The Star Martial Arts Tournament began shortly thereafter.
Xia Jin, who had originally planned to participate using her projection, had now become a complete spectator; she had newly created bugs take her place instead.
Of course, the bugs were manufactured directly on the Zerg sightseeing starship, consuming almost all the stored energy on board. If it weren't for the fact that energy could be replenished from the rear, they might not have been able to create even a single bug.
These new bugs were essentially reinforced zerglings wearing a layer of human skin.
Aside from the outer layer, their internal structure was entirely that of a zergling.
Xia Jin had specialized their individual combat capabilities and even allowed them to share a portion of the Queen's psionic power, which made the newly born humanoid zerglings incredibly excited.
In any case, no matter how one looked at them, their appearances were very beautiful—practically crafted to the absolute limit of human aesthetics, except... for the addition of a few tentacles.
Interestingly, many humanoid males at the scene were inexplicably attracted to these tentacled zergling girls; perhaps such a combination naturally possessed a peculiar sense of beauty to them.
Naturally... compared to ordinary humans, the Black Forest people were the ones who liked these bugs the most.
"Next up is the debut of the Zerg civilization! Their chosen participant is... the zergling girl: Xiao Lu!"
A cute girl waved the tentacles on either side of her, and a loud cheer immediately erupted from the seats occupied by the Black Forest people.
"Go, Xiao Lu!"
"Are there really this many beauties in the Zerg?"
"Coming here was definitely the right choice."
As a side note... they were still occupying the Zerg's seats, but Xia Jin didn't bother to argue.
In any case, there were very few actual bugs in the Zerg delegation.
From time to time, she could overhear the conversations of those Black Forest people.
"Is the Zerg made up entirely of beauties? Are there no males?"
"Hmph, it seems you don't know much about the Zerg. Based on my observations, this race is somewhat similar to the central cluster organisms found on primitive planets. They appear to be a large group, but in reality, they are led by a few individuals. Most of the bugs are like our tentacle limbs—essentially external organs of a central hub."
"What do you mean?"
"Think back. When the ceasefire happened, didn't the Zerg stop their attacks simultaneously? I've analyzed it carefully; that's theoretically impossible. Unless all the Zerg received the same command at the exact same instant, and that command had to be of a meta conscious state rather than using traditional communication methods. So, if my guess is correct... then no matter which Zerg individual you like, they are all actually the same central hub."
"For real? If I confess to them, I'm actually confessing to a central hub?"
"Exactly. By the same token, if you can make just one of them fall in love with you, it's equivalent to the entire Zerg falling in love with you."
"Huh?"
Xia Jin, who suddenly overheard the conversation between the two Black Forest people through a listening bug, was slightly taken aback.
Wait, they figured it out just like that?
Had they deduced the essence of the Zerg simply from the uniformity of their actions?
Xia Jin's brow furrowed.
After a moment's thought, she made a decision.
Convert them into Zerg.
Talent was meant to be retained.
Their thoughts would need some remodeling, though.
Other races had their own advantages. By bringing them in, she would have access to more high quality genes. If they turned out to be useful, it would be a gain.
Completely unaware that their conversation had been overheard, the Black Forest people continued to cheer.
Meanwhile, the battle at the venue had already begun.
The Zerg girl engaged her enemy in a brilliant fight.
She drew the insectoid blade in her hand and slashed at the creature from an unknown civilization. To her surprise, the opponent also drew a black carapace blade. On its hairy, beetle like head, two red eyes flashed repeatedly as it struggled to track the zergling girl.
Although the opponent's movements didn't look particularly agile, the Tier 16 zergling was actually only managing a draw against them.
It seems that when restricted to the same tier, it's still difficult to defeat a top expert from another civilization.
The Zerg were strong, but they were indeed facing an elite of that civilization, so Xia Jin didn't have high expectations for the outcome.
If she wanted to win intentionally, she could just funnel more psionic power over, but that would be pointless. It was better to use this match to accumulate more combat experience for the Swarm, which would be beneficial for future wars.
After several minutes of fighting, the zergling girl forced the target back with a strike. Realizing they were outmatched, the armored enemy had no choice but to raise their hands in surrender.
The shockwaves of their battle were contained within a force field, so the audience's safety was guaranteed.
After watching for a while, Xia Jin turned and walked out of the tournament venue.
"This environment really is... quite nice."
Inside the high tech, giant spherical building, crowds were everywhere. The distant skyscrapers, adorned with various lights, were full of futuristic charm in the night.
After staying in such an urban environment for a long time, it became hard to leave.
She walked out slowly and reached the street.
Just as she arrived in front of a 1,200 meter tall building with dark curtain walls, a girl with a human appearance suddenly entered her field of vision. The other party stood on the opposite side of the alley, waving at her.
Xia Jin tilted her head in confusion and walked toward her.
The girl led her a long distance, finally stopping in front of an old house that felt quite aged.
"Welcome, representative of the Zerg." The voice was very pleasant to the ear.
"Who are you? You don't... seem like a human." Xia Jin frowned slightly. Her mental scan as the Overlord had already perceived many things.
The other party... had no clear vital signs in the traditional sense, yet something about her felt different.
"We are indeed not human, but you may treat me as one." The girl smiled faintly, looking just like a girl next door, her tone friendly and sweet. "In my original database, I have rarely encountered a life form as pure as you. Therefore, I felt... I couldn't let this opportunity slip away again."
"What do you mean?" Xia Jin's emotions stirred slightly as she vaguely guessed something.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the social operational hub AI of the Juxin Civilization: the First Protocol." The girl's eyes suddenly opened, revealing precise mechanical features within.
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