Chapter 31
“Liu Tiao, why won’t you come over?”
Jin Chi’an’s voice slipped into Felix’s consciousness cloud, guiding Felix’s direction forward little by little.
Sensing that his own mental power was being drained, Felix looked suspiciously at the person before him, who had the other man’s appearance yet was nothing like him at all.
Until an external mental tendril invaded his consciousness cloud and gently soothed his chaotic mental pathways.
Only then did the voice that truly belonged to Jin Chi’an enter his mind. Like a sedative, it calmed the frenzy that was about to erupt.
“Felix.”
Jin Chi’an, whose mental body had been injured, slowly opened his eyes. Along with the effect of the third enhancer, the continuous influx of mental energy restored his consciousness and repaired the damage in his consciousness cloud.
Jin Chi’an silently calculated the time in his heart. His gaze fell on the bewitched white tiger in front of him. Then he converted his guidance-type tendrils into attack-type tendrils and jabbed hard at the other party’s consciousness cloud in displeasure.
Felix, whose eyes had been clouded, gradually came back to himself. He looked in shock at Jin Chi’an beside him, who was trying to stand.
“Chi’an.”
Felix’s voice carried a hint of grievance, exactly like someone caught after doing something wrong.
But at this moment, Jin Chi’an did not coax him the way he coaxed the little tiger.
Instead, he kept a cold face, grabbed the fur on Felix’s body, and stood up on his own. His eyes were icy as he looked at Oshta not far away.
“Oshta, was my thing useful?”
“Of course.”
Oshta, who had also recovered, slowly propped himself up and mocked, “But now it seems it’s no longer useful.”
“In that case, give it back.”
Jin Chi’an picked up the tie clip that had fallen to the ground and attacked him.
Paired with the invasion of his mental tendrils, the particle light blade’s attacks were deadly with every move, carving several bloody cuts into Jin Mian’s body.
Every mental and physical attack worked together perfectly. Oshta, whose main body was injured, had no strength to resist.
Only when the particle light blade pierced straight through Jin Mian’s entire abdomen did Oshta, inside her consciousness cloud, completely lose the ability to repair and control the host body.
He could only allow Jin Chi’an to grip his neck and press him to the ground.
“You can’t kill me.”
With nowhere left to go, Oshta could only control Jin Mian’s vocal cords and force out a difficult voice.
“Oh, really? Give me a reason not to kill you.”
Jin Chi’an’s tone was unfriendly. The mental tendrils preparing to attack Oshta’s main body paused in place, as though waiting to see whether the other party’s dog mouth could spit out ivory.
“Look back at your little tiger.”
Oshta curved his lips and looked toward the white tiger behind them.
Following his gaze, Jin Chi’an turned his head and saw Felix frozen in place. He questioned him in confusion, “What did you do to him?”
“You shouldn’t ask me, little Maine Coon. You should ask yourself what you did to him.”
Oshta put on a look as if this had nothing to do with him, taking pleasure in Jin Chi’an’s reaction.
“You two are my first successful experimental subjects. Of course there would be flaws.”
Jin Chi’an tightened the hand around his neck again. He looked impatiently at Oshta’s twisted expression, and the killing intent around him grew heavier.
Oshta, wary of the other party’s mental attack, did not plan to keep playing coy.
“Back then, I only extracted control over your one-way contract. I didn’t sever your life connection. You should know what it means for you to inject the third enhancer. Once your mental power is completely depleted and you die, he will die too.”
Oshta smiled maliciously at Jin Chi’an, who had begun to hesitate, and tested him.
“Can you guarantee that the mental power you have left can completely kill me—”
Before the provocative words left his mouth, a sharp claw cut through Jin Mian’s vocal cords, completely robbing Oshta, who was controlling her, of the chance to speak.
Jin Chi’an watched as a pair of fluffy paws knocked his hand aside and cut the other party’s throat first.
Then he heard Felix’s voice.
