It was clearly not enough for the Larva-Bug class to be established. Yang Ying summoned seventy-nine Overseers in the planet Yi Mingzhou and, together with Bal, made up eighty, placing each one into a Mother-Nest, nourishing them with the entire flesh and blood and nutrients of the Nest to accelerate their maturation.

Yang Ying had prepared distinct blueprints for each of these eighty prospective Brain-Bugs. Once they hatched, although all would belong to the Brain-Bug class—beings of the Fourth Tier—their external forms would vary, and each would possess unique special functions.

The genetic fragments required to realize these functions were sourced by Yang Ying from the Sal'Naga knowledge system. This ancient race, possessing the capability of a Creator, had researched countless life forms during their cosmic wandering, and the scale of their knowledge repository surpassed even that of the True Human Empire.

For this initial batch of eighty Brain-Bugs, Yang Ying decided to grant each one ten million hive insects as their initial contingent. With this distribution, eight hundred million of the one-billion-strong swarm would be delegated, leaving two hundred million under Yang Ying's direct command.

The delegation process had not yet begun because, evidently, these Brain-Bugs were still immature within their cocoons, unprepared to receive their forces.

However, within the next month or two, they would successively break free. Conferring their units then would align perfectly with the time to dispatch them to seize territory.

Yang Ying had his clone cultivate the seventy-nine Brain-Bugs on Planet Yiluos, while his main body, situated on the Floating Continent, after placing Bal into a cocoon, undertook another tour of the New Continent with Katerina.

The Sal'Naga Temple in the center of the New Continent still stood, but the sphere above the altar had vanished entirely after Yang Ying absorbed all its knowledge.

Yang Ying merely sighed, then dismissed the matter. The knowledge was already internalized and would not be forgotten; since the light sphere was gone, so be it.

"It's clear the races in the Perseus Arm are struggling now, and the races in the Orion Arm are eyeing them up. We and the Kustar have been involved in the Flyn civil conflict for nearly two years now, fighting dozens of battles, large and small, and neither side has achieved a decisive victory," in Manor City, Jiayouna was briefing Blade on the latest intelligence concerning the Flyn unrest. "Although it's still unclear who will win or lose, the Kustar have shown signs of planning a withdrawal recently. They likely intend to divert more strength toward the Perseus Arm."

"What about you Songstars?" Blade inquired. "Do you plan on taking a piece of the action in the Perseus Arm?"

"Only a fool wouldn't go!" Jiayouna stated seriously. "From the examples of the Glenval and Tan races ten millennia ago, it is evident that the Atlantis Empire deals with invaders by utterly exterminating them."

At this, she glanced subtly at Blade's expression. Seeing that this 'True Human' Fourth Tier entity showed no opposition, she continued, "Since their entire race was wiped out, and we weren't the ones who did it, and the executioners don't want their territory, that land becomes ownerless. If we don't claim it and let the Kustar seize the lion's share, wouldn't that be terrible?"

"It seems you and the Kustar have reached a consensus on some level," Blade mused. "Who would ever reach a consensus with those maniacs!" Jiayouna sounded displeased.

"Fine, fine, not a consensus, but it's true you both want to disengage from the Flyn Kingdom," Blade chuckled. "It looks like the Flyn civil war is nearing its end, right?"

Jiayouna nodded: "That is correct; the Kustar began withdrawing their forces yesterday." After a pause, she added, "If you ask me, the main reason the Kustar are pulling out so quickly, aside from redeploying their main force to pick up easy gains in the Perseus Arm, is also greatly influenced by the news of your promotion to the Fourth Tier spreading."

"That's an exaggeration," Blade laughed. "A newly promoted Tier Four poison has little battlefield impact. An Eighth Tier firing shot can injure a Fourth Tier, and a Ninth Tier shot can annihilate their projection, possibly even harming their core essence. In a fleet battle involving millions, the contribution of a single Fourth Tier is negligible."

Jiayouna shook her head: "But Uranium shots can't kill a Fourth Tier; no matter how badly injured, they can't be killed. Only a Fourth Tier can kill a Fourth Tier. Furthermore, hitting a Fourth Tier with a laser cannon is extremely difficult. Even a coordinated volley from ten thousand Eighth Tier drilling cannons might not land a hit."

"However, it is normal that a Fourth Tier cannot gain the upper hand in a frontal engagement against a massive formation; sheer numbers dictate the outcome. Regular armies are the foundation of war. If a Fourth Tier entity guards a planet without the support of regular forces, an enemy force of just a thousand battleships would be enough to annihilate every living thing on that planet. Only the Fourth Tier themselves would survive. Even if they exact revenge by killing countless enemies, what meaning would it have?"

