Consider this: the Spike Sniper Rifle was an obscure, non-mainstream weapon, ranking two whole tiers below the currently active C-12. To use an analogy, the difference between the two was as stark as comparing a tractor to a Dongfeng Hercules heavy-duty truck.

Even after modifications by Old SNAKE, those enhancements only proved effective in his own hands. Fang Senyan estimated that if this weapon were dropped as loot, its absolute peak value would be nothing more than a single Dark Gold-tier weapon.

So, why would the all-knowing Queen Morrigan—a figure so well-versed that she hardly needed weapons—treasure this... Spike Sniper Rifle? Why hold it so dear as to keep it in her personal vault?

Even accounting for some peculiar collector's obsession, a Queen of her stature should surely be hoarding Legendary-grade artifacts or something of that magnitude. Furthermore, this was the only weapon in the entire repository?

Fang Senyan puzzled over this for a long time. It wasn't until much later, when he came across a detailed account of Queen Morrigan’s past, that he finally understood why this particular weapon was housed there.

It turned out that when Queen Morrigan was still human, she had been a Terran Ghost soldier, entering service in the same year as Old SNAKE. Due to circumstances involving her parents, she harbored a deep, innate hatred for her instructors and even humanity itself since childhood.

Subsequently, during her final mission, she completed her objective flawlessly, yet was subsequently abandoned as a disposable asset. And then... that formidable Zerg Queen was born.

A single sentence would now explain why this gun was so prized by the Zerg Queen.

Because when Queen Morrigan was a human Ghost, she had fallen in love with a man who served during the same period. That man’s weapon of choice was the obscure... Spike Sniper Rifle. He ultimately died covering her during a mission.

Thus, for the Queen of Blades, even after discarding her human identity, when Old SNAKE was captured by the Zerg and brought before her, the reappearance of this weapon triggered a long-dormant tremor in her usually unfathomable state of mind.

For this powerful Zerg leader, this old, antiquated weapon represented the only memory of happiness from the first half of her life; the sole memento that could still bring her a moment of sweetness; a profound emotion she could neither forget nor allow herself to forget.

Therefore, while this thirteen-year-old discontinued model would be worthless to most others, to the seemingly aloof Queen Morrigan, who still harbored a sliver of humanity deep within, it was priceless—a treasure to be guarded zealously in the most hidden recess.

At that moment, Fang Senyan was utterly unaware of these intimate details. The one figure echoing most loudly in his mind was a single number:

Three minutes and forty-seven seconds!!!

He had three minutes and forty-seven seconds until the formidable Queen of Blades arrived!

To satisfy [He/She/It], Fang Senyan had violated his own established principles, delaying himself by a full minute and thirteen seconds. Now, Fang Senyan had no assurance whatsoever of escaping the Queen of Blades’ grasp. This was a rare gamble for him, one where his very life was the stake.

Fang Senyan snatched [He/She/It] up. This time, the satisfied entity immediately calmed down, offering no resistance as Fang Senyan deposited it into his personal storage space. Immediately following this, Fang Senyan shot off in a decidedly ungraceful sprint, having already layered every conceivable speed-enhancing ability onto himself beforehand!!

He tensed the muscles in his thighs and calves, exerting maximum force!

The ground beneath his feet instantly exploded, and Fang Senyan shot forward, vanishing beneath the winding staircase.

But, five seconds later, Fang Senyan inexplicably doubled back!!!

This round trip had cost him a full ten seconds!

Upon returning, Fang Senyan grabbed hold of that obscure... Spike Sniper Rifle.

For Fang Senyan, since the item hadn't been acquired via a drop, it was unusable and unsellable—it was, strictly speaking, just an art object, one nobody wanted to buy.

Did Fang Senyan waste ten seconds just to retrieve this?

Then, he bolted off again, this time truly fleeing in a desperate, headlong rush. To save time, Fang Senyan disregarded the risk of injury and leaped from a height of nearly thirty meters, then limped toward the Vulture gunship left for him, scrambling aboard. As he engaged the engine, he shamelessly shouted back to the remaining Terran forces:

"Level this whole place! Go on, I’m counting on you guys!"

