Chapter – 08
Hijacking.
The foreign race bares its hidden claws.
Elai did not stop his inspection tours.
However, he no longer received any crude, loosely-worded inspection reports on his terminal. Moreover, he discovered that those Zerg youths had blocked his contact method. Elai uninstalled the communication software young Zerg used from his terminal, keeping only its most basic communication functions. Hai ordered his subordinates to upgrade Elai’s terminal to military grade, while also raising Elai’s access permissions.
The young Zerg Mother remained constantly under the control of high-ranking Zerg—even Hai, an army commander, was gradually letting his guard down around him.
Hai also assigned Elai a well-trained Zerg squad for his use. The data from the lands he had once measured were now organized by other Zerg; he could obtain information without having to work as hard as before. Even so, Elai still chose to conduct on-site inspections, using his own body to truly sense the Zerg society in the absence of the Zerg Mother.
Most of the Fifth Star Domain’s permissions were open to him. Elai began traveling to other planets for inspections. Hai didn’t restrict his range of activity, but required Elai to return to the Fifth Star Domain’s central star once a month and update his location coordinates in a timely manner.
Elai didn’t always obey obediently. Occasionally, Hai would threaten him during communications, but he was always let off easily.
The fact proved that timely location reporting was a farsighted requirement—while en route to the next galaxy, Elai’s starship was hijacked by space pirates during transit, and he became their spoil.
However, these space pirates didn’t seem genuine either. Elai noticed that despite appearing chaotic, their actions were orderly and standardized, as if they came from some regular military force.
They weren’t Zerg. Elai concluded. Most likely from some hostile race.
Too many flaws. The Zerg, who valued martial prowess and were at the forefront of technological development in the universe, would never allow space pirates within their territory, nor would any pirate be foolish enough to raid a Zerg starship. The Zerg’s reputation for brutality and belligerence had long spread across the universe under the rule of previous Zerg Mothers—provoking the Zerg was not a wise move. This operation was specifically orchestrated by foreign races targeting the Zerg Mother.
The arrival of a Zerg Mother was not only a major event for the Zerg, but a catastrophic nightmare for hostile races—they wanted the Zerg Mother to vanish from the universe forever even more than the Zerg did. Thousands of years of cosmic hegemony had taught most races in the interstellar age that the Zerg race, under the leadership of the Zerg Mother, was simply invincible.
All dirty means could be employed to assassinate the Zerg Mother, and no civilization other than the Zerg would condemn this—it was the wisest political decision in the universe.
The proper script for the Zerg Mother had finally arrived. Elai was already bound by multiple shackles, yet mentally he was extremely exhilarated.
The handling of internal Zerg conflicts shouldn’t trouble the Zerg Mother; interracial cosmic competition was the Zerg Mother’s true arena. The Zerg’s status had been earned through real combat under the Zerg Mother’s leadership. Now, it was simply Elai’s turn to take the stage.
The so-called space pirates didn’t underestimate the juvenile Zerg Mother. In fact, upon successfully capturing Elai, they had already used their latest research results on him—not only overdosed toxins, but also restraint devices. They had tried killing the Zerg Mother with weapons directly, but were blocked by the restraint collar’s other functions, forcing them to switch methods.
This operation had been long in the making. Several civilizations had secretly allied years ago, as soon as they learned that another Zerg Mother had been born among the Zerg. Their plan was to take advantage of the internal chaos within the Zerg to sneak in, capture the Zerg Mother, and kill her.
If not for a Zerg secretly feeding them information, they wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint the Zerg Mother’s range of activity so early. Unfortunately, to avoid the Zerg Mother’s fall and the frenzied retaliation that would follow if their operation were discovered by the Zerg, they were unwilling to kill that useful spy as well.
“Is the Zerg Mother dead?”
“Vital signs have ceased.”
“Next step is to take the Zerg Mother back for laboratory research. Hurry up. We’re about to begin the most frantic escape of our lives!”
“Mission accomplished, sir.”
Deep within Zerg territory, this group of so-called pirates had already prepared themselves to die. Killing the Zerg Mother would be enough for them to die without regret; bringing back the corpse was merely a secondary objective.
Unfortunately for them, the Zerg Mother would not die so easily as they wished.
Elai’s surging emotions carried a vicious excitement.
How should he turn the tables and kill these fools who underestimated him, without drawing the attention of the Zerg?
“If you want to do something, I can help you.” The consciousness rarely offered its assistance unprompted.
“Don’t overstep.” Elai warned it.
“…Fine.”
Elai had already discovered that the restraint collar’s effects were limited to when his psychic power approached Zerg. Against these unidentified races, the collar imposed no restriction on him.
It seemed the Zerg who designed this collar was somewhat useful. At least he didn’t have to bother concealing his tracks.
The Zerg Mother’s immense psychic power spread out silently, bypassing the psychic smart technology’s controls and sweeping toward the pirates for eradication. A secret operation destroyed by carelessness.
