Xia Jin noticed that there were quite a few seats arranged for the Zerg at the venue.
However, there was a bit of a problem: most of the seats belonging to the Zerg guests were currently occupied by Black Forest people.
Looking across the crowd, she saw countless tentacled creatures covered in eyeballs glancing back and forth, their eyes blinking occasionally as they searched everywhere for the Zerg.
“Good grief!”
Xia Jin realized that being too popular wasn't necessarily a good thing.
We were just at war not long ago!
Do you guys have no sense of civilizational solidarity? As soon as the two sides make up, you forget all the pain?
Since Xia Jin did not shield her thoughts from the brain bugs, Brain Bug No. 1 provided an explanation in a timely manner: “One cannot use the concepts of ordinary biological beings to view the various groups in the universe. Some civilizations might find it difficult to let go of hatred, but within the Black Forest people, there is simply no such mechanism as hatred. To them, war is war, and peace is peace. As long as the fighting is over, they are friends; when the war starts, they are enemies.”
“Is that so? Wouldn't a civilization like that suffer a lot of losses?” Xia Jin mused.
“The consequences of any civilizational behavioral pattern should not be considered so simply. Sometimes what seems like a loss can actually help the civilization's own development under special circumstances.”
Their exchange ended there.
Xia Jin had originally intended to let her projection participate in the Star Martial Arts Tournament.
But now, she had changed her mind.
“Help me prepare a few bugs. They should be at least Tier 16. Don't worry about wasting a bit of resources; as long as they can be entered into the competition, it's fine.”
“Understood.” Brain Bug No. 1 immediately set to work.
Meanwhile, at the spaceport, the hatch of a starship slowly opened, and a large group of bizarre-looking creatures walked out.
Calling them bizarre was, in fact, a judgment made from the aesthetic perspective of other alien species.
In reality, these fellows were all part of the Zerg.
A staff member immediately put on a smile, stepped forward proactively, and extended an arm. “Welcome, guests of the Zerg civilization.”
The zergling in front of him nodded, subconsciously tilted its head up, and followed him with a swagger.
Coming out behind it were hydralisks and several elf bug girls.
These elf bug girls looked extremely excited, chatting happily as they followed a guide to sightsee around the city.
In short, the Zerg integrated very well, appearing in every respect like an ordinary civilization.
Soon, several specially modulated Zerg variants walked out of the starship.
The appearance of these bugs had been specifically modified; their bodies were round spheres covered in Black Forest tentacle-limbs. It was thought the Black Forest people would like them, but instead, it scared them away.
“Huh?”
The two tentacle bugs stared at each other in confusion.
“I think I know where the problem lies.”
After repeated analysis, Brain Bug No. 1 reached a conclusion.
“Tell me,” Xia Jin said, curious.
Lately, she wouldn't randomly synchronize with her subordinates' thoughts unless there was a reason. It was much more interesting that way; for exchanges like this, she preferred the question-and-answer format.
Brain Bug No. 1 then quickly explained, “This is a fundamental aesthetic difference. The body shape of the Black Forest people is very similar to that of humans, but they have many more tentacle-limbs. These tentacle-limbs are equivalent to a face or skin tone in a normal state. A human with added tentacle-limbs is like an anthropomorphic hominid; adding a human girl's face and skin makes it as if a beast-man has suddenly become a beast girl, which naturally increases the attraction exponentially.”
“Is that really how it works?”
“So, a human growing tentacles fits the preferences of the Black Forest people, but replacing that with a sphere growing tentacles is very hard to accept—not to mention there are too many of them. Could you like a round sphere covered in human faces?”
Xia Jin joked, “I'd love it.”
Brain Bug No. 1: “...”
“Just kidding. From a human perspective, that thing is indeed a bit terrifying.”
There were far too many strange creatures in the universe.
On the future path of the Zerg's development, the so-called Black Forest people were merely passing travelers.
However, they could provide a lot of experience for the Zerg.
The former Overlord would never have paid attention to such insignificant matters.
What, diplomacy? Participating in the Star Martial Arts Tournament? Like hell; he would have just started a war!
It was also thanks to the Zerg's rapid development and good luck that they could reach this stage.
One must realize that the Zerg's current evolution speed was much faster than in the past. The former Zerg had not reached today's level of perfection in many areas; every instance of gene absorption and evolution was much slower than it was now.
From this perspective, that Overlord should be glad he didn't encounter an enemy that was too strong while he was weak; otherwise, the later Zerg would never have existed, let alone the current Xia Jin.
...
After watching the performances at the tournament venue for a while, Xia Jin found it difficult to agree with this alien artistic aesthetic, so she chose to return to the starship.
“Queen Mother.”
Upon entering the interior, a brain bug was crouched in front of a large pile of slimy masses of flesh, conducting research.
It was researching new genes better suited for this planet.
Xia Jin walked over to the side and tried extending her small foot, giving the lump of flesh a kick.
Rate on N.U.
