Chapter 53: The Quantum Interface and a New Identity

The sudden appearance of the interface sent a jolt through the massive insect’s core. Its first instinct was to sever this portion of its mental power, hoping to evade any potential pursuit.

However, the massive insect swiftly realized the futility of such a move. If the opponent could already control this segment of its thought space, it implied their mental prowess was at least equal, if not superior, to its own.

Such mastery over thought space transcended the capabilities of any known intelligent biological technology. Even if it were to sever this sliver of mental energy, the opponent would undoubtedly follow the remaining traces and track it down.

“I should have known better than to enter.”

While the massive insect grumbled internally, the large characters on the interface suddenly transformed. They rearranged themselves into something resembling a table, prompting the massive insect to scrutinize them.

To its astonishment, the script displayed was unlike any it had ever encountered. The massive insect had, after all, devoured countless intelligent beings, accumulating a vast repository of knowledge that included numerous language scholars. Its memory alone held hundreds of ancient and modern common languages.

Notably, the intelligence gleaned from the souls of the Imperial fleet was particularly extensive.

Yet, these characters belonged to none of the myriad languages it recognized. More accurately, they weren’t ‘words’ with distinct shapes and meanings; instead, they bore a striking resemblance to pheromones. This concept was familiar to the massive insect, as it sometimes relied on specific pheromones emitted from its body to convey messages to its offspring, in addition to their soul-bond.

However, this method was prone to interception by intelligent beings, even if they couldn’t decipher the meaning. The massive insect preferred to minimize such information leaks, hence its primary command method remained mental.

This new form of communication, however, seemed far more advanced than its own pheromones. It was akin to an expression directly on the soul, allowing for instant comprehension upon mental contact.

Though the massive insect did not fully grasp the underlying principles, this did not hinder its understanding. After much deliberation, it slowly extended a small mental tendril, touching the first row of the table.

‘Nickname:’

Despite the characters remaining unchanged, the massive insect instantly comprehended their meaning. This sparked a wave of suspicion within it. While the information it had absorbed confirmed the Empire’s immense power, a thorough search through all memories from the Imperial warships yielded no data regarding this specific area of research.

The massive insect theorized two possibilities: either this was a top-secret Imperial research project, unknown even to the fleet’s high-ranking officials, or it hadn’t been created by the Empire at all.

After all, according to the soul-memories it had acquired, most registrations involved official Imperial script. There would be no need to create such a complex registration interface, from the perspective of intelligent biological technology, solely for its benefit.

Nevertheless, this ‘game’ was, at least overtly, run by the Empire. Otherwise, it could not have achieved such terrifying widespread adoption or official Imperial recognition.

Having come this far, the massive insect decided to proceed and investigate. At worst, its location would be exposed. If that happened, it would simply lead its offspring on a destructive rampage, tearing through everything as they fled. The massive insect refused to believe any Imperial force could corner and pursue it across the vast, empty expanse of the Cosmic Desert.

With this conviction solidified, the massive insect directly injected its mental power, forming a series of peculiar characters.

“Phimel”

This was the first name the massive insect had ever chosen for itself. Since the game didn’t require real names, and it had none, it drew inspiration from the civilizations of intelligent beings, selecting an ancient language to find a suitable moniker.

In the language system it chose, the name roughly translated to ‘mother organism.’ However, that particular linguistic system was obscure and not widely known, having long fallen out of use. It now existed only in specialized, rare linguistic texts.

To ears or eyes from other language systems, it would simply appear as a string of meaningless characters for designation. While it might coincidentally sound like words in other scripts, the meaning would certainly be different.

As soon as the massive insect completed the first row of the table, the subsequent rows immediately populated with various characters, filling them completely.

The massive insect initially struggled to comprehend what was happening. However, as it read further, a chilling dread settled in its heart.

“Name: Phimel

Gender: Female/Mother

Species: Zerg/Unknown

Abilities: Fertility

Strength-?/Mental Power-?/Wisdom-?

Special Abilities: Devour

Energy Storage

Wormhole Channel Mastery/Quantum Transporter Mastery

Faction Alignment: None/Chaotic Evil”

Though incredibly concise, this list sent a profound chill through the massive insect’s core. Was this not enough? This information virtually encapsulated all of the massive insect’s current powers, albeit without detailed metrics.

For the massive insect, this was utterly devastating. It couldn’t fathom how merely entering a fabricated name allowed the other party to grasp its information so thoroughly.

Now, the massive insect was absolutely certain that this entity was not under the Empire’s control. Given the Empire’s technological prowess, it was impossible for them to create something of this caliber. Their “Abyss” radar’s anti-observation system already represented one of the Empire’s technological limits.

This implied that the so-called game might contain elements unknown even to other empires, or perhaps… the Empire’s development of this game was, in fact, being guided by this very entity?

The massive insect rapidly analyzed the available intelligence in its mind. Yet, no matter how it considered the facts, the entire situation became increasingly enigmatic. One thing, however, the massive insect could confirm: something deeper undoubtedly lay within the Quantum World.

Something, or someone, like the entity that had opened this backdoor for it.

The massive insect yearned to question the shadowy figure lurking behind the scenes, but the entity clearly offered no opportunity for communication. After filling out the list, the massive insect felt another wave of dizziness, and the black world before its eyes vanished.

When the massive insect “opened its eyes” once more, it found itself standing on solid ground within a body resembling a human’s. A cerulean sky stretched above, and a gentle breeze caressed the skin and hair of its new form. It could even smell the sweet fragrance of blossoms in the air and faintly hear the distant chirping of birds.