First Interstellar Guide Chapter 59: Spider Queen

Chapter 59: Spider Queen 

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Lu Zexuan witnessed such a magnificent sight for the first time. The red mist dispersed on both sides, revealing a path wide enough for them to walk side by side. The path was lined with sparkling red flowers, which swayed their heads as if they had a soul. Red threads hung from the trees around them, swaying in the wind, casting continuous flickering shadows, like a dream.

Countless flying spiders gathered above their heads, buzzing louder and louder. They circled around Yu Ran several times before flying towards the depths of the mist along the path. These strange galactic creature plants and animals seemed to be queuing up to welcome Yu Ran.

Lu Zexuan turned to look at Yu Ran. Yu Ran seemed to have heard something, and a gentle expression appeared on his face. He whispered, “Let’s go, the queen is inviting us over.”

Lu Zexuan nodded and followed Yu Ran’s footsteps.

The two walked along the path in the middle of the mist. Behind them, the red mist reassembled, as if to completely engulf them. However, the road ahead was very clear. After several turns, the two stopped in front of a huge red spider web.

Lu Zexuan looked closely. The red threads of the spider web were extremely thin, with a diameter of less than 0.5 millimeters, but the toughness of these threads was comparable to steel wires, capable of instantly severing a human’s neck. The height of the spider web exceeded ten meters, with layers upon layers wrapped around, as if protecting something…

The air nearby was noticeably moist, and the flowers, grass, and trees grew more vigorously. As the two approached, a “door” in the middle of the spider web opened.

Yu Ran led Lu Zexuan into the center of the spider web.

Then, Lu Zexuan suddenly froze in place—

In front of them was a monstrous creature of indescribable size. The creature was as tall as a skyscraper, with eight legs spreading outwards covered in red armor as tough as steel. Its abdomen bore numerous strange patterns, and its head was covered with a thick layer of fur, with eyes as red as blood.

Lu Zexuan and Yu Ran stood in front of it, like two tiny ants.

Suddenly seeing such a huge monster, normal humans would feel fear. Lu Zexuan’s spine tensed slightly.

Yu Ran, on the other hand, didn’t show any fear upon seeing it. Instead, he smiled, and the mental tendrils in his palm quickly reached towards the sky. The huge creature in front of him also extended one of its front claws, gently and even cautiously touching Yu Ran’s mental tendrils.

…This scene seemed like two old friends shaking hands after meeting each other.

Lu Zexuan looked at this scene in astonishment.

Over the years, leading the Eagle Special Forces to battle everywhere, he had seen too many strange galactic creatures. However, when the two sides met, the first reaction was usually to fight—galactic creatures were very hostile to human “invaders,” and humans needed the resources on their planets for survival and development.

Humans had destroyed many territories of galactic creatures with high-tech weapons, and even forcibly isolated “safe zones” with high-energy electromagnetic nets to drive away galactic creatures and establish human bases on their planets. Conversely, powerful galactic creatures had also killed countless human warriors. Different species seemed to be natural enemies.

For the first time, Lu Zexuan saw a tiny human and a huge monster able to shake hands so friendly.

Yu Ran looked up at the Spider Queen, and because the red silk was glowing around, Yu Ran seemed to be bathed in a soft red light. The Spider Queen’s attitude was very friendly, and the spider swarm around didn’t show any intention to attack, obediently watching the queen talk to Yu Ran.

The originally terrifying monster had an atmosphere of warmth and harmony when interacting with Yu Ran. The buzzing sound came from all sides, and it seemed that the Spider Queen was speaking to Yu Ran.

【Ranran, why did you suddenly come back?】

【I need your help.】

【Oh? Are those humans who fell into the spider forest your companions?】

【Yes, I hope you don’t attack them, or let them discover your existence. Let them survive in the forest by themselves. After I finish my plan, I will go find them】

【Alright. The water sources and fungi in the forest are available for them to consume, and I will have the little spiders protect them】

【Thank you. I wanted an absolutely safe environment and cannot be discovered by others. After much thought, I feel that your place is the most suitable. By the way, let me introduce this person beside me. His name is Lu Zexuan, he’s a friend of mine】

【Lu Zexuan? He seems a little nervous. Is he afraid that I will harm you?】

【It’s his first time meeting you, and he’s not clear about our situation. It’s normal for him to be nervous. Please don’t mind】

The Spider Queen smiled gently. In the next moment, one of its sharp front legs suddenly extended towards Lu Zexuan!

From Lu Zexuan’s perspective, it was a huge spider leg suddenly attacking him. Startled, Lu Zexuan’s sentinel reflexes made him instinctively hug Yu Ran and fly up. But halfway through, they hit the spider web, and both of them were stuck together.

