Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

As if the sky had collapsed, the twisted, giant insect hive was compressed and unable to move an inch.

Beneath the chitinous shell, fleshy tubes wriggled, trying to break free from this force, but could only continuously ooze viscous fluid under the pressure of psionic energy.

Hidden within this insect hive lies the true core of the swarm of killer bees: a collective consciousness that can freely transfer among countless offspring, much like the unification of all leaders of a civilization.

Lin Ziming's will descended, and his spiritual energy transformed into strands of silk, penetrating the insect nest like a spider web, sealing off every possible node of consciousness. Then he could clearly sense the panic of that consciousness.

It futilely crashed through the neural network of the hive, trying to find any gap through which it could escape, only to discover that the entire hive had been constructed into an insurmountable cage.

The queen bee's body convulsed violently deep within the nest. As the most intelligent individual in the colony, it naturally became the last refuge for the hive's mind.

This enormous creature's body was covered by a thick carapace. The ovipositor in its abdomen had long since ceased functioning, but now it was constantly expanding and contracting due to the forced intrusion of consciousness. Dark red blood vessels stood out beneath the carapace, like a group of venomous snakes coiling and mating.

The psychic torrent suddenly intensified, like surging magma rushing into the queen's central nervous system, directly piercing the consciousness residing in her body, like using a sharp blade to cut open a hard shell and extract the core.

The intense mental shock caused the hive mind to emit a silent roar, and countless chaotic information flows caused the swarm's sub-organisms to blindly lose their direction. As the central brain of a civilization, it was losing information.

The consciousness of the billions of offspring was originally controlled by the hive mind. These assets belonging to civilization were seized by Lin Ziming. He obtained the memory of the hive's migration across the starry sea, as well as records of countless devouring and evolution.

Lin Ziming's will remained as firm as a rock amidst this flood of memories. He traced back through this vast amount of information, pointing directly to the oldest and most core memory: the origin of this swarm of killer bees.

The images of memory unfolded slowly in Lin Ziming's consciousness like faded film. On that planet, which was then warmly illuminated by the stars, terrestrial civilization had already quietly begun to sprout.

Life here evolved along the arid continent, where a lizard-like creature thrived in the plains and hills. It had no scales and its body was covered with thick fibrous skin, which could withstand the scorching heat of the day and the bitter cold of the night.

Their forelimbs have evolved flexible claws that can grasp rocks and plant fibers, while their hind limbs are strong and powerful, making them adept at running and jumping in rugged terrain.

As their populations grew, they gradually developed primitive communities and then embarked on a fast track of civilization, from polishing stone tools to smelting metals, from oral traditions to inventing writing, from tribal settlements to the rise of city-states. The spark of civilization burned ever brighter on this continent.

When they entered the Age of Discovery and crossed the mountain range in the center of the continent for the first time, they were shocked to discover a giant complex of buildings standing abruptly on the earth deep in the plains.

Even after millions of years of weathering, the regular geometric outlines are still visible, resembling a giant beast crouching among the distant mountains. The aesthetically pleasing buildings bear sacred emblems that reflect a faint luster in the sunlight.

This discovery shook the entire civilization. They regarded it as the abode of the gods, but limited by the technology of the time, their curiosity and awe of the unknown were passed down as myths from generation to generation.

It wasn't until civilization entered the information age and atomic energy began to provide a continuous source of power that they truly possessed the ability to organize large-scale explorations, or rather, they had enough courage and confidence to break through the limitations of theology.

An expedition team, equipped with the most advanced equipment, set off without awe of boundaries or rational restraint. Pure curiosity and a thirst for the unknown drove them ever deeper into the unknown.

This unrestrained exploration ultimately triggered an irreversible disaster. In the quiet of dawn, a blinding blue light shot into the sky from the center of the ruins, and a violent energy eruption suddenly descended.

It wasn't a destructive explosion, but rather a highly penetrating energy fluctuation, like an invisible tsunami sweeping across the entire continent. The energy penetrated the surface rock layers and seeped into the body of every individual in this civilization, as if it were a furnace that melted everything into one.