A powerful current of air began to blast from the hovercraft generators below. With sustained thrust, the new Vulture’s hover skirt inflated, lifting the vehicle forty centimeters off the ground.

Next, the two trumpet-like thrusters on its rear began to glow a bright blue, kicking up great plumes of sand and dust behind them. At this moment, there were still twenty-eight seconds remaining until the Queen of Blades’ theoretical arrival time.

Fang Senyan, in the pilot’s seat, stomped down the accelerator without a word. This crude action instantly elicited an angry roar from the engine, and the blue light ejected from the ion thrusters stretched three meters long. The resulting reactive force successfully hurled the Vulture’s speed from zero instantly past one hundred and thirty kilometers per hour, screeching away with a thunderous Hoo-long. If anyone other than a freak like Fang Senyan were in the seat, the driver would have surely fainted from lack of blood flow to the brain.

Fang Senyan’s foot never left the accelerator thereafter. This wasn't just because he was perpetually unsatisfied with the vehicle's speed, but primarily because the road conditions on this desolate Temple Planet were astonishingly good.

The iron-blue expanse stretched out before him in a perfect straight line, not a single large stone in sight! There was absolutely no risk of flipping over. Moreover, this new model Vulture was equipped with not only a Spider Mine deployment system but also lane departure and forward collision avoidance systems—it could tear across a desert wasteland at breakneck speed.

In less than twenty seconds, the Vulture's speedometer shattered. The engine shrieked in protest, the needle pegged at its maximum display of three hundred and fifty kilometers per hour. However, due to Fang Senyan’s maniacal acceleration, the actual speed was easily over four hundred kilometers per hour, exceeding the design limit.

Yet, since this Vulture had rolled off the Pantan factory floor, bearing the "Excellent" prefix, handling a twenty-percent overload beyond the design speed wasn't a major issue—the chassis merely began to creak ominously, and perhaps some rivets were loosening... Alright, the manual explicitly stated that such action would reduce the machinery's operational lifespan by at least half... But for Fang Senyan, the sole benefit of pushing it this hard was that, in just over thirty seconds, he had put an immense distance between himself and that terrifying Zerg base.

The Zerg base, where the enraged Queen of Blades could descend at any moment!!

Watching the outline of the Zerg base rapidly shrink toward the horizon, and after a few more seconds, even the foul Zerg creep—the Vespene Mucus—was no longer visible, Fang Senyan finally let out a breath. Before, a heavy stone seemed lodged upon his chest, but as he exhaled, that stone finally shifted. According to Fang Senyan's calculations, he would be absolutely safe in another ten seconds.

But, at this moment, Fang Senyan suddenly heard a muffled roar! It was the sound of a Siege Tank's heavy artillery! And within a Zerg base, especially one that had ceased resistance, Siege Tanks were typically kept undeployed to avoid splash damage to personnel.

Who was that shell aimed at?

A knot tightened in Fang Senyan's stomach. He grimly realized that the stone that had just moved was back in place, and now an even larger one had been stacked on top! Because a rapid succession of explosions echoed from the distance.

As everyone knew, no matter how many Zerg died, they never produced the dull boom-boom-boom of an explosion, nor did they emit firelight and thick, black smoke. Therefore, the only explanation was that the remaining Terran forces were under attack, despite having apparently secured complete control of the situation.

Thus, the only remaining conclusion was that the Queen of Blades had returned—bringing death, destruction, and likely severe injuries and a foul temper along with her.

And Fang Senyan knew, with absolute certainty, that even a severely injured Queen of Blades was utterly beyond his current capabilities to challenge. Fang Senyan excelled at fighting uphill battles, but that didn't mean he enjoyed smashing his head against a wall. While he often appeared to be taking risks and dancing on the edge of a blade, if conditions allowed, Fang Senyan would much rather only accept missions with a hundred-percent chance of success and attack only enemies he was certain he could handle...