Battle of the Zerg Queen
by M1zushiM1zushi: guess who forgot to schedule the chapters and whose internet went down for 8 hours??? here’s today’s chapter :’)
The Zerg Queen’s figure was enormous. Even though Gu Huan piloted a mecha, the size difference between them was still significant. However, there was no trace of fear in his expression.
“Can brain-washed humans still be considered humans?” Gu Huan questioned coldly.
“The humans with mental abilities of grade C and below will be left behind. They cannot use mechas and are stripped of any means to resist you. They are nothing more than livestock raised by the Zergs, surviving only through the ‘mercy’ of the ‘gods.’ What kind of life is that?”
Gu Huan raised his bow and arrow.
“Between humans and Zerg, it’s only a fight to the death.”
Ignoring humans with mental abilities of grade C and below was just a tactic to relax their vigilance. There could be no illusions about the enemy.
Because he had recovered his memories, his mental power had grown to the point where it could cover an entire planet. He could see his soldiers outside fighting in the sea of Zergs and witness the countless times the starships’ energy cannons lit up and extinguished, like fireworks flickering in the starry sky, igniting the once silent universe.
For their sake, he couldn’t pursue the ephemeral idea of coexistence.
The giant insect shifted its body slightly, its hoarse voice expressing regret, “It’s a pity that you weren’t fooled.”
Indeed, she wasn’t prepared to share the world with Gu Huan. She only wanted to control him.
Gu Huan’s hand holding the bow and arrow trembled, as a spiritual force tried to break into his mind. This was a mental battle without the presence of smoke and fire.
The Zerg Queen was quickly surprised.
Gu Huan’s mental force was much stronger than what she had previously understood. How could he control such a powerful mental force without losing control?
“How is it possible?”
“How can humans really possess such powerful mental abilities?”
Gu Huan snapped out of his meditation.
He knows the answer, but he won’t tell her.
The entire soil pillar unfolded like a giant tree, gradually extending branches and tendrils resembling vines covered in mucous. They reached out towards Gu Huan. Transforming his bow into a longsword, Gu Huan leaped among the Zerg’s tendrils, the sharp blade slicing through the earth. Some insect eggs rolled out from the “tree” core, hatching into new Zerg worms.
Facing the onslaught, Gu Huan stood in the center of the crater, golden waves of mental power rolling over the surrounding Zergs. They resisted for a while but were eventually overturned.
Other Zerg worms couldn’t get close to such a powerful psychic field. After repelling the small ones, Gu Huan charged forward. He only wanted to cleave open the Zerg Queen’s head and rescue Nie Chuan inside. The other Zerg creatures were beneath his notice.
Mo Xiao, in the starship control room, watched the triumphant general in the video with a dreamy expression. She only snapped back to reality when Andrew coughed lightly and she gestured to him,
“Let’s also go down. The energy blasts from the starship’s cannons will be absorbed by the Zerg Queen’s body. We’ll go down and help the general deal with the Zerg.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Stepping on the Zerg Queen’s tendrils, Gu Huan swung his sword. The mucous couldn’t touch him at his speed, and the sharp blade cleaved through the Zerg Queen’s body, leaving a massive crack.
The Zerg Queen roared, “Damn it! Gu Huan, it’s you again!”
The mecha’s face brushed against the mucous, and Gu Huan flicked the blade, creating a hurricane that swept the mucous away.
Seeing the frenzied Zerg Queen, memories that had become clearer from the last encounter surfaced before Gu Huan’s eyes. He had remembered everything.
This wasn’t the first time he had faced this Zerg Queen. During the founding era, he had fought her alone. He had nearly obliterated her with magic because, in his eyes, the Zerg Queen was just a low-ranking magical creature that commanded minions and was nothing to be feared without those minions.
However, just as he was about kill the Zerg Queen with a high-level magic lightning, he felt his life slipping away at the same time. He instantly understood that the world’s will wouldn’t allow him to defeat the Zerg Queen at that moment. So, he stopped and let her live until today.
“I can understand why you set up such a scheme just to control me.”
Gu Huan, wielding the gigantic mecha sword, finally pierced through layers of obstacles and reached the top of the Zerg Queen’s head.
Sunlight pierced through the clouds, illuminating the white mecha. Its sword pointed at the monster’s head, appearing somewhat sacred.
Gu Huan said coldly, “Because you were originally my defeated subordinate.”
“It’s a pity that you lost.”
Unable to defeat Gu Huan head-on, the Zerg Queen tried a softer approach, speaking with a hoarse and unpleasant voice.
“I understand you, Gu Huan.”
“I understand your loneliness.”
“Even if they didn’t betray you back then, they did later.”
