Coordinates

The migratory colony had encountered an unprecedented crisis with the loss of their queen.

Fortunately, Elise, the queen of the main nest colony, immediately took over command.

Although she wasn't as familiar with the migratory colony's situation as Kerrigan, she at least prevented the colony from falling into chaos and confusion.

Seeing that the Great Devourer did not crumble like a sandcastle as they had expected, the enemy coalition also temporarily halted their offensive.

It was obvious that they had suffered massive losses just to create an opportunity for their elite infiltration squad, and they were currently unable to push any further.

Even if they wanted to press their advantage, they needed time to resupply and rest.

Lin Miao breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back wearily against the sofa.

Both the Great Devourer and the enemy had exerted everything they had in a short period of time.

Without the Great Devourer's traits and the external interference of deities, none of this would have been possible.

“The elves are starting to make moves again.”

However, the Great Devourer was currently surrounded by enemies on all sides.

While the war in the north was still ongoing, the enemies in the south had also begun to mobilize once more.

“We only crushed one of the elven legions, and there are still at least four more we have to deal with. Besides, they must be on guard against our forces' combat power by now.”

Celia, her eyes closed, murmured softly to herself.

She was likely viewing the footage sent back by the scouts through the hive mind.

Lin Miao was also watching the screen.

A massive army of tens of thousands, equipped with various weapons, was marching toward the south of the Lucadia Empire once again.

They were here to replace the Second Legion, which had lost over half its strength after being crushed by the mage legion.

Furthermore, on another screen, another legion was closing in on the Kingdom of Bartonia, an elven colony that had already been occupied by the Great Devourer.

They were coming to liberate the colony that served as their resource source and drive out the Great Devourer.

“Is there really nothing we can do?”

Lin Miao muttered under his breath as he closed the battlefield feed and opened the Divine Net forum, hoping to find some useful information.

If they continued to fight head-on like this, the Great Devourer would undoubtedly suffer heavy losses.

With the migratory colony currently on the brink of collapse, a solution had to be found as quickly as possible.

If this continued, the Great Devourer would likely be sandwiched from both the north and the south, ultimately leading to their total annihilation.

Just thinking about it filled Lin Miao with a sense of unease.

[Venerable Night Moon: The god ruling the elves has violated the rules! If you are reading this, get out here right now!]

Just then, Lin Miao spotted an incredibly angry post.

At first, he thought it was just another loser venting their frustration or trying to start a flame war.

After all, there were plenty of such posts every day.

But looking closer, the content was actually very interesting.

[Venerable Night Moon: I already admitted defeat and was willing to retreat from Terra's lands, but those bastards actually snatched my holy relic and refuse to return it!]

[Lord of Pleasure: You even used a holy relic? Looks like you were truly driven into a corner.]

[Goddess of the Silver Moon: Then didn't you lose everything? What on earth were you thinking?]

The poster was a deity named Venerable Night Moon, and every word was filled with grievance and rage.

Through the post and the comments below, Lin Miao got a general grasp of the situation.

A holy relic was an item that contained a deity's own Divine Status.

Compared to ordinary bestowed items, its value was in a completely different league.

It was not only a symbol, but also an item that could divide a deity's Divine Status to bestow upon a large number of vassals.

It was a deity's last resort to significantly strengthen their vassals, even at the cost of lowering their own Divine Status.

Lin Miao had only ever heard of such things; this was the first time he had seen a god actually use one.

After all, in a common frontier borderland like Terra, there was absolutely no need for deities to risk lowering their own Divine Status to manufacture and use holy relics.

[Venerable Night Moon: They are currently holding my vassals who possess the power of the holy relic and are extracting their strength. I am making the coordinates public here. Do whatever you want with them.]

[Goddess of the Silver Moon: Lmao, but that's deep within their hinterlands...]

[Goddess of the Lost: This is just a recommendation, not a rule. There was never any obligation to follow it in the first place. Besides, in that frontier borderland, no one mandated such a thing. I really don't know how someone of your caliber managed to become a Mid-Tier Deity.]

It seemed there was an unwritten rule in the frontier borderlands that once a deity's holy relic was seized, it should be returned to them.

But the elven god clearly didn't care about their reputation on the Divine Net at all, completely ignoring this rule.

An enraged Venerable Night Moon had thus thrown a massive tantrum on the forum.

The familiar name sent Lin Miao down memory lane.

Soon, he remembered.

Back in the early stages when he knew nothing.

Back when the private message function hadn't even been unlocked, the god of the goblins who had sent him a barrage of insults and complaints was none other than this guy.

Lin Miao had thought he had long since vanished from the continent. He hadn't expected the guy to have developed his forces near the elven territory, only to be utterly crushed by them.

“Celia, perhaps we can use this opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.”

Lin Miao pondered for a moment, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.

He then immediately handed down an oracle to Celia, conveying the coordinates he had seen on the forum.

Lin Miao planned to rescue the goblins of Venerable Night Moon who had been captured and were currently being exploited by the elves.

If he did this, the Elven Empire would surely fall into chaos over this unexpected incident, and their offensive would inevitably be hindered.

Of course, doing so might arouse some suspicion.

They might guess that the one lurking behind the Great Devourer was not some Outer God outside the established order, but a deity just like them.

Lin Miao didn't care in the slightest.

Whether they continued to treat him as an Outer God or discovered that he was actually an Evil God competing with them made no difference to Lin Miao.

