After Rena's favorability rating surpassed 60, her mindset underwent a dramatic change.
If we consider her previous behavior, whether it was her desire to eat or her closeness to Lynn...
It all stems from the Tyranids's instincts or some strange guidance.
Now, she's more like a dry sponge, frantically absorbing, imitating, and trying to understand everything in the human world.
Her language communication became increasingly fluent. From initially struggling with the awkward and stiff pronunciation of " Lynn," she was able to form complete sentences within just a few days.
She would even occasionally use words she had learned from Lynn's daily Dialogue.
An even more significant change was that she began to show "curiosity" about everything around her.
This sentiment is utterly heretical to the Tyranids, whose very nature is to devour everything.
But curiosity took root in Rena, driving her to keep asking Lynn questions.
At lunchtime, in the canteen of the temporary command center, Doudou was happily devouring ten cans of synthetic starch.
He easily crushed the metal can with his thick fingers, stuffed chunks of starch into his mouth as if they were free, and left white powder hanging from the corners of his mouth.
Despite the unpalatable taste, Doudou ate with unusual joy, occasionally letting out satisfied humming sounds.
In front of Lynn was a plate of exquisitely prepared synthetic meat steak and a small portion of nutritional paste, which he ate slowly and deliberately.
The miniature Ripper hidden inside Lynn's collar stirred slightly, Rena's cool voice rang softly in Lynn's ear, tinged with a hint of confusion:
" Lynn, Doudou eats much more than you, and you humans eat so little, aren't you hungry?"
Lynn swallowed the steak in her mouth and responded to her through telepathy, her tone gentle:
Our physiological structures are different.
" Ogryn is a stronger Abhumans with higher muscle density and energy consumption far exceeding that of ordinary humans. He must eat a lot to maintain his fighting strength."
"Furthermore, the human digestive system has limited efficiency, and overeating can actually increase its burden."
" The Tyranids's biomass conversion efficiency is dozens of times that of ours. When you absorb a portion of biomass, it can be converted into pure energy, which you can then use as part of your 'power'."
"For us, eating is primarily about maintaining the normal functioning of our physiological systems."
Lynn paused to think for a moment, then continued:
"For the Tyranids, it's more about the instinct of 'endless hunger' and the need to create a larger army."
This is a difference in 'purpose of eating' between races.
Rena was silent for a moment, seemingly processing this information, before responding softly after a while:
"I see, we had different 'purposes' for eating."
Lynn couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips into a smile, her fingertips lightly touching the little guy on her collar, without offering any further explanation.
Some things are better left for her to observe and experience gradually.
In the afternoon, Lynn led Rena to inspect the fortifications of the Forbidden Wall, while snowflakes continued to fall from the sky.
Snowflakes, as fine as goose feathers, fell from the gray sky, quickly accumulating a thin layer of white on Lynn's uniform.
Rena's voice rang out again, tinged with a hint of curiosity:
"What are these cold, white things coming from the sky?"
Lynn didn't answer her question immediately, but instead looked around warily, while Rena instinctively activated her Psychic Power vision.
Sure enough, two soldiers had overheard a faint "female voice" whispering coming from his collar.
Although the content was not clearly heard, it had already aroused suspicion.
Lynn immediately took out his communicator, citing the reason that "the two of them may have been exposed to the whispers of Chaos, and there is a risk of mental contamination."
They were transferred away from the core area and placed under "purification observation."
In reality, they had Genestealer within the military handle the matter secretly to ensure the secret remained undisclosed.
After confirming that the surrounding environment was absolutely safe, Lynn explained in a low voice:
"This is snow, the solid form of water."
" Brevis ' atmosphere contains a large amount of water vapor, which condenses into ice crystals when it encounters low temperatures, and these crystals accumulate to form snowflakes."
He reached out and caught a pure white snowflake, then continued:
"The planet's atmosphere is unstable, and winters are long and bitterly cold, with snow covering ice fields, making hunting and marching difficult."
On other planets, some environments have no snow, only endless haze.
Some are hot year-round, consisting only of deserts and lava fields. The universe is vast, and the environment of each world is different.
A small section of Rena's miniature Ripper peeked out from her collar, its compound eyes reflecting the luster of snowflakes as if it were observing intently.
"It's cold, but it looks good."
She gave a simple assessment, her tone carrying a hint of naiveté uncharacteristic of a Tyranids.
In the days that followed, Rena's "exploration" never stopped.
On a calm, snowy night, after finishing his official duties, Lynn took her to the observation platform atop the Forbidden Wall.
The sky overhead was unusually clear, with no snow falling, and the starlight gathered into a silver river.
It traveled countless light-years and through countless years to reach them.
Rena asked curiously, "What are those little bright dots?"
She had only known that the tiny points of light in the sky contained the biomass they needed, but she had never truly looked up at the starry sky.
Lynn looked up at the starry sky, her gaze distant.
"That's a star, like ' Hillis, ' which Brevis revolves around; a distant source of light."
"Countless stars and their planets make up galaxies, countless galaxies converge to form the Milky Way, and we live on the edge of the Milky Way."
He recalled a poem he had read in his past life and subconsciously murmured, "Drunk, unaware that the sky is reflected in the water, a boat full of sweet dreams presses down on the Milky Way."
Rena remained silent for a long time before asking in confusion, "I don't understand the meaning, but it sounds very special."
Although she didn't understand the meaning of the poem, she could feel the ethereal beauty between the words.
Lynn chuckled and explained:
"These are lines of poetry describing the vastness of the starry sky; humanity uses this method to express its feelings about nature and the universe."
The two remained silent, simply gazing at the starry sky and savoring the moment of tranquility.
On one occasion, the logistics department delivered a rare batch of fresh synthetic meat patties.
This is cultivated using special mushrooms, and its texture is close to that of real meat. Lynn specially saved a portion for himself.
Instead of hastily absorbing biomass as usual, Rena did so at Lynn's prompting.
Gently tear and nibble with the mouthparts of the miniature Ripper, savoring it little by little.
"The taste is bland, not as good as those canned goods from the Sons of Medusa."
She gave a straightforward evaluation, leaving Lynn somewhat amused and exasperated.
Indeed, for the Tyranids, the powerful Space Marine were far more appealing.
She would have Lynn pick a rare Ice Blue Flower from the Brevis Ice Plain, a small flower that blooms in the frigid cold and emits a faint, pine-like fragrance.
Rena gently touched the petals with the tentacles of the Ripper, inhaling the faint fragrance, and whispered:
"It smells different from the fungal mat; it doesn't have a fishy smell."
She would quietly listen to the Imperial Army played by the accompanying Servitor, their stirring melodies echoing throughout the command center.
Lynn thought she would find it noisy, but she said:
"Very powerful, but not like the Orks ' Waaagh."
She would also carefully touch Lynn's skin with mini Ripper when he was alone.
Human body heat is transmitted through the skin, bringing a warm touch, which is completely different from the coldness of the Tyranids.
Rena's movements were very light, with a hint of probing, as if she were touching some fragile treasure.
" Lynn's temperature is very comfortable," she said softly.