Barren Star – Chapter 78
by Little PandaJourney to the Insect Star
Sayers, the capital of the Insect Star.
This was a city built of steel, where skyscrapers pierced the dim firmament like withered trees. The Insect Race mostly maintained human forms, living in perfect order. Even when walking on the roads, each member of the Insect Race would step precisely in the footprints of the one ahead, without the slightest deviation. Throughout this iron-like pale city, a cold sense of order permeated from all directions.
Ning Buyi did not like this kind of “order.” She slightly furrowed her brows, her gaze penetrating through the ghostly buildings in the mist, falling upon the palace that lay like a grotesque beast.
“The Insect Race has improved compared to the past,” Hua Zhuoyu held Ning Buyi’s hand, their fingers intertwined, revealing a reassuring smile, and continued, “There are changes, look over there.” Ning Buyi responded with a sound and looked in the direction Hua Zhuoyu pointed. The Insect Race members were digging holes to transplant trees. Among the group, one or two couldn’t control themselves and directly transformed into bee forms, circling around the trees. It was known that in the past, the Insect Race would rather die than transform into their weak bee form.
The middle-aged Insect Race member had a loud voice that could pierce clouds and split stones. At his shouting, those young Insect Race members who couldn’t control themselves quickly changed back, giving sheepish smiles before stopping their disruption of the planting activity. Amidst this bustle, Laiyin [θθ΅ | lΓ‘i yΔ«n], the Captain of the Insect Race Guards, appeared. He curiously observed Hua Zhuoyu and Ning Buyi. After all, except for interstellar governmental visits years ago, almost no one was willing to visit the Insect Star.
The Queen’s friends? He thought of this identity, but as his thoughts turned, he felt it wasn’t quite appropriate, considering that poor Her Majesty Kris was still their “prisoner.”
The dark palace was magnificent yet quiet. In the past, countless Insect Race guards stood watch, and young Insect Race members who aspired to become the Queen’s companions frequently came and went. However, when the sisters Hill and Kris came to power, they issued an edict forbidding those male insects from showing off. While Kris still kept guards, the current one on the throne had dismissed many of them.
“I thought you wouldn’t come,” the Pure White Queen with white hair and golden eyes smiled as she looked at Ning Buyi and Hua Zhuoyu.
“Could there be danger here?” Hua Zhuoyu and Ning Buyi seated themselves gracefully.
“It’s possible, isn’t it?” Hill curved her lips, waving her hand as attendants came forward carrying three iron cups filled with honey water, “Forgive me, this is the best hospitality the Insect Star can offer. I assume you wouldn’t want to gnaw on meteorites or rely on nutrient supplements like the Insect Race.”
“Thank you,” Hua Zhuoyu spoke, pausing for a moment before returning to the previous topic, “Kris is still on the Mountain and Sea Star.”
“Oh, my foolish little sisterβ” Hill drew out her tone, responding with interest as she crossed her arms, “Do you think I care whether she lives or dies?”
“Don’t you care?” Hua Zhuoyu gave a light laugh, “Then why, among all your blood sisters, is she the only one who survived?”
Hill smiled and said, “Perhaps it’s just because she’s too stupid.”
Hua Zhuoyu gazed deeply at Hill.
In the Insect Race’s history, since the birth of the Queens, they possessed natural control over the entire race until their life’s end. The Insect Race had never had an overthrown Queen, except for Hill. However, given Kris’s abilities, her accomplishment was clearly due to Hill’s indulgence.
Hill took a sip of honey water, her golden eyes narrowing contentedly as she slowly said, “I have a small request for inviting you here.”
Hua Zhuoyu: “Please speak.”
“The Insect Race has a Supreme Clay Tablet, which records prophecies. The last one to appear was the omen of the Lord of Endings. This Supreme Clay Tablet has existed since the birth of the Insect Raceβperhaps it’s a mythological relic from past eras? For unknown reasons, the Insect Race can only approach it when it begins to prophesy.” At this point, Hill shrugged.
Ning Buyi shook her head and said, “It doesn’t seem like a mythological relic.”
Hill turned her gaze, staring at Ning Buyi: “Then what is it?”
“Perhaps it’s similar to the Beast Star’s Baize Diagram.” After a pause, Ning Buyi added, “It might be a revelation from the ancestors.”
Waves rippled in Hill’s eyes as she smiled slightly: “Regardless, the Insect Race’s situation is different from the Beast Race. We need neither deities nor ancestors.”
Hua Zhuoyu remained noncommittal, changing the subject as she looked at Hill: “Speaking of which, what happened with the Insect Race rebellion?”
“You mean Kris’s path to the throne?” Hill smiled, “Actually, it was nothing special. Because I wanted it, she had to sit in that position.”
The “Lord of Endings” was a prophecy from the Insect Race’s Supreme Clay Tablet, but even with this alone, even if the Insect Race warriors had different intentions, they couldn’t have crossed that mental barrier. However, Hill actively released the mental connection, giving her dear sister and once-loyal guard a chance, and in the end, Kris didn’t disappoint her.
