Psionics

During the hunts that followed, Chloe rescinded her order for the Swarm to protect the knights.

She now regarded the Swarm as her most loyal subordinates, and she did not want them to suffer losses.

The change in orders left the knights injured to varying degrees. But Chloe no longer cared much about that, as long as they were not seriously injured or killed. Death Forest was a dangerous place to begin with; injuries were normal.

Ymir, who was also with the party, keenly noticed the change in the princess. He said nothing. The princess's personal power was already beyond what he could oppose.

What surprised him even more were these strange magical beasts, after observing them at closer range and fighting alongside them. He admitted that he had underestimated them from the very start. Their individual combat strength was already formidable, but they became even stronger when they formed a team.

The magical beasts coordinated like precision clockwork, without a second's deviation. In the battle at the nest, if they had not used a stratagem to catch the beasts off guard, and if the princess had not successfully forged a contract with the high-level magical beast, their entire force would certainly have been wiped out.

Were these the magical beasts mentioned in the prophecy? With creatures this terrifying, there was no need for enough to blot out the sky. Even ten or twenty thousand would be enough to sweep through the empire's south.

To keep the appearance of the magical beasts from diminishing his own value, Ymir realized that he had to work even harder to prove himself.

With the human knights' help, that day's hunt went even more smoothly than yesterday's. They brought back a third more prey. Vast numbers of magical beast corpses filled the nest, and the Digestive Cavity could not convert them into energy fast enough.

Zhang Han woke once around midnight. To his delight, he discovered that the plentiful food had greatly accelerated the Hatchery's incubation. It would finish by noon tomorrow.

The abundant energy would even be enough to reinforce the currently relatively weak Swarm once the Hatchery finished incubating.

Sensing that Zhang Han had awakened, Chloe quickly emerged from her tent. She had her knights camp outside the Hatchery, yet stayed inside it alone herself. She felt better and safer here.

"Overmind, you're awake." Chloe was delighted. "Look, I hunted lots of magical beasts today. That should count as helping you, right?"

Seeing Chloe like this, Zhang Han had mixed feelings. By now, he had realized that he must have been affected by some kind of power before going dormant.

He had actually chosen to believe this human's words, riddled with holes as they were, and had even forged some sort of mental contract with her.

Even more foolishly, he had ordered the Swarm to obey her commands. Although protecting his safety remained the Swarm's highest priority, handing his only forces over to an unfamiliar human to command was always an unsafe thing to do.

Fortunately, the outcome was good. Chloe truly was loyal. Thanks to the mental contract, Zhang Han could fully sense her thoughts. Her affinity and affection for the Swarm were beyond doubt.

And if she disobeyed, Zhang Han could simply use his formidable mental power to erase her free will.

How did an ordinary sapient being dare connect her mental power to the Overmind who controlled the Swarm? Truly, ignorance knew no fear.

"Yes, Chloe, you did well. You've been a great help. The Swarm will get through this dangerous period sooner and begin expanding." Zhang Han praised Chloe through their mental connection.

"Then tomorrow, I'll keep taking the Swarm and the knights out hunting. I'll do my best to help you hatch sooner." Chloe was clearly even happier after receiving his praise.

But she soon grew worried.

"Still, both the Swarm and the knights suffered injuries to varying degrees during the hunt. Tomorrow definitely won't be as efficient as today."

"Don't worry. Thanks to what you brought back today, the Hatchery will finish incubating tomorrow. Then new members will join the Swarm." Zhang Han was not concerned about Chloe's worries at all. The Swarm's powers of recovery and reproduction were extremely strong.

"The Hatchery? Don't you reproduce through males and females mating?" The Swarm's organizational structure clearly exceeded Chloe's understanding.

Zhang Han looked at this princess, who was exceptionally beautiful even by human standards, and felt an urge to play a prank.

"Didn't you say you were part of the Swarm too? How could you not even know this? Were you lying to me?" He sent her a message tinged with anger.

The question sent Chloe into a panic, and she hurriedly answered, "Of course not! Although I look human, I really am part of the Swarm. It's just been so long since I was in contact with you, Overmind, that I've forgotten a few things."

Zhang Han found Chloe's flustered reaction very amusing. Remembering that she was indeed quite useful, he stopped teasing her.

"Yes, it's certainly possible that you've forgotten because we've been apart too long. Spend more time with the Swarm. There are many things you'll have to learn from scratch."

Badly frightened, Chloe hastily agreed.

"Since I've only just awakened, there's a lot I don't know. For example, what was that destructive blue and green energy your subordinates released?" Zhang Han recalled the humans' strange displays during the battle. Without those sudden bursts of energy, they could never have gotten close to him through physical strength alone.

"Well, we humans call it Psionics. Every human, and even animals, can produce Psionics. We call people who can use Psionics mages and Astromancers. Those who can only use Psionics to attack, like the knights who slash out green light, are high-ranking knights. Beasts that can use Psionics are called magical beasts."

"We don't know where Psionics comes from, how it's produced, or what principles underlie it. But we know how to use it. It's an ability we're born with," Chloe explained carefully.

That truly cleared up Zhang Han's confusion. No wonder these creatures, whose technology appeared medieval at best, could communicate mentally. They were using Psionics to cheat.

Life-forms in this galaxy must be very different from those in other galaxies. Once the time is right, I'll have to study them carefully. Maybe I can make the Swarm even stronger.

A Swarm that can use psionic magic-that's pretty exciting to imagine. Could I develop hybrids?

Afterward, Zhang Han discussed many more things about Psionics with Chloe. He also learned of a prophetic organization called the Astrologers' Association, which gave him much to reflect on once again.

The Swarm's invasion seemed to have failed because the Stellaris Council had used something called the Shroud to predict the time and location of its arrival. They had also used Shroud weapons to destroy the Overmind's consciousness.

It seems these native life-forms who call themselves humans are quite valuable after all. Through them, I can gradually learn about and understand the Shroud, until one day I master it.

If even a medieval civilization can use Psionics, there's no reason the mighty interstellar Zerg can't.