Chapter – 09
Declaration of War
Truth is breaking free from the cage of darkness.
Hong had suddenly received the mission to rescue the Zerg Mother. This time should have been one of his rare breaks. Somewhat irritable, the Fourth Legion Commander ordered his subordinates to load high-output weapons, already mentally scripting the deaths of those offenders as they set out.
Unexpectedly, by the time he arrived, that suspicious spacecraft had already exploded. A sphere of light floated aimlessly in space. Recognizing it as the restraint collar’s passive protection, Hong immediately spread his wings and flew over to catch the young Zerg Mother.
The protective shield was battered beyond recognition, and the fragile Zerg Mother inside was severely wounded, barely breathing.
A surge of immense fury welled up within him. The pale-skinned legion commander issued a stern command: “Collect the biological data of those scum and declare war on their civilizations!”
“Yes sir!” The accompanying Zerg responded in unison.
Whether the Zerg Mother lived or died was for the Zerg to decide internally. Other races had no right to interfere.
Hong carried the young Zerg Mother in both arms, his deep green eyes scanning the wounds on the Zerg Mother’s body. The urge for war deepened within him.
Those defeated foes—had they forgotten the despair the Zerg had brought them? Without a Zerg Mother, did they think the Zerg had become weak? Laughable!
Aboard the Fourth Legion’s warship, medical Zerg were already prepared, quickly taking the young Zerg Mother from the legion commander for treatment.
“How is it?”
“There are large amounts of drug residues in the Zerg Mother’s body. His internal organs show signs of rupture due to external pressure. And—” The medical Zerg lifted the back of Elai’s hospital gown, revealing his torn back, and continued: “The Zerg Mother appears to have forcibly catalyzed wing growth, but instruments detect no wing structures in his body. Suspected wing fragmentation.”
Starfaring attire could self-adjust in size and repair damage, so when Hong carried the young Zerg Mother, he hadn’t noticed the wounds on his back at all.
The medical Zerg’s words cut like blades. Faint traces of flame began appearing in Hong’s red hair—this was a racial trait of the Crimson Zerg, whose hair flickered like hellfire when emotionally agitated. Hong signaled the medical Zerg to continue.
“The drugs appear to be failed products that didn’t take effect in the Zerg Mother’s body and can be flushed out with medical assistance. The internal ruptures can be healed in a medical pod. However, the Zerg Mother’s wings have shattered and cannot recover. His constitution is too weak to bear the weight of mechanical wings either. For the ruptured cavity on his back, only surface repair is currently recommended.”
The strength of Zerg warriors was reflected in every aspect of their bodies. Bone wings, as the best auxiliary weapon for the Zerg body, were undeniably important to the Zerg. Even though the Zerg Mother’s wings were comparatively useless, they still had an irreplaceable role.
The new Zerg Mother had originally not been destined to possess wings. Now that the wings he had catalyzed no longer existed, it was indeed somewhat cruel to him.
Hong’s hatred and disgust toward the Zerg Mother came primarily from the previous Zerg Mother’s tyrannical rule. After that Zerg Mother died, his resentment transferred to her successor. Before meeting the new Zerg Mother, he could ruthlessly spit out one restriction after another targeting him. But when he actually held the injured young Zerg Mother in his arms, the emotions that surfaced more strongly were an inexplicable tenderness and barely concealed fury.
“Heal him as best you can.”
“I will, Commander.”
On the other side, the biological information残留 on the spacecraft had also been decoded. The analysis report concluded that these pirates came from several familiar hostile civilizations.
Hong toyed with a newly developed weapon model in his hands, contemplating how to teach these civilizations a lesson.
The declarations of war had already been sent and announced to the universe. The Interstellar Alliance hurriedly convened a holographic meeting. All five Zerg Legion Commanders appeared, and the Alliance’s diplomatic department immediately sensed trouble.
Within the Zerg, the five legions governed separately, and each commander’s authority covered different parts of Zerg territory. Their division of labor was complex yet rigorously ordered. But the commanders rarely acted in unison, frequently clashing with one another. It was unusual for all of them to show up together.
Only the Zerg Mother could make the Zerg Legion Commanders act this way.
Just the thought of the Zerg Mother’s existence made the Alliance’s diplomatic department uneasy. The Zerg Mother would not negotiate peacefully—they always did as they pleased. Though the Zerg also had such tendencies, they were still far more reasonable than during the Zerg Mother’s reign.
“The Zerg’s declaration of war against the Kasol Civilization, the Mark Civilization, and many others violates the peace treaty signed upon joining the Alliance a century ago. If no justifiable reason is provided, the Alliance’s various races have the right to deploy troops against the Zerg!”
Hai sneered disdainfully but negotiated patiently: “The Zerg Mother is the core of our Zerg civilization. The Kasol and Mark civilizations secretly attempted to assassinate the Zerg Mother, thereby being the first to violate the treaty’s terms. Now that the Zerg Mother’s life hangs in the balance, the Zerg’s declaration of war is a legitimate demand.”
The Zerg Mother might die! That was good news!
Several diplomats struggled to suppress their glee and continued listening to the lead representative speak.
“The Zerg Mother has been declared an enemy of the universe. The Zerg’s concealment of this fact is also problematic. You cannot blame a few small civilizations for stepping forward to eliminate the Zerg Mother!”
The first among the Zerg to react was the Third Legion Commander, Theodore. The indifferent blond young man with golden eyes immediately retorted: “Since when did the Zerg Mother become an enemy of the universe? The Zerg does not recognize such a claim.” The young Zerg, who had once been favored by the Ninth Zerg Mother, radiated an imposing aura that made even the diplomats’ scalps tingle during the holographic meeting.
