Chapter 51

As her words fell, Ray simultaneously lifted the constraints on Chloe and other insect race members.

Ray glanced indifferently at the despairing superhuman one last time and, without any attachment, turned to leave, followed closely by Nolan and Ural.

After Ray's departure, Chloe and Nathaniel fully unleashed their top predator instincts of the insect race. Perhaps while Ray was present, to curry favor or pity, both had somewhat deliberately suppressed part of their nature.

The remaining humans now realized, belatedly, that the earlier killings by these two insect race members had been remarkably restrained.

Sharp screams of agony faintly echoed from the hall.

Walking into the quiet, open garden, the distant sounds of attacks from the bio-warships penetrated the distance, audible even where Ray was.

Ray, once familiar to the point of weariness with such cries of death, noted that this time the screams had different owners.

"The destruction of the Alliance's experimental database is complete," Gaia's voice came through, tinged with satisfaction, "Moreover, after careful screening, I've preserved some effective data within the insect web. They've lost three thousand years of data, and even if they wish to restart related research, the difficulty is not as simple as they might hope. And besides... Your Majesty is present."

Humans, unlike the insect race, lacked the natural advantage of shared mental connections and generational genetic memory, unable to pass down knowledge as effortlessly as the insect race.

"Your Majesty, if you wish to depart from Vitale Star, a high-grade starship can be summoned at your command," Nolan said. "Vitale Star is amidst war, with many factors jeopardizing safety."

The recapture of Vitale Star was almost a certain victory, and Nolan's concern was merely for Ray's safety amidst the conflict.

After a few seconds of thought, Ray nodded slightly, "Call a starship to nearby then."

Upon receiving Ray's order, Karisa and Anas, who controlled the main warship, immediately headed to the specified area above the destination.

Having not seen Ray for a long time, they were particularly worried about her quality of life, as Chloe and other insect race members had subtly reported that the environmental quality of Alliance planets was far inferior to that of the insect race's average.

The warship quickly found the nearest suitable location and positioned itself in front of Ray. Led by Karisa and Anas, dressed in black military uniforms, a team of high-ranking insect race members descended the stairs.

"Your Majesty, you have been inconvenienced during this time," Karisa said softly. "Please board the warship, we have prepared your rest area in advance."

While speaking, Karisa carefully observed Ray's physical condition. After all, Ray's repeated injuries on planets like R27 and W0199 Sita had left a psychological impact on these high-ranking insect race members.

Fortunately, everything was normal this time; there were no traces of injuries on Ray, and her energy didn’t seem depleted or tired.

Ray nodded slightly, pondering, "No need to return to the main planet immediately; I need to stay on Vitale Star for a few more days."

"Yes."

*****

Inside the meeting room.

"This time, Her Majesty is declaring her identity to the entire star system," Karisa said with a rare smile of genuine pleasure. "We have indeed been silent for too long."

Ray, in the name of the Queen, had declared war against the entire Alliance, while also serving as a threat to certain powers lurking in the shadows.

Anas, staring at the interwoven data on the floating panel, pondered for a few seconds before responding, "The strength of our military forces is steadily rising overall, and their mental state is gradually improving. We must hasten the training of our forces. Now that Her Majesty's appearance is exposed to the entire star system, it might attract some dangers."

"I don't think so. Anas, you might be too cautious," Karisa said lightly. "Why should Her Majesty worry about those petty schemes? With us here, any problem will be cleanly dealt with."

"Are we only attacking Vitale Star?" Anas, not picking up the conversation, mused, "Although Her Majesty hasn't given explicit orders yet, her previous statements seem to imply it. Perhaps Her Majesty wants to wait for the impact of this war to gradually unfold?"

"Additionally," Anas said with a hint of confusion, "Her Majesty brought back a human, seemingly a top scientist from the Alliance. His physiological reactions are different from ordinary humans, showing less fear when interacting with high-ranking insect race members. Is Her Majesty... interested in this type of person? Perhaps keeping him as a pet for amusement?"

Each Queen had her unique preferences, and collecting other life forms as pets was a common practice.

