The apex of the Fanged Pylon was the Flesh Summer Palace, a rotating space vaguely resembling an open-air penthouse. Fang Senyan stepped onto it with a sense of awe—an awe rooted purely in respect for wealth, a feeling that vanished almost instantly.

There was virtually nothing shielded or hidden here; not even dividers existed. What spread before Fang Senyan was the sight of a vast conference hall in its bare, just-delivered state. If wealth were present, it would surely be glaringly obvious.

"Damn it all, it seems the Queen of Blades isn't doing well financially and has a penchant for shopping," Fang Senyan’s disappointment was palpable. At this moment, the biggest potential reward seemed to be this Fanged Pylon itself: the Flesh Summer Palace. Destroying it would surely please Old Chiduo; it would boost his appraisal rating by several, perhaps a dozen, percentage points.

However, just as Fang Senyan was gloomily concluding his trip was for naught, a strange dissolving phenomenon manifested on his right hand. Immediately following this, the **—which had transformed into a miniature, silvery-white, mercury-like slime—unexpectedly detached from its affixation and slid onto the floor.

Faced with this uncontrollable event, Fang Senyan naturally grew anxious. He immediately reached out, trying to snatch the ** back; if this thing escaped, he would suffer a total loss.

But when Fang Senyan managed to grab the ** this time, it slipped right through his fingers, much like extremely viscous mercury, stubbornly refusing to return to his embrace.

The liquid metal lifeform then began to snake across the floor, elongating into a tube-like creature about two meters long, moving rapidly across the fleshy ground like a worm or an earthworm.

It is necessary here to briefly describe the environment of the Flesh Summer Palace. It was an empty, circular hall, covering roughly a thousand square meters, not unlike a standard assembly or banquet hall. Of course, it was utterly vacant, containing nothing save for a throne and a sleeping couch.

The material of the Flesh Summer Palace was composed of elastic flesh, with visibly pulsing vascular structures pumping copious amounts of **. However, touching the flesh revealed a layer of dried, crystalline resin coating the surface, preventing body fluids from seeping out. Walking upon it provided a slight springiness, much like solid wood flooring.

Visibility within the Flesh Summer Palace was vast and nearly unobstructed. The Queen’s throne was constructed from bone, fangs, and flesh. Behind it, a massive aorta could be clearly seen connecting to the entire Pylon.

When the Queen was seated, her hair could be seen piercing into small apertures at the back of the throne, and her dorsal neural core could align with nodes on the seat, allowing her to transmit various messages to the entire swarm.

Next to the throne was what could accurately be called a bed. Beside the bed was a table. These "furnishings" were also crafted from flesh, bone, and fangs. Leftover fruit still rested on the table.

For a creature of her stature, the optimal method of rest was entering the Zerg nutrient pools, rapidly exchanging nutrients and excreting waste through every pore. Consuming food via the mouth and absorbing it through digestive organs was, comparatively, a very primitive method. This suggested that vestiges of human habit still stubbornly clung to the Queen of Blades.

The **’s immediate destination was the Queen of Blades’ throne. It swiftly coiled and wrapped itself around the bone struts and supports forming the seat, then reshaped again, transforming into something akin to an ivy or climbing plant dense with tendrils. A mass of curling, filamentous suckers adhered to the bone and supports, and the air immediately began to sizzle. These incredibly hard materials were rapidly corroded and absorbed by the **—a clear indication that these structures contained a high and rare concentration of metallic components.

After thoroughly mangling the throne, the ** continued its frantic search, seemingly unsatisfied. Although it had reverted to its silvery-white worm form, its behavior was reminiscent of a Chihuahua frantically sniffing and digging everywhere with its rear end up.

Fang Senyan tried to grab it and take it away again, but remained helpless. The ** did not resist; it simply flowed out between his fingers once more. Fang Senyan could only let out a helpless sigh.

At that moment, Gilgisna rushed in, breathless:

“Brigadier! We just received a message. During our last radar sweep, we detected activity! The Queen of Blades seems to have realized we are attacking this location and is speeding toward us!”

Humans possessed a technology that allowed them to use the main base's energy reserves to conduct a ten-second, high-intensity scan of a specific area periodically. During this time, powerful radar waves could penetrate and detail everything within the zone, rendering even cloaking abilities involving light refraction or subterranean movement useless.

