Unexpected rescue

{Poison Thorn}: An evolved variant of Purple Thorn, with a metal skeleton. Its wings use magical energy for propulsion, and it can spray highly corrosive venom.

To avoid the awkwardness of his first encounters with Asha and the Lila People, Zhang Fan had deliberately evolved flying {Poison Thorns} capable of fighting in space.

If {Rebecca} was the mothership, then the {Poison Thorns} were the small fighters aboard her.

The three giant robots fired hundreds of energy missiles at {Rebecca}, and thousands of {Poison Thorns} immediately returned fire.

Brilliant fireworks erupted throughout the surrounding space, wave after wave, so dreamlike that they left him a little dazed.

Zhang Fan could think of only one way to describe this deadly beauty: admire it from afar, but never get too close.

The deadliest thing about a {Poison Thorn} was that even blowing it to pieces would not neutralize its highly corrosive venom. Instead, the venom floated in space, forming a green, highly corrosive barrier in front of {Rebecca}.

Zhang Fan had spent over three hundred years on Mikal, and he had put considerable effort into learning how to fight in space.

Not only was {Rebecca} equipped with Asha's Sacred Barrier for defense, but she also incorporated the offensive power of Ice Blue Dragon artillery. Dozens of enormous ice spheres shot from the Ice Blue Dragon heads protruding from her back.

Against these three robots that had attacked without a word, the Ice Blue Dragon artillery proved more effective than Zhang Fan had expected.

Every spot struck by the icy blue artillery froze instantly. Even a grazing shot left ice along the area it brushed.

Ice in space would not melt on its own. Not only did it damage the robots, but it also made their armor brittle and slowed them down.

Just as Zhang Fan was preparing to bid the three robots a final farewell, several missiles skimmed past {Rebecca} and headed straight for them.

Boom... boom... Three successive concussive blasts left Zhang Fan dizzy.

Then he suddenly received a regularly repeating signal. Looking through {Rebecca}, he saw three small fighters not far behind him, flashing green signal lights in a repeating pattern.

The three small fighters kept moving rapidly across the same plane, as though weaving some sort of symbol.

"Can't the whole universe just use the same language?"

Still, seeing that the three small fighters had finished off the giant robots ahead, he believed they probably meant no harm.

Zhang Fan recalled the {Poison Thorns} and ordered {Rebecca} to turn slowly toward the three fighters.

Guided by the three small fighters, {Rebecca} traveled roughly two hundred light-years...

A watery blue planet appeared before Zhang Fan.

"Earth?"

Zhang Fan cried out in surprise, but a closer look revealed that this was not Earth. Although the planet resembled Earth, with most of its surface covered in blue seas.

It was also several hundred times larger than Earth, and three moons orbited it.

{Rebecca} wanted to continue forward, but the three small fighters blocked her path.

The language barrier was the greatest obstacle to communication. The Insect Race had a convenient solution: devour them, and it could learn their language. But in this situation, he could hardly start an unnecessary battle just to communicate.

While Zhang Fan was considering how to communicate, an enormous warship, roughly the same size as {Rebecca}, slowly approached.

A small landing craft launched from it and slowly headed toward Zhang Fan.

From his experience with Asha, Zhang Fan knew they wanted to talk. He had {Rebecca} open her crocodilian jaws. This time, he decided to greet them himself. After all, he thought he looked at least somewhat human now.

The landing craft entered {Rebecca}'s enormous crocodilian mouth. A beautiful woman with a human torso and a snake's tail slithered toward Zhang Fan, her slender waist swaying.

The first image that sprang into Zhang Fan's mind was Nüwa. It seemed Earth's myths were not entirely made up. At the very least, alien races resembling their figures really existed, and one was standing right before him.

Zhang Fan extended his right hand toward the snake-bodied beauty, cut his finger, and dripped blood onto his left hand, gesturing for her to do the same.

Body language could just about qualify as a universal language. At least the snake-bodied beauty understood him. When Zhang Fan saw her imitate his actions, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He offered his blood to the snake-bodied beauty, indicating that they should exchange it.

After receiving her blood, Zhang Fan immediately began sucking it up greedily. This was not merely for the sake of communication. This alien was, at least, a humanoid life-form, and her genes were very important to him.

"Hello, I'm Zhang Fan from the Western Universe Alliance. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The snake-bodied beauty exclaimed, "You can actually speak Liruwara?"

"I just learned it. May I ask why a beautiful lady such as yourself guided me to this beautiful planet?"

The snake-bodied beauty smiled. "We are the Liruwara People, guardians of all beastlike beings. We observed you being attacked by the Nagang People, so we brought you to Myriad Demon Star. It's very safe here. You can rest easy."

"May I ask your name, beautiful lady?"

"Oh, my apologies. My name is Chiwila. I'm the commander of the Viper Fleet."

"Beautiful Lady Chiwila, have you heard of Earth, or do you recognize the location on this star chart?"

Zhang Fan transmitted Earth's star-chart information into Chiwila's mind through his consciousness. Chiwila stared at him in terror.

"This... you are..."

Seeing her frightened expression, Zhang Fan quickly reassured her. "This is merely our Insect Race's telepathy. If it made you uncomfortable, Miss Chiwila, please forgive me."

Chiwila hurriedly said, "Your mental power is actually this strong? Even King Pamir can't do that. Could you be the person of legend the priest spoke of?"

Hearing this, Zhang Fan wondered how he had suddenly become a person of legend. Still, since this planet was called Myriad Demon Star, its life-forms were presumably even more diverse.

And judging by the sophistication of their spacecraft, their technology was at least a thousand years ahead of Earth's. Perhaps some of them had visited Earth, giving rise to certain myths.

The more Zhang Fan thought about it, the more excited he became. He might be close to Earth, and he had even stumbled upon the source of its myths.

Seeing that Zhang Fan did not respond, Chiwila immediately bowed respectfully. "Friend Zhang Fan, would you accompany me to Myriad Demon Hall? I believe our King Pamir would be delighted to welcome you."

Zhang Fan naturally agreed. He ordered {Matriarch} Yata to remain in command aboard {Rebecca}, then followed Chiwila down to Myriad Demon Star with two enhanced {Night Apes} and several dozen primitive worms hidden on him.

Myriad Demon Star... the imperial capital... inside Myriad Demon Hall...

The moment Zhang Fan stepped into Myriad Demon Hall, the bizarre creatures inside seemed like a paradise of Gene Chains. Every creature he saw looked like an indispensable link in strengthening his Insect Race.

Led by Chiwila, Zhang Fan walked slowly into the great hall under the gazes of the many "monsters."

Zhang Fan began making calculations. If this planet had ties to Earth and its inhabitants could tell him where Earth was, he would ask for their help. If they had no connection to Earth, then he would have to conquer it. The biological diversity here was simply too rich. If he let this opportunity slip by, he might not encounter another like it for thousands of years.

Chiwila introduced him. "Seated upon the throne is our King Pamir!"

Without even looking up, Zhang Fan bowed. "My respects, Your Highness King Pamir."

In truth, he was calculating how long he would need to hatch an army. A smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

A delicate, youthful voice, yet one carrying an air of authority, suddenly came from the throne. "Overlord, why do you smile?"