Following Xia Jin's orders, the soldiers immediately set out with the small zergling to search for prey.
Before long, Xia Jin, who was following the squad, spotted a massive creature.
A pangolin, Tier 2.
“Careful, a Tier 2 creature.”
The knight commander and Ellie, the two strongest warriors, immediately stepped forward to take the lead.
One was Tier 3 and the other was Tier 2, making them the strongest individuals in this exiled group.
Of course, Tier 3 strength wouldn't even be considered bottom-tier in the kingdom's elite forces. This showed just how heartless the King was toward the poor princess, allowing only such people to accompany her.
Provoked, the pangolin grew furious. Its body curled into a solid sphere and rolled toward the group.
“Explosive Slash!”
The knight commander swung his blade, unleashing a wave of red energy that slammed into the creature.
With the sound of an explosion, the pangolin was blasted backward.
The nearby zergling leaped into the air and drove its claws into the pangolin's wound.
The unfortunate beast let out a shrill cry and swung its sharp claws in a counterattack.
Recognizing that its opponent was of a higher rank, the zergling immediately jumped back, dodging the attack.
The knight commander glanced at the creature in surprise.
“What fast reflexes. Is this really Tier 1?”
It was a species seemingly born for battle.
Ellie stepped forward to deliver the finishing blow, her strike piercing through the pangolin's defenses and skewering it.
What she called high-energy crystals were known as magic cores in this world. Generally, magic beasts of Tier 2 or higher could condense them as a core for storing elements.
For human mages, these were excellent spellcasting materials and fetched a high price.
However, Xia Jin collected them primarily for the purpose of upgrading the swarm.
Once the pangolin was slain, the zergling immediately dragged the corpse back to the vicinity of the Zerg Hive.
The creep on the ground surged, slowly enveloping the pangolin.
The Zerg Hive's absorption speed was relatively slow, but since she had twenty units of energy left over from before, she immediately hatched a new zergling and a drone.
In less than ten minutes, two new bugs appeared before Xia Jin.
Such a rapid rate of reproduction truly startled the warriors.
Of course, the princess's charm was simply too high. Facing the composed young girl, everyone felt that this arrangement wasn't so bad after all.
Beauty and the beast—the scene was filled with a unique kind of artistic flair, wasn't it?
With two zerglings now, they could essentially slaughter Tier 1 creatures with zero casualties.
Even if they sustained fatal injuries, the zerglings' abilities allowed them to continue fighting.
They were war machines that felt no pain, completely subservient to her will.
“But the numbers are still too low. We haven't passed the danger period yet.”
This land known as the Border Forest was far more terrifying than one might imagine. Putting aside high-level monsters, even the local tribes living nearby were not something this group of twenty could handle.
While the two zerglings were out hunting, Xia Jin returned to her carriage.
Looking down at her slender legs clad in black silks, she remained silent for a few seconds before opening the nearby cabinet to see if there were any more practical clothes.
But soon, her face darkened.
“What is all this?”
It was nothing but dresses and stockings... Not just black silks, but white silks, pantyhose, and the like.
“Does this princess really only wear dresses?”
Fortunately, the dresses weren't short; they were at least midi-length, so wearing them wouldn't lead to any accidental exposure.
“Whatever, I'll just have to get used to it. Once my swarm develops, I won't have to worry about things like this.”
On the contrary, she felt that her current appearance wasn't too bad.
At least she was beautiful and had the means to protect herself.
Indeed, as long as the swarm grew, no power in this world would be able to harm her.
Compared to her mediocre previous life, the role of the Zerg Queen had much better prospects, didn't it?
Probably...
“Phew, I don't really have a choice, so I'll just have to accept reality.”
Xia Jin was not one to complain. More than anything, she hoped her strength would grow faster.
The current Zerg Hive had regressed to a primitive state. Many gene fragments were lost, and the remaining chains required massive resources to activate. Thus, it had to undergo a continuous process of devouring and evolving.
Because it recorded past failures, the current swarm could actively avoid the mistakes of the past, making evolution much smoother.
As long as there were enough resources, reaching the stars was only a matter of time.
Xia Jin sat in her chair and pulled open the drawer under the table.
“Oh, there's actually a bottle of red wine.”
In addition to the wine, she pulled out a few leftover pastries.
These were likely stashed away by the knights.
Considering the princess didn't like alcohol, the red wine would most likely have ended up in the knights' hands.
The pastries, however, could fill Xia Jin's stomach.
She took a piece and put it in her mouth, finding the taste to be excellent.
“Is this what royal food is like? I love it.”
Unfortunately, the thought that she had been exiled and wouldn't be able to eat this in the future made Xia Jin feel a trace of regret.
If she wanted to eat it, she would have to fight her way back.
Since the King already treated her as an enemy, there shouldn't be any problem with bringing the swarm back home, right?
At that thought, a smile appeared on her face.
Outside, the soldier guarding her saw the princess's smile and was momentarily dazed before quickly lowering his head.
She was too beautiful.
He felt as if his heart were about to leap out of his chest.
No wonder there were rumors in the palace that some were willing to start a war for her sake.
With such a perfect princess, what kind of madness had possessed the King to drive her to such a desolate and dangerous place?
Thinking of this, the soldier felt a strange sense of sorrow in his heart.
Rate on N.U.
