Zhao Chen looked at the haggard-looking man in front of him, whose messy black and white hair highlighted his current state of weariness.

I recalled the character image I had seen in this person's profile information.

It's hard to believe that this person is the same Qin Longcheng, the five-star marshal from before.

He had been lurking by Prince Qin Ming's side for many years, acting as Qin Xiaotian's spy, and ultimately helped Qin Xiaotian ascend to the throne.

The two men stared at each other for a full half minute, neither speaking first, their eyes both sizing up their opponent.

"Where did you get all that starship technology from?" Qin Longcheng asked curiously.

"Do you think I'd tell you?" Zhao Chen retorted.

Qin Longcheng shook his head with a self-deprecating smile: "If you satisfy my curiosity, I'll tell you a secret."

"Sorry, I'm not interested in your secret."

"If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now," Zhao Chen said calmly.

Qin Longcheng stared at Zhao Chen and said, "Never mind, I won't ask about your secret."

But I think you'll be very interested in the secret I'm about to tell you.

Because it's related to insects.

Zhao Chen looked at Qin Longcheng, waiting for Qin Longcheng to speak next.

Qin Longcheng raised his hand and adjusted the direction of the video communication window, making a window with a string of red numbers appear in front of Zhao Chen.

【831 seconds】

【830 seconds】

【829 seconds】

"This is a countdown for something. When this number reaches zero, that thing will activate, tearing apart the space here and creating a passage."

A passage to the interstellar Zerg world!

"Cosmic wormhole?" Zhao Chen blurted out the term.

He wasn't surprised by this, because he had previously suspected that the insectoid disasters that had occurred in the Azure Starfield and the North Wind Starfield might have been man-made.

"That's a fair analogy, but it's not quite the same as the cosmic wormholes you're familiar with."

"Because..." a hint of fear flashed in Qin Longcheng's eyes, "because it will exist forever!"

Zhao Chen's expression changed.

"Aren't you curious about where our massive Zerg fleet came from?"

There is a man under His Majesty's command whom we call a Doctor.

The doctor's origins are unknown. One day, he suddenly appeared before His Majesty and gained His Majesty's trust. He then secretly began his research on the interstellar Zerg.

Later, they created the first permanent cosmic wormhole in a certain interstellar edge space, which is roughly equivalent to a level two cosmic wormhole. It can only accommodate T2 wormhole motherships to pass through, and the number of them that can pass through is limited.

This was because at that time, only Level 2 cosmic wormholes were within His Majesty's control.

Through that permanent cosmic wormhole, the doctor continued his insane plan.

..."Qin Longcheng began to recount his story.

A PhD student researching Zerg technology.

Zhao Chen frowned slightly. He had heard of this person, but so far he did not have any accurate information.

"Isn't the doctor you mentioned here?" Zhao Chen asked.

He originally thought that this doctor was either by Qin Xiaotian's side or in this important research institute.

"He was originally here. The Zerg spore virus that I released into the surrounding star systems is a product of his recent research."

I know he's a ticking time bomb; for Your Majesty to cooperate with him is like asking a tiger for its skin.

So my original plan was that since I was going to die, I would take him with me, and I couldn't let him fall into your hands no matter what.

Unfortunately, I underestimated this guy.

He probably already knew we would lose this battle.

He disappeared without a trace, though I don't know how he escaped or how he got away from those massive mutated insectoids.

"But if it were him... perhaps he could do it," Qin Longcheng replied.

"So, you're planning to destroy yourselves?"

How can we create a secondary cosmic wormhole here?

"Is this all you wanted to tell me?" Zhao Chen looked at Qin Longcheng in confusion, wondering why Qin Longcheng was telling him all this.

Qin Longcheng looked at Zhao Chen with his turbid eyes: "I know that in your eyes I am already an unforgivable bastard. I released the Zerg spore virus in more than a dozen star systems around me, killing trillions of lives."

But that's because I'm the commander-in-chief, and I have to do it for His Majesty's victory.

Activating this permanent cosmic wormhole would not benefit me.

After all, if you want to leave, I can't stop you.

I get nothing but making this galaxy worse.

This is a background program started by that damn doctor, and I can't close it.

Damn, I guess I got tricked by him.

The reason I'm telling you all this is to warn you about the existence of this doctor.

Although you and His Majesty are enemies, at least your goal is to possess everything in the Star Empire.

As for that doctor... I only sensed an aura of destruction emanating from him.

I don't know what his purpose is, but it's definitely not a good thing for the world.

"So you want me to deal with this doctor in the future, so that you can buy time for your master?"

"No wonder he's Qin Xiaotian's dog; he remained loyal even in death." Zhao Chen understood the other party's intention.

Qin Longcheng was not surprised that Zhao Chen saw through his purpose; he simply smiled and let it go.

"Moreover, what is about to be opened here is not some level two cosmic wormhole."

Rather... a level four cosmic wormhole, permanent!

Zhao Chen frowned again.

"Level 4?"

Qin Longcheng explained, "All along, that doctor has been researching how to create more advanced and stable permanent cosmic wormholes."

With His Majesty's support, he can now create permanent Level 4 cosmic wormholes, but the cost is very high and requires some extremely rare raw materials.

So far, he has only created ten such starting devices, which we call 'insect eggs'.

Ten...

In other words, there are ten permanent level-four cosmic wormholes.

The Zerg are considered a nightmare by all races in this world, and even the Holy Radiant Empire has never dared to underestimate them.

However, a key reason why the Zerg's catastrophe did not escalate was that the existence of cosmic burrows was limited; after a period of time, the cosmic burrows would disappear.

The crisis can be resolved by eliminating the interstellar insectoids that have appeared in this world.

But now... a permanently open cosmic wormhole is about to appear, and it's even level four!

In addition, Zhao Chen also discerned an important galaxy, which this doctor had been researching. It was currently at level four, and the next one might be a level five cosmic wormhole!

A T5 insect hive mothership should naturally appear in a Level 5 cosmic insect hive, not the quasi-T5 Leviathan Monarch-class insect hive motherships controlled by Qin Xiaotian.

It is actually a Leviathan Sovereign-class Zerg hive mothership.

"I have one more question."

"You have some secret cooperation with the Holy Radiant Empire. What are the details of that secret cooperation?" Zhao Chen asked.