TCPUAAV Chapter 111

 

Even on the front lines, Zerg nests were a rare sight.

 

Rong Heng had only seen one when he crossed the defensive perimeter during a Zerg tide, in search of the Zerg’s base of operations.

 

Though the Empire had been at war with the Zerg for millennia, no one had ever discovered the location of their original nest. All that was known was that the Zerg poured endlessly into Imperial space from some unknown origin. When blocked by the Empire’s front-line defenses, they would seek out suitable planets beyond the borders to establish temporary nests. From these makeshift bases, they would launch fresh assaults against the Imperial lines.

 

Planets chosen by the Zerg to serve as nests ended up like this—completely stripped of vegetation, the surface buried under countless grey rocks. Beneath that lifeless terrain, however, lay vast, intricate, and sprawling Zerg hive complexes.

 

Inside those nests, uncountable numbers of eggs were incubated. Once hatched, the Empire would once again be subjected to a devastating wave of Zerg.

 

In the past, Zerg nests only appeared in star systems beyond the Empire’s defense perimeter. But now, a habitable planet within the Empire’s administrative zone had silently been turned into a nest.

 

By now, the spaceship was flying quite close to the port. Through the portholes, the passengers could even make out the tall mounds of grey rock covering the ground—and crawling atop those rocks, the unmistakable figures of Zerg.

 

The cabin instantly erupted in cries of alarm. Panic spread as passengers looked around in terror, their instincts urging them to flee—though none of them knew where to run.

 

The young cubs grew serious the moment they saw the Zerg on the ground. They exchanged glances in perfect sync and instinctively moved to guard the cabin door. If needed, they were fully prepared to charge into battle.

 

Garland stood behind them, observing. He was slightly surprised to see that none of the cubs showed any signs of fear in the face of the Zerg. Then he recalled the information unearthed during the search of Planet B3024—this trash planet had once endured a Zerg tide and somehow survived.

 

So these little ones weren’t strangers to the Zerg.

 

The little dragon cub turned to glance at him, assuming Garland must be scared. After all, Hector had said Papa Garland was a scholar and researcher. The cub thought for a moment, then stretched out a paw and gently nudged Garland back, face solemn. “Don’t be afraid. We’ll protect you.”

 

The words “protect you” were said with utmost seriousness.

 

Garland didn’t argue with the cub’s assumption. He simply gave a soft “Mm” and stepped back toward the floor-to-ceiling porthole, continuing to observe the situation on the ground.

 

Meanwhile, Ruan Shiqing had already brought Rong Heng to the cockpit.

 

Now that they were close enough to the surface, the captain, too, had realized something was wrong. He had slowed the descent and was repeatedly trying to contact command.

 

But the comms signal here was extremely weak, and none of his messages had gone through.

 

With the port rapidly approaching, Ruan Shiqing dashed forward and cut off the captain mid-request, his tone brooking no argument. “Abort landing immediately. We need to leave Driftwood Star at full speed.”

 

The captain still didn’t understand what was happening. “I haven’t gotten a response from command yet—”

 

“The surface is a Zerg nest!” Ruan Shiqing barked. “If you don’t want this entire ship wiped out, turn around and leave. Now.”

 

A Zerg nest.

 

The word alone made the captain shudder. Without even thinking, he aborted the landing and swung the ship around.

 

Ruan Shiqing was already intimately familiar with large spacecraft. He placed Rong Heng on the console and began tapping furiously at the controls. First, he activated the protective shields, then brought up the weapons system to standby. At the same time, the infrared scanner returned its analysis—beneath that lifeless grey land was a densely packed mass of crimson.

 

The captain stared at the imaging in shock. “How… how is this possible?”

 

The imaging map revealed that beneath the surface lay a dense mass of Zerg—or rather, Zerg eggs.

 

These eggs were clearly on the verge of hatching. If they were allowed to do so, the consequences would be catastrophic.

 

A flurry of thoughts raced through Ruan Shiqing’s mind. Ultimately, his gaze returned to the passengers aboard the ship. If he launched a strike on the Zerg nest, he could likely prevent the eggs from hatching—but such an attack would undoubtedly provoke a ferocious counterattack. The passengers would be caught in the crossfire…

 

His fingers curled into a tight fist. He shut off the imaging display and urged the captain to accelerate.

 

At the same time, he used his AI terminal, which had been boosted for stronger signal output, to transmit coordinates and information to Hector and the others on both B3024 and Balham Star, requesting immediate reinforcements.

