mother of all races

It is the "covenant".

Lin Xi thought.

When the "covenant" is activated, all the energy used for life on the ship will be cut off until the damn energy black hole reaches a stable period, and then the secondary energy will be resupplied——

But the life support device fixed on Lin Xi's bed was directly connected to the energy system of the living cabin.

Obviously, when he handed over the egg case of the star butterfly to Lin Xi for temporary storage, Shizuo Ando thought that he would take it back soon. He did not redesign the energy circuit for the life support system of the egg case so that To ensure that the machines that have a direct effect on their lives can still run smoothly under emergency conditions,

"Damn it, damn it!"

Lin Xi rushed over, and he restarted the life support device, but probably because of the different power of the secondary energy source, the damn machine was as silent, dim, and indifferent as a corpse.

Through the transparent petri dish, Lin Xi could clearly see that the egg case of Star Butterfly was in a rather bad state.The tentacles that once made him feel calm and interesting have completely turned an opaque gray-white, and they float in the culture fluid in an odd way, looking stiff and lifeless, looking almost like hard plastic sheets.

And the egg case itself was not much better, it became wrinkled and the color became very cloudy.

"Oh no……"

Lin Xi stared at the most well-developed "No. [-]" in the ootheca - it seemed that it was almost turning into a complete adult insect, but now it was frozen in the snot-like cloudy film .

The eyes that were originally shining like rubies also dimmed, turning into two small gray black spots.

And its wings...

God, this is the first time that Lin Xi saw the appearance of the wings of the star butterfly when it was young. It is thin and transparent, as delicate as the top silk scarf in the region, and some round spots are dotted on its wings.

For some reason, Lin Xi always felt that under normal conditions, those spots should be like top pearls with a beautiful and soft rainbow light.

But now, in the bloody, dead life-support apparatus, those spots were as terrifying as mildew.

Lin Xi felt an indescribable distress.

He always thought that he wouldn't put too much affection on a bug egg—or the one that didn't develop successfully.

He thought that he was just looking at this little guy casually every day, and then adding some nutrients to it step by step according to the prompts, that's all.

But when he saw with his own eyes that the egg sheath he had taken care of had been suffocated to death in the disconnected life-support apparatus, he was hit by a painful feeling like never before.

At the moment when Lin Xi thought that the egg case had completely lost its activity, "No. [-]" trembled very weakly in his line of sight.

The pair of small black dots turned a dull red again in a short period of time.

It turned its head sideways, and moved its body slightly in the direction of Lin Xi.

At this moment, Lin Xi actually had a ridiculous feeling, but he actually felt that a bug seemed to understand human feelings, and it was looking at him.

It's just that the weak movement of "No. [-]" seems to be the last reflection of this star butterfly (and if nothing unexpected happens, it will be the last star butterfly in the entire universe).

It kept that movement frozen in place, and the redness in its eyes was fading little by little, as if its life was also gradually passing away.

"Do not--"

Lin Xi subconsciously let out a low voice, and then, out of nowhere, he remembered what Talan said in passing when he was scolding before this, "If we hadn't discovered it in time, it would have almost suffocated in the sealing fluid."

Thinking of this, he suddenly shivered, and finally came back to his senses.

"I'm a fucking idiot!"

Lin Xi scolded herself angrily.

Perhaps the star butterfly's egg case doesn't need air, but it certainly can't survive in an oxygen-deprived liquid.

After the life-support equipment was powered off, all the gas delivery stopped, and what Lin Xi saw was the egg case—and the gradual suffocation of the star butterfly that was about to hatch.

Lin Xi jumped up, and he frantically operated, intending to take the egg case out of the life support device directly.

But what made him extremely annoyed was that the sudden power outage and the re-powering of the secondary energy source seemed to have directly burned out the chip of the instrument, and the life support instrument was completely locked, unable to operate the contents as usual. take out.

"Hell, I should really curse you, Professor Ando—"

Sweat broke out on Lin Xi's forehead. He tried several other methods, but there were many parts added by Professor Ando himself on this instrument. These parts may be very advanced and expensive, but they also make this instrument The instrument has become a black box that outsiders can't crack.

