The Thousand-Eyed Race's Mother, the Central Administrative Planet— the Thousand-Pupil Sanctuary.
As the core of a mid-level Astral Realm civilization, this life-bearing planet was artificially shaped into the form of an eye, with a diameter of millions of kilometers, and its surface is covered with crystalline scales that serve as a protective barrier for the planet.
The biological characteristics of a race directly influence their way of thinking and architectural style. The architecture of the Thousand-Eyed Race has several prominent features. First, there is the persistent pursuit of a global perspective. Second, the ability to manipulate light affects building materials. Third, the decentralized structure caused by the distributed way of thinking results in the dispersed characteristics of the buildings.
In summary, the architectural style of the Thousand-Eyed Race can be described as a living optical wonder, encompassing both biological and optical characteristics.
Above the Thousand-Pupil Sanctuary, the most common building material is a biological tissue called living crystal clusters, which can autonomously secrete optical crystals and undergo self-growth and repair, similar to shape memory metals, but much more advanced.
The typical architecture of the Thousand-Eyed Race is based on living crystal clusters, with neural optical cables serving as Light God bundles for transmitting information—that is, the city's network—laid beneath the living crystal clusters. Fusion irises are used to adjust the light intensity within the buildings, and then these components are integrated using advanced optical calculators to enable the city to operate efficiently.
Strange Light Bearer Theseus, flew over the city. His initially gloomy mood eased considerably upon seeing the familiar prismatic, honeycomb-shaped civilian buildings below.
As he approached the core area of Thousand-Pupil Sanctuary, the number of civilian buildings began to decrease sharply until they disappeared completely, replaced by rows of crystal towers. These were the military facilities of the Thousand-Eyed Race, each towering tens of thousands of meters high, with dark red crystal spikes extending thousands of meters from their tops, continuously spewing plasma streams. These energy streams flowed down like waterfalls, transforming into high-temperature plasma layers that covered the city, much like the scene produced when solar prominences are concentrated and launched.
Stopping before the most majestic and towering crystal tower, and landing on a platform extending from the upper area, Strange Light Bearer Theseus, led by a fully armed guard, entered the tower. A few minutes later, in a hall filled with interwoven light, he met the Silver Moon Calamity Malakai, who stood silently by the window.
"An envoy from the Void Insect Clan recently visited the Thousand-Pupil Sanctuary."
After Strange Light Bearer Theseus his respects, Silvermoon Calamity Malakai spoke in a low voice.
"I relayed your words to them truthfully, but the Zerg envoy didn't seem to believe me, so he didn't leave."
"Are they waiting for me?" Strange Light Bearer Theseus, felt a sudden tightness in his chest. Faced with the ferocious and tyrannical insectoid race, the Thousand-Eyed Race had no power to resist. For a long time, the fear of the insectoid race had seeped into their very bones.
"Don't worry, as long as you're not hiding anything, everything will be fine. Although the Zerg are powerful, the Astral Realm is in turmoil right now, and they need allies and helpers. They actually have more concerns than before." After staring at Theseus the Strange Light Bearer for a moment, Silvermoon Calamity Malakai's gaze softened, and he spoke softly to comfort him.
"I believe you," Theseus the Strange Light Bearer quickly pledged his loyalty.
"Very well, then come with me now to meet the Zerg envoy."
Malakai nodded slightly, his dark red pupils releasing a spatial fluctuation that enveloped Theseus and carried him away from the place.
Inside another building, specially used by the Thousand-Eyed Race to receive distinguished guests, an envoy of the Void Insect Clan, an intelligent species from the Psionic Insect Clan, sat quietly in a crystal seat, waiting.
The Void Insect Clan possess billions of different unit types to deal with various situations, and through natural iteration, they randomly select many excellent gene fragments and include them in the Queen's database.
Among these billions of insectoids, the Psionic Insect Clan is undoubtedly the best. Their research in the spiritual realm ranks among the top even in the vast and boundless Astral Realm.
The Psionic Insect Clan waiting in his seat is named Baguta. He has reached the Upper God level in terms of life rank and is a guard of the Zerg Queen.
Baguta is a humanoid creature, eighteen meters tall, with four arms. Its body is covered with psionic crystal-like scales that are translucent purplish-black, and its interior resembles a flowing galaxy of ghostly light.
Within this dreamlike shell, there are nerve-like protrusions that flicker on and off with the fluctuations of Baguta's Divine Power. Once in a high-intensity combat state, they will also burst forth with dazzling arcs of psionic energy, which are exceptionally bright.
In addition, as Upper God, Baguta's psionic shell is covered in key areas by an exoskeleton that resembles a fossilized skeleton, granting it causal resistance and making it immune to many cunning and insidious attacks.