 

If the ship could successfully leave Driftwood Star, they could land on the next planet and request an Imperial military intervention from there. Until the army arrived, it would fall to them to stabilize the situation and prevent a large-scale hatching.

 

But things didn’t go as smoothly as he’d hoped.

 

Just as they were approaching the upper atmosphere, Driftwood Star’s planetary defense system suddenly activated.

 

What was originally a protective barrier for the planet had now become a trap, blocking their only escape route.

 

“What’s going on?” the crew tried contacting the orbital station, but received no reply.

 

Ruan Shiqing stared at the massive shield spread across the sky above. His heartbeat faltered for a second. He turned to the captain and asked, “Before a ship can land, does Driftwood Star require explicit authorization? Is that process automated, or does it require manual clearance?”

 

The captain looked dazed. “Manual confirmation is required.”

 

Every starship’s route had to be pre-approved. Before landing on a planet along the route, the ship had to transmit its credentials. Only after manual verification by spaceport personnel would the system grant clearance. This was to prevent space pirates from disguising themselves as civilian vessels and infiltrating secure zones.

 

“But if I’m not mistaken,” Ruan Shiqing said, jaw tightening, “there are no living humans left on this planet.”

 

“Then who confirmed our landing earlier?”

 

The captain’s mouth dropped open in horror.

 

Ruan Shiqing no longer looked at him. His heart was pounding, and a realization hovered just beyond his grasp.

 

His searching gaze instinctively landed on Rong Heng.

 

By now, Rong Heng had returned to his human form. His expression was grim, tinged with a faint, bitter fury. “It’s the Zerg. They’re luring people in.”

 

Driftwood Star’s tourism industry had once been well-developed. Many ship routes passed through this red planet. But ever since they boarded the ship, there hadn’t been a single whisper about the planet being overrun by Zerg.

 

That meant the truth about Driftwood Star had been deliberately concealed.

 

The local government and residents of Driftwood Star wouldn’t have covered this up. Which left only one possibility: the Zerg.

 

Ruan Shiqing immediately understood. He accessed the planet’s official site through his AI terminal and, sure enough, found a notice posted a week ago: “Temporarily Closed to Tourists.” The statement claimed that the planet’s environment was undergoing remediation and would not be receiving visitors in the meantime.

 

As a result, many tourist vessels had already stopped coming to Driftwood Star. Only those passenger ships whose flight paths had been scheduled far in advance were still stopping here.

 

He continued searching the news, and soon discovered that in the past week alone, two passenger ships that had passed through Driftwood Star had already met with disaster. Without exception, all passengers aboard had gone missing. Only the wreckage of the ships—riddled with holes—had been found drifting in star systems far off their original flight paths. The culprit had yet to be identified…

 

“These Zerg might be smarter than we ever imagined,” Ruan Shiqing murmured, his face paling slightly.

 

Back on Planet B3024, he’d already realized the Zerg possessed intelligence. But judging by what had happened on Driftwood Star, their cognitive abilities might far exceed their prior estimations—perhaps even rivaling those of humans.

 

They not only knew how to hide their presence, but also how to deceive and mislead.

Even just the official website’s closure announcement—claiming the planet was temporarily shut to visitors—was not something low-intelligence Zerg could fabricate.

 

By preventing tourists from arriving, they had drastically reduced the chance of Driftwood Star’s true state being exposed. And for the occasional passenger ship that did stop by… as soon as they landed, unprepared and unaware, death was all but certain.

 

What was even more disturbing was that the Zerg had taken the extra step of transporting the ship wreckage to distant star systems—far away from Driftwood Star’s official flight routes—minimizing the chance of an investigation being launched.

 

This went far beyond the bounds of ordinary intelligence. It was the calculated scheming of a mastermind, one hidden in the shadows and pulling the strings.

 

No wonder the Zerg had suddenly gone silent after the fall of Lunka Star.

 

It wasn’t that they had retreated or been exterminated.

 

They had learned to hide.

 

And perhaps, within the very borders of the Empire, there were already countless other “Driftwood Stars.”

 

Once the eggs in those hidden nests hatched, the entire Empire might be dragged into war.

 

 

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I hear the sounds of ominous bells in the distance (what the heck is going on)

 

(Though are we going to learn about Jiao Jiao’s origins now? Since everyone kinda just accepted he’s uh, related to zergs without explanation lmao)

 

Thanks for reading!

For every three ko-fis, I will upload a bonus chapter~