Ella stared at herself in the mirror.
Her fingertips gently pinched the white lace trim of the maid outfit.
She couldn’t help but let out a long sigh in her heart.
Ugh… Whose Insect Mother wears a maid outfit?
She, the mighty Insect Mother who commanded billions of swarm members, had not only been forced into the body of a slender girl, but now had to wear this black-and-white outfit, this excessively well-behaved dress, and bend down to serve tea and water for others.
Masaka… She must be the fastest Insect Mother in history to have fallen into femininity, right? If this got out, the Insect Nest would lose all face because of her.
She tugged at the corners of her mouth in the mirror, trying to squeeze out a cold arrogance befitting her status.
But the girl in the reflection had soft features to begin with.
Paired with this outfit, she didn’t look intimidating at all.
Instead, she looked somewhat pitiful and cute.
The more Ella looked, the more defeated she felt.
Her shoulders slumped, and even her red pupils dimmed a little.
“Your Majesty.”
A clear, cold voice with a hint of respectful onee-san tone suddenly came from behind.
The tone was steady, without the slightest ripple.
Ella’s entire body stiffened.
She was so startled that she choked and coughed repeatedly.
“Ugh! Shuang Ling! cough cough cough… I-I didn’t notice you!”
She hurriedly turned around.
What entered her sight was a head of smooth, cascading blue hair and a pair of blue pupils like deep-sea cold crystals.
Shuang Ling was dressed in a neat and capable outfit.
Yet the chill radiating from her body still revealed her fierce scorpion maiden nature.
At this moment, she slightly lowered her head, her posture respectful.
Seeing Ella’s flustered appearance, a trace of barely noticeable doubt flashed through Shuang Ling’s eyes.
“Those failures aren’t here right now. You don’t need to keep acting.”
Ella was stunned for a moment before she reacted.
Acting? Oh!
She had almost slipped up.
Right now, only she and Shuang Ling were in the room.
She didn’t need to keep pretending to be that timid, fearful person who only wanted to run away in front of Yiwen and Dieyi.
That’s right.
That appearance was all an act.
The Insect Mother herself guaranteed it.
That look was definitely performed.
In Shuang Ling’s eyes, she was the supreme, majestic, and cold Insect Mother.
She had to display the corresponding aura.
Ella quickly recited “I am the Insect Mother, I am the coolest” three times in her heart and rapidly adjusted her expression.
She unconsciously brought her feet together, straightened her back, placed her left hand lightly by her leg, and put her right hand behind her back.
Her originally round red pupils slightly narrowed.
She deliberately suppressed the panic in her eyes and replaced it with a cold, distant, arrogant expression that seemed to regard everything in the world as beneath her notice.
She raised her chin slightly and even slowed her breathing, striving to create an unfathomable superior aura.
“Your Majesty.”
Seeing this, Shuang Ling lowered her head even further, her attitude becoming even more respectful.
Ella quietly let out a sigh of relief in her heart.
Thank goodness, thank goodness. My acting didn’t drop. Looks like I have pretty good talent when it comes to putting on an act.
She quickly glanced at the mirror again.
The girl in the mirror was wearing a maid outfit.
Although her attire was obedient and gentle, her brows and eyes had been forced into a somewhat condescending coldness by her.
At first glance, she actually looked somewhat like an Insect Mother who held the power of life and death.
Of course, only Ella herself knew that this so-called unfathomable aura was all forced acting.
“What is it, Shuang Ling?” she asked, deliberately lowering her voice to make her tone sound steadier and colder.
Shuang Ling raised her eyes.
Her blue pupils were full of loyalty, and her tone was solemn.
“Your Majesty, trivial matters like gathering intelligence on the Alliance and the Transfer Station don’t require you to personally take the risk. That’s far too unsafe.”
Ella raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.
“You can completely go out on the street and pick any vagrant or lone low-level player, bring them back, and use their body to directly cultivate reconnaissance swarm.”
Shuang Ling’s tone was calm, as if she were talking about the most ordinary thing.
“Reconnaissance insects are omnipresent and enormous in number. They can spread throughout every corner of the Transfer Station. The Alliance’s every move and all the station’s deployments can be transmitted back to your ears. This is far safer and more reliable than you personally disguising yourself as a maid to infiltrate.”
Reconnaissance insects.
Ella naturally remembered these little things.
They were as tiny as ants, yet thanks to their terrifying reproductive and infiltrative abilities, they had become the Insect Nest’s sharpest eyes and ears.
They lived attached to living beings, using flesh and blood as nutrients, silently crawling through every corner and continuously transmitting intelligence back through the swarm network.
If it were in the past, this would indeed have been the most convenient and efficient method.
But the problem was, she didn’t dare create large numbers of swarm members right now.
Every time she gave birth to another swarm unit, her connection with the Insect Nest will would deepen by one point, and the mental erosion would worsen by one layer.
This plan had to be rejected.
But she couldn’t directly say she was afraid of being eroded by the Insect Nest will.