In terms of head structure, Baguta has three pairs of compound eyes on his face, arranged radially. The main eye is a dark gold vertical pupil that can look directly into the soul essence of intelligent beings, while the compound eyes can emit hypnotic spectra and cast various illusions.
These three pairs of pupils appear to be solid, but in reality they are all high-density condensations of psionic energy. Directly looking into them can easily cause Mental Pollution, and those with weak willpower may even fall into an Eternity nightmare.
In addition to its distinctive eyes, Baguta also has an array of crystal tentacles growing on its head, which can receive psionic energy fluctuations and detect the thought processes of other beings, similar to mind reading.
Compared to the ferocious mandibles of ordinary Zerg used to tear apart prey, the mouthparts of the Psionic Insect Clan have degenerated into four-lobed teeth, seemingly harmless, but in reality, these organs can be used to devour souls.
At a certain moment, a slight ripple appeared in the space, which ordinary True God could not detect at all, but Baguta moved his gaze first, staring at a certain position not far to his side.
Two figures then appeared: Silver Moon Calamity Malakai and The Strange Light Bearer Theseus.
Baguta's gaze immediately focused on Theseus, and purple star-like spiritual particles rose from his body, leaving afterimages as they swirled up and down.
Theseus shuddered, involuntarily tilting his head back to meet Baguta's gaze, his eyes becoming unfocused.
Just then, Malakai moved and stood in front of Theseus, his central pupil emitting rings of dark energy waves that blocked Baguta's power.
"Your Excellency, you have crossed the line!"
Malakai said with dissatisfaction.
Theseus, as if escaping a terrible escape, took several steps back in terror, his pupils trembling violently, as if he had just seen something horrible.
"Heh, you brought him here just so I could examine his memories? Don't worry, I won't say anything about this to anyone, and I guarantee it won't damage the reputation of your Thousand-Eyed Race." As Baguta spoke, he gently raised one arm, and a twisting, writhing psionic whip emerged from his palm, from which one could faintly hear the wails and screams of countless souls.
Seeing this, Theseus's fear intensified, but this time, Malakai did not stand in his way. Instead, after a moment's hesitation, he stepped aside.
"Hehe, that's more like it. Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. Your Thousand-Eyed Race's one-sided account lacks concrete evidence. Even if I report it to Her Majesty the Empress, she won't believe it."
As Baguta spoke, he slowly rose from his seat, took a step, and came to Theseus. His three pairs of vertical pupils stared at him simultaneously, and the psionic whip in his palm twisted even more violently.
"Let's finish this quickly, and also, try not to damage Theseus's potential," Malakai said coldly.
Upon hearing this, Theseus was utterly devastated and understood the decision of his people.
Faced with the pressure from the Void Insect Clan, even as the True God of his race, he had no choice but to cooperate with this Zerg envoy and fulfill all his demands.
Even Malakai, the strongest of the Thousand-Eyed Race, had to personally deliver him to prevent Theseus from escaping—how ironic!
But... there's nothing we can do. The Thousand-Eyed Race is weak, just like those small races that were arbitrarily wiped out during the civilization experiment. Weakness is the greatest original sin!
"Ready? Come in!" Baguta smiled slightly, and his psionic whip instantly dispersed into countless spiritual tendrils, mercilessly piercing into Theseus's skull and establishing a deep link with his soul.
"Ah!!!"
The excruciating pain of having his soul pierced by countless threads caused Theseus to scream in agony, his face contorted with bloodshot eyes and his body trembling violently.
Seeing this, Malakai's eyes flashed with pity, but it quickly turned cold. However, his gaze remained fixed on the screaming Theseus, as if he wanted to etch this scene into his soul so that he would never forget it until his death.
Baguta, who was searching Theseus's memories, keenly noticed Malakai's reaction, but he didn't care. Over the years, he had seen many similar looks, but none of them had ever posed a threat to the Void Insect Clan.
Ignoring Malakai's reaction, Baguta used his spiritual tendrils to deeply scan Theseus's memories and quickly obtained everything he wanted.
As each strand of spirit tendril was pulled from his skull, Theseus's screams grew even more intense. When the last strand of spirit tendril was pulled from his soul, he immediately collapsed to the ground, too weak to even lift his hand.
"What was the result?" Malakai asked.
Baguta raised his hand, and countless spiritual tendrils retracted like weary birds returning to their nests. He rested his chin on his other hand, stroking his cold, hard jawline, and said, "It seems there's no problem. It's largely consistent with what you said before. It was indeed the work of the Floating Light Civilization. I know the person who did it; his Daciu, a Upper God who follows the path of elemental magic, and he's quite powerful."
