After chatting for two or three minutes more with the queen of the weaver ants, Shi Lin asked Bai Zemin to leave the command room and wait outside for a few minutes.
Although he did not understand very well what was going on, Bai Zemin decided to obey. However, just as he was about to take the last step to move beyond the door of the room, his footsteps stopped.
“Is something wrong?” Shi Lin looked at Bai Zemin with confusion in her eyes as she saw him stopping at the last moment.
Bai Zemin looked at the queen of the weaver ants over his shoulder instead of turning back completely, he did not reply immediately to her question and instead looked at her silently for several seconds.
When Bai Zemin had first stepped into the command room, Shi Lin was still a great beauty that in the past, pre-evolution world, could easily have competed with the most beautiful women in the world even with her exotic features.
But the current Shi Lin, though still a beauty in her own right even by human standards, was no longer as radiant as before. Her skin had become incredibly dry and even from a distance some wrinkles could be seen on the surface, the sparkle in her large but still beautiful black eyes had dulled to the point that it was difficult to see, and her breathing had become so superficial that had it not been for his senses as a soul evolver Bai Zemin might have thought she was a corpse.
The Shi Lin of about 20 minutes ago was already so beautiful and radiant even though her condition had worsened so much that Bai Zemin could not help but feel that it was a pity he had not been able to appreciate her beauty before her life expectancy dropped so low, before she donated practically all her records and talents to the new and future queen.
For some reason, Bai Zemin knew that as soon as he set foot outside the command room, it was highly probable that he would never see Shi Lin again.
Bai Zemin closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and continuing to move forward. However, before his body left the control room completely, he said in a deep voice:
“I’ll be sure to take care of that little kid as a thank you for everything.”
Bai Zemin felt the door slide closed behind him, but before it closed completely, the exhausted voice of the queen of the weaver ants reached his ears.
“And I’ll be sure to say thank you in the future.”
He looked back, confused by the words Shi Lin had just said. However, all that greeted him was the same metal alloy double door from before.
Bai Zemin didn’t think too much about it and soon put Shi Lin’s last words out of his head. He walked away from the door and rested his back on the metal wall, waiting for whatever was going to happen now.
Although his meeting with the queen of the weaver ants had been very brief, not even thirty minutes in total, Bai Zemin had learned many things. Moreover, this conversation the two had shared served to further reaffirm Bai Zemin’s thoughts.
“Judging by race really isn’t a good idea after all.” He muttered under his breath, his voice echoing in the middle of the deserted corridor. He looked at the closed door in front of him and whispered, “If in the past humans were able to team up with other races, then who’s to say that humans in this era aren’t capable of doing the same?”
As Bai Zemin thought about his next steps to take, time passed without him noticing.
No more than five minutes at most passed when the metal door with access to the command room opened again.
The faint but still clear sound in the midst of such silence was the alarm that woke Bai Zemin up, bringing him out of his inner thoughts. He raised his head and hastily straightened his posture.
In front of him, the weaver ant about 2.10 meters tall and whose body was big enough to cover half of the entire entrance was staring at him with its big black eyes.
After a few seconds in which they both looked at each other without saying anything, the Third Order weaver ant opened its mouth and surprisingly spoke in Mandarin Chinese.
“Cocme in.”
Although it was unclear and the weaver ant’s speech was quite broken, its words were still understandable. Bai Zemin also learned from the voice that apparently this weaver ant was male.
Bai Zemin nodded silently and seeing this the weaver ant said nothing, he simply turned and walked back into the room.
Bai Zemin followed a few steps behind but with his guard up; he did not dare to be careless in front of this monster no matter what, at least not yet.
The Third Order weaver ant walked with silent steps, blocking Bai Zemin’s view as he walked to the seat where Shi Lin was sitting. However, once the weaver ant got there and stepped aside, Bai Zemin couldn’t help but sigh.
The beautiful queen of the weaver ants that Bai Zemin had been comfortably chatting with five minutes ago at most, was no longer inside the room. That commander’s seat she had been sitting in was now being occupied by something different.
“This is… the new queen.” Said the Third Order weaver ant as he stood on one side of the commander’s seat. There was respect in his voice as he looked at the ash-gray egg resting on the commander’s seat and his eyes were brimming with adoration and resolve as he said, “Follocwing ocrders…. from…. Her Majesty Shi Lin, frocm nocw…. on…. I will take ocrders frocm… you…. But… my main… mission…. in this life…. will be…. proctect the new queen until she…. no longer needs me… and then… I can do as I please… with my life.”
Although the dialogue was somewhat broken, it was not difficult for Bai Zemin to process and fully understand what the Third Order weaver ant wanted to point out. Apparently, Shi Lin had left him a great helper before departing forever.
Even if the Third Order weaver ant’s main goal was to protect the new queen, as long as Bai Zemin did not break his promise or try to harm the new queen, he could order the Third Order weaver ant to carry out his orders.
This was a Third Order powerhouse! Besides, judging just from the feeling of threat that Bai Zemin felt, it was clear that this weaver ant before him was definitely at the highest levels of the Third Order! A powerhouse that even he would have to give his 100% in combat against was now practically subordinate to him just like that!
However, Bai Zemin could not completely trust the creature in front of him. Even if so far not even the slightest trace of murderous intent towards him had been noticed and even if the weaver ant in front of him was completely loyal to Shi Lin; Shi Lin was no longer alive and Bai Zemin could not help but feel doubts towards a being with intelligence and will of his own.
But he soon found the solution to all his problems.
“I will use a skill on you.” Bai Zemin said in a deep voice.
The Third Order weaver ant looked at him in confusion before nodding without saying a single word.