The diplomat raised a question: “…The Zerg killed Zerg Mother Landriko. Was that not self-certification to the Alliance?” The Ninth Zerg Mother was named Landriko, though rarely addressed by his true name.
“The Zerg needs no self-certification.” The elegant young Zerg took over the conversation smoothly. “All Zerg actions are unrelated to external parties. The Alliance has misunderstood.”
The rarely seen First Legion Commander—Tong—delivered the final word decisively: “The Zerg’s declaration of war is a legitimate measure. If the Alliance has no further questions, we will take our leave.”
Tong, often called the Zerg’s shadow emperor, was a white-haired, blue-eyed male Zerg who had already held high position during Landriko’s reign. After Landriko’s death, he had quickly stabilized the situation and established the foundation for the Zerg’s power distribution.
Tong rarely appeared, but when he did, he commanded all authority.
The diplomats’ hairs stood on end. “G-good… yes.” Before the First Legion Commander, who possessed cataclysmic power, they could only feel suffocating danger.
Knowing the matter involved the Zerg Mother, the diplomatic department had actually already abandoned hope for successful negotiations. They only hoped now that the Zerg would not secede from the Alliance. Even if they could unite to attack the Zerg, the cost would be enormous—not worth it.
Those civilizations would have to fend for themselves.
Provoking the Zerg while leaving behind incriminating evidence—wasn’t that just courting death?
After this, the Zerg would probably lie low for a long time, giving them a chance to catch up.
Theodore stopped his colleagues from leaving. The four commanders stood aside, waiting for him to speak.
“Everyone, I have obtained some interesting information.”
“The Hive Leaders told me they found anomalies in the previous Zerg Mother’s body—he actually died three hundred and twenty-eight years ago.”
“The year I brought him back.”
The cold young Zerg revealed this shocking news.
The mechanical parts Hong had been disassembling and fidgeting with slipped from his hand, caught again by his psychic power. “Do you know what you’re saying, Theodore?”
“I know.” His golden eyes met the others without flinching, repeating the information: “Landriko died long ago, before we found him.”
The Ninth Zerg Mother had been discovered on a barren planet. The environment there was harsh, and when they found him, the Zerg Mother’s form was gaunt and forlorn.
Theodore would never forget the scene—those deep purple eyes fixing their gaze on him for a long time, eventually extending a frail hand to rest on his outstretched palm. That fragile yet vibrantly pulsing life force had stirred something in this naturally indifferent Zerg.
Who would have thought it was fake?
The blond youth turned his矛头 toward the Second Legion Commander: “Ivan, you investigated Olera for so long. Didn’t you notice that the Ninth Zerg Mother’s petrification time was off?”
The elegant Zerg unhurriedly adjusted his hair, ensuring his appearance was flawless: “I was born near the end of the previous Zerg Mother’s rule. I never had the chance to grow close to him, so I couldn’t detect any anomalies. Within the Olera Palace, I only studied the traces of the first eight Zerg Mothers—Landriko was not within my scope of work.”
This was perfectly normal. The earlier Zerg Mothers had accomplished great deeds. Even though from the Seventh onward their behavior had grown unbalanced, they had never caused major catastrophes. The Zerg’s hatred for the Zerg Mother began with the Ninth. Deliberately overlooking his history was hardly incomprehensible.
“As for you, the issue of negligence is quite significant.” Ivan struck back.
The Second and Third Legion Commanders had never gotten along. Though neither had a personality prone to stirring trouble, they always found themselves in conflict. Even such low-level tactics as assigning blame had been employed.
Tong timely put an end to their internal strife: “The Ninth Zerg Mother’s reign was short, and his psychic ability remained unawakened for a long time. Perhaps this is connected to this matter.”
“The Zerg Mother’s mental control was real. He couldn’t have been a fraud.”
“So, a Zerg Mother who died long ago—how could he still appear alive before the Zerg?”
“How could the mother of the Zerg die on a barren planet?” From the discovery of the Zerg Mother’s birth to the retrieval mission, the Zerg hadn’t spent much time. Conditions on that barren planet were hardly sufficient to kill an adult Zerg Mother.
Hai timely shared his findings: “During the previous incident where Elai was threatened by Alex, I noticed that the drugs used on him were highly targeted. Without Tia’s timely treatment, he would have truly died in that accident.”
“In this hijacking incident, I accessed the medical Zerg’s records and found targeted drugs as well, even more potent. However, the new Zerg Mother seemed to have developed drug resistance from the previous threat, and the substances were metabolized.”
“The Zerg Mother’s biological data differ from ordinary Zerg. No species similar to him exists anywhere in the universe. The Zerg have never allowed the Zerg Mother’s biological samples to be leaked. So how did they develop drugs with such strong targeting?”
“The answer lies behind those civilizations.” The usually frivolous black-haired Zerg carefully analyzed the available information. His serious attitude made Hong do a double-take. Sensing his twin brother’s disbelief, Hai shot back with his emerald-green eyes.
The young man with semi-long deep purple hair curled his lips and proposed with interest: “This war can be used to uncover the clues behind the Zerg Mother.”
“I will lead it.” His silver-gray gaze swept dismissively over the blond Zerg, a disdainful confrontation.
With someone volunteering to handle the work, naturally no one objected.
Moreover, this Second Legion Commander possessed many methods and extraordinary abilities.
