Faced with the zergling's demand, the Muscle Wolf obediently called for their leader.
It was a wolf that was noticeably larger, with even more developed muscles.
In order not to lose face, the Muscle Wolf actually stood upright as it approached. Its muscles bulged suddenly, making it look like a strongman as it strutted forward with extremely steady steps.
The Muscle Wolves in front immediately moved to either side.
“Hmph!”
The leader gave a cold snort and swaggered over to the zergling, looking down at it with an arrogant expression. “You dare to invade my territory?”
Gurgle—
The zergling, which had been lying lazily on the ground, stood up directly. Its size instantly increased, quickly surpassing the other's body. Its massive, deep red eyes blinked twice as it extended its sharp scythe blades, pointing them right at the leader's nose.
The leader: “...”
The scene remained silent for over ten seconds...
“I was wrong, alien boss!”
The Muscle Wolf instantly dropped to the ground, sticking out its tongue and wagging its furry tail.
Xia Jin: “...”
“Are you actually a dog?” Xia Jin muttered through the zergling.
Seeing their boss like this, the large number of surrounding Muscle Wolves also prostrated themselves.
It had to be said that compared to real wolves, they weren't very cute.
The main reason was... their muscles were too developed.
The zergling's eerie gaze scanned the area a few times. It brought a scythe blade to its mouth in a contemplative gesture.
After a moment, it continued in the language of the Muscle Wolves, “You live underground, yet you know of the universe? You even have the concept of the starry sky?”
“I know, of course I know,” the Muscle Wolf leader said, wagging its tail and bowing subserviently. “Boss, we only recently learned about the existence of aliens.”
“Tell me the details.”
“It's like this. We previously discovered a set of ruins. There was a device left behind by some alien civilization inside—a piece of equipment for imparting knowledge. Back then, I was just a very ordinary Kao Beast, which is what we call ourselves. I accidentally fell into the machine and was filled with knowledge. I learned how to use the cloning equipment, and that... led to this tribe.”
“Is that so?”
Xia Jin wasn't particularly surprised by the explanation, though she was amazed that all the wolves present were clones of the leader.
She attempted to use her mental energy to sense the leader's state. While she couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking, his emotions didn't suggest he was lying.
However, to determine the truth, she would still need to capture some Muscle Wolves, modify them, and extract their memories.
The bugs on the surface had already begun this task.
A good number of Muscle Wolves had already been captured. Once the new Zerg Hive was born, they would be thrown inside.
“So, you cloned a massive number of yourself to form this tribe?”
“Yes. They... should count as my children? I was originally a Kao Beast who was kicked out of my pack and left homeless. But now, I've cloned myself. I even cloned a female version of myself to be my wife.”
“A female version? Did you rearrange the chromosomes?”
“Yes.”
The difference between these alien chromosomes and those on Earth was significant, but they generally followed certain rules.
But cloning a female version of oneself to be a wife... that was...
“You certainly know how to live.”
Seeing the leader's massive harem of loli Muscle Wolves through the scout bugs, Xia Jin was speechless.
Cloned individuals were independent entities. In the interstellar era, genetic diseases in clones could be eliminated through certain technologies. This was a highly controversial ethical issue that had impacted traditional views after cloning technology advanced.
During the planetary civilization stage, biological relatives were often subject to various coding errors during reproduction due to technical limitations, causing many recessive genetic diseases to become dominant. There was also a natural repulsion between close relatives. This was not a coincidence but a basic law of nature that most biological beings in the universe had to follow.
However... once technology reached a certain level, such constraints could be removed by altering genes.
Some civilizations chose to stick to tradition and freeze such technology.
Others believed they had to adapt to the mindset of the cosmic era and chose complete liberation.
Regardless of the choice, one couldn't simply judge them as right or wrong. Just as Xia Jin wouldn't judge the Kawi Civilization as abnormal for its various absurd behaviors; compared to the truly abnormal civilizations in the universe, the Kawi Civilization was actually quite reasonable.
“That's not the point. Take me to those ruins. We are an interstellar civilization ourselves; we'll understand the technology inside at a glance.”
“Yes, please follow me. Also... some of the devices inside are very complex. I'm still studying them and don't understand what's going on yet. Especially that... Low-Point Jump Gate.”
“Low-Point Jump Gate?”
Xia Jin's heart skipped a beat. She immediately contacted the brain bug to search the Swarm's current database and instantly knew what it was.
It was a device capable of ultra-long-distance jumps.
This 'ultra-long-distance' wasn't just a few hundred or thousand light-years; it could cover a distance of a million light-years in a single jump.
However... a Low-Point Jump Gate wasn't considered a very high-level technology.
It was actually an upgraded version of hyperspace navigation, utilizing certain curvature low-point areas that naturally existed in the universe to construct specialized channels.
Theoretically, such channels existed between a small number of giant galaxies.
They were extremely rare and were essentially natural portals in the universe. By using specific technology to link different gates, a civilization that had not yet fully mastered intergalactic jump technology could achieve travel across such distances.
“It seems these ruins are quite interesting.”
Led by the Muscle Wolf leader, they soon arrived at the lowest level.
This was a narrow passage that was easily overlooked. The scout bugs sent down earlier had missed it entirely.
“Please follow me.”
The Muscle Wolf leader squeezed inside first.
The zergling tried to follow but found it was too large to fit.
Consequently, Xia Jin had a locust follow him instead.
Seeing the furry wolf tail and the two furry legs kicking desperately ahead as he tried to squeeze through, the locust ran up and poked the leader's butt with its sharp front horn.
“Ah!”
The wolf's legs instantly retracted.
“Emmmm...”
Xia Jin stroked her chin. Seeing the locust get close again, it poked the leader's... balls!
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
The Muscle Wolf leader's legs began to kick at high speed, and his pace exploded.
The locust's eyes flashed as it joyfully discovered a secret. Realizing how to make him speed up, it poked him every now and then. As if surged with energy, the Muscle Wolf leader charged through the narrow cave. Ultimately, a journey that should have taken fifteen minutes was completed in just three.
With a 'poof,' they dropped into a massive space.
“Whimper, whimper...”
After landing, the Muscle Wolf leader looked aggrieved, casting a resentful glance at the locust.
The locust blinked its eyes, looking completely innocent.
Rate on N.U.
