"What do you think about going down to the cave to see it now?" Arnold walked in front with a flashlight in his hand, followed by the black-haired and blue-eyed male, and Campbell walked a little behind, even in the cave.Behind him is a string of tail-like egg clusters.

Gu Ting didn’t call too many bugs on this night trip—Arnold himself grew up on the planet Herdik and was also the original bug species Jacques, so he must know more than other bugs on the starship; and CampbellJust like the backbone of the Star Alliance, even though Gu Ting has grown up and can be alone, he still likes a reliable "tyrant" to accompany him when he is uneasy; as for the eggs, it is natural that they are most familiar with underground cavesstructure.

Because the number of worms was small, they moved very fast, and they jumped down from the hole where the sling was placed in a short time.

Gu Ting: "I have a very strange feeling... I can't describe it, but it's not good."

Arnold: "About underground caves?"

"Yes."

After waking up in the middle of the night, Gu Ting's brows have not been relaxed. Campbell took a quick step, patted the young male's shoulder, and after meeting the eyes that seemed to be covered with a layer of gray haze, he whispered to comfort: "Don’t think too much, just wait and see.”

"En." Although he agreed, the uneasiness lingering in his heart was not so easily dispelled.

Arnold shook the flashlight in his hand and shone around the cave, and the egg group that had been at the end swished to the front, taking on the responsibility of leading the way.

Gu Ting: "Follow them, another part of the egg group said they saw a 'monster' before... I'm not sure if my uneasiness is related to this 'monster' that suddenly appeared."

Arnold: "What kind of monster?"

"The eggs were said to be an unknown creature covered in pieces of flesh, which approached them at first, but then moved away."

"Didn't they say before that there were no other lifeforms detected in the cave except eggs?" Arnold raised his eyebrows. Could it be that some unknown creatures could even hide from the detection of the machine.

Gu Ting guessed: "It may have come in later..."

"Wait—" Campbell said suddenly.

"What's wrong?"

The silver-haired female worm shook her head and made a silent gesture. He put his ears on the stone wall on one side, and after about ten seconds, he looked at the two male worms in front of him, "Listen carefully, there is a sound."

Hearing this, Gu Ting and Arnold followed suit, leaning against the stone wall and listening with breathless breath.

In the silent and silent environment, they even deliberately slowed down their breathing, and even the sound of their heartbeats was suppressed in their chests, so certain movements transmitted through the stone wall could arouse the tremor of the eardrums.

—Crack, click, click.

The sound was slow, like the wooden joints of a doll rubbing against each other. It was not sharp, but the irregular sound made Chong Pingbai's scalp tingle. It seemed to remind him of something bad.But if you want to identify it carefully, you can't tell for a while.

Arnold frowned: "Then, what is the sound..."

"Is it the sound of chewing candy?" Gu Ting paused, then suddenly spoke.

As soon as the words came out, when the other two worms heard it again, they suddenly felt that it was very appropriate. Maybe they were not chewing candy, but something hard but somewhat brittle, and they even needed to stagger their teeth after bitingGrinding, feeling reluctant to swallow.

Campbell: "But here, what to chew?"

In the entire underground cave, there are either jagged stones or swarms of insect eggs. The eggs are soft, so what else can you chew?

The weird feeling seemed to be getting stronger, Gu Ting endured the bristling hair on his back, and said, "Let's go and have a look!" He passed Arnold, squatted down and said to the egg group: "Can you hear those voices?? If you can, please take us there."

[I can feel a little vaguely... I'll ask them...]

[They say they probably know, but not entirely sure.]

[It seems not far from here?]

[To cross the river...]

Gu Ting: "Then take us away."

The egg clusters jumped, and immediately ran deeper into the cave. Gu Ting quickly trotted two steps, and Arnold and Campbell looked at each other and followed.

The deeper you went, the colder it became, and the air began to become thinner. At the same time, another part of the egg group still stationed in the cave gradually revealed its original appearance.

This is the first time that Arnold and Campbell have seen such a huge number of eggs - they are like a long and thick curtain hanging on the stone wall, the sticky milky white strands become translucent due to elongation,There are a few black egg nuclei hanging here and there that sway with the cold wind in the cave.

There are many more insect eggs along the way than what Gu Ting saw last time. To some extent, they have surpassed the visual capture range of the Zerg, and other eggs are crowded under the densely packed eggs.through any gap.