“We have the same spiritual power. Before that damn Empress appeared, I was the only one who listened to you.”
Gu Huan’s eyelashes trembled slightly. After recalling memories from his past life, he also remembered his childhood memories, which were indeed not a pleasant reminiscence.
“I don’t need this deceptive understanding, nor do I need companionship with ulterior motives,” Gu Huan said, lifting his sword, determined to swing it and cut open the monster’s head.
Just as the sword was about to fall, he suddenly felt a severe psychic fluctuation. The Zerg Queen’s mental power was erupting because their psychic powers were too similar, causing him to be affected.
A trace of fear flashed in Gu Huan’s golden eyes.
<hr>
On the starship, the light brain at Chu Xinglin’s main seat suddenly lit up. In a mechanical tone, Xiao Yi urgently reported, “Your Highness, the general’s spiritual monitoring system has detected that his mental power is about to lose control.”
Chu Xinglin stood up without hesitation, saying in a tense tone, “Prepare my mecha. I’m going to the front line.”
His pheromones might soothe Gu Huan, and his physical attributes might help subdue him when his mental power erupts.
“Your Highness, it’s too dangerous there…” Chen Weiwei, without hesitation, tried to stop him.
“The mental powers of both the Zerg Queen and the General exceed SSS level. If they simultaneously erupt, the entire planet will be razed to the ground. You can’t go there. You should inform the people on the planet to evacuate as soon as possible.”
It’s not that he’s heartless. If His Highness Chu Xinglin were to die there, who would lead the Empire? Besides Chu Shengyun, the only royal heir was Chu Fengyuan. Did they want that troublemaker who originally wanted to rebel to become emperor?
Chen Weiwei glared at Chu Fengyuan, who was watching the show there. When his sincere subordinate tried to convince him, Chu Xinglin thought of many high-sounding reasons in his mind.
For example, this is what their Empire owes Gu Huan,
The Empire cannot live without Gu Huan,
But in the end, he spoke his true feelings:
“He is the one I love.”
So, I can’t live without him.
All other reasons were just excuses. Chu Xinglin’s expression was firm, stubborn, and didn’t allow anyone to question his decision. His alpha’s stubborn and domineering personality was evident at this moment, leaving Chen Weiwei speechless.
“Prepare to open the starship and cover me, I’m going to the Interstellar Court Planet,” Chu Xinglin turned his head, striding forward.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
<hr>
Gu Huan really didn’t want to join the riot led by the Zerg Queen.
Because he didn’t want to die here.
But he knew he was about to lose control, desperately using meditation to stabilize the resonant mental power fluctuations. However, the out-of-control mental power was still growing more massive.
His golden eyes turned gray, but at the same time, he calmed down. His trembling fingers opened the mecha’s communication and amplification systems, and he spoke in a cold, deliberate tone:
“All soldiers, escape! Get out of here!”
After saying this, the heavy sword in his hand also fell to the ground, creating a cloud of dust upon impact.
“What happened to General Gu Huan?”
Andrew received the news and answered, “General Gu Huan is about to go berserk. They want us to be cautious and retreat, not to engage in unnecessary battles.”
Mo Xiao swung her sword at an incoming Zerg, almost being ambushed from behind. She fended off the Zerg biting her shoulder with her hand, her red mecha turning around, her voice becoming uncontrollably sharp, “General Gu Huan’s mental power is about to go berserk?!”
“He’s probably being influenced by that Zerg Queen,” Andrew said, relaying the information to Mo Xiao.
Mo Xiao frowned. “General Gu Huan hasn’t gone berserk yet. Let’s rush up and pull him back, get a spiritual healer over here.”
“When the general returns to normal, we will come out to fight again.”
Just then, He Qixing flew over and heard Mo Xiao’s words.
“Captain Mo Xiao, this might not work,” he said.
“General Gu Huan just ordered us to escape. If there’ was another way, General Gu Huan wouldn’t let us escape. Just now I tried, and General Gu Huan opened a mental power field to fend off those Zergs. The mental power intensity there is too high. If we go in… our mechas are not strong enough,” he analyzed, pointing out the possibility of being crushed by the pressure.
“So, are we now only left with the option to escape?” Mo Xiao asked after cutting down an approaching Zerg with her sword.
He Qixing pressed his lips tightly, silent. In truth, he didn’t want to escape. The General gave up using the convenient weapon of bow and arrow to kill the Zerg Queen because he heard that Nie Chuan still had a chance of survival. How could he abandon General Gu Huan who took risks for them? He had to think of a way to protect everyone.
