“T-This is...!”
When the symbiotic carapace ant covered her body, Ye Yunshang forgot to breathe. She felt no shame from her clothes completely melting, nor did she feel any pain from the long, sharp needles emerging from the symbiotic carapace ant's body to pierce her entire form.
During the fusion process, her hive mind was further strengthened. The magic heart she was equipped with combined with her original power as an Awakened, achieving explosive growth.
“Ah...”
Finally, when Ye Yunshang's face was exposed to the air once more, her face flushed, and she opened her mouth to let out a suppressed sigh.
【Elise is confused by the disconnected link】
‘Is Ye Yunshang going to form an independent network?’
At the same time, Lin Miao received the message about Elise's confusion.
The connection between the symbiotic carapace ant and the Great Devourer colony had weakened rapidly after leaving the terrarium, barely remaining detectable. The moment the symbiotic carapace ant fused with Ye Yunshang, that connection was severed completely.
For Elise, this was the first time a living subordinate unit had severed its connection to the colony and become independent.
In its place, the symbiotic carapace ant revered Ye Yunshang as its new queen, fusing with her and becoming a unit that obeyed her own hive mind.
Ye Yunshang's voice was calm and flat. “This child was dying. Its faint self-awareness and its body, designed for only a single purpose, could not survive without a queen to rely on.”
Lin Miao asked, “That creature might as well be considered an alien lifeform. Are you sure you're okay?”
“Of course,” Ye Yunshang said, looking down at the symbiotic carapace ant wrapping her body like a black bodysuit.
Unlike the visibly bizarre, bio-armor-like symbiotic carapace ants on Lisette and Celia, the form of the symbiotic carapace ant on Ye Yunshang resembled the special combat suits worn by Awakened.
But that wasn't all.
Completely under Ye Yunshang's control, the symbiotic carapace ant utilized the mimicry ability residing within its body to instantly alter its form.
A portion of its cells merged into her body, while another portion mutated, transforming into the clothes she had been wearing when she first arrived.
‘Is this how the queen of the human colony utilizes the symbiotic carapace ant?’
Lin Miao couldn't help but click his tongue as he watched her change back into her ordinary sportswear and shorts.
It was perfect mimicry; no one would ever be able to tell.
However, he couldn't let his guard down.
For even the hem of her clothes, and even the parts that looked like skin, were actually the mimicked symbiotic carapace ant.
This was even better than Lin Miao had anticipated. Since the symbiotic carapace ant could originally be put on and taken off at will, he hoped she would only use it in real emergencies to maximize the concealment of her identity.
Ye Yunshang said solemnly, “Thanks to the grace of the Great One, I have obtained immense power. I will surely succeed in the mission I have been given.”
Lin Miao looked worried and asked, “Are you really going to be okay?”
Ye Yunshang lowered her head and smiled faintly at his words. “Perhaps you do not know, Proxy.”
After all, Lin Miao was an existence who belonged neither to the Great Devourer colony nor to the human colony.
From the very beginning, he could not belong to either.
Although he still maintained a self-awareness close to that of an ordinary human, the status he possessed was a Transcendent Divine Status.
This was because the moment Lin Miao's consciousness connected to the hive mind, the massive consciousness would crush everything, bringing it to a standstill.
Ye Yunshang said with deep emotion, “The feeling of everyone's consciousness connecting and expanding is like opening a new pair of eyes.”
Hearing this, Lin Miao asked, “Is that so?”
“Furthermore, that Great One even told me the secrets of the world. He told me, someone who had always been used without knowing what was happening on the other side of the world.”
Ye Yunshang did not know the actual facts, so she explained to Lin Miao why she was in such a good mood.
‘Anyway, with this person's strength, he will soon become a trusted servant.’
Looking at Ye Yunshang, Lin Miao remembered how he had contested her ownership with the Goddess Hestia on the Divine Net forum.
Although there were some misunderstandings, Lin Miao's true purpose did not conflict with Ye Yunshang's wishes.
Ye Yunshang since childhood had wanted to be an Awakened who saved people.
Whether they were servants of Outer Gods or scum who harmed their own kind, they were all enemies she had to fight.
Lin Miao's goal was to drive those servants of Outer Gods out of this land and expel all the foreign deities trying to occupy Earth.
Knowing this well, Lin Miao did not go out of his way to correct Ye Yunshang's misunderstanding.
...
While Ye Yunshang fused with the symbiotic carapace ant, reaching new heights in secret, and departed for America as part of an International Awakened Alliance mission...
“With Ye Yunshang gone, the company's operations will be affected, right?”
“Please rest assured. Although we can't take on high-level missions, our employees work quickly and efficiently.”
Lin Miao received a call from Bai Zhantang, who reported that there wouldn't be any issues with the operations.
“Then I can put my mind at ease.”
Hearing Bai Zhantang's confident words, Lin Miao didn't say much else.
In truth, Lin Miao was a bit busy right now.
【Elise is complaining a great deal】
Because he had to coax his daughter, who was throwing a massive tantrum.
Elise mistakenly believed that Lin Miao was nurturing a new colony outside the terrarium—one she could not interfere with—and had taken the symbiotic carapace ant she raised for that colony's sake.
In fact, this thought wasn't entirely wrong.
Indeed, operating the Awakened company was no different from nurturing a human colony centered around Ye Yunshang.
Elise, who was already incredibly possessive and jealous by nature, had received an unprecedentedly huge shock and was now completely sulking.
