Chapter 258: Material for Evolution
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
"Grab a seat. There is some minor detail I'd like to go over with you." Ma Sa knew Li Shiming was trying to kiss his a*s by calling him Shi Shu.
"Please."
"I am here on a secret mission..."
"Shi Shu, you don’t have to tell me the details. I would assist in your mission. It will be my honor to serve the Confederation." Li Shiming said sincerely while looking Ma Sa in the eyes.
Ma Da admired Li Shiming's crafty language at such a young age.
"House of Li is the pillar of the Confederation, so you must have already picked up some clues. We suspect that Zerg's intention in invading Norton was not to conquer the planet but to collect material for evolving further. According to a few survivors, the Zergs killed the ones with lower soul levels, like they always did. However, they had tried to capture the higher-level fighters alive. They didn't even send out that many space hives. So, their eyes were not on the planet. It is doubtful that the crafty Zergs slipped up, unless..."
Ma Sa glanced at Li Shiming, whose face had remained placid, and continued, "…unless the Zergs were on to something entirely different, and meant to keep it a secret."
"I was wondering if you would offer me some suggestions as to what exactly do these Zergs want?" Ma Sa asked.
Silence fell into the room as Li Shiming chewed on Ma Sa's question under the calm facade, then broke the silence. "I don't know, but I can gather this much: since you asked me about this but not anyone else, it means that the answer you were looking for also relates to my experience. The only notable activities I partook was the recent battle. In other words, you are implying that my appearance on Norton had made the Zerg's change their behavior. But what are they looking for in me?"
Ma Sa and Li Shiming's eyes both lit up. Ma Sa marveled at Li Shiming's incredible ability to pick up clues and his methodical deduction.
Almost in the same instance, they both realized the only thing in Li Shiming that might have piqued the Zerg's interest could be his DNA.
The Zergs constantly mutated their genes to adapt to different situations. Ever since they had encountered human, they had been researching humans, like they had done to them, by tinkering the makeup of human genes.
Luckily for both parties, they practically knew nothing about each other.
The source of human's power flowed in Li Shiming's blood, and therefore, once he showed up on the battlefield, the Zergs attacked him with abandon. It was not a coincidence that Li Shiming happened to attract the most potent Zergs.
"Don't worry soldier. It is not that easy to extract what they want from a few strands of DNA. The vigor of a human soldier comes from the combination of the soul energy and his tactics, and not just his physical body. Should the Zergs spawn a new generation of freaks that mimic the way the human body works, they would have to give up their superior brute force, and that might even give us an edge on the battlefield."
"Shi Shu, it is not unlikely, neither is it unthinkable that Zergs would eventually come up with a higher form of existence and become more of a threat than they already are."
"Well said lad. Many clues we picked up had confirmed our suspicion. We had watched your combat video many times, and it seems that the Zergs never wanted to kill you. Look there on the screen, pay attention to the ground."
The video played a clip of Li Shiming's combat during the earlier heroic battle. Li Shimin was injured, his blood splattered onto the ground. A little turtle like Zerg crawled near the blood and sucked the blood dry before it vanished amidst the chaos.
"We can only see it after knowing the fact. No one would be able to notice it, much less do anything on the spot during the heated battle."
"It might not be as bad as we think. At least now we know what they are after. It is also proof that our strategies are working. Otherwise, they won't be so desperate."
Li Shiming wasn't ruffled by the content of the video. He reckoned that it was inevitable for his DNA samples to be collected, since all it took was a strand of hair or a few drops of blood. However, Li Shiming reasoned that despite the ample collection of human DNA samples, it would take the Zergs a while to crack open the secrets of the human genome, just like human's snail pace in discovering that of the Zergs.
"Back to the reason why you are here: We had concluded that there must be one of their more advanced brains on Norton coordinating these muscles to execute such a sophisticated plan. It is, we believe, a kind of Zerg that we have never seen before —the mastermind. It has the highest intelligence and total authority, and it might even be the architect of the hives."