“You don’t need to care. I can die with him.”
Hearing the somewhat proud tone in his voice, Jin Chi’an looked blankly at the white tiger beside him.
Immediately afterward, a fluffy sensation appeared in his palm. Felix forcefully pushed his head close to Jin Chi’an’s hand and said with some pride, “You can kill him. If something happens to you, I’ll die with you.”
“Felix, you…”
“You don’t want that?”
Felix’s cold voice carried a hint of disappointment. The look he gave Jin Chi’an also held a trace of resentment.
“Can’t you let him go?”
The other party’s string of questions left Jin Chi’an somewhat dazed, making him momentarily forget Oshta’s existence.
Only when information from his mental tendrils entered his consciousness cloud did Jin Chi’an come back to himself and notice Oshta trying to escape.
And this time, the other party’s target was none other than Felix’s brain.
Unfortunately, before he could act, Jin Chi’an’s mental tendrils slipped into his main body, making the transparent many-legged long worm twist in pain.
At the same time, the pain caused by his mental power gradually running out made Jin Chi’an let out a muffled groan.
Calculating the time, the supplement from the third enhancer should have reached the limit of consumption.
But because of the reminder in Oshta’s earlier words, Jin Chi’an still could not bring himself to strike.
Then a warm energy flowed into his body, making his mental tendrils, which had been about to lose strength, grow active again.
With only one move, he broke through Oshta’s mental-power defense and dragged his main body out from Jin Mian’s consciousness cloud.
A transparent many-legged long worm fell to the ground in an instant.
The moment it came into contact with the outside world, its body rapidly withered. In less than ten seconds, the originally plump worm body shriveled into something like a dried leaf.
Seeing this scene, Jin Chi’an, who had remained vigilant, gradually relaxed. Drained of strength, he collapsed at the white tiger’s feet.
But before he could relax for even half a second, Oshta’s body vanished in an instant.
Having fought aliens many times before, Jin Chi’an knew very well that this was not what a zerg’s death looked like.
Just as he was about to release his mental net to search, a first-stage zerg quietly approached the two of them.
Along with the sharp sound of rushing wind, a blade-like tendril stabbed toward Jin Chi’an’s chest.
However, as time drew near, the effect of the third drug wore off. With his mental power completely depleted, Jin Chi’an’s consciousness was muddled, and he sat on the ground with no ability to resist.
Through his cloudy vision, he faintly saw the white tiger beside him leap in front of him and block all of the alien’s attacks.
Felix bit down on the tendril attacking Jin Chi’an, tearing and biting until he ripped it off from the root.
Seeing the first-stage zerg gradually enraged, Felix narrowed his eyes. His swaying tail lightly brushed across Jin Chi’an’s neck.
Taking advantage of the instant when the alien’s tendrils all attacked him at once, he flashed forward and broke through to the enemy’s side. Like a wild beast hunting prey, he finished it in one move, biting through the other party’s neck.
After dealing with the trouble in front of him, Felix cautiously tore the other party’s body to pieces, then turned and listened to the sparse movements around them.
The sound of creatures moving through the bushes gradually grew louder. A group of aliens that had appeared from who knew where surrounded the two of them.
Countless tendrils attacked together, launching an assault in their direction.
Noticing the hidden threat near Jin Chi’an, Felix quickly killed the zerg blocking his way and returned to Jin Chi’an’s side.
At this moment, Jin Chi’an, who had completely lost his five senses, was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. All he could do was keep calling the other party’s name.
While fighting, Felix also noticed the changes in Jin Chi’an’s body. He continuously brushed the other man’s arm with his tail, trying to tell him in this way that he had always been there.
Feeling the fluffy touch, Jin Chi’an followed it and squeezed the other party’s tail. Then, in an uncertain direction, he pulled out what seemed like a comforting smile.
Because he had lost all five senses, Jin Chi’an could not perceive the surrounding threats at all and had no idea how dangerous the situation was.
