MORIC - Chapter 198
Chapter 198: Who Can't Take It
After the entire team returned to the warship, Xi Zhoumeng's combat logs were synchronized to Shen Yu's side via the warship's equipment.
Xi Mingguang's injuries hadn't fully healed, but she was lucid and could be ordered around. Thus, Shen Yu, in an act of insubordination, brought her to her own office to discuss the matter in a meeting.
The former Commander had been fattened up a bit by her wife while recuperating. In Shen Yu's eyes, it was classic middle-aged weight gain.
She didn't say it directly, but instead asked Xi Mingguang euphemistically, "Senior, don't you feel that you're looking more and more prosperous?"
Living in her family's environment of constant banter, how could Xi Mingguang not understand Shen Yu's meaning?
"I know I've gotten fat. What are you so happy about? Does Lan Lan cook for you?"
Shen Yu was speechless.
She really knew how to hit a sore spot. She knew perfectly well that whenever she and Lan Lan were together, she was the one who cooked.
But Lan Lan couldn't gain weight. Even after cheating death, her constitution was poor, and she needed physical therapy every few days.
Xi Mingguang glanced at the combat log of Xi Zhoumeng on the giant screen. She didn't know if it was at Xi Zhoumeng's direction, but the combat log was much flashier than previous ones, as if Xi Zhoumeng's style could completely influence the deeply-rooted Expeditionary Force in just a few short days.
At the very least, Xi Mingguang had never seen a special operations log that had background music before.
Shen Yu saw her brow furrow and knew she was wondering about the music.
She sighed and placed a hand on Xi Mingguang's shoulder. "Senior, that good daughter of yours... she even has to put on a song at a time like that."
The first time Shen Yu watched it, she didn't even have time to marvel at Xi Zhoumeng's combat style, which was completely at odds with her appearance. It was a gorgeous, brutal version of a fruit-slicing game, but more decisive and ruthless. She was terrifyingly cruel; who barbecues Zerg outdoors?
It was a good thing they were Zerg and not human enemies, or she would definitely be brought before the interstellar court.
Xi Mingguang took a deep breath and sipped the cooling herbal tea that Shen Yu probably drank gallons of each year.
"She's just like that."
Shen Yu said, "Her mecha's amplification is truly..."
Shen Yu thought for a long while before forcing out a word: "Terrifying."
Normally, a single high-grade Zerg required an entire team to hunt down, and even then, it could result in a certain number of casualties.
After all, the higher a Zerg's grade, the more its attack, defense, speed, and other attributes would dramatically increase.
Up until the last Zerg Tide, they had never even seen a Zerg Queen, but the high-grade Zerg were already enough of a headache for humanity.
Xi Mingguang said, "Her mecha was never ordinary to begin with, and Yueshan's talent is also very strong."
Shen Yu nodded. "I won't press you two about your secrets. But Senior, think about it. In previous Zerg Tides, we never saw a Zerg Queen or so many high-grade Zerg. Why is it completely different this time?"
"If the one in the Royal Palace is the Zerg Queen, then she had the opportunity to attack humanity during every Zerg Tide. Why did she need to continue the royal line?"
Xi Mingguang asked, "Did you show the picture of this high-grade Zerg to Lan Lan?"
She didn't answer Shen Yu's question, because it was a question they had re-examined countless times.
Shen Yu fell silent.
Xi Mingguang asked, "Is that the Zerg Queen Lan Lan saw?"
Shen Yu took a deep breath. "Lan Lan saw the Queen."
Xi Mingguang said, "For the Queen to be able to transform into a Zerg with this appearance means..."
Zerg were indeed created from humans undergoing a transformation.
But to become human, they needed to parasitize a human body.
They would invade the host's consciousness, extracting all their memories until they completely became that person.
So, could the Zerg that attacked the Commander also assume a human form?
Shen Yu said, "But the information Zhoumeng gave me says this Zerg might be a princess from the Prime Century."
Xi Mingguang rewound the combat log again to listen to the Zerg's voice at the end.
This kind of recording had a lot of static, making external sounds difficult to hear clearly. Most of it was ambient noise, like the music playing from Xi Zhoumeng's mecha.
It made it very difficult for Xi Mingguang to be serious.
Xi Mingguang closed her eyes again. She felt the voice was very familiar, even though it was muffled and unclear.
She said to Shen Yu, "Can you isolate the audio channel?"
Shen Yu replied, "I've tried, but there's still static after separating it."
"Is it an acquaintance? I should know all of your acquaintances, so it's impossible that I can't recognize the voice."
Xi Mingguang was, after all, getting on in years, and her injury made her look sickly. On top of that, her wife had taken to fussing over her recently. Chu Jing had even braided her long hair and tied it with a colorful butterfly bow, a sight that made Shen Yu desperately want to laugh.