The conjecture quickly piqued Li Shiming's interest. The Zerg Queen was only in charge of reproduction, and the Encephalon Zerg was the commander during battles. But so far, the humans had not yet discovered the identity of the so-called mastermind that had plotted the course of their destructive path, and made the decision in the grand scheme of things.
What kind of a Zerg would it be?
As humans spent more time with Zergs on the battlefield and in the lab, they started to peel off and reveal the complex layers of the Zerg's social structure. Based on the Zergs’ high skill to adapt, one could even argue that the Zergs’ social composition had mimicked that of the humans. They might consider the humans' way more advantageous in the solar system, and felt the revolutionary pressure of natural selection.
Ma Sa said something; it was a request that Li Shiming could neither accept nor refuse. After a while, Li Shiming said in his seemingly placid voice, "This is a matter of great importance to both the Confederation and my family. Please allow me a few days to consider it."
"Yes, make sure you send the message in an encrypted channel when you reach your decision. Remember, time is of the essence."
Li Shiming nodded, his expression holding the fragile edge of a calm that threatened to explode.
Wang Tong's team had quickly found an entrance. Although Goldie wasn't entirely sure if there was a Encephalon Zerg at the end of the tunnel, the odds were looking pretty good.
Wang Tong probed the cave with his soul energy and registered that the size of the cave system was similar to that in which he had killed the Zerg Queen. He held back the team and decided to venture down by himself.
"Lieutenant, let me go in first. I can feel something is in there."
"It's too dangerous to go by yourself. I will go with you. Third, you can give orders in my stead. Overbite, report to the HQ right now, 'possible hostile forces, we are investigating the situation right now.' " Jansining commanded.
"Lieutenant, let me go with him" Ma Xiaoru pleaded. Although Jansining knew Ma Xiaoru possessed incredible power, he could not afford to expose her to this much danger.
"I can run much faster by myself. Why don't you stay here and wait for my message? I will be careful not to disturb the Zergs while I scout out the Encephalon's whereabouts."
Jansining couldn't bring himself to agree to Wang tong's request. However, pragmatism came over him, and he conceded that anyone except Ma Xiaoru would be a hindrance rather than help to Wang Tong. Meanwhile, the same pragmatism had refused him to let Ma Xiaoru enter that cave.
"Go, but be careful. We want a living brother, not a dead hero. Do you hear me?" Jansining said with a solemn face.
"Yes, Sir!" Wang Tong saluted confidently.
"Wang Tong!" Ma Xiaoru called out to Wang Tong who had already half stepped into the entrance. Wang Tong turned back and asked, "What's up?"
"Be careful!"
The tenderness in Ma Xiaoru's voice sounded familiar to Wang Tong for a second; The words were a thin thread leading into Wang Tong's memory. But, before he could tug on it and drag out the old Ma Xiaoru with all her affection, the thread snapped. He realized that Ma Xiaoru cared about him just like she cared about other comrades.
"Don't worry about me. I have more than nine lives. Be careful out here too; it could be a trap." Wang Tong let out a laugh and disappeared into the tunnel.
The cave turned pitch dark soon after Wang Tong entered. Wang Tong could have turned on the illumination unit on his METAL, but he had something better—his eyes burned with a golden luster in the darkness.
Wang Tong's night vision would not give away his location like the illuminating unit would, so he slipped like a shadow in the darkness. He had learned many tricks to cover his tracks while sneaking about on Norton, and even his breath was controlled to minimize the chance of being detected.
"Goldie 2, what's the surrounding like?" Wang Tong asked.
"Master, no unusual life signals so far."
"Balls! Was I wrong about this? They wouldn't have built this big cave system for no reason, eh?"
Wang Tong pressed on, believing in his intuition. The complexity of the cave was a tell-tale sign that something big was hidden in its bowel. Zergs were intelligent, but they were predictable nonetheless, if one knew where to look.
As Wang Tong went further, he noticed that the cave was even more massive and more intricate than the one he was in last time. He doubted that the GBD would be able to penetrate this far and kill whatever was hidden at the bottom.
A few moments had passed, yet Wang Tong still had found nothing. Recognition dawned on his face as he realized there were only two possibilities to this strange development: The Zergs had already moved away, or it was a trap.