He Qixing pondered silently, and Andrew said, “Captain, let’s escape quickly. General Gu Huan’s mental power exceeds the SSS level, and this Zerg Queen can control so many Zergs. Their combined outbreak could turn not just us, but the entire planet into ashes.”
Mo Xiao didn’t respond to his words but instead turned to the young man who had been standing still in contemplation since earlier.
“I’ve always heard Nie Chuan say there’s no one smarter than you in the entire First Military Academy,” Mo Xiao said. “I believe in Nie Chuan, so I also believe in you, Lieutenant He. Do you have any good ideas?”
After waiting for a while, even Mo Xiao was getting impatient. He Qixing finally moved. In his usually calm tone, he carried a rare trace of determination.
“Yes.”
<hr>
Gu Huan was still struggling with his own will. He was almost overwhelmed by the intense pressure and a sense of losing control, but he kept pinching his fingers to prevent himself from completely passing out.
He dreamed of his first life, sitting in a wheelchair by the window, reading books that didn’t seem to match his taste. It was the first online novel he ever read, a story about two men in love. If anyone who knew him saw it, it would surely surprise them.
Chu Xinglin was the character that left the deepest impression on him. He hadn’t read any other novels and didn’t know if other novels had such perfect characters. It was the first and last online novel he read because shortly after finishing it, he fell seriously ill.
At that time, he envied the protagonist in the novel. The protagonist could really go into battle, make efforts to protect the country, and defeat evil forces. He could even pilot a mecha. He was curious about mechas, wondering how it felt to pilot one.
In his drowsy state due to illness, a voice answered him,
“Do you want to give it a try?”
“After you enter, it will be your own fanfiction. You are the master of your world.”
Gu Huan didn’t know whose voice it was, perhaps a god, and quite a confused one at that. Because, in the moment he closed his eyes, he heard the voice of the god again. “Oops… You’ve been thrown into the wrong world.”
“Anyway, it’s a transmigrations anyway, it doesn’t matter which world you go to.”
“It does matter. He wants to pilot a mecha. Do you want him to pilot a mecha in a western fantasy world? Fool.”
“Then give him another chance. Let him die in the western fantasy world and transmigrate over again.”
“Very few people get to transmigrate twice.”
“It’s your job mistake; you have to fix it.”
“Okay.”
It turns out… gods really exist. No wonder he could cross worlds, and not just once, but twice. This was the world he truly belonged to. The voices of these gods were buried deep in his memory. Without this spiritual outburst, he wouldn’t have remembered.
“Did you throw him into the interstellar world?”
“The people in the western fantasy world are more powerful than those in the interstellar world. Don’t you know?”
“He almost killed the Zerg Queen just now. What’s the point of this story?”
“What do you suggest, boss?”
“Give him another identity.”
“This is already the second time.”
“It’s your job mistake; you have to solve it.”
“Okay, boss, how do you suggest we solve it?”
“Those humans can’t cultivate children with the mental power of a Zerg Queen. You have to guide them to success.”
A trace of blood dripped from the corner of Gu Huan’s mouth. He actually wanted to laugh, but his body was crushed by the mental power, and he couldn’t laugh. Every attempt resulted in coughing up blood.
He originally thought that the will of the world didn’t like him, but it turned out that they were actually considering him. Although the main problem was still their job mistake.
A tear slid down the corner of Gu Huan’s eye. He knew what these words meant. He couldn’t be reborn again, couldn’t transmigrate again. This was his end. If he died, he would truly die.
While he could still speak freely, he opened the mecha’s communication device, his voice hoarse and lips barely moving,
“Chu Xinglin.”
The pain in his body suddenly faded, and for a moment, it felt like nothing else mattered.
“I love you.”
He had never said these three words to Chu Xinglin because he thought it was too cheesy, and he couldn’t say it out loud. But now, he was about to die. If his mecha could leave a black box after self-destructing, or if Chu Xinglin was watching from a starship right now, he hoped he could hear his confession.
A burst of magnetic deep laughter came from a distance. “I have heard it.”
Gu Huan’s eyes widened suddenly, then he clenched his fist,
“Don’t come closer.”
Chu Xinglin’s mecha was a new design secretly researched for him by Fang Yuanqi. Its level was similar to Gu Huan’s mecha, but rushing over consumed some energy. The performance of the new mecha was already outstanding, but you could still see the black paint peeling off.
Gu Huan hadn’t seen this mecha before, but he couldn’t be more familiar with its color scheme. Fang Yuanqi also understood Chu Xinglin’s feelings for Gu Huan. Black was the color of Gu Huan’s hair, and gold was the color of Gu Huan’s eyes—both were his favorite colors.
“Don’t be afraid. I will… bring you over soon.”
