Soul

Two days later.

Beside the Monster Tree, a new organic structure stood next to the Venom Devourer.

It had been induced and built by the Overmind himself. Though it was only as large as a two-story building, it possessed a heavy chitinous shell and tough musculature nearly on the level of a Hatchery, making it exceptionally cumbersome—its footprint covered three hundred square meters, while its interior held only thirty. The rest was wall.

Inside, every limb of the Dragon Lion had been embedded within the structure and bound fast.

Its back had been cut open, exposing its spine. Its chest cavity had also been opened, leaving its throbbing heart plainly visible.

Several enormous tendrils connected to different parts of its body, keeping its nervous system in a low-activity state while continuously delivering targeted Zerg Virus.

Yet even now, its body showed no significant signs of Zergification.

It was difficult to imagine that merely rising one level had increased its resistance to the Zerg Virus to the point of near immunity.

"Is the infection progressing poorly?" the Overmind asked.

"Yes. A strange power is empowering its primitive, rudimentary immune cells, leaving the Zerg Virus utterly helpless," said Agatha, who had been moved in front of the Dragon Lion. "Even after I put most of its immune organs into dormancy and implanted several venom-secreting glands, I still couldn't completely suppress its immune system."

"A strange power... You think some kind of extraordinary power is what makes it so strong?"

"That is the only explanation." Agatha nodded. "It possesses highly refined essence, but there isn't much of it—at least not enough to support its current physique. Analysis of its tissue structure leads to the same conclusion. It shouldn't be this strong."

The Overmind nodded. The Dragon Lion's extraordinary power indeed seemed to strengthen its body. "What kind of nature do you think this power has?"

First, it definitely wasn't Psionic Energy. Level-eight Psionic Energy would have been enough for it to crush a Mutated Combat Form's brain from dozens of meters away. Nor was it that green energy, since it had displayed no abnormal regenerative ability.

"I can't be certain. Perhaps it is some form of enhancement to the body. Its nervous system is extraordinarily intricate—its nerve endings even connect to every single cell... I would like to analyze its brain."

The Overmind nodded. "That's why I came here."

Investigating the Dragon Lion's brain structure was dangerous. Simply reading its memories had triggered further draconization. The Overmind had therefore spent two days building this prison, ensuring that even if the Dragon Lion awoke, it could not escape. Even if it underwent draconization again, it could be killed swiftly.

Muscles within the Creep propped Agatha upright. She wrapped two hands around the Dragon Lion's head and pressed them against the back of its skull, while using her other two hands to touch the sides of its forehead.

The Overmind placed a hand on Agatha's back and "descended" into her body through the Hive Mind.

However, he did not take over Agatha's control. While the Overmind could learn how to use Psionic Energy through the Hive Mind, Agatha still surpassed him countless times over in terms of manipulating it.

It was only because she was missing part of her brain tissue that Agatha's psionic level was not high. Using the Overmind as a bridge to connect her closely to the Hive Mind could resolve that issue to some extent.

Agatha's control of Psionic Energy was so subtle it was like a silent spring rain. Vast amounts of Psionic Energy seeped into every nerve in the Dragon Lion's brain without provoking any reaction. It did not even twitch an eyelid.

The Overmind, whose senses had remained linked to Agatha's, turned grim. He sensed something deep within the Dragon Lion's body, entangled with its brain and bloodline.

Thanks to her greater experience, Agatha's perception was more detailed. "Its central nervous system is interacting with that unknown power... interacting extremely frequently. It seems to be part of its neural activity."

"You mean this extraordinary power is part of its thoughts?" The Overmind frowned.

If its consciousness depended on something beyond flesh and blood, then viral infection would be useless—just as the Swarm could not control the Root Vine Monster.

"No. That power is incomparably closely connected to its body. The two influence each other."

"Can Psionic Energy affect this extraordinary power?"

"It should be able to. It seems to possess an unbelievably delicate structure. As long as Psionic Energy is sent into its brain, it should be easy to make it collapse," Agatha judged.

The Overmind relaxed upon hearing that. If so, it still had value as something to control. All he needed was to add a few pieces of Zerg tissue inside its head, allowing Psionic Energy to be injected into its brain at any time.

But Agatha continued, "However, this power is highly bound to the organism's body and consciousness. Once it collapses, the organism may go insane or even suffer physical mutations."

The Overmind froze.

An extraordinary trait possessed by living things... existing deep within the brain... deeply connected to consciousness... causing mental derangement and even physical "demonization" when distorted...

Soul?

"Do you have a theory?"

"Only a guess. It needs more verification." The Overmind shook his head.

There was no such thing as a soul in the Koprulu Sector. Even if there was, it would only be a special form of Psionic Energy. Its nature was completely different from the extraordinary traits displayed by the Dragon Lion.

The Dragon Lion's soul was unsuitable for research, but if this truly was a soul, then ordinary beasts should possess one as well. The only difference would be strength. There would be no shortage of test subjects.

"Does merely knowing this help us infect it?"

"It does," Agatha said with certainty. "Because its body and mind are so deeply bound together, if we assimilate its mind first, its physical resistance will crumble and it will be rapidly infected by the Swarm."

"..." It was precisely because this bastard had level-eight Psionic Energy and couldn't be directly pulled into the Hive Mind that he had considered controlling it through infection.

"The Zerg have another method." Agatha leaned back slightly. "If it were still running free through the jungle, we would be helpless at our current stage. But now, it is at our mercy."

"What method?"

"We can connect Zerg nerves to its central nervous system and use our will to overwrite its thoughts." As Agatha spoke, she disconnected from the Dragon Lion's brain. "An external brain can also coordinate the venom-secreting organs inside its body, increasing the efficiency of infecting the Dragon Lion."

"You want to grow a Creep Tumor on its head?" It would not actually be a Creep Tumor, of course, but without a Spawning Pool or Hatchery yet, the only approach the Overmind could think of was modifying one based on a Creep Tumor.

"A Creep Tumor is far too inefficient. We have a better option." Agatha pointed a claw at herself. "Me."

"You?"

"After serving as the Creep's central node for some time, my nervous system has improved tremendously in transmitting commands and conveying information," Agatha said.

The Zerg's old specialty: an ability that utterly defied evolutionary theory, mutating at breakneck speed as though whatever was used advanced while whatever was unused deteriorated.

The Overmind fell into thought.

There was no need to consider safety. The Dragon Lion's heart had already been dug out. If anything went wrong, they could simply kill it.

And even if something went wrong during the process and Agatha died, her consciousness would be preserved in the Hive Mind. Once the Hatchery was complete, she could be revived. Unless the Dragon Lion suddenly awakened Void Psionics and erased both Agatha and her backup within the Hive Mind, she was effectively immortal.

Agatha continued, "With the Venom Devourer established, I no longer need to coordinate the Creep's expansion. My only remaining duty is to protect your safety. I need sufficiently powerful mobility."

In the end, after recalling the Dragon Lion's astonishing combat strength, the Overmind nodded. "What do I need to do?"

An operation of this level could not be performed using only the infection sacs carried by the Venom Devourer. It would also require the Overmind's ability to modify Zerg.

"Please wait. I need to remove part of its brain first..."