Lu Zexuan, “…??” 

Yu Ran looked at him helplessly. “The queen just wanted to shake hands with you.” 

Lu Zexuan was speechless.

The queen’s prank was successful, and the laughter became even more delightful.【Your friend is quite interesting. His reaction is quick. How can he fly?】

【He is a sentinel among our humans, evolved with the ability to fly.】

【I see. The little spiders reported to me that there are 53 humans who fell into the forest, scattered everywhere.】

【The number is correct. By the way, among them, there is a man with glasses, very pale skin, and weak survival instincts. Please guide two identical twins, Zhao Feng and Zhao Quan, to his side so they can meet Mohr.】

【Alright, it’s not difficult. I will disperse the mist over there to create a passage for them.】

Zhao Feng and Zhao Quan, this pair of twins, were both trusted guards sent by General Lu. As long as they met with Mohr, they would protect him well and prevent him from being left to fend for himself.

After instructing everything, Yu Ran looked at Lu Zexuan and said, “Alright, let’s get ready to go down.”

Suddenly, the spider web holding them tightened, and Lu Zexuan and Yu Ran were forcibly pulled down by the web, landing on the Spider Queen’s back!

【Come up to my back. It’s very safe here, and no one will disturb you.】

【Thank you.】

In this forest, where else could be safer than the back of the Spider Queen? She was gigantic, like a skyscraper, and people on the ground couldn’t even see her back, let alone two tiny humans. Moreover, the queen was the ruler of this forest. Other small animals, sensing her presence, wouldn’t dare to come near her nest.

Lu Zexuan stood on the queen’s back, looking at the beautiful patterns on her back. Surprisingly, the queen’s back was not hard. Instead, it had a thick protective blanket, warm and soft to step on. This was Lu Zexuan’s first intimate contact with galactic creatures. As a sentinel who had been focused on killing for many years, his mood couldn’t help but feel subtle.

Yu Ran connected his mental tendrils to Lu Zexuan’s forehead and said softly, “Actually, many galactic creatures can communicate. Their appearances may not conform to human aesthetics, and they may look scary or ugly, but their mental world is actually very simple, and some of them are quite cute.”

Lu Zexuan couldn’t know what their mental world was like. However, the way Yu Ran communicated with the Spider Queen made him suddenly question the principles of the White Tower. Over the years, occupying resource planets by conquest and violence, had human methods been too aggressive and cruel?

Currently, humans were still at the top of the food chain, a highly advanced civilization in interstellar terms. But if there were more powerful galactic creatures, would they violently destroy human habitats one day?

The evolution of guiding was actually a gift from God to humanity. Mental energy communication could solve many problems of language barriers between species. Guides could even serve as “diplomatic envoys” for humans to establish a more peaceful interstellar environment. However, humans hadn’t properly utilized the advantages of guiding. Instead, they chose the most foolish way of violent conquest.

If the federal system could be thoroughly reformed, and more high-level guides went to the front lines for “negotiation” rather than staying in the capital as “sentinel doctors,” would there be more highly intelligent beings like the Spider Queen becoming friends with humans? But it was not easy to change the system and mindset that had lasted for hundreds of years.

Sensing Lu Zexuan’s thoughts, Yu Ran said seriously, “Change is not easy, but someone has to take the first step, right?”

Lu Zexuan nodded. “Yes, you took that step. If the officials on the capital star knew that you had become good friends with a terrifying spider, they would be astonished.”

Yu Ran smiled gently. “The Spider Queen is very gentle. Those people who live carefree on the capital star can never understand what it feels like to have a monster encouraging and helping you during your most painful and desperate moments.”

Did the Spider Queen accompany him through those most painful and desperate days? Listening to his description, Lu Zexuan’s heart ached. He didn’t know what Yu Ran had experienced back then to establish such a deep relationship with the Spider Queen.

Yu Ran closed his eyes gently, adjusted his emotions, and looked at Lu Zexuan. “Lu Zexuan, our time is running out, so we must take advantage of this opportunity to complete the task assigned by the Dark Night Organization. My next actions may be a bit crazy and not necessarily one hundred percent successful, because… no guide has ever attempted such a thing.”

Lu Zexuan said decisively, “I trust your decision. Tell me, how can I cooperate with you?”

Yu Ran said calmly, “The Dark Night Organization’s demand is to destroy your mental landscape and capture your spirit body, turning you into a puppet without consciousness. The Edwards siblings have examined your landscape and already know that it is a continuous snowy mountain range. If I don’t destroy the mountains, they will immediately see through it. However, if I do destroy your landscape, you will lose consciousness and become a puppet.”