Chu Xinglin controlled the mecha to fly towards Gu Huan, struggling step by step under the pressure of mental power, like climbing a mountain against the wind.
Chu Xinglin’s appearance relieved some of the painful feelings in Gu Huan’s heart. The Zerg Queen had been trying to make him recall his most difficult times, applying mental pressure to make him sink together with her. However, he was no longer alone. He had many reasons to want to survive, and there were people who wanted to save him.
“Th-thank you, Chu Xing… lin. But don’t come. I can’t control it.”
Gu Huan hadn’t cried much before, but this time, he felt his eyes burning. Perhaps someone heard the prayers in his heart, or perhaps it was a miracle that should have happened.
In the airspace that should have only belonged to the two of them, suddenly there were more voices,
“Your Highness, General! We’re here to help you!”
Chu Xinglin widened his eyes and looked back. Mo Xiao and more than ten soldiers from Jialin Legion were flying in the front, holding some stones.
The surrounding mental power fields weakened significantly and Chu Xinglin immediately recognized what they were holding.
“Zerg Crystals.”
Zerg Crystals could absorb mental power. So, this spiritual power field could also be absorbed by Zerg Crystals. Why didn’t he think of it before?
“Your Highness, hurry up, bring the General out.”
Chu Xinglin nodded. While several mechas held multiple stones to absorb the mental power around him, he flew to Gu Huan’s mecha, walking out of the mecha control room.
Fortunately, he had SSS-level physical fitness. Otherwise, he might not withstand the rioting mental power around him. However, his neat suit was torn into rags by the rampaging mental power, barely hanging on his body.
The strong alpha stepped on the mecha and pressed the emergency switch of Gu Huan’s mecha control room door. The door opened, and Gu Huan fell weakly from the control room into Chu Xinglin’s arms.
Chu Xinglin, without caring about anything else, directly kissed his lips.
Just now, the confession was enough for the people around to know their relationship, so they weren’t too surprised. Not only them, but everyone was focusing on the front-line situation. So, the words “Chu Xinglin, I love you” just now were heard by at least a third of the entire military district.
Andrew coughed and whispered on a private channel, “Mo Xiao, that’s His Highness the Crown Prince. We can’t afford to mess with him.”
“I know.”
“The situation is not suitable now. Let’s leave first.”
“I understand.”
Andrew sighed helplessly and patted his forehead. If everyone knew and understood, why was she still pointing her weapon at His Highness’s neck?
Mo Xiao looked down and realized that she unconsciously aimed her weapon at His Highness’s neck. She reassured, “Don’t worry, Andrew. I absolutely won’t commit regicide.”
Andrew: “… “ I’m not reassured
He asked, “What about this monster? This monster is still in a mental power rampage. She really wants to blow us all up together.”
Should they bring more Zerg Crystals to absorb the mental power of the Zerg Queen’s riot, or should they simply withdraw, letting the Zerg Queen destroy this place, and she could die together with her Zerg minions?
“What about Nie Chuan? Nie Chuan is still inside.” He Qixing frowned.
<hr>
Nie Chuan, who was preparing to steal the enemy base, had no idea about the events happening outside. He was unaware of the Zerg Queen’s mental power rampage because the environment inside was peaceful, except for being a bit smelly, dirty, and toxic. He continued to poke around here and there, but soon found it difficult to move.
It was indeed toxic here. He became weaker, and for some reason, he felt that the shell here was getting harder.
“Xingxing’s father, do you have any way to kill it? Its shell is getting harder, and I feel like I can’t steal anything.”
He Yunan coughed. He had just thought about it for a long time before coming up with this question. Why did the Zerg Queen appear in the same place as him? He came to the Interstellar Court Planet to destroy evidence. In terms of energy, the Interstellar Court Planet was not the most abundant. In terms of strategic layout, it had no actual strategic significance.
Why did the Zerg Queen appear here instead of any other more important location? Why the Interstellar Court Planet?
Later, he finally figured it out. It was all because of him. Because he was here, the Zerg Queen was here too. The Zerg Queen parasitized on him, took root in him, absorbed nutrients, and then extended her tentacles into the underground energy source to absorb energy.
In the typical human image, the Zerg Queen should be very large, which allowed her to give birth to so many Zerg creatures. However, the Zerg Queen might have deceived everyone by this point.
In reality, she could not only expand but also shrink, reducing her size to a level that others wouldn’t notice, and then directly absorbing energy to expand as needed.
He Yunan’s eyes flickered slightly. “You said its shell is getting harder?”
“Yeah.” Nie Chuan knocked on it, and the sensation was different.
“I have a guess.”
