Chapter 912. Hornet Queen’s Return!

Chapter 912: Chapter 912. Hornet Queen’s Return!

Xakira sat inside Sarluce’s control room as they neared her own Empire’s capital world. Seeing the familiar world in the distance, a flicker of emotion crossed her usual calm insectoid eyes. ’I’ve been away for quite a long time.’

While it had not been a century, her time in the Golden Sap Empire had been longer than that. ’It’s thanks to Liu Shu’s time manipulation. Otherwise, even with my influence, this place might’ve fallen or changed hands.’

She had managed to keep control by telling the people in this world that she had long achieved <Second Ascension> strength. With that information, many of her daughters who had wanted to usurp the throne while she was away held back and began accumulating strength.

Some of the talented ones had already reached Level 199 and were tackling the Level 200 hurdle. ’If I had been about a decade or two late, those ambitious girls might’ve taken over already.’

It was not a bad thing. As the Hornet Queen, Xakira was quite proud of those daughters. She had also usurped her current throne from her previous mother by killing her. It was a matter of culture and how their empire became quite strong in a relatively short time.

Only because there were no active True World Trees in their empires, many of the worlds were quite fragile. So, conflicts usually happened in the void above the planet.

Sarluce spoke in a surprised tone. Her mature voice reached Xakira. "Commander Xakira’s world is quite beautiful. What are those structures?"

Around the world, structures similar to beehives could be found floating like satellites. These structures were fortresses and other types of defensive structures. As mentioned before, Xakira had even managed to repel <Second Ascension> powerhouses while she was at Level 199.

Her talent and strength were high, but not enough to bridge that gap without aid. These fortresses helped in that regard. They could channel strength into someone for a short duration, among many other functions.

"I will speak a bit more in detail about them later. While I know what they are, I am completely unaware of how they are built. At least, the details escape me. So, I had not chance to share it with Liu Shu until now. I am sure that if the Moon Soul Lignified Fortresses merge with a few of them, new <Ascension> paths will open."

Sarluce asked. "Can I have one?"

Xakira was surprised. "They are different from a starship, though. Are you sure?"

Sarluce hummed and affirmed. "Yeah. I feel that I will unlock something nice if I swallow one of them. Moreover, while they are Fortresses, their size is not much larger than mine."

That was true. While the Moon Soul Lignified Fortresses were incredibly massive, measuring over 100 kilometers on average, the fortresses built by Xakira’s society were only around 15 kilometers in radius at the widest zones. Sarluce’s length as a Mothership-Class starship matched that size.

"Well, these resources will fall into Liu Shu’s hands, so ask your mother later. She knows you better than I, and if you want something, I doubt your mother will keep it from you. Is there any of them that caught your eye?"

"That one."

Sarluce activated a harmless laser and pointed at one of the orbiting "beehives."

"Got it. I’ll make sure that one is safeguarded until Liu Shu decides what to do with it."

They spoke as such because they had left Liu Shu’s domain to approach first. No matter how fast Liu Shu’s expansion rate was, she couldn’t match the speed of the Star Reaching Starships.

Since this place was not a dangerous zone, Xakira and the other two kings guided the armies under their command and moved to their capital worlds to prepare everything for Liu Shu’s arrival.

Sarluce spoke. "Energy readings detected."

One of the people in the control room supplemented the readings that Sarluce’s sensors showed. "The fortresses are gathering energy and entering an offensive state. Commander Xakira, what do we do?"

"Ignore them." Xakira smiled disdainfully. "Do they think they can damage our Sarluce’s shields? Hehe."

Sarluce answered with a happy tone. "I will follow the Commander! Mothership-Class Star Reaching Starship, Sarluce, is advancing."

Her massive engines lit up, and her figure detached from the fleet, moving ahead at incredibly swift speed. Soon, the beehive-type space fortress activated and fired several energy cannons toward Sarluce.

Sarluce deployed her shields and strengthened them, tanking everything head-on.

BOOM!!

The people in the control room squinted slightly, but their eyes were locked onto the shield’s integrity.

"...Total energy lost under 0.001%."

Xakira burst into laughter. "As expected. Our Sarluce is very powerful. Drive close to the fortress while showing a hologram of myself, darling."

Sarluce buzzed happily at the praise. "Understood!"

Meanwhile, in the fortress, the people in charge of the defensive layer were confused, stunned, and fearful. The hornetkin looked around and asked, utterly bewildered. "Where did this fleet come from?"

"We didn’t detect them until they were only 5 million kilometers away from our capital world? How is that even possible?"

Five million sounded like a lot, but in space, that distance could be covered in ten minutes with absolutely no strain for even a Level 150 Starship.

Sarluce’s powerful engines pushed the mountain-dwarfing starship while they panicked, and in a few seconds, her massive figure arrived near the fortress. Even though the fortress was supposed to be large enough to hold starships and other large structures, Sarluce’s size was almost larger than it.

The sight of the gargantuan starship left the hornetkin inside trembling. Thankfully, a message echoed throughout the entire fortress when the people in charge noticed Xakira’s hologram projected above Sarluce’s bow.

"Do not fret. Empress Xakira has returned, and this starship belongs to her. Please, return to your daily duties."

Xakira’s voice boomed out of Sarluce. "Communicate with the palace and tell them to stop all defensive measures in the following worlds."

She then listed several worlds and Solar Systems Liu Shu was ready to take over.