Bai Zemin pointed at the creature and while triggering the skill attached to his subclass he explained in a calm voice, “This skill is called Loyal Follower and it will make you stronger. The only thing this skill will affect you, in theory, is in the fact that you cannot betray me. For example, if at this moment you are thinking about revealing yourself against me in the future, then those thoughts will probably cause the skill to not activate properly…. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Ok.” The ant nodded without concern at all.
Bai Zemin was satisfied.
“This skill doesn’t really have any limits on you. It is merely an insurance for me and my people. You can do whatever you want later as long as you don’t harm me.”
The ant nodded again and soon the skill Loyal Follower went into effect.
[You have successfully turned Third Order ‘Apocalyptic Ant’ Kong Jun level 186 into your Loyal Follower!]
‘Success!’ Bai Zemin was excited and subconsciously clenched his right fist tightly as he felt the connection between him and Kong Jun.
He was secretly surprised even though he already knew that the level of the weaver ant should definitely be above the level of Glineira, whom he had killed some time ago.
Level 186… Apocalyptic Ant…
No matter how Bai Zemin looked at those records he was definitely glad that he didn’t have to fight against the ant in front of him.
“Kong Jun, are there more weaver ants in the battleship besides you and the new queen?” Bai Zemin asked immediately. This was a crucial question for him.
However, Kong Jun simply shook his head and said nothing.
“That’s good…” Bai Zemin patted his chest as he sighed in relief.
Now he didn’t need to worry about Meng Qi and the rest of the team. Although he had been vigilant in the corridor, Bai Zemin had not heard any battle explosions, but he was still worried as the distance between them and him was currently really big. But with Kong Jun’s confirmation, there was no need to worry anymore.
Bai Zemin advanced with confidence this time. He walked straight towards the seat of the commander and noticed that apart from the ash-gray egg, there was also a small jet black ring that was encircled by several quite deep and mysterious golden runes.
It was the ring of commander; the key that would open all the doors to the control of the Sky Destroyer battleship, the key that could awaken the machine of destruction. Bai Zemin was sure that Shi Lin had already made the arrangements for him to become the next commander of the battleship.
But his attention was mainly focused on the ash-colored egg rather than the ring of the commander.
The egg was about 40 centimeters high and approximately 30 centimeters wide. Aside from the ash-gray color that covered its entirety, the egg seemed to be filled with golden-colored veins that pulsed like a living thing every so often. But what was most striking was the massive amount of mana and records surrounding the egg.
“This little one sure is hungry.” Bai Zemin muttered a little wordlessly as he noticed how the mana and records were absorbed by the golden veins.
He could feel the egg, or rather, whatever was inside it getting stronger and stronger with each passing second.
“Hey, Kong Yun. Do I have to do something here?” Bai Zemin asked as he tentatively reached out a hand to caress the egg. It felt a bit scratchy to the touch but soft at the same time, it was a really strange feeling and completely different from chicken eggs.
“Keep the new queen… close to you. If yocu talk…. to her…. it would be good tooc. Even thocugh she hasn’t been bocrn yet… the new queen can sense and hear some things…. according toc what Her Majesty Shi Lin tocld me before.” Kong Jun replied. His voice was practically mechanized and emotionless.
Just as babies could hear the voices of their parents while still in the mother’s womb, it was reasonable that the little living thing inside the egg could also hear the voices of the people nearby. If Bai Zemin wanted to build a good relationship with the life that would be born from the egg, it would be best for him to keep it close and converse often just as Kong Yun had said before.
“I see.” Bai Zemin nodded and as he looked at the egg he murmured, “I will take care of you from today onwards, little one.”
The pulsing pace of the golden veins altered for a moment, seemingly in response to those words. Bai Zemin didn’t know if it was just a goofy thought on his part or not but he still chuckled.
“Do you have any idea when the new queen will be born?” Bai Zemin asked as he picked up the ring of the commander and watched it carefully.
“No.”
Kong Yun’s reply came immediately. It was clear that he did not like to talk too much and valued his words.
“I see.” Bai Zemin nodded without caring too much.
When the new queen was born he would be there for her. Since he had said he would take care of her as if she was a daughter to him then Bai Zemin would keep his word no matter what.
Swoosh!
A rush of wind blew into the command room, bringing with it a delicious scent of fresh roses.
Kong Yun froze on his feet as he looked at the human female that had just appeared less than 2 meters ahead and his eyes widened in shock. However, he soon calmed down and continued to stand silently.
“Little brother Zemin, have you perhaps had a daughter with a woman other than me?”
Lilith immediately started doing Lilith things from the moment she appeared.
Bai Zemin looked at Kong Yun and sighed in relief. The giant ant was calmly standing there, he didn’t ask questions nor did he talk about things he didn’t have to talk about; he really was a perfect soldier in every sense.
“Lilith, can you stop talking nonsense? This daddy is still pitifully virgin, though not as pitiful as you, virgin after all.” Bai Zemin sighed as he put the ring of commander on the little finger of his right hand.
“Hmph!” Lilith snorted and even though they shouldn’t Bai Zemin’s words soothed her little jealousy easily instead of upsetting her. She caressed the egg carefully and her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she asked quietly, “… Say, have you thought of a name for this little one?”
“Em. I did think on it.” Bai Zemin nodded, and at the same time as he linked himself to the ring commander, he said in a firm voice, “She can only have a name… and her name was decided from the moment I decided that she would be my first daughter.”
His words had just fallen when the golden runes on the ring of the commander glowed. Moments later, the entire command room lit up brightly.
The Sky Destroyer that had been silent slowly began to come back to life.
