TCPUAAV Chapter 116

Thanks again to hlyl0611~ Enjoy the bonus chapter!

 

 

Ruan Shiqing immediately shared his discovery with Rong Heng. The two of them conspired together, and after waiting several hours, they informed Sally and Jason of their plan to bomb the surface nest—just as Hector and Merrell arrived with the rescue forces.

 

When selecting the bombing sites, they deliberately avoided the location where the distress signal had appeared. At first glance, the bombing looked intense and convincing, but in truth, it only damaged the surface. Considering there might be survivors underground, they didn’t dare use excessive firepower—even if it was just for show.

 

But Sally and Jason had no idea.

 

Although the two disguised themselves well, Ruan Shiqing had been watching them closely and still managed to catch something off.

 

He sat in the main control room, eyes fixed on the live feed from the surface, speaking with a touch of excitement in his voice to stoke the flames: “The nearby reinforcements are a bit underpowered, so the bombing isn’t all that efficient. But once the main force arrives, things will speed up. I’d say in a day or two, the whole area will be cleared out.”

 

Sally was anxious and furious, though she dared not show it on her face. “When is the main force expected to arrive?” she asked.

 

“Probably by tomorrow morning,” Ruan Shiqing replied after a moment of thought. “Luckily, there aren’t many Zerg warriors left on Driftwood Star. We’re blasting a path with artillery, which should make the cleanup quick and save the main force some effort.”

 

The mention of the main force arriving tomorrow made Sally visibly tense, her face paling noticeably.

 

After a few more casual questions—none of which got her any useful intel—Sally left the main control room with Jason.

 

Ruan Shiqing glanced at 09, who understood instantly and discreetly released an ultra-micro tracker.

 

The tracker followed the two from a distance. It was incredibly tiny—just one millimeter in length, width, and height. As it crept along the ceiling, it was practically silent.

 

Sally and Jason noticed nothing. The two of them circled around the space station and eventually found a hidden corner to talk.

 

“We can’t wait any longer,” Sally said.

 

Her eyes glowed faintly red in the darkness—not pure black as they had appeared before.

 

Jason didn’t answer with words, only responded with a strange hissing sound from his throat.

 

“We have to take them away today,” Sally said again.

 

Jason replied only with more of that hissing.

 

Back in the main control room, Ruan Shiqing—wearing a high-sensitivity headset—was eavesdropping. The moment he heard the characteristic Zerg hissing, his expression turned grim.

 

The worst-case scenario had come true—Sally and Jason were almost certainly humanoid Zerg.

 

He didn’t act rashly, but instead relayed the information to Rong Heng, advising him to deliberately leave vulnerabilities in their surveillance to give the pair room to act.

 

*

 

As dusk fell, Sally hurriedly came to find Ruan Shiqing.

 

Ruan Shiqing was still stationed in front of the computer, watching the live feed being transmitted from the planet’s surface. A portion of the Zerg nest—where eggs were being nurtured—had already been reduced to scorched earth, littered with the mangled remains of countless Zerg.

 

—The number of Zerg remaining on Driftwood Star was far fewer than they’d anticipated.

 

A good number had already been eliminated during the battle to reclaim the space station. Though the remaining ones still looked numerous, compared to the frontlines, they were laughably weak. What’s more, when these surviving Zerg saw their nest under bombardment, they threw themselves over it in a desperate attempt to protect it—only to make things easier for Rong Heng and the others. A few well-placed artillery strikes obliterated both the Zerg and the nest in one go.

 

Ruan Shiqing was thoroughly enjoying the view of the Zerg corpses strewn across the battlefield.

 

Sally’s gaze lingered on the screen for a brief moment when she arrived, her pupils narrowing ever so slightly. But in the next instant, she put on a look of anxious excitement and said, “Mr. Ruan, we’ve made a new discovery!”

 

Ruan Shiqing switched off the screen, his expression one of surprise. “What kind of discovery?”

 

Sally hesitated slightly. “We picked up a distress signal.”

 

Ruan Shiqing’s heart skipped a beat. For a moment, he thought they had also discovered the distress signal from deep underground—but then quickly realized this was likely just an excuse to leave the station.

 

Still, he played along, feigning astonishment. “A distress signal? That’s impossible!”

 

“I know it sounds unbelievable, but it’s real.” Sally pulled up the signal’s coordinates from her neural device. “It’s intermittent, and we suspect there might still be survivors on the surface.”

