Xyrin Empire
Chapter 431 - Chapter 431: Chapter 431: Dark Clouds

Chapter 431: Chapter 431: Dark Clouds

I must admit, Blade Queen, or more precisely, the cunning human operative Kerrigan, was a genius, and the kind who dared to make light of her own soul!

After discovering a force more bizarre than the Xyrin Empire at play in the Kepulu Star Zone, she decisively split her own mind, placing part of her thoughts into an “absolutely safe database.” Can you guess what that database was?

The entire Insect Race!

Blade Queen meticulously orchestrated a strange evolution throughout the Insect Race, causing every insect unit to grow a neural tumor internally. This tumor was minuscule, its function so simple it could only produce innate reflexes, seemingly useless to a warrior race. However, it connected with the core neural clusters of every insect, a racial characteristic, which completed their spiritual network, essentially putting the entire race under mind control–a kind of biological radio network with more powerful transmission and astonishing speed: infinite speed.

I know this is hard to understand; substantial transmissions in cosmic space can’t exceed the speed of light, but the spiritual connection of the Insect Race was instantaneous. A dominating Insect from a light-year away could control its forces instantly. Two brains from the race, billions of miles apart, could converse without delay, a phenomenon that baffled human scientists as quantum effects (though to Xyrin People, such instant communication seemed rudimentary. However, Xyrin Scientists were still amazed that the Insect Race could evolve such communicative organs).

Under this neural network connection, those specially evolved neural tumors formed a whole.

“That’s my brain,” said the Blade Queen, her voice filled with pride, “My spirit has been copied into the entire race, and all the Insects form a vast brain. They will think for me after I completely lose myself. No new dominator will ever arise. This is another form of immortality–initially, this plan was just to combat the ‘revelation’ that had begun to erode my spirit. Surprisingly, it has now come in handy. I can feel my spirit bound in this space, so outside, another Blade Queen must have already ghostly reborn and completely escaped the fate of enslavement. This ‘great brain’ is split into billions of independent thinkers, each without any intelligent characteristics, and the ‘revelation’–ineffective on this collective mindset!”

This plan was insane, truly.

“Well, but in fact, the Insect Race is no longer under your control, is it? Another Kerrigan, she possesses only the memories and thought patterns you had at the moment of cloning your spirit. She won’t listen to you; you’re no longer the ruler of the Insect Race.”

Lilina spoke blandly, provoking the Blade Queen in her unique way–one of her rare personal interests.

“No, it’s still me,” the Blade Queen casually countered, “That mental copy has a fatal psychological flaw; she lacks the concept of self, only acting according to the behavioral guidelines I gave her. This situation won’t last forever; one day my shadow will realize her existence. However, as long as I reappear before that moment, none of this will occur. According to the program I set up, the shadow will merge unconditionally with my spirit, and the rulership of the Insect Race will still be in my hands.”

“You’re trying to regain your freedom this way,” Lilina exposed her plans right there.

The Blade Queen neither denied it nor was surprised; before facing us, she had chosen to position the mysterious Xyrin Apostles in an infinitely high regard, which was why she remained poised: “Correct, it’s mutually beneficial. Perhaps the power of the Insect Race cannot stand against the Xyrin Empire, but at least it can cause you damage. If the Insect Race could return to my control, this damage could be altogether avoided–at least before you confront the source of that ‘revelation.’ There’s no need for us to go to war yet.”

She simply acknowledged the absolute opposition between the Insect Race and the Xyrin Apostle, then threw out a seemingly inconspicuous but still appealing bait. This negotiation method was truly… quite creative, because it was happening between the hunter and the hunted, and now, as the hunted, they were actually bargaining with the hunter. More remarkably, the prey had indeed found their own capital for negotiation!

I felt I had fallen into a terrible vicious cycle, Kerrigan skillfully exploited her albeit weak but indeed valuable advantages, doing everything possible to maximize the benefits she could grasp, even if it was just a few more days of survival, and we had a hard time refusing her terms given that they were indeed inconsequential to us, and initially, our plan had never intended to kill Kerrigan.

Forget it, let’s talk about everything after Taville reverses Kerrigan, it will be a bit of a hassle, by then just evaporate all the uncontrollable Insect Race, although that means we would have to spend several times more effort than originally planned–though in fact, starting an interstellar war with the three races had already greatly exceeded our budget.

“Let’s not discuss this now,” I scratched my head, at a loss for how to start a conversation with this former Federation agent whose thinking had already diverged greatly from humans, so I decisively brought up a certain bearded gentleman, “That, um, you still recognize this uncle, right?”

“James Raynor, it’s really been a long time.”

There were completely none of the emotional fluctuations I had anticipated, Kerrigan spoke indifferently as if she had casually run into a passerby whose name she barely remembered, “I hear you have sworn allegiance to the rulers of the Xyrin Empire, it seems it’s true. You’ve really made the right decision this time, you’ll soon become the most powerful human ruler in the entire star zone–though a puppet.”

