"Shure, eat something. "Saph is the only one who can be so considerate, and the swordswoman walks into the control room with a plate of delicious batter that has already been processed.

It was already late at night, and since the meeting ended in the evening, Shul had not left the control room for a single step, and every time someone passed by, he was seen either communicating with Wei in an unknown language, or observing some stereoscopic images in different positions, and never left the chair under him.

Saf himself didn't know why, he actually felt very heartbroken, and even had a trace of resentment towards Mia, obviously it should be your responsibility, but he put the responsibility on Shuer, he didn't work so hard for my business, why should he take responsibility for you, obviously I came first...... Ahem, of course, it doesn't matter, the important thing is that Shul hasn't eaten for a day.

"Actually, I secretly ate the jerky I brought from Parvatiga. Shul made a silent gesture with his index finger, pulled out a waterproof food bag and shook it, and smiled sinisterly, "I don't really want to continue eating their food here." ”

"Hmm, why?" Saph's face suddenly became ugly, and he endured the feeling of nausea in his stomach, and said in a tangled manner, "It can't be true that what you said yesterday, their food here is made of worms, so you don't dare to eat it?"

"Actually, I don't know what it was made of, the vocabulary Wei said is too professional for me to understand. Shul shrugged and handed over a few pieces of paper, "But I don't have an appetite for this thing." ”

"What is written?" Saph was confused, the paper was full of unfamiliar words, and from the format it looked a bit like a message one by one, but the content was completely incomprehensible.

"Well, well, how can there be such unpalatable food in the world? And this, I don't want to eat pig food again. There is also this, which strongly accuses the Ministry of Munitions of using dog food as military rations. Also, I took it home and fed the dogs, but the dogs didn't eat them, and you bureaucrats actually let us eat them? Well, I was thinking, do they have a grudge against the dogs?"

"I think it's delicious, why do you say it's unpalatable? And you don't go anywhere all night, don't eat or sleep, just watch these boring things?"

"It's better to wait until you've eaten it for a year before it's too late. Shure shrugged, "Look at this is just a tink, Wei?"

"Thirty-eight minutes left until the charge is complete, Your Excellency Commander. ”

"When you wait, time always flies so slowly. Shul patted the seat next to him, Saf lowered his head, and naturally sat down next to him, listening to his voice that was not in a hurry most of the time, "I'm chatting with Wei, heh, it's fun to talk to her, I can better understand the world, and it also makes me think of a lot of things that I didn't think of before." ”

"For example?"

"For example, did you know that in the eyes of the Queen of the Swarm, we have no secrets. Shuer sighed lightly, "If nothing else, her knowledge of our language, our origins, and even our fighting ability is already very well understood, and in the end, before the war of secession began, we had already lost half of it." ”

"How is that possible?" Saph exclaimed subconsciously, but immediately understood, "Pretender?"

"It's better to call it a brain control worm, the pretender is the name of the swarm. Shul smiled meaningfully, "Although there is no definite evidence, I conclude that the brain control worm has mixed into our team. ”

"Why don't you test our methods and find them?" asked Saph, puzzled, "Although the direction of perceived hostility is vague, there is always a way to be sure, such as individual conversations one by one. ”

"There's no need for that, just make sure you're not being controlled. Shure narrowed his eyes and smiled a little grimly, "They always jump out on their own, heh, since the Queen of the Swarm is not in a hurry and wants to play games with us, what am I anxious about?"

"Huh, playing games?"

"It knows where we are, and it also knows our combat effectiveness, if it's really in a hurry, during the time when the mutant spider mother is besieged but not attacked, the main force will be transferred over, and it won't take a few hours to break through our defenses and kill the vast majority of people. But it didn't, why? I think it must have had another purpose as the commander of the swarm. ”

"What purpose?" said Saph, his eyes glazed, and he asked the question that he would think would be stupid for the rest of the day.

"How do I know, I'm not it. Xiuer said with a smile, "I don't know how much the one or those people it absorbs know about the otherworldly projection." It must have known that it was in a replica world, but that the world would soon be annihilated and that the creatures inside would never escape, something that most ordinary people in Pavatiga did not understand. I think it shouldn't know either, otherwise it will definitely fall into madness, and now it has reservations, I think there is a big reason, it is to save energy, and I don't want to hatch too many bugs to deal with two targets at the same time, if I know everything, then what is the purpose and saving, anyway, the world will be annihilated, kill all the enemies. ”

"It's good it doesn't know. Saph suddenly felt very good now, the faint light, the two people next to each other, intermittently communicating as if to kill time, everything made her feel an inexplicable sense of happiness, and she only hoped that time would never pass, as for what was said in her mouth, even she couldn't figure it out.

"I just don't know how much energy the swarm copied by this part of the projection world was formed, and I hope it won't be too much, otherwise it will be difficult to deal with their brood. ”

"Wait. The dazed Saph finally came to his senses, "What kind of energy are you talking about?