"Yet, a Fourth Tier can easily assassinate enemy leadership, appearing and disappearing like a ghost, easily taking lives and utterly destroying the enemy's command structure."

"Karagounis is fond of using decapitation tactics. Many Kustar enemies have seen their entire command layer destroyed by Karagounis because their race lacked a comparable Fourth Tier entity, leading their armies to defeat against the Kustar forces."

"Hmm, fleets cannot stop a Fourth Tier, and a Fourth Tier cannot stop a fleet... That phrase sounds familiar." Blade acknowledged the truth in her words. War has always been soldier against soldier, general against general. Some say soldiers can block generals, but how many soldiers can one general stop? A Fourth Tier is indeed not meant for dealing with cannon fodder.

"Alright, Jiayouna, you must still have a lot on your plate. That will be all for today. Thank you for the intelligence," Blade said.

"Well, I do have an event to attend shortly, but it's nothing crucial. If I said I was speaking with a Fourth Tier entity, they would surely allow me to postpone it; no one would consider that an insufficient reason," Jiayouna said with a pleasant smile.

Blade glanced at her: "If others knew the Songstar Ambassador was slacking off work like this, it would be huge news." Jiayouna sighed, feigning regret: "You're right, work is more important. If anything significant happens in the Flyn Kingdom, I will notify you."

Blade nodded.

Jiayouna’s figure instantly dissolved into fine threads and vanished. It was merely a holographic projection; her true self remained at the Songstar Embassy.

After the projection disappeared, Blade reflected inwardly: "The Kustar plan to retreat? This isn't ideal. The Terran Mercenary Corps hasn't even mobilized yet, and they're in a hurry to leave..." He paused. "Never mind, I won't bring the fleet then. Jiayouna is right; the power of a Fourth Tier is indeed unmatched in decapitation strikes. I shall let my main body accompany me for a visit to meet Karagounis!"

If the Kustar and Songstars both went to the Perseus Arm to claim easy spoils, it would inevitably create more competitors for the Swarm's expansion plan. Dealing with the Kustar was manageable; if they clashed, the Swarm could simply attack and wipe them out. But if he collided with the Songstars, Yang Ying wouldn't be able to strike—he still owed the Songstars a favor.

However, if Karagounis were to fall soon, giving the Songstars a chance to end their millennium-long conflict with the Kustar in one swift move, perhaps they would abandon the idea of picking up easy gains next door. Moreover, if that happened, perhaps his Terran race could expand their territory into Kustar domain..."

Blade abruptly opened his High Spiritual Sense Eye, casting his gaze into the future. In that vision, he saw a battlecruiser fleet of the Minotaur class numbering two hundred thousand, accompanied by several million Songstar-style fleets, sailing majestically through the void.

Before them, millions of Kustar-style warships were in retreat. The battlefield spanned tens of thousands of kilometers, fighter jets like shuttles, beams like rain—a magnificent spectacle!

"It seems the future is on my side. Very well, let me escort you Kustar out then."

Blade swept his hand, and a wormhole opened beside him. He stepped through it. The other side of the wormhole was the Northern Star of the Flyn Kingdom—the former economic and political center of the rebellion, now the main base of the Kustar Expeditionary Fleet.

Based on the intelligence gathered from his conversation with Jiayouna, Karagounis was on this very planet, protected by all the high-ranking Kustar military officers in the main base.

"But who is here to protect you now?"

Another wormhole appeared beside Blade, and Yang Ying stepped out of it.

With two entities at the extreme limit of the Fourth Tier acting together, how could Karagounis possibly resist!

"Karagounis's location... hmm, it's not on this planet. Could the intelligence be flawed?"

Yang Ying opened his High Spiritual Sense Eye and scanned the planet. A Fourth Tier entity should shine as brightly as a sun in the High Spiritual Sense Eye, but he felt no such presence anywhere on this world.

There were only two possibilities: either Karagounis was masking his presence, but Yang Ying's mental power was far deeper than Karagounis's, making this unlikely.

The second possibility was that Karagounis was absent. Was it luck, or had he sensed impending doom and fled to avoid pursuit?

Yang Ying swept his High Spiritual Sense Eye across the surroundings. Within a range of thirty billion kilometers, he detected no trace of Karagounis.

Yang Ying pondered for a moment, deciding to inquire locally first. Since this was the main base housing the Kustar Expeditionary Fleet, if Karagounis had confided his whereabouts to anyone, they might find something here.

Yang Ying and Blade flickered and vanished.

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