Chapter 634: Swallowed in One Bite

Any living being can be described as possessing individual consciousness, semi-collective consciousness, or collective consciousness.

Humans are individual consciousness; the insect race is semi-collective consciousness. Each has its advantages, but now the insect race has evolved from semi-collective consciousness to collective consciousness—far surpassing humanity in the form of life.

Yet the insect race’s collective consciousness was an accidental byproduct; in truth, they lacked the most basic condition for collective consciousness: wisdom.

From the start, to better control the insect race and make them fight bravely, the insect overlord Harris never granted them wisdom. Whether low or high tier, no insect possessed wisdom except the brain worms—the command tier. And even the brain worms, due to certain reasons, possessed no power of their own; Harris also set their permissions extremely low, eliminating any possibility of betrayal at its root.

But this very tactic caused the insect race, upon evolving into collective consciousness, to form a unique consciousness composed solely of brutality and slaughter—with Harris himself as the vessel. Though outwardly Harris still retained awareness, Ye Nan understood his fall was imminent.

Even if his combat power now surged beyond measure, it could not alter his utter defeat. From the perspective of the entire insect race, their ascension to collective consciousness might be considered evolution—but it was not.

“You don’t seem like an enemy,” Ye Nan suddenly flew off the shoulder of the Cosmic Emperor and faced him. “You show little interest in battle—this doesn’t match the legends of you.”

“Match? I merely lack the strength to resist. From the moment I was born, I was destined to be sealed. How many years? I don’t even know if it’s hundreds of millions. Loneliness, solitude, all ambition erased. Now I exist only to fulfill my mission. I am not like Aio—I have no grand ambitions.”

“Aio? Have you met him? Or did you have contact with him long ago?” Ye Nan asked again.

“I’ve met him. He seems to be striving for his resurrection—or preparing for something. I can’t see clearly.” The Cosmic Emperor shook his head, then opened his mouth and sucked in Ye Nan with immense force.

“I’ve been out too long—I talked too much.” The Cosmic Emperor closed his mouth, as if he had merely done something trivial.

“Hah! That fool is dead!” The insect overlord Harris danced with joy upon seeing the Cosmic Emperor swallow Ye Nan whole. “Good! Dead means no rivals left!”

The Cosmic Emperor shifted his body. Though he appeared bulky, his speed was astonishing—he appeared before the insect overlord Harris in the blink of an eye.

“Are you looking for death?” The insect overlord Harris’s face twisted with anger—an anger born of the insect race’s collective consciousness. It instantly drowned out Harris’s own will and replaced it.

“An incomplete collective consciousness, lacking even basic wisdom. This evolution is merely a failed product.” The Cosmic Emperor opened his mouth and swallowed Harris whole in one gulp.

Though Harris stood ten thousand zhang tall, before the Cosmic Emperor he was like a child. The Cosmic Emperor could swallow stars in one bite—what difficulty was there in swallowing a mere ten-thousand-zhang monster?

“It seems the entire army has been wiped out.” A blue light streaked from afar and struck the Cosmic Emperor. Behind it, a figure slowly emerged.

“The divine race? You’ve finally revealed your fangs—the third chosen one.” The Cosmic Emperor turned and charged toward the figure.

“I never intended to emerge. I only wished to live freely beneath the stars, seeking the path of evolution. But alas—even after evolving, I cannot escape doom. Better to fight desperately than surrender.” The figure sighed faintly. He wore a blue medieval European knight’s armor; in his right hand glowed a sphere. “Psychic Storm.”

Psychic energy refers to a form of mental power capable of triggering supernatural phenomena—a force where mind governs reality. In application, it far surpasses Ye Nan’s abilities by more than a tier.

“A powerful force,” the Cosmic Emperor commended, yet ignored the psychic storm erupting across the cosmos and charged straight through.

“This level of power can’t even scratch him. Blame those two damned chosen ones—they directly provoked the Cosmic Emperor. Purely suicidal, like an old man eating arsenic.” The figure sighed helplessly. His long blue hair unfurled, revealing a delicate face—but now that exquisite visage bore no expression of goodwill.

“I’ve been dragged into this attack too. What a curse.”

“Collective Psychic Storm.”

She, who had just completed the biochemical path with the divine race and transformed from individual to collective consciousness, now unleashed the full power of the entire divine race.

As the Collective Psychic Storm erupted, the entire universe changed color. Meteors filled the void, vortices swirled everywhere, black holes and white holes—all natural cosmic phenomena—were violently summoned by the overwhelming psychic energy to block the Cosmic Emperor’s advance.

“Useless.” The Cosmic Emperor stepped on a black hole, then casually withdrew his foot. He punched a white hole—its furious outflow instantly collapsed into a black hole.

Meteors, cosmic rays—these meant nothing to the Cosmic Emperor. Any attack landing on him had no effect.

“Damn Cosmic Emperor—how can his body be this hard?” The figure cursed under his breath and once again channeled the divine race’s power, preparing another massive assault.

But as he began to channel, a shadow engulfed him. A bloodied maw swallowed the space around him—and in an instant, he was gone.

“Fate has spoken.”

“All chosen ones have been devoured. The new cycle of the Milky Way should now begin.” The Cosmic Emperor glanced around, punched one planet into dust, then kicked another into ruin. Soon, the space around him was empty.

Just as he prepared to continue his destruction, he suddenly stopped. A grim expression flickered across his previously cold face.

“Leadership Template.” (To be continued.)