“Give me some bugs. Give me some ships.”
Sakti knew exactly how to play the game of getting something for nothing—or rather, making the sheep provide its own wool.
“I’ll help you tear the Sub-Queen’s nest wide open.”
Krisha could not be allowed to remain.
Fahner was a product of human civilization combined with the Akasha Rift, and Akasha was synonymous with both danger and a leap in civilizational scale.
From the moment the first barrel of energy was extracted from Akasha, unrestricted deep-space travel became a reality. This new energy completely replaced old fuels; the "black gold of the space age" was no longer a joke, and humanity’s first starship was born from it.
The first refined stellar-core energy was embedded into Fahner, becoming its central power source.
Since then, humanity had entered a century-long, deep entanglement with Akasha Rifts, xeno-tides, and sources of pollution. On one hand, they cursed the spreading contamination and the risk of collapse; on the other, they couldn't bear to let go of the massive profits, digging frantically like greedy gamblers holding their breath while swinging their blades.
By the time the Zerg appeared, large-scale xeno-pollution was no longer present, but the new neighbors also found the stellar-core energy produced by Akasha to be top-tier. Thus, they joined the ranks of the miners.
While mining, they also analyzed Fahner—itself a product of Akasha—and developed their own Great Information Nest.
The Data Canopy, the model remnants in Kamlan, and the Great Information Nest all shared the same origin. Every single one of them used the residual data of Fahner as their foundation.
However, only the Data Canopy was a known, fully constructed finished product. Born from the complete slough of Fahner, the River of Time it supported could serve as both an unrestricted port and a sanctuary for fragments of collective consciousness.
Now, the Sub-Queen wanted to take the remaining two halves to piece together a whole. Although its apparent goal was to restart the ruins of the collective consciousness, there was no guarantee it wouldn't accidentally manifest the port as well.
Sakti wanted to personally send this "puzzle-loving" creature, who wanted to have its cake and eat it too, straight to hell. Otherwise, his nightmares would consist of waking up to find Zerg warships charging into human-habitable sectors.
By holding the Data Canopy, humanity controlled most of the usage rights to the River of Time, keeping their troublemaking neighbors in a period of temporary peace. If this were abused, a situation might arise where a door opens and a Zerg swarm walks right into a human home—or a Zerg opens its eyes to find a massive influx of humans in their territory.
Clark had his own ideas and his own swarm; he wouldn't stand unconditionally on humanity's side. He had vetoed the Sub-Queen's actions based on the inherent danger of the King-Zerg ruins.
But for now, their goals were the same: they both wanted to topple the troublemaking Sub-Queen.
Coincidentally, this was Sakti's old specialty.
After all the twists and turns, he was back on his old career path. His mission was still to charge into a nest and gut the bugs.
This was truly wonderful news.
And so, he took all the Armed-species into the "dungeon," clearing three of the enemy's planets in a single day.
The Zerg didn't bother separating residential planets from military ones. They always swarmed in for a slaughter, a race where every citizen was a soldier. The Armed-species and direct Core-seeds were the backbone of the defense, while the low-to-mid-tier species were merely supplementary.
These interstellar bandits used technology where they had it, and teeth and claws where they didn't. They had once beaten humanity to the point of existential crisis.
This was also Sakti's first time experiencing being part of a Zerg swarm. It was a surreal experience.
Swarms of warships detached from docking orbits like falling moths or migrating locusts, plunging into the vastness of space. The sight had once made his scalp tingle and his skin crawl; now that his perspective had shifted, he only felt invigorated.
Understand the enemy, become the enemy—it felt great!
Considering the enemy was technically of the same race as Clark, Sakti rarely executed his "the whole nest must be neat and tidy" (total extermination) battle plan.
He had once performed deep-space raids to tear through the layers of a King-Zerg's nest. Even without his partner starship, breaking through the outer perimeter of a mere Sub-Queen's star sector was well within his capabilities.
The only difficulty was ensuring that more members of the Grey-wing swarm survived.
The innate bestial nature of the Zerg was displayed to its fullest in the slaughter. Once the overwhelming swarm broke through a hostile planet's defenses and landed on the surface, they began to devour everything.
As the most bellicose tribe that once guarded the King-Zerg, they at least remembered they were facing their own kind. They didn't immediately treat the opposing side as food, barely leaving those who showed signs of submission alive.
After a round of sweeping with the Armed-species, Sakti had only one thought: *Wild.*
They truly lived up to their reputation as battle maniacs who had torn apart two direct high-tier tribes.
With a qualified commander paired with suicidal subordinates, backed by an unlimited supply of ammunition and weapons, he had never fought such a "one-wave" steamroll campaign.
Once this race entered combat mode, they switched into a state of frenzied slaughter. Kleiman, who was usually cold and expressionless in his mimicry form, fell completely into an alienated state, twice performing the feat of tearing open the armor plating of an enemy patrol ship with his bare hands.
They claimed they "could not casually besiege their own kind," but in practice, they were more ruthless than anyone.
All the Armed-species were like mad dogs with their muzzles removed, completely stripping away the skin that disguised them as humans.
This was a species with an excessively clear hierarchy; they obeyed only their leader, and every other obstacle could be wiped out entirely.
