While Arcturus and Augustus were conversing, an entire company of fully armed Revolution Army soldiers entered the research station. They carried Hellfire flamethrowers and portable rocket launchers, with enough firepower to blast apart an Arclite Tank.
The heavily armed Revolution Army soldiers spread out in front of Augustus and the others, forming a broad arc as they advanced toward the retreating Hydralisk.
"I keep Kerrigan from too much contact with the Zerg for her own sake. If she hadn't been unwilling to stay far from me, I wouldn't even have brought her here," Augustus patiently explained his reasoning to his elder brother Arcturus.
"I think, compared to the benefits of controlling the Zerg, that risk is negligible," Arcturus said, looking at Augustus. He realized that his brother had never cared about any woman—though, to be fair, Arcturus had never seen any other woman by Augustus's side either.
For a moment, Arcturus fell silent in thought. Deep down, he was selfish; altruism was something that would never be associated with his life. To him, apart from family, there was nothing that could not be sacrificed in pursuit of a goal.
"I respect your decision. Even without relying on Kerrigan to control the Zerg, we can still defeat the Confederacy's army."
At last, Arcturus repeated what he had always said to Augustus.
"At least for now, I won't let her attempt to control them," Augustus said.
"You'll know when the time is right," Arcturus replied. "To exact my revenge on the Terran Confederacy, I don't mind waiting a little longer."
"Only when I see the enemy's bodies torn apart will I be satisfied—nothing short of that will do," Arcturus said coldly, in the same tone he used when killing Kel-Morian men and pirates.
"Ah—!"
Suddenly, Kerrigan let out a sharp scream, staggering as she nearly fell to the ground.
And at that very moment, as if to confirm Augustus's words, the Hydralisk under her control once again let out a furious roar. It no longer retreated; its lantern-like orange-red eyes swept around the room, as though trying to remember every detail of its surroundings.
"A more powerful psionic being has overridden my control of the Hydralisk," Kerrigan said, her face pale. "I can feel that presence—but it's very far away, very far."
"What is it?" Raynor asked.
"The Overmind," said Augustus.
"Destroy it! Now!"
With a single command from Augustus, an entire special tactics unit of the Revolutionary Army equipped with heavy firepower immediately opened fire—C-10 shotguns, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers tore the uncontrolled Hydralisk apart.
In an instant, black-red blood, shattered molten armor plates, and severed limbs splattered everywhere. The nearby dissection tables and experimental platforms were blown into fragments at the same time.
"Overmind. What is that?" After watching the rampaging Hydralisk turn into a pile of pulp, Arcturus finally voiced the question everyone present wanted to ask. It was the first time any of them had heard that term, and clearly, the newly coined word carried a special meaning.
"The Overmind—the supreme leader of the Zerg." Augustus did not explain how he had learned of the term. The subordinates within the Revolutionary Army trusted every single thing Augustus did—even the smallest gesture held meaning. Even if he offered no explanation, they would seek answers through other means.
"Sounds more like the alpha wolf of a pack, or the queen of a hive. Primitive beasts follow the law of strength; naturally, there should be a leader." Arcturus agreed with that reasoning. But like many others, he still believed that the Zerg were merely a peculiar species among the primitive creatures humanity had encountered in the cosmos—how could beasts possibly possess intelligence equal to that of humans?
By comparison, it was the Protoss—those savage, cruel, and utterly incomprehensible beings—that humanity truly needed to beware of.
"If I'm not mistaken, that means just now there was a psionic insect that controlled this pitiful Hydralisk from who knows how far away." At this moment, Raynor turned his gaze toward the plasma containment cage within the research station that held another Hydralisk.
"Then why is this one fine?" Raynor gestured toward the Hydralisk that had just quieted down like a docile chicken after being injected with a potent sedative.
"That cage is equipped with psionic-blocking capabilities," Kerrigan said. "The Zerg Overmind cannot sense it."
Kerrigan brushed her long red hair aside, still shaken. The Overmind that Augustus spoke of possessed psionic power far beyond her imagination—and what had just manifested was only the tip of the iceberg.
"What else did you sense?" Augustus turned to look at Kerrigan then, his expression one she had never seen before—utterly serious. "Did it notice you?"
"How do you feel? Any discomfort?" He fired off a series of questions.
"I don't think so," Kerrigan said hesitantly. "In that instant, I just felt a stronger psionic being push my consciousness out of the Hydralisk's mind."
"I feel fine now."
"Then things haven't reached the worst point yet," Augustus said after a moment of silence. "Do not attempt to control the Zerg again—unless I order you to."
If the Overmind had failed to successfully read Kerrigan's mind, then it would be unable to learn Umoja's coordinates. But history's lessons reminded Augustus that Kerrigan held extraordinary significance to the Overmind, and he could not help but worry that the Zerg Swarm's arrival in the Koprulu Sector might be accelerated because of this.