 

“That’s hard to believe,” Ruan Shiqing replied, wearing a deeply skeptical look.

 

Seeing how stunned he appeared, Sally knew the first part of the plan had worked. She probed further, “Can we contact the military and ask them to pause the bombardment? If there really are survivors, we could end up hurting them.”

 

“If there are survivors, of course we’ll stop the bombing. But a distress signal doesn’t necessarily mean someone is still alive,” Ruan Shiqing said, frowning, though still following her logic. “That area isn’t within the current bombing range anyway. We should probably send someone to confirm it first.”

 

As he spoke, he reached to contact Rong Heng. “I’ll call the army now, have them send someone to check it out immediately.”

 

“There’s not enough personnel available right now—why not let me and Jason go instead?” Sally quickly interrupted, putting on an eager, helpful expression. “Jason and I both grew up on Driftwood Star—we know the terrain better than anyone.”

 

Ruan Shiqing hesitated. “But wouldn’t it be too dangerous for you two? This is the kind of thing trained soldiers should handle.”

 

“I just want to do whatever I can for my homeworld,” Sally said sincerely, looking at him with pleading eyes.

 

Ruan Shiqing appeared moved by her words. After a moment of hesitation, he finally relented. “Alright—but you must prioritize your safety. If anything goes wrong, come back immediately.”

 

Sally gave him a grateful smile. She endured the rest of his reminders with practiced patience, then finally turned to leave.

 

She and Jason immediately headed to the hangar, selected a shuttle, and departed from the space station.

 

Ruan Shiqing contacted Rong Heng. “They’ve left.”

 

Rong Heng responded with a calm “Got it,” and added, “I’ll have people tail them.”

 

Ruan Shiqing reminded him not to alert the targets. “Let’s wait and see what they’re in such a rush to retrieve. Humanoid Zerg like them—we’ve only seen two so far. They must hold high status among the Zerg. Whatever they’re after must be of great importance.”

 

He fiddled with the computer for a while, quietly hacking into the shuttle’s audio system in an attempt to eavesdrop.

 

But along the way, the two didn’t exchange much dialogue, and Ruan Shiqing gained nothing useful. All he could do was wait patiently for updates from Rong Heng.

 

*

 

After receiving the intel, Rong Heng immediately led a small team to the target coordinates.

 

This time, he didn’t bring the little cubs along, worried that their impulsiveness might alert the enemy. After a moment’s thought, he decided to take only Merrell and Ruan Jiao.

 

Merrell piloted the fighter craft at high speed in stealth mode toward the destination. To avoid detection, they landed on the surface while still some distance away from the coordinates.

 

After securing the fighter, they began advancing on foot in stealth.

 

Merrell wore a specially designed stealth suit, its color shifting with the environment to provide perfect camouflage. Rong Heng suppressed his presence and tucked Ruan Jiao under his arm, maintaining a safe distance from Merrell as they moved.

 

Both were highly skilled in stealth and approached the coordinates in complete silence, communicating only through hand signals.

 

Eventually, they found the shuttle parked outside a cave entrance.

 

Merrell cautiously peeked inside, then shook her head at Rong Heng—the cave was too deep and dark, and she couldn’t make out what was inside.

 

Rong Heng didn’t rush in. He set the cub down on the ground. “Can you move without being detected?”

 

Ruan Jiao furrowed his brow, thought for a moment, then gave a firm nod.

 

Only then did Rong Heng relax. He hoisted the cub up onto his back. “Hold on tight. No squirming, no talking.”

 

The little one obediently clung to his broad back, arms wrapped around his neck.

 

Satisfied, Rong Heng crept toward the cave entrance.

 

Ymir had excellent night vision; even the pitch-black, lightless cave couldn’t hinder his sight. He led the way, with Merrell following behind, ready for anything unexpected.

 

The tunnel inside wasn’t particularly wide. The walls were rough, clearly freshly dug.

 

Rong Heng moved carefully, scanning his surroundings as he advanced.

 

When he reached the end of the tunnel, four branching paths lay before him. He paused, brows furrowed in thought, then decided to consult the cub on his back.

 

He pointed silently to the four paths, asking: Which way?

 

Ruan Jiao’s eyes swept over the four tunnels, and the small feelers on his forehead twitched gently. After a moment, he pointed to the one second from the right.

 

Without hesitation, Rong Heng followed the indicated path.

 

This underground cave system was even larger than he’d expected—countless branching paths formed a complex maze, winding and interwoven. Other than the labyrinthine layout, there was nothing else of note.

