Chapter 22: Legendary Mission
Within the Silver Queen's nest, a massive Death Wyvern flew overhead, various reconnaissance-type insect units drifting above, while the insectoid structures below each emitted their unique fluctuations.
It had to be said that a wealthy insect queen like Silver Queen, after developing her hive complex, had structures that were not only highly practical but also possessed a unique aesthetic of insect architecture.
However, at this moment, the insectoids stationed throughout the complex were restless and agitated. The reason was that their queen was facing a great danger, yet the mental command from the hive instructed them to stay in place.
The reason for such a mental command was that, at this moment, inside Silver Queen's personal nest, she was only half a meter away from Su Xiao. At such a close distance where a hand could reach out and strike, no matter how powerful the insect queen, she could not face three Technique Grandmasters.
Sometimes, conflicts between parties needed to be mediated by distance. For example, earlier, Silver Queen hated Su Xiao with a gnashing of teeth. But now, when the two were only half a meter apart, Silver Queen would even smile at Su Xiao. This conflict mediation was quite effective.
Baha and the Irritable Little Elf entered the nest, with Baha sealing the entrance with a spatial barrier to prevent Silver Queen from having any backup plans.
Su Xiao stepped down from the sleeping platform. Two crystal seats faced each other, about a meter apart. After Su Xiao sat down, he surveyed the interior of the nest. It was clear that this nest had been carefully arranged, unlike the simple one constructed by Jila.
At Su Xiao's gesture, Silver Queen reluctantly sat down opposite him. To preserve the last shred of her pride as an insect queen, she explained after sitting, "Please don't misunderstand. It's not that I'm afraid."
"Mm, I know."
Su Xiao spoke. Hearing this, Silver Queen was stunned. She had prepared herself to die here, but the attitude of this Law Destroyer before her greatly surprised her.
Could Su Xiao kill Silver Queen on the spot? Of course he could. He could make her die here within one second. But what would be the gain from doing so? Aside from the kill reward, there was nothing else. Additionally, killing Silver Queen would cause all the lower-ranking individuals under her control to go berserk and die off within the following days, while these insect structures would wither away even faster.
In that case, other world-destroying races near this territory would inevitably notice. In the Wild Growth Lands, every piece of territory was priceless. Those world-destroying races would surely come to fight for it. To keep this territory, Su Xiao would either have to intervene himself or summon Jila to establish a hive.
Su Xiao never treated his opponents as fools. Although the Lightless Temple had been quiet, Su Xiao didn't believe that such a commotion here could escape the eyes of the Lightless God Cult. Once exposed, the current hellish difficulty would instantly skyrocket to nightmare level.
The current Lightless God Cult was like a powder keg. The priests, temple knights, and temple mages had all become somewhat maddened due to the influence of the Eternal Dark Lord's will. As soon as they learned of Su Xiao's whereabouts, they would immediately come to fight him to the death.
Even though Su Xiao had already advanced to Absolute Strength, if he faced such a situation, his death probability would be over ninety percent. Initially, it would be the maddened members of the Lightless God Cult holding him back. Soon, the Four Giants of the Lightless God Cult would appear simultaneously, bringing all their subordinates and the world-destroying races that had grudges against the Law Destruction faction to besiege Su Xiao.
For example, first dealing with the temple mages, then the temple priests, and then one of the Four Giants of the Lightless God Cult. There would be no gradual difficulty curve. At this moment, if his whereabouts were exposed, it would be four super big bosses, leading a group of ordinary bosses, many small bosses, and countless elite monsters, all coming to surround Su Xiao.
Killing Silver Queen now would result in losing more than the kill reward gained. However, the problem was that if he chose to capture Silver Queen alive, given her proud nature, she would likely end her own life within two days. Knocking her unconscious to capture her was even more impossible. One should not underestimate the mental strength of an insect queen.
To maintain the current advantage, how to trick... ahem, how to turn Silver Queen from an enemy into a friend was the key. Thinking of this, Su Xiao took out a silver Origin Stone fragment. He held it between his index finger and thumb and asked:
"I'm very puzzled. Why do you hate me so much?"
"You... you have the nerve to ask? Who was it that banished me here?"
"Mm, it was me."
