Chapter Ninety-Seven: Collaboration with the Yinshui Clan

Seeing the two explosive spiders crawling rapidly toward the sea serpent, Ye Hai felt a jolt of alarm.

"This is big trouble. Have I been discovered?"
"The sea serpent still hasn't regained the ability to move..."
"What should I do?"

Ye Hai was truly conflicted. The Broodmother’s actions clearly indicated that she had noticed something amiss in his sector. It was likely caused by the large egg draining psionic energy. Yet, Ye Hai had no choice but to let the egg feed; otherwise, the sea serpent would never break free from this psionic web. However, he really did not want to fight these explosive spiders. If the commotion grew too loud and attracted the attention of the Water Elemental and the Broodmother, he would be trapped with no escape. Furthermore, even if he could defeat these spiders, if they were too close to the sea serpent, the resulting explosions could completely destroy it! Then he would truly be left without help from heaven or earth.

While Ye Hai stood there, lost in anxiety, the large egg cared nothing for Broodmothers or Water Elementals. If its blood vessels could only stretch so far, it would have surely attacked the Water Elemental and the Broodmother directly. Now that two psionic spiders had come within reach, the egg was overjoyed. Sensing the powerful psionic fluctuations within them, it immediately and stealthily extended several blood vessels from beneath the web, slithering toward the two spiders.

Strangely enough, the psionic web, which possessed high viscosity and durability, had no effect on the egg. It was fortunate that Ye Hai didn't notice, or he might have been scared out of his wits. Ye Hai, a man of lifelong caution, tried his best to avoid conflict, yet he never expected to have such a troublemaker by his side.

As the egg's blood vessels crept beneath the web and reached the underside of the explosive spiders, they suddenly lunged upward, piercing instantly into the spiders' abdomens. Almost immediately, the two spiders seemed to grow umbilical cords... and then they stood frozen in place, motionless.

"Ding! Essence Collector incubation time reduced by 7 days..."
"Ding! Essence Collector incubation time reduced by 7 days..."
"..."
"???"

Ye Hai was stunned. He looked down abruptly and saw the two blood vessels extending from beneath the web, connected to the bodies of the spiders. Ye Hai couldn't help but gulp.

"Good grief, there really isn't a single normal thing in our Corpse Collector organization! Not to mention those Corpse Collectors themselves, not one of them is normal... even raising an egg, it turns out to be a troublemaker!"
"Is this what they call 'newborn calves not fearing the tiger'?"
"No... this thing is still an egg, it hasn't even hatched yet... and it already dares to provoke psionic creatures like this..."

Reflecting on the dangerous situation he was currently in, wasn't it all caused by this bastard egg? Seeing two top-tier psionic creatures battling in the depths of the earth, he had been trembling like a leaf, walking on thin ice! And this... this egg was actually having a feast... It was truly unfair. As expected, any egg with blood vessels on its surface was nothing but trouble!

Fortunately, after being invaded by the egg, the two psionic spiders stood there dumbly, just like the psionic infected he had seen before. The constant "seven days, seven days..." echoing in Ye Hai's mind made him wonder if the system had started charging for advertising. Although this incident helped Ye Hai understand the method to accelerate the Essence Collector's incubation, after two instances of acceleration—one on the surface and one underground—it had only reduced the time by a few months.

For an incubation period spanning 156 years, this was merely a drop in the bucket. Moreover, psionic creatures were not easy to find. Small, three-meter-tall human-faced spiders on the surface only provided a few minutes of acceleration each; it was barely meaningful. Coming underground allowed for daily acceleration, but Ye Hai knew clearly that this was due to the difference in psionic intensity. The two creatures before him were likely the most powerful psionic entities in the entire galaxy. Unless he could absorb them, Ye Hai doubted he would live long enough to complete the Zerg technology tree.

As the large egg continued to drain energy from the explosive spiders, Ye Hai felt a prickling sensation. He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the eight eyes atop Broodmother Lilith's head were scanning the sea serpent from time to time. She didn't seem to be putting her full focus on fighting her powerful enemy. This feeling made Ye Hai’s heart race.

"Is she really that vindictive?"
"I only absorbed a tiny bit of her psionic energy..."
"But with a formidable enemy right in front of her, she's still keeping an eye on me?"
"Isn't she afraid of suffering a major loss?"
"Is this a standard female trait?"

