As Fang Senyan reached out, his heart was filled with apprehension, his mood taut like a drawn string, utterly devoid of any lascivious thought, much like a condemned prisoner awaiting his sentence. But when his fingertips met that exquisitely resilient, warm, and soft texture, a massive stone finally dropped from his chest.

---If the Queen had any intention of retaliating, she would have turned hostile before contact was even made. Since she didn't… hmm? Fang Senyan suddenly grew suspicious again. What if the female insectoids of the Zerg race possessed stronger desires than a mother spider, a female praying mantis, or a mother scorpion, and she intended to devour him after a second round?

After a bout of anxious uncertainty, Fang Senyan painfully and conflictedly realized that no matter how much he thought or tested the waters, his very life rested entirely on the Queen of Blades' whim. This was simply the immense gap in sheer power. It was like encountering a brute like Li Kui, who bows to Brother Song Gongming, when you are a genius like Guo Jia or Zhuge Liang—intellects over ninety-five who, while playing chess, have already calculated dozens of moves ahead. Against him, all your intricate schemes would be met with nothing but two massive axes swung wildly…

So, after much thought, Fang Senyan hardened his resolve. He stopped trying to fathom the Queen of Blades’ mind. He was naked now, his hand already on the supple expanse of her bare hips, embracing the curvy, sexy temptress in his arms. A base and shameless thought naturally arose: It’s your business if you turn on me later, but this old master is going to make sure you have a good time first!

Well, women inherently possess the advantage; otherwise, the phrase, "Honey, I want more," wouldn't be tacitly recognized as one of the ten phrases men dread hearing most. Coupled with the fact that the Queen of Blades was merely feigning sleep, Fang Senyan’s fumbling touch—first pinching, then kneading—quickly reignited the desire that had only just been stirred but not extinguished. Thus, the inevitable clash of thunder and lightning occurred once more… (One thousand, four hundred and sixty-six characters omitted here)

…When the barriers were stripped away, Fang Senyan lay gasping for breath on the Queen of Blades’ yielding body, still submerged in the afterglow, when his peripheral vision caught the Queen letting out a soft sigh. Then, her left hand shot up rapidly and gently pressed down on the back of Fang Senyan’s neck. Her sharp claws, definitely no less piercing than the Demon Sword Abyssal’s, instantly sprang out!!!

They dug deep into the muscles surrounding Fang Senyan’s spine!!

It was as if her slender fingers were delicately gripping his vertebrae; a slight twist would result in paraplegia at a high level!

“Bad move, this woman really intends to kill me!” The thought had barely flickered through Fang Senyan’s mind before the toxin secreted personally by the Queen of Blades flooded his nerves. Despite Fang Senyan’s inherent toughness, he instantly lapsed into unconsciousness!

Fang Senyan was found by Ronnie.

Hmm, rumor has it he was discovered still sleeping soundly in his birthday suit. Of course, Mister Fang would absolutely never admit to such an embarrassing incident.

Once Fang Senyan was located, despite the strenuous insistence of Pantan—a crucial figure—even the combined advanced medical expertise of the Terrans and the Protoss was rendered useless.

Ultimately, it was a High Templar of Light who resolved the issue, despite the fact that this fellow, though seven or eight hundred years old, had absolutely no connection to medicine…

He was known as someone who could see the future, called a Prophet by his people, or perhaps a charlatan wouldn't be wrong either.

He predicted Fang Senyan would wake up in six hours… And after exchanging bewildered glances, Fang Senyan was subjected to more tests with various advanced instruments, only to actually awaken precisely six hours later.

So, it was hard to say whether the treatment had worked, or if the Protoss old mystic’s prophecy was just too accurate…

When Fang Senyan awoke, he stared blankly for a long moment. After hearing the whole story, he naturally understood that what the Queen of Blades had injected him with definitely wasn't poison, but some kind of powerful anesthetic. And with his intellect, after thinking it over repeatedly, things started to feel increasingly wrong. Finally, he slapped his thigh—the Queen of Blades' tactic of feigning sleep to let him escape, and when that failed, simply knocking him out and dumping him in the wilderness, meant she was treating him like a piece of stubborn toffee that wouldn't peel off!

