83: Chapter 83 The Allure of the Radiant Star Whale and the Living Sun

The deal with Venus was settled the moment Su Chen spat out those two words.

There was no superfluous small talk, let alone hypocritical pleasantries.

Cooperation between gods is built upon naked exchanges of interest.

Venus moved elegantly, yet with astonishing speed. With a gentle snap of her fingers, a god-servant clad in silver armor appeared, bowing as they held a translucent square box made of unknown crystal in both hands, respectfully presenting it to Su Chen.

"This is the advance payment: one ton of high-purity light energy crystals."

Venus's voice carried just the right amount of enthusiasm, as if she were not handing over resources that would bankrupt a lower god, but merely giving away an insignificant souvenir.

To show her sincerity, this Goddess of Light and Beauty generously provided a batch of goods upfront.

Su Chen's gaze fell upon the square box.

The box itself was a spatial divine artifact, its internal dimensions twisted and folded, steadily bearing that heart-stopping energy. Through the translucent crystal walls, one could see countless fist-sized crystals piled together. They were not static; inside each one, it seemed as if a miniature sun was sealed, releasing eternal, undying light and heat.

Just by approaching it, one could feel a torrent of energy so pure it was extreme, causing slight ionization in the air of the divine domain.

Su Chen reached out and gripped the cold square box with his five fingers.

It was heavy in his hand.

This weight was not just physical; it was strategic.

Carrying this "strategic material," he did not stay in Venus's divine domain for even a second longer. He turned and tore through space, his figure vanishing into the pitch-black rift.

The next instant, he had returned to his own divine domain.

Unlike Venus's realm, which was bathed in holy light and filled with flowers, Su Chen's divine domain was a dim and deathly silent world. The ground was purple-black creep, soft yet tough. The sky had no sun, moon, or stars, only veins composed of countless psionic energy crystals covering the firmament like a spiderweb, emitting an eternal, indifferent glimmer. The air was filled with a unique scent, a mixture of pheromones and biomass.

This was the nest of the Zerg Swarm, a hotbed of evolution, the ultimate embodiment of cold efficiency.

Su Chen's figure appeared in the center of the divine domain, above the vast biological factory—the [Prism Biological Breeding Grounds].

Below, there were countless huge and deep breeding pools where viscous genetic serum stirred slowly. Occasionally, one could see one or two hideous limbs, not yet fully formed, rolling in the liquid. And at the very center of the breeding grounds, a massive breeding unit was in a state of hibernation.

Su Chen's will, like an invisible storm, swept across the entire divine domain in an instant.

"Overmind!"

His voice exploded in the psychic link, devoid of any emotion, containing only an absolute command.

"Build me something big!"

Rumble—

The entire creep-covered ground of the divine domain began to tremble slightly. The will of the Overmind was awakened. The giant breeding unit located at the center of the breeding grounds opened its carapace, revealing a strange organism beneath.

It was a huge "photosynthetic tentacle monster."

Its main trunk was rooted in the nutrient solution of the breeding pool, extending hundreds of pale, limp tentacles, each tipped with biological tissue capable of emitting a faint fluorescence.

This was one of the lowest-level units in the Zerg Swarm sequence, its only usual purpose being to be planted in various corners of the nest to act as a streetlamp that required no energy.

But now, it was about to meet its end, and its rebirth.

Su Chen opened the crystal square box in his hand.

Hum—!

A pure light, indescribable in words, erupted from the box! The light was so searing that it instantly pierced through the domain's millennia of darkness, dyeing the purple-black creep ground into a blinding gold.

Under his will's control, the ton of high-purity light energy crystals poured out from the spatial box, hovering in mid-air.

"Shatter!"

Su Chen gave the order.

Crack! Crack, crack!

Countless crystals shattered simultaneously, turning into the purest liquid light energy. This was no longer just simple liquid; it was flowing, boiling, massive light! They converged into a golden torrent, carrying a terrifying temperature capable of burning everything, descending from the sky and injecting with pinpoint accuracy into the body of the "photosynthetic tentacle monster"!

"Hiss—!!!"

A shriek, so shrill it didn't sound like it could come from a biological entity, erupted from the plant's body.

The moment its hundreds of pale tentacles touched the liquid light energy, they withered, charred, and finally turned to ash at a speed visible to the naked eye, just like a candle splashed with strong acid.