"I just learned from Wei. Shuer explained, "There are many planets in the void of this world, and many planets will produce a special energy crystal, and most intelligent races will absorb the energy in the crystal for their own use. For example, in the past, when the human beings in this world were still in their home planet, they used a kind of thunder and lightning energy as the main energy source, but after the discovery of crystal energy, it has been completely replaced by crystal energy in the past few hundred years. ”

"Isn't that similar to our Pavatiga?"

"The essence is different, and the crystal energy here will not escape, how much is consumed if it is collected, and there will be no consumption if it is not collected. And the crystals here can even be used directly by creatures to meet the needs of the body, just like we eat and drink, you see, bugs are a typical example. All of their activities, including hatching hives, expanding their territory, increasing their numbers, and maintaining the life of each bug, rely on crystal energy, or rather, they are a deformed creature that is completely dependent on crystals. ”

"Legends, well, not the legends of humans, but the legends of this world, hundreds of millions of years ago, there were no insect swarms in the world, until some kind of bug that had lived near the crystal for a long time inadvertently swallowed a large number of crystal fragments and produced an amazing change. In a very short period of time, maybe only a few years, for this world, a few years is just a short moment, but they not only grow individually, but also give birth to wisdom, and begin to expand to all planets that have crystals and physical life, plundering all crystal energy, tearing all physical creatures apart, and acting as an energy supplement outside of their crystals. ”

"Can't other creatures be like them?" Saph listened intently, "If bugs can absorb the energy of crystals, then other creatures ......"

"There is a key difference, after absorbing the energy, this bug is shared by the entire race, and other creatures do not have this ability. "It's this crystal, it's said that this is a relic of the gods of ancient times, and it contains an extremely large amount of energy, even if it is only absorbed a little, it is unbearable for the individual living being, unless it has an extremely strong body, such as ...... Legendary level, heh, what did you think of?"

"No, is there anything special?" Saph tilted his head in thought, and suddenly his eyes lit up, "Burrowing spiders?"

"Wei, bring up the vein distribution map again, yes, it's still within the area determined before. "The dim red dot is the depleted crystal mine, and the bright spot is the energy source. ”

"Ah, this is our fortress?" Saph said, pointing to the bottom corner of the map, "Does that mean it's about to run out?"

"Well, Wei said that although the minimum energy consumption has been maintained, it will be completely exhausted if it is supported for another half a year at most, and it is because of this that the military will abandon this fortress and shrink the defense line backwards. ”

The female swordsman bit her lip and glanced at Wei with pity, this loyal artificial intelligence, even if it has been abandoned, still persistently maintains the entire fortress, sticking to the order to protect every human warrior.

"Don't pity her, the weapons and tools are about to break, just replace them with new ones, it's the easiest way to eliminate the old ones, and the tools can't have any opinions. She's the same, it's just data, there's no concept at all, well, it's her own words. Shuer seemed to be a little angry, and glared fiercely at the artificial intelligence that only the image existed, obviously the two sides had some unhappiness about similar problems before, well, unilateral unhappiness.

"Poof", obviously a little sad just now, but Safu was immediately amused by Shuer's attitude, very cold and rational attitude, hehe, really indifferent.

"What a laugh, I'm serious. Shur coughed dryly, glared and said, "And you have to get to the point, Sasa, who told you to see our fortress." ”

"This is ......" Saph saw Shure pointing to a bright spot, although the bright spot was small, indicating that the number of crystals was small, but it was real, "The underground cave of the mutant spider mother?"

"Legendary-level individuals can barely withstand the impact of directly absorbing crystal energy, so as not to be blown up by energy, and although the energy cannot be shared by the whole clan, the energy absorbed in the body can be evacuated through the birth of the larvae, so as to achieve the purpose of overall improvement. Oh, it's almost tailor-made, no wonder this guy instinctively went into the cave. ”

"Ah, no wonder the number of spiders has increased so much in just a few hours, almost as fast as the growth rate of the swarm. "I understand why the swarm is so powerful against the enemy, they are afraid that another self will be born." Ah, the mutant spider mother can't also be as intelligent as a bug, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes, the exact time when the initial swarm generated wisdom is no longer known, maybe years, days, or even minutes after devouring the crystal energy, so let's pray that they haven't developed wisdom yet, otherwise, we have killed thousands of little spiders, and it is its most hated enemy. Otherwise, try throwing you to the Mother Mutant and tell her that you are the messenger, and maybe it will let us go. ”

"Nasty ghost, don't talk nonsense, I ......"

"Your Excellency, the radar has been fully charged, please instruct. ”

"Whew, it's finally done. Xiuer took a long breath, licked his lips, and said expectantly, "Sasa, let's see the situation of the Soul Clan's base after we made trouble." ”