"So the Thirteenth Division is staying in Wu City just to buy you time?!"

Lin Feng nodded.

"Besides that, it also allows us to better understand the High-tier Mother Empresses and prepare to kill them."

"If this Slaughter Realm Trial is successful, you, me, and Ling Yi—the three of us—will be strong enough to challenge and kill a Tier Three Early Stage Zerg Race Mother Empress..."

"To turn the tide of this one-sided defeat for humanity!"

"This is also one of the reasons I insisted on coming here, despite the objections."

Hearing their explanation, Shen Jie suddenly felt the weight on his shoulders grow heavier, as if some sense of mission was pushing him forward.

After a long silence, he spoke in a low voice:

"Thank you. In that case, the only remaining problem is how to completely detonate this massive volcano without harming ourselves..."

Shen Jie pointed to the band of poisonous miasma halfway up the mountain. The rock layer there was far from thin—at least five hundred meters thick—and it was all Obsidian, with a hardness three to four times that of normal rock. The question was how to detonate it all at once...

This became the next challenge.

Lin Feng’s brow furrowed. Using the Electromagnetic Cannon for a long-range bombardment, even with full Firepower Coverage, wouldn’t be enough to destroy the entire volcano.

At best, it would only blast a large hole, allowing the scorching magma accumulated inside to erupt and flow out. However, not only would this fail to destroy the volcano, but it would actually lower its internal pressure, making it even more stable.

As this thought occurred to them, both men turned their gaze to the woman behind them.

Ling Yi’s lips curved into a slight smile:

"It seems you two need a crash course in geology. It’s very important, before becoming a Cosmic Life."

"A volcano, as a source for releasing the Earth Core’s thermal energy, doesn’t just have the raised crater on the surface as its only release point."

"You can think of it like a Zerg Race nest. The surface is just the tip of the iceberg; underground, there are complex branches like tree roots."

"The volcano is just the main conduit, the primary valve, responsible for more than half of the heat release. But around it are other vents that release the other half."

"You’ve been here for several months..."

"You must have come across terrain that looked like these branch vents, right?"

Seeing the two men turn their gazes back to him, Shen Jie lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

It had been over a month since his last revival, and to mitigate the influence of the Slaughter Realm, he had been consciously choosing to forget his past experiences within the Mental Realm.

He only allowed himself to remember a few key things.

Like killing the King Spine Zerg, escaping... and getting back to see Zhang Liying...

Now, being asked to recall his memories of the volcano’s periphery, he couldn’t immediately think of any specific place...

Seeing Shen Jie’s expression gradually become contorted, Lin Feng sighed and comforted him:

"If you can’t remember, don’t force it. We still have plenty of time. The three of us can split up and search, we’ll find it soon enough—"

"Wait!" Shen Jie suddenly cried out. His Zerg Armor-covered claws were digging into his face, where black and yellow armored plates were beginning to form. A flash of insight sparked in his eyes, visible between his fingers.

Interrupting Lin Feng’s suggestion, Shen Jie used his claws to rip the newly grown Zerg Armor from his face. Ignoring the bloody wound on his cheek, he continued:

"I remember!"

"It’s in the outermost region, where the Black Spine Zergs are active..."

"When I first arrived here, to hide from a Black Spine Zerg attack, I hid on a patch of grayish-white volcanic rock. It was porous volcanic rock, very thin and brittle. It would have shattered under any real pressure, but I was just a normal person back then, so I could lie on it without any trouble."

"The pores constantly vented hot steam, but underneath was a Sky Pit cavern, filled with countless dormant Black Spine Zergs."

"That sheet of porous volcanic rock was actually the cavern’s ceiling."

"At the time, I just assumed the cavern was a Black Spine Zerg nest. But thinking back now, the Black Spine Zergs must have been using the residual heat from that branch vent to survive and evolve."

The words were spoken casually, but they struck a chord with the listener. After hearing what Shen Jie said, Lin Feng suddenly had an epiphany.

A history of the origin of the Spine Zergs of Ceres now began to slowly form in his mind:

This was a primitive and desolate planet, but for the planet itself, it was still young.

Years of perpetual geothermal activity had repeatedly scorched and melted the exposed earth. The magma cooled into Obsidian, forming a hard, black shell that covered the entire planet.

Afterward, the first primitive Spine Zergs were born from the coolest parts of the Obsidian, which is why their bodies were ink-black.

Relying on the residual warmth from the volcano’s branch vents, this swarm of small black bugs grew strong, eventually leaving the Obsidian region to set foot on other parts of the surface.

Namely, the sulfurous hot spring zone near the volcano.

Here, they encountered water, as well as bright yellow, toxic sulfurous substances.

During this period, not only did they have to overcome and adapt to these elements, but also the extremely high temperatures of the hot springs. Most of the Black Spine Zergs died, but those that survived successfully evolved into Tier Two Tiger Spine Zergs—or, perhaps more accurately, Yellow Spine Zergs.

In the long ages that followed, most of the Tiger Spine Zergs were no longer satisfied with the status quo. Or perhaps the environment of the sulfurous hot spring zone grew increasingly crowded and its resources became scarce. And so, one day...

They decided to continue their journey!

They began to assault the last Zerg-free area on the surface: the active volcano.

This time, more Spine Zergs fell than during the conquest of the sulfurous hot spring zone, and the process took much longer!

A very small number of Tiger Spine Zergs successfully adapted to the scorching magma in the volcanic crater. Not only did their entire bodies molt and turn Golden, but their size and strength also doubled.