 

But that only confirmed Rong Heng’s suspicion—whatever was hidden in here was certainly no ordinary thing.

 

Following Ruan Jiao’s guidance, he successfully located Sally and Jason.

 

At the end of the maze was a narrow stone chamber.

 

From the ceiling hung countless tough white threads, woven into thick nets. Within each net was a white Zerg egg, each the size of a basketball.

 

Rong Heng did a rough count—there were ten in total. His instincts told him these eggs were no ordinary brood.

 

Sally and Jason stood in the middle of the web, hissing continuously in Zerg speech. It was unclear what they were saying.

 

Rong Heng couldn’t understand, so he signaled to Ruan Jiao for a translation.

 

The cub scrunched up his face in frustration—he couldn’t communicate telepathically with Rong Heng, and he couldn’t speak out loud either. After thinking for a bit, he grabbed Rong Heng’s hand and began writing slowly in his palm.

 

One careful stroke at a time—Rong Heng could read every word.

 

[Sally. Wants to take. Eggs.]

 

[Eggs are important.]

 

The cub continued writing while tilting his head attentively, listening closely.

 

Sally and Jason were arguing back and forth, their voices rapid and emotions running high. After listening for a while, Ruan Jiao’s expression turned a bit odd. He then wrote in Rong Heng’s palm:

 

[They are fighting.]

 

A disagreement had clearly broken out—Sally was determined to take the eggs with them, while Jason wanted to abandon them and immediately leave Driftwood Star.

 

Rong Heng noticed it too. Though the two still wore human forms, their expressions had turned savage. Segmented limbs were already breaking through the skin of their backs. It didn’t look like a simple argument anymore—it looked like a fight was about to erupt.

 

Just as he had the thought, Sally’s hands instantly morphed into a pair of pincer-like claws, which she swung at Jason with a sharp hiss of fury.

 

Ruan Jiao immediately translated: [Idiot!]

 

Rong Heng: ???

 

He paused for a beat before realizing the cub wasn’t cursing him, just doing his job translating.

 

Jason didn’t strike back. Though several fuzzy-jointed limbs burst out from his back and lashed around in anger, he didn’t dare retaliate.

 

The dispute ended with Sally violently asserting dominance. Jason looked deeply frustrated but didn’t say a word—clearly afraid of her.

 

It was now obvious who held the upper hand between the two.

 

With the disagreement “settled,” Sally stripped off her obstructive clothing. As her human form warped and twisted, Rong Heng instinctively reached up to shield the cub’s eyes.

 

By the time he lowered his hand, Sally had already transformed into a massive Zerg.

 

Unlike typical Zerg, her body was larger, longer in shape, with a slightly bloated abdomen and a carapace covered in fine red fuzz. It was clear—this was a female.

 

Her features bore a resemblance to recorded traits of a Zerg Queen, though there were also notable differences.

 

From what Rong Heng knew, other than the Zerg Queen and the select males chosen for mating, most Zerg had no sexual characteristics and no reproductive capability.

 

Ordinary Zerg existed solely to serve the Queen and raise her brood.

 

He had assumed the eggs on Driftwood Star were laid by a Queen. But now, it was clear that his assumption had been off. It turned out, the Zerg had other females capable of reproduction besides the Queen.

 

Transformed, Sally stretched her limbs out with clear satisfaction, savoring the sensation of returning to her true form. After loosening up for a bit, she began slicing away the silk net with her limbs.

 

The strands peeled back, revealing the basketball-sized eggs inside.

 

She opened her massive maw and swallowed one egg whole. Then another. And another.

 

One by one, she devoured all ten, her previously slightly swollen abdomen now bulging and taut.

 

Then she hissed again.

 

Ruan Jiao wrote: [They’re going back.]

 

Rong Heng gave it a brief thought, then signaled silently to Merrell—who was waiting in ambush nearby—to retreat.

 

Back inside the cave, Sally, now having swallowed all ten eggs, returned to her humanoid form. She picked up her clothes and got dressed, gently touching her now prominent stomach with clear satisfaction.

 

“Let’s go,” she said. “Next, you pretend to be injured, and we’ll leave with the rescue ship.”

 

These ten were her proudest creations.

 

Once they hatched, the Zerg would gain a powerful new force, and their race would once again be blessed with an endless stream of warriors.

 

---

 

Mom I’m scared what is it with these zergs they are terrifying lmao

 

Thanks for reading!

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