"Fuck!"

Seeing the egg case becoming more and more lifeless in the process, Lin Xi's veins bulged and he lost his patience completely.

He turned around abruptly, dragged out his toolbox, and then took out the impact hammer that was only used when sampling aliens, and smashed it at the transparent petri dish.

Under the impact of the hammer head, even cracks appeared on the surface of the petri dish soon.

Lin Xi threw away the impact hammer, tore off the explosion-proof film on the surface with her own hands, and then took out the egg case from the composite material fragments that had been broken into uniform small pieces.

In such an excited mood, Lin Xi didn't notice the tingling pain coming from her knuckles.

Similarly, he didn't notice that the tentacles of the egg case, which he thought had completely lost its vitality and became lifeless like hard plastic, returned to their original softness and tenderness the moment he touched them. transparent.They silently stuck to Lin Xi's wound.

Strands of faint blood were absorbed by the suction cups on their surfaces that were too small to be seen by the naked eye, and then all of them were transported to the inside of the egg case.

All Lin Xi's thoughts were on "No. [-]" inside the egg case, and she didn't notice the small movements of the egg case itself.

With his fingertips, he carefully scraped away the nutrient solution on the surface of the egg case that had begun to emit a slight putrid smell.

The original epidermis of the egg case is exposed.

The egg case of the star butterfly, when Lin Xi saw this thing for the first time, he couldn't control his emotions and took two steps back, and at that time he always felt that the egg case of the bug was disgusting just by sounding.

But at this time, he didn't care at all.

"Hey, little one, you can do it right, I know...you can..."

Lin Xi whispered to Number One.

The egg case of Star Butterfly lay quietly in his hand like that. Its skin was moist, but it wasn't the slippery jellyfish-like texture that Lin Xi thought.

Quite the contrary, it feels firm to the touch, even a little rough.

And, it's warm.

It's not like a bug, but... like some kind of small animal, warm and with a very faint pulsating feeling.

It's just that the two tiny eyeballs of "No. [-]" are still black.

It stuck there and still didn't move.

"Hey, little one, come on, I had a hard time getting you out."

Lin Xi frowned.

There was more frustration in his tone.

He stretched out his hand tentatively, and then took a deep breath—he tore open the egg case near "No. [-]", and then looked at the motionless body of "No. [-]" from inside the egg case bit by bit. come out.

When Lin Xi was a mischievous child, he did a lot of similar things.

It's just that he never imagined that one day he would do the same thing to another alien creature that was about to become extinct on a spaceship that had been stranded on an alien planet.

for a few seconds...or longer...

A slight commotion came from Lin Xi's palm.

Lin Xi suddenly opened his eyes wide. He held his breath and carefully observed the "number one" in his hand.

He was finally pleasantly surprised to see that the eyes of "No. [-]" gradually returned to red, and its body that Lin Xi had just taken out of the egg case gradually stretched out.

Only then did "Lin Xi" realize that, as a newly hatched bug, "No. [-]" was quite large.

His body was still wrinkled when he first came out of the egg case, but once it unfolded, its body became almost as long as Lin Xi's forearm.

Its wings dragged behind it long, just as Lin Xi imagined, and those round spots were so magnificent that they seemed to shrink the entire rainbow in beautiful colors.

And it also has two very long tentacles, just like a butterfly, with a slight curl at the top, which suddenly looks transparent, but under the change of light, those two tentacles also shone like some kind of gemstones. of light.

"I found you to be pretty."

Lin Xi stared at "No. [-]" who had finally come back to life, and couldn't help but whisper softly.

He fell down on his bed and let out a long sigh of relief.

As if Xingdie could understand what he said, it tilted its head, and its wings shook gently - those spots with bright colors suddenly became more.

"Wow--"

Lin Xi was almost taken aback, but then he couldn't help laughing.

He had never felt so close to the bugs as he did now.

And he didn't hate the feeling.

In any case, in the only surviving egg case of Star Butterfly, at least "No. [-]" is still alive.After confirming this point, Lin Xi became much calmer than before.

He first placed the star butterfly - the container he used was the plant incubator in the cabin.