Hearing Su Xiao's so straightforward answer, Silver Queen's momentum faltered. She had imagined him mocking her a hundred times, even torturing her, but she never expected that when answering this question, he would be so righteous, to the point that Silver Queen wondered if she had missed some detail. Could it be that she was the one in the wrong?
"Actually, you should thank me."
"?"
Silver Queen was confused. The initial momentum was completely gone. Earlier, she was too angry to speak; now, she was too confused to know what to say.
"I did indeed lose to you. Everything here belongs to you, except for my will, which will not submit. So, go ahead. Humiliating a loser is meaningless."
Silver Queen closed her eyes and leaned back, waiting for death to come. Even though she was extremely unwilling to lose, she still chose to accept it.
"Do you still remember what this is?"
Su Xiao pinched the fragment of [Origin Stone: Silver Queen] between his thumb and middle finger. Seeing this, Silver Queen's eyes showed some sadness. She said, "This is the remnant of the world I controlled."
"Because you caused the destruction of that world, your consciousness was sealed into the Origin Stone formed from the world's collapse."
"That's right."
At this point, a cruel curve appeared on Silver Queen's thin lips, as if indicating that she was indeed a cold insect queen who had destroyed a world.
"I've read the story of that world, in the Soul Library."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Silver Queen's expression froze. The reason was that her destruction of a world was practically her dark history.
A long time ago, Silver Queen was also one of many insect queens. All insect queens had a common aspiration: to become the ruler of all insect races across the realms.
Silver Queen had almost achieved this. However, one thing kept her one step away from the throne: there was an iron law among the insect race—no matter how the race developed, one must never allow the world they controlled to collapse. The insect race's philosophy was continuation and evolution, not destruction.
Silver Queen had seized this world after clashing with several other insect queens. But when she became the final victor, the world was already riddled with holes from the insect war. Changing worlds was possible, but abandoning the world where she had risen would surely bring disgrace from other insect races across the realms, let alone becoming the insect ruler. Even though this world originally had no other life forms, only insects.
Don't think that the title of insect ruler was just a title. Except for special insect queens like Jila, all other insect queens had to obey the ruler's commands. Therefore, Silver Queen needed the recognition of all insect queens to become the ruler. Moreover, there was no deceit or intrigue among the insect race, only differences in evolutionary strength. This was how the selection for the ruler's position was achieved.
Having damaged her controlled world to such an extent, Silver Queen's path to the ruler's throne was slipping away. At this critical moment, Silver Queen suddenly thought: the world's decline was merely due to the conflict between her and several other insect queens, which had overdrawn the world's world force. As long as she replenished the world's world force, making it vibrant again, and then established magnificent insect structures, along with her own strength, the ruler's throne would be secure.
Silver Queen secretly rejoiced at her cleverness. So she built a hive mothership and traveled through the void between worlds, specifically targeting worlds that had world force but no life and were about to collapse.
As for why she didn't go to worlds with abundant world force and many living beings, that was impossible. It would bring a lot of trouble, consuming time and effort. It was much more efficient to search for worlds on the verge of collapse.
After several hundred years of effort, the world Silver Queen controlled was filled with world force. Then that world split open. As for the specific reason, Silver Queen herself didn't know. She had consulted a large number of records, which said this method could restore a world's vitality.
When Silver Queen's consciousness was squeezed into the Origin Stone by the "Devouring Black Hole" formed from the world's collapse, she drifted through the void for several thousand years, eventually giving up thinking due to loneliness. Then, Su Xiao obtained [Origin Stone: Silver Queen], and upon returning to the material world, Silver Queen's consciousness gradually awakened.
Su Xiao tossed the Origin Stone fragment in his hand and said, "I'll speak, and you listen. If what I say is correct, answer 'correct.' If not, answer 'incorrect.' Any questions?"
"Yes."
Clang~
The long blade was drawn and pressed against Silver Queen's fair neck.
"And now?"
"It seems... no problem."
Although Silver Queen's gaze showed some resentment, due to the physical negotiation being too simple and direct, she had to temporarily concede.
"First, if it weren't for me using the 'Origin Stone Random Draw Authority,' you would still be stored as Origin Stone: Silver Queen in the Reincarnation Paradise's material inventory. Correct or incorrect?"
"Correct."
Silver Queen couldn't deny this and could only answer honestly.