Gu Ting, who can hear the voice of the egg group, can also "hear" the movement of them greeting each other in his mind——

[You are back!]

[Grow up a lot!You are in luck!]

[The group of guys in the deepest hole disappeared, are they dead?]

[We saw monsters, ugly and smelly, disgusting.]

[That guy doesn't know what it is, but it seems a bit like those bugs following you...]

[It seems to have four legs too!]

[But the monster's hair is, is...]

Gu Ting, who was walking quickly, suddenly asked, "What color is it?"

The egg group was indifferent as a whole, and soon the chirping sound sounded again——

[Like orange, there is a lot of blood anyway.]

Before Gu Ting could think deeply, the eggs suddenly became restless.

[It's coming soon!]

[What a familiar breath!Like mom!]

[It's mom!]

[Is mom out yet?Mom wants to see us?]

[But... hasn't Mom been out for a long, long, long time?]

[It's mom!I'm going to find my mother!]

As a result, Gu Ting could see with the naked eye that a part of the egg clusters hanging on the stone wall suddenly trembled greatly. They pulled the translucent mucus and connected to each other.The broken egg membrane crawled forward.

And the irritable voice that Gu Ting is most familiar with seems to have a trace of hesitation: [It's really mom...]

Arnold: "What happened to them?"

"They said... they felt their mother." Gu Ting bit the tip of his tongue. According to the worm mother, those worm-shaped worm mothers should have died thousands of years ago because they could not move or hunt. How could they die now?It came out suddenly, and even he suspected that the egg clusters seemed unable to tell whether the insectoid mother still had signs of life.

"Mom? Is it the worm mother?" Arnold was in a daze.

Gu Ting continued to follow the whereabouts of the eggs, "No, it's not the same one. It's probably the worm-shaped mother from a long time ago."

The insects followed the egg clusters around the staggered passage, and came to a pool. The scene here was very familiar. Gu Ting took another look, and immediately realized that this was the first time he jumped down after meeting the egg clusters.Location.

[Go through the water.]

"Let's go." Gu Ting took the lead to stand on the bank and looked at the depth of the underground river, "They said they want to cross the river."

"it is good."

The underground caves do not see sunlight all year round. Although the water here is very clear, it is also very icy, and the ice penetrates to the bone marrow. When they climbed to the opposite bank, they suddenly discovered that the sound of chewing things had disappeared.

Continue along the deep stone path until it reaches its deepest point.

— bang bang bang.

Gu Ting's heart was beating irregularly, and he even had a little shortness of breath, as if he was about to witness some nervous scene.

Campbell reached out and pressed the shoulder of the young male, "Your mental power is very impetuous now."

After the combination of mental power, when they are close enough and their emotions fluctuate greatly, it is enough for both parties to sense some changes in each other's spiritual power.

Campbell approached Gu Ting and kissed the tip of the nose of the black-haired male. He could even feel the saltiness of sweat beads on his warm lips.

Gu Ting exhaled deeply, trying to suppress the dryness through the alternation of breaths.

He said, "I'm fine, let's go on."

Following the egg group into the end of the stone path little by little, the place became unbelievably quiet, until they entered the deepest cave entrance, and heard no other movement.

"Is it... here?" Gu Ting stood at the entrance of the cave and looked inside—it was dark, the air was not circulating at all, and there was a stench, as if some kind of food had deteriorated due to long-term storage and heat.of.

[Here it is... the smell of mother is gone.]

[Mom clearly came out just now!I feel it!]

[Is mom gone again?He still hates us...]

[Mom left here?]

...

The egg swarms were a little anxious, and part of the aura that could still be sensed was gone when they chased after them completely. Even the aura left by the worm-shaped worm mother in the cave at first disappeared without a trace.

Gu Ting: "Can we go in and have a look?"

The irritable bug egg hesitated, [Mom only hates us, he doesn't hate you... You can go in.]

Other voices also sounded——

[Can you help us see if mom is okay?]

[You can ask... Will he still like us?]

[It doesn't matter if you don't like it, as long as your mother is still there.]

For this group of worm eggs, the most important thing is the worm mother who gave birth to them. In those years when the sun was dark and abandoned in the deep cave, what can support them until now is the attachment to the worm motherAnd persistence, they are deeply attached to the worm mother, but they are also afraid of the disgust from the worm mother, so even if they can enter the range of the worm mother's "sleep" by taking one more step, they dare not set foot in it at all.