Did the original mention that the Blade Queen was also a grandmaster of filling in the blanks?

But compared to Kerrigan’s indifference or even sarcasm, Uncle Reynolds’s expression was filled with excitement, his facial muscles violently trembling due to intense emotional turmoil, looking at his ex-girlfriend who had turned into a “monster,” he could only timidly utter one name: “Kerrigan…”

“Jeez, Uncle, you gotta vamp!”

Lilina, standing nearby, watched anxiously and blurted out loudly without any hesitation, then kicked Reynolds making him stagger–what a pity, just a little more, and they could have had a passionate embrace. I mean, Uncle, couldn’t you just pretend to slip?

“Vamp?” Kerrigan ignored Raynor’s awkward state, only showing curiosity toward the word uttered by the little girl who seemed to have a not-so-lower status.

I quickly explained, “Uh, that was our original plan, to have Reynolds will vamp you, eventually marry, and then our mission to maintain universal peace would be completed… By the way, do you prefer a classical wedding or a modern one? I actually have an Imperial Officer who runs a wedding service company, hasn’t opened in two months, but the service quality is absolutely… uh, what’s that look?”

Kerrigan stared at me blankly, then her expression twisted: “Are you trying to insult me again with this?!”

Again? Oh, she might have been referring to…

Thinking about this, I slightly turned my head to look at Pandora who, expressionless like a porcelain doll, apparently had used three thousand enormous hammers to knock Blade Queen unconscious and carried her back. Noticing my gaze, Pandora didn’t seem embarrassed at all; instead, she slightly lifted her head and nodded gently at me.

“This girl can be clueless at times…” I shrugged helplessly.

Staring at us blankly for a while, Kerrigan suddenly seemed to accept her fate and sighed, “I didn’t expect you guys… Your appearance is really beyond my expectations…”

“What did you think I would look like?” I asked with amusement, “Standing in a hall covered with a star map of the universe, surrounded by generals with loads of medals on their shoulders, me holding a stick and gesturing, and then the entire star map suddenly changing color centered around me?”

Kerrigan looked at me as if she was looking at a prehistoric creature, then finally twisted her face and nodded.

“Enough of this nonsense,” I finally got out of this pointless conversation, “now let’s talk about what’s important–tell me everything you know, starting with ‘Revelation.’ I can tell that the influence on you is different from other races; it’s mind control intensified numerous times, yet it occurs when the controlled is conscious. Honestly, we have a master of mind control here too.”

As I said this, I slightly tilted my head to nod at Sandora, who bared her teeth at me in a cute expression that made Kerrigan’s jaw drop: just seconds ago, this golden-haired girl had been speaking with the lofty coldness and tone of a queen…

It was reminiscent of symptoms like schizophrenia–if Xyrin people had such diseases.

“To tell you the truth, this control feels more like suggesting rather than controlling, fundamentally different from my abilities, I have explained this to you before… well, forget it.”

Hey! What’s with that resigned look all of a sudden, girl!

Having left the space cage, we began planning our next moves. The current priority was to locate the source of the so-called “Revelation.” According to Kerrigan’s information, it hadn’t disappeared but instead hidden itself in a more powerful yet more covert manner within the brains of the natives of the Kepulu Star Zone. Usually, its influence was subtle and gentle, making people with susceptible minds develop a directed common trend in thoughts. In extreme situations, however, it became very aggressive and directly used mind control on powerful individuals like Blade Queen–this must have been a reluctant move by the perpetrator behind the scenes, because conventional “Revelation” couldn’t affect Kerrigan, meaning it basically couldn’t affect any bug. Its only choice was to forcibly control the supreme commander of the Insect Race, a control clearly conducted while the controlled was conscious, just like Blade Queen who fully understood what little her forces could do against massive planet battleships that could ‘delete’ a planet within minutes, yet she couldn’t resist her own thoughts.

Though Blade Queen didn’t specify, Sandora guessed that this control was actually an enhanced version of “trend power.” It was just more forceful, giving the sensation of having one’s spirit controlled. Under its influence, Blade Queen still had some freedom of thought, as long as she adhered to one rule: oppose the Xyrin Empire. In that direction, she could do anything, like choosing to be captured by us during a battle against the Empire, and thus breaking free from control.

To be honest, this possibility really relieved me. Having a girlfriend with mind-control capabilities was one thing, but if the enemy had a master of mental manipulation, that would have been too bad.

Moreover, according to the analysis of Sandora, the expert, although this latter method of control was evidently more effective, it seemed not easy to implement since only Kerrigan had been confirmed to be influenced, and she even had the chance to leave a way out for herself before being completely controlled. As for the Protos “Divine Race,” they were almost unaffected, which showed that the powerful mental strength of the Protos was quite effective in combating “Revelation.” Otherwise, we would now be battling not just the drug-crazed madmen of Taldarim, but the entire Protos Race.