Xi Mingguang said, "I feel like it's someone you know."
Shen Yu asked, "Me?"
She listened carefully again. "But no woman I know has such a hoarse voice. And it doesn't sound completely androgynous either, right?"
Shen Yu continued, "This voice sounds like it's been damaged. It's definitely not the original voice."
She was still a bit puzzled. "You know someone I know who has a voice like this?"
Xi Mingguang said, "Maybe I'm getting old and can't remember clearly."
She sighed. On the screen, the view from inside the mecha cockpit was displayed. The massive Zerg's face was pressed against it, a sight that was still horrifying to watch on replay.
Shen Yu said, "Communications on the warship are fine, but as soon as you leave the ship, all communications are cut off. I've already had the engineering department hurry up with research and development."
Xi Mingguang replied, "Didn't we research this before? It's useless if the planet's magnetic field is different."
The two of them sighed in unison. Shen Yu was about to say something else when a new email arrived. It was a message from the Royal Palace.
Sheng Yangkui had fainted.
It was suspected to be after a conflict with the former Queen. The photo sent by Shen Yu's informant was somewhat blurry, but it was clear enough to see Sheng Yangkui on the ground, her head bleeding.
Shen Yu closed her eyes, not knowing what to say.
It was Xi Mingguang who comforted her. "Your hair is already white, just accept your age. This bunch of young people isn't that fragile."
Shen Yu retorted, "You're certainly taking it easy, resting at home during such an urgent situation."
Xi Mingguang replied, "I'm lucky to be alive."
Shen Yu said, "I should still go check on Sheng..."
She was stopped by Xi Mingguang, who grabbed her hand. "How can you go? You're the one who sent her there."
Before leaving, Xi Zhoumeng had reviewed her plan with Xi Mingguang. She had spoken casually, but her eyes were resolute. It was clear she was simply informing her.
Xi Mingguang had always chosen to trust her unconditionally.
Shen Yu said, "But Sheng Yangkui, with her personality..."
She sighed. The Marshal of the Empire was fated to worry, whether at home being ordered around by her Alpha lover or at work. Otherwise, her hair wouldn't have turned white at her age.
Xi Mingguang said, "Regarding the communications issue, I think we should contact Yueshan. She made something rather interesting at the Xi residence before."
She spoke of Chi Yueshan as if she were her own biological daughter. Shen Yu chuckled, "This satisfied?"
Xi Mingguang nodded. "I'm still waiting to attend their wedding after all this is over."
Shen Yu shrugged. "I want to get married too. I wonder how long I'll have to wait."
Xi Mingguang said, "It will happen."
Shen Yu said, "Let's just hope the current Queen can live up to everyone's expectations."
Sheng Yangkui gasped for breath, feeling as if she were about to die.
Her head ached, as if her brain was so full of things that she herself was about to be squeezed out.
Her face hurt too. The former Queen was not yet dead.
After the succession ceremony, her relationship with the other woman had dropped to a freezing point.
Or rather than dropping to a freezing point, it was more that the other woman had completely dropped her pretense.
The Royal Palace was not very populated now; many of the servants who had previously served the royal family had been dismissed.
The other royals who had lived in the palace had all been taken away by Shen Yu under the pretext of protection during the Zerg invasion of the Capital Star.
As a result, this towering structure that symbolized the Capital Star had completely lost its liveliness. It was cold at night, and even arguments seemed exceptionally hollow.
Sheng Yangkui was simply no good at arguing.
The Zerg parasitizing the human flesh now had a twisted visage. Even the most advanced medical equipment couldn't heal this withered and failing body.
Sheng Yangkui stood to one side, holding the scepter and staring at the virtual lotus flowers outside the window.
She was now the new Queen. The former Queen lay on her sickbed, her eyes incomparably cold, staring straight at Sheng Yangkui.
"What did you do during your practical training?"
Sheng Yangkui still had her meek and timid appearance. She rarely spoke, merely nodding or shaking her head.
"The bracelet I gave you is gone." The other woman wasn't wearing a veil, and a face that should have been in its prime was now incredibly old, densely covered in age spots. Because the lights were on, the Zerg inside her had not yet hatched.
"How did that person from the Xi family help you deal with the bracelet?"
She was gaunt and emaciated, her wrists so thin they were just skin stretched over bone. Her eyes were devoid of light as she simply stared at Sheng Yangkui.
"I don't know."
Sheng Yangkui looked at her. She still appeared sickly. Perhaps the lip balm had moisturized her lips, but they had been chapped for so long that it still looked somewhat unnatural.
Her eyes were filled with tears, not at all befitting a queen.
"Don't try to fool me. If it weren't for..."
But she stopped mid-sentence, a chilling smile appearing on her face.
Originally, she had planned to invade a portion of Sheng Yangkui's consciousness and plant it in her brain during the practical training, but she had unexpectedly failed.