‘It would be too shameless to ask Celia for help.’
It was also difficult to have Celia or Lisette, who had to walk on eggshells around the queen, pass on a message.
Even Kerrigan, who usually bickered with Elise at every opportunity, had gone quiet.
Lin Miao sighed, waiting for Ye Yunshang to contact him.
If everything went according to plan, Ye Yunshang would bring back a “gift.”
Just as Elise had given Ye Yunshang the symbiotic carapace ant, Ye Yunshang would present that gift to Elise.
This way, Elise would surely understand as well.
Ultimately, all of this was for her sake, the will of the Great One that even she could not fathom.
‘The International Awakened Alliance isn't an organization established under the interference of deities, right?’
Lin Miao let out a wry chuckle as he watched Ye Yunshang pass through the connected rifts, crossing the Pacific Ocean in one go to arrive in America.
Although most mainstream things in the world today were created by the will of the deities, there were exceptions.
The International Awakened Alliance, jointly established by various nations, was one of them.
The deities, busy competing with one another, had no interest in it, but it was formed by people taking spontaneous action to create a safer world.
The Order Project also inherited this spirit. It was one of the most important programs of the International Awakened Alliance, aimed at allowing Awakened from multiple member nations to perform support missions around the world more conveniently and quickly.
Especially for third-world countries that struggled to cultivate decent Awakened combat power and were abandoned by the deities as hopeless, barren lands, the alliance dispatched a large number of personnel to support them.
[God of Mist: Isn't this too arrogant? It only makes performance calculations more complicated.]
[Goddess of Life: That is precisely where the fun lies. Having to respond no matter what happens—that is fair competition, and the very order created by this system.]
Although some deities were dissatisfied with this, it was ultimately just an element that allowed all deities to compete fairly.
The deities who enjoyed the competition itself did not deny the existence of the International Awakened Alliance.
On the contrary, they wanted to exploit it, finding it to be an interesting form of competition.
“Welcome. I have heard so much about you.”
“Thank you.”
After greeting the alliance staff who came to welcome her, Ye Yunshang naturally got into the car.
Rather than ignoring it, the deities began to gradually pay attention, and the status of the International Awakened Alliance rose accordingly.
The result was the scene before her eyes.
Famous Awakened from all over the world had gathered together to attend this event.
As a rising star among the Awakened of the Dragon Nation, although Ye Yunshang met the minimum requirements, she was, to be honest, still an insignificant presence among the many Awakened present.
‘The vast majority of them must be under the control of other deities. Some among them know the truth, while others are kept in the dark. How wonderful would it be if we could recruit one or two of them to join our colony?’
Ye Yunshang sat down and looked around.
She was different from her past, innocent self. The more she understood, the more complex her thoughts became.
“Ah, that's...!”
Just then, a special guest arrived from afar.
The clamor of the surrounding crowd made Ye Yunshang's eyes snap wide, and she hurriedly turned her head.
This was the very reason she had come here. Luluca, an elven otherworld race representative from Alpha, had arrived.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, heroes of Earth.”
The beautiful elf Luluca stood on the podium as scheduled to deliver her speech.
It was a formal, typical congratulatory speech, filled with reflections and greetings, calling for everyone to unite and fight evil together.
In truth, most of the people present already knew the secrets of the elf Luluca and the secrets of the world, but Luluca was not giving her speech to them in the first place.
She was speaking to the billions of “prospective servants” who knew nothing—the journalists from various countries and the audiences in front of the cameras who would dedicate their bodies and souls to the deities in the future.
‘What should I do?’
Ye Yunshang sat quietly, lost in thought.
Lin Miao's command to her was to bring back a part of the elf's body.
It didn't need to be anything large; a single drop of blood would suffice.
“What's going on?”
“It's an attack! A rift!”
But right then, a piercing alarm suddenly blared, throwing the entire area into a state of emergency.
Everyone's attention was focused here, which meant that Abhoth, the Outer God attempting to devour Earth, was also watching.
Abhoth could not sit idly by while the deities, who had established the Awakened system and enjoyed their internal competition, also plotted to overthrow it.
It invested a massive amount of power to open a colossal rift right at the site of the International Awakened Alliance's event, dispatching its own servants.
“This is absolute madness...”
“Oh my God.”
Whether it was Lin Miao watching through the Divine Net screen or Ye Yunshang witnessing it firsthand on-site, both were stunned.
A massive hole appeared in the sky, where a colossal eyeball blinked. Countless monsters poured out, followed by a giant tentacle squirming its way through.
“No! The city is going to collapse!”
The Awakened gathered at the event had no choice but to step forward and fight.
This wasn't just to save lives or for performance metrics; it was because countless eyes were currently watching them.
If they fled to save themselves, what they lost would surely be far more than their lives.
The same went for Luluca and Ye Yunshang.
The city center turned into a battlefield in an instant. Ye Yunshang rushed out, drawing her sword and swinging it at a massive flying creature resembling a wyvern.
Her full-strength strike pierced the monster's chest, sending the terrifying flying creature crashing to the ground. But the problem was, there was more than just this single monster classified as Tier 4.
This was the real deal!
Abhoth's attack was completely off the charts, possessing a level of power that even shocked the deities on the Divine Net forum.
The tentacles pouring down from the massive hole deflected the attacks of a Tier 5 Awakened, directly crushing a huge building in the city center into dust.
Rate on N.U.
