"You’re laughing?" Insect Brain fixed its gaze on Bai Yan.
Bai Yan composed herself, shook her head calmly, and said, "No."
"Don’t try to fool me!" Insect Brain warned.
"At a time , do you think I could laugh?" Bai Yan furiously countered, "If it were you, stripped of your freedom and surrounded entirely by humans, laugh for me, would you?"
Insect Brain fell silent.
It recalled the period when it had disguised its system and bound itself to Bai Yan.
Although that time was brief, even shorter than the time Insect Brain 1.0 had spent with Bai Yan,
in retrospect, thinking about it still made Insect Brain 2.0 feel entirely uncomfortable.
It had parasitized Bai Yan.
And at that time, everyone surrounding Bai Yan had been human.
The immersion of this experience was too visceral for Insect Brain. To be encircled by a hostile species was something it never wanted to endure again.
It was it, and Bai Yan was Bai Yan.
A human. A human who could only survive by relying on their Insect Clan.
What right did she have to negotiate with the Insect Clan!
"You want freedom? Fine." Insect Brain responded.
"Your superpower is Insect Clan affinity."
"As long as your affinity with the Insect Clan reaches Twelve Stars, you can have your freedom."
"I’ve already reached Five Stars, but I’ve run out of Star Stones," Bai Yan said, spreading her hands helplessly.
"Let your Beast Husband earn them," Insect Brain replied.
It wasn’t going to provide Star Stones to Bai Yan free of charge.
Similarly, it wouldn’t let Bai Yan leave to search for Star Stones herself.
At first, it had Bai Yan’s several Beast Husbands work for the Insect Clan, doing odd jobs to earn a few Star Stones, which were handed over to Bai Yan.
"You can’t leave, but your Beast Husbands can." Insect Brain’s thoughts shifted.
It let out a cold chuckle: "To the west of the Mist, there are plenty of Star Stones."
"If your Beast Husbands can infiltrate Mist West, Star Stones won’t be an issue."
"And if they can bring Xiao Jinsheng out, I have the authority to grant all of you freedom."
"Xiao Jinsheng alone?" Bai Yan’s gaze darkened as she confirmed.
"Just her," Insect Brain answered.
Bai Yan thought for a moment and nodded. "I’ll have them try."
Then, with suspicion, she questioned, "It seems like you value Xiao Jinsheng more. If that’s the case, why did you bind me at the start and not her?"
"And you even claimed that I was the protagonist of this world."
Bai Yan was certain that the story about her being the protagonist was fabricated by Insect Brain to deceive her.
At first, when Insect Brain hadn’t achieved its goal, it had been willing to con her and provide assistance.
But once her utility diminished, Insect Brain had become impatient.
Especially now. This Insect Brain 2.0 was even more detestable than Insect Brain 1.0.
Previously, she had fallen for Insect Brain’s various tools and words.
But during her days of confinement in the Insect Clan’s camp, Bai Yan had thought deeply.
This world works on the principle of self-interest.
If they made her suffer,
then no one deserved to live well.
Not Insect Brain, not the Terminal, not Xiao Jinsheng.
Listening to Bai Yan’s questioning, Insect Brain wanted to roll its eyes.
Back then, it indeed wanted to bind Xiao Jinsheng.
But it couldn’t bind her.
Instead, it had discovered Bai Yan, a human with a unique constitution, one who came with an automatic resurrection ability.
After disguising itself as a system, Insect Brain 1.0 only needed to provoke Bai Yan’s internal sense of inferiority when compared with Xiao Jinsheng,
thus stirring envy in Bai Yan’s heart and turning the two from friends into foes.
In retrospect, Insect Brain 1.0 had done a brilliant job at this.
But, naturally, Insect Brain couldn’t let Bai Yan know the truth.
It coldly said, "According to the trajectory of this world, you should have been the protagonist of this world."
"But you, yourself, fell short."
"So who’s to blame?" Insect Brain callously continued, "This is something you should reflect on yourself."
Bai Yan angrily turned her head, finding it utterly pointless to converse further with Insect Brain.
But the task she had agreed upon with Insect Brain still needed to be carried out.
Bai Yan selectively picked out Jin Ao and Qing Zelin from her Beast Husbands and had them leave.
Qing Zelin, ever obliging, immediately started packing his things as soon as he received the task to head to Mist West and gather Star Stones.
Jin Ao grabbed Bai Yan and furrowed his brows, objecting: "At a time , how can we separate?"
If they parted ways, he would never feel at ease leaving Bai Yan surrounded by insects.
"Jin Ao, Star Stones are essential for upgrading my superpowers. I trust you the most," Bai Yan privately consoled him.
She grasped Jin Ao’s large hand tightly, slipping a piece of paper into his palm without drawing attention.
With a pitiful tone, she said, "Please go and collect as many Star Stones as you can for me. Only by completing this mission can we gain our freedom."
"Bai Yan..." Jin Ao hesitated.
But feeling the paper in his palm, suspicion welled in his heart.
They were being entirely monitored by the Insect Clan here.
For Bai Yan to act this way, she must have a secret mission for him to carry out.
After thinking for some time, Jin Ao nodded and agreed.
Still, as he prepared to leave, he couldn’t stop worrying about Bai Yan’s safety. He warned the others, "While I’m away, protect her with your lives."
"Bai Yan, don’t worry. I’ll gather enough Star Stones and come back for you soon," Jin Ao said with reluctance.
Watching Jin Ao and Qing Zelin’s receding figures for a long time, Bai Yan finally turned back.
Clutching a Purification Tree, Jin Ao, upon stepping into Mist West, subtly distanced himself from Qing Zelin and carefully checked the contents of the paper Bai Yan had given him.
It contained just one short line: Tell Xiao Jinsheng to rescue us. I have something she wants.
Jin Ao’s eyes immediately widened in disbelief.
Ask Xiao Jinsheng to save them?
Thinking of Xiao Jinsheng’s cruel nature,
Jin Ao shook his head.
Expect Xiao Jinsheng to save them? That was utterly impossible.
He turned back, ready to find Bai Yan, but just then, he came across another group of injured humans entering Mist West.
They were two families.
Two females, each with three Beast Husbands.
Eight people in total.
The moment they saw Jin Ao, they immediately became alert.
But upon realizing that Jin Ao and Qing Zelin were humans, they heaved a sigh of relief.
Clutching their Purification Trees, they sat weakly on the ground, panting.
One of the Beastified Golden Tiger men asked Jin Ao, "You’re heading to Mist Base too?"
"Mist Base?" Jin Ao was confused.
At that moment, he and Qing Zelin seemed like outsiders, long secluded and out of touch with the times.
Unable to bear Jin Ao’s cluelessness, Qing Zelin nodded on his behalf. "Yes, we’re planning to head there."
"You too?" Qing Zelin inquired.
"Yeah, all of us," the Golden Tiger man nodded while tugging on a mantis leg in his hand.
The families had initially been forced to the west of the Mist by the Insect Clan.
Coincidentally, the world’s consciousness had awakened, distributing and binding Intelligent Brains.
But unlike other survivors, they hadn’t immediately chosen to teleport to Mist Base.
Instead, through the Intelligent Brain, they learned that the Insect Clan couldn’t enter the Poisonous Fog.
They treated the Poisonous Fog as a protective barrier, deliberately hunting lone Insect Clan members near Mist West’s borders.
Insect Clan corpses could all be exchanged for Star Coins through the Intelligent Brain.
These two families believed that even if they reached Mist Base, the world’s consciousness wouldn’t support them for free. They’d still need to earn currency for resources.