On the one hand, this semi-open incubator can control the range of activities of the star butterfly, and on the other hand, it can ensure the flow of air.Although Lin Xi didn't know why Sunu's star butterflies needed oxygen.

As for the remaining egg case, Lin Xi originally thought it was completely dead, but what she didn't expect was that Lin Xi found an extra surprise on that egg case.

The rest of the eggs are still alive.

This is unbelievable, but Lin Xi is sure that this is not her dream.

After placing "No. [-]", Lin Xi returned to the egg case. He found that the shell that had become cloudy before had returned to translucence, and most of the tentacles that looked like hard plastic had fallen off, but there was still some A small number of tentacles remained, and they remained as they should have been.

Of course Lin Xi didn't know at this time that those were the ones that secretly sucked his blood before.

And most importantly, Lin Xi observed the remaining row of slender oval eggs.

They looked silent before, but now they are moving. Under the lens of the instrument, they are wriggling regularly.

The row of red dot eyes is evidence that they are also slowly developing.

"Wow... Looks like today is your lucky day."

This is almost like some kind of miracle. If it was in the laboratory, Lin Xi was sure that her mentor would think that she was cheating in the experiment—but anyway, after experiencing a serious failure of the life support equipment, all the eggs are still alive, and "Number One" has even successfully hatched.

Thinking of this, Lin Xi couldn't help smiling.

As far as he's concerned, that's the only comforting thing he's had in a fucking day.

After observing for a long time, Lin Xi placed the egg case in another plant petri dish, and he found that in a dry environment, the egg case did not seem to have any bad reactions.

"Before I get Professor Ando back, promise me, live—"

Knowing that neither the egg case nor "No. [-]" could understand, but before leaving the cabin to find Professor Ando, ​​Lin Xi knocked on the glass and gave them instructions.

Of course, the egg case did not respond, but "No. [-]" shook its wings in the cultivation tank.

Then it floated up a few centimeters and landed gently on the glass's surface with six feet.

Red eyes stared straight at Lin Xi.

Lin Xi couldn't hold back, and knocked on the glass again.

"Number One"'s tentacles shook.

...It really looks like it can understand human speech.

Lin Xi thought in admiration.

But after that feeling of love and affection, Lin Xi felt a layer of sadness in his heart.

After knowing that the star butterflies hatched successfully, Ando Shizuo would take "No. [-]" and the remaining developing eggs back anyway—even, if he still couldn't take care of these star butterflies, the captain would probably Assign a more professional assistant to take care of these newborn babies.

After all, it is one thing to have a lifeless star butterfly egg sheath, but it is another thing to have a successfully hatched, priceless star butterfly.

……

However, the reality tells Lin Xi that sometimes, things don't always develop as expected.

According to previous experience, Lin Xi didn't go to Ando's laboratory at all, but went directly to his cabin, but there are quite a few people staying outside that metal door now.

And the appearance of two of them surprised Lin Xi even more - after all, judging from the current situation, these two people should be very busy now.

"Alyssa? Bryce? What happened?"

Lin Xi stepped forward, looked at her brother and Alisa in shock, and asked.

"Lin Xi?"

"Why are you here, shouldn't you be lying on the hospital bed and receiving treatment obediently?"

Alisa and Bryce spoke at the same time.

Lin Xi smiled, and quickly avoided Bryce's questioning, but looked directly at Alisa.

"I need Dr. Ando's help right now... for some academic matters. But what's going on now?"

Lin Xi looked around, feeling a little uneasy in her heart.

In addition to Alisa and Bryce, he even saw Sorian, the man who was the representative of force on the ship, and some people from the Ministry of Order.Lynch glanced at their waistbands, noticing with growing uneasiness that they were all armed.

This is not a small formation inside the Helios.

"Well, something happened..."

Just as Bryce was about to answer Lin Xi's question, Sorian looked over coldly.This bearded man had a pair of unusually sharp eyes, but after just one glance, Bryce suddenly stopped talking.

And Lin Xi also felt that Sorian carefully looked at her up and down.

"Is it something I shouldn't know?"

Lin Xi froze, and the Liz who had become extraordinarily weird, the unbelievably emaciated Shizuo Ando, ​​and... and the statue that was embezzled by Ando and his wife and placed in his cabin instantly appeared in Lin Xi's mind. statue.