Even so, the Zerg would reach the Koprulu Sector sooner or later. If they arrived a few years ahead of schedule because of this incident, the already turbulent Koprulu would likely plunge into even greater chaos. When that time came, it would not only be the Zerg arriving—the Protoss of Aiur, obsessed with burning and purging all Zerg, would arrive right on cue as well.
For the Revolutionary Army, it was hard to say this would necessarily be a bad thing. Up to this day, although Augustus had achieved inspiring victories on several planets, it was still impossible for the Revolutionary Army's fleet to defeat the vast Federal Navy.
Even the original Arcturus Mengsk had fought guerrilla warfare for more than a decade, remaining stuck in small-scale skirmishes, and the Terran Confederacy had never suffered any serious losses.
"Director Brova, I need you to explain this matter." When Augustus thought of the devastation that would come with the Swarm's arrival, he felt a wave of disgust. But the coming of the Zerg was inevitable—they would come, and Augustus could not stop it.
For now, Augustus still had to focus on the immediate problem. The incident just now showed that the modifications to the Cerberus Swarm remained quite unstable, and whether this issue could be resolved would determine whether the project was worth continued funding.
Even across tens of millions of light-years, the Overmind could seize control of any Zerg within an instant, gaining access to their senses and perception—as if the other Zerg were mere extensions of its will. If this problem could not be solved, then no matter how many Zerg the Cerberus Program modified, in the end they would only be sewing wedding garments for the Overmind.
"This was an accident." The smooth-tongued former Cerberus executive, Brova, had already prepared his explanation in the few minutes just passed. He himself was also an accomplished biologist.
"The Zerg are a species in which a few higher consciousnesses control numerous lower-tier members of their race. The higher Zerg use psionics to command vast but low-intelligence broods such as Zerglings and Hydralisks," he said.
"We had considered such a possibility, but we did not anticipate that the Zerg's higher consciousness could control this Hydralisk from such an incredible distance. You must understand—even photons lose energy and velocity while traveling through space. Yet psionics can span such distances and arrive in an instant."
"Psionics truly are a mysterious power. The Zerg leader uses psionics to command its species just as we remotely operate drones and missiles."
"Have you thought of how to resolve this issue?" Augustus asked, frowning.
"As long as we implant psionic-blocking devices within the mechanical neural systems controlling the Zerg, that control can be cut off," Brova said confidently. "I can assure you, such a problem will never occur again."
"I can tolerate failure in a field we have never ventured into—but that does not mean I can tolerate incompetence." Augustus asked, "How much do you currently know about the Zerg psionic organisms?"
"The currently known Zerg psionic species is an enormous floating organism. It uses helium bladders to suspend itself in the air, and its maximum length can exceed 40 m." Brova exhaled in temporary relief.
"In a report from the Terran Confederacy's xenobiological researchers, we found the following description: the creatures that bring nightmares are themselves a sweeping nightmare. They appeared without warning and attacked one colonial settlement after another on Rhine XII. The signs preceding every attack were strikingly similar—giant floating organisms emerging from the clouds, while alien creatures surged from all directions toward human habitation."
"Subsequent dissections of the captured floating Zerg organism confirmed that its unique brain structure was highly complex, with neural networks interwoven throughout its entire body. This distinctive cerebral architecture granted it unparalleled psionic transmission and propagation capabilities. It is currently the only known Zerg lifeform possessing psionic abilities, and researchers believe that within the Zerg species, there must exist even higher-level psionic entities," he explained.
"Our studies on certain samples of this floating organism also point to another unheard-of possibility—that long ago, they might not have been part of the Zerg at all."
"You mean this thing and the other Zerg were originally two completely unrelated species?" Raynor interjected.
"Yes. Hydralisks and Zerglings are also entirely different creatures. The Zerg's genetic sequences are chaotic and disordered; the Hydralisk alone possesses organs and gene strands from seven or eight different species. Some lineages and subspecies even carry genes from lifeforms native to the Koprulu Sector, while the Zergling's DNA comes from an even greater variety of organisms," Brova said.
"In other words, the Zerg have been continuously absorbing and assimilating other species, extracting what they consider superior genetic traits. For instance, they could easily graft membrane wings and sturdy scale-claws onto a Koprulu horned lizard and produce a dragon."
"Then do the Zerg contain human genes as well? After all, they've encountered humans," Arcturus asked. The curiosity that had lain dormant in his heart for many years was once again stirred.
"In the Zerg samples we've encountered so far, there's been no such case," Brova replied.
"Maybe they just find human genes too worthless to bother with—since we're weak as hell," Raynor shrugged, not realizing that his offhand remark might be closer to the truth than anyone thought.
"Monsters indeed… hard to believe the frontier colonies could even deal with creatures like these," he sighed.
"In our research on the Zerg, we're still at the very beginning. Be careful with these monsters—their intelligence may far exceed our imagination." Augustus suddenly waved his hand, calling over Corporal Faraday, who was still handling the aftermath, and informed him that he was preparing to leave.
Everyone could sense that Augustus was not particularly satisfied. Naturally, no one could remain in good spirits after watching a single Hydralisk smash an array of expensive experimental equipment to pieces.
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