Fusion Slot

How could that be? This was Sister Xi Guang, a long-lived Pan-Human who had lived for a century. Her willpower was probably even stronger than Uncle Li's.

She did not think about it any further. After a moment of silence, she walked up to Jiang Xiao with an earnest expression.

"Mr. Jiang, thank you so much for rescuing Sister Xi Guang. Please protect her well. If you need anything, just give the order!"

"That's right. As agreed, as long as you don't do anything that harms Pan-Humans, you may take whatever you need from the Spark Gang's resource vault." Li Yuan immediately followed up with his assurance.

Qian Ling did not care much about the implication behind Li Yuan's words. She trusted Jiang Xiao deeply.

The aura of xenophobia was almost tangible.

Jiang Xiao did not care. He calmly said, "In that case, I won't stand on ceremony. If the Spark Gang needs any firearms or weapons, you can come to me as well. Sin Coins or barter are both acceptable."

Modifying an ordinary firearm took less than ten minutes. He could also have human martial artists collect the materials and intelligence he needed. It was a win-win!

Hearing this, Li Yuan was delighted and immediately nodded in agreement.

He had already heard from Qian Ling that Mr. Jiang was an extremely powerful veteran mechanist, and that the firearms he modified were even far superior to those made by many of the Black Mech Gang's "masters"!

"Speaking of which, I've always been curious. Why is the Sin City Council hunting Xiao Guang?"

Jiang Xiao suddenly changed the subject and asked.

It couldn't be because of the Particle Destruction Esper ability, could it?

Esper abilities were mysterious powers found throughout the universe. Even Advanced Civilizations could not strip them away. Unless an Esper cooperated, no matter how powerful the ability was, it could not be used by anyone else. The Sin City Council had no reason to spend so much effort and time for that.

Besides, if Xi Guang's Esper ability were truly exposed, Star Harbor would definitely send someone down to deal with it immediately.

No, not necessarily. It was already strange enough that she, as a member of a higher race, had been sent to Prison Star. And she possessed such a high-risk ability. It was entirely possible that someone wanted to see her escape from prison.

Just as Jiang Xiao continued speculating, an ordinary-sounding voice drifted over. "Because I took something that belonged to them.

"A Starfield Broodmother Egg."

"?"

Countless thoughts ground to a halt. Jiang Xiao suddenly raised his head and stared at Xi Guang in disbelief.

"...If I understood correctly, Xiao Guang means a Broodmother Egg from the Starfield Zerg?"

"Yes."

Xi Guang nodded. She then walked over to the tattered combat uniform Jiang Xiao had casually tossed aside and took a dark-brown, thumb-sized sphere from an inner layer.

She held it out to Jiang Xiao.

"This is it."

Starfield Broodmother Egg: The most fundamental core production unit and central command unit of the Starfield Zerg. Every successfully hatched Broodmother Egg could transform into a terrifying calamity. (Egg-shaped; strength level: Tier 1 Elite)

"???!!!"

It really was a Starfield Broodmother Egg. Why would the Frontier Prison Star have such a thing?!

If there really was a broodmother in the Old Capital, then there should absolutely not be a second Broodmother Egg!

Star Harbor turned a blind eye to the Zerg in the Old Capital, so it must have imposed restrictions on them. Under such circumstances, how could it possibly allow the Zerg to produce a new, complete Broodmother Egg?

First there was a Particle Destruction Esper, then a Precision Industrial Box, and now even a Starfield Broodmother Egg had appeared.

Were Frontier Prison Stars all this wild?

Had the Star Harbor stationed on K-21 Prison Star offended the Star Alliance High-level personnel? They were treating these people like livestock!

After taking the Broodmother Egg from Xi Guang, Jiang Xiao became even more puzzled.

What did the Sin City Council want such an extremely dangerous thing for? It couldn't seriously be harboring the idiotic idea of controlling the Zerg, could it?

The galaxy was not lacking in ambitious schemers, nor in brainless ambitious schemers. Quite a few fools had tried to control the Zerg and use them to dominate the galaxy. Without exception, they were torn apart by the creatures they had raised before the Star Alliance even came knocking!

Neither pheromone control, brainwave control, nor semi-mechanical modification worked. Even if the Zerg's brains were replaced with chips, they would still attack and devour everything until they died in battle.

Their behavior was controlled by a core will known as the Overmind.

To this day, the Interstellar Alliance had no means of affecting a Zerg unit's loyalty to the Zerg Overmind, unless its entire body was replaced with machinery.

But if the broodmother could not be controlled and one could not obtain the Zerg's terrifying potential for warfare, then possessing a few mechanical bugs was meaningless.

Li Yuan sighed helplessly. "In short, the Sin City Council wants to use this to lure the Zerg into attacking Sin Capital. This information was obtained unintentionally by Lady Xi Guang, so its credibility is very high."

"Lure the Zerg into attacking Sin Capital? Why?" Jiang Xiao could not understand.

If the Sin City Council were merely the second- or third-most powerful faction in Sin Capital, that would make sense. But it was the biggest faction in Sin Capital itself. Was it planning to rebel against itself?

"We don't know. We can't understand it either. Perhaps they have some greater scheme."

A greater scheme?

The only major scheme on the Frontier Prison Star was escaping from prison, wasn't it?

Then what did luring the Zerg into attacking Sin Capital have to do with escaping?

Jiang Xiao quickly recalled the information about the Zerg he had seen aboard the Doran. Fortunately, he had been interested in this sort of material back then and had nearly finished reading it as entertainment.

Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed through Jiang Xiao's mind.

What was the situation with the Zerg in the Old Capital? Why would Star Harbor allow them to roam and reproduce? Don't tell me it was merely to torment the prisoners?