Lu Zexuan nodded. Yu Ran’s analysis was clear; this was a dilemma. Without destroying the landscape, he couldn’t fulfill his obligation to the Dark Night Organization. But once it was destroyed, Lu Zexuan would truly become a puppet, which was exactly what the Dark Night Organization wanted.

How could they pretend to destroy the mental landscape while retaining Lu Zexuan’s consciousness?

Lu Zexuan asked, “Do you have any ideas?”

Yu Ran said, “I thought of a way. We can mentally combine.”

Lu Zexuan was speechless.

Mentally combining? It was one of the most intimate ways of bonding for a sentinel and a guide, merging their mental landscapes together, sharing all thoughts and secrets. Once mentally connected, they didn’t need to use mental tendrils to communicate; they could simply know what the other was thinking.

Yu Ran had to infiltrate the Dark Night Organization with Lu Zexuan, and indeed, mental connection was the best way. He couldn’t keep using mental tendrils to connect directly to Lu Zexuan’s forehead; that would raise suspicion. After becoming mentally connected, even if they were far apart, they could perceive each other’s thoughts and intentions discreetly, cooperating seamlessly.

Lu Zexuan was puzzled, “But, even after merging mental landscapes, won’t they still discover something is wrong upon inspection?”

Yu Ran nodded, “That’s the catch. Once our mental landscapes merge, any inspection would immediately reveal inconsistencies. So… I thought of a more secure but risky method.”

Ever since seeing the snow-capped mountains in Lu Zexuan’s mental landscape, Yu Ran had been contemplating how to rebuild them.

If the mountains collapsed, it would become uncontrollable, and a major avalanche could easily engulf Yu Ran, possibly resulting in both of their deaths. But later, after establishing trust with Lu Zexuan and successfully fooling the Edward siblings from the Dark Night Organization during their inspection, he came up with an idea.

If Lu Zexuan cooperated fully, perhaps they could give it a try.

Yu Ran gazed into Lu Zexuan’s eyes and slowly said, “I will have the Nine-Tailed Fox assist you in gradually melting the snow-capped mountains in the mental landscape, preventing them from collapsing directly. Meanwhile, let the White Fox rebuild the continuous snow-capped mountains within my original forest. By then, when they inspect your landscape, they’ll only see a desolate land. No one will know that deep in my forest, your snow-capped mountains will be hidden.”

Lu Zexuan, “!!!”

Completely removing the sentinel’s mental landscape and then having the guide rebuild it? This was truly a crazy idea that no one had ever attempted! But upon closer inspection, it was actually the only feasible option at the moment.

Mentally, the two could share landscapes; Lu Zexuan would essentially be moving in with Yu Ran, without compromising his sense of self. On the contrary, this way, no matter what each of them was thinking, the other would know immediately.

And in Lu Zexuan’s mental landscape, the snow-capped mountains had already been eliminated, leaving only barren wasteland. This could deceive the higher-ups of the Dark Night Organization, making them believe that his landscape had been destroyed by Yu Ran and was now under Yu Ran’s control.

No one would know that White Eagle’s home appeared to be destroyed but was actually relocated to live with the foxes. It’s fortunate that Yu Ran was so clever to come up with the idea of “landscape transfer”!

However… destroying and rebuilding such vast continuous snow-capped mountains, how easy would that be? Could Yu Ran’s mental energy withstand it?

Lu Zexuan looked at Yu Ran with concern, “I can cooperate with you fully. But, your mental energy…”

Yu Ran said, “I know it’s difficult and will require a considerable amount of mental energy and time. That’s why I brought you to find the Spider Queen. Only here, with her, can we disappear for a dozen days without arousing suspicion from others.”

Lu Zexuan nodded solemnly.

Yu Ran said, “So, shall we begin now?”

Meeting Yu Ran’s serious gaze, Lu Zexuan’s heart couldn’t help but tighten slightly. The significance of mentally combining as a sentinel and a guide was far more than just being “allies.” From now on, they would share all memories and secrets, they would be intuitively connected, their mental worlds merging, and their spirit bodies could frolic under the same sky.

Typically, unless absolutely necessary, sentinels and guides would only mentally connect after they were married. Some couples even chose not to connect mentally even after marriage, to preserve the privacy of their mental worlds.

Yu Ran’s decision was the only way to deceive the Dark Night Organization. He was willing to pay any price to infiltrate it.

Lu Zexuan reached out and gently placed his hand on Yu Ran’s shoulder, “Ranran, with this, you’ll be mentally bound to me. Are you really okay with that, with me knowing all your past secrets?”

Yu Ran nodded, “It’s fine. Your secrets will be known to me as well, so it’s fair, isn’t it?”

Lu Zexuan’s gaze softened as he led him to sit on the queen’s back, “Alright, let’s begin.”