect in his arms was frightened by the current situation, held him tighter while still shielding him from the attacks of the vultures' sharp beaks.
The controllable hover time remaining was 4 minutes and 18 seconds—he had to break through the encirclement of avian beasts quickly.
As the countdown continued, the StarCloud Hound on the distant sand dune instantly charged into the battlefield.
Ega, guarding the periphery and having just pierced and killed two Giant Lizards simultaneously with his Tail Hook, immediately grew alert. But before his Tail Hook could strike this newly arrived King-level Mutated Beast, an astonishing scene unfolded—
The massive, snow-white StarCloud Hound stomped flat a python preparing to leap, its sharp fangs biting it in half, then turned and pounced on an oncoming black jackal, instantly tearing open the flesh on its neck, and covering itself in crimson blood.
Once its neck was smeared with blood, the giant beast swung its long tail, smacking away several vultures chasing Olovikin.
The Giant Sandworm, which had thought it could call upon allies, was enraged. It let out a harsh, grating roar, before suddenly lifting its dozens-of-tons bulky body and slamming it furiously into the ground, instantly crushing a group of Beasts that failed to dodge in time.
Several high-level Narga People were caught in the aftermath, their bodies splitting with wounds large and small.
Had the King-level Mutated Beast turned against the one it summoned?!
Though shocking, this was undoubtedly good news for the Narga People at this moment. With the Giant StarCloud Hound joining the fray, the situation of being surrounded by the Beast Tide shifted slightly, finally giving Olovikin a chance to ascend further.
Now, the controllable hover time was down to just 52 seconds.
Amid the countdown, Olovikin spread his Elytra as he ascended at the top speed.
Dust from the Radiation Storm swirled around the battleship, hazy as if veiled in a layer of sand.
In the darkness, Pearl tightly hugged his own arms.
He felt the upward rush of wind and felt Olovikin's tight embrace. After a long silence, he finally faintly heard some sounds.
They were the buzzing and murmurs of the Narga People in battle, yet under the surge of psionic power, Pearl "saw" their past—
[Pro...tect...]
[...It's... Mother...]
[Protect him.]
[Block... the Beast Tide...]
[Block it at all costs...]
For centuries after the Mother Insect's disappearance, the Narga People had long ceased to hope for their "mother's" comfort and embrace. From birth, they followed imperial discipline—they were warriors, weapons, and expendable resources ready for sacrifice.
Dying in battle was normal for them, an accepted outcome since the Narga People's inception.
But no one is born to be sacrificed...
Pearl heard the agonized moans rising from the depths of the Narga People's souls.
It was the agony of frenzied erosion and Beast attacks simultaneously ravaging their bodies. The roar of the SSS-class Sandworm pierced their brains and psionic power like ten thousand needles, each resistance a gritted endurance of excruciating pain.
Pearl’s face was smeared with grime from who-knows-when while his long hair disheveled and hanging limply behind him, and some even tousled strands were floating in the wind. His head tilted back slightly as his pale blue eyes completely unfocused, leaving only a vacant haze.
An abnormal degree of silence.
Controllable remaining time: 8 seconds.
Olovikin was still 90 meters from the warship’s docking port with his body crisscrossed with bloody gashes—some deep enough to reveal bone—all left by the talons of avian beasts.
He had fully spread his wings, blocking the relentless attacks of the birds. His massive primordial form abruptly shifted into human guise, using his arms to firmly shield the Little Mother Insect in his embrace, forming a shield of flesh and blood.
Below, the SSS-class Sandworm, within these remaining 8 seconds, triggered a new frenzied state, and the Beast Tide intensified its assault.
At the same time, the little artificial person weakly leaning in Olovikin’s arms suddenly offered a faint smile.
The smile vanished so quickly that even Olovikin failed to catch it clearly.
Amid the howling wind, the 5-second countdown, and the final 10-meter distance, he heard Pearl’s voice with startling clarity.
He said—
“Thank you.”
So very soft.
Laden with a tender, yet inexplicably heartbreaking emotion.
Olovikin was momentarily dazed, but his body’s instinct remembered to thrust the little one in his arms toward the warship, away from the chaos below.
Yet in that same instant, a counterforce flung him backward, hurling him toward the warship’s docking port, while the little one he had been holding plummeted straight down.
In that moment, Olovikin finally saw Pearl’s eyes.
The falling little artificial person showed no trace of fear or terror, his expression vacant and fragile, as if gazing upon a beloved toy he dared not touch due to its exorbitant price—only watching quietly through the glass.
His eyes brimmed with tears that refused to fall, his weeping as silent as an abandoned young beast.
He was falling.
And the psionic power belonging to the Mother Insect, belonging to Narga, the New King, surged violently as it erupted from that small body in gales like hurricanes.
This immense, uncontrollable force instantly swept across the entire Beast Tide’s domain. The boy falling from nearly a kilometer high had frail limbs and his loose clothes billowing like waves in the wind, yet crimson blood slowly seeped through.
Perhaps the fragile artificial human body couldn’t withstand the overwhelming pressure of such vast psionic power as cracks, like those on shattered porcelain, spread across Pearl’s form and oozing trails of blood, as if the slightest additional force would scatter him into irreparable fragments.
But in stark contrast to this pitiable vessel was the psionic power enveloping the entire Beast battlefield.
The SSS-class Sandworm froze in place while still emitting a hoarse, frantic screeches, but this time the Beasts it commanded and controlled remained unresponsive and just kept standing dumbfounded with their pitch-black, lifeless eyes reflecting the falling figure high above.
This surge of psionic power was overwhelmingly fierce, bypassing the high-ranking Narga on the battlefield and crashing down like thousands of tons of pressure onto the SSS-class Sandworm, nearly draining all of Pearl's consciousness.
He didn't know how far he could go—he only knew he despised the doctrine of "born to be sacrificed," so he decided to try, to repay the misplaced affection the Narga had given him...
Bang!
In an instant, the roaring, frenzied Giant Sandworm exploded into a pool of flesh and blood, drenching the high-ranking Narga and the Beast Tide.
As the blood showered down, the Narga, freed from their stalemate, unanimously descended toward the landing point, attempting to catch the falling Mother Insect.
But faster than them was a blur of soft white.
The moment Pearl's psionic power dissipated from exhaustion, he was swept into a warm embrace.
Before losing consciousness, someone gently stroked his head.
That person said—
"Sleep for a while."
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