NABC Page 148
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Oberon merely turned his gaze in this direction, and a short while later he issued commands to his fleet.
"Our mission is complete. You can now return to your respective defensive lines and continue to block the Zerg invasion. As for this small Zerg swarm here, leave it to the humans."
"As a reward for your help this time, I will personally give you a soul."
As he said this, Oberon's body disappeared into his own tomb sword and finally appeared inside a world engine.
In his hands he held a pure white ball of light, the very soul that all the undead in space longed for—a complete and pure soul.
"This soul is my personal expression of gratitude for you leading the fleet to support us and for obeying my commands."
As this was being discussed, Mesophile, one of the Three Holy Councils, appeared to be a foolish judge before the couple, pushing the soul before them.
As a legal emperor, he was indeed completely incompetent and acted like a fool in many ways.
However, this does not mean that he is essentially a fool. It's just that when he is facing two beings of far higher status than himself, thinking about other things is useless.
The best thing he could do in the face of Zhou Qing and Messofite was to be honest and do his own thing without trying to use any tricks. However, aside from dealing with the two of them, he did have some of the methods of the Viscount.
The pure and flawless soul revealed a power that everyone yearned for, and even the commander of this space necromancer fleet coveted it.
He could feel his body's yearning for this soul, a desire that he himself could hardly control. Just as some dynasties enjoyed skinning people alive, his need for the soul was also irrepressible.
An uncontrollable desire compelled him to reach out his mechanical hand toward the pure soul, and Oberon, far from being stingy, gently pushed the soul toward him.
The process of soul fusion is completely unremarkable, without any special effects. In front of Oberon, the space necromantic overlord became a complete overlord with a soul.
"Wow—I feel like I have everything I need right now!"
The feeling of having a soul is just too wonderful. After gaining a soul, even the overlord of the space undead couldn't help but groan like this.
"Thank you very much, Your Majesty. Although you are not the Emperor of our dynasty, I will remember what you have done."
"He who eats another's food is bound to him; he who takes another's gift is bound to him." Since he had taken a soul from this man, he naturally had to show some respect to this Dharma King, and besides, he was no fool.
Although the Space Necromancer Emperor in front of him seemed to be just an emperor of a small dynasty, he didn't seem like much.
It's not high enough for his status as a hegemon, but he does have the favor of the Three Holy Council.
The Triune Council's appointment of him as commander was undoubtedly a signal. As a qualified space necromancer overlord, he certainly knew what he could and could not do, what he should and should not do.
Chapter 243 Preparing to Acquire a Tentacle
The Necromancers' fleet departed, and Trajan quickly re-established communication with Zhou Qing.
"Commander, we have successfully destroyed the Zerg fleet that charged to our position, but a small accident occurred during the destruction of the Zerg fleet. One of the Zerg tentacles broke away from their main fleet and has now applied to join us. All he needs to do is eat."
The first thing that came to Zhou Qing's mind was a term similar to one he had encountered during his time with the Human Federation, when the Federation fleet captured a Thorin Queen after defeating the Thorin invasion.
The task of modifying this protozoan queen was then entrusted to him.
After his modifications, this queen of the Thorin protozoan successfully became a relic of the Federation.
The Federation provides it with food and sustains its life, and can also spend 1 units of food at a time to give to the Sorin Queen.
Then she would directly produce a small Thorin Protozoan fleet for the Federation.
However, after instantly producing a fleet of protozoa, it needs to rest for 10 years...
Of course, you could keep giving birth to her, but that might not be entirely controllable.
As one of the natural disasters, the Zerg swarm possesses formidable combat power, even those in the hands of the Federation.
Although the Zerg swarm lacks a shield system, their hull and armor values are far superior to those of ordinary Federation warships.
They are a biological civilization that has successfully evolved biological armor that is almost identical to the middle finger armor.
In addition, when used by swarms, these bio-armored units are even about 80% more powerful than neutron armor, making them extremely powerful units.