An advisor by Xakira’s side asked, confused. "Will such a message work?"

Xakira smiled. "Not for now. Once we land and I show my might, they will agree even if they don’t want to. Our race is very respectful of the strong, and as they are, Sarluce alone could probably crush all the hornetkin armies I’ve gathered."

It was not an exaggeration. After seeing Sarluce fight, Xakira truly believed that no amount of under-Level 200 individuals could take her down. The shields regenerated at a ridiculous pace, the armament was precise, and she could deploy anti-crowd weaponry. Even if they used tactics to gather strength, Sarluce’s main cannon could blow up a world with ease, not to mention them.

’Moreover, if Sarluce enters her Destruction Mode, things would finish even quicker.’

Shaking her head with a slightly forlorn smile, Xakira watched as Sarluce drove into the world and deployed ternary essence magnetic hovering devices to support her weight against the world’s gravitational pull. Even with her size, Sarluce flew in the air with little to no effort.

The only changes were energy consumption and a more natural sense of gravity pulling everyone down. One person spoke. "Sarluce’s energy reserves are depleting slowly. At this rate, Sarluce will need to leave the atmosphere and fly into orbit to recover in 5 months, 13 days, and 16 hours."

Xakira nodded. "Once the core individuals and I fly out of Sarluce, you can return to orbit and join the rest of the fleet. When Liu Shu arrives, she will summon a Moon Soul Lignified Fortress for Sarluce and the others to rest.

Sarluce spoke in a solemn tone. "Mothership-Class Sarluce will keep the skies safe, Commander Xakira. If you need orbital bombardment in a certain zone, please communicate with us."

A short burst of laughter escaped her. "You can do that?"

"Control is something Mother taught us when developing. We can bombard worlds without destroying the atmosphere with focused laser weapons and obliterate small areas off the map."

Xakira smiled. "That’s reassuring. I’ll be going, then."

The Hornet Queen, together with many other hornetkin, Sylvans, and other species, flew down toward the palace. It was impossible to miss the giant floating starship, so everyone was already prepared.

When she arrived, she saw thousands of hornetkin waiting for her. They all buzzed their wings loudly as a respectful greeting and spoke at once. "We gracefully accept the return of the Empress! We hope your reign is eternal, and no force will defeat you for ten thousand years!"

Xakira nodded faintly, her atmosphere turning solemn. While she had spent most of her time at a leisure in the Golden Sap Empire, Xakira was a ruler through and through.

"Good job. I can’t see anything wrong at a glance, but I’ll be checking everything in detail later. I hope no one overstepped their bounds due to my absence."

Her compound, black eyes scanned everyone coldly, causing some people to stiffen. No matter if Xakira had managed to bring back a few messages, there were always bound to be people who didn’t believe it and wished to believe that something had happened to Xakira.

So, Xakira would need to clean house once she sat on her throne. Before that, though, there was a very important process she needed to complete.

Xakira flew down and landed in front of a wide and empty plaza. The ground was covered in scars and other traces, clearly left behind by battles. This was the Royal Challenge Arena, the place where other Hornetkin could come and challenge the reigning Empress to a duel of Life and Death.

One female hornetkin, around a head taller than Xakira, descended from the sky and landed with a loud thud. "You’ve been gone for far too long, Empress. Today is the day your seat will change owners. Today, I shall rip out your wings and use them as my royal mantle!"

Xakira was neither surprised nor angered. For the current her, everyone here was an existence she could crush at will. "You still have a chance to retreat, as you have not truly challenged me. Are you sure?"

Honestly, Xakira didn’t know this hornetkin, but the color of her insectoid parts and the shape of her wings were similar to her own. So, she was most likely one of her many daughters. After staying in the Golden Sap Empire for so long, Xakira had come to love her daughters more than she did before.

Still, if the other side was stubborn, they would stop being a family member and become enemies. Against an enemy, Xakira would spare no mercy and act ruthlessly.

The nameless daughter snorted, and her aura exploded. Xakira’s eyes flashed with a touch of surprise. ’...Second Ascension? She actually managed to surpass the hurdle by herself.’

The hornetkin smiled. "Do you still think you can defeat me? I’ve already reached the <Second Ascension>. Empress, I will repeat it. Today, your reign ends and mine begins."

Looking at the tall and beautiful hornetkin, Xakira smiled. "Impressive. If I were the me of the past, your words would’ve become truthful. Still... You are too weak."

BOOM!!

The world under Xakira’s feet whined as the entire atmosphere churned under her monstrous strength. In an instant, Xakira’s presence covered the capital city and far beyond, crushing the tall hornetkin’s aura. "Your talent will be needed. Surrender, child. Sadly for you, I’ve gotten far too strong to be challenged."

The tall hornetkin showed a horrified expression. "H-How? With your talent, you would’ve needed at least 300 more years to breach through the <Second Ascension>."

Xakira stepped forward, her wings buzzing for a second. In an instant, she appeared above the tall hornetkin. "I will explain later. First, surrender, child. Otherwise, I’ll have to go through with the duel and kill you."

The tall hornetkin looked up with an indignant face, but she perfectly understood the difference in strength between them. So, with a bitter tone, she looked down. "I... Surrender."

Xakira smiled and lowered her body, gently caressing the child’s long hair. "Good job, child. Follow me. Your strength will be needed from now on."