An indescribable sense of humiliation instantly washed over Fang Senyan. He felt utterly stifled, as if a million feral horses were galloping and trampling him. If the Queen of Blades hadn't been absent, Fang Senyan would have grabbed that shu girl and loudly demanded an explanation: Was I really that undesirable? This pain of being rejected to the point of abandonment was an unprecedented experience for Fang Senyan.

Even before entering the Nightmare Space, Fang Senyan was someone who navigated the path of romance boldly. His attitude toward women was respect, but not obsession; even for women he was moved by, he wouldn't provoke them unless he was certain of success.

This romantic outlook, coupled with Fang Senyan naturally being a charming man, meant he had never suffered significant setbacks. Furthermore, after entering the Nightmare Space, he was like a fish in water, gaining even greater power, which amplified his personal charisma. In matters of women, he was practically invincible, holding no interest in common triffids.

But now, Fang Senyan had been ‘used up’ by the Queen of Blades and treated like nearly indispensable, clingy toffee!

Because of this incident, Fang Senyan remained dejected for exactly forty-eight minutes, until he finally found something that cleverly diverted his attention.

That thing was: he had unknowingly advanced his rank again at some point.

To be precise, he had been promoted from 'Awakener' to 'Tempering One'.

The primary advancement for becoming a Tempering One was comprehending his optimal combat style, and his body had begun showing signs of evolving to complement this style, manifesting localized organ or limb mutations when fighting at full strength.

Specifically concerning the changes in Fang Senyan, he vaguely felt that the Solar Ladder seemed to have shrunk by a third, yet its related abilities had all seen slight enhancements. Secondly, his Awakening Skills had all been upgraded: Survival Awakening Skill: The duration of the Survival Mark extended from three seconds to four. Offensive Awakening Skill: The gaze of the Predation Eye now possessed a marking ability, causing the evasion rate of any target fixated upon by the Predation Eye to drop by 30.

Fang Senyan also gained the ability to mutate his right arm. The mutated giant arm could only last for sixty seconds, with a cooldown of sixty minutes, and might have adverse effects on his vitality. However, using this arm for frontal assaults would grant an additional 25 power weighting. Furthermore, when using abilities with the mutated giant arm, the consumption was reduced by 50, and the power increased by 10~30, and he could even release special abilities unique to the mutated giant arm.

Even stranger to Fang Senyan was that when he tested the power of his right hand, he discovered it not only possessed some of the Solar Ladder tentacle’s abilities but, astonishingly, he had also gained the acid-spitting ability of the Zerg Hydralisk!

This sudden discovery greatly surprised Fang Senyan. He looked inward to examine the Solar Ladder within him and found that it was now adorned with unique Zerg patterns and markings. Furthermore, traces of purplish-red textures, similar to those on the Queen of Blades, had even appeared on Fang Senyan’s own skin.

This situation sounded bizarre, but upon careful consideration, it was obvious the consequence of the Solar Ladder absorbing that grotesque essence previously. Moreover, Fang Senyan’s accidental intimate contact with the Queen of Blades had spurred the absorbed essence to integrate more rapidly with his body. Consequently, Fang Senyan now possessed a small portion of the aura and gene fragments of the Ancient Male Zerg within him.

This was also the fundamental reason why the Queen of Blades didn't kill him. The woman clearly understood the principle of rarity creating value. Barring accident, this guy Fang Senyan was likely the only living being connected to the Ancient Male Zerg lineage.

Although he currently seemed weak and of little use to the Queen of Blades, she couldn't be certain that absorbing the hereditary genes of the Ancient Male Zerg would guarantee her absolute safety. If any mutation occurred, the person who tied the bell must untie it; the responsibility might well fall upon Fang Senyan.

As for why the Queen of Blades didn't keep Fang Senyan by her side, there were two major factors. The first was the effect of Fang Senyan’s +2 Legend Rating. The Queen of Blades knew that Commodore Sailor was a famous figure among the Terrans. If he remained within the Human Alliance, given the current joint effort by Terrans and Protoss against the Zerg, the only enemies Fang Senyan might encounter would be Zerg forces. With the hidden Ancient Male Zerg hereditary genes in his body, plus the Queen of Blades' covert protection, he faced virtually no danger. Conversely, if he stayed near the Queen of Blades, once his identity was exposed, the