But clearly, Felix had no intention of letting him know about the battle before him.
While using his tail to coax the person, the white tiger relied on the beastman’s extremely high mobility to block the aliens’ attacks, gradually reducing the enemy’s numbers under the restraint of countless tendrils.
But as the number of aliens gradually increased, the battle between the two sides fell into a deadlock.
The white tiger, who had to protect Jin Chi’an’s safety, could not fully unleash himself. His movement was also limited to within five meters around Jin Chi’an.
Until the sound of a cannon firing rang out. Positioning energy cannons descended from the sky, striking the surrounding aliens one after another.
At the same time that the palace’s defensive barrier was cracked, countless military aircraft flew into the palace and cleared out the zerg forces inside.
After completely clearing the aliens around Felix, an aircraft slowly opened its hatch in the air, and a silver wolf leaped out from inside.
Edwin bit through a tendril that was still wriggling even after being severed, then walked to Felix’s side.
“Boss.”
“Mm.”
Felix changed from white tiger form into human form and picked up Jin Chi’an, who was sitting on the ground, carrying him horizontally in his arms. His voice was low as he asked, “What’s the situation inside the palace now?”
“The number of aliens has increased abnormally. The relevant royal family members also haven’t been found.”
“What’s the situation outside District One?”
“The imperial army is fighting against the zerg starship. Most of those inside are first-stage aliens. They don’t pose too much of a threat to the human side.”
As Edwin spoke, his gaze unconsciously drifted toward Jin Chi’an in Felix’s arms.
“Boss, brother-in-law…”
“Have the Allied Forces send a doctor over.”
“Do you mean their guide physician?”
Edwin tucked his tail in with some difficulty.
“The doctor dispatched by the empire has already gone to His Majesty.”
Felix looked down into his arms. At this moment, Jin Chi’an was gripping his collar, enduring the intense pain in his mind.
His extremely pained appearance made Felix, who had originally been calm, instantly become restless and anxious.
Until a voice from not far away interrupted him.
“I can temporarily stabilize the collapse of his consciousness cloud.”
Talir, whose throat had been cut during the earlier battle with the emperor, walked toward them. The damage all over his body made his movements especially slow, but the fatal wound on his neck had strangely disappeared.
“Beep, beep, beep…”
Hearing the alarm from the zerg detector in his hand, Edwin warily watched Talir’s movements, preparing to end his life the moment he approached.
However, before Edwin could pounce on him, Felix raised a hand and stopped him in place.
“You’re certain?”
“Mm, I’m certain.”
Felix and Talir looked at each other. Seeing the firmness in the other party’s eyes, Felix could only agree to his proposal with the mindset of giving it a try.
Edwin beside him looked at his actions in shock and asked in confusion, “Boss, this guy is a zerg.”
“I’m not.”
Not wanting Felix to speak for him, Talir responded to his suspicion decisively.
“After the treatment is over, you can kill me. But there is one condition.”
Felix asked, “What condition?”
“Give the experimental instrument in the room at the far corner of the third floor of the western district to Iskan’s emperor.”
As Talir spoke, he extended healing-type tendrils from his mind into Jin Chi’an’s consciousness cloud.
“This is my only request,” Talir continued. “After the treatment is complete, you may kill me.”
“Fine.”
Felix held Jin Chi’an in his arms a little tighter. Even though he could sense that his own bodily functions were declining, he still continued transmitting mental power to Jin Chi’an.
As Talir’s mental tendrils entered Jin Chi’an’s consciousness cloud, a collapsed and ruined scene immediately appeared in his mind.
Even when he tried to piece it back together with the assistance of his tendrils, the shattered consciousness cloud still collapsed again.
Only after his third attempt did the other party’s initial defensive mental power begin to fall off a cliff.
Talir looked suspiciously at Felix, who was holding the person tightly in his arms. His gaze swept over the surroundings, and among the ground piled with zerg corpses, he found a syringe reflecting sunlight.