In any case, they were all enemies Lin Miao had to defeat for the sake of himself and the Great Devourer.

“The target location... is actually right in the center of the elven territory...”

Receiving Lin Miao's oracle, Celia couldn't help but be deeply shocked.

Not only did the Great One personally provide detailed coordinates, but he also ordered her to attack that location.

And that location on the map was shockingly in the heart of the Elven Empire, right near the Great Forest.

Celia had never expected to receive such an order and hesitated for a moment.

After all, this was the first time Lin Miao had personally obtained detailed information and directly commanded her actions.

Furthermore, that location was deep within enemy territory, a place they had always deemed unreachable.

Celia had not yet received a detailed explanation as to why they were attacking that place, so she froze completely.

【Elise is considering an airstrike plan】

But Elise's reaction was entirely different. As soon as Celia relayed Lin Miao's order, Elise immediately began calculating an execution plan without the slightest hesitation.

Celia swallowed hard as she observed the queen's attitude.

No matter how much she racked her brain, Celia couldn't think of any feasible way.

But she believed that as long as it was the Great One's command, Elise would find a way no matter what.

Within the colony, the only thing that could override benefit and efficiency was Lin Miao's command.

Ever since the Great Devourer was just a colony of ordinary ants, Lin Miao had built up this unshakable trust and influence step by step.

Celia figured that Elise might even create a new mutated ant specifically to complete this task.

【Elise is calling Celia】

Sure enough, before long, Elise, having quickly completed her calculations, contacted Celia.

“Wait a minute!”

But it wasn't just a matter of Elise finding a way.

She had chosen Celia to be the core of this operation.

And Celia had absolutely no right to refuse.

【Elise plans to give them a taste of their own medicine by dispatching a small, high-firepower force for covert infiltration and surprise attack】

In her nest, a cold gleam flashed in Elise's eyes.

Kerrigan's death had filled Elise with rage as well.

For the enemy to dare assassinate the core of the colony was an intolerable humiliation to her as the queen.

Therefore, she would repay this humiliation tenfold, no matter what.

Watching the massive Great Devourer immediately drop everything and go all out over a single sentence of his, Lin Miao couldn't help but swallow hard.

The first thing Elise did was bring Celia to a specific location and reclaim the symbiotic carapace ant covering her body.

The symbiotic carapace ant, which usually moved according to Celia's will, suddenly turned into a puddle of slime and slid off her body.

Flustered, Celia's face flushed red as she hurriedly covered her body.

Meanwhile, worker ants crawled toward the symbiotic carapace ant that was wriggling like a slug.

The symbiotic carapace ant was a highly unique entity.

It was a one-of-a-kind individual that Elise had created specifically to control Celia by fusing the genes of various mollusks—including slugs—with Universal Cells.

Although Celia had now been recognized by Lin Miao as a vassal, becoming an existence second only to the queens, and the symbiotic carapace ant parasitizing her had begun to obey her will, Elise was still the only one capable of modifying it.

“That is...”

Kneeling on one knee and covering her body, Celia's eyes widened as she watched the worker ants inject something into the symbiotic carapace ant.

The symbiotic carapace ant, which had deactivated its hardening ability and returned to a jelly-like state, was injected by the worker ants with a magic heart processed from a heart-fusing worm, along with a vast amount of nutrient solution, beginning its evolution into a brand-new entity.

Celia felt the will transmitted through the hive mind, her body trembling slightly.

Now, Elise intended to further modify Celia, forging her into an existence comparable to Grimgor, the beastkin hero who had just defeated the migratory colony.

Within the entire Great Devourer, only Celia was suited for this role.

The newly modified symbiotic carapace ant attached itself to Celia once again.

The soft body flowed along her curves, then rapidly hardened, transforming into a suit of armor.

Countless spikes pierced into Celia's body, completely linking their nervous systems as if the two were born as one.

Up to this point, it was no different from before.

But stumbling slightly, Celia immediately felt an unprecedented surge of immense power flooding her body, her brow furrowing in pain.

In truth, although the modified symbiotic carapace ant didn't look much different on the outside, its interior had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.

The concentration of power contained within each cell, as well as the density of the cells themselves, had been immensely enhanced.

Her weight had increased several-fold; merely stepping on the ground cracked the parched earth.

Her original heart and the magic power contained within the symbiotic carapace ant also resonated with the magic heart implanted in her chest, transforming into the Great Devourer's unique power—psionic energy.

“Ugh...”

Celia gritted her teeth in pain, an ant-shaped mask gradually forming over her face.

The armor on her back split open, and rapidly dividing cells formed a pair of massive, membrane-covered wings.

Amid the interweaving of intense pain and pleasure brought by the neural connection, Celia straightened her back, spread her wings, and soared into the sky in an instant.

“Celia has evolved.”

Watching this scene, Lin Miao couldn't help but marvel.

To be precise, it was the symbiotic carapace ant fused with her that had evolved. However, only Celia, who possessed the unique talent recognized by Elise, could withstand this evolution.

Leading a small aerial force, Celia flew into the high altitudes where the enemy's radar could not detect them. After orienting herself, she flew toward the target.

Her destination was precisely the coordinates Lin Miao had given her.

Elise was also silently watching Celia fly off into the distance.

This thought of hers didn't even leave a trace in the hive mind.

In fact, Celia was also Elise's test subject.

An experiment she conducted to explore the “beauty” she truly desired.