9: Chapter 9: The Egg Core Appears; Collect with Caution

The torchlight flickered violently against the rock walls; Chen Xiaodao's hand did not leave his sword hilt.

He took three steps forward, his boots crushing a thin, brittle layer of slag with a faint "crack."

Thirty zhang ahead, a crystalline rock layer half-hidden by rubble in a fissure of the right wall was seeping a ghostly green light.

It wasn't a reflection; it was bioluminescence, like fireflies born from rotting grass, but colder and stiller.

"Family Head," he whispered without looking back, "there's something here."

Chen Wuwang stood at the rear of the team, his mechanical prosthetic eye already switched to vibration-sensing mode.

The fluctuation from a moment ago had indeed vanished, but the metallic scent in the air was growing heavier, like rust mixed with old engine oil; a single breath made one's throat tighten.

He raised his hand and made a gesture to pause.

The entire team stopped.

He walked forward with light steps, avoiding the rubble on the ground with every stride. Only when he reached Chen Xiaodao's side did he slowly look up.

The fissure wasn't wide, barely enough for half an arm to reach in. The ghostly light emanated from within, brightening and dimming like a breath.

"Don't move," he said, his voice kept very low.

Chen Xiaodao nodded, his hand still pressed against his sword, knuckles turning white. He stared at the light, his gaze cold, yet unable to hide a trace of instinctive repulsion—the aura of the Zerg, even a lingering wisp, made his stomach churn.

The smell of blood in the ruins from when he was five years old still crawled through his dreams to this day.

Chen Wuwang squatted down and raised his right hand, his mechanical eye initiating a multi-layered scan: thermal imaging, bio-magnetic field, and Spiritual Qi spectrum analysis ran simultaneously.

In his field of vision, the data stream refreshed rapidly.

Temperature: Normal.

Life signals: Weak, intermittent.

Spiritual spectrum... abnormal. It wasn't pure Spiritual Qi, nor was it Devilish Qi, but a hybrid state with high-frequency oscillations, like some unfinished life code self-compiling.

"Don't touch it!" he suddenly barked out.

Chen Xiaodao, who had just been about to reach out and clear the rubble, immediately withdrew his hand upon hearing this.

A second later, Chen Wuwang had taken a pair of silver-white gloves from his tactical belt—woven from Nano-grade Spiritual Silk, their surfaces flowing with faint runic light patterns.

He put them on slowly and cautiously, checking the seal on every finger.

"It's an Egg Core," he said, staring at the fissure, his voice dropping low. "The Egg Core of a Gold-Eating Insect Empress."

Chen Xiaodao's pupils constricted. "An Empress? Isn't she still in hibernation?"

"I don't know if she produced it," Chen Wuwang shook his head. "But I can confirm this is a core embryo of a high-tier Zerg; its energy level is close to the Early Stage of the Golden Core. There is mucus on the surface that is highly corrosive, and it releases trace amounts of toxic smoke upon contact with rock."

As soon as he finished speaking, a wisp of pale grey smoke indeed rose from the edge of the fissure; it touched a patch of moss above, and the moss instantly withered, turned black, and peeled off.

"Shit," Chen Xiaodao cursed under his breath, taking half a step back.

Chen Wuwang didn't move. He pulled a double-layered sealed runic bag from his robes with his left hand and then took out a palm-sized heat-insulated container with a miniature suppression array carved into its base.

He placed the container on the ground and opened the lid; the interior was lined with a layer of radiation-absorbing Grey Crystal Cotton.

"I'll retrieve it," he said. "You keep watch."

Chen Xiaodao nodded and turned to face the rear of the passage, his ears twitching as he listened to every breath of wind. He knew that now was not the time to ask why, if it would explode, or if there were traps.

When the Family Head did things, he never relied on impulse, but on calculation.

Chen Wuwang took a deep breath and slowly reached his right hand into the fissure.

The moment his fingertips touched the Egg Core, the runes on the surface of the glove lit up. He could feel the thing pulsing slightly, like a preserved heart, its rhythm slow but carrying a power that could not be ignored.

Mucus stuck to the glove, making a faint "sizzle," but the anti-corrosion layer of the nano-spiritual silk immediately activated, forming an isolation membrane.

He carefully peeled the Egg Core away from the rock bed.

It was a fist-sized oval crystal, ghostly green throughout, its surface covered in fine patterns that looked like naturally formed circuit boards.

In the middle was a spiral-shaped groove, with light faintly flowing within it.

It was lighter than expected, feeling almost weightless in his hand, yet the mechanical eye showed its internal energy density was extremely high.

