Poison God's Heritage

X pivoted the ship around, angling the rear hatch toward us, and we scrambled onboard, his hands already a blur on the controls as he powered the engines. The Liberator's tentacles shot up from the molten ground, stretching desperately toward us, their grotesque forms coiling and writhing like serpents hunting prey.

"Tao'er! Don't leave meee!" The Liberator's anguished scream echoed across the planet's surface, a sound twisted with equal parts malice and desperation, as if he couldn't bear the thought of letting her go. His voice carried a depraved sense of possessiveness, mingled with grief, each cry thick with a longing that bordered on madness.

X guided the ship into a tight evasive maneuver, banking around the lashing tentacles as he pushed the ship higher. We spiraled upward, breaking free of the monstrous reach of the appendages as they clawed upward in vain. When we finally breached the atmosphere, we flew past the graveyard of rakshasa corpses, littered across the planet's orbit like a grisly cemetery, floating in the black expanse of space.

"That was awfully close," I muttered, a sentiment the rest of the crew silently echoed with nods and weary glances. The raw power of the Broodmother was staggering, a creature we had no hope of defeating—at least not here, not like this.

Blue Sun turned to me, a fierce resolve in her gaze. "Blowing up the planet might not even kill that thing."

"I don't want to test it, either," I replied, scanning the dark void outside. "For some reason, it can't leave the planet, which is fortunate for the rest of the universe. But it's still able to spawn rakshasa and send them wherever it chooses." I left the crew to settle themselves, moving up toward the control room, where X was monitoring our surroundings.

"Take us there," I instructed, pointing toward a spot between the two First Borns drifting ominously in the darkness. X nodded, guiding the ship toward the region I'd indicated, and activated the cloaking protocol, rendering us invisible against the backdrop of space.

Law immediately broke the silence, his voice dripping with disbelief. "Are you insane? This is the worst place we could hide! We're between two nightmares!"

"No," I countered, gesturing toward the display showing the planet behind us. "That thing is sending reinforcements after us." Sure enough, dozens of rakshasa were launching from the planet, each one promptly ensnared by the formation surrounding Solarous.

As expected, the regular rakshasa were unable to pass through the planetary barrier, but the threat remained. If Noble rakshasa, or worse, arrived, we'd be cornered. Our best chance was hiding right here, between the hulking forms of the First Borns. Their vast, bulky forms, resembling small moons, were intimidating, but they provided us a place to camouflage. Even the Nobles would think twice about approaching these titanic creatures, and besides, we needed to be close for further testing on the piece of the Queen.

The crew nodded in reluctant agreement.
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"I'll need a private room,"the jade dragon said, feeling the strain of his depleted Qi reserves. "The Heavenly Dao seems broken on the planet, but not here, so I need to recover while I can." he added.

"I'll do the same," Master Rain added, nodding to the others. One by one, they agreed, sensing the importance of regaining their strength. We couldn't afford to face another confrontation unprepared.

Blue Sun approached, eyeing my holding bag. "Need help with that?" she asked, a hint of curiosity in her tone.

I looked at her, weighing the offer. "Appreciate it. But don't you need to recover?"

She shook her head. "I didn't use much Qi, so I'm good. And besides," she added, her gaze hardening, "I want to understand that thing better."

"Then let's head to the lab," I replied, gesturing for her to follow. "This time, we'll use the Lord of Lords Pagoda. It has a more advanced setup, and we'll have better equipment to work with."

"I'll join you too," Tao Yang said, in a firm tone.

I nodded at her. She was valuable. This thing is close enough to her that she has the right to understand it and see our progress, not to mention that she, too, is quite capable when it comes to dissection.

I instructed the automaton to open a portal to the pagoda, watching as the shimmer of energy spread to create a gateway.

***

(To remove confusion, Tao Ya -Not the Princess-) name will be changed from now on to Yan Ya.

Meanwhile, in the vast Headquarters of the Confederation Alliance, Yan Ya was making preparations to return to his outpost near Solarous. He was back in the grand hall, a massive chamber with floors of polished marble. It bustled with travelers from across the alliance's domain, each passing through the teleportation gates to destinations far and wide.

Despite his earlier report to the elder, he had received no significant orders and was left to return to his post. The news felt anticlimactic. After delivering the update, he'd had time to run a few errands, including handing over a holding bag to a courier who would deliver it to his friend Jian's family on another planet.

Just as he was about to activate the teleportation gate and make the long journey back, he heard his name called across the crowded hall.

"Yan Ya!" A familiar voice cut through the noise, and Yan Ya turned to see Jian hurrying toward him, urgency evident in his expression.

Yan Ya frowned. "Jian, what brings you here? Is there trouble at the outpost?" head tilted and confusion clear on Yan Ya's face, he wasn't expecting to see him here at all.

"Not there," Jian replied, his tone low and tense. "It's Solarous. One of your squad members burned blood essence to rush back to the outpost with urgent news. He collapsed right after, but I extracted the information."

The hall, usually oblivious to the commotion, fell quiet as a few heads turned. The mention of Solarous and the act of burning one's blood essence suggested something dire.

"Follow me," Yan Ya instructed, leading Jian up the stairs to the elder's chambers.

"Speak through Divine Sense," Yan Ya cautioned as they climbed. "The last thing we need is to start a panic."

Before Jian could respond, an imposing figure jumped from the upper floors and appeared on the stairs right behind them, grasping both Yan Ya and Jian by the collars and flying them up effortlessly back to where he came from. It was the elder Yan Ya had met earlier, and he looked livid.

"You fools!" the elder bellowed. "Do you understand the trouble you're stirring? News related to Solarous is sensitive—you don't broadcast it to the world!"

Jian spoke quickly, his tone respectful. "I accept any punishment, Elder, but this isn't something we can keep hidden." His words only seemed to inflame the elder's frustration.

The elder took a deep breath, his voice simmering with restrained fury. "Fine. Explain. What's so important that one of ours had to risk burning his own blood essence?"

Jian's face turned grave as he delivered the words that would strike fear into any who understood their significance: "The Queen is moving."

The elder's face paled, his anger instantly replaced with alarm.