Traditionally, higher-ranking bug species would first neutralize any potential threats from other life forms, ensuring their harmlessness.

But both Annas and Kareysa wondered if Rei, known for her ruthless and unfeeling nature, would have such interests?

"This human has a special identity and is also a Level 7 psychic," Kareysa sighed softly. "Perhaps Her Majesty has other plans for him."

To date, no bug species had been fully acknowledged and favored by Rei to become part of her inner circle.

Possibly only Ural might be an exception, Annas and Kareysa speculated in unison.

Annas cast a glance at the purple-haired female bug and mockingly said, "Perhaps you should worry about your own status. Cloey has been in Her Majesty's company for quite some time."

"Oh?" Kareysa chuckled lightly, sharply retorting, "Indeed, you rarely have the opportunity to interact with Her Majesty."

Their conversation was subtly barbed.

The two high-ranking bugs exchanged a cool look and then averted their gazes. Resuming their smiles as if the previous exchange of words never occurred, they continued discussing upcoming battle plans.

*****

Among the alliance's citizens, public opinion about the bug species erupted uncontrollably, reaching a point beyond the high command's control.

Since a certain queen's deviation, the bug species had shifted from a brazen and greedy approach to a more cautious and low-profile demeanor. For humans, three thousand years is an exceedingly long time.

The current generation of alliance leaders lacked experience in confronting an outright war initiated by the bug species, as historically, they were the aggressors during the bugs' decline.

"Are we certain not a single Level 7 psychic survived?" Someone finally broke the silence in the dim, quiet meeting room.

"Only a few remain. Some were on missions, others simply dislike such gatherings," another replied. "But their power doesn't compare to the experienced veteran psychics. Most importantly, Horne is dead..."

"Even Mr. K was taken away by the bug species, and the loss of scientists and database information is much more tragic than that of the so-called psychics."

The black-haired young man at the center of the table suddenly raised his hand to adjust the floating data panel in front of everyone, calmly saying, "Take a look, this is the spider's web of clues we've managed to compile so far."

The network system of Vitalli Star had been completely destroyed by the bug species, leaving them without any effective surveillance footage.

Only in the psychic association of the area, it seemed that the chairman's room preserved a handwritten document, which briefly mentioned when Rei appeared, and the extremely powerful and peculiar subordinates accompanying her.

But at that time, Chairman Gregor merely saw Rei as a high-ranking psychic with a mysterious background, never suspecting any connection to the bug species.

"Due to the ongoing war on Vitale Star, we can't extract memory fragments from the superhumans' brains during this critical period," the black-haired youth analyzed calmly. "However, based on the situation on R27, I speculate that this insect race queen possesses powerful stealth abilities, managing to evade our biological detection with her entourage."

"What does this mean? She could even infiltrate the core areas of the Alliance without our knowledge," the black-haired youth frowned and said, "Fortunately, this time we only lost Vitale Star. None of the planets in our core region ever belonged to the insect race."

"Wait, Mr. Kason," a young Alliance executive suddenly interjected sharply from the corner of the table, "Shouldn't we be discussing more pressing matters than the particular traits of the current insect race queen? Vitale Star is on the brink of disaster. Why hasn't the core zone dispatched an elite force?"

The young man continued earnestly, "Even if losing Vitale Star is an irreversible fact, we should at least try to save some of the ordinary people there."

The room fell silent for a moment, with varied expressions on everyone's faces, most of them wearing strangely amused smiles.

The youth addressed as Kason glanced at the speaker and said coldly, "As you said, if Vitale Star is beyond saving, there's no point in wasting additional military resources. The loss of one Vitale Star is inconsequential. Our only concern now is how to mitigate this catastrophic disaster."

Kason paused, a fleeting look of fear crossing his face, uncharacteristic of his usual composure, before continuing, "If she only intends to reclaim planets that once belonged to the insect race, we might still negotiate and find a sliver of hope for peace. But what if... she aims to destroy the entire Alliance? Three thousand years should have been long enough..."

His last words were almost a whisper.

But the response was a terrible silence.