— Fear out of love.

Gu Ting's jaw was tense, he lifted his foot and stepped over the gravel protrusion between the entrance of the cave, and the flashlight in his hand shone in.

The inside looks relatively spacious, the ground is covered with very broken pebbles, dark and damp, exuding a stench, but as Gu Ting and the others approached, no stone removal was found in the cave.something other than a block.

"Nothing?" Arnold looked around. If he didn't say anything else and just looked at the scene here, it was nothing more than a hole—a hole with nothing.

"It shouldn't be..." Gu Ting murmured, he circled around with the flashlight in his hand, the place was as clean as if it had been cleaned on purpose.

His head was shaking, "Don't you think this place is too clean?"

If there were worm-shaped insect mothers living here, and they did not have the ability to move and prey, then there should be some traces in this cave anyway, but it seems that the whole cave is clean and there is not even any other species livingpast traces.

"—Look here." Campbell squatted in a corner, and his fingers wrapped in black leather gloves lightly rubbed around the stone wall, "It's wet."

Gu Ting and Arnold leaned over.

There was a small wet mark on Campbell's finger, which was slightly red and glistened on the leather fabric.

"It's so fishy..."

Gu Ting: "There shouldn't be water marks in the cave so many years ago. It can only be said that something did come before us... Maybe it's the 'monster' that the egg said."

"But there's nothing here now." Arnold frowned, and he suddenly felt that things were not as simple as he imagined, "And with just this little trace of water, it's hard to tell what it is and where it came from."

At this moment, except for the breathing of the three of them, there is no other movement heard in the entire cave. The chewing sound that made the scalp tingle disappeared without leaving a trace, just like a scene conceived in their minds.However, no matter whether it was Gu Ting, Campbell or Arnold, they were very sure that they heard those voices in a waking state.

They took a close look at the entire cave in all aspects, but still found nothing.

Gu Ting was leaning on the stone wall, from the time he came in to now, his face has changed from serious to serious, and the slightly furrowed eyebrows prove that he is still thinking about the weirdness of this matter.

— Tick.

"what……"

Gu Ting reached out his hand to wipe away a drop of water that fell on his forehead, but when he wiped it on his finger, he realized that it was a drop of water stained with light red, which looked like diluted blood after being wiped away.

It's also very fishy.

He looked up at the top of the cave, where it was pitch black, only rocks with different bumps could be seen, and there seemed to be some inconspicuous water light.

"What are you looking at?" The silver-haired female came over.

"Is there anything on it?"

Campbell looked up. The good eyesight of the female worm allowed him to clearly see the cracks on the top stone wall and some water droplets on the stone wall. "There is nothing."

"Okay." Gu Ting pinched the bridge of his nose helplessly, "It seems that this trip was wasted."

"Do you still feel it?"

The young male shook his head, confusion flashed across his face, "No more, I don't feel anything anymore. It was obviously very strong before, but now... it even makes me feel like I'm stuck."

Arnold patted Gu Ting's shoulder, "It's right to believe in your intuition, especially for you - you are a descendant of the worm mother, and your mental power has inherited the worm mother's line, and some intuitions are heralds. Although I don't knowWhy did it suddenly disappear this time, but it’s good to be vigilant.”

Campbell: "Wait until daylight before sending the worms down, just in case."

"it is good."

As soon as the eggs waiting at the door saw Gu Ting coming out, they surrounded him chatteringly——

[Is there a mother in it?]

[Is he okay?]

[Did something happen to him?Why do we feel the breath of not waiting for him now?]

Gu Ting shook his head, and explained in a low voice: "There is no worm mother inside, he...is gone." There is nothing left, even the traces of the past life, as if it was deliberately erased by something.

[Maybe he left...]

[I hope to see my mother again in the future...]

The worm eggs may not really understand the meaning of the word "disappeared", as Gu Ting guessed, in fact, they have no way to tell whether the worm mother hidden in the deepest part of the cave is still alive - becauseSince these egg clusters became conscious, they had been stripped away from the worm mother. In the caves that were far apart, the disgust from blood relatives was so strong that they never dared to take a step closer.They also habitually think that the insect mother is still there.