Jiang Xiao asked seriously.

Hearing this, Li Yuan answered without hesitation, "It's to collect Zerg combat data and use it to study the Zerg.

"The Zerg are connected through a clearly tiered swarm network. Its resistance to interference and transmission efficiency are extremely high. No matter how far apart they are, lower-level Zerg can receive information from higher-level Zerg.

"This may include the latest Zerg biological hatching data. If a research broodmother somewhere in the depths of the universe develops a new mass-produced Zerg soldier, the broodmother on Prison Star can quickly receive the technical information and hatch it.

"Star Harbor collects data on these latest ground-combat Zerg units through this method.

"Prisoners are both food for the experimental swarm and a source of stimulation for the Zerg. The chaotic emotions of large numbers of prisoners can keep the broodmother active at all times and prevent it from entering dormancy.

"That way, before the Zerg deploy new soldiers on the front lines, the Star Alliance Military can prepare countermeasures in advance. Those large prison stars whose names begin with A even have Tier 3 or Tier 4 broodmothers.

"But I don't think this method is very useful. The Zerg adapt to battlefield environments and produce specialized units far faster than the Star Alliance Military can prepare."

"None of this is a secret to the upper echelons of civilizations."

Jiang Xiao gradually formed a conjecture. "Since you said there are Tier 3 and Tier 4 broodmothers, then the broodmother on KL-21 Prison Star must have been restricted, right?"

"Of course. Without Advanced Civilization resources, the broodmother can't advance or reproduce on a large scale. In addition, the Star Alliance modified these broodmothers. They didn't prevent them from receiving information, but they did restrict Tier 2 broodmothers from actively transmitting information.

"Otherwise, the Prison Star could very well attract an attack from a Zerg Fleet..."

As he spoke, Li Yuan immediately realized what Jiang Xiao was thinking and said helplessly, "I know what you're thinking. The Sin City Council wants to lure a Zerg Fleet into attacking Star Harbor.

"We've made a similar guess, but there's a major problem. The moment a broodmother hatches, Star Harbor will detect the Biological Signal. It's impossible for them to let the broodmother grow to the point where it can transmit information."

Jiang Xiao, however, smiled. "Does Prison Star really have only three Espers?"

"How could it? I know of at least five..."

"Then how do you know the Sin City Council doesn't have an Esper who can solve that problem? If that Octopus Chairman's mental power has reached Tier 2 Peak, and he has the appropriate Source Energy Equipment, concealing the Biological Signals of a Tier 1 or Tier 2 broodmother wouldn't be difficult."

"Star Harbor knows Janus's Esper ability. There's no way it would let equipment related to that aspect in, right?" Li Yuan hesitated. In his eyes, Star Harbor's blockade was extremely tight.

Jiang Xiao thought of the Precision Industrial Box in his Item Slot and smiled without saying anything.

Jiang Xiao had no intention of explaining. He was pleasantly surprised inside. He had not expected to come into contact with intelligence related to escaping from prison less than a month after arriving on Prison Star.

Even if he did not intend to escape this way, the actions of the Sin City Council and the Black Mech Gang proved that Star Harbor's control over Prison Star was not particularly strict. Perhaps he could find a way to leave ahead of time?

When he had first arrived in Sin Capital, his plan had been to lie low until his psionic energy reached Tier 2 Peak or Tier 3, then find a way to cobble together a small spaceship and quietly escape using Origin Data's detection-shielding capabilities.

But that would take far too long. Just cobbling together a spaceship would take at least several years, which was an unbearably long time by his standards.

Now it seemed there had to be other ways...

"I understand now. Can I take this Bug Egg to study?" Jiang Xiao asked.

A strange idea had suddenly occurred to him.

"Lady Xi Guang's spoils of war. As long as she agrees, it's fine. In fact, if the camp hadn't needed resources from Sin Capital, we wouldn't care whether Sin Capital existed." Li Yuan spoke.

Jiang Xiao looked at Xi Guang.

"Yes."

Xi Guang agreed immediately. As long as it would not threaten the people she cared about, she did not mind what happened.

Hearing this, Jiang Xiao smiled as he held the Bug Egg. "Then you two catch up properly. I'll go study what else this thing can do.

"Oh, Chief Li Yuan, the Spark Gang's resource vault has a Tier 2 Source Energy melee weapon. I wonder if you could..."

"Of course. It'll be delivered before noon." Li Yuan agreed without hesitation.

Jiang Xiao left contentedly and quickly entered a room in the corner of the second floor.

Once inside, he quickly locked the door.

Jiang Xiao could not help showing an expectant look. "Can I study the Starfield Broodmother Egg?"

This unit is a high-level biological technology—basic production hub. Item strength: Tier 1. Research permitted. Estimated time required: 335 years

Switch research item?

"No!"

Sure enough, as long as the item's strength did not exceed Tier 2 Peak, the current mechanist class panel could affect it. But the time required was far too long. Since that was the case...

"How long would it take to fuse with the Starfield Broodmother Egg?"

Primary target selected: Broodmother Egg. Estimated time required: 30 days. Please select another secondary fusion target—its Technical Level must not be lower than that of the target.

A technical item whose Technical Level was not lower than the Broodmother Egg?

There was actually such a restriction. Jiang Xiao thought for a moment, then silently looked toward the Precision Industrial Box in his Item Slot.

The broodmothers hatched from Broodmother Eggs all began evolving from the most basic state.

Regardless of technology, a basic swarm's military strength was at most equivalent to that of a Primary Civilization. The Precision Industrial Box, however, was a product of an Intermediate Civilization's technology!

"Does the Precision Industrial Box meet the requirements?"