Seeing this, Talir extended an exploratory tendril and examined the substances contained in the drug. With just an instant of contact, he identified the medicine inside and determined it to be a mental-power support drug.
Understanding something in an instant, Talir crouched down and searched through the pile of zerg tendrils for the other syringes. Only when he found the second and third syringes one by one did he finally have the answer to why Jin Chi’an’s consciousness cloud had collapsed.
“Damn.”
Thinking of Jin Chi’an recklessly injecting the third enhancer, Talir could not help cursing. His first instinct was to punch him and criticize this irrational behavior.
But when he turned and saw Felix’s cold face, his instinctive retreat made him swallow back the profanity that was about to leave his mouth.
Suppressing the irritation in his heart, Talir tried to calm down and explain the cause of the condition to Felix.
But several “awoo” wolf howls interrupted what he was about to say.
Talir turned his face and looked at the stupid wolf expressing dissatisfaction, and his stereotype of beastmen deepened immediately.
Toward this group of physically strong beasts, Talir did not want to say much. He originally planned to give a simple, easy-to-understand explanation to brush them off, but when he saw Felix’s focused expression, he suddenly could not bear to do so.
“What’s wrong with him?”
The corners of Felix’s eyes were red. He stared stubbornly at the somewhat uncomfortable Talir, trying to get an answer from him.
Talir stayed wary of the beasts around him who viewed him as an enemy, afraid they would pounce on him and tear him to pieces. He could only say tactfully, “This is a human matter. It’s difficult to explain to beastmen.”
“I can understand. As long as you say it, I’ll learn to understand.”
Faced with Felix’s persistence, Talir could only say helplessly, “For a guide, the consciousness cloud is similar to a beastman’s fangs and claws. It’s something like a weapon. Because he injected too many enhancers, his mental power overloaded, and his consciousness cloud collapsed because of it…”
“The general meaning is…”
Talir became somewhat incoherent.
“He has lost his claws and fangs. Can you understand?”
Hearing Talir’s explanation, Felix furrowed his brows tightly.
For wild beasts in the wilderness, fangs and claws were their weapons, the tools they relied on to survive.
And for a beast deep in nature, losing its claws and fangs was equivalent to being sentenced to death.
Thinking of this, Felix’s face turned grave. When he looked at Talir, there was a trace of pleading in his eyes.
“Can it be treated?”
“With my current abilities, I can only ensure that his life won’t be threatened by the collapse of his consciousness cloud. As for anything else… I can’t do it.”
“Please.”
Felix painfully gathered the coat draped over Jin Chi’an’s body closer around him. Then he transformed one hand into a beastified paw and placed his paw pad over Jin Chi’an’s hand, waiting for Talir’s mental treatment.
Edwin, standing nearby, listened to Talir’s incomprehensible explanation that sounded like a book from heaven. He instantly flew into a rage and almost lunged forward to bite him.
But Felix’s sharp glare froze him in place, leaving him with nowhere to vent his anger toward the alien.
Only after Talir’s treatment ended, forcibly isolating Jin Chi’an’s collapsed consciousness cloud from the outside world and restoring a little color to his originally deathly pale face, did the pressure around Felix gradually return to normal.
At once, the soldiers nearby, who had not dared even breathe loudly because of the marshal’s cold aura, finally let out a breath of relief and returned to their posts one after another.
Felix stared blankly at Jin Chi’an’s peacefully sleeping face, and his heart suddenly sank.
The third time.
This was the third time since he had formed a brand with him that he had allowed the other man to fall into danger.
And in the rules of beastman mates, such behavior was obviously unqualified.
Felix lightly kicked Edwin’s lower leg, signaling for him to change into human form.
After the silver wolf before him transformed, Felix carefully handed Jin Chi’an over from his arms.
However, the moment Edwin touched Jin Chi’an’s body, he reacted instantly. He put his hands behind his back and firmly refused.
