A long staff coursing with purple energy suddenly appeared beside Zhang Fan. The Western Realm Great Emperor told him, "This is your reward. It can strengthen your mental power and control, and drive those little bugs of yours into an even greater frenzy! It also serves as proof that you represent the Western Universe."
"Thank you!"
"Hahaha, you adorable little thing. I'll give you three thousand years. I want a powerful army, one strong enough to invade the Northern Universe."
"No problem. Leave it to me."
"Don't make empty boasts. If you fail to meet my requirements, even becoming cosmic dust will be more than you can hope for."
Zhang Fan sat on the throne on Myriad Demon Star, with Yata and White Forehead standing on either side. Hu Baili stood on the right side of the hall with Chiwila and the Lilvara People.
On the left, Huobao, Zi Dian, and Nu Feng led a crowd of robots. Both groups glared at each other, ready to come to blows at any moment.
Zhang Fan tapped his royal staff against the floor and declared solemnly, "All of you, behave yourselves. As the Western Realm Great Emperor's representative, I have a few announcements to make!"
Huobao and the others immediately dropped to one knee. "We await your orders!"
Hu Baili and his companions merely stood there, looking at Zhang Fan, unsure whether to salute or...
Hu Baili finally lost his patience and demanded, "Overlord, wasn't your surrender... a little too hasty?"
Zhang Fan smiled faintly. "Not hasty at all. If we can't beat him, we can't beat him. The Western Realm Great Emperor's power is beyond imagination. Isn't this arrangement fine? We have three thousand years of peace for now."
"What kind of peace is that? A slave's peace?"
Ignoring Chiwila, Zhang Fan pointed at Wolf 800 and asked, "Why did you surrender back then?"
"Me? I had no choice, and it was part of the High Priest's plan."
"Isn't that the same thing? When it's time to lie low, lie low. The Western Realm Great Emperor doesn't have time to deal with us right now. If something hadn't been holding him back, we'd probably be cosmic dust already."
Hu Baili glanced at Huobao and the others, then back at Zhang Fan. "Overlord, saying that in front of them... aren't you afraid..."
"It's fine. He knows what I'm thinking. Do you think he doesn't want to wipe us out? He doesn't have time right now, and he's convinced that even with three thousand years of peace, we won't be able to develop enough power to rival him."
Zhang Fan continued, "For the Western Realm Great Emperor, this is the best possible outcome. If we obey, he gives us three thousand years to build him an army. If we don't, he has three thousand years to resolve whatever is holding him back."
Zhang Fan spread his hands helplessly and smiled. "In his eyes, we're nothing but a bunch of ants that disrupted his plans, ants he doesn't have time to deal with."
Zi Dian suddenly spoke up. "Commander-in-chief, you certainly don't mince words. But you do understand the Great Emperor quite well."
Zhang Fan sneered. "Unfortunately, he doesn't understand me."
Zi Dian looked at Zhang Fan in confusion, but Zhang Fan changed the subject. "I hereby announce that, starting today, Hu Baili will serve as my representative in the Western Universe. He will govern the entire Western Universe and command the Nagang People, the Lilvara People, and all the surrounding star regions."
Everyone in the hall froze. None of them had expected Zhang Fan to make such a decision.
Zhang Fan continued, "Yata will serve as deputy commander and assist Hu Baili with administration. I hope that under your joint leadership, the Western Universe will be able to build a powerful army."
Hu Baili immediately said, "Overlord, from the sound of it, you intend to leave?"
"Hahaha, the High Priest knows me best. I still have to go home."
"But you're just going to leave like this?"
In response to Hu Baili's question, Zhang Fan suddenly asked, "Why not? I've left everything here to you. What would I stay for?"
Zhang Fan immediately remembered the army he had promised the Western Realm Great Emperor. "Don't worry, High Priest. If you can't come up with a solution in three thousand years, there's nothing I can do either. Hahaha."
Judging by Zhang Fan's breezy manner, he seemed not to take his agreement with the Western Realm Great Emperor seriously at all.
Hu Baili stopped Zhang Fan. "Overlord, if you leave like this, even if you find Earth, do you think the Western Realm Great Emperor will spare you and Earth?"
Zhang Fan nodded. "That's all the more reason for me to leave. With our current strength, forget three thousand years-even thirty thousand years of evolution and technological development wouldn't let us stand against the Western Realm Great Emperor. If I don't search the universe for greater power, are we all supposed to sit here waiting to die?"
Zhang Fan walked out of the hall, then suddenly turned back to Hu Baili. "You should still have hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years left to live. Don't even think about handing the throne to that little girl, King Pamir, or Yata will replace him outright."
"But..." Hu Baili had actually intended to take his own life after the war ended, atoning before the world for his usurpation. He had never expected the war to end this way, however, or that Zhang Fan would dump an even greater problem onto his shoulders.
Zhang Fan ventured into space once again. This time, he brought sixty Matriarchs and trillions of insect eggs.
He needed power more than ever now. He had brought an enemy upon himself whom he could not possibly fight. Zhang Fan no longer intended to search for Earth, because even if he found it, he would have only three thousand years.
His most pressing task was to find other planets and begin gathering power. Zhang Fan no longer traveled blindly through space, knowing how inefficient that was. After all, in the universe, three thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.
He scattered trillions of insect eggs throughout space, leaving them to develop on their own. Rebecca, aboard whom he traveled, became the Insect Race's cosmic seed sower, releasing eggs wherever he went.
Roughly a hundred years after leaving Myriad Demon Star...
A violent tremor jolted Zhang Fan awake. Matriarch Noya reported, "Overlord, that tremor was caused by a planet exploding three hundred light-years away."
Suddenly, a diamond-shaped spacecraft flashed past Rebecca's eyes. Compared with the enormous Rebecca, the ship was like a fly passing before an elephant.
Rather than moving away from Rebecca, the ship landed directly on his back.
This piqued Zhang Fan's interest. He had never encountered a creature that dared approach Rebecca of its own accord.
Zhang Fan smiled at Noya. "Does this creature have bad eyesight?"
"Would you like me to dispose of it?"
"Let's take a look first. I'm quite curious. Send a few little bugs to see what it is."
Barely had Zhang Fan finished speaking when several diamond-shaped ships appeared directly ahead of Rebecca. They kept their distance, but showed no intention of leaving.
Before long, one of the diamond-shaped ships slowly approached Rebecca. Zhang Fan smiled faintly. "The universal language. Send a Matriarch to give it a try!"
The moment Rebecca opened his enormous crocodilian jaws, the diamond-shaped ships turned around and fled.
After they left, the ship on Rebecca's back slowly lifted off. It circled him once, then flew off in another direction.
"Catch it! It thinks it can use us and then run? Not that easily!"
Several Venom Bees instantly blocked the ship's path, and Rebecca's enormous feelers dragged it straight into his massive crocodilian mouth.
Once the ship came to a stop, Zhang Fan walked slowly up to it and examined it carefully. It was roughly two hundred meters long and about a hundred meters across at its widest point.
The hatch suddenly opened, and a creature cautiously stepped out. It stood about three meters tall, its body covered in long fur. It resembled an ape, but had a pair of horns on its head.
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