Their consciousness began to detach uncontrollably from their bodies, even colliding densely together and being forced to connect with each other. Their originally independent thoughts, like drops of water flowing into the ocean, gradually merged into a unified whole.

This fusion did not bring benefits; instead, it triggered intense mental conflict, with countless independent wills colliding and tearing each other apart in the same space of consciousness, bringing devastating pain.

The energy destroyed civilization while impacting the planet's structure. The continental shelf fractured amidst violent tremors, drifting and tilting like a broken eggshell.

The entire landmass sank at a visible speed, and huge cracks spread across the plains, swallowing up cities along the way. Seawater poured in from the edge of the continent, and surging waves submerged the low hills, sweeping the imperial buildings that stood on the surface into the deep sea.

The entire civilization disintegrated in a short period of time. At the moment of destruction, the collective consciousness that merged with countless souls, namely the Hive Mind, was swept into the vast sea of ​​stars by energy soaring into the sky.

At that time, the planet was not yet frozen, and the star still emitted a warm light. After the hive mind left, billions of years passed, and the star's core fuel gradually ran out. It began to shrink and cool down, eventually extinguishing itself into a cold black dwarf.

Without the light and heat of the star, the temperature on the planet's surface dropped sharply, the oceans froze into thick ice layers, the atmosphere gradually dissipated and became thin, and the originally habitable environment deteriorated completely.

Glaciers spread from the poles, covering the entire continent and ocean, burying all traces of civilization beneath the ice, leaving only an icy planet orbiting alone in the universe.

The hive mind began a long interstellar drift, enduring cosmic radiation, meteorite impacts, and energy depletion, until, after countless hours of drifting, it finally encountered organic matter.

Thus began a long race of life. It absorbed more and more organic matter, gained the ability to navigate autonomously, acquired biological genes on various planets, gradually evolved its offspring, and became more and more adapted to the space environment.

It learned to utilize stellar energy and various forms of organic matter. It split, evolved, and grew stronger, transforming from a weakened, dormant consciousness into a swarm of predatory bees that terrified civilizations.

Lin Ziming could never understand why the swarming pattern of the Hive Mind was so similar to that of the Zerg, or how that ability to merge consciousness came about. These unknown factors would remain eternal mysteries even for the Devouring Bee Swarm itself.

A hint of understanding flashed in his fiery eyes. The Killing Bees were not direct descendants of the Zerg, but the complexity of their origins far exceeded his imagination. What kind of connection existed between this fusion pattern and the will of the Zerg?

With her will withdrawing from the hive's thought process, the queen's body stopped convulsing and lay limp deep within the nest, as if she had lost all vitality.

The hive mind was completely stripped away. After losing its carrier, it turned into a faint wisp of light and mist, trapped in a cage constructed of psionic energy. Its form was maintained by psionic energy, and it could no longer connect with any of its sub-entities.

Lin Ziming stared at the cloud of light, a consciousness born from the death of civilization and unknown forces. Over the long years, it had long been devoured by the instinct for survival. However, the existence of the Hive Mind might still hide more secrets about the Empire.

"You are no longer the master of the swarm of bees," Lin Zimo's will was transmitted, "From now on, you will no longer be able to do evil. You will be my prisoner until the end of your life."

The Hive Mind emitted a faint fluctuation, seemingly indicating submission, but Lin Ziming ignored it and retracted the cage, like a dragon devouring a fist-sized pearl.

He released the psionic energy gripping the hive, and the colossal structure, now devoid of consciousness, drifted helplessly through space like a kite with a broken string.

The remaining swarm sub-units lost their command and became chaotic. The sub-units, now possessing free will, flew and fled aimlessly in space.

The combined fleet seized this opportunity to launch a final attack, with lasers and shells raining down, annihilating large swathes of these now harmless creatures.

A silver-white dragon flapped its wings in the starry sky, and Lin Ziming left the Hengxing system directly. The clues here had come to an end, and the imprisoned hive mind joined the sea of ​​souls in Lin Ziming's body, turning into a unique pendant.

It was as if beneath the dragon's wings lay the final destination of all, the place where death flowed back to its source.