Following the Fifth Star Ring Human Fleet, Wesley and the Giant Sound Whales joined the battle just in time.
Together, they managed to hold Zhou off for a while, but the scales of war still tipped in Zhou’s favor.
After all, although the Fifth Star Ring Human Fleet fought with tremendous courage, they were no match for the Zerg in terms of numbers, individual combat prowess, endurance, and every other aspect.
Even with the help of the Black Zerg and the Stardust Humans, their sacrifices were enormous, and they kept losing ground.
Yet, not a single spaceship intended to flee.
Just as the Sixth Star Ring Army Commander had said—we’ve run away time and again, so where else can we run to? At a critical moment for the survival of civilization, someone has to step up and make the necessary sacrifices.
Lin Xiaohe, the very person they were protecting with their lives, was not in a good state at this moment.
She could feel that the ten Great Tombs, led by Little Black, were trying to channel Zerg energy into her body.
But this modified body of hers was rejecting that energy.
This rejection was nearly tearing Lin Xiaohe apart.
To put it in simple terms, Lin Xiaohe was like a new-energy electric car, and Little Black was holding a gasoline nozzle, trying to pump fuel into it.
If this kept up, the electric car would be wrecked by all that gasoline flooding in.
Lin Xiaohe had only two choices.
One was to stop Little Black and make it quit pumping gasoline. But Lin Xiaohe had a gut feeling that once evolution began, it couldn’t be stopped. It was either succeed or fail.
That left her with only the other option: to transform her body from a pure electric vehicle into a plug-in hybrid or a range-extender.
A plug-in hybrid means having two systems inside—one running on pure electricity (her current body’s energy mode) and the other on fuel (Zerg energy). She could switch between them at any time, and the engine could either drive the wheels directly or recharge the battery.
This option was more difficult and required a good medium.
A range-extender, on the other hand, is driven entirely by an electric motor, with the engine only serving to power the generator and charge the battery. Applied to Lin Xiaohe, it meant installing a converter inside her body to turn Zerg energy into her body’s own energy.
Both plans had their pros and cons. The former was harder but could handle more complex situations.
The latter was easier but would limit future upgrades based on her original condition.
Suppose one day Lin Xiaohe could replace the Zerg Lord and become the new Zerg Lord—but her body, built on the bridge of the Mysterious Seed, integrated with Stardust Mutant Plants, the Panshi Clan’s [Source Body], and a small fragment of Zerg genes, simply couldn’t evolve that fast.
Under the plug-in hybrid model, Lin Xiaohe could switch to Zerg Lord mode at any time, boosting her combat power and endurance.
Under the range-extender model, even if she became Zerg Lord, her combat ability would still be limited by her base body. At best, she’d have a super energy cheat that gave her incredible staying power, but her fighting strength wouldn’t increase.
After weighing the pros and cons, Lin Xiaohe decisively chose to move toward the plug-in hybrid approach.
Building two energy-operation systems inside her body was an extremely complex task.
Especially since these two systems couldn’t exist in isolation—they had to stay independent while also cooperating with each other.
Lin Xiaohe had once seen, inside Little Black’s Great Tomb, how the Tomb transmitted energy.
They used the fleshy, long tubes inside the Tomb. These tubes could absorb energy and also shape the processed energy into little balls, placing them on conveyor belts to feed the newborn Zerg.
Lin Xiaohe carefully recalled the material composition of those tubes, mimicked them, and mobilized the Zerg genes in her body to generate a new set of meridians alongside her original ones.
This new meridian network was like a shadow of the old one, almost imperceptible.
When the very ends of the meridians were fully formed, Lin Xiaohe let out a long breath.
“Infrastructure’s done. Now I need to build the software and the core.”
How could she guide the Zerg energy to flow through this new meridian network?
How could she coordinate the two operating modes so they wouldn’t clash?
Lin Xiaohe racked her brain but still couldn’t come up with a solution.
The Mysterious Seed had an overwhelming desire to control her body and would never accept second place.
Little Black seemed obedient and well-behaved on the surface, but deep down, it was just as domineering as other Zerg.
The fact that it could coexist peacefully with the Stardust Mutant Plants was already the result of self-restraint after being “educated.”
“Xiaohe, let me do it.”
A deep male voice came from within her body.
“Doudou?”
Lin Xiaohe saw countless tiny green dots inside her body gather together to form Doudou’s likeness.
Doudou’s branches were covered with bean pods, each one plump and full.
Lin Xiaohe tried to dissuade him: “Doudou, this is just my initial attempt. I don’t know if it’ll work, or what the consequences might be. If you become the connector between them and can never materialize again, what then?”
As long as Lin Xiaohe’s condition was normal, Xinbao and the others could detach from her body and exist independently—they just couldn’t go too far or stay away too long.
Although they were homebodies and didn’t really like coming out unless Lin Xiaohe called them.
But wanting to come out and being able to come out were two entirely different things.
Doudou, however, said with relief: “Xiaohe, I’m really glad I chose you as my master. I followed you from the Wasteland Star all the way to the First Star Ring and became the Chair of the Agriculture Academy. I’ve seen so many different sights and met so many new friends.”
Lin Xiaohe thought back to those early days—they felt like memories from a past life, clear yet distant.
Looking at her past self, why did she seem so cringey and so full of youthful vigor?
That attitude of “Heaven’s first, I’m second,” that assertiveness of “I’d rather let the world down than have the world let me down”—it was all so full of the naive fearlessness of a newborn calf.
Clearly, Doudou also remembered those days and said wistfully: “I thought I could become your most important partner, clearing the path and sweeping away all enemies for you.”
“Of course you’re my important partner. You’re already amazing, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but I can no longer keep up with you.” Doudou’s disappointment was plain to see.
“Xiaohe, do you remember the last time I fought for you?”
Lin Xiaohe froze. She couldn’t remember.
Doudou smiled bitterly: “It’s been a long, long time since I last fought for you. Is it because I didn’t want to? No—it’s because I wasn’t worthy. Lately, I’ve often wondered: when I fought alongside the Suixing Envoy leader back then, and it called me a ‘defective product’—was it talking about me? Just like how the soul weakens with every Great Extinction, are we the same?”
“Every time we enter a prehistoric civilization or a place where gods have fallen, our power gets completely suppressed, and we can’t help you. But the Lotus Wood from the Wu Clan civilization could shield you during an extinction crisis. Compared to it, I’m just too weak.”
A sense of unease rose in Lin Xiaohe’s heart: “Doudou, isn’t it the same for me? I keep getting schemed against by all those people and falling into traps left and right.”
Doudou stayed perfectly still, as if trying to etch Lin Xiaohe deep into his memory.
