Participation

Limited by their theoretical knowledge, many races in the Star Sea Alliance believe that they must make contact with the brain in order to perform any tampering.

But the Swarm doesn't need to do that. The real trick is to manipulate something beyond the Star Sea Alliance's comprehension. The Biological Armor only needs to transform the target's body into a secondary Node Unit and mark its location. Then Rowan can attack from beyond dimensions at any time, and the target creature has no way to defend against such an attack from beyond its comprehension.

Therefore, the Biological Armor had no need to defy the world and trespass into the forbidden zone of intelligent life. At this moment, the Fusion Tentacle had already followed the modified body's spine and arrived in front of this forbidden zone.

Although the bionic shell was different, its unusually cohesive arrangement and familiar Nano-robot told Rowan that behind it lay the modified body's brain—one of the few remaining points of contact with living organisms within the modified body.

Although the Nano-robot- formed skull doesn't block its movement, and the Fusion Tentacle won't touch the modified subject's brain, it's possible to circle around the skull.

Moreover, this can also help Rowan find more information and clues to confirm his previous speculations.

As Rowan had predicted, all the original biological nerves on the outside of the modified host's skull had been removed and replaced by Nano-robot.

These Nano-robot, which make up various nerve conduction systems, come in all shapes and sizes, including bionic armor. Moreover, their numbers are far too few compared to the Nano-robot that make up the spine and skull.

This made them inconspicuous among the Nano-robot trying to blend in. If Rowan hadn't already gained some experience in distinguishing different types of Nano-robot, it would have been very difficult to spot them. Even so, Rowan hadn't found them all. There were already hundreds of types of Nano-robot shells surrounding the Biological Armor and Fusion Tentacle. Finding even a handful of neural Nano-robot among them was already quite an achievement.

However, their quantity is no longer important. Rowan has confirmed his previous guess; his current concern is not about outsmarting thin air.

Apart from the brain, most of the other organs and all the connecting nerves have been replaced by Nano-robot. This level of modification is extremely rare, not only among the Foundation-Inheritance Faction, but even among fanatical Mechanical Believers.

A small number of people is considered heretical and makes them easy targets for suppression. Therefore, such modifications are not permitted under the laws of any race, including the Epoch Clan.

As the overseer, "Ying" ignored what was happening here, but from this alone, Rowan was certain that "Ying" was definitely involved.

Rowan was momentarily stunned. Was he about to directly confront "Ying"? It was like playing a game and leveling up, having just reached level 30, when suddenly he glimpsed the secret of the final level 60 BOSS, prompting the BOSS to personally intervene.

Although "Ying" is still quite far behind Rowan in terms of life level, it has the advantage of time, an advantage that Rowan cannot bridge in the short term.

The increasing strength of the Star Sea Alliance that the Swarm is currently facing is exactly what Rowan wanted to see. This is the standard process of leveling up by gradually increasing the monster's level. However, if the big boss were to enter the fray directly, the current situation would likely be changed.

Putting aside other matters, the Epoch Clan fleet, which has never participated in the nearly century-long war against insects, will likely arrive at the battlefield soon to carry out a massacre and silence witnesses.

Suddenly, Rowan came to his senses. Something was wrong. He had been hiding it very well, and although he had been a little reckless in a few places, he had managed to cover it up.

This is not a fantasy novel, and "Ying" doesn't possess any seventh sense. It has no idea that a pair of eyes have been watching this place all along.

If it didn't even realize its secret had been leaked, why would it commit murder to cover it up? It was just scaring itself.

And just now, while he was lost in thought, he made another discovery. After completing its task of circling the modified body's skull, the Fusion Tentacle withdrew from the host's head and returned along the spine.

In my haste to get to the brain, although I took some precautions along the way, there were still many places inside the host's body that I didn't take care of, and I missed a lot of scenery along the way.

At this point, the Fusion Tentacle return to these areas, thoroughly completing the fusion process. As more areas are illuminated, more information is revealed to Rowan.

This being was originally a member of the Pot Spirit Race, but is now a cyborg-modified human. The presence of many unique organs within her body is sufficient proof that she is female, or was once female.

This discovery reminded Rowan of Cecil, the missing elder of the Epoch Clan. Cecil had acquired the Biological Armor and brought it here, and Rowan had always assumed she had left.

But this view has changed now. What if she hadn't left?

This explains why Rowan, despite mobilizing his "own people's" network, couldn't find Cecil anywhere. Cecil had been hiding here the whole time, not moving around at all, so naturally, there was no trace of him.

If Cecil is indeed this cyborg, then Rowan's earlier doubts can be resolved.

Saide had no idea how long he had been playing in the mud in the virtual world, but Cecil guessed that Rowan hadn't been playing for very long, only a few decades.

Rowan even speculated that Cecil's current state was likely related to that video call with Humins. During that call, their conversation touched on the ancient Original Epoch Clan's laboratory, and some of the keywords may have caught the attention of "Ying".

I remember she and Humins jokingly said that when they talked about this kind of topic, she worried that the access control would suddenly be opened and a bunch of robots would rush in and kill her.

Unexpectedly, although no robot broke down the door during the call, Cecil's joke likely came true after the call ended.

Therefore, Rowan Wen originally wanted to use Cecil's words to guide public opinion and give the Zerg a plausible origin, but for some reason, he failed.

The Zerg have transformed from products of the original Epoch Clan Laboratory into local natives who have inherited advanced civilizations. The Original Epoch Clan's Biological Laboratory most likely exists, and it is probably located around the Origin Star System and Proxima Star System. Although the location is correct, no one knows more about what happened in the original Epoch Clan Laboratory than "Ying". If Rowan tries to confuse the public in front of the parties involved, the outcome is predictable.