“What are you doing, Boss?”
“Take him back.”
“Then I… I still can’t.”
“Enough nonsense.”
Felix gave him a warning glare.
“Take him safely back to Allied Forces headquarters. Leave the rest to me.”
“Understood.”
Edwin gritted his teeth and, as if making a solemn vow, reached out and took Jin Chi’an into his arms. Stiffly, as though offering up an immortal, he carried him back into the aircraft.
Felix, stopped by the handover soldiers, took the Zerg mental-power detector and was about to head toward the front-line war zone.
“Wait.”
Talir looked at Felix with some heaviness in his eyes and called out to stop him.
Felix turned back and looked curiously at Talir’s grave face.
“Is there something else?”
“Are you planning to fight the aliens in this state?”
“What do you mean?”
“If I’m not mistaken, the damage to Jin Chi’an’s consciousness cloud has interfered with you as well. Your mental power is weakening. You need rest.”
“I’ll consider your suggestion.”
After saying that, Felix turned away and walked toward the soldiers waiting on standby.
Watching the departing beastman army, Talir, who had been left in place, was still wondering why the other party had not killed him when he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. After that, his consciousness cloud began rapidly withering until his mental power completely disappeared.
…
At this moment, on the edge of the palace, in the tower.
Charlemagne VII’s figure appeared at the very bottom of the tower.
The underground level of the tower had been manually opened up and turned into a massive reservoir.
A rotten longsword was planted in the center of the pool, and a golden snake body coiled around the sword hilt.
At the end of the hilt, a golden cobra held itself upright, flattening its neck as it looked down proudly upon everything in the underground level.
As the secret passage leading to the underground floor opened, Charlemagne clutched his abdomen, which was still bleeding outward, and limped toward the edge of the reservoir.
For a moment, the originally rotten and petrified longsword slowly turned, directing the snake head toward Charlemagne VII’s face.
Immediately afterward, an ethereal echo rang through the underground level. A gentle female voice circled by the emperor’s ear.
“Long time no see, my dear children.”
“You old witch. This is all your damn doing.”
Charlemagne VII tore the necklace from his neck and threw it toward the longsword.
The necklace struck the sword hilt and instantly fell, dropping into the pool filled with an unknown liquid.
The moment the drop of blood stored inside the necklace touched the liquid in the pool, it solidified from its originally flowing state into a lump.
The snake-shaped body on the sword hilt slowly turned, twisting along the rusted, rotten longsword as if it were imprisoned upon it and unable to leave.
Only when Charlemagne VII’s eyes met the snake head did those hollow snake eyes become exposed to his sight.
Too weak to argue with it, Charlemagne slowly walked to an automatic door. After a DNA authentication scan, the door opened, revealing the full view of the laboratory inside.
Inside the enormous long container tanks, six boys who resembled Charlemagne VII were naked, soaking in the liquid within the tanks.
Charlemagne VII, stepping into the laboratory, had long since become accustomed to this sight.
With familiar ease, he went to a storage cabinet and took out a dose of medicine, injecting it into his body.
As the drug gradually took effect, the pain in his abdomen, which had been pierced by explosion fragments, faded. Even the mental power lost due to high concentration began to recover rapidly.
Charlemagne VII took a deep breath and roughly used the stitching bandages from the medical kit to bandage the wound on his abdomen.
Only after finishing everything did Charlemagne VII support himself against the experiment table and rise. He walked to one of the container tanks, his gaze moving with the floating boy inside the liquid.
“Seventh-generation emperor, it seems no new people have come here in a very long time.”
That gentle female voice sounded again inside the laboratory.
“It’s almost been a hundred years.”
Now calm, Charlemagne VII said in a low voice, “There won’t be any new people in the future either.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll be rather lonely all by myself.”
The woman’s words carried mockery, like a bouquet of flowers with thorns, stabbing toward the calm-faced seventh-generation emperor.