Watching the battle between the two psionic entities, Ye Hai couldn't help but frown. He had the distinct feeling that Broodmother Lilith was up to something devious. Looking at the current situation, although the Water Elemental found it difficult to take down the Broodmother quickly, it was definitely holding the upper hand! Every move the Broodmother made, whether summoning explosive spiders or manipulating gravity, was easily dodged by the Water Elemental. In contrast, every time the Water Elemental attacked by transforming into countless droplets, a portion would inevitably break through the Broodmother's defenses and land on her massive body, followed by an explosion of intense cold. In an instant, a piece of the Broodmother’s tissue would be frozen, shattered, and sloughed off. Although the Broodmother was massive, she couldn't withstand constant, repeated injuries. Most importantly, the Broodmother seemed to have no effective means to counter the Water Elemental. At this rate, her defeat seemed only a matter of time.

Once again, the Broodmother summoned explosive spiders, though the number this time was clearly much smaller, perhaps due to excessive psionic depletion. Yet, Ye Hai’s intuition told him the Broodmother was still hiding something. Since the battle began, he had only seen her summoning creatures and using gravity. Even the lesser offspring on the surface could spit poison and weave webs... There was no reason for a leader of an Art-2 colony to only know these few basic tricks!

After observing for a while longer, Ye Hai began to doubt his own judgment. The Broodmother's attack pattern remained monotonous. However, this time, one of the newly summoned explosive spiders broke away from the group besieging the Water Elemental and charged toward Ye Hai with incredible speed from the dark edge of the web.

The large egg had already finished draining the previous two spiders, reducing the incubation time by over three months. Once their psionic energy was consumed, these explosive spiders, just like the psionic zombies Ye Hai first encountered, crumbled into dust. When the egg saw the new spider charging toward it, it was clearly excited, sending several more blood vessels slithering under the web, seemingly intending to repeat the process.

However, this time, when the egg's vessels surged out, the explosive spider proved exceptionally agile; it tilted its body slightly and easily dodged the ambush. The egg seemed frustrated that the duck had flown from its grasp. Hundreds of fine blood vessels shot out from the gaps in the sea serpent's mouth, attacking the explosive spider from above and below the web simultaneously.

Yet, this time, the explosive spider’s unprecedented agility left Ye Hai dumbfounded. While dodging the egg’s attacks with rapid movements, it continued to advance toward its target, its speed on the web completely unaffected. With a few nimble leaps, it jumped onto the sea serpent's body. Soon, under the spider's gnawing and the softening effect of its venom, a hole over ten meters wide was melted into the sea serpent's body. The explosive spider crawled right into the wound.

Ye Hai's face changed instantly. He had witnessed the destructive power of these psionic spiders. While they couldn't pose much threat to the cavern itself—which had been reinforced by the Broodmother's webs, otherwise the cavern would have long ago collapsed from the psionic blasts—the spider had now burrowed into the sea serpent. It quickly crawled toward the serpent's mouth. If it were to detonate here, the sea serpent's entire head would be blown to pieces, and even if Ye Hai survived, he would never make it back to the surface.

Ye Hai wore a grim expression, entering his G3 state and preparing for the worst. He prayed silently that the spider wouldn't just go for a suicidal blast. He had no way to stop it from self-destructing. However, when the spider reached Ye Hai, it neither attacked nor detonated. Instead, it stared straight at the Essence Collector's egg, seemingly filled with curiosity.

Just as Ye Hai was racking his brains on how to get rid of the spider before it detonated, it suddenly spoke.

"A seventh-stage mutant zombie that has developed intelligence?"
"An Ave-3 leader-level sea serpent? No, this sea serpent is man-made and hasn't evolved psionic energy; otherwise, an Ave-3 of this size wouldn't be unable to break free from my psionic web."
"And a strange egg capable of devouring psionic energy? And this egg carries a scent of Art-3 that I am familiar with?"
"What a bizarre combination, full of mystery."

Hearing the explosive spider's voice, which was identical to Broodmother Lilith's, Ye Hai suddenly understood: these psionic spiders produced by the Broodmother were like her extensions, capable of relaying vision and even sharing her thoughts. This ability had not been displayed at all during the battle with the Water Elemental. As expected... Lilith was hiding her strength! What was she planning? All her current actions seemed to be... stalling for time?

Before Ye Hai could figure out the Broodmother's motive, the explosive spider continued:

"Since this strange egg can devour my psionic energy..."
"I imagine it can devour Asli's as well..."
"In that case, we have a foundation for cooperation."
"In a moment, I will forcibly sever Asli's body so he cannot coalesce!"
"I will strike half of his body toward this location."
"Use this egg to devour the psionic energy within Asli's body..."
"If you succeed... I will let you go!"

Ye Hai's eyes lit up. Devouring the main body of the Water Elemental Asli... how much would that accelerate the incubation?