"Daciu..." Malakai memorized the name, then looked at Baguta, narrowing his eyes, and said, "Now that Your Excellency has obtained what you wanted, shouldn't you trust my Thousand-Eyed Race?"
"Well, that's true, but I still have some doubts. For example, how could a Lower God escape from a Upper God? And soul memories can also be deceiving. We Psionic Insect Clan have a talent called ' Personality Overwrite,' which can extract a target's memories and inject a corresponding thought template, while retaining everything else..."
"Does Your Excellency mean that Theseus may have had his memories rewritten by similar means?" Malakai's expression changed, and many thoughts arose in his mind.
But at that moment, Baguta suddenly shook his head. "I'm probably overthinking it. Although that's possible, memory alterations will leave traces. If the traces are so subtle that even I can't detect them, and even the causal lines haven't changed, then the one who did it is likely Main God- level being. However... what could the Thousand-Eyed Race have that would be worth Main God's attention?"
Malakai fell silent again upon hearing this. Although Baguta's words were unpleasant to hear, they were the truth.
Yes, the Thousand-Eyed Race is simply not worth the elaborate schemes and calculations of Main God- level being.
Even if that Main God was targeting the Void Insect Clan behind the Thousand-Eyed Race, there was no need for him to use the Thousand-Eyed Race as a springboard, let alone use a mere Lower God as a starting point.
Ultimately, the Thousand-Eyed Race is merely a vassal race of the Void Insect Clan, which can be abandoned at any time and poses no threat to the Zerg at all.
If the Main God were to devise a plan, how could it be so crude? Starting with a Lower God?
"Alright, now that the matter has been investigated, I will return to report to Her Majesty the Empress. My clan will personally handle the pressure from the Floating Light Civilization, so you don't need to worry anymore."
After saying this, Baguta casually tore open a spatial rift, stepped into it, and left the Thousand-Eyed Race's mother universe.
As Malakai gazed at the gradually closing spatial rift, he finally ceased suppressing the shame and rage surging within him. His terrifying aura overflowed like waves, causing the entire Thousand-Pupil Sanctuary his pressure.
Theseus, lying on the ground, sensed this scene and smiled coldly to himself, feeling only a profound sense of desolation.
What value does a leader have who only dares to display his power to his own people? If he were truly profound, why not maintain a calm and composed mindset from beginning to end?
Although there were countless reasons in his mind to defend Malakai, such as that he had no choice, or that the Thousand-Eyed Race, being the weaker party, should keep a low profile, the intense pain surging from his soul made Theseus unable to control himself.
Only when pain happens to you personally can you understand that heart-wrenching feeling, and resentment will grow uncontrollably and wildly.
In essence, whether it's Malakai or Theseus, it's just a matter of mindset; they... are used to wielding their swords against the weak.
Floating Light Civilization.
The Council of Elders.
"What? The Zerg are going to delay the delivery of the Holy Light Heart Core that they promised?"
"Why did they suddenly change their minds? The Zerg are going too far!"
"Could it be that all the agreements they made with us before were just a smokescreen? Their real aim was to seize Destruction Realm Abyss?"
"That can't be right. The Zerg wouldn't be that stupid, would they? Advanced civilizations joining forces to resist the oppression of super-civilizations is an inevitable trend. The Zerg Queen is an exceptionally intelligent being; she wouldn't be unable to see this."
Due to a recent announcement from the Zerg, the elders of the Floating Light Civilization were in an uproar, arguing and bickering, creating a chaotic scene resembling a bustling marketplace.
Seeing this, the leader of the Floating Light Civilization coughed twice, and the scene fell silent for a moment. The leader said, "The reason given by the Zerg is that we sent people to attack their subordinate race, the Thousand-Eyed Civilization, without authorization, and seized the Divine Path Configuration that originally belonged to the Zerg and an entire Main God's ruins. They want us to hand over these things before they will fulfill their promise and transfer the Holy Light Heart Core."
Upon hearing this, the elders frowned and exchanged bewildered glances.
One of the elders, with a thick beard, spoke up, "But what Daciu reported was that the Divine Path Configuration and the ruins of the Main God were seized by the Thousand-Eyed Race first. In the process, the Zerg also sent troops to cover for the Thousand-Eyed Race. Could it be that they are turning the tables on us? Deliberately trying to frame us?"
"The problem is, the Zerg's attitude is very firm, it doesn't seem fake," said the Floating Light leader thoughtfully.
At this point, some elders suddenly realized something, their eyes flashing, some even saying directly, "Could it be Daciu himself...?"
The leader of the Floating Light was taken aback, then his expression changed, and he said, "Summon Daciu here immediately!"