“They prepared quite thoroughly, but unfortunately for them, this Zerg Mother not only holds a different status from my predecessors, but also possesses different methods.” Elai studied the restraints binding him and slipped free with ease. After Hai had placed the binding cuffs on him, Elai had relentlessly studied various restraint devices, trying to remove them. Now it seemed that while his studies couldn’t remove the cuffs themselves, they were sufficient to unlock the cruder technological products of other races.
“Detected no life activity within the cabin. The spacecraft’s self-destruction sequence is now activating.” The scope of life activity detection clearly did not include the Zerg Mother.
The mechanical voice broadcast the next steps according to protocol.
“Countdown: 01:00”
“00:59”
…
Elai cast aside his careless attitude and began searching for a way to save himself within the spacecraft.
These pirates had left no escape route.
Unable to stop the self-destruction, no escape pods, sealed hatches, psychic destruction of the operating system useless.
Damn it.
Insufficient physical strength. Elai couldn’t break through the hull, trapped inside the cabin.
“00:30”
“00:29”
“I refuse to die in a place like this!” Elai made a bold move—he began catalyzing the growth of his bone wings.
Bone wings grown before maturity would suffer a significant drop in power. He was ruining his already fragile body.
“The explosion will destroy your bone wings. You will also be severely injured.”
“You can seek safer help from me.”
The consciousness was unusually active today, constantly trying to lure Elai.
“No need. I must remember the humiliation I’ve suffered more vividly.”
Clearly, Elai knew the consequences and was not afraid.
“What you’re doing is no different from self-harm.” Poli’s tone rarely rose, carrying a hint of aggression in his words.
“I’m willing.” Elai was testing his patience.
“0:00”
With a booming explosion, the spacecraft that had blended perfectly with its surroundings burst apart like fireworks.
The forcibly catalyzed, still-tender bone wings were pushed back to their pre-growth state by an irresistible force, and a more comfortable protection enveloped the young Zerg Mother.
“Have I done something to displease you? Tell me, and I will correct it.” The usually unfluctuating voice showed a tremor. Though outwardly approachable, the fallen deity who still maintained a superior attitude was now begging forgiveness from the young Zerg Mother.
Elai, safely protected, suffered no impact from the explosion. He answered calmly: “I need to know your purpose. Whether it’s appearing in the energy sphere or helping me unconditionally.”
Everything has a price. Elai didn’t want to unknowingly make a deal with this mysterious consciousness.
He needed to know the terms of the transaction and determine what price he would have to pay.
“…Your psychic ability is very special. After you fully awaken your ability, I will need your help.”
Elai pondered, uncertain if this was true or false.
“You are the only living being who can sense my existence. I would not lie to you.” He was doing his utmost to prove the truthfulness of his words.
Elai could indeed sense the consciousness’s uniqueness. Poli’s words did not seem false.
But that wasn’t enough.
Elai commanded: “You claim to be a god. You should know special ways to establish oaths. Make a contract with me to prove you aren’t lying.”
“…Fine.”
An ancient, long-lost array materialized around Elai. Runes and lines shimmering with strange light constructed a special spiritual connection, allowing Elai to perceive the consciousness’s presence more clearly.
Indistinguishable language transmitted from the consciousness into Elai’s mind.
After Poli finished reciting everything, Elai gradually understood its meaning. His body unconsciously followed Poli’s lead, reciting his own lines.
“Zerg Mother Elai and Poli, God of Machinery and Illusion, hereby jointly agree.”
“We shall not harm each other, but shall join hands in mutual assistance.”
“We shall spare no effort and swear to aid each other in achieving both parties’ objectives.”
“Until the contract is fulfilled.”
“All actions herein shall be supervised by all things. Violators shall face the judgment of the gods.”
The contract was complete.
Elai’s keen instincts told him that Poli had not deceived him—the contract had succeeded.
With no further worries, Elai returned to normal: “If there are no longer any gods in the universe, how can the contract be supervised by the gods?”
Poli: “The absence of living gods does not mean the absence of divine essences. Divine essences, unless destroyed, remain eternal.”
Elai: “So the ‘gods’ refer to their divine essences?”
Poli: “Yes.”
Their manner of communication returned to how it had been before.
Observing his surroundings, Elai noticed that the Zerg military forces were encircling the area.
“Remove the protection. Being uninjured won’t do.” Elai thought quickly, then added: “It needs to be severe injuries.”
“…Fine.” It seemed the contract hadn’t been much use—it still couldn’t prevent him from being injured.
The problem was not merely His lack of candor, but lay more significantly with the Zerg themselves.
The Zerg seemed to have been obstructing Him all along.
Sensing that the young Zerg Mother still devoted enormous attention to the Zerg, the fallen deity felt a vague discomfort.
Before losing consciousness, Elai saw a high-ranking Zerg with crimson hair detaching from a starship, unfolding sharp and chilling wings as he raced over at top speed. Noticing that the starship’s insignia was no longer the Fifth Legion’s emblem, Elai realized that the pirate spacecraft had already left the Fifth Star Domain.
Now Hai would surely give him a severe scolding once he found out.
