Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

Chapter 535: Chapter 176 Experience_2

The Insect Queen occupied the Space Station, emptied almost all the food in its warehouse, and then went into hibernation for over thirty years.

Until the day Chen Ming awoke from the cryogenic hibernation pod.

What happened during that period was something Chen Ming knew very well.

Especially when he saw from the Insect Queen’s perspective that it took only two days to directly cultivate hundreds of Bubble Insects, Chen Ming once again confirmed just how strong the evolution abilities of the Insect Race were.

However, after discovering the Insect Race had Bubble Insects, he no longer approached the Space Station.

So, the events afterward still required looking at the Insect Queen’s memory.

After Chen Ming left, the Insect Queen had a large group of insects staring toward the direction of Chen Ming’s spaceship for more than half a month.

The outcome was naturally fruitless.

During these days, the insects began frequent trips to the dock, entering and exiting those few spaceships that were basically already damaged but not completely destroyed, parked in the dock.

Then, one day, the Insect Queen personally took action.

Its bloated and ungainly form was transported by insects on the Space Station to the most intact civilian spacecraft among them.

A few days later, the spaceship was fully covered by the insects’ proliferations, and the ship was assimilated into their nest.

Subsequently, the Insect Queen learned how to start the spaceship.

Although operations on modern civilian spacecraft have been simplified to the point where not much professional knowledge is needed to pilot them, the Insect Queen learning it in this manner still surprised Chen Ming.

However, thinking it through, the hive mind of a species that operates in swarms, with increasing numbers enhancing intelligence, doesn’t seem out of question.

In summary, the Insect Queen resided within the interiors of the spaceship, staying put for a week.

In the meantime, endless streams of insects brought spaceship fuel and various proliferative substances along with many bright green gel-like materials, presumably the Thorn Insect Race’s insect glue, a type of insect food, to the spaceship.

Meanwhile, other insects gradually dismantled the other more severely damaged ships, transporting many materials and equipment from them to the ship where the Insect Queen resided.

A few more days passed, and the proliferations on the exterior of the spaceship where the Insect Queen resided gradually peeled off.

Though blemished, a spaceship where almost all damages had been repaired in the insects’ way appeared on the Space Station.

Chen Ming remembered choosing Iron Ore No., because the other ships were too dilapidated and fragile to offer any possibility of maintenance.

He never expected those ships, which he deemed beyond repair, could be maintained by these insects.

Even, after those proliferations outside were peeled off.

The Insect Queen spent a few days sending all the insects on the Space Station into the thirty-meter-long civilian spaceship.

The total number of insects on the Space Station could be thousands, all squeezed into a single spaceship.

Of course, physically, that wasn’t possible, so the Insect Queen used a special method.

It re-digested and absorbed all these insects, transforming them into highly concentrated nutrients stored on the spaceship.

Leaving only some insects that evolved over two days after Chen Ming came over flying the spaceship to harass, capable of short-distance space flight, on standby.

Utilizing the nutrients rebounded from a large number of insects as well as the biomass converted from spacecraft fuel beforehand on the Space Station.

The Insect Queen very clumsily managed this spaceship, slowly flying out of the Star System, and barely boosted by the still-functioning engine.

Like Chen Ming once before, the Insect Queen managed to reach 99% light speed with a civilian spaceship, heading towards another barren and undeveloped Star System closer to the Empire’s interior, apart from Chen Ming.

Before entering the Star System, the spaceship began sending distress signals controlled by the Insect Queen.

And this actually attracted a spaceship.

Coincidentally, the people on this spaceship were also pirates.

The pirates first controlled this strange unscannable spaceship, and sent people aboard.

Then, they experienced what could be described as a horror movie.

In short, afterward, the Insect Queen spent several days in space transferring spaceships again.

Then, they directly activated the Superspace Navigation System and entered Superspace.

Chen Ming didn’t know how the Insect Queen managed it, but it entered anyway.

The Insect Queen piloted the new spaceship into Superspace, maneuvering clumsily like a novice spaceship pilot, flying beyond numerous Star Systems toward the Empire’s exterior.

The Insect Queen’s speed was not fast because it needed to adapt.

And needed to do some tasks.

During this process, it gradually became proficient in spaceship controls.

And constantly discarded parts of the spaceship into the Superspace.

Those components voluntarily discarded were replaced by biological tissue evolved by the Insect Queen itself.

Starting with the most basic armor replacements, then weapons, gradually moving onto various basic structures and facilities within the interior.

From equipment that wasn’t critical for losses, to the spaceship’s most crucial central control, progressively replaced by the Insect Queen’s own Insect Race ”brain.”

Discarded along with the spaceship’s central control were the lines ferrying data within, replaced by neural bundles extending from the Insect Queen.