Super Spender

After some thought, he activated the anti-gravity system in his suit to float before extending a hand to the radiant blue crystal. Upon contact, a brilliant light flickered before his eyes and an array of colorful surroundings appeared, followed by a surge of information into his brain.

Yet Finn did not feel discomfort. Each piece of information felt familiar, as if it was knowledge he was supposed to possess. The data overflowed without interruption, each piece informing him about this race, the Icarus Insect Species.

When he retracted his hand, Finn felt as if an eternity had passed. Subconsciously, he asked, “Henry, how much time has passed?”

“Young master, you only touched the blue crystal for less than one second,” Henry answered earnestly.

“A second? That’s too short.” Finn was stumped – it felt like he had been there for decades. Still, it took only this brief time span to enlighten him about why Zero asked him those questions, and why Zero said that he should know the answer.

Indeed, Finn not only felt like he did know, but he also realized the Icarus Insect Species, treated with utmost seriousness by Zero, was a warrior race through and through. Not all of the insect species are without wisdom, just that wisdom is only possessed by their true ruling class.

The Icarus Insect Species had already achieved a higher state of bio-technology. Finn wasn’t sure if Zero could attain this level, possibly owing to their extraordinary genetic skills. They can alter their genetic map, altering what is known as the ‘life imprint’. This is preserved in the deepest parts of an organism’s genes, unchanging across generations no matter the changes and evolution.

The worker bee was the fundamental unit of the insect species and possessed features that others didn’t. Each life imprint in the insect units contained horrific information. All these unique genetic codes were preserved in the worker bee’s genes. After the Supreme Ruler of an insect space-time is gone, the worker bee, as the successor, would release the information within its life imprint. This information contained much of what the Supreme Ruler needed to know.

If Finn hadn’t embedded his spirit imprint onto the worker bee’s genes, leading it to perceive Finn as the new Supreme Ruler of the Icarus Insect Species, it would’ve evolved into the new Supreme Ruler.

Scores of genetic codes, necessary for the various insect units, were stored in its brain. With these genetic codes, a single worker bee could cultivate a whole insect swarm until it regained its former might. But such a process would require abundant energy and a long time.

Finn now understood why Zero said it consumed much energy. The energy was meant for cultivating the next breeding base of the insect species. Because its body couldn’t hold these genetic codes for too long, it needed to transform completely into a standard breeding ground of the Icarus Insect Species to safeguard these codes.

If stored in its body, after at most half a year, its body would collapse. Though its brain had been reinforced, it still couldn’t accommodate that many genetic codes since they contained numerous special codes.

Having understood the whole information, Finn realized he had won the bet. The Icarus Insect species outperformed even Zero in terms of their bio-genetic capabilities. Unless someone exterminated the whole insect swarm or transported them to another space across dimensions, like Finn did, they could persist eternally.

The allure of ‘eternity’ is irresistible and Finn was there now, even though he didn’t need it. Yet he knew he had that trump card.

For now, he wouldn’t rush to find a breeding ground for it. It could uphold itself for half a year, and the strongest point of the Icarus species was that they could absorb and transform most of the space energies into the energy they needed. As long as there was energy, they could proliferate their clan. They could adapt to any adverse environment, achieving what could be called the strongest fitness.

There was a lot more information that Finn couldn’t sort out temporarily. But he realized that he had got the treasure. With it, as long he didn’t get captured, given the development time, he wouldn’t have to fear anyone anymore, even the alien man who wanted to kill him.

“Take good care of it. I believe it won’t run amok. Do not harm it in any way.” Finn instructed Henry. This creature was his trump card, his utmost weapon.

“Yes, young master.”

“Right, Zero, if I enter another space, will it think that its Supreme Ruler is dead?” Finn suddenly thought of something. It was this reason why he stamped his spirit imprint onto the worker bee’s genes.

“No, if the Space-Time Gate is open, it can sense your existence. If it’s closed, then what you said would happen,” Zero replied.

“I see.” Finn nodded, before saying, “In that case, take me to the other side, to Proudly Nation, near Lewis Senior’s place.” He had the money and couldn’t care less to take the Space-Time Gate. He preferred getting Zero to teleport him. After all, it cost only 1000 points, which he could afford to splurge.