In the eyes of this loyal subordinate Shuang Ling, how could the supreme Insect Mother possibly fear her own power?
Ella quickly organized her words in her heart.
On the surface, she maintained that cold and arrogant appearance and spoke in a light tone, carrying a hint of condescension.
“You think too highly of those reconnaissance insects, Shuang Ling.”
Shuang Ling was slightly taken aback.
“The Alliance’s elites have already arrived at the station. Among them are quite a few rare class players. Breeding large numbers of swarm members in the Transfer Station right now would be no different from exposing our own whereabouts. Once discovered, it would only bring us unnecessary trouble and disrupt all our plans.”
Ella’s speech speed was neither fast nor slow.
Every word carried calm decisiveness.
“You must learn to endure, Shuang Ling.”
After she finished speaking, even Ella herself almost believed it.
A look of sudden realization and admiration immediately flashed through Shuang Ling’s eyes.
She deeply bowed her head.
“So that’s how it is. It was my oversight. My vision was too narrow. As expected, Your Majesty is wise and resourceful, thorough in your considerations. We are far from being able to compare.”
“Mm.”
Ella responded in a deliberately calm manner.
In her heart, she was madly complaining.
Don’t praise me like that. If you keep praising me, I’m really going to start thinking I’m actually resourceful and far-sighted.
The corners of her mouth unconsciously curled into an extremely faint smile that disappeared in an instant.
Shuang Ling blinked.
When she looked again, Her Majesty’s face had already returned to cold indifference.
As expected.
How could the supreme Insect Mother reveal a smile just because of a single compliment?
She must have seen wrong.
Ella lightly coughed and withdrew her thoughts, continuing to maintain her persona.
“In order to obtain the most accurate first-hand intelligence, personal infiltration is the best choice. Sereya wants an obedient maid, so I’ll give her an obedient maid. Using her identity to approach the Transfer Station’s upper echelons is far more covert and safe than any swarm reconnaissance.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
Shuang Ling nodded seriously.
“I will hide in the shadows and protect Your Majesty’s safety at all times. If you encounter danger or have any instructions, you only need to call me once through the swarm network, and I will appear immediately.”
“Mm.”
Swarm network.
Hearing these four words, Ella’s heart, which had just settled, rose slightly again.
She hadn’t actively connected to the swarm network for a long time.
She had even deliberately suppressed the hidden pull deep within her body.
She didn’t dare to connect, afraid that once she did, the Insect Nest will would flood in and completely devour her sense of self.
But a problem came with it.
If she didn’t connect to the swarm network, she wouldn’t be able to smoothly control the swarm.
If they really reached a desperate situation in the future and had to use the swarm to break through, what should she do?
She couldn’t just watch the swarm lose control and devour her along with everything else.
A trace of hidden worry rose in Ella’s heart.
Yet she didn’t show the slightest hint of it on her face.
She simply waved her hand lightly, signaling Shuang Ling to withdraw.
“I understand. You hide for now and don’t show yourself easily.”
“Yes.”
Shuang Ling bowed in salute.
Her figure flickered and silently retreated into the shadows of the room, completely concealing her presence as if she had never appeared.
Only then did Ella completely relax.
The aura she had forced herself to maintain instantly vanished.
She rubbed her somewhat sore cheeks and made a face at the mirror.
Acting is so tiring.
She adjusted her maid outfit and confirmed there was nothing wrong before pushing open the door and walking out.
She had just reached the entrance when a sleek black luxury car slowly stopped.
The car door opened.
The first thing that came into view was a pair of straight, slender legs.
Open-toed high heels gently landed on the cold metal ground, producing a crisp sound.
Click.
Immediately after, Sereya stepped out of the car.
Sunlight fell on her brilliant golden hair, refracting an almost holy halo.
The pure white wings on her back gently folded.
Her golden pupils were indifferent and sharp.
At a glance, she looked like an angel descending from the light, beautiful to the point of being oppressive.
Ella quickly composed herself and hurried forward, preparing to greet her according to maid etiquette and lead her inside.
But before she could bend down, her wrist was suddenly grabbed tightly by a warm, powerful hand.
The force wasn’t heavy, but it carried an unyielding dominance.
Ella’s heart suddenly tightened.
Her blood almost instantly froze.
Had she been discovered?
Had the Alliance already informed her? Had her disguise been exposed so quickly?
Countless thoughts exploded in her mind.
She had even begun calculating whether to break out on the spot, immediately call Shuang Ling, or simply grit her teeth and beg for mercy.
But the next second, Sereya’s exquisite angel-like face drew close.
Her golden pupils stared straight at her.
Her tone was direct and straightforward, without the slightest detour.
She casually threw out a single sentence.
“I hate beating around the bush. How much to buy you?”
Ella: “……Eh?”
The air instantly fell into dead silence.
She froze in place.
Her red pupils widened abruptly.
Her mind went completely blank.
All the tension, vigilance, and calculations were completely blown away by this one sentence in that moment.
Eh?!