Chapter 58 – Evacuation from the Zerg Star 撤离虫星

The team continued to advance towards the core of the signal source. Soon, they arrived at a huge and gloomy underground space. There was a stench of decay and a damp, cold air filling the place. The walls were covered with a large amount of purple-black Zerg secretions, looking like a huge biological web. There was an unusual fluctuation in the air, and it seemed that a low-frequency humming sound was ringing in everyone's ears, making them feel uncomfortable.

In the center of the space, there was a huge pit. At the bottom of the pit, one could vaguely see a huge organism sleeping there – the queen of the Zerg. Her body was covered with thick carapaces, emitting a faint fluorescence. Each carapace had complex patterns. Dark red blood vessels twisted on her body like veins, giving off an eerie light.

"This is the queen of the Zerg..." Lin Yuan whispered, feeling a sense of oppression. It was a primitive fear from the very level of life.

"She's waking up." The woman in silver-white battle armor said in a low voice, her tone filled with anxiety. "Her blood is becoming active, and powerful energy fluctuations are surging. This desire... she needs blood, needs sacrifices to fully recover."

Li Xingchen stepped forward, looked around and frowned. "We need to hurry and use the freezing weapon on her. Otherwise, we won't make it out alive."

Just then, a rush of rapid footsteps came from the depths of the passage. The support team sent by Mission Two finally arrived, and they brought the freezing weapon, which could freeze the Zerg's high-temperature blood circulation system for a short time and restrict their movements.

"We finally made it." The leader of the support team said and handed the team a weapon that was shining with blue light. "This is a specially made freezing launcher. It can directly target the core part of the queen of the Zerg and interfere with her awakening process."

Lin Yuan took the weapon and looked at it closely. "This weapon's cool. Sis, watch out!"

The team began to act separately, setting up freezing devices around the pit to ensure that once the queen of the Zerg tried to break free, they could immediately activate the freezing. Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly, an accident occurred. The queen of the Zerg suddenly opened her eyes!

Her pupils were dark red, brimming with the lust for life and primitive, frenzied emotions. When she woke up, the nearby Zerg seemed to be roused too. They rushed out from everywhere and fiercely attacked Lin Yuan's team.

"She's awake!" Someone exclaimed in a panic.

"Activate the freezing weapon!" Li Xingchen commanded loudly.

But at the moment when the freezing weapon was activated, a huge Zerg rushed over and crashed into Li Xingchen, who was operating the device.

"Xingchen!" Lin Yuan shouted, but it was too late to stop it.

Li Xingchen was knocked flying and fell heavily to the ground. The freezing device failed due to the impact. The queen's revival went totally wild. Her roar was like thunder, shaking the whole space.

"We must restart the freezing device, or no one will survive!" The woman in silver-white battle armor shouted, but the Zerg's offensive was getting more and more fierce, and the situation was in chaos.

In the chaos, Lin Yuan felt a severe headache. His mental power seemed to be stimulated by something and became extremely active. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate and use his mental power to interfere with the activities of the queen of the Zerg.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, his hands trembling slightly. Small water droplets began to condense in the surrounding air. He froze these water droplets quickly. They formed a huge cold current, shooting straight at the Zerg queen. The freezing power entered her blood vessels and forced her to stop moving.

"It worked!" The woman in silver-white battle armor exclaimed in amazement.

But Lin Yuan felt as if something was about to explode in his mind. He gritted his teeth and used his last bit of strength to activate the freezing weapon, completely freezing the queen of the Zerg.

The freezing weapon was successfully activated, and the queen of the Zerg was completely frozen. But during the battle, in order to protect the team from the Zerg's attack, Li Xingchen was finally severely injured and fell to the ground. Lin Yuan rushed over to support her, his face full of anxiety.

Li Xingchen coughed up a mouthful of blood, her face pale, but still maintaining that calm and composed demeanor. She smiled faintly and said weakly, "Lin Yuan... listen... Astral Dew... in your dad's old, destroyed energy experiment... hidden there..."