“There’s an idiom called 'the cicada sheds its shell.'”
“This Zerg Queen might be able to do that. When on the verge of death, she sheds her huge shell, leaving only her true body to escape secretly.”
“If she wants to shed her shell…”
“Her shell will become harder!”
Nie Chuan stood up excitedly, then softened because of the poison. However, this didn’t stop him from desperately trying to stand up, or even using his hands to support himself.
“I need to find its true body and crush it to death.”
He Yunan felt that Nie Chuan was searching for a needle in a haystack and acting impulsively.
It’s not that easy to find.
He Yunan slowly closed his eyes. In his last gleam of consciousness before going away, he really saw Nie Chuan holding up a bug and gently pinching it.
If that was indeed the Zerg Queen, he could rest assured and close his eyes, hoping to meet those old friends in the other world and seek their forgiveness.
<hr>
Gu Huan slowly opened his eyes, blinking lightly. After a while, he realized that he was still alive. This was the advanced ward in the Capital. Surrounding him were familiar military personnel, and Chu Xinglin sat by his bedside, tightly holding his hand.
“Gu Huan, you finally woke up,” Chu Xinglin said, squeezing Gu Huan’s hand.
“General! You finally woke up, wuwuwu,” Yue Yang cried with a mournful face, wiping away tears with swollen eyes. Mo Xiao tightly pursed her lips, glancing at the Crown Prince but refrained from interrupting.
Kepel timely pulled Yue Yang, signaling him not to steal the limelight from the Crown Prince.
Gu Huan, observing their actions, suddenly remembered something. A red blush crept up to his ears. The whole person looked like a boiled shrimp. He really thought he was going to die, which led to his public confession. As a result, they all heard it. It would have been better if he had died then.
Gu Huan clenched the bedsheet, and his lips pressed down slightly, avoiding the gazes of the other captains and even Chu Xinglin.
The Crown Prince waved his hand, letting everyone leave before embracing Gu Huan’s shoulders. He gently kissed his forehead.
“They’re all our allies; they would find out sooner or later.”
“Don’t worry about them knowing. I will give you a grand wedding to let the entire galaxy know.”
Gu Huan didn’t feel much better, but he remembered the main point. He licked his dry lips.
“The Zerg Queen, where is she?”
“Is the Zerg Queen dead?”
Chu Xinglin laughed lightly when Gu Huan mentioned this. “You taught a good student.”
“He’s really lucky.”
“Do you know? He killed the Zerg Queen. Now he’s the hero of the entire Empire.”
“Nie Chuan, he killed the Zerg Queen…” Gu Huan murmured in disbelief.
“Accurately speaking, he pinched the Zerg Queen to death,” Chu Xinglin said.
While they were still deciding whether to use the Zerg Crystal to absorb the out-of-control mental power or to retreat quickly, the Zerg Queen’s mental power suddenly disappeared. Then, everyone was stunned. Only He Qixing reacted quickly, rushing up to split the Zerg Queen’s head open. After splitting the head, he saw Nie Chuan, smiling foolishly, pinching a bug, and his father lying in the mucus.
A picture of Nie Chuan pinching the Zerg Queen to death made it to the cover of the Empire Times Weekly. He was considered a savior opening a new era and his reputation soared instantly.
Gu Huan was somewhat surprised by this result. Although influenced by him, the history of expelling the Zerg race was advanced a few steps, and although Nie Chuan lost his years of experience due to graduating from a military academy and working in the army, neither did he grow into a general capable of carrying everything, he still gained a reputation comparable to the Nie Chuan in the book.
Truly worthy of someone with the protagonist halo. Gu Huan nodded slightly with a faint smile.
“Now that the war is over, the Interstellar Court is going to settle accounts with me.” Gu Huan remembered this and his smile turned a bit bitter. He was still a fugitive.
“You just stay in the hospital until you feel comfortable. I dare them to sentence you to several years.”
Chu Xinglin said domineeringly, then leaned over, pressing Gu Huan against the bedside, and kissing him gently. Due to his still weakened body, Gu Huan was soon breathless from the kiss.
The door suddenly burst open. He Qixing supported Nie Chuan, who limped to the door and exclaimed, “Ge-… General!” He sucked in a cold breath. Before he could catch his breath, He Qixing quickly pulled him out, smiling and saying, “Sorry to disturb,” then swiftly closed the door.
Gu Huan, listening to the coughing outside, looked at Chu Xinglin with some complaints.
Chu Xinglin smiled contentedly, raising his lips in a smirk. “It feels really good when everyone knows.”
There are more and more sensible people coming.
But every time Mo Xiao came to visit, he always felt a chilly breeze behind him.