Instead, her own consciousness was attacked, and the damage to her body worsened due to the injury to her consciousness.
She hadn't wanted to advance this Zerg Tide, as this wisp of consciousness was very mechanical. But she had felt a resonance from a distant planet. It was as if something she had been waiting for for many years had finally awakened, forcing her to obey the primeval consciousness that had been passed down for millennia.
To utterly destroy humanity, to completely level the Capital Star.
And to create a new world with the one she awaited.
A new world of eternal life and immortality.
"Come here."
Sheng Yangkui hadn't picked up the scepter again since the succession ceremony.
She was testing to see what reaction the consciousness-invaded Queen would have.
Unexpectedly, after only two days, the other woman completely lost her composure.
But the former Queen's body truly couldn't hold on, and the stench of decay grew stronger.
Sheng Yangkui obediently came over.
A cold hand grabbed hers, and a new obsidian bracelet was slipped onto her wrist.
She heard the other woman say, "I don't have many days left to live. From now on, bring the scepter and come sing to me every day."
That royal song passed down from the Prime Century.
Sheng Yangkui did as she was told.
She waited with trepidation for the other to invade her consciousness as she had in her past life, but she found that several days passed with no activity.
On this day, she went to the former Queen's bedchamber in the morning as usual, only to find that the Queen was not lying in bed. She was standing on a platform, beckoning her over.
She told her about the standards for selecting a royal heir.
Since the former Queen hadn't died, Sheng Yangkui hadn't completely moved in yet.
She behaved with exceptional docility, listening intently as the other told the story of the Prime Century—of triplets, a struggle for power, death, and annihilation.
The former Queen's body was very weak, and her voice was very hoarse. As Sheng Yangkui listened, she found that her voice was becoming more and more like an AI's. Perhaps modern AIs had more emotion than her. It wasn't like she was telling a story, but rather reciting one that had been passed down from generation to generation.
She said, "In that final battle, the Queen was beheaded, but she still hadn't..."
Sheng Yangkui's heart pounded as she listened, almost trapping her in the memory of her own death from her past life. But she never expected that in that moment of distraction, she would be pushed by this old woman who barely had the strength to speak.
She tumbled down the high flight of stairs.
The other woman, who could barely walk, crawled down strangely, came close to her, and cupped Sheng Yangkui's face. Her fingers touched the obsidian on Sheng Yangkui's crown, seeming somewhat confused.
"I clearly invaded your consciousness, so why can't I read your memories?"
Her current physical body could hardly support the parasitic consciousness. Green tears streamed down.
They dripped onto Sheng Yangkui's face and landed on her bracelet, making Sheng Yangkui's head ache terribly.
So, so painful, as if her very soul was being torn apart.
But she didn't feel the familiar pull of being invaded like before. Instead, she remembered what Chi Yueshan had said about her past life.
Her first rebirth.
The result of her previous attempt to resist the invasion.
And what Xi Zhoumeng wanted to obtain: the language of the Zerg.
After being brought back to the warship by Ling Xun, Chi Yueshan was the first to wake up.
She had been given several nutrient injections. Touching the needle mark on her hand, she looked awkwardly at Ling Xun, who was bringing in food.
"I didn't pass out for a long time again, did I?"
Ling Xun shook her head. She hadn't been wearing her glasses lately. The new contact lenses had been bought by Xi Shuang. Their diameter wasn't large, but the colored lenses were so ornate that they made Ling Xun's irises appear almost blue.
Ling Xun said, "Less than an hour. Yueshan, are you too tired?"
She said it euphemistically, "If you can't take it, you can mention it to Senior."
Chi Yueshan hated that she understood immediately, and she retorted at once, "Of course that's not the reason."
"Ling Xun, I'm an Omega with M-Galaxy blood."
Ling Xun smiled. "Then it must be that you experienced too strong a vibration in Senior's cockpit. Her piloting is just too..."
She tilted her head. "Overly ferocious."
Chi Yueshan's head was still spinning. "I'm just an ordinary Omega with A-rank spiritual power, sigh."
Ling Xun let out a "wow." "An ordinary A-rank Omega can amplify an antique mecha that much. How are high-spiritual power Alpha mecha technicians supposed to live?"
Ling Xun then said, "Oh, Senior Xi passed out too. She said that after you wake up, you should go to the office cabin's restroom to help her bathe."
Chi Yueshan nearly spat out the mouthful of bread she was eating. "I'm not doing that."
Ling Xun shrugged. "I can't get involved in your little tiffs, but Senior Xi is genuinely exhausted. You can't expect me to help her bathe, can you?"
She shrugged again. "I'd rather not be attacked by her pheromones."
Chi Yueshan exclaimed, "I'm not her maid!"
Ling Xun said, "Yueshan, I wasn't thinking anything of it. You don't have to blush."
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