Honkai: Star Rail — A Nameless Traveler, a New Path Every Day - Chapter 6

Black Tower sized up the timid Youyan.

Actually, Youyan didn’t want to be so cowardly, but unfortunately, Taiziyuros was just cowardly, socially anxious, and also had some PTSD. After all those Coleoptera insects were killed down to the last Taiziyuros, it ascended alone to become the Star God of Breeding.

“Did you know? These features… he’s almost at the top of the Coleoptera order.”

Black Tower was quite interested in the Flame Wanderer.

However, the kind-hearted Black Tower did not intend to slice up and study Youyan; at most, it would just collect some fragments for research.

“I contacted another genius, and she came over as soon as she heard about this amazing individual…tsk tsk, you’re really lucky.”

The woman who entered was aloof and elegant, with long black hair, green eyes, and an indescribable sense of detachment.

Is it Nguyen Mai? …As expected.

Youyan’s insect warning went off. His six legs involuntarily took a half-step back, his massive body scraping against the floor with a harsh screech. The elytra on his back opened and closed slightly.

“interesting.”

Nguyen Mai’s voice was very soft, as if she were talking to herself.

“Ruan Mei, you’ve come at the perfect time.” The Black Tower puppet crossed its arms and raised its chin. “Look at this—a new passenger on the Star Train, whose fate changes every day. Today it’s breeding. And not just any ordinary breeding traveler, but one that’s close to the original form of Taizyuros.”

“You Yan seems very nervous,” March 7th whispered. “I’ve never seen him so nervous before.”

“Normal reaction.” Black Tower chuckled. “Taizyuros is socially awkward and even hid after ascending. His current form probably inherited the instinctive reaction of the Star God; when faced with a threat, his first reaction is to run away.”

“He is not the Envoy of Procreation, he is the nascent form of the Star God of Procreation.”

Nguyen Mai gave an almost affirmative tone.

“Even if he wasn’t, he was one of the generation that Taizyuros personally bred, at least closer to the relationship between the bred envoy Skarakabaz and Taizyuros. He was not a creation… he was the source.”

Youyan’s six legs moved back half a step, causing his entire body to sag.

“Alright, alright, Ruan Mei, let’s do a full-body non-contact scan to collect his imaginary energy fluctuations and material composition.”

“I’m more concerned about his genetic information.” Ruan Mei stared at You Yan, her expression making him a little uneasy.

Knowing the plot, Youyan knew that the Black Tower probably wouldn’t hurt him, but Ruan Mei might use some technology and dangerous tricks on him out of harmless curiosity.

Several soft blue beams of light scanned him, and his instincts told him that these things were harmless, but they were just timid.

“Hmm, the imaginary energy level is that high?”

“His gene sequence is exactly the same as that of reproduction, but he can suppress division, which is really strange.”

The two geniuses discussed for a while.

Although Black Tower wasn’t as interested in breeding as Nguyen Mai, with such rare and harmless samples in front of them, Black Tower had no reason not to study them.

“His subconscious is actively controlling the instinct to split. If he stops controlling it, he will create a swarm of worms within five minutes that can devour this space station.”

“Five…five minutes? Ms. Black Tower, are you kidding me? This…this is so exaggerated?”

“Exaggeration? I’m very meticulous, but he’ll be fine for now.”

———

Closed compartment.

To prevent Youyan from causing any trouble, he brought along the stabilizing anchors specially made by Heita and Ruan Mei, in case he got confused and mistook himself for an insect…

He went into the confinement compartment alone… oh, a single insect. There were also some true gnats bred by Nguyen Mai wandering around, but Youyan could understand the meaning of their pheromones.

Well, how should I put it?

They are all mentally challenged.

Those true stinging insects were much smaller than Youyan, only about half a person’s height, and their carapaces were mostly dark brown, far less attractive than his blue-purple fluorescent carapace.

But soon, something unexpected happened.

Youyan can now use the perspective of a true gnat insect.

These insects, which should have just wandered around aimlessly, looking for food and then multiplying, seemed to stick to him after getting close to him.

“Existence. Kindred. Superior. Source. Lord. Empress. Father God.”

