Chapter 1100: 601, Princess _2

Chapter 1100: Chapter 601, Princess _2

Gu Hang stared at the shard of stone: “This is what you’re giving me?”

“Yes.”

Moro didn’t adopt an air of superiority; he wasn’t in any state to do so now.

He respectfully raised both hands, adopting a posture of offering.

Invisible tendrils of spiritual energy extended from Gu Hang’s consciousness, gently curling around the black shard in Moro’s hands before pulling it to his front.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed unremarkable, just an oval-shaped piece of stone, precise and polished. At most, its smooth and glossy surface made it somewhat appealing.

But in truth, it was surely not that simple.

Bringing it closer to his face, Gu Hang carefully examined it, only then detecting a faint trace of spiritual energy response.

Seeing that Moro made no move to explain, Gu Hang decided to probe deeper into the shard with his spiritual energy.

Suddenly, his vision blurred, and the scene around him changed.

He seemed to be in some kind of illusion, where everything he saw rippled like waves across gelatin.

One scene after another, recorded within the shard, flashed before his eyes.

These incidents clearly happened at different times and places, yet their narratives were surprisingly interconnected.

The earlier images appeared to be within a Starport, where Interstellar Warriors in Iron Armor Battle Group insignias were exchanging goods with members of the Alfonso Sect.

The goods consisted of warehouse upon warehouse of Void Insect Species corpses.

The bug corpses floated in varying sizes of specimen tanks, representing all kinds.

Later scenes flashed by, showing what was in the tanks evolving—from corpses into living Void Insect Species specimens.

Following this were fragments showing Alfonso researchers dissecting and studying these corpses.

There were also scenes where they reported their findings to members of the Iron Armor Battle Group.

Seeing this, Gu Hang felt nothing out of the ordinary.

Over the long span of time, the Iron Armor Battle Group had been stationed within the Princess Star Domain, tasked with combating the Void Insect Species continually emerging from there. Capturing corpses or living specimens during these wars and sending them to allied Sect of Mechanics researchers for study—what was so unusual about that?

Using such images to convict the Iron Armor Battle Group was nonsense.

They could even argue that these studies were simply conducted to better understand their enemies, aiding in more effective combat against these aliens.

In truth, that might actually be the case.

Gu Hang himself engaged in such research, and the Alliance still kept live samples of Green Skins in their labs.

There was nothing particularly surprising about it.

Even when Gu Hang saw the living specimen of a Brain Bug Tyrant he recognized being transported over, he wasn’t startled.

Utilizing alien power was officially labeled taboo within the Empire, but in practice, who hadn’t done it?

If such matters warranted shock and served as definitive evidence of the Iron Armor Battle Group collaborating with the insects, even Gu Hang would find it unconvincing, let alone using it to persuade others.

This wasn’t what Gu Hang had hoped to see.

But just as he began to feel a tinge of disappointment, the final image unfolded.

It was a massive square-shaped specimen tank, around thirty meters on each side. In the purple semi-transparent preservation liquid within, a single insect floated, occupying nearly the entire tank.

If it were merely large-bodied and alive, it wouldn’t have startled Gu Hang.

Large Void Insect Species specimens were nothing new in preceding images. There were prized samples, including live examples like living cannons, swarm tyrants, and assassin insects—all transported intact enough to serve as experimental materials.

Alive insect specimens were rare, yet not unheard of.

The attention-grabbing feature of this particular insect instead lay in its form—it lacked the defining fangs, claws, and signature armor shell typical of its kind. Judging by its appearance, it seemed entirely unfit for combat.

On the contrary, it resembled a juvenile organism—a juvenile that required a thirty-meter cubic tank to contain.

Gu Hang didn’t comprehend its significance at first, but then realization dawned: it wasn’t simply about what sort of creature could have a juvenile stage so massive; the more pressing issue was whether Void Insect Species could even have juvenile forms.

Based on Gu Hang’s understanding of this mortal enemy of humankind, they were bioengineered weapons born directly from incubation pools. Regardless of their classification, they emerged fully grown and functional from the moment of birth. Typically, their roles were predetermined—some were designated for combat, others for consumption and transport to digestion pools. Often, upon completing their assigned tasks, they would themselves leap into digestion pools, being reduced to biological matter before being channeled through living pipelines back to incubation pools for rematerialization.

No reports had ever indicated that individual Void Insect Species organisms could reproduce. Their prolific reproduction relied not on individual capability but as a collective swarm, utilizing biological matter to form incubation eggs or physically construct bodies.

Under these circumstances, could Void Insect Species exist in juvenile stages?

Could it be that Gu Hang’s knowledge of them was insufficient, leading to a misunderstanding?

Gu Hang couldn’t help but doubt himself.

Utilizing his spiritual energy, he froze the frame of the image and attempted to zoom in on the peculiar insect for closer observation.

But in the next moment, with everything within the frame static, the countless eyes of the “juvenile insect” suddenly snapped open, all focusing intently on Gu Hang.

In an instant, an overwhelming sense of terror surged through him.

It wasn’t merely that Gu Hang was frightened.

His consciousness was abruptly withdrawn from the illusion.

Under the sudden outburst of uncontrolled spiritual energy, the black shard flew from his grip, crashing into the hall’s wall before rolling to a stop after several spins.

Meanwhile, Gu Hang sat in his chair, gasping for air.

Simple emotional shifts wouldn’t have triggered such violent physiological reactions.

There—it was… spiritual energy.

This spiritual energy caused a tremendous mental jolt in Gu Hang.

For a weaker Psychic, this level of shock would have been enough to completely obliterate their brain.

Some guards started toward Gu Hang but were stopped by his gesture.

He carefully relished the flavor of this spiritual energy that had surged within his mind just now.

He realized it was something he had personally experienced and confronted before.

This occurred during an encounter with the Alfonso Fleet—specifically with that Neuron Progeny, imprisoned aboard their War Ark and enslaved by the Sect of Mechanics.

The spiritual energy signature of the Neuron Progeny matched what he had just felt identically.

But this juvenile insect was unquestionably not a Neuron Progeny.

Gu Hang could sense that the two were… vastly different.

In fact, he had a faint intuition.

The spiritual energy he just experienced wasn’t stored within the shard, lying in wait for an ambush. Instead, it resembled a warning traveling an unfathomable distance through the shard as a medium.

It was as if, upon Gu Hang witnessing the creature—even if only through remnants of recorded past events—it, from countless worlds away, had simultaneously seen Gu Hang and “greeted” him warmly.

If this theory were correct, then it was truly terrifying.

What kind of insect could possess such fearsome spiritual energy?

Leaning back in his chair, Gu Hang remained silent for a long while before finally speaking: “Sage Moro, do you know what that creature at the end was?”

“That is the ‘Princess.'”

“Princess? Could you elaborate?”

“I’d love to explain more, but… I’m sorry, there’s much that I don’t know myself.”

“No problem. This matter is extraordinarily important. Tell me everything you know, including your speculations.”

“Understood.” Moro replied, “The ‘Princess’ was named by Humphrey Paolo. It was captured 180 years ago, regarded by the Iron Armor Battle Group as the ultimate key to permanently ending the Void Insect Species threat within the Princess Star Domain. Humphrey brought the ‘Princess’ to Alfonso, hoping we could assist in the research…”