Lin Yuan's pupils shrank. "My father's laboratory? But it had already... exploded before..."

Li Xingchen shook her head with difficulty, her voice even lower. "It's not a complete ruin... the Astral Dew... is sealed..."

Her voice was getting weaker and weaker, but her hand was gripping Lin Yuan's sleeve, as if using her last bit of strength to urge him. "Find it... purify it... only it... can..."

Before she could finish, Li Xingchen's hand fell. A faint smile remained on her lips, as if she'd long been ready to die for the mission.

"Xingchen!" Lin Yuan held her hand, his eyes dull, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He understood that this comrade-in-arms who had fought side by side with him during the mission had left forever.

Before leaving the Zerg Star, the woman in silver-white battle armor took out an item from the frozen body of the queen – a crystal emitting a strange energy. This crystal might be the energy core of the queen of the Zerg and also the key to this Zerg war.

The woman in silver-white battle armor said, "This is our biggest finding. Maybe it'll reveal more Zerg secrets."

Lin Yuan nodded, but his eyes were still fixed on Li Xingchen's body. He felt a deep sense of grief. Li Xingchen had exchanged her life for the safety of the team and left behind a crucial clue.

After suffering a few casualties, the team finally successfully evacuated from the Zerg Star. They took a spaceship back to the orbit and looked at that planet full of danger and mystery from a distance.

"In life, there are no obstacles that can't be overcome." Lin Wanqing softly comforted Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan clenched his fists and said in a low voice, "Yes, but some people, we will never forget."

He remembered Li Xingchen's last words and his eyes grew resolute. "The Astral Dew is in my dad's energy lab..."

As the spaceship moved away from the Zerg Star, the ruins that Li Xingchen mentioned emerged in Lin Yuan's mind. His father, Lin Tiance, had once been a high-ranking executive in the Federation's energy field and had also presided over several secret experiments. And that laboratory might have hidden important clues before the explosion.

He must rush to the ruins soon to find where the Astral Dew is.

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队伍继续向信号源的核心位置推进,很快,他们来到了一个巨大而阴森的地下空间.这里弥漫着腐烂的气息和湿冷的空气,墙壁上覆盖着大量紫黑色的虫族分泌物,宛如一张巨大的生物网.空气中带着某种异样的波动,似乎有低频的嗡鸣声震荡在耳边,让每个人都感到不适.

在空间的中央,有一个巨大的深坑,深坑底部,隐隐约约可以看到一具巨大的生物体沉睡在那里,虫族女王.她的身体覆盖着厚重的甲壳,散发着微微的荧光,每一片甲壳上都布满了复杂的纹路.深红色的血管如脉络般交织在她的体表,闪烁着令人不安的光芒.

"这就是虫族女王..." 林远低声说道,感到一阵压迫感.那是一种原始的,来自生命层面的恐惧.

"她正在苏醒." 银白战甲女子低声说道,语气中透着焦虑,"她的血液正在活化,强大的能量波动正在涌动.这种渴望...她需要血液,需要牺牲来完全复苏."

黎星辰走到前面,环顾四周,眉头紧锁:"我们必须加快速度,把冰冻武器用到她身上,否则我们都走不出去."

就在此时,一阵急促的脚步声从通道深处传来.任务二派来的支援队终于抵达,他们带来了冰冻武器,能够短时间内冻结虫族的高温血液循环系统,限制它们的行动.

"总算赶到了." 支援队的领头人说道,递给部队一把闪烁着蓝光的武器,"这是特制的冰冻发射器,可以直接针对虫族女王的核心部位,干扰她的苏醒过程."

林远接过武器,仔细端详了一下:"这把武器有点酷.老妹,接下来得小心点!"

队伍开始分散行动,在深坑的周围布置冰冻装置,以确保一旦虫族女王试图挣脱,他们能立即启动冻结.就在这一切似乎进行得顺利时,意外发生了,虫族女王突然睁开了眼睛!