He felt that things were really going badly.

"Yes."

Sorian said coldly.

"It's okay." At this time, Alisa said, "Dr. Lin Xi is also an assistant sent by the Earth-Moon Union University. I think maybe he can give us some help."

"If you put it that way, I think I'm still—"

I still don't need to know.

Before Lin Xi finished speaking, Alisa looked directly at him and said cleanly, "Liz is dead."

"what?!"

Lin Xi never thought of this answer anyway.

He looked at Alyssa in shock, almost thinking it was a joke.

But Alyssa never joked about business.

And soon, Lin Xi also figured out why there were armed mercenaries and people from the Ministry of Order outside the Ando couple's cabin.

Liz's death was really too...horrible.

Under the leadership of Sorian, Lin Xi glanced at the interior of the cabin, and then he was completely shocked by everything in front of him.

The Ando couple's room changed from the previous dimness, and all the lights were turned on, and it was precisely because of this that everything was clearly illuminated.

Liz was still stuck to the ceiling by her own mucus just like the last time Lin Xi saw her.

However, her abdomen, which had swollen to the point of exploding, had shriveled up now.

A huge, bloody hole appeared in her abdomen, and the baby that was supposed to grow up in her mother's arms had already fallen out of that hole, and was lying motionless on the ground.

"vomit--"

An investigator who was taking notes suddenly let out a violent retching sound, she suddenly dropped the recorder in her hand, and rushed over Lin Xi to the door.

Lin Xi looked in the direction of her escape.

His face instantly turned pale.

It seemed that Shizuo Ando's extremely joyful voice sounded in his ears not long ago at the time of parting.

"Octuplets... I'm going to have eight lively and lovely children... You're going to love them, Dr. Lynch."

An Teng Jingxiong was not mistaken, it was indeed the octuplets.

However, does Shizuo Ando know that his wife is not carrying eight babies, but... eight monsters?

Lin Xi thought.

That is the kind of creature that only appears in the worst dreams.

In most areas of the body, they look no different from human babies, red, wrinkled, and even have fetal hair.However, in other areas, they look like... bugs.The chitin carapace with faint reflections, the clearly visible links, and the joints growing from the links, and the long eye stalks protruding from the eye sockets, with cloudy eyeballs hanging from the top.

They are like plasticine hastily squeezed together by God. Human parts are mixed with bug bodies, which is so terrifying that there are no words to describe it.

I'm afraid the only good thing is that at least when Lin Xi saw them, they were all dead.

It's just that the way they are on their backs and their limbs are stretched to the sky looks really disgusting.

Lin Xi covered her mouth and exhausted all her willpower not to spit it out directly.

Sorian reached out and patted his shoulder lightly.

"what--"

Lin Xi screamed in fright.

"Actually, you came just in time. I checked the visitor records, and you are probably the last person who saw their couple."

Sorian seemed to have not noticed Lin Xi's gaffe at all, he stared at Lin Xi coldly, and then said lazily.

Lin Xi trembled.

"I... when I saw them before... they were all alive..."

The monster in Liz's belly is also alive!

As you talk, they may be huddled up, listening to your conversation through that thin flesh.

Lin Xi really wished he could control his brain, but that maddening voice kept rambling in his mind.

Probably because his face was too ugly, after realizing that his situation was wrong, Bryce dragged Lin Xi out of the room at the murder scene in great dissatisfaction, and stopped behind him.

"The computer records also show that the Ando couple were still alive after Lin Xi left the cabin. Lin Xi just fainted not long ago, and his physical condition is not good. Before investigating him, shouldn't you go find Did Shizuo Ando ask? He was in the same room with Liz when she died, and he must know more than my brother."

"Professor Ando is still alive?!"

"That guy has gone crazy."

The voices of Lin Xi and Sorian overlapped.

After seeing Liz's miserable state, Lin Xi never expected that Professor Ando was still alive, but Sorian's reply made his heart tense again instantly.

"Professor Ando... crazy? What's going on?"

Lin Xi murmured.

"As it happens, that's what I want to know too."