During his last "business trip," Sakti had seized control of several high-ranking Armed-species. The managers, led by Kleiman, followed his orders, keeping the team firmly in his grip. If a temporary Zerg appointee were in his position, they might have been dragged along and sent flying before they could even tighten the leash.
The Zerg in a calm state and the Zerg in a frenzied state were two completely different things.
He had spent too much time with Gela and the Short-wing species, and the only high-tier Zerg he dealt with who controlled core genetic lineages was Clark. He had almost forgotten the original face of these neighbors.
In an extremely short time, he pushed the front line forward by three planets. The words he repeated most were not strategic commands, but: "If I find anyone killing those who surrender, I will personally snap your head off," and "Harming larvae and males is strictly forbidden..." He never dreamed in his past life that he would be like a broken record, sternly reiterating such things.
Fortunately, the Sub-Queen's followers weren't that steadfast, and the combat strength of the outer settlements wasn't particularly high. Most of them hit the ground and surrendered the moment they saw the tide turning.
Once a combat zone was cleared, Clark's other units would immediately follow up, taking over the administration of the entire planet.
Then, Sakti would lead his squad of "mad dogs" to the next war zone without pause.
Arthur had originally wanted to go with the Core-seed, but he was detained by a visibly livid high-tier Zerg.
The human didn't argue further, merely smiling at the silver-grey female: "Then I'll go with you. You know, I won't be able to stop myself from running out of the nest to find you."
And so, as Sakti was about to depart, he saw a grim-faced Clark haul the man onto his own warship to personally keep watch over him.
The young man waved contentedly at the ready-to-go Core-seed, mouthing the words, "See you later."
Classic.
This "retreat to advance" maneuver was so smooth that Sakti even wanted to ask the man for a training course to learn the art of speech.
Some humans were perhaps born with a natural talent for this.
The tactic of "first threatening to tear off the ceiling before asking to open a window" was something Sakti had studied for a long time, yet the other man used it as naturally as breathing.
Coordinating with Clark to steamroll the map, the front line advanced by leaps and bounds in a single day. Wiping out Krisha in two small cycles was no longer a dream.
He didn't know how the Sub-Queen felt, but Sakti himself felt refreshed.
He hadn't experienced the joy of such a training exercise in a long time; it felt as if he had suddenly returned to his most familiar environment from a primitive society of cold weapons.
This refreshment lasted until he met his mate, who was waiting for him.
The white male Zerg looked him over carefully, confirming he wasn't injured.
Sakti was mindful of the blood on his body and didn't immediately initiate physical contact. Even in the most cautious war, there would be casualties. It was the same during the Empire and Federation eras. During the day, even he had entered an alienated state three times to battle the Core-seeds of the Grey-wing tribe.
“Are you alright?” Gela asked.
He unhesitatingly intertwined his tail with his mate's. While Sakti held up his hands—which were too dirty to look at and prevented him from embracing Gela—the male kissed the black female's jaw.
“I’m fine. It went smoothly.”
Giving a quick answer, Sakti also reported his itinerary: “Don't worry. Those who actually fought were mostly the Sub-Queen's Armed-species and Core-seeds. All the surrendering Grey-wing members are alive and well. The males and larvae are unaffected. The actual death toll is very small.”
“Thank you.”
The male looked at him and, for some reason, suddenly offered his thanks. Gela seemed to have much to say, but in the end, he remained silent.
He simply reached out quietly and hugged the other tightly.
They had once surrounded and protected the King-Zerg as a single entity, yet after the split, they slaughtered one another without mercy.
In the early stages of the Zerg split, most defeated tribes faced total annihilation. From adults to eggs, everything would be crushed, and the few survivors would be sold or traded. This race was ruthless to other species, but they were also ruthless enough toward their own. In any case, their reproductive speed was something humans couldn't match even with a copy-paste machine.
The ten direct core genetic lineages had survived to this day by crushing countless large and small tribes. Even someone as rational as Clark had times when he slaughtered the enemy to the last bug.
The seemingly gentle silver-grey female had not only driven an entire Hard-wing species to extinction but had also wiped out another direct tribe, personally beheading two Sub-Queens.
Only his mate, immediately after the battle ended, told him that those males and larvae were unharmed.
Just as he had fished him out of the scavenger ship, Sakti had gone to fish out the most insignificant parts of the war.
“What is it that you want? You aren't satisfied with a tiny energy planet. Do you want all ten direct tribes to bow their heads to you?” Gela asked suddenly. He looked up at Sakti, his pale eyes devoid of any unnecessary emotion.
But he kissed the corner of the other's lips again—a very light, brief touch, as if confirming something.
“I will help you take the entire Great Information Nest,” the male said calmly.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
空手套白狼 | Getting something for nothing | Idiom: To gain something without investing anything; "trapping a white wolf with bare hands."
羊毛出在羊身上 | The wool comes from the sheep's back | Idiom: The cost is ultimately borne by the recipient; using the enemy's own resources against them.
星核能源 | Stellar-core energy | The high-grade energy source extracted from Akasha.
以退为进 | Retreating to advance | A strategy of making a tactical concession to achieve a greater goal.
先掀天花板后开窗 | Tearing off the ceiling before opening a window | A negotiation tactic: proposing an extreme demand so that a lesser, desired demand seems reasonable.
两个小循环 | Two small cycles | A Zerg measurement of time.