她的眼瞳是深红色的,充满了对生命的渴望和原始的狂暴情绪.随着她的醒来,周围的虫族仿佛被唤醒一般,从各个角落涌了出来,向林远一行人发动猛烈的攻击.

"她醒了!" 有人惊叫了一声.

"启动冰冻武器!" 黎星辰大声命令.

但就在冰冻武器启动的瞬间,一只巨大的虫族冲了过来,撞向了正在操作装置的黎星辰.

"星辰!" 林远大喊,但已经来不及阻止.

黎星辰被撞飞,重重地摔在地上,冰冻装置因冲击而失效.女王的复苏彻底失控,她的咆哮声如同震撼整个空间的雷鸣.

"我们必须重新启动冰冻装置,否则谁也活不下去!" 银白战甲女子喊道,但虫族的攻势越来越猛烈,局势一片混乱.

林远在混乱中感到一阵剧烈的头痛,精神力似乎受到了某种刺激而变得异常活跃.他闭上眼睛,试图集中精神,用精神力干扰虫族女王的活动.

猛然间,他睁开双眼,双手微微颤抖,周围的空气开始凝聚出细小的水珠.这些水珠在他的操控下迅速冻结,形成一股巨大的寒流,直扑向虫族女王.冰冻的力量侵入了女王的血管系统,将她的动作强行停止.

"成功了!" 银白战甲女子惊叹道.

但林远却感到脑海中仿佛有东西要爆炸一般.他咬紧牙关,用尽最后的力气将冰冻武器启动,彻底冻结了虫族女王.

冰冻武器成功启动,虫族女王被完全冻结.但在战斗中,黎星辰为保护队伍免受虫族的袭击,最终不幸重伤倒地.林远冲过去扶住她,满脸焦急.

黎星辰咳出一口血,脸色苍白,但依然保持着那股冷静从容的气质.她微微一笑,用虚弱的声音说道:"林远... 你听我说... 星灵露的位置... 在你父亲之前... 被毁坏的能源实验里... 那里,隐藏着..."

林远瞳孔一缩:"我父亲的研究室?可是它之前已经... 爆炸了..."

黎星辰艰难地摇了摇头,声音更低:"那里不是完全的废墟... 星灵露... 被封存..."

她的声音越来越弱,手却抓着林远的衣袖,似乎在用尽最后的力气叮嘱他:"找到它... 净化... 只有它... 能..."

话音未落,黎星辰的手垂落下去.她的嘴角依然挂着那一丝微笑,仿佛早已做好了为任务付出生命的准备.

"星辰!" 林远握着她的手,目光呆滞,心中五味杂陈.他明白,这位在任务中与自己一同出生入死的战友,永远地离开了.

在离开虫星前,银白战甲女子从女王的冻结体中取出了一样物品,一枚散发着奇异能量的晶体.这枚晶体或许是虫族女王的能量核心,也是这场虫族战争的关键.

"这是我们这次的最大收获." 银白战甲女子说道,"或许它能告诉我们更多关于虫族的秘密."

林远点了点头,但他的目光依然停留在黎星辰的遗体上.他感到悲痛.黎星辰用她的生命换来了队伍的安全,还留下了至关重要的线索.

队伍在经历少许伤亡后,终于成功撤离了虫星.他们乘坐飞船回到轨道上,远远望着那颗满是危险与未知的星球.

"人生中,没有过不去的坎." 林晚晴轻声安慰着林远.

林远握紧了拳头,低声说道:"是啊,但有些人,我们永远也无法忘记."

他回忆起黎星辰的最后一句话,目光逐渐坚定:"星灵露在我父亲的能源实验室..."

随着飞船远离虫星,林远脑海中浮现出黎星辰提到的那片废墟.他的父亲林天策曾是联邦能源领域的高管,同时也主持过多个秘密实验,而那个研究室在爆炸前可能隐藏了重要的线索.

这段时间,他必须尽快前往那片废墟,找到星灵露的具体位置.