"When I obtained Origin Stone: Silver Queen, did I harm your interests? Or rather, was it I who turned you into an Origin Stone?"
"No."
"Good. Up to this point in time, I have caused you no harm. On the contrary, I redeemed you, as an Origin Stone, from the Reincarnation Paradise's material inventory."
"Correct."
"After I redeemed Origin Stone: Silver Queen, I carried it with me. Because my follower Jila established a hive, the bio-energy drifting inside awakened you within the Origin Stone."
"Correct."
"After being awakened, your first action was to hide, bide your time, and prepare to harm me. Correct or incorrect?"
"This..."
Silver Queen suddenly felt a bit guilty. She carefully recalled and finally answered:
"Correct."
"When I detected your malice, I didn't choose to kill you but banished you to the Eternal Light World. Do you think I lacked the ability to kill you back then?"
"You... had that ability."
"So, I helped you escape from the Reincarnation Paradise's seal, unintentionally allowed you to reawaken, and then, faced with your malice, I didn't kill you but banished you to the Eternal Light World, giving you a chance to reform. No matter how you look at it, you shouldn't hate me so much. Am I wrong?"
"Uh... this... it seems..."
Silver Queen carefully searched for flaws in Su Xiao's words, but in the end, she was surprised to find that what the Law Destroyer said seemed to have no deviation.
"I said earlier that you should thank me. Was I wrong?"
"There is a problem! After I came here, I nearly died many times."
"Mm, of course. But why did I banish you here? I have a poor memory. Can you help me recall?"
"It was because..."
Silver Queen couldn't continue.
"You intended to harm me. I banished you to Eternal Light. You nearly died several times here. In that case, our grievances are settled. Don't you agree?"
"It seems... correct... I guess."
Feeling the blade touching her skin, Silver Queen's originally intended "incorrect" changed its tone and wording before leaving her mouth. Who said that -21 Charm Attribute had no negotiation effect? At this moment, Silver Queen was clearly convinced by Su Xiao's exquisite rhetoric.
"In that case, we should sign a contract. Let bygones be bygones. How about it?"
"Really?"
There was disbelief in Silver Queen's eyes. In her perception, this Law Destroyer with such astonishing blood energy shouldn't be so easy to deal with.
"..."
Su Xiao materialized a contract, drafted it, signed his name, and then floated it in front of Silver Queen. After confirming there were no issues, a wound appeared on her thumb, oozing purple-red blood. She pressed her thumb onto the contract, leaving a blood imprint in her designated area.
The contract floated back in front of Su Xiao. After confirming it was correct, he stored it in his contract slot. Then, he sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash and instructed Baha to remove the spatial barrier here.
The entire nest was at least a hundred square meters, quite spacious. Su Xiao went to an open area and began setting up a formation on the ground.
Silver Queen tried to extend her mental power outward. The next second, five silver insect guards appeared around her, followed by various insectoids rushing into the nest, surrounding Silver Queen in the center. A pair of eyes stared at Su Xiao.
"You... aren't you afraid I'll ignore the contract and go back on my word? Just one death, I can bear it. My life soul is not just one."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't bother with Silver Queen at all, focusing intently on setting up the formation. This caused Silver Queen's pupils to gradually narrow. As she issued mental commands, all the combat insectoids became restless. Finally, a command to leave the nest was issued, and all combat insectoids went out.
Perhaps Silver Queen would never know that this was the closest she had come to complete death in her long life. If she had dared to give the order to surround and kill Su Xiao, 0.1 seconds later, Su Xiao would have made Silver Queen completely dead.
"You really... aren't afraid I'll go back on my word?"
Silver Queen still couldn't believe it, because she felt that this Law Destroyer was far too sincere, to the point of being creepy.
"Are you an insect race?"
"Of course."
"The insect race, for continuation and evolution, does not go back on their word. Otherwise, do you think I wouldn't have killed you directly last time?"
"Oh, so you saw through this point, banished me, and then came to negotiate peace."
Silver Queen seemed to see through everything. Hearing this, Su Xiao paused the hand holding the technique carving knife and said truthfully:
"No. Banishing you to Eternal Light was to find resource sites for Jila in advance. You chose a very good location. Well done."
Su Xiao did not skimp on praise.
"?"
Silver Queen was stunned, then her pupils contracted in anger.