“What a pity. The descendants of sinners have not yet suffered enough punishment, yet they are about to be released.”
“Released…”
Charlemagne VII raised his right hand and tightly gripped his left arm, which bore a snake-shaped totem. He looked at the boy inside the container tank who looked exactly like him when he was young. A trace of almost imperceptible loss flashed through his eyes.
“Yes. It should end.”
As soon as Charlemagne VII finished speaking, an explosion came from the entrance of the underground level.
A voice belonging to an imperial prince drifted above the reservoir.
“This is the place, right, 002?”
“Mm. The underground level of the imperial royal family. According to what 001 said, it should most likely be here.”
“Tch. Why doesn’t he come himself? He leaves all the dirty and exhausting work to us.”
003 spun the energy gun in his hand and looked with disdain at the underground city, which was somewhat filthy and messy due to years without maintenance.
Smelling the odor coming from the pool, 003 pinched his nose and said in a strained voice, “Damn, what kind of water is stored here? It’s disgusting.”
“003, you can speak less. Your current voice doesn’t sound good.”
001, controlling the First Prince, looked at 003 beside him, who was a head shorter than himself, and glanced at him with some disdain.
“Damn it. Who would’ve known that bastard Talir actually injected himself with a consciousness-cloud destroyer? Fuck, and I even repaired the damage to his body. What a waste of time.”
003 tugged at the clothes that were a size too large for the body and found every part of this body, which was shorter than 002 by a considerable amount, unpleasant to look at.
“Those newly born guys actually dared to take all the good things and left this garbage for me.”
003 controlled the Twelfth Prince’s body, spreading his legs with some difficulty as he forcibly kept up with 002’s steps.
As their conversation drew closer, the female voice inside the laboratory became weaker, as if leaning close to Charlemagne VII’s ear to whisper, controlling the sound within the range of the laboratory.
“Seventh-generation emperor, they are here.”
The longsword in the center of the pool turned direction, following the movement of the two people outside as the snake head slowly twisted.
Then the female voice sounded again inside the laboratory.
“This is the answer you spent a hundred years producing?”
“This is the answer I’m most satisfied with so far.”
Charlemagne VII finished the movement of his hands and threw the ring in his hand into the container tank. Then, calm and composed, he walked out of the laboratory.
At this moment, the two people who were about to reach the laboratory entrance ran directly into the emperor.
003, who had still been tugging at his trouser legs with disgust, instantly reacted and looked at Charlemagne VII, who had walked right into their trap, with a malicious smile.
“Well, if it isn’t our royal father.”
“Looks like you’ve thought things through.”
Unlike 003’s provocative appearance, 002’s expression was especially calm. He coolly judged whether the other party carried any weapon that could threaten them.
“Kashemir Zerg race, to repay you for helping the royal family resolve the hereditary mental illness, I will hand over what you want, as agreed.”
Charlemagne VII’s gaze was gentle, like a father looking at his children, as he looked somewhat sickeningly at the two aliens before him wearing the appearances of imperial princes. Then, under the confusion of the two, he slowly retreated.
“You know what we want?”
002 stared warily at his movements, afraid he would pull some trick.
Charlemagne VII retreated to the edge of the pool and made a “shh” gesture toward the space behind the two of them before falling backward into the pool.
The splash of water spread to every corner of the underground level. Aphrodite, who had followed the two of them into the underground level, widened his eyes, as if unwilling to see the scene before him.
The tightly furrowed brows on his face showed his abnormal emotions at this moment. Only after a moment did the next sound of something falling into the water call his awareness back.
“Damn it, that dog emperor.”
003, who had fallen into the pool, covered his mouth and nose and looked at the bottomless water with some reluctance, not daring to dive after the emperor for a moment.
“Hurry, 003. We need to obtain the emperor’s body.”
002 stared at the rippling surface of the pool. His icy gaze turned toward 003, who was lingering on the surface, urging him, “The Allied Forces have already entered the palace. We don’t have much time.”