Therefore, Zhou Qing was somewhat tempted after hearing Trajan say that he had captured a swarm of insect tentacles.
"If he needs food, give him food and bring that tentacle back to me!!"
The losses to both the human army and the Federation fleet require the expenditure of personnel and resources, which pains Zhou Qing. However, if a portion of the fleet, especially the suicide fleet, could be replaced by the Zerg swarm, then Zhou Qing would not feel any pain at all.
Seeing Zhou Qing's rather excited expression, he was suddenly somewhat shocked. It was the first time he had ever seen such a surprised expression on Zhan Shuai's face, it was like...
It was like stumbling upon some priceless treasure; it was truly astonishing.
He immediately understood how much his commander valued this insect swarm tentacle, and so he replied solemnly.
"It's War Commander! We will bring him safely to the Misty Starfield!"
"Yes, remember to maintain his vital signs. If he needs food, gather some food nearby to sustain him, but don't let him produce new swarm units, at least not until he comes to me and I can modify him."
"If he makes any attempt to escape along the way, do not hesitate to destroy him and kill him without mercy!"
Although Zhou Qing was overjoyed to see the Zerg swarm fleet, feeling that he would have a suicide squad to use next.
However, this does not mean that Zhou Qing is willing to let the swarm cause damage to humans. If the swarm causes damage to humans, Zhou Qing would rather destroy it!
"Understood!" Trajan replied solemnly. "I will personally escort this swarm of tentacles back to the Misty Starfield."
After ending the communication, Trajan immediately adjusted the fleet deployment. He ordered three patrol fleets to clear the way ahead, another three to guard the rear, and the remaining four fleets to closely surround the peculiar insect swarm tentacles.
"Provide it with the bare minimum of sustenance," Trajan ordered, "but keep all weapon systems locked. Open fire immediately at the first sign of trouble."
On the return journey, the swarm's tentacles behaved unusually docilely. They quietly absorbed the provided nutrient solution without exhibiting any aggression.
This is enough to show that this tentacle may indeed have a will different from that of the Great Devourer, otherwise it would not be so obedient.
Of course, specific matters need to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. The Great Devourer is the supreme will of the Swarm, a conclusion reached by the Empire, and it cannot be so easily overturned.
On the return journey, the Zerg swarm gradually caught up with the fleet's speed and began to increase its pace. They soon arrived at the forward defensive positions of the Extreme Starfield and then passed through the stargate.
The existence of the English language has indeed brought about numerous changes to the human empire. This rapid travel has allowed the empire to move freely throughout the entire galaxy. Even with the empire's relatively slow flight speeds, this remains true!
Just as the fleet arrived in the 108th world of the Misty Starfield, Zhou Qing's communication came through once again.
"Take him away from the 108th world of the Misty Starfield, and I will give you the coordinates of a desolate planet. Take him there!"
“There is a biological laboratory under construction there. Take him to a desolate place to avoid harming humans.”
Trajan immediately adjusted course, leading the fleet to the coordinates specified by Zhou Qing. It was a desolate star system located on the edge of the hazy star field, with only a few barren planets and a large asteroid belt.
When they arrived, a newly built biological research station was already faintly visible in the asteroid belt. This research station employed state-of-the-art bio-isolation technology and was covered by multiple layers of protective force fields.
More importantly, two Sky Fortresses and a large number of orbital defense facilities were also built in this asteroid belt to deal with the potential rampage of insect tentacles.
As for Zhou Qing, although he wanted to turn this insect swarm's tentacles into one of his own units, it was still an insect swarm after all, so it was necessary to be extra cautious.
The Zerg tentacles, which had been quietly following the fleet, became somewhat frightened after seeing Sky Fortress and its orbital defense facilities.
He could sense the sheer power of the weapons carried on the Sky Tower, which was even more terrifying than the Titan warships he had faced before.
The Sky-Piercing Fortress deployed here was built by Zhou Qing when he rebuilt the 108th world of the Misty Starfield, and its weapon performance is naturally far superior to the main gun of the Titan-class warship he built before.
