Chapter 289: The Interstellar Zerg Are About to Appear
"Uncle Yondu, get in!"
With the situation under control, Allen materialized a multicolored ghost fire.
"Aren't we going to wait for them?"
Uxas looked anxiously at his seven cousins still locked in battle with Drax.
"No need to worry. My cousins are hopelessly drawn to my charm—they'll definitely come looking for me." Allen flipped his hair leisurely and motioned for him to get in quickly.
Surrounded by a vibrant aura of rainbow flames, Uxas looked downright repulsed.
Just how flashy does someone have to be to conjure up such a gaudy vehicle?
Reluctantly, he got in the back seat. "Let's go."
Allen patted the bone below his waist and said coyly, "Hold on tight to the one you love."
Tch...
Unable to suppress a tongue click, Uxas eventually gave in and grabbed the hip bone.
[ Ding! Congratulations to the host for achieving the epic milestone: "I Rode Allen's Ghost Fire from the Backseat Like Darkseid Did." Rewards: Handsomeness +100%, Charisma +100%. ]
"Are you done talking to yourself?"
Uxas cut off Allen's monologue.
At this point, he almost felt like dying would've been preferable. To be rescued in front of the public execution stand, under the eyes of the entire Apokolips Star populace, by a certified lunatic—this shame would be impossible to wash away for a lifetime.
"You naughty thing, what's the rush?"
With that, Allen twisted the throttle.
In an instant, the rainbow-hued ghost fire transformed into a streak of light shooting into the sky.
Hela, who was waiting in deep space, even mistook it for Asgard's Bifrost.
Boom!
As the Violet Lantern cousin entered the fray, she launched a surprise psychic assault, taking control of Drax's mind. The other six cousins then unleashed their strongest moves together.
Caught completely off guard, Drax was gravely injured.
"Protect the sovereign!"
With a cry, the ministers watching from the execution platform of Apokolips Star rushed toward Drax.
But the seven cousins vanished into strands of radiant light on the spot.
As for Allen and Uxas, they were already long gone.
And clearly, they had no intention of returning to chase anyone down.
"Summon the royal medical team immediately!"
Critically injured, Drax fell unconscious. Among those present, only the citizens of Apokolips Star showed genuine concern.
Surrounded by high-ranking ministers, Drax was safely escorted back to the royal palace.
But in truth, each minister had their own agenda.
Seeing the situation unfold, many began to entertain bold thoughts.
The ministers secretly supporting Uxas wished Drax had simply died on the spot.
Those who had maintained neutrality recalled Drax's murderous gaze earlier and now feared they wouldn't escape his retribution if he recovered.
Only a small handful were true loyalists, faithfully devoted to Drax.
That very day, news of rebellion erupted from the royal palace. Several ministers were executed on the spot.
At the same time, word spread that His Majesty had been assassinated and was now critically wounded, teetering on the brink of death.
In reality, two factions of ministers had come to an agreement: first, purge the loyalists, then finish off Drax. They deliberately spread rumors that he was still alive and recovering to buy time to eliminate all diehard supporters within Apokolips Star.
Once the purge was complete, they would announce to the public that the old king had perished and reinstate Uxas as ruler. The sheer magnitude of this unexpected windfall left him dazed.
Aboard the spaceship—
Having successfully rescued Uxas, they immediately entered warp-speed travel.
Put simply, they were getting as far away from Apokolips Star as possible to avoid pursuit by its starships.
Allen lounged on the sofa, idly scrolling through his class interface.
This round had earned him a hefty chunk of experience—his warrior level had just reached level 30—and he was currently reviewing a newly acquired skill.
His teammates, however, were entirely unfazed.
He was always whispering sweet nothings to the air, and poking at empty space was one of his milder episodes.
[Character]: Allen (5/10)
[Class]: Level 30 Warrior
[Skills]
Weapon Mastery: Instantly proficient with any melee weapon.
Edge of War Lv1: Adds one layer of weapon reach. Increases range by 10% per level.
Burning Blood of Fury Lv1: Burns 1% of blood per minute. All attributes increase by 100%. As skill level increases, burn rate slows while attribute bonuses rise.
Savage Stomach: Can replenish blood and store additional blood through devouring. Storage capacity scales with physical constitution.
[Timeline]: Year 1355, Realm of the Void
[Requirement]: Return to original timeline upon reaching class level 120
The new skill Savage Stomach was clearly designed to complement Burning Blood of Fury.
In truth, Allen hardly needed it. A skill that worked like a berserker's rage—burning his own blood to boost attributes—was essentially a death sentence once his blood ran out.
A 100% boost to all attributes at the cost of his life? Not exactly worth it.
But now, with a support skill in the mix, he could use it as freely as he pleased—just gobble down a couple high-calorie meals and he'd be back in fighting shape.
---
Meanwhile, on an isolated ecological planet in a remote star system—
Lush vegetation blanketed the surface. Wildlife thrived, and the oceans remained a pristine blue.
At this moment, a starship pierced through the atmosphere, compressing the air and turning clouds into vapor.
A transmission beam descended, deploying a pitch-black insect egg.
Next, the starship hovered above the ocean and dropped a second egg.
Before long, both eggs hatched—one into a Hive Mother, the other into a Starship Bug.
These second-generation Zerg were barely fist-sized upon hatching, but their grotesque appearance already revealed their terrifying killing potential.
The Starship Bug looked like a cross between a centipede and a serpent, slithering through the ocean as it hunted and evolved.
It quickly targeted a marine creature over ten meters long, clamped its sharp jaws onto the creature's surface, and tore open a wound with spiraling rows of teeth before burrowing inside and devouring it from within.
The Hive Mother went through multiple developmental phases.
Currently in its larval stage, it had monstrous hunting capabilities to ensure it could grow into its adult form. Once matured, it could store vast quantities of nutrients, evolve into a true hive, and produce an army of bug soldiers using excess energy.
The defining trait of the Zerg in early stages was their rapid growth.
In just one hour, the Starship Bug had grown to a full meter in length.
Thanks to the ocean's abundant food supply, it could easily evolve into its final form. At that point, it would reach starship scale and begin searching for metal ores to convert into the bio-metal forming its outer shell.
By the end of a single day, the Hive Mother had grown to the size of a small house. Its body exuded a pheromone that repelled other creatures, protecting it from attack during its vulnerable evolution phase.
Through blackwater-bred xenomorphs and cracked genetic templates for accelerated evolution, the Hive Mother had no time restrictions on growth—it simply needed sufficient nutrients to evolve into its complete form.
On the second day, the white, fleshy, mushroom-like Hive Mother laid a hundred eggs, which soon hatched into palm-sized larvae.
These bug soldiers were then released to continue hunting.
From here on, all of the Hive Mother's nourishment would come from what the bug soldiers brought back. Its sole mission: endless reproduction.
(TN: Sorry for the late update. This fanfic is currently on the drop list. If you would like me to continue translating it, please vote on my Patreøn.)