Under Xia Jin's threats, Second Brother, who had become the new leader, quickly gained the trust of the underlings.
In fact, the smarter ones among them already realized what had happened.
The world had changed.
The true leader of this stronghold had actually become that young girl.
Although the girl looked harmless, she brought great terror to Second Brother.
Old Third and the former leader had become eerie puppets.
They were left on the scene along with the infestor to monitor Second Brother's actions daily.
Just as Xia Jin said, more insects were already on their way.
This mountain area wasn't actually suitable for Zerg to hide because the kingdom's official Falcon Knights often patrolled the skies.
This meant that even if they hid in the forest, they could easily be spotted by terrifying eagle eyes.
But if they hid inside the stronghold and stayed indoors most of the time, they would generally be fine.
And if they occasionally went out accompanying the bandits, with a bit of luck, they could pretend to be tamed magic beasts and wouldn't be given special attention.
In short, Xia Jin was now considering using this bandit den as a hiding spot for a small number of Zerg.
She would let some insects slip over and hide in the buildings here; they could even find some food and stay for a few months without issue.
Perhaps at some point, she would need to use them.
“I’m leaving. If you find any information, just show it to this infestor, or tell it directly.”
Xia Jin patted the insect beside her with a serious expression.
“Yes, yes!”
The new leader (formerly Second Brother) nodded repeatedly.
With the instructions given, she set off with her zergling.
This time, she soon reached the edge of the mountains.
The original plan was to have the zergling carry her across the wild, but after hearing more than once about the patrolling Falcon Knights, Xia Jin decided to give up the zergling and send it back to the stronghold while she headed toward the kingdom alone.
Because she took remote paths the whole way and intentionally avoided passersby, the journey was relatively smooth.
Not long after, Xia Jin successfully arrived before the capital city.
Seeing this city full of magical wonders, she couldn't help but be a bit dazed.
The outer walls alone were 50 meters high.
The shape of the entire city was actually irregular. One side leaned against a vast artificial lake. The outer walls enclosed both the lake and the city, while the second inner wall surrounding the main structure was the true core.
The city's terrain was tiered—low on the edges and high in the middle.
The palace was at the highest point in the center, overlooking the entire city.
Trying to sneak in was extremely difficult.
Not to mention that most of the Zerg hadn't evolved strong burrowing abilities yet; even if they had, it would be hard to pass the capital's underground detection magic circles.
Therefore, the safest way was to walk in openly as an ordinary passerby.
Xia Jin was familiar with this.
She knew the internal atmosphere of the kingdom was quite open. Due to the development of magic civilization, as long as one disguised themselves as a mage, they would rarely encounter obstacles.
So she cut a tree branch by the road, ran to a nearby shop to buy a set of blue robes and a pointed hat, and with her exquisite handicraft, she modified them slightly until they looked like a loose magic robe.
“Let’s go!”
Although the branch in her hand was just a branch, trimmed to look like a staff, who would care?
After all, some of the big shots among mages used ordinary walnut wood for their staves, claiming the effect was better.
Ordinary mages, lacking the ability to use natural elements as a guide, had to make their staves very flashy, encrusted with all sorts of gems.
When the girl in the loose robe and pointed hat, holding a staff, slowly entered the city, the two soldiers were both a bit dazed.
Naturally...
Regardless of anything else, at least this outfit made it easy for people to think this girl was not simple.
Thus, having successfully slipped in, Xia Jin began to walk slowly toward the central area of the capital.
Not long after, she approached the inner city area.
“Sneaking in isn’t that hard.”
An average person would be at a dead end here if they weren't careful.
But Xia Jin was too familiar with the palace.
She knew the best way to get in was to have a certain level of strength and then skillfully slip past the patrol teams' eyes.
Of course, even if she got in, she couldn't guarantee her safety.
But for the Zerg, this wasn't actually very troublesome.
As the Queen's projection, her body structure was actually that of an insect.
She could change her appearance to a certain extent.
So soon, Xia Jin locked onto the appearance of a female minister and changed herself.
Of course, being identical was difficult, but as long as she was similar, and the guards didn't pay too much attention, she would be hard to spot.
After all, for someone of high status, who would dare to conduct a close-range inspection if they knew the other party's identity?
Soon, having transformed into a woman and taken off the magic robe, she walked openly through the west side gate of the palace.
Two high-level Imperial Guard warriors saw this but didn't react.
“It really is smooth.”
Thinking this, Xia Jin entered leisurely.
In fact, if she used magic transformation or disguises, she would definitely be detected.
But Xia Jin had directly changed her physical structure, which naturally bypassed all detection.
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