“Damn it. Why don’t you go down yourself?”
Faced with 002’s deathly urging, 003 expressed his current impatience with a face full of disgust.
“Fuck, why don’t you go down yourself?”
Although he complained aloud, after saying that, 002 controlled the Twelfth Prince’s body, held his breath, and dived into the pool.
As this body gradually swelled, 002 felt the host body’s breathing become difficult. While its body temperature rose, it also began to feel chills.
Compared to his abnormalities, Charlemagne VII, who had fallen into the pool first, seemed completely fine, allowing his body to sink toward the bottom.
Only when the stone pillar sealing the longsword emitted red light did Charlemagne VII, sensing a trace of red in the darkness, slowly open his eyes.
In the eye-stinging pool water, he looked toward the source of the red light.
A red snake-shaped totem was branded onto the stone pillar. The mental power produced around it firmly controlled the longsword within.
Charlemagne VII moved his legs and swam toward that totem. He pressed the device in his pocket against the stone pillar.
The instant the device touched the solid surface, the originally hard stone pillar was blown apart. The pool instantly stirred up violent waves, splashing toward 002 standing by the pool.
As for 003, who had entered the water just like Charlemagne VII, he was controlling this swollen body and was choked by the suddenly violently rolling water, making it difficult for him to control his movements.
For a moment, the entire palace shook. The intense disturbance attracted all the aliens inside the palace.
Before long, the entire tower was surrounded by a group of first-stage aliens.
“What’s going on, 003?”
Standing by the pool, 002 clenched his fists and released his main body’s mental power to establish contact with 003 underwater.
“Save me. Save me. I can’t get back up.”
Unable to speak in the water, 003 kept his lips tightly closed. The swelling all over his body made it impossible for him to rise to the surface even while controlling the body.
Sensing that the host body’s various functions were failing, 003, who had originally wanted to keep swimming upward, had no choice but to release his own energy and repair this abnormal body.
002, standing by the pool, was not much better off. The water stirred up by the explosion had soaked him, and his entire body was covered in the liquid from the reservoir.
A drop of liquid splashed into his eye, instantly triggering an alarm in 002’s host body. The stinging sensation was transmitted to his main body, causing 002, who had already found the pool water strange, to immediately raise his guard.
When he looked at his arms again, the liquid had seeped into the wounds caused by the previous explosion, causing both arms to slowly swell.
Then came dizziness, fever, and chills.
A series of symptoms swept through 002’s host body, forcing him to stop releasing mental power, end his connection with 003, and instead release energy to repair the damage to this body.
“Damn it.”
Amid 003’s cursing, Charlemagne VII’s body floated up from the bottom of the water, as though he had expected this, looking at him.
A moment later, the floor covering the underground level was pierced open by the continuous attacks of zerg tendrils.
Countless Kashemir Zergs appeared above the opening, as if intending to expose the underground level of the palace to sunlight.
Just as a zerg was about to leap into the hole, a harpy eagle dove down from the sky, grabbed the alien’s body, and slammed it heavily into the pool water.
The zerg that touched the liquid instantly let out a nauseating scream. It thrashed a few times in the water, then gave up struggling.
At this moment, above the opening, a search soldier who had witnessed the entire process cried out in disbelief, staring at that unknown pool water.
“What is this pool of water?”
“Cobra neurotoxin.”
A spitting cobra quickly identified the liquid in the pool and explained it to the beastman soldier beside him.
Soon after, an unharmed figure came ashore from the pool. Charlemagne VII seemed completely unaffected by the snake venom and created a huge disturbance as he emerged from it.
“Seventh-generation emperor, what exactly are you trying to do?”
The female voice from the underground level appeared by his ear in a voice only the two of them could hear, questioning the purpose of his actions.
“Old witch, when this is over, go back with him.”
“Oh, are you talking about Little Nine?”
The woman’s voice leaned closer and asked by his ear.
