Stowaways

The instant Agatha's thorn struck the elf, the Overmind's psionic energy arrived almost simultaneously, lashing the elf from afar.

The elf's will was, unsurprisingly, tough. He only lost focus for an instant, but in that instant, the worker's massive pincers clamped down and split the wooden blade in two.

It seemed that as an external object, a weapon could not immediately grow stronger along with the soul as flesh and bone could. It needed time to be gradually nurtured.

The elf pulled back the half-broken wooden blade and, with a backhand slash, killed the worker before it could even reopen its pincers. The wound on his shoulder, deep enough that his expanding and contracting lung could nearly be seen, seemed unable to hinder his movements—despite the fact that Agatha's acid produced massive amounts of neurotoxin while corroding organic matter.

Another piece of bad news: besides his stamina bar, the elf's health bar was locked as well... Or rather, the elf was immune to abnormal conditions such as bleeding, paralysis, and poisoning. He could even ignore "fatal wounds."

At this moment, the elf paid no attention to the injury gradually spreading into his chest cavity. Instead, he gathered green light in his hand, seemingly intending to restore the wooden blade first.

The Dragon Lion, roaring as it pounced down from the air, stopped him.

The elf felt his spiritual senses issuing a fierce warning, but the sense of danger did not come solely from the Dragon Lion—once he became entangled with it, the three Venom Devourers around the hatchery would unleash their spore slurry, burying both of them along with the surrounding mutated combat organisms.

And yet, faced with such a perilous situation—

The elf instead closed his eyes.

The Overmind keenly sensed an invisible passage forming between the elf and the Heart Tree close at hand.

Crash—

The Heart Tree forest suddenly shuddered. The passage connecting the elf to the Heart Tree instantly radiated outward, linking to every living being in the vicinity.

"Soul Pact with All Spirits," the highest realm of cultivation in the path of nature. At that moment, the elf's consciousness was connected to nearly every one of the thousands of Zerg units around him.

When the elf opened his eyes again, the green energy spilling from his body had almost formed tangible flame-like vapor. The wound on his shoulder healed almost instantly.

He fiercely swung the obsidian dagger. An invisible blade extended from it and slashed across the Dragon Lion's body.

A massive wound over four meters long abruptly appeared on the Dragon Lion's body, blood gushing from it. With just one strike, the Dragon Lion's collarbone shattered, its lung ruptured, its lower jaw was nearly split in two, and one of its eyes was blown apart outright.

Yet an attack of such immense power seemed effortless for the elf. Using the same technique, he cut down dozens of mutated combat organisms in two or three strikes, then immediately prepared to break away from the battle.

At this moment, the Overmind was the most astonished one.

It was not the power the elf had unleashed that surprised him—combined, those few strikes were still weaker than the arrow he had fired at the Brood Lord.

It was because...

Within the hive mind, the Overmind's main consciousness, stretching across the sky, stared in shock at the green figure that had abruptly appeared among the countless swarms. Only one thought remained in his mind—

How the hell did this bastard get in?

Without either the alien virus or the swarm's psionic energy serving as a key, actively entering the hive mind was no easy feat—the last one to accomplish it had been Zeratul.

Of course, nature's power to link all living things was different from the psionic energy that constructed the hive mind.

Though the elf had inexplicably appeared within the hive mind, he was not fully "compatible" with it. He could not access information, sense other Zerg, or sense the Overmind, much less possess any "authority" within the hive mind.

However, the elf in reality was about to break through the encirclement. The most urgent task was to kick him out of the hive mind and force him out of this state of being "connected to all things."

This was not difficult. This was the hive mind; from a certain perspective, this was the Overmind's true body. The fleshly body walking the physical world was merely a vessel.

The Overmind easily mobilized an incomparably vast amount of psionic energy and crushed it toward the elf's projection within the hive mind.

The elf felt a malicious rejection and alienation simultaneously transmitted from all the "spirits" he was connected to. The next moment, his figure in the hive mind was smashed into fragments.

The closeness of the connection was relative. The elf could not display supernatural power greater than the Overmind's here, and the Overmind's attacks could not inflict much damage on him either.

In reality, the elf merely let out a muffled groan, and the green light around his body dimmed somewhat.

However, what happened next far exceeded the Overmind's expectations.

After his connection with "nature" was severed, the elf's handsome face—which had not changed much even after repeatedly falling into peril—became horribly twisted with terror. His entire body trembled as he helplessly stopped moving, allowing himself to be flung away after failing to control his own speed.

Only one thought remained in his heart: "Nature has abandoned me! Nature has abandoned me! Nature has abandoned me..."

As that intense thought repeated itself, the Overmind could clearly sense something supporting the elf's soul collapsing.

The rank of his supernatural power then began to fall.

Level 10, Level 9, Level 8... In the end, the elf's soul barely stabilized at Level 7.

His body seemed to have suffered severe trauma during the decline as well. Blood began pouring from his mouth and nose, while his body's biological activity dropped to its lowest point.

Countless mutated combat organisms had already surrounded him. A boar-like mutated combat organism with four tusks charged in and tossed him onto the ground, leaving him unable to rise again.

The heavily wounded Dragon Lion got back to its feet as well and lowered its head. Agatha aimed her thorn at the elf. The creep had originally formed from Agatha's wounded tissue, and its hemostatic effect was excellent on the Dragon Lion, whose body fluids were already linked with Agatha's.

Yet even surrounded by so many Zerg, the elf showed no intention of resisting.

It seemed that the fall of his realm had already shattered his will to fight.

The Overmind lashed him unconscious with psionic energy, then hesitated slightly as he looked at the elf.

Although the elf's supernatural power was now even weaker than the Dragon Lion's, he was different from the Dragon Lion.

The Dragon Lion was merely a beast. It only knew how to act according to instinct, while the elf possessed a pronounced self-will beyond the scope of instinct—this was evident from the fact that he had not initially harbored hostility toward the swarm.

This also meant that the difficulty of controlling them was worlds apart.

Furthermore, dragging a unit whose soul strength exceeded his own—or even one with potential greater than his own—into the hive mind carried risks.

The Overmind did not have a second Agatha to transplant onto the back of the elf's head—nor would it help if he did. A Queen's body was far larger than an elf's.

After several breaths, the Overmind finally made up his mind.

A worker drifted over from among the mutated combat organisms, its huge pincers braced against either side of the elf's neck.

Crack—