Chapter 35

Chapter 35

In the mental sea of Domain Insect Lord Seraphiel, a fine, tightly-woven black curtain had walled off a space within Yor's consciousness.

As the curtain thickened layer by layer, the space grew quieter and quieter, as if everything had been sealed away.

It blocked out the sounds of the Broodmother's body as it laid eggs, blocked out the fierce clash of pheromones, blocked out everything related to insects.

As time passed, the silence here became so absolute it was almost eerie.

It was as if time itself had frozen, and even emotions had paused.

The grief, pain, despair, and resentment that had been churning in his chest moments ago... slowly ebbed away.

Ling Yue sat quietly in the darkness.

Pure Ling Yue—not Yor, who was fused with Broodmother genes.

He reached out his hand in slight astonishment, examining his body, which had no insect markings at all.

Free from the overwhelming turbulence of emotion, Ling Yue sat in place for a while, dazed, even a little lost...

How... how... did it ever come to this?

Of course he'd been afraid when he escaped from the Purification Department's lab, of course he hadn't wanted to become a living, breathing broodmother locked away to breed—but... would things really have gone that far?

Would Leonius, Dexter, Taste, Lima, Herman, even the entire population of war bug miners on Vonar Star, really have let it come to that?

Even now, these male insects were trying to save him in the only way they knew how. Leonius had chosen the method that would hurt Yor the least—erasing this period of memories, even if the price was erasing his own existence.

It was a bit cold, but you couldn't call it insincere.

In the face of sincerity, what had he chosen?

Hiding, running, panicking blindly.

Stumbling blindly into the dark to end up here.

But this wasn't the real Ling Yue.

He had always been the type to go all in even when the odds were against him.

When he was short on money to finish his studies, he'd boldly used his gift for charming people to work in public relations and make quick cash;

When he was escaping the lab, he'd dared to spend his already meager mental energy to give a fellow countryman one last beautiful dream;

On the starship, barely able to save himself, he'd still gritted his teeth and poured everything into blowing up the Broodmother, turning the damage back on Zane...

When had he become someone who cowered in a corner, trembling?

When had things started to go wrong?

On the other side of the curtain, Ling Yue could sense the Broodmother fragment hovering silently, radiating... an aura of fear and evasion.

His brow furrowed...

It had all started when he absorbed that fragment to get back at Zane.

A chill ran down Ling Yue's spine. He was certain: the Broodmother fragment had influenced him.

Back on Blue Star, he'd juggled different clients every day, charming each one until they were beaming. The clients got their joy; he got his cash.

But during this period, he'd been like a rat in a sewer—hesitant, scared, scurrying around in a panic.

He'd almost forgotten how to make himself happy.

But he had always been someone who, no matter what difficulties he faced, loved himself above all and loved life more than anything...

How could this happen—a dead, leftover, shattered consciousness...

Ling Yue closed his eyes and began to think back carefully.

In the dark space, memories unfurled like a painted scroll...

Back then, when Ling Yue had sunk his consciousness into the Broodmother fragment, apart from the boundless pain... It... It...

It seemed to sense him!

It had suddenly raised its head, a flash of understanding in its eyes—it was the fragment that had actively collided with his consciousness...

As if, after endless suffering, it had found its only way out...

The consciousness It had left behind in the centaur clan's Broodmother body had only one obsession: "to give birth." It had none of the survival instincts, regrets, or other normal feelings that a dying consciousness should have.

And then there was Zane's laboratory—almost all the test subjects couldn't withstand the fragments of the Broodmother's consciousness, slowly being consumed...

Mental contamination.

When that thought slammed into his mind, a chill shot down his spine, racing all the way to the back of his skull.

He stood frozen for a few seconds before he could catch his breath.

Only he was the exception, because he possessed unusual psychic power that had allowed him to withstand full mental contamination.

Though it had still left serious effects behind.

But why him, though?

Where did the mental contamination come from?

Was only the Broodmother contaminated? What about the male insects?

Was it reasonable for such a massive race to reproduce in such a twisted way?

Ling Yue scratched his head in frustration. Too little info, too many questions.

Worse still, as the consciousness of the Lord's egg gradually matured, Ling Yue could feel the Broodmother fragment beside it getting restless...

He had a gut feeling that if it made contact with the egg, the consequences would be disastrous...

And yet Ling Yue was stuck here, unable to move.

Well... not entirely trapped.

He reached out, touched the "black curtain" around him, and gave it a firm tug. "Connect me, Seraphiel."

In the insect nest, Seraphiel, who had been resisting the chaotic pheromones with his eyes closed, snapped his eyes open, then immediately squeezed them shut. His voice rang directly in the sea of consciousness. "Lord Yor... please... please endure a little longer. It's almost done out here."