After all, the Sky Fortress is much larger than the Titan warship, and since they are fixed in the void, they can be better equipped with more terrifying weapons.
If hitting a Zerg tentacle with a Titan battleship only nearly destroys the entire tentacle, essentially killing it, then being targeted by a Sky Fortress only requires a single, gentle shot from its secondary guns to obliterate the tentacle completely.
Fear appeared in the consciousness of the insect swarm's tentacles.
Chapter 244 Willing to Dedicate Loyalty to Humanity
Although the insectoid tentacles were terrified, they managed to suppress their fear and regain their composure.
Because He knew very well that if He did anything wrong, the opposing human fleet would open fire, and the terrifying weapons around Him would completely reduce Him to atomic form.
Zhou Qing was very satisfied to see that the Zerg mothership could remain calm, and he nodded in the laboratory.
It's important to stay calm.
If the opponent is a Hive Tentacle that is currently acting very flustered, then he will undoubtedly immediately lower his evaluation of that Hive Tentacle's value.
Taming a swarm of insect tentacles is no easy task. The most important thing is to establish communication with it first. With his powerful spiritual energy, this is not difficult for Zhou Qing.
"Tell me your name?" Zhou Qing asked the insect swarm's tentacle via the psionic link.
A very pleasant female voice came from the insect tentacles.
“Oak Riel, sir, you may call me Oak Riel if necessary.”
The insect tentacles showed no surprise at Zhou Qing's direct conversation with them; instead, they obediently offered their names to Zhou Qing.
"Yes, you can call me Zhou Qing or Grand Marshal Zhan Shuai, either name is fine."
“I have already heard Trajan tell me your request. You want to have a full meal. You want to be full, don’t you?”
Having obtained the other party's name, Zhou Qing didn't waste any words and went straight to the point.
"Yes, yes, great warlord, I just want to eat my fill, that's all..." The swarm's tentacles' voice grew weak. Hunger tormented the swarm constantly, driving them to try to devour and expand.
"Do you know that you will never have enough to eat?"
"There's something wrong with your gene sequence. One set of genes in your gene sequence causes you to never be full. As soon as you're full, you'll divide up a huge fleet, and then you'll be hungry again."
For Zhou Qing, figuring out the genetic sequence of a swarm of insects wasn't a particularly difficult task. He only needed to glance at it a few times and scan it with his equipment to identify the problem.
“I know, but we have no way to improve this part of the gene. We are hungry, but this is also the gene sequence on which we depend for survival. It is the foundation of everything we have.”
The swarm tentacles were well aware of what the genetic hunger sequence in his body had brought him, but he could not modify or improve this sequence in any way, because it was the foundation of everything for them. Without this foundation, all their genetic code would collapse instantly.
Genetic breakdown would be fatal for a species like the Zerg, which relies heavily on biotechnology.
In addition, the source code of Hunger is exceptionally robust, and no method can process this source code.
"It seems you are well aware of what your genes have brought you. Your race has become so powerful because of this gene, and it is also because of this gene that you are so hungry now."
"I can't remove that gene sequence from your body, but I can give you some food. Although I can't remove your hunger gene, as long as I keep your numbers within a certain range, I can still give you food without any problem. It can preserve your temporary feeling of fullness."
That's right, the insects will always be hungry and will never be full because they are constantly consuming and producing all kinds of combat facilities.
However, they also have a limit to their size. When they reach that limit, the insects can feel an unprecedented sense of satisfaction and fullness.
Zhou Qing's words were undoubtedly a gesture toward the insect swarm, indicating that humans could accept them and provide them with food.
The tentacle was excited, extremely excited!
"Thank you very much, sir. Please feel free to ask me if there is anything I can do for you. I am happy to assist you."
That's a truly blissful thing—a full stomach and a feeling of contentment. The insect swarm danced with excitement, their tentacles thrashing about.
"What I need you to do is simple: fight for me!"