But before Charlemagne VII could answer, countless first-stage aliens seemed to share a sensation and attacked those with imperial royal blood.
Before long, the aliens in the opening fell one after another, crowding the underground level so tightly that not even water could pass through.
002, who had originally been standing not far away, was now separated from the seventh-generation emperor by several first-stage aliens. He used his own control ability to surround the emperor within.
From that ruthless look, it was clear he had no intention of letting the emperor leave unharmed.
“What a way to make trouble for people, seventh-generation emperor.”
002 swept his gaze over the beastman soldiers at the opening, then looked angrily at Charlemagne VII opposite him.
“Since you refuse to cooperate, I’ll skin you and pull out your tendons first, then take you back and reassemble you.”
As soon as 002 finished speaking, the circle of aliens around him received the signal. Countless blade-like tendrils attacked all at once, sweeping toward the emperor’s entire body.
“As long as your consciousness cloud isn’t destroyed, we can repair your body forever.”
002 stated this calmly, waiting for the prey before him to be taken down by the aliens under his command.
A blade of light from a particle sword slashed over, cutting down the tendrils attacking Charlemagne VII one by one. In the end, a figure blocked the way in front of him.
“You Kashemir Zergs really are unreasonable. Although I agree with what you said, according to Iskan’s rules, this person is not someone I can allow you to touch.”
Aphrodite’s voice at this moment was like an icy spring in a valley, carrying a chilling menace unique to wild snakes.
His beast-formed pupils had turned golden, staring fixedly at the other party’s every movement.
The two sides remained in a stalemate for a moment, until a bone-chilling cold spread through the surrounding air and a humanoid figure dropped heavily from the opening.
A person wearing a black cloak stood on the zerg side, his cold eyes looking at the two emperors without revealing much expression.
“It’s time to go back, 002.”
“003 is still at the bottom of the lake.”
“Don’t bother with him. For now, there’s no one here who can kill him.”
“In that case, let’s end this quickly.”
After 003 finished speaking, his body flickered, and he appeared in front of Charlemagne VII, raising his hand to knock him unconscious.
But before he could succeed, Aphrodite blocked the attack with his extreme speed.
“How rude, alien. I’m still standing right here.”
“So what?”
A voice from beneath the black cloak entered Aphrodite’s consciousness cloud directly.
At once, his originally agile speed slowed. His entire body stiffened in place, allowing 002’s attack to strike toward Charlemagne VII.
At the same instant, a powerful mental force spilled outward and spread through the entire underground level, completely controlling everyone’s movements.
“Have you decided not to leave, seventh-generation emperor?”
That gentle female voice once again brushed against Charlemagne VII’s ear, waiting for his definite answer.
“Did you see it? Your other snake eye.”
Charlemagne VII’s answer, completely unrelated to the question, declared his response.
In an instant, that powerful mental force suddenly retracted. Everyone who had been unable to move immediately regained control.
The tendril weapon in 002’s hand stabbed into Charlemagne VII’s abdomen.
Immediately afterward, the surrounding space began to distort, sucking in 002 and the others nearby.
A moment later, only Aphrodite remained where those people had originally stood.
The Kashemir Zergs abandoned by 003 instantly lost control and attacked Aphrodite uncontrollably.
In the blink of an eye, the beastmen at the opening transformed into beast forms as a group, protecting Aphrodite within the crowd.
…
At this moment, in the outer star region of District One.
Felix, piloting an Iskan aircraft, stopped not far from a starship.
“The hidden starship you mentioned is this one, right?”
Felix connected to the imperial military led by Amelie.
“We can roughly confirm it. The Kashemir second-stage aliens did not appear on the starship we attacked. When we were searching, we detected Zerg mental power in that star region.”
“Marshal Felix, are you certain you want to infiltrate the enemy ship alone?”
Amelie clearly did not approve of his approach, and even her tone rose slightly.
“When he wakes up, send him back to Iskan.”
“All right…”