The violent mutation began.

Its main trunk twisted and expanded crazily. Beneath the translucent skin, golden energy flowed like magma. No new tissue grew where the withered tentacles had fallen off; all energy, all essence of life, was converging frantically toward its core.

Finally, accompanied by a dull bursting sound, the entire body of the "photosynthetic tentacle monster" completely disintegrated.

In its place was a giant, golden Zerg cocoon, its surface covered in mysterious patterns, dazzling like a sun!

It floated silently at the center of the breeding grounds, and with every pulsation, the light and dark of the entire divine domain flickered.

One day.

The pulsation of the Zerg cocoon grew heavier, like a giant heart. The energy fluctuations it emitted had already begun to interfere with the stable operation of the psionic energy veins above the divine domain.

Two days.

The entire divine domain could clearly feel the terrifying energy brewing within that Zerg cocoon. It was a pure, domineering, sacred light, incompatible with the Zerg Swarm's psionic and dark energy systems, yet it was firmly bound by a deeper, primordial will belonging to the Zerg Swarm.

Finally, on the morning of the third day.

When the divine domain's psionic glimmer cycled to its dimmest period.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound, as if glass were shattering, came from the top of the Zerg cocoon.

A crack appeared.

Following that came a second, then a third... Dense cracks instantly covered the entire surface of the Zerg cocoon.

The next second, the Zerg cocoon burst open!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor was there a destructive energy shockwave.

A gentle, yet sacred light that no existence could ignore blossomed from the shattered Zerg cocoon.

The light swept out, instantly illuminating the dim sky of the divine domain. The purple-black creep ground, under the illumination of this light, actually took on a layer of holy glimmer. The fishy smell of biomass in the air was swept away, becoming fresh and pure.

A strange creature with the standard outline of a human female, but whose entire body was composed of high-density, high-energy light particles, slowly rose from the shattered Zerg cocoon.

She had no physical form; every inch of her body was flowing light.

Behind her, six pairs, a full twelve wings of light, slowly unfurled. These were not wings made of feathers, but energy bodies condensed from the purest laws of light; every flap left golden ripples in space.

She had no facial features.

Her face was a pure, smooth screen of light, calm and sacred.

She floated in mid-air, and wherever she passed, even the air was purified, and the laws themselves retreated.

It was at the moment of her birth that the cold system notification sounded in Su Chen's mind in quick succession.

[Congratulations, Overlord! A special hero unit has been born!]

[Dominator of Light - Lumina (Rank 9 Demigod Potential)]

[Traits: Light Energy Aggregate, Living Sun, Infinite Charging!]

Su Chen's breathing hitched for a moment.

His gaze was locked onto that humanoid figure of light, and deep within his eyes, there was an irrepressible frenzy.

Lumina in the air slowly turned toward the direction of Su Chen, her smooth, mirror-like facial screen "gazing" precisely at her master.

She bowed slightly, performing an elegant and awe-filled gesture.

"I am the light, and I am your will."

Lumina's voice rang directly in Su Chen's psychic link, ethereal, sacred, and without a trace of impurity.

Although she was composed of pure light energy and was a natural light-based creature, the deepest part of her core genetic sequence was still engraved with the eternal, undying imprint of the Zerg Swarm—

Absolute loyalty.

"Good!"

Su Chen's chest heaved violently.

"Good!"

His tightly clenched fists had knuckles that turned slightly white from the force.

"Good!"

An irrepressible, low chuckle rolled from the depths of his throat, finally turning into hearty, unbridled laughter.

Ecstasy was not enough to describe his mood at this moment.

This was no mere hero unit!

This was clearly a walking, self-aware, never-exhausting "infinite energy generator"!

Su Chen's gaze suddenly became sharp. He slammed his hand up, pointing to the highest point of the divine domain's sky.

There, a biological warship as vast as a mountain range, yet deathly silent, was floating quietly. That was the Zerg Swarm's former ultimate weapon, the psionic mothership—the leviathan.

Because of its terrifying energy consumption, this war beast had been grounded for far, far too long.

Now, its "Chief Charging Officer" had finally arrived!

"Lumina!"

Su Chen's voice carried an unquestionable command.

"You have only one mission—"

"Go charge that big guy!"