“Huu——”
Cold wind poured in through the damaged gaps in the warehouse doors, stirring up the dust on the ground and sending it swirling.
Ella watched Shuang Ling’s departing back disappear at the mouth of the alley.
Only after the distant sound of footsteps had completely faded did she slowly withdraw her gaze.
Inside the empty warehouse, only she remained now, along with the two enormous deep-sea monster fish that had been casually tossed onto the ground.
The stench of fish and dampness mingled together, filling the dim space.
Yet Ella seemed completely unaware.
She simply stood in place, brows furrowed, lost in thought.
The matter of raising the Strider could barely be considered settled.
Even if they could not find more sufficient food sources for a while, these two astonishingly large monster fish alone would be enough to support the Strider’s development to the point where it possessed basic combat capability.
At the very least, in this unfamiliar region, self-defense should not be a problem.
But compared to food, there was a far more troublesome—perhaps even fatal—problem standing in her way.
Right now, she could not, or rather, simply did not dare to use the Insect Nest Network.
Without commands issued through the Insect Nest Network, the Strider would remain in standby mode forever, motionless like a stone.
This was not something that could be solved with simple verbal orders.
As the master of the swarm, every swarm unit could only receive and truly execute her commands inside the Insect Nest Network.
Just like Shuang Ling beside her.
On ordinary days she could speak directly with Shuang Ling and instruct her to do things.
The other party would obediently obey and even display ample loyalty.
But that was based on Shuang Ling’s own will and submission to her.
Once a command that required forced, unquestionable obedience appeared, it would ultimately still rely on the Insect Nest Network for compulsory control.
Yet now, she did not even have the courage to connect to the Insect Nest Network.
Deep in her heart, a powerful premonition had been wildly warning her the entire time.
The moment she reconnected to the Insect Nest Network, the current self who possessed independent consciousness—the one called “Ella”—would instantly be devoured and overwritten.
She would no longer be herself.
Instead, she would completely revert to that cold, paranoid Insect Mother who only knew expansion and devouring.
“So I have to find another way to control the Strider…”
Ella muttered to herself.
Her fingertips unconsciously clenched.
She had always been the type of person who, once she clearly understood the pros and cons, would make up her mind without the slightest hesitation.
She would not wallow in hesitation and entanglement.
Since the Insect Nest Network could not be used, she would have to find another path.
She stepped toward one of the deep-sea worms, the slightly longer one.
Its massive body lay sprawled on the ground.
Viscous fluid continuously seeped from its surface, looking both strange and nauseating.
Yet there was not the slightest discomfort on Ella’s face.
She was very calm.
The next second, the slender, flexible white tentacle extended from behind her.
It accurately pierced into the deep-sea worm’s body.
The tip of the tentacle wriggled slightly, slowly injecting two insect eggs into the worm’s flesh.
One egg was for cultivating the Strider.
The other…
“Hiss——”
Before long, a faint sound came from the worm’s body surface.
The development speed of the second egg was astonishingly fast.
Almost the instant it was injected, it began to hatch and grow.
Very quickly it broke through the worm’s thick skin and crawled out.
Ella calmly extended her hand.
A small, pitch-black insect covered in countless fine jointed limbs rapidly crawled up along her fingertip and finally settled quietly in her palm.
Its appearance closely resembled a centipede.
The dense, countless legs looked chilling at a glance.
Yet in Ella’s hand it was very docile, simply crouching motionless without any aggression.
Ella lowered her head and looked at the small insect in her palm.
Her gaze was complicated.
“This is going to hurt a lot…”
She had not even given this insect a proper name when she first created it.
Back then, she had only treated it as an unnecessary backup plan.
She had never imagined that one day it would actually come in handy.
If she really had to give it a name, perhaps “Neural Connection Insect” was the most fitting.
Its sole purpose was to serve as a precaution for extreme situations.
When the Insect Nest Network unexpectedly failed, collapsed, or when the Insect Mother could not connect to the network, she would not completely lose the ability to control the swarm.
She had simply never expected that the Insect Nest Network would remain perfectly intact and stable to this day.
Yet she could only voluntarily choose to abandon using it, and in the end had no choice but to activate this forgotten backup plan.
“Huu—— Huu—— Huu——”
Ella took three deep breaths.
Her chest rose and fell slightly as she tried hard to calm the fluctuations in her heart.
“Fuck! Let’s go! I’m a tough guy! I’m not afraid!”
The Neural Connection Insect sensed her will.
It quickly began crawling from her palm, moving up along her arm toward the back, and finally stopped at the position of her spine.
Over the next minute, it would drill into her skin, penetrate the muscle, and continue deeper until it reached above her spine.
It would connect permanently with her spine and ultimately completely integrate into her nervous system.
Once successful, she would be able to bypass the Insect Nest Network and directly control the swarm with her own will.
However, she could only control one unit at a time.
The efficiency would be far inferior to network control.
Moreover, the integration process… would hurt. A lot.
“Aaaah!”
A sharp, stabbing pain suddenly exploded from her back.
The insect’s tiny limbs tore through skin and drilled into flesh.
But the true torment arrived the moment the neural connection activated.
“Aaaah! Aaaaahhh!”
It felt as if countless red-hot steel needles had simultaneously stabbed into every single nerve ending in her body.
The excruciating pain raced madly upward along her spine and straight into her brain.
Every inch of her nerves was screaming and convulsing wildly, being forcibly torn apart and reorganized.
“Urgh! Aaaaahhh!”
Ella’s entire body trembled violently.
Her forehead was instantly covered in dense cold sweat that slid down her cheeks.
Her legs went weak.
She could no longer support her body and heavily slumped against the cold wall.
Her consciousness began to blur under the extreme pain.
Her vision kept blacking out.
In her ears there was only her own miserable screams and the thunderous pounding of her heart.
That short minute felt as long as a lifetime.
Finally, when the last trace of agony slowly faded, her tightly tensed body suddenly relaxed.
The Neural Connection Insect had completed its mission.
It had thoroughly become a part of her body, perfectly fused with her nervous system.
There was no longer any distinction between them.
Ella sat paralyzed on the ground, gasping heavily for breath.
Her entire body was soaked through with cold sweat.
She was so weak she did not even have the strength to lift her hand.
Her throat had become hoarse and painful from the continuous screaming.
Every inch of her body ached and felt soft.
She slowly raised her head.
Her empty gaze gradually regained focus.
A trace of cold hatred flashed deep in her eyes.
“Urgh, cough cough! Damn alliance… It’d better… never give me a chance to use these things…”
She struggled to stand up.
Her fingers brushed away the sweat on her forehead.