Ling Yue put on a sad face. "It's too dark in here. It's making me uneasy."

Seraphiel grew flustered, and the previously pitch-black curtain immediately emitted a faint golden glow.

That color...

Ling Yue's gaze flickered, recalling those eyes—the true culprit's eyes, the ones that had disguised themselves as Leonius and driven things to this state.

"I'm not checking outside, but there's a spot in my mental sea that hurts..." Ling Yue crouched down, hugging his arms. "Can you help me clear it out?"

Seraphiel got anxious right away: "Of course, of course, my lord. I can't establish a link to check right now, but just tell me—where does it hurt?"

Ling Yue watched as the golden curtain suddenly snipped out a small square piece from around him, a neat little square, like a... rag.

He went quiet for two seconds.

Was this really the insect who disguised himself as Leonius to fool me? He seems kind of foolish, somehow different...

But... desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Here." Ling Yue guided the golden "rag" toward the Broodmother fragment, his voice laced with agitation. "It's stinging like crazy. Help me hold it down, just for a second."

Seraphiel's mental power obeyed and covered it.

The instant contact was made, Seraphiel let out a short, muffled grunt. His mental sea shuddered violently as the resentment within that fragment latched onto his consciousness like thorns.

In the brief confusion and pain, the curtain Seraphiel had loosely draped around Ling Yue slackened slightly.

Ling Yue seized that moment. His mental power shot out through the gap, locking onto Seraphiel's mental power with precision.

Borrowing the Domain Insect Lord's vast mental energy—enough to nearly envelop an entire planet—he wrapped his own mental power around that fragment, layering pressure upon pressure, binding it tightly.

Ling Yue tried to crush it like he had with the Serian clan's mental core, but it wouldn't work. No matter how much mental power he poured in, it stayed put.

It had already merged deep into Ling Yue's mental sea—just as the ocean can't crush a single drop of water within itself, mental power of the same origin can't destroy it either.

Sweat beaded on Ling Yue's brow: "Can you... completely remove this thing from my mental sea?"

Seraphiel had barely recovered from the sting: "No, this is from the Broodmother. I can't sever the Broodmother's mental power..."

Ling Yue narrowed his eyes, thinking.

Imitating the golden "rag," he carved out a scalpel from his own mental sea.

One hand pressed down on the mental power wrapped around the Broodmother fragment. Ignoring the fact that his own and Seraphiel's mental power were still tangled in there, he prepared to slice down.

"No, a damaged mental sea isn't that simple to fix..." Seraphiel cried out in alarm, still unsure whether to resist Lord Yor, when a hand reached out from the void and gently caught Yor's wrist.

Amon had appeared in this mental space at some point without anyone noticing.

His form was more translucent than before, his edges nearly dissolving into mist, but he still stood firm before Ling Yue. He lowered his head, lightly brushing Yor's palm in a flippant manner, while extending his other hand to pluck up the Broodmother fragment with great delicacy.

The fragment twitched between his fingers, as if trying to escape, but failed.

Amon's presence weakened further, but he didn't care. He simply clutched the fragment and shot Yor a triumphant grin.

"Mother, we meet again. I'm Amon."

Ling Yue looked at him and recognized those pale golden eyes—the insect who had disguised himself as Leonius and driven him to this point. This was the... real culprit.

But he had no time to deal with Amon at the moment. His wrist instinctively pulled back. Amon's grip was light, his fingers loosely resting, and with a slight movement, Ling Yue pulled his wrist free.

The moment the fragment was removed, Seraphiel's mental power rebounded as if a thousand-pound weight had been lifted, springing back and spreading out wide.

Ling Yue rode that momentum, pressing down on the lord egg's consciousness. "Shut it."

The egg, which had been hopping and calling out, went silent abruptly. "Ma-ma...?"

In the nest, the war bugs surrounding the Broodmother's massive body, who had been tirelessly laboring, froze mid-motion. The fervor in their compound eyes slowly faded, leaving behind a blank emptiness—lost, not knowing where they were.

Several war bugs collapsed straight to the ground, completely unconscious.

Using Seraphiel's mental power, Ling Yue kept applying pressure, and within moments, the remaining war bugs dropped as well.

Sure enough, without that fragment, these drones wouldn't fall into delusion and madness so easily.

Only then did Ling Yue look down at himself.

The massive Broodmother form still lay prostrate in the birthing pool, soaked in pale golden nutrient fluid. At the bottom of the pool, countless eggs lay in a dense carpet. The largest one sat at the center, nestled with the eggs around it, leaning against the mother, growing contentedly. Pale gold, translucent, faintly pulsing—like countless hearts brimming with life.

