“Xiaohe, I will never forget you.”
“Doudou!” The unease in Lin Xiaohe’s heart grew stronger and stronger.
Why would Doudou say something like that, as if they would never see each other again? Did he know something?
Doudou’s tone was as firm as bedrock, so rational that it was almost frightening.
“Xiaohe, letting me be the one to connect them is the option with the highest success rate and the greatest benefit. Jiuzhou Star and the Stardust Humans can’t do without Xinbao. In team fights, Fanfan has a huge advantage. Tiantian can protect you well—it’s the second layer of indestructible armor inside your body.”
“Little Red and the Dandelion can give you an edge when you’re fighting against the Zerg.”
“So, I’m the only one who fits. Besides, Little Black and I get along well, so it’s more willing to cooperate with me.”
Lin Xiaohe’s face turned cold, her eyes glistening. “Is that all? Are you sure there’s nothing you’re hiding from me?”
“Of course. Xiaohe, in my heart, you matter more than my own life. How could I ever hide anything from you?”
“Doudou, things haven’t reached a terrible point yet. We’re one entity. I don’t want to forcefully invade your memories. So, are you really not hiding anything from me?”
Doudou looked defeated and said, “Oh, come on. Who doesn’t have a little secret? Fine, fine, I’ll be honest with you. Once I become the connector, I’ll be the most important part of your body! Hahaha! Xinbao, Fanfan, you’ll both have to call me boss!”
Xinbao snapped in exasperation: “Doudou! You’re so mean! You scared me so much I didn’t even dare to make a sound!”
Fanfan sneered: “You’ve got more tricks up your sleeve than beans on your branches. Even if you become the connector, I’m not calling you boss.”
Tiantian, Little Red, and the Dandelion all joined in, scolding Doudou for his immoral behavior.
“Doudou, how could you scare us like that just for a little selfish gain? Do you know that the way you were talking just now sounded like you were saying goodbye to us forever!”
“Exactly! If you have something to say, just say it—why drag us into it? You made me feel all guilty inside, like I’ve somehow wronged you!”
Doudou quickly pleaded for mercy: “Okay, okay, I’m wrong. Let’s hurry up and get Xiaohe upgraded—the entire star domain is still waiting for her to save it!”
Lin Xiaohe said crossly: “And whose fault is that? Yours!”
“Mmhm, it’s all my fault, forgive me. I’m your beloved little treasure, so no matter what I do wrong, you have to forgive me, okay?”
“Hmph!”
Doudou’s form dissolved back into green specks of light, and his slender vines wrapped around and connected the two meridian networks.
Meanwhile, Doudou’s main body, along with his flowerpot, moved to the heart and transformed into a bridge, linking the two hearts—one big and one small—together.
The moment the two hearts beat in sync for the first time, the surging energy from the ten Great Tombs finally found an outlet, flowing through the meridians and lighting up each node one by one!
Driven by this energy, Lin Xiaohe felt like she was riding a rocket, her consciousness rising higher and higher until it touched a transparent bubble.
She peered through the bubble and looked inside.
There stood a humanoid figure made of white mist—a miniature version of herself.
Lin Xiaohe guessed that this must be her life origin!
She reached out, wanting to poke the bubble, but the next second, she plummeted back down, and her consciousness returned to her body.
Sigh.
Lin Xiaohe let out a long breath. The energy Little Black provided wasn’t quite high enough—she had been just a hair’s breadth away from touching her life origin.
Maybe this was karma coming back around, letting her experience what Zhou had felt back then.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Lin Xiaohe clenched her fists.
She tried switching to Zerg mode.
Boom!
Her perception range actually expanded to cover the entire Fifth Star Ring. Wherever there were Black Zerg, there were her senses.
As long as she wanted to, she could descend onto any Zerg from any of Little Black’s Great Tombs at any moment.
Before, she could only borrow Little Black’s perspective inside the Great Tomb to observe everything.
Now, if she wanted to, she could do it.
It was like before, she had been mooching off Little Black’s broadband—but now, Little Black had transferred the permissions to Lin Xiaohe!
No, more accurately, Little Black—as a Zerg Great Tomb—had willingly submitted to Lin Xiaohe, along with the nine smaller Great Tombs it had created.
This act had forcibly pushed Lin Xiaohe onto the Abyss Mother sequence!
Thankfully, Lin Xiaohe had come up with the plug-in hybrid solution, and thankfully, Doudou was there—otherwise, this evolution would have doomed her.
At that thought, Lin Xiaohe called out urgently: “Doudou? Doudou?!”
There was no response at all.
Lin Xiaohe’s heart skipped a beat. That little rascal Doudou—could he still be hiding something from her?
Xinbao said tearfully: “Xiaohe, Doudou is gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“His consciousness is gone.” Xinbao burst into sobs.
Fanfan jumped out and shouted loudly: “Fine, I give up. I’ll call you boss, alright? Just come out now.”
Tiantian and Little Red wept together: “Doudou, stop joking. This isn’t funny at all. If you keep this up, I’m really going to get angry!”
No matter how they called out or what they said, they still couldn’t find any trace of Doudou’s consciousness.
Little Black, who had returned to the fourth dimension to rest, exhausted, told Lin Xiaohe sorrowfully: “Don’t bother looking. The moment Doudou became the connector, his consciousness died.”
“What?! How is that possible?”
Lin Xiaohe’s eyes turned bloodshot, her teeth clenched in rage.
Little Black: “My Lord, you are now an Abyss Mother. You have the right to know.”
Lin Xiaohe paused slightly. Her overwhelming grief just now had made her momentarily forget her new identity.
She calmed her mind, and countless fragments flashed through her thoughts until she finally found the useful information.
The pipes inside the Great Tombs came in two types. One was mechanical and not very intelligent.
The other had its own consciousness—more efficient and with higher authority. But this type required sealing a complete consciousness inside.
For the Zerg, obtaining energy was easy, but sealing a full consciousness—that was extremely difficult.
That was why most pipes in the Great Tombs were mechanical, only following simple commands like mindless drones.
Lin Xiaohe vaguely guessed that Doudou must have known about both types. That was why he sacrificed his physical body and consciousness, fusing himself into the new meridians!
Only an extremely intelligent meridian system could meet Lin Xiaohe’s requirements.
Her two hearts ached as if gnawed by ants, a sharp, searing pain.
She continued searching through Doudou’s memory fragments and, sure enough, confirmed her suspicion.
When Doudou had thrown his beans into Little Black’s Great Tomb furnace, he had also sent in a small twig.
Though that experiment had failed, Doudou had used the twig to reversely obtain some fragmented Zerg information—including the matter of the intelligent pipes.
“Doudou… you’re really so foolish.” Lin Xiaohe’s eyes brimmed with tears.
Doudou had been with her for so long—a partner, a comrade, and even family!
The pain—it was heart-wrenching!
Within the new meridians, energy surged and battle intent burned fiercely. It was as if Doudou was urging her on—hurry up, go fight!
