StarCraft: Everyone wants the Queen

So, where is that cargo hold that man mentioned...?

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Shen Qingqing quietly pushed open the door and slipped out.

I'll go scout out the location today. If nothing unexpected happens, she should be able to leave this place completely by tomorrow night.

As soon as Shen Qingqing left the room, two shadows appeared on the curtains.

"Do you think Qingqing is in here?"

Vina looked at the empty room with some suspicion; it didn't seem like anyone had ever lived there.

This place looks like an underground warehouse or something.

Judging from the exterior coating alone, this spaceship is obviously expensive; surely they wouldn't lock hostages here.

"There's a very strong pheromone scent here." Fourteen closed his eyes and stopped in a corner.

In the corner lay a broken iron cage, its shape shattered beyond recognition.

"And the pheromones inside are the strongest, and they smell green."

Fourteen's words were like a bolt from the blue, and Vina covered her mouth in disbelief.

Will Qingqing ever be locked in such a small cage?

How big is one cubic meter?

There's barely any room to move her arms and legs. How is Qingqing supposed to live in here?!

"Could it be that you smelled it wrong..." Vina still didn't believe it.

But Fourteen squatted down and picked up some iron filings from the edge of the long-abandoned iron cage.

"I can say with absolute certainty, no, there's no mistake, it's definitely her pheromones inside."

“I smelled her pheromones when I was in the fourth star system. Although they were faint, they were very distinctive. Judging from the concentration of pheromones remaining here, she must have stayed here for at least a while.”

Using the tools at their disposal, Vina and Fourteen pried open the window and crawled in. Having grown up in the rainforest, this little trick was no problem for them.

While it's possible to sneak in using skill, restoring the deck intact is no easy task.

So when they restored the deck, they just missed Shen Qingqing, who was passing by.

And because we were going in the opposite direction, we never encountered it.

"I just don't know why, but I always feel that her pheromones are getting stronger and stronger."

Fourteen voiced his doubts.

He clearly remembered smelling a faint pheromone scent, similar to the fragrance of some kind of flower, when he brought her back.

Tempting, yet fleeting.

It vanished as if it were an illusion.

One of the reasons he initially targeted her was because the pheromones she carried were quite strong at the time.

"Oh, forget about all this pheromones. Can you smell where Qingqing is right now?"

Vina didn't care whether Shen Qingqing had any secrets or strange things like pheromones.

In her opinion, as long as Qingqing is alright, that's all that matters.

So he kept urging Fourteen, "My nose isn't very sensitive, you smell it more..."

Fourteen nodded, then began sniffing in the dark storage room.

Fourteen and Vina were still using scents to determine their location.

On the other side, Shen Qingqing had already begun to make markings.

Finding traces among a pile of discarded materials was a bit difficult; it took her quite a bit of effort to finally find the cardboard box from the nooks and crannies.

There is a faint triangular mark on the bottom of the cardboard box.

Shen Qingqing silently memorized the location, then put the items back in their original positions.

At the same time, she received a message from Ge Yuan on her personal terminal.

Ge Yuan: [Where are you? I can't find you in the room. Did you go out?]

Shen Qingqing replied: [Going out for some fresh air, I'm on the deck, I'll be back in a bit.]

Just after replying to Ge Yuan's message, the system, which had disappeared for a long time, suddenly reappeared and brought her a mission.

[Ta-da! Your system's Lao Ba is now online!]

[Host, are you there? I have good news for you, there's a mission!]

Old Eight opened his chicken beak and started babbling.

[Received from the main god these past two days; the main questline has been started, and the side quests have been released.]

[Task 1: Pay respects to Count Selit]

Deadline: 3:00 AM today

"Huh?" Shen Qingqing was completely confused.

"What greeting? What greeting?"

It's made to look like a Qing Dynasty palace drama.

Old Eight responded with a simple tap of his beak, a literal greeting, just a sentence.

[After asking the question, this side quest is considered complete.]

"Oh, right," Old Eight kindly reminded him, "there's still an hour until 3 AM, host, please prepare."

I pulled a bottle of perfume from the system shop and tossed it to her. [System compensation: Remember to wash up and spray on some perfume!]

A bottle of perfume was held in her hand, disheveled in the wind.

Isn't it supposed to be a midnight greeting? Why are you wearing perfume?

Never mind, the mission is the most important thing.

After regrouping, I suddenly realized something—

She forgot where Celit lived.

All I remember is that the room door was inlaid with countless relief murals and cat's-eye stones.

I know nothing else.

After hesitating for two seconds, I opened the contact panel on my computer.

The contact page prominently displays the names of two people.

Thanks to Ge Yuan for adding Serit's contact information for her last time, otherwise she wouldn't know how to find him now.

but……

Looking at the nickname Ge Yuan had given Celit, Shen Qingqing had something she didn't know whether she should say or not.

Why did she label Celit as "tofu dregs worm"?

I dialed the tofu dregs bug's quantum computer and am waiting...

At this moment, Celit was busy recording data in front of the petri dishes in the laboratory, and in order not to be disturbed, he had specially set the computer to silent mode. He did not notice the information popping up on the computer.

He simply wrote the word "failure" on the form seriously and solemnly.

As for quantum computers?

He didn't even look at it before taking it off and throwing it on the lab table.

Despite trying to call multiple times without getting an answer, Shen Qingqing remained unconcerned.

The spaceship laboratories were almost all in the same area, and even if she had to climb, she could find out which one was Celeste's room.

More than twenty minutes passed.

Having circled back to the same spot, Shen Qingqing's face showed visible panic.

There are less than 30 minutes left until the mission deadline.

She did try to contact Ge Yuan during this time, but the other party seemed to be busy, and the computer indicated that the call might last for an hour.

So after leaving a message on the computer to send out the location, I continued to explore.

Time passed quickly. I had expected some kind of punishment, but apart from being a little thirsty, I had almost no adverse reactions.

Shen Qingqing pushed open a door, intending to go in and rest for a while, and also to find some water to drink.

After walking for more than an hour, my throat felt like it was on fire, and I was extremely thirsty.

Trying her best to calm her breathing, Shen Qingqing took a disposable paper cup from beside the water purifier and prepared to fill it with some water.

I don't know why, but I always feel that the weather is a bit hot.

Drinking water did not alleviate the symptoms at all, and Shen Qingqing began to suspect that she might have a fever or a cold.

She was completely unaware that an unnatural flush had appeared on her face.

Unconsciously, I opened my mouth slightly and breathed rapidly, feeling very hot and uncomfortable.

What's wrong with her?