Pheromones contain a mixture of various meanings, some of which the Wandering Flame can decipher, while others are too chaotic to understand.

To make matters worse, Youyan discovered that he was unable to sever the connection.

The perspective of those real hibernating insects lingered on the edge of his consciousness, like dozens of split screens that could never be turned off. He could feel that they were hungry, that they craved warmth, and that they wanted to approach him but dared not.

Finally, Youyan suddenly had an idea.

He remembered that some insects had this ability—but those were cockroaches, and he was now a coleopteran, so he didn’t know if he could do it.

He began to pry open his mouthparts.

A few minutes later, a highly concentrated, solid, translucent sphere appeared in front of his two paws. Although it looked like solidified honey, it was actually a nutrient block formed from the Path of Reproduction, rich in various nutrients…

This sphere is three to four meters in diameter and high.

The split-screen comments in You Yan’s mind instantly transformed from gibberish into a uniform begging signal. Dozens of compound eyes lit up simultaneously, staring intently at the ball in his hand, their mouthparts opening and closing incessantly, making a clicking, grating sound.

Youyan made a flapping sound, as if it were scolding a group of disobedient children.

The insects obediently lined up following the pheromones.

Click, click, click.

The sounds of chewing filled the air, making You Yan feel a little uneasy.

As they continued eating, Youyan noticed that these creatures underwent visible changes.

Their originally dull brown carapaces began to gleam with an oily sheen, and some insects visibly expanded in size, their wings becoming more powerful. A few of the stronger-looking ones even began to spin around, like Digimon evolving.

Of course, there was no real evolution; it might just be that the food was too nutritious and got a bit intoxicating.

“Wandering Flame… Wandering Flame?”

It’s the sound of March 7th!

“I’m still a little worried… so I brought you some food… Waaaaaah! Youyan! What are you doing! What are they eating! Are they eating you?!”

March 7th clearly misunderstood.

She nearly dropped the insulated food container she was carrying, and her other hand reached for the bow and arrows at her waist. From her perspective, the swarm of insects was densely packed in front of Youyan, and the crunching sound of them chewing looked like they were gnawing on bones.

“No…buzz…misunderstanding…buzz!”

The flame fluttered its wings in a panic, emitting a rapid buzzing sound.

He quickly waved his forelimbs, as if shooing away flies.

“Scatter… Buzz! Scatter all… Buzz!”

In the blink of an eye, a large open space appeared in front of Youyan, leaving only the half-eaten nutrient ball standing there all alone.

“Hoo…buzz…it’s alright…buzz…”

Youyan breathed a sigh of relief, its tentacles drooping down, adopting a docile and harmless appearance.

March 7th stood frozen in place, still holding the bow he hadn’t had time to draw, blinking as he watched this scene unfold.

“Uh…they…obey you?”

She carefully put down the bow and peeked into the corner at the few real stinging insects trembling in the corner.

“Were you just… giving them a lecture? Or were you feeding them?”

“Feed them…buzz…they’re hungry…buzz…”

Youyan pointed to the nutrient ball with its forelimbs.

“Nutritional blocks…buzz…I made them myself…buzz…”

“You…rubbed it yourself?”

March 7’s expression became incredibly interesting. She looked at the translucent, still faintly glowing sphere, then at Youyan’s sharp scythe-like forelimbs, and imagined Youyan kneading such a large ball like clay.

“Ugh—that sounds disgusting!”

She wrinkled her nose in disgust, but then immediately laughed.

“Alright, I’m relieved to see you still have the energy to feed your little brother. I risked getting scolded to sneak in here. If you get eaten by bugs, then all the food I brought would have been for nothing.”

She walked up to You Yan and found a clean spot to sit down—of course, a little further away from the nutrient ball.

“Um… I’ve never raised bugs before, so I don’t know what you like to eat now. But I asked Himeko-nee, and she said that insects probably suck sap. So I blended all the fruits and vegetables in the train’s refrigerator, as well as the carrot juice that Pam just bought, together! Although the color looks a bit like… well, it’s definitely very nutritious!”

The swarm of insects wanted to devour March 7, but Youyan suppressed their idea.