"Got it," he said quietly, quickly placing the Egg Core into the double-layered runic bag, sealing it, then tucking it into the heat-insulated container and closing the lid.

With a "beep," the container automatically locked, and the external indicator light turned from red to green.

Chen Xiaodao looked back. "Is it safe?"

"For now." Chen Wuwang stood up, holding the container in his left hand while still wearing the glove on his right. "This thing is unstable; the internal life fluctuations are erratic and it could activate at any time. We need to get out of here quickly."

He didn't say much more, turning to give orders: "Return the way we came, maintain combat formation. You take the lead and clear the path. I'll take the rear."

Chen Xiaodao acknowledged, drawing his sword three inches from its scabbard—the blade's cold light flashed before he slid it halfway back in. He walked at the very front with steady steps, his eyes scanning the rock walls on both sides while his ears caught every slight movement.

The passage was even quieter than when they had entered.

The torchlight was stretched long, shadows clinging to the walls like twisted ghostly hands.

Red mineral crystals were becoming more frequent; in some places, entire sections of the rock wall were tinged dark red, like dried blood.

As he walked, Chen Wuwang used his mechanical eye to record the locations and concentrations of these areas, already having a good idea in his mind—these were characteristics of high-purity Hematite Veins. The mineral source that would break ground in three days was likely buried right beneath this.

At a fork in the road, he stopped.

"Mark these red crystal zones," he told Chen Xiaodao. "Carve an 'X' with your sword tip. Not too deep, don't trigger structural resonance."

Chen Xiaodao nodded, drew his sword, and quickly carved marks at several key nodes. As the blade passed, the rock emitted short "clangs" and faint sparks flashed.

Chen Wuwang watched his movements without speaking. He knew the kid had an instinctive loathing for Zerg things, yet once an order was given, he executed it cleanly and decisively without any hesitation.

This kind of person was the one who could carry the burden.

They continued walking.

Seventy zhang.

Eighty zhang.

Less than fifty paces remained to the entrance of the main mine tunnel.

Just then, the container in his left hand suddenly gave a slight jolt.

Chen Wuwang's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

"What is it?" Chen Xiaodao immediately turned around, his hand on his sword hilt.

Chen Wuwang didn't answer, quickly placing the container on the ground and activating remote monitoring mode.

His mechanical eye connected to the preset triple-warning program: temperature, radiation, and Spiritual Pressure, tracking the internal state in real-time.

The data stream flashed by.

Temperature: Normal.

Radiation: Stable.

Spiritual Pressure... jumped.

Within 0.3 seconds, it spiked from the standard value to 1.7 times before dropping back down.

"Embryonic activity," he whispered. "A brief energy peak. It could be self-calibration, or it could be... a stress response."

Chen Xiaodao frowned. "Should we just throw it away?"

"No," Chen Wuwang shook his head. "This thing can increase the efficiency of Psionic Drills. Uncle Tiezhu's excavation team is waiting for it to start work. Besides, just throwing it away would be like admitting we're afraid."

He squatted down and tapped the surface of the container twice with his finger—clack, clack—short and forceful.

A programmer's habit.

Testing the interface.

The container didn't react.

He breathed a sigh of relief and picked it up again.

"Let's go," he said. "Speed up."

Chen Xiaodao didn't say anything more and turned to continue forward. He knew the Family Head's temperament—once he set his mind on something, nine oxen couldn't pull him back.

Moreover, this wasn't just for a tool; it was so the Chen Family could survive.

They passed through the final stretch of narrow passage, and the wide opening of the main mine tunnel was already visible ahead. The air began to flow, carrying the coolness of the surface.

Chen Wuwang walked at the rear, his right hand still in the nano-spiritual silk glove and his left hand tightly gripping the container holding the Egg Core.

He looked back at the pitch-black side passage behind them, his mechanical eye performing one last scan of the energy spectrum.

Everything was normal.

No tracking signals.

No residual fluctuations.

Only that man-made ventilation shaft lay quietly in the darkness, like a forgotten snake.

He withdrew his gaze and stepped forward.

Chen Xiaodao was already standing at the exit, his hand resting on his sword hilt, waiting for him.

"Family Head," he said, "there's no one outside to meet us."

"I know." Chen Wuwang stood beside him, casting his gaze into the night outside the mine tunnel. "But we brought something back."

Chen Xiaodao glanced at him sideways but didn't speak.

The wind ruffled his clothes, and the cry of a crow came from the distance.

Chen Wuwang looked down at the container in his hand; the green light was still on.

He raised his right hand, preparing to take off the glove.

Just then, inside the container, that ghostly green Egg Core gave another extremely faint jolt.