Gu Ting was a little silent, he didn't know whether he should tell the truth behind this incident, but he just listened to the egg group discussing "mother" in his ears, and he finally said every word that was choked in his throat.I swallowed it completely—wait a little longer, maybe there will be a turning point in the future...

Although he thought so, Gu Ting himself knew that the possibility was almost zero.

When Gu Ting's gentle footsteps gradually left from the entrance of the cave, the dull silence struck again. After an unknown amount of time passed, a rustling sound sounded from the top of the cave just now——

The cave roof, which was originally a gray stone wall, suddenly began to distort and deform, and the eggs that had withdrawn from the mimicry condensed into the appearance of a female Gran, but the flesh growing on the skin was still full and red, and the fine blood streaks were distributed on the eggs.surface layer of the membrane.

He sniffed the smell left in the air, turned his complicated compound eyes a few times, and suddenly jumped to the ground with limbs of different lengths.

Only at this moment can see that a huge mouth grew out of his chest and abdomen, scarlet inside, with a few teeth but no tongue, only wriggling blood-red flesh, light blue meridians andCertain, and half-swallowed white bones.

The dry white bones were covered with sticky and smelly saliva, and the red flesh was like a huge tongue, curling the bones in its mouth to savor their taste carefully.

The skeletons of the worm-shaped mothers in the primitive period were stuffed into the belly by the group of children eager to fuse and hug each other. It was the part closest to the heart of the subfemale, and the reunited eggs also knew the importance of the heart—— they want to hide their mother next to that beating heart so they can always, always be together.

"It still smells familiar..."

The twisted Gran sniffed the smell left in the air, he licked his bloody fingertips obsessively, the dark red tongue scraped against the uneven texture, and the seductive smell permeated the airFor him, it was like a kind of beacon to guide the way forward.

"Smells good, smells good... what is it?"

"The male worm...it's sapphire, it's Gu Ting."

"Gu Ting Gu Ting Gu Ting Gu Ting!"

Dense words overflowed from Gran's mouth. He was like a lunatic who couldn't help going crazy after taking some kind of addictive substance.Fluid in the mouth.

The eggs that got the worm mother are reveling in the parasitic body, facing the doubts from their symbiont at this moment, they also accumulate egg nuclei, and temporarily take over the control of the subfemale's mouth: "Hee hee... It's likeMother's taste!"

"New mother?"

"They're all mothers... they should all be together!"

"So let's all blend! Mom will love being with us too."

Gran shook his head and echoed, "Yes, we should be together."

...

Early the next morning, this time Toines and Wei specially brought two teams of army females into the underground cave. Because Gu Ting had settled the "monster" in advance, the two worms raised their vigilance, but when they were about to turn the caveFor more than half of the time, nothing was found.

"Tsk, there's nothing but egg clusters." Toines was puzzled, "That fellow Gran didn't really die, did he?"

"It's possible, after all, he's just a subfemale. You and I know what kind of physical fitness a subfemale has. If you're really alone in a desert like planet Herdik, even if you can control the beast, you won't be able to resist othersExternal factors." Wei raised his hand to touch the surrounding stone walls, but he touched a hand of water red.

He said with disgust: "What is this... Hiss, it's so fishy."

"Do you still dare to touch this place?"

"I'm a female insect, what can I do... It's just that this thing is a little disgusting when it sticks to my hand."

"Be careful."

- Swish.

Like a gust of wind.

Toines turned his head to look at several female subordinates standing not far away, and asked with some doubts, "Do you feel anything?"

The subordinates looked confused, "My lord, there is nothing..."

Wei: "Are you too nervous?"

"Fuck you!" Toines scolded with a smile, his eyes swept over the familiar subordinates, and suddenly paused, "Huh? Is there one... two missing?"

A military female immediately said: "Report to the officer, Shade and Lear seem to have gone over there for inspection."

Toines frowned, "Call me back, don't go away."

"Yes!"

The army female immediately ran to the other side with small steps, and the three females came back together after a while.

Wei looked at them: "How is it? What did you find over there?"

Among them, the military female named "Shade" saluted, "Report sir, there is nothing over there."

"Forget it, let's go back after looking around again." Toines flattened the corner of his mouth, and whispered to Wei: "I don't know why, I always feel a little strange here..."

Wei raised his eyebrows, "Since when have you become so emotional?"

