Top Secret Isolation and Control Center of the Tianshu Star.
At the deepest underground level, the fully sealed electromagnetic door received the correct command and slowly slid open from one side, while the overhead disinfection spray activated simultaneously.
Inside the multi-layered containment facility, "Qi Chengyan" lifted his eyes to see a man with graying hair and an exceptionally straight back step inside.
Between them, a distance of no more than twenty meters, there were five separate isolation and decontamination zones, all fully enclosed, strictly preventing any physical passage.
The young man, who had been sitting on the floor, pouted slightly as he stood up.
"Too cautious... Chief Commander Meng."
In the central control room, senior engineers, the lead mech pilot, and academicians and deans from the Academy of Sciences specializing in the chongzu (the insectoid alien race) were intently monitoring the data from each isolation layer. Spectral disinfection at various wavelengths was activated every half hour.
This particular insectoid was far more intelligent, capable, and psychically powerful than any they had encountered before!
To ensure safety, they had implemented the highest grade of anti-contamination isolation and protection measures.
No one wanted the Commander-in-Chief to take this risk. But after the entity claimed it could help remove the insectoid parasites from currently infested personnel, the Commander insisted on coming personally...
Meng Chongyun stopped about twenty meters away, his gaze fixed on the former First Military District Major. He remembered this young man.
"Qi Chengyan" covered his mouth with his right hand, his voice light and cheerful.
"Is this the moment I'm supposed to act shy?"
You're not an ordinary Zerg.
An ordinary insectoid, even a parasitic one, would not possess clear, human-like thought.
He had reviewed the recordings from the mechs and drones submitted by Jiang Ya.
This "thing" before him had been consciously imitating humans from the very beginning, and its learning speed was astonishing!
At first, speaking was a struggle, but later, it mastered operations as complex as piloting a mech in combat within minutes.
It took Federal Military Academy cadets at least six months of practice to achieve the same level—let alone the fact that it also possessed combat instincts!
It was as if it had simply copied and pasted memories from their soldiers. The problem was, from start to finish, it had physically contacted only two people—one being Qi Chengyan himself.
It had spent less than two minutes speaking with Walter before taking control of him. And it had done so while Walter was still inside the mech cockpit...
So far, none of the parasitized personnel in the Federation seemed capable of such a feat.
Hearing these words, the young man in the isolation center seemed to take them as a compliment. He smiled, placed his right hand behind his back, and performed a flawless gentleman's bow.
"Sharp as ever. The Alpha Golden Crown salutes you, Commander-in-Chief."
Everyone in the monitoring room felt their hearts suddenly sink.
"Alpha Golden Crown" — the supreme ruler of the Insectoid race.
"Alpha" was the codename given by humans who first encountered them a hundred years ago, meaning the first, the ruling insectoid race.
"Golden Crown" represented the highest echelon of this type, simply put—the ruler among rulers...
It was precisely because this type of insectoid species and a tide of stellar beasts emerged simultaneously that the human population had plummeted!
Later, thanks to the combined efforts of Federal mech pilots, mech technology underwent comprehensive upgrades; biologists created the "Half-Beasts," a race with inherent advantages; and since Alpha Golden Crowns were scarce, peace could barely be maintained.
Meng Chongyun was stunned for a moment at the title. So that was it.
"So it's you..."
His mechanical hand unconsciously clenched into a fist behind his back.
"The Alpha Golden Crown hasn't appeared for many years. What’s the point of your emergence now?"
"Why, we can't bear to give up this galaxy so perfect for survival, Commander-in-Chief,"
"Qi Chengyan" said with a tilt of his head, baring eight teeth in a grin.
"You external 'invaders' have driven us out for over a hundred years, haven't you?
Mm... You've occupied this star system long enough. How about we come to an agreement—peaceful coexistence?"
Meng Chongyun’s gaze fixed on the figure inside the isolation barrier, whose mouth was opening and closing as he spoke.
"Humans have never invaded you. It was you who constantly clung to us, refusing to stop until every human was turned into your nourishment."
"Qi Chengyan" glanced diagonally upward as if pondering, then let out a snort of laughter.
"Oh, dear me. It's all for resources, isn't it? Aren't you the same?"
Meng Chongyun didn’t waste words on that point. He cut straight to the chase.
You offered to help cure those parasitized by the Zerg just to see me. Now tell me your real purpose.
"Haven't I already said it? We want to sign an agreement—an agreement to coexist peacefully with humans."
A gleam of seduction flickered in the young man's eyes across from him.
"Allocate a few planets to us. We’ll stay put in the designated territory, cause no trouble, and won't easily disturb anyone. How does that sound?"
Meng Chongyun was silent for a long time. "Qi Chengyan" stepped forward two paces, pressing his entire body against the glass as the gold in his eyes intensified.
"I heard you humans once had 'nations' in your history. You can treat us as another nation!
We coexist peacefully, without interfering with each other.
You go on farming your land, developing your energy, building your mechs. We just need a place to thrive and multiply..."
The people in the control room were utterly confused.
Had the Alpha Golden Crown reached a dead end in some outer galaxy? It was coming back here to sue for peace?
And "water under the bridge"? Could its words be trusted?
"If you don't believe me, we'll draft a treaty! I hear that's a human tradition..."
"Qi Chengyan," growing increasingly enthusiastic about this idea, began to discuss details of the agreement on the spot, seeing that the man across from him didn't object.
"We won’t even need your so-called food resources..."
Just as he was in mid-sentence, Meng Chongyun finally spoke, his voice steady.
"Stop trying to use your psychic interference on me. That trick won’t work."
"What!?"
The commanders in the central control room shot to their feet in shock. Impossible!?
They had never slackened their psychic suppression. How could it still have the energy to interfere with the Commander-in-Chief?
More importantly, they had detected nothing!
Shi Zhixin had checked the monitoring data from every isolation layer, and there was almost no residual psychic energy emanating from the isolation center!
How had it bypassed the detection zones to harass the Commander?
"Qi Chengyan" finally stopped his torrent of words, his brow furrowing in a hint of confusion. This human seemed different from any he had encountered before... The invasive contamination had no effect?
Meng Chongyun’s bionic mechanical eye emitted a red glow as he stared directly into those golden-yellow eyes.
"Sounds like things aren't going well for you in the outer galaxy either. That’s a relief."