"You, immediately, right now, leave my territory."
"Are you sure?"
"Very sure."
"Pity. I was originally planning to send you away from here after our cooperation."
As he spoke, Su Xiao took out [Sealing Blade] and began to walk out of the nest.
"Wait, are you really going to let me out after the cooperation?"
Silver Queen hesitated. She longed to leave this place every moment.
"Of course. Otherwise, keep you locked up here, accumulating hatred towards me?"
Hearing this, Silver Queen's anger increased by 2 points. She didn't know why, but every word this Law Destroyer said was fact, yet each one could infuriate people to death.
"Do you always negotiate with others like this? Aren't you afraid of getting beaten?"
"No. Most people, when negotiating with me, are polite and humble."
"How is that possible? They... uh... it seems, indeed, that would be the case."
Silver Queen's voice gradually lowered, because she recalled when she negotiated with Su Xiao earlier, he had placed his blade beside her neck. In such a situation, anyone negotiating with this Law Destroyer would have to be polite and humble.
Su Xiao examined the formation he had set up. It was a summoning formation to call Jila to this world. When he first entered this world, he had a plan. If this plan succeeded, not only could he eliminate the Four Giants of the Lightless Temple, but all other world-destroying creatures and Abyss spawns banished here would not escape.
Seeing the teleportation formation Su Xiao had set up, Silver Queen had already guessed what was about to happen. This made her gaze extremely serious, because in the insect race's consciousness gathering place, Jila's reputation was known to every insect queen.
The so-called "Insect Race Consciousness Gathering Place" was very much like a network among the insect race. It was perfected by successive insect rulers and certified by the Void Tree. All insect queens, after obtaining permission from the current few administrators, could enter this gathering place with their mental power to communicate or exchange gene sequences of insect units.
Even Silver Queen, banished to the Eternal Light World, could access the "Insect Race Consciousness Gathering Place." However, because she was in the Eternal Light World, she could only view the content inside, unable to communicate mentally with other insect queens or exchange gene sequences.
Generally, an insect queen with a comprehensive strength of Fourth Rank was eligible to enter this "Gathering Place." Yet Jila had never obtained entry permission. This wasn't targeted discrimination but fear and dread.
If a normal insect queen had 10 talent points, they would allocate 3 to army spawning and combat, 3 to survival, and 4 to resources and development. Not to mention Silver Queen, who was a late bloomer, allocating all 6 talent points to resources and development.
But Jila was different. Under Su Xiao's cultivation, Jila was exceptionally gifted. She had at least 30 talent points or more, and all 30 of those talent points were allocated to army spawning and combat.
This was why the races that had fought Jila were all stunned. It also led to Jila being a fearsome existence within the insect race community. If Jila's mental power entered the "Insect Race Consciousness Gathering Place," no other insect queen would dare to enter. They were genuinely afraid that Jila would trace them through the "network."
This was because, in the past, the insect queens eliminated by Jila had transmitted their despair and helplessness before being destroyed into the "Insect Race Consciousness Gathering Place," along with the demon insect race's army spawning ability, which was several levels above normal insect races.
Insect queens developed by slowly accumulating combat insectoids, waiting until the numbers were sufficient before gradually becoming more prominent. In contrast, Jila, as long as she had bio-energy, could spawn a massive number of combat insect units within a day. And she wasn't spawning cannon fodder but elite and small boss units like Demon Beasts and Demon Flame Dragons.
When other insect queens saw these memory images, they were terrified. They had painstakingly cultivated a single small boss unit, while in the demon insect hive, such units were batch-cultivated in egg chambers.
Even more terrifying was the growth rate of Jila's combat insectoids. Normal insectoids had a half-hour newborn period after birth. In contrast, in the demon insect hive, the Demon Flame Dragons cultivated there were already roaring with mucus all over their bodies before they had even fully crawled out of the cultivation sacs.
Some Demon Flame Dragons would take flight as soon as they left the cultivation sacs, their newborn mucus still splattering everywhere, while already spewing dragonflame at the enemies below.
Even more terrifying was the demon insect race's fungal carpet. This fungal carpet had a bio-energy conversion rate of over 85%. Normally, an insect race's fungal carpet would have a conversion rate of 30-40%. Reaching 50% was already outstanding. Achieving an 85% conversion utilization rate was unique.
