Those dark golden 'worker ants' had grown to the height of an adult's calf, their carapaces not smooth, but covered in a rough, gritty texture and the dents and scratches left by battles.
They moved freely among the mountain-like piles of prefabricated components, using all six limbs, their heavy footsteps on the metal floor merging into a dense 'clack-clack' sound, like heavy rain on a tin roof, conveying power and order.
At the Creation Furnace research area, temporarily demarcated at the edge of the plaza, it was an even more chaotic yet focused scene.
"Steady! That damned triangle is burping again! Pressurize the neutralizing fluid! Damn it! Group C! The readings are off the charts!"
A human Parasite researcher with a buzz cut and bulging muscles, veins throbbing in his neck, pressed his rough hands firmly on the control console, roaring into the hissing communicator.
His bloodshot eyes were fixed on the front: a desktop-sized black triangle, peeled from the pyramid's surface, was suspended in a complex energy containment field, its surface's eerie blue geometric patterns wildly twisting and flickering, emitting crackling sounds like a high-voltage wire shorting, and the surrounding light strangely bent, as if looking at the world through hot asphalt.
Beside him, a humanoid researcher with skin as pale as marble and unusually prominent knuckles, his ten fingers moved across the control panel, which was covered in knobs and buttons, creating a blur, so fast it almost created a breeze.
Another Bug Clan Family engineer, covered in a shiny chitinous shell, steadily manipulated the precise valves of three spray devices with his chitinous appendages, spraying milky white viscous neutralizing fluid from different angles.
The liquid made a 'sizzling' corrosive sound upon contact with the violent triangle's surface, and the eerie blue light was forcibly suppressed.
Just at this highly tense moment, Zhou Qi's Mental Energy, like an invisible giant anchor, gently 'touched' the core of this space.
"Dominator!"
A deep roar, like muffled thunder underground, echoed.
Atop the tallest steel command tower on the plaza's edge, a massive dark golden figure crashed down.
It was Uka.
Its massive fifteenth-level Tai Cang Dragon true body was now coiled and compressed to over ten meters long, like a crouching black Dragon.
Its thick four limbs stomped the ground, emitting heavy 'thump' sounds.
Its ferocious head was deeply bowed, its fangs, capable of easily tearing steel, were retracted, and the arrogance in its golden vertical pupils was replaced by absolute reverence.
"You Long."
"You Long."
Zhou Qi's voice directly resonated in Uka's mind, calm, yet carrying a tangible, undeniable Mental Energy pressure.
Uka's will immediately responded, like the most loyal signal tower: "In the logistics area."
Zhou Qi understood.
Space silently twisted, and Zhou Qi's figure appeared in a nest permeated with an intoxicating fragrance.
The light came from the moonlight moss on the dome, flowing with an ambiguous pale purple.
You Long was coiled on a warm jade couch.
The moment Zhou Qi appeared, her pale golden vertical pupils suddenly contracted into thin lines, then erupted with wild fanaticism, absolute devotion, and a sacrificial, fervent desire.
She shot forward like a graceful black lightning bolt, her cold, flexible body, covered in fine, dark scales, instantly pressing against Zhou Qi.
The scales rubbed against the subtly flowing dark golden patterns beneath Zhou Qi's Titan Dragon Body, emitting a faint 'rustling' sound, conveying submission and supplication.
Her serpent tail, like the most loyal vine, quietly adhered to his side.
Zhou Qi stood like a mountain.
Planetary-level power condensed at his fingertips, slowly stroking You Long's smooth back scales.
Every touch seemed to carry a faint current and a powerful will imprint, injecting into her life core.
You Long's body produced a subtle yet intense energy resonance, and she squeezed out a suppressed yet high-pitched 'hissing' moan from her throat—that was the primal tremor caused by power and will penetrating deep into her Soul.
The accumulated energy burst forth with a roar!
Zhou Qi was no longer a static mountain, but an Incarnation of a magnificent will controlling heaven and earth.
Vast Mental Energy and pure planetary-level energy, like a surging river of stars, precisely poured into You Long's body.
This injected power was not merely a simple filling, but a precise biological transformation and a forced catalysis of life level.
The immense power it contained was bound by Zhou Qi's absolute control, kept within boundaries that would not destroy her body, precisely impacting the shackles of her life form.
You Long displayed the Yi Serpent Person's astonishing resilience; her bones made faint 'cracking' sounds under the energy's impact, as if undergoing structural reorganization.
Her scales violently fluctuated under the rampant force, their edges even beginning to curl and peel off, turning to dust in the strong light of the energy!
What was exposed was no longer fragile flesh and blood, but the newly formed, even finer, nascent scales shimmering with a nascent dark golden luster underneath.
This was not destruction, but a forced leap in life essence, guided by planetary-level might!
Extreme pain and the tearing sensation of new birth burned in her eyes; her Mental Energy, like Ore thrown into a furnace, fiercely collided, shattered Impurities, and was re-forged under Zhou Qi's will, vast as the sea of stars.
When the dark red star once again emerged from the same position, the energy storm within the nest reached its peak.
Zhou Qi let out a low 'roar—!' from deep in his throat, like molten lava surging from the Earth's core.
His palm was firmly pressed against the core of You Long's partially transformed body.
A torrent of energy, hot as the core of a star, concentrated with his life Origin and the evolutionary mysteries of a planet-level lifeform, was guided by Zhou Qi's absolute will, unreservedly and irresistibly blasting into the depths of You Long's life!
You Long suddenly arched her body, letting out a sharp, prolonged shriek, 'Hiss-aang—!' as if her Soul was being reshaped and her life sublimated.
All her scales, both the newly transformed ones and the parts of the old ones that had not yet shed, instantly erupted with dazzling emerald-golden light!
This light, like a tangible energy pulse, illuminated the entire nest as brilliantly as the core of a star!
Then the light abruptly retracted, as if forcibly absorbed.
Her entire body went limp, her eyes completely unfocused, falling into a deep, transformative slumber, as if returning to the maternal Origin, awaiting new life to emerge from its cocoon.
Newly formed dark golden scales completely covered her body, shimmering with an understated yet powerful metallic luster.
The air around her body continuously underwent energy transitions due to over-concentration and the not-yet-fully-controlled high-level energy, emitting faint, rhythmic 'crackling' sounds.
Her aura was like dormant subterranean lava, brewing immeasurable terrifying potential in absolute tranquility.
The immense energy had completed its crucial guiding work.
Zhou Qi slowly withdrew his hand, looking down at this loyal Bug Clan Family whom he had personally pushed to a higher life stage.
An unprecedented sense of perfect clarity washed over his entire body, as if the stellar meridians flowed without obstruction.
The subtle blockage of power nodes that had arisen from his previous forced advancement was completely cleared, and the planet-level power operated even more flawlessly and smoothly under his will; the dark golden core symbolizing power deep within his Sea of Consciousness also slightly accelerated, rotating more lightly and stably.
His will stirred, and an External Exoskeleton, similar to those of the Bug Clan Family, appeared on his body, its outer shell mimicking clothes.
Then, Zhou Qi quietly glanced at the sleeping You Long, turned, and left.
The door silently closed.
......