"It's not a question of sensibility or not! How should I put it... I just feel terrified."

Upon hearing this, Weilai became interested, "No? You are all worms crawling out of the sea of alien beast corpses, how can a cave still make you feel uncomfortable?"

He heard his companion's jokes in his ears, but Toines had no easy thoughts in his heart. He even felt something was staring at him in the dark, but when he glanced around, he couldn't detect anything wrong, "Tsk,I don't know, I don't feel right anyway."

"It's been turned around, and there is nothing, and there is no trace of the 'monster'." Wei shrugged, raised his hand and said, "Get out."

"Um."

Toines responded, and he turned his head to look at the empty cave except for the stones and egg clusters. Unspeakable doubts flashed in his eyes—so, is this really just a cave...

The army female team came out of the burrow, and after meeting the sunshine on planet Herdik, they finally felt a little warmth again.

At the end of the line, Lear touched Shade's arm and said in a low voice, "Hey, brother, what's wrong with you? Why didn't you talk all of a sudden?"

Shade rolled his eyes, he looked at Lear, grinned, and said slowly: "It's okay, I just felt a little uncomfortable seeing the sunshine."

"Indeed, after all, it's very cloudy in that cave, and it's a bit cold after staying there for a long time. Eh? Why is your badge gone?"

Shade glanced at his empty chest and the obvious pinhole marks on his clothes, touched his head, and smiled embarrassedly, "Maybe I accidentally fell into the hole, otherwise I will go back and find it."Let's see……"

"Hey, goodbye! It's okay, I have a spare, I'll give you one when I get back, so we don't fall behind."

"Thank you then." Shade smiled.

Lear: "You're welcome! When this mission is over, let's go back and drink together!"

"it is good……"

The army female team gradually moved away from the cold cave, and the egg clusters that lived in the cave all year round whispered——

[Do you feel it?It seemed that something just now... disappeared so quickly.]

[Is it that monster?I felt it too, strangely and a little bit familiar.]

[I don't know, but didn't those worms say that there is nothing here?]

[It's weird, everything has been a little bit different since that day...]

[Hopefully it can be hatched soon to find its mother.]

In the corner of a certain stone cave where the sky was not visible, a golden badge with the praying mantis logo fell on the gravel. The dark golden texture seemed to flow, quiet and silent, just like the broken stones falling around.Shi, will be forever forgotten in this lonely place.

...

The last search on planet Herdik also came to an end. On the starship, Campbell propped his hands on the table with a calm expression, "Then tentatively plan to return tomorrow."

"I can finally go back." Gu Ting sighed, he looked at Arnold and Liu Li who were sitting opposite, "Do you want to go to Fei Leng Cui together?"

Liu Li held the arm of the male beside her, "Wherever my dear is going, I will go there."

So Gu Ting turned his questioning gaze to Arnold.

"It's not the time yet." Arnold shook his head. "Crystal wants to stay with me, and I still need to train him to become Jacques. When he succeeds, we will go to Emerald to find you."

"Okay." Gu Ting nodded and smiled slightly, "Then I'll be waiting for you in the Star Alliance."

Crystal pursed her lips, hating herself for changing so slowly, "Mom, you have to remember to miss me!"

Suo Xun snorted softly, full of joy - only him and his mother for a period of time in the future, it is perfect!

At this moment, he selectively ignored that there was another Campbell beside Gu Ting.

The smile on the corner of Gu Ting's mouth remained unchanged, he looked at the sunlight outside the window, and thought that he could finally go back...

No matter how far they go, for Gu Ting and Campbell, the place with the Star Alliance is their home.

— they also look forward to going home.

So the next day, when the sun was rising, the huge dark-colored starship started to launch. The roaring sound overwhelmed the cold wind on the planet Herdik.

Liu Li looked at the huge shadow rising to the sky, and said in a low voice: "Suddenly, it feels unreal..."

"Isn't it real with me?" Arnold kicked the crystal into the sand, and after exhorting the words "train well", he put his arms around Liu Li's waist, "When our side is over, I will take you toLeng Cui settled down."

"Yes, but don't you have a three-month deadline?"

"No more." Arnold tilted his head and kissed the tip of Liu Li's nose, "After I took Gu Ting to see the obsession on planet Herdik, those constraints have disappeared."

After a pause, he added: "Liu Li, from now on all my time belongs to you."