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"But can Zerg come over afterward?"

The little child quickly came up with a solution that satisfied both sides.

He could go back first and give the Biomass to the Drone, then come back to eat!

"...Of course you can."

Raiden Mei did not try to persuade Zerg to change his mind.

The young lady of the Raiden Family was not a woman who failed to recognize the situation.

But—

Why was there suddenly a hint of superiority in Kiana Kaslana's eyes?

The young lady of ME Corp. noticed the sudden sense of superiority in the white-haired girl's gaze.

She frowned, sensing that things were not so simple.

"Zerg, you should go back first."

Kiana Kaslana patted the little child's head.

She knew he was not returning to his own home, but to that dark Undersea City.

Still, that was fine—

It was almost time for school to start.

If she did not want the expensive tuition she had paid to go down the drain, the white-haired girl needed to report to Chiba Academy now.

She also had to find a way to let Zerg attend school with her.

Maybe she could appeal to the school leadership with reason and emotion, convincing them to let her bring a child to class.

"Then I'll go back with Zerg first. He still needs someone to look after him."

Skadi smiled gently.

This woman is a formidable enemy! ×2

Kiana Kaslana and Raiden Mei had the same thought at once.

Did this woman not need to attend school or work?

The young lady of ME Corp. could not help wondering.

Damn it, did people from other worlds not have to work even when they were this old?

The white-haired girl was consumed by envy, jealousy, and resentment.

She wanted to stay with Zerg too!

Yet the exorbitant tuition had become a sunk cost Kiana Kaslana could not afford to abandon.

Under the pressure of money, she had no choice but to go to school.

"Beep beep beep beep beep!"

The alarm rang at that moment, reminding the two girls—

It was time to go to school.

Watching the two girls leave against their will, Skadi took Zerg's hand.

This was the Abyssal Hunter's victory!

Kiana Kaslana and Raiden Mei simply lacked conviction!

Only a woman like her, determined to remain by her companions' side, could have the last laugh!

Within the dim Undersea City.

A portal unfolded.

Zerg ran out with a Zergling perched on his head, followed closely by Skadi.

"Drone!"

Through the Psionic Network linking him to the Swarm, the tiny Swarm Overlord summoned a Drone.

Before long, a tiny purple creature ran out from the ruins of a building.

"Gah!" (Overlord! Biomass!)

The Drone waved its claws and wriggled in place.

"Biomass!"

Under the Abyssal Hunter's watchful gaze, the Swarm Overlord opened his mouth and then... pulled out an emerald-green crystal.

"?"

Skadi froze.

"Gah!" (Biomass! Mutate! Hatchery!)

The Drone raised the precious Biomass with its two tiny claws.

Then it swallowed it in one bite, its body swelling up.

"For the Swarm!"

Zerg grabbed the tiny Drone and slammed it into the ground.

The tiny purple creature did not shatter under the immense force. Instead, the instant it touched the ground, it expanded a hundredfold in a wildly unscientific fashion, turning into a massive purple egg that occupied a huge area.

"..."

Skadi opened her mouth, wanting to say something.

Ægir's technology far surpassed that of the landbound empires.

Iberia had become one of the continent's renowned powers merely by acquiring a fraction of that technology—

That was before the Great Silence.

But even Ægir's technical governors would likely be unable to comprehend this scene.

What happened to the conservation of energy and matter?

It had only eaten a tiny emerald-green crystal, yet it had expanded into such a huge egg?

The Abyssal Hunter's eyes were filled with shock.

Was this truly a biological weapon created by the Ægirians?

When had Ægir's technology advanced to the point of nearly shattering common sense???

Skadi was a little shaken.

Even an electrician girl had received higher education, after all, and knew about the conservation of energy and matter.

Could that emerald-green crystal Zerg had pulled out contain an enormous amount of energy?

And where had that tiny purple creature absorbed the void matter needed to become such a massive egg?

"Woo!" (Swarm!)

"Kah!" (Growth!)

At that moment, two other tiny Drones ran out from the ruins.

Seeing the enormous egg, both of them happily waved their claws.

With a Hatchery, the Swarm could develop.

That meant—

The entire city's ruins were resources that could be gathered!

Although the Hatchery broke down inorganic matter into usable resources more slowly than organic matter, it was still something that could be utilized.

"For the Swarm!"

Zerg raised both hands, looking very happy.

"Woo!" (Resources!)

"Kah!" (Gather!)

Under the Abyssal Hunter's watchful gaze, a tiny purple creature raised its little claws and lightly tapped a damaged metal statue.

"Boom!"

Skadi's expression grew somewhat numb.

Under the tiny creature's repeated tapping, the damaged metal statue collapsed and even turned into... neatly formed metal blocks.

How had it done that?

The Abyssal Hunter began to question everything she knew.

"Gaha!"

At that moment, the Zergling crouched atop the Overlord's head tilted its head slightly, then spat out... metal fragments larger than its own body.

They were fragments of the katana Skadi had crushed earlier.

The Swarm would not waste any resource that could be used.

"..."

The Abyssal Hunter's eyes were utterly dead.

Her worldview—had collapsed.

The tiny purple creatures could turn metal statues and building ruins into standardized resources simply by tapping them.

The dog-like creature had swallowed metal fragments much larger than its own body without changing at all.

And there was that massive egg, which had apparently absorbed matter and energy from nowhere to transform from a tiny purple creature into this.

Even Rhine Lab would drop to its knees at the sight of this, while the people of Kjerag would cry, "Yelaugh above."

Besides, this development method... why did it feel somewhat similar to the Seaborn?

Looking at the purple substance spreading beneath her feet, Skadi felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

"...Zerg, what is this?"

The Abyssal Hunter could not help asking.

"This is Creep. It can provide energy to the Swarm!"

Standing on the Creep, Zerg answered.

Acting on instinct, the tiny Swarm Overlord restrained his energy absorption rate—

The current Hatchery was not enough to sustain the Swarm Overlord's energy consumption.

If Zerg absorbed energy at full strength, the Hatchery would be drained dry.

"Hiss..."

Why did that sound somewhat like the Seaborn's [Seaborn Corrosion]?

Skadi fell into thought.

Ægirian technology had absolutely not reached this level—

This was not something the Ægirians could control.

She looked at little Zerg.

Rather—

Zerg and the purple creatures obeying his commands... were beings even more terrifying than the Seaborn.

They were practically superior forms of the Seaborn.

If they were allowed to develop... the ocean's ecosystem would be reshuffled.

Both the Ægirians and the Seaborn would be enveloped by their shadow.

Just as the Abyssal Hunter was receiving a little Swarm-induced shock—