After Silver Queen learned of these things, she suddenly felt a wave of fear. Because she had seen Jila in person. She had once dismissed the little insect queen beside that Law Destroyer as insignificant. But after investigating the memory images in the "Insect Race Consciousness Gathering Place," she realized what a terrifying being this was.
Of course, Jila was destined never to become the insect ruler of all realms, because other insect queens would only fear her, not follow her. However, there was one thing: Jila had a 99% probability of having no interest whatsoever in becoming the insect ruler of all realms. Just the fact that she would have to go out frequently was enough to dissuade her on the spot. Jila hated leaving home the most.
The fundamental reason Su Xiao didn't kill Silver Queen but chose to cooperate with her was that there were life ores underground here. Whether it was mining or converting them into pure life stones, Silver Queen was far more skilled.
If Jila's ability in this area was 5, then Silver Queen's was at least over 100. Conversely, in army spawning and combat, Silver Queen was no match for Jila at all.
"Oh, I understand. The purpose of your cooperation with me is to have enough life stones."
"Correct."
"How long will this cooperation last?"
"One month."
"After the cooperation is complete, you'll help me leave the Eternal Light World?"
"Not only that, but also this reward."
Su Xiao took out a bottle of potion. The potion was a translucent fluorescent purple. Just seeing this potion gave Silver Queen a deep, soul-level craving. She could be certain that this must have been a potion specially formulated for the insect race by some potion master. It was very likely a potion that could permanently increase the number of life sources for an insect queen.
"At least give me 10 bottles of this potion."
"After the matter is accomplished, I'll give you 20 bottles. This potion can be consumed over a long period. The single increase isn't large, but it's stable."
"Oh? Not saving some for your insect follower?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. This was entirely out of consideration for Silver Queen's feelings, because Jila had practically been drinking this stuff like water. After consuming over a thousand bottles, the enhancement effect of this potion had reached its limit.
With the cooperation settled, Su Xiao placed one hand on the summoning formation. Light blazed, and a small piece of fluorescent purple biological tissue appeared at the center of the formation. This fluorescent purple tissue rapidly proliferated, soon surging into a pile and forming a spatial vortex. At the same time, the claws of demon insectoids reached out, grabbing the edges of the spatial vortex.
A petite figure stepped out from the spatial vortex. There were a few very narrow, light purple carapace plates on the sides of her neck, smooth and close to the skin. Apart from that, she was already indistinguishable from a human. This was Jila.
Jila's purple pupils looked at Silver Queen. After learning about Jila's background, Silver Queen became alert.
Light purple mental tendrils extended behind Jila, quite imposing. This made Silver Queen narrow her eyes, as if facing a great enemy. At this moment, Jila seemed about to say something, but...
"Haah~"
Jila yawned, tears welling up in her eyes. She looked around dazedly. Due to being in an unfamiliar environment, Jila completely ignored the on-guard Silver Queen. She came to Su Xiao's side, naturally hid under the hem of his long leather coat, and yawned again.
Silver Queen, still maintaining her on-guard stance, twitched at the corner of her eye. She stared at Jila, no matter how she looked, she couldn't see that this was the legendary Insect Race Dominator, Jila.
At this moment, the world-destroying races in the Eternal Light World still didn't know that the strongest insect combination in history had appeared: Jila's army spawning and combat abilities, combined with Silver Queen's resource and development abilities.
[Tip: Checking the Hunter's current situation...]
[Check complete. You have met the prerequisites to trigger the Legendary Mission.]
[Legendary Mission: Each world and each era can trigger at most one Legendary Mission. This mission is certified by the Void Tree.]
[Legendary Mission: Lord of Eternal Light (Single Ring Only).]
Difficulty Level: Lv.???.
Mission Brief: Eliminate over 90% of the world-destroying races within this world.
Mission Time Limit: 30 natural days.
Mission Reward 1: Void Tree Reputation increased from -??? to 0 points.
Mission Reward 2: ??? (Currently invisible due to insufficient reputation. This reward is approximately 20% higher than Mission Reward 1).
Mission Reward 3: ??? (Currently invisible due to insufficient reputation. This reward is approximately 40% higher than Mission Reward 1).
Mission Penalty: None.
...