Although he reached such a conclusion, Zeratul hastily bade us farewell after learning of new variants to the “Revelation” threat. He was deeply worried about his comrades left on Shakuras, explaining that even the strongest warriors have vulnerabilities of the spirit, and that evil forces never miss an opportunity. He felt compelled to inform his people in advance and personally lead them to uncover the truth. Through Zeratul as an intermediary, the Protos survivors gathered on Shakuras and its surrounding planets had already offered to help us trace the source of the “Revelation” and, when necessary, assist us in battle. As perhaps the last group of sentient beings in the Kepulu Star Zone still lucid, the Dark Templar had long noticed our efforts to target desolate planets and avoid the escalation of wars, which had significantly improved the Protos natives’ impression of the Xyrin Empire.

“Then there’s changing the starship fleets’ operations,” on a platform near the outer space on the side of the “Imperial Admiral” warship, Sandora, staring into the dark void of space, said to me softly, “The Empire’s extreme deterrence may no longer be effective. No matter what we do, humans and Taldarim won’t likely recover from their madness. But at least there is one good thing–Insects are not a threat anymore, at least for now.”

I agreed with Sandora’s point. Even if our starships went directly to the human Mother Star, those humans completely corroded by “Revelation” would not likely surrender. The planetary fleet threat, which we initially thought would be effective quickly, has now proven to be a waste, giving one the sensation of punching into cotton.

“Perhaps we should consider obliterating Taldarim’s living forces. Compared to fragile humans, those Protos fanatics are far more dangerous,” I mentioned following information provided by Kerrigan. “According to her intelligence, they are zealots who would harbor fierce hostility towards the Empire even under minimal impact from ‘Revelation.'”

“Ah Jun, when did you also become so decisively ruthless?”

Sandora, with a slightly surprised tone, turned to ask me, her sea-blue eyes sparkling mischievously against the backdrop of the dark universe, as if the brilliance of stars were all gathering in those beautiful eyes–her eyes had always been the part I was most enchanted by, the profoundness therein always calming even the most agitated heart.

“I feel like we’ve been trapped from the start,” I sighed, voicing my speculation, “That insect’s appearance was too coincidental–although at the time there seemed numerous explanations for its appearance, now I really have to wonder just how coincidental it must be for the Sniper Star Cannon to precisely teleport a carbon-based life form from hundreds of light-years away during its collapse phase and ensure it survives the hundred-light-year space jump. Then there’s our grand expedition to the Kepulu Star Zone, which would almost appear as an inevitable reaction after discovering such a dangerous race as the Insects, followed by our first unpleasant encounters with Monsk and Taldarim, which also seemed full of coincidences, and even going back further, when saving Earth in the Magic Prohibition World, what are the odds a randomly jumping Star Ring Fragment would just happen to carry away an asteroid belt wrapped around human warplane debris from the Kepulu Star Zone? We seem to be mired here as if being led by the nose by someone, and moreover…”

“And moreover, those Star Ring Fragments were also modified by Abyss Power–with intelligent characteristics,” Sandora interjected, then suddenly leaned closer, “I’ve long suspected, and I can feel that you understood no later than I did… even though you usually seem content just to drift along.”

I: “…We’re discussing serious matters here, be serious!”

“Alright, being serious!” Sandora immediately said with a mischievous smile, then clasped her hands together, turned her head toward the endless stars in a far-sighted pose, “So Ah Jun, do you know why among countless civilizations born in the endless universes, only the Xyrin race has managed to reach such a pinnacle and even stepped into the realm of gods?”

“Why?” Although I didn’t know why Sandora suddenly changed the topic, I still cooperated and asked.

“Because of our logical approach… our way of thinking determines we can’t understand what ‘failure’ means, similar to a computer receiving an impossible command doesn’t realize this command will cause it to crash but confidently falls into an infinite loop instead. Perhaps this analogy isn’t quite right, but that’s how it is–we don’t understand what ‘failure’ is; we only have the concept of ‘delayed success.’ To us, any circumstance, even death, only means victory is postponed, which is why the development journey of Xyrin Apostles seems to have never encountered the barriers typical civilizations face, because we simply don’t know there’s something called a bottleneck in the process of civilization development…”

“A bunch of brainless stubborn ones and their journey to struggle into godhood.” I shrugged, summarizing succinctly, and then suffered a rough biting after Sandora pounced on me.

But honestly, after listening to Sandora’s confession about the entire Xyrin race, I suddenly realized that maybe I really should learn from these brainless driven individuals… (To be continued. For more details, please visit www.NovelFire.net, where there are more chapters available, and support the author by reading the legitimate version!)

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.