How could such a thing be true?
Most of the officials in the kingdom found it hard to believe.
After all, when that girl was driven out a few months ago, she hadn't even reached full adulthood.
That beautiful, timid girl who had sat in her chair with a face full of unease and fear—could she really be leading tens of thousands of monsters back to the palace?
“Lord Gor, what do you think?” The King looked toward the man standing not far away.
Despite being the King, there wasn't even a ripple of emotion on his face upon hearing news of his own daughter.
This indifference alone left many ministers feeling dissatisfied.
Of course, no one dared to voice it.
But thinking back to the past, when that adorable Princess used to run around the palace, calling everyone “Uncle,” many of the ministers' hearts had nearly melted.
It was nothing like now; things were no longer as they once were.
“Gentlemen, do you really believe that a hothouse flower who has spent over a decade lying in a greenhouse could become the master of magic beasts overnight?”
Gor turned and looked at everyone with a smile.
“While Her Highness is devastatingly beautiful, with a beauty that transcends the mundane, the magic beasts on the outskirts haven't even taken human form yet. Not to mention their low intelligence, it's impossible for their aesthetics to accept a human. Therefore, I conclude that Her Highness has already died in the forest. You must remember... that is goblin territory.”
As soon as the word “goblin” was mentioned, the ministers who had once been fond of the little Princess felt a wave of nausea.
Yet, the King’s expression remained perfectly normal.
There was nothing they could do.
“My only fear is that a mythic king might have suddenly appeared and encountered Her Highness. I can't be sure about others, but with Xia Jin's beauty, it wouldn't be impossible for her to bewitch a magic beast that has already taken human form.”
“Lord Gor, please stop worrying. This whole thing sounds preposterous to me.”
...
Near the Zerg main hive.
At this moment, Xia Jin's true body was very relaxed.
She sat on the creep-covered grass, supporting her body with both hands as she watched a lazy larva lying not far away, silently letting out a yawn.
Fighting had actually broken out again on the front lines.
With two new legions of the Kingdom approaching, the Zerg had to dispatch units to intercept and block these enemies.
It had to be admitted that the number of main forces the Kingdom sent out this time was quite large.
One or two legions in each direction, totaling over fifteen, plus over 200,000 reserve troops. This was no longer just about reclaiming lost territory in the north; they were treating Xia Jin as a national-level enemy.
“I won't lose, right?”
She counted on her fingers, realizing that she was currently only adding about ten thousand insects a day.
In fact, she could create more queens to produce even more, but because the income of standard energy was limited, if she wanted to increase the total scale of the Swarm, she would have to reduce the production of expensive insects and switch to ones like zerglings.
“I really should produce more swarm hosts, but unfortunately, those things are too expensive. Producing a handful of locusts in the short term isn't as useful as other insects.”
When she actually calculated it, the number of swarm hosts Xia Jin had wasn't small either.
While she was considering what to do, something happened eighty kilometers north of the main hive, at the very edge of her territory.
In fact, this was the boundary of the Swarm's expansion area.
For quite a long time, the Swarm here hadn't moved.
Under Xia Jin's orders, the entire Zerg race had been very cautious about expanding into the depths of the Border Forest, sticking to bullying weak magic beasts on the outermost fringes.
However, an incredible situation had just occurred here.
When a Zerg squad was preparing to head a few kilometers deeper to investigate, they suddenly encountered a strange figure.
It was a young man, squatting by a patch of grass and feeding meat to a magic beast.
Incidentally, because they sensed that the magic beast’s strength was as high as Tier 6, the insects did not attack immediately.
The brain bug felt something was fishy.
Sure enough, after finishing the feeding, the man clapped his hands and stood up to look in their direction.
“Little guys, it seems you are smarter than I imagined.”
A moment later, this being had already flashed right in front of the zergling.
“Hmm.”
Xia Jin naturally found out at the same time, especially since the brain bug gave her a special alert, causing her perspective to descend directly to that location.
Seriously suspecting that the person opposite her was extraordinary, Xia Jin immediately ordered the zergling not to attack.
As a result, the man before her reached out and touched the zergling's forearm.
“Not bad, a new race. Where is your leader?”
The two zerglings glanced at each other.
Linked through the Swarm network, everyone naturally knew that the Queen and the brain bugs were all watching this place.
In this situation, everything depended on the orders from above.
“At most, I'll use a projection to make contact.”
Xia Jin's true body immediately prepared to pack up and flee.
She was Tier 8 and could fight if needed, but there was no necessity for it.
Playing it safe was the ultimate way.
“The white-haired projection will stay behind.”
The projection's tier was now much lower than that of her true body.
Because the strength of the Queen’s Projection could only be zergling level +1, it was considered a daily consumable. It was only because of the Queen's mental energy that a limited number could be maintained.
However, as soon as one blew up, another could be brought in immediately, making them an infinite consumable that was much more expensive than a zergling.
As for why this skill hadn't leveled up, Xia Jin suspected that the hive was saving up for a big move.
Perhaps during the next upgrade, the projection's body would become incredibly powerful.
Just imagine if every single projection could explode; that scene would definitely be quite a thrill.
Rate on N.U.