They came from him. Every last one.

Ling Yue looked at those eggs, then at this unfamiliar, gleaming white body he now had.

He thought he'd feel disgust, revulsion, the urge to vomit like every other time he'd seen a gestation sac.

But perhaps it was all too far removed from anything normal. That body didn't look like his at all. The identity of Broodmother was too alien, and even these eggs—lacking any memory of their birth—seemed separated from him by an unbridgeable distance.

No fear, no hatred, not even anger... just a faint sense of unreality.

And an indifferent detachment, as if it had nothing to do with him at all.

The nest went quiet.

At the entrance, Leonius immediately sensed something was wrong.

He appeared in the nest in a flash, his elytra not yet fully folded, with fragments of shattered metal still clinging to their edges.

He looked up and met those clear, calm eyes. The grievance, confusion, and fear had receded, leaving behind the same gaze he'd seen when he first set eyes on Yor.

Fearless and full of hope.

Leonius stood at the nest's entrance, momentarily forgetting how to speak.

Ling Yue looked at him, then glanced back at the massive, gleaming white Broodmother form, and sighed softly.

It was still his body, after all, as long as his consciousness was still in control.

Fate doesn't always cooperate. Since his efforts had failed and retreat was no longer an option, he would simply be this Broodmother, continue being this Yor.

He closed his eyes, and with a single thought, he returned to the depths of his mental sea.

Change back.

The massive Broodmother form began to slowly shrink. The gleaming white light receded inch by inch. The insect patterns faded back beneath the skin. The tail curled and disappeared, and the bones realigned.

Pain surged like a tide, rising and ebbing. He let out a muffled grunt, collapsing limply against the edge of the pool, his legs too weak to hold him up.

Three figures reached the pool's edge almost at the same time.

Three hands reached out for him.

Leonius pressed his lips together, not saying a word, but his hand reached out first, his fingertips still stained with fresh blood. The guilt weighing on his brow was heavy, like a stone he didn't dare put down.

Amon's lips still curved in that playful arc, his fingers pale and slender, giving off a chill just by looking at them. He tilted his head to look at Ling Yue, but there was no warmth behind those golden eyes.

Seraphiel's outstretched hand trembled slightly. He crouched low, as if ready to kneel at any moment, with gentle expectation, his eyes already red-rimmed.

Yor glanced around the room, then finally extended his hand toward Leonius.

Leonius immediately wrapped an arm around Yor's waist, and with the other hand pulled out a cloak from somewhere, draping it over Yor's shoulders before lifting him steadily into his sturdy arms, settling him in the crook of his thick arm.

The cloak was so large it swallowed Yor entirely, leaving only his face visible.

He leaned against the warmth of his chest, and before he could adjust his position, Seraphiel had already knelt.

He didn't reach for Ling Yue, only knelt in the wet mud at the pool's edge, forehead lowered, spine bent, his voice hoarse, unbefitting a lord: "...Mother."

Tears trembled on his lashes, about to fall. "It's all my fault. I never noticed your mental sea had been in constant pain..."

Amon withdrew his hand, leaning against a nearby pillar, idly tossing the Broodmother's mental fragment up and down. He looked quite disdainful of Seraphiel's performance, asking coolly, "So, do we still erase Mother's memories?"

Leonius and Seraphiel both froze.

Guilt loses its value when brought up too often—especially for something this important, it should be saved for when it truly matters.

Yor shook his head.

"People feel shame because of memories. If someone must forget, then... of course it should be you who forgets." He nestled in the cloak, lifting a finger to point at the nest. "All of you—every creature in the nest, including the lord."

Seraphiel's face fell, and the hint of a smile on Amon's lips vanished. The fragment stopped at his fingertip, no longer being tossed.

Leonius stood there, despair clouding his iron-gray eyes... memories, perhaps, were the only thing he could ever possess.

But Yor turned his head, slender fingers emerging from the cloak to lift Leonius's chin, making him look at him: "Except you. I allow you to keep your memories, as compensation for taking them last time."

Leonius's iron-gray eyes suddenly lit up.

Seraphiel remained kneeling, murmuring to himself: "It's only right that Mother favors whoever she wishes... I'll work harder."

But behind him, Amon took a silent deep breath—the overwhelming jealousy radiating from the one in question poured forth endlessly, making his form solidify in an instant, even the translucent edges drawing back in, his entire figure as if traced anew.

Stupid saint, Amon thought bitterly. And that damn hunk of metal.

==========Author's Note:==========

So satisfying, so satisfying, folks.