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It was impossible for Kiana not to be curious about a city from another world.

"But... how are we supposed to explore in such darkness?"

The white-haired girl looked around at the surroundings and frowned in distress.

"I can try and see if I can restart this city's lighting system."

Having slung her sword case back over her shoulder, the Abyssal Hunter spoke calmly.

"?"

Kiana abruptly turned her head.

Wait, how did you know how to work as an electrician and screw in bolts too?

Were people in other worlds all powerhouses, yet they still had to screw in bolts?

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Skadi lowered her head and saw the white-haired girl's somewhat incredulous gaze.

"Before I became an Abyssal Hunter, I was responsible for maintaining Ægir's urban lighting arrays."

She said it indifferently.

"..."

She really was an electrician girl who screwed in bolts!

For an instant, Kiana felt like she was useless.

Other than eating, she could do nothing.

"Lights? Are they things that glow and are very bright?"

The little child joined their conversation at that moment.

"Yes."

Skadi nodded.

Zerg still seemed to be in its infancy and understood nothing.

She thought.

"Then Zerg wants to see them!"

The Swarm Overlord looked forward to it.

"Lighting arrays are generally set up in this direction of the city..."

Following her memories, the Abyssal Hunter began leading the way.

The deeper they went into the city, the more traces of destruction they saw.

An extremely brutal war seemed to have taken place here.

Almost all the buildings had collapsed, leaving only broken walls and ruins.

There were barely any corpses to be seen.

Ægir corpses would be repurposed as food by the Seaborn, while Seaborn corpses—

Skadi glanced at the little child and roughly came to an understanding.

They had probably been eaten as well.

This was the first time she had seen such a terrifying predator capable of eating Seaborn raw.

Without exception, any creature that preyed upon Seaborn would be assimilated into the Swarm.

Yet Zerg would not.

"Has Zerg been here before?"

The tiny Swarm Overlord blinked.

This street seemed somewhat familiar.

"Zerg crawled out of a dark, dark place!"

Zerg described it like that.

"..."

Was it one of Ægir's research projects?

Upon hearing that, the Abyssal Hunter could not help thinking so.

After all, she herself was one of Ægir's research results.

The Abyssal Hunters' ability to transform into Ægir superhumans depended on Ægir's research into the Seaborn.

Then if that research had reached a certain level—

It would not have been impossible to create biological weapons specifically meant to counter the Seaborn.

"Zerg, you crawled out of a dark, dark place?"

Kiana was very curious.

"Yes, but Zerg already doesn't remember where it was."

The little child tilted his head.

The Drones had hatched from the insect eggs he had brought out with him.

Although he had not been born for long, his impression of his birthplace was not very deep either.

"But Zerg remembers that the place Zerg came out of collapsed!"

Zerg only remembered that after he crawled out of that dark, dark place, it collapsed.

Just like the ruins around them.

"It was probably one of Ægir's research facilities."

Skadi's voice was somewhat cold.

As a product of Ægir's research herself, she did not feel favorably toward it.

After all, the Ægir relied on the Abyssal Hunters while also fearing them.

Yet the way she looked at the little child softened somewhat.

Because she and Zerg were both products of some Ægir experiment, she could not help feeling a sense of shared misery.

"..."

Was that really the case?

Kiana instinctively felt that the truth was not as Skadi had said.

But she soon gave up thinking about it.

It was not important.

"Zerg senses kin ahead!"

As the group advanced, the tiny Swarm Overlord suddenly spoke.

"Gah!" (Egg!)

"Ooh!" (Hatch!)

"Kah!" (Recycle!)

The three Drones also made sounds that only Zerg could understand.

"Kin?"

The white-haired girl looked confused.

What exactly were Zerg's kin again?

She looked down at the three tiny purple creatures, then at adorable Zerg.

Well, Kiana could not figure out what Zerg's kin looked like either.

They should be cute children like Zerg, right?

Imagining several adorable Zergs gathered around her, the white-haired girl could not help revealing a silly grin.

This was simply heaven!

"..."

Sure enough, this place was the site of some Ægir research facility.

Zerg was a product of this facility.

The Abyssal Hunter frowned slightly.

After they rounded a corner, the sight that met the three of them was—

Cold-weapon slash marks covering the ground, along with the scattered corpses of grotesque creatures.

And at the center, surrounded by those creature corpses, was a purple egg that pulsed faintly.

Volume One: Broken-Tooth Zergling

"What kind of creature's egg is that?"

Kiana looked at the egg in the distance that was still pulsing faintly.

She was very curious.

"...Don't go over there yet."

Skadi stretched out a hand to stop the white-haired girl, who wanted to investigate.

"It could be some new variety of Seaborn."

She said.

From the Sea God's memories, one could glimpse just how many reproductive methods the Seaborn possessed.

Egg-laying, live birth, mitosis, parasitism...

The Seaborn had tried every reproductive method imaginable in order to determine the optimal one for the Swarm.

But—

Skadi had never seen a purple egg before.

And that egg's style... seemed somewhat strange.

It was just like the three tiny purple creatures by her feet.

But this egg was definitely Seaborn.

Because based on the distribution of those Seaborn corpses, it could be determined that the Seaborn had fought the Ægir in this city in order to protect this egg.

For the Seaborn, protecting their kin was an instinct carved into their genes.

The faintly pulsing egg bore a trace of Seaborn aura.

But that aura felt somewhat familiar...

From the corner of her eye, the Abyssal Hunter caught sight of a tiny figure darting out.

Her hand had been blocking Kiana's chest, but Zerg merely lowered his head slightly and passed beneath it.

"Zerg!"

Skadi's eyes widened.

Approaching it so recklessly would be dangerous!

Some kind of face-hugging Seaborn might leap out of the egg.

If caught off guard, even a biological weapon made specifically to counter the Seaborn could fall victim to it!

"Zerg's kin!"

At that moment, the tiny Swarm Overlord lifted the purple insect egg.