In the pitch-black vacuum of space, every celestial body lay impossibly far away, as though it were only part of a backdrop painted on darkness.
A completely black Hundred Claw Scythe Giant Bug drifted silently through the vacuum. Its overall shape was menacing, but the biological armor covering it was smooth and seamless.
It floated alone through deep space with no propulsion, carried only by inertia, like a sculpture polished to a shine.
"Captain, if we don't get an energy resupply soon, we're all going hungry!"
The six-hundred-meter-long giant bug was actually a biological spaceship. Inside, dozens of powerful creatures were at a loss.
They were crimson bugs ten meters tall, shaped like metal mantises. They were Skyworms, the primary intelligent species of the Shell Race civilization in the Sagittarius Arm.
Their species reproduced with extraordinary ease. Every individual was capable of reproducing on her own and remained in heat throughout her life. Even after death, her body would undergo a "metamorphosis," with most of her organs automatically turning into eggs.
They had even evolved the ability to breed with any species. They could also produce all sorts of obedient, ruthless, powerful Soldier Insects, making them famously cost-effective... biological weapons.
The Skyworm they called captain was visibly stronger than the rest. She was thirty meters long, with a raised Bone Fan along her back that spread behind her head. Bone spikes of varying lengths covered her body.
Her inverted triangular face, sharp as a snake spirit's, gave her a fierce bearing. Smooth, metallic, scythe-like legs accounted for two-thirds of her body.
The tail behind her looked more like a steel chain, its segmented links layered like saw teeth!
She swept her gaze over her listless crew. Her Pirate Gang had gone far too long without a proper haul.
As space