Sacre-D: Reborn as the Swarm's Apex | Chapter 171 | A Crimson Visitor | Novela.app

"It is a pleasure to meet you and your partner," the solemn Hong Taisui said. The massive crimson starship, passing through the Greywing Star Sector for the umpteenth time, was currently docked at the starport. The now-numb Greywings had chosen to accept their fate. Since the docking rails could not support the weight of an entire starship-class vessel, they had carved out a separate, dedicated starport after hosting several Great Cycles of uninvited visits. "I bring greetings from the Capital Planet." The white male Zerg gently wagged his little tail. He was no longer afraid of this deep-red vessel; occasionally, he was even amused by its deadpan, dry humor. "Hello, Hong. We’re happy to see you too." "Are you out of fuel again?" Sarkdi scoffed, showing no mercy as he flipped into bickering mode. "What did Evelyn tell you? To come to my place, eat and drink your fill, and then head back?" "She said the Greywings are a warm and hospitable race." That was the benefit of being an artificial sentient species—no matter how outrageous the words, they never blushed or stammered. "If you are willing, Trident and Gungnir would also be quite pleased to conduct a friendly visit. They are actually harboring great curiosity toward the Zerg habitats—the non-malicious kind, of course." When speaking of its younger juniors, Hong Taisui’s tone carried a hint of indulgence. Among the three active starships currently in service, Gungnir had the most erratic personality and expressive style, arguing with its Lead over a dozen times a day. Its Synchronizer was a Lieutenant who had once served in a Special Operations Squad—strict and cold. Unfortunately, fate had paired her with such an excessively talkative and noisy partner. "I want to go too! I want to go too! I want to go too!" A behemoth whining in the communication channel was not cute in the slightest; it only made the Synchronizer constantly toggle her mute filters. Gungnir, however, would quickly dissolve the barriers. Any electronic defense measure was far too fragile against them. Like a puppy, it would resume its incessant chattering in its companion's ear. "It’s not fair! Hong Taisui passes through the Greywing sector every time. We can apply to swap patrol routes. I want to go too!" "No, you don't." Its Lead was cold and ruthless, checking the energy systems while confirming the patrol logs. "The previous Emperor used a stack of merit points that could reach the ceiling to buy Hong’s freedom. I don’t have that much wealth to squander. I still need to save money to buy a house on the Capital Planet." Gungnir: "..." Human troubles were so realistic. However, through its information exchanges with Hong and the Data Firmament, it had already acquired enough skill to quickly manipulate humans. Thus, the overly young starship switched to a deep voice, imitating the most precise cadence of an idol drama it had just finished watching. It even kept nudging her with its auxiliary arms. "I really want to go see it, Sister!" On that day, the Special Operations Squad leader, her face ashen, bent a stack of holographic screens over her own starship. Trident, learning of this afterward, offered merciless mockery. "————, ——" "——, ————, ——" The communication channels between starships were fast and difficult to decipher; every second generated endless exchanges of data, completely exceeding the range of human comprehension. But that didn't stop them from sending trillions of mocking emojis. Gungnir ignored them, merely sending Hong Taisui a crying emoticon face, every electronic tear proclaiming the meaning of "reaping what one sows." "Human idol dramas are useless. They’re complete false advertising." "She hit me. She actually laid a hand on my auxiliary arm!" In reality, the alloy auxiliary arm was quite hard; not even a scratch was left. "She also ordered me to recalibrate my language database, delete everything I shouldn't have stored, and start every sentence with 'Reporting, Sir.'" "I feel the sting of interspecies discrimination." Hong Taisui felt a rare sense of speechlessness. For some reason, its junior had been raised rather crookedly. Such a flighty personality was truly unlike a long-lived sentient species; there was no composure or restraint to speak of. Perhaps a faulty personality template had been used during its early calibration. "Perhaps you could submit an application to change your Lead," it tried to suggest. A starship’s life was far too long. When a current Lead passed away, a new one would usually take over. There had also been cases where pairings were terminated midway due to extreme personality mismatches. "The Empire will assign you a new partner." "No." Gungnir vetoed it in a second. The massive, beast-like steel giant began to act coy again. "I don't want any other Lead." "Hehe." What a soulful "hehe." "Help me ask. Help me ask your friend." The young starship kept bombarding their internal communication channel. "Have him send an invitation! We want to go see the Greywing sector too." "He said the Emperor might approve it. After all, it saves the Empire money." There was absolutely no possibility of that. If all three of humanity's starships entered the Third Quadrant, it would trigger uncontrollable disputes. A new round of war might even ignite because of it. In the first few years, the Greywings would look utterly despairing whenever they saw the crimson behemoth. Their desensitization therapy was just starting to show results; if a new ship showed up, their mental state would likely collapse again. "Oh," Sarkdi said expressionlessly after hearing the whole story. "How wonderful." "So you're telling me that not only do I have to support you, but I also have to support your two siblings." Gela poked him from the side, making the Core Seed feel itchy all over, but Sarkdi didn't stop his verbal output and counter-snark. "Three starships flying into Clark's territory to gorge themselves, filling the entire ship with star-core energy before patting their butts and leaving... or leaving port. I really can't imagine a reason for him not to twist my head off." "How am I supposed to explain to the Alliance that their species and territory haven't been taken over by humans?" "I am merely relaying Gungnir's request as it is." The crimson behemoth had clearly learned some bad habits—the sneaky kind. Its tone didn't fluctuate in the slightest. "Whether you adopt it or not, please follow the principle of freedom." "Will I be able to eat star-core energy this time?" it added with sincere inquiry. Sarkdi: "..." "Yes." The answer was full of the sound of gritted teeth. The Core Seed’s long tail lashed back and forth as he gave a fake smile. "Eat. Eat the big ones." Every Great Cycle, he set aside a sufficient energy quota from his own pocket so that when the starships on deep-space patrol passed through the Greywing habitat, they could obtain ample supplies. There were very few beings in this world who could take money from his pocket. Gela, who handled the detailed financial budget, was one; Hong Taisui, who came to mooch every time, was another. The former was for public affairs, the latter for private; they perfectly solved his problem of having too much money to spend. What a life of being "dirt poor." In a sense, he had achieved his original goal of "mining, supporting a battleship, and driving Hong Taisui to his doorstep," but something just felt slightly off. Sensing his partner's contemplative mood, the white male Zerg smiled and took his hand. "I have my own salary too," Gela said softly, his little tail wagging and intertwining with the black whip-tail. "I don't spend it. I can exchange it all for star-core energy." This was hard to resist. His partner was so cute; a real man could never live off his partner. Especially since the eavesdropping Hong Taisui let out a sigh of "You really are impressive," its Eye of Horus swiveling to look at Gela, then back at Sarkdi. What a heavy burden of image. The Core Seed perked up on the spot, his mouth harder than a diamond. "I don't lack resources." He rested his head on Gela's shoulder, hugging the white male from behind while squeezing the other's little tail hook. "You won't find anyone in the entire universe better at making money than your partner." The male Zerg laughed again, his long tail coiling around the other's arm. "I know. But I can help you save up. Save a lot, a lot." "Enough to support a starship, and enough to build an even bigger nest. We can buy many, many plants and plant them all around the pond." He kissed Sarkdi and whispered softly into his ear. "It’s all for you."