“At the birth of the Insect Race, the entire race had no natural ruler. However, the Dark Pollution brought great changes, and the entire race bordered on madness. Under these circumstances, the Queens came into being. The Queen was a mental shackle placed on the Insect Race. No matter how mindless or chaotic those people were, they only needed to remember one thing: obey the Queen’s commands. Unfortunately, the Dark Pollution wouldn’t pass over the Queen, and when the one perched on the throne went mad, the entire Insect Race would head toward final collapse. At this time, the mental shackles would instead drag the Insect Race into the abyss.
“Perhaps the Supreme One couldn’t bear to see the Insect Race completely perish. My innate power is the source of chaos, not just within myself, but also pointing toward the entire Insect Race. My former confidants experienced the baptism of chaos, they were powerless to control it, and their existence affected my very being. Of course, sometimes I wonder if they were loyal to me or to their chaotic instincts.”
Hua Zhuoyu raised an eyebrow: “So you asked them to die?”
Hill smiled slightly, firmly denying: “That was Kris’s doing, what does it have to do with me?” Upon ascending the Queen’s throne, she became known for “advocating peace,” not because she was more merciful than past monarchs, but because “killing” would intensify her chaos, causing her to ultimately lose self-control.
After hearing about the Insect Race’s past, Ning Buyi couldn’t help but shake her head and sigh: “Kris is truly pitiable.”
“Then let her stay on the Mountain and Sea Star a while longer.” Hill raised her eyes to look at Ning Buyi, letting out a light laugh, “She’s a prisoner after all. I must admit, at this moment, I’m powerless to ransom her back.”
Ning Buyi: “…” Hill was truly such a thoughtful elder sister.
The Supreme Clay Tablet was in the palace’s back garden.
Of course, in this stellar region lacking plants, the so-called back garden was actually just a wasteland. Hill stopped on the corridor, gazing at that Supreme Clay Tablet from afar, making a gesture that meant “please.”
As Ning Buyi walked forward, she heard Hill’s murmur.
She was dissatisfied with the Supreme Clay Tablet occupying the “garden,” after all, they now possessed a trade license and could obtain various flower seeds through trade with the Mountain and Sea Star.
Despite bearing the words “Supreme,” even though it looked ordinary on the surface, like rough yellow clay blocks piled together, it couldn’t be underestimated. Hua Zhuoyu’s gaze was calm, her spirit tense, prepared for anything. Ning Buyi wasn’t as nervous, as she had received feedback from the Mountain and Sea Atlas.
γIt is the Supreme One’s scattered power, it can be retrieved.γ
After receiving the definitive answer, she reached out to touch the strange writings on the clay tablet. Her fingertips emitted a faint glow, and one by one the strange characters gradually faded, until finally the entire tablet was empty, showing no trace of the Supreme One’s power. Ning Buyi stared at the Mountain and Sea Atlas interface before her, which seemed to have no significant changes except for becoming golden and shiny. The Dark Pollution and Greening values remained motionless, and there weren’t even any easter eggs given.
She had helped the Supreme One recover some power, was the Mountain and Sea Atlas really this stingy?
To this, the Mountain and Sea Atlas system played dead again.
“How is it?” Hua Zhuoyu frowned, her thin lips tightly pressed, her gaze showing traces of tension. To her, Ning Buyi’s consciousness seemed to have been emptied in an instant, leaving behind something more like a soulless puppet.
“It’s the remnant of the Supreme One’s power,” Ning Buyi replied, coming back to her senses.
The Supreme One treated the three surviving races of the Greedy Wolf Star System equally, giving the Da Xia Star Court and bestowing the Supreme Clay Tablet to the Insect Race, so what was left on the Beast Star? Was it the Baize Diagram? “Should we make a trip to the Beast Star later?” Ning Buyi’s expression became somewhat strange. The Insect Star was Hill’s active invitation, but as for the Beast Star… who knew if Feng Yi would agree to let her view the Baize Diagram.
“Did you figure out its origin?” Hill hadn’t heard Ning Buyi and Hua Zhuoyu’s conversation, only seeing Ning Buyi bow and stand up again. She held great expectations for Ning Buyi – if they couldn’t resolve the Supreme Clay Tablet, she would have to find another place to build her “garden.”
“It’s not a relic from past eras,” Ning Buyi walked toward the corridor and said to Hill, “It’s from the Supreme One.”
Hill didn’t care much about whether it was from the Supreme One or not. She frowned and took a step forward, not sensing any repulsion from the Supreme Clay Tablet. After a moment’s hesitation, she took another step. Her eyes brightened as she said lightly, “The repulsive force is gone.”
“Yes, it’s gone.” Ning Buyi looked somewhat embarrassed as she glanced at the tablet, “It’s very fragile now, it would break with a single hit.”
Hill smiled and said, “That’s even better. The Insect Race’s future doesn’t need to rely on the Supreme One’s prophecies.” She glanced at the empty back garden and murmured, “When the garden is full of blooming flowers, we’ll bring Kris back from the Mountain and Sea Star.”
A garden full of fragrance – she would surely love it.
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