Hearing this news, Fang Senyan felt a chilling sensation wash over him, followed by profound frustration. He had assumed the Hive Mother here possessed a telepathic link with the Queen of Blades, meaning she would only sense an attack after the Hive was severely damaged, which is why he saved the Hive for last. Unexpectedly, the Queen of Blades had a powerful alarm system even within her private chambers!

He took a deep breath:

“How much time do we have?”

Gilgisna replied urgently:

“The Queen’s advance speed exceeds our imagination! She will arrive in eight minutes at most!”

“You and Pontan leave immediately!” Fang Senyan commanded decisively. “At our current speed, escape from the Queen’s pursuit is impossible. Only the Vulture Tanks offer any hope. Take half of the Vulture Tanks with you. Drive twenty kilometers, then split into two teams heading in different directions. After another twenty minutes, split again. That gives you a high chance of escape. I will keep the remaining Vulture Tanks. Everyone else cannot escape; stay behind to cover the retreat.”

Gilgisna exclaimed anxiously:

“But, sir!”

Fang Senyan waved her off. “That’s final.”

Fang Senyan had steeled his resolve: wait a maximum of three more minutes for the **—which was acting inexplicably crazed—and then leave, regardless of the situation, in five minutes.

Fortunately, just then, the ** seemed to have made a discovery. It rapidly slithered beneath the Queen’s bed, shifted its shape into a short, stout cylinder, and then began to slowly elongate.

It appeared to be attempting the work of a jack. However, its strength seemed limited, as it failed to overturn the Queen’s bone-and-fang bed after several pushes. Fang Senyan immediately rushed forward, grabbed the edge of the bed with both hands, and heaved!

A series of grating, stress-induced cracks echoed immediately. Fang Senyan, already tense and conflicted, gritted his teeth and exerted more force, lifting again. With a tremendous crash, the entire Flesh Summer Palace shuddered in agony. Fang Senyan’s raw strength erupted, creating a massive depression covering several hundred square meters in the floor. Terrifying fissures crisscrossed the area, some cracks reaching twenty to thirty centimeters wide.

Where the Queen’s bone-and-fang bed had been, a segment of bone matrix appeared amidst the shattered flesh. The ** immediately became much more active. It first transformed into a drill and began boring down fiercely, but to no avail. It then changed into a hammer, attempting to smash the plate… but a hammer is only powerful when wielded by a person. Finally, it reverted to its worm form and thrashed violently in place, like a small fish just pulled from the water, signaling its agitation and determination.

Fang Senyan was equally helpless. He knew Old Chiduo’s mission was surely forfeit. If the ** failed here, it would be a complete waste. Out of options, he walked to that spot and raised his fist high!

One punch, then a second!

Fang Senyan’s terrifying bombardment caused the entire Zerg base to issue a mournful cry! It felt as if the entire base was a single, gigantic connected organism, and the point Fang Senyan was striking was its fatal vulnerability.

Even so, after those two blows from Fang Senyan, the bone matrix beneath showed not a single crack!

At this point, Fang Senyan threw caution to the wind. Taking a deep breath, he charged up his ultimate strike for five seconds and unleashed it. Immediately, the Hive Mother, along with the surrounding organ-structures, let out a simultaneous, piercing wail of agony. Clear cracks, like shattered glass, appeared across the surface of that bone matrix!

Seeing this, the ** leaped nearly a meter into the air like a diving fish, aiming directly for the fractured bone plate. It liquefied upon impact, spreading across the cracked surface, and cleverly seeped into the fissure.

Fang Senyan followed up with several more punches, completely shattering the obstructive plate. Pushing the debris aside, he discovered a small recessed cavity beneath. The ** had reformed into a silvery-white sphere, about the size of a pomelo, inside which it had swallowed a supremely ethereal stone.

This stone was as translucent as crystal, yet looking closely revealed an illusionary, dreamlike quality. Gazing at it was like looking into the vast, mysterious galaxy in outer space—profound and immeasurable, as if the entire world was contained within this single rock.

The ** began incessantly eroding the stone, though the effect seemed minimal.

Then, Fang Senyan discovered something else: Old SNAKE’s highly specialized, old-fashioned weapon… the Spike Sniper Rifle… RS.