Darkness and silence.

  That was all Lyna could feel—an impenetrable darkness, an oppressive stillness. She could neither sense her body nor hear her own breath or heartbeat. In that void, Lyna could only conclude one thing:

  She was dead.

  It turned out her assumption was correct, and her husband's belief was wrong. There was no life after death, as her husband had always claimed. Lyna wondered what had made him so convinced of the idea of an afterlife. What made him so certain of the existence of God?

  In this era of advanced technology, humanity no longer feared the unknown. There was no longer a need to believe in a divine entity born of fear and ignorance. The complexity of the human body, once considered proof of God's greatness, was now seen merely as unresolved scientific mysteries. For modern humanity, linking ignorance to the existence of God was seen as reckless.

  Many believed that when this life ended, everything ended in nothingness—just as Lyna felt now.

  Darkness and silence.

  Yet, her husband was different. His belief in God and an afterlife was so unshakable it was as if he had seen it himself—or even been there. Strangely, he didn’t follow any known sect or religion within the Human Federation. When Lyna asked him about his faith, he simply said he lived to gather something called "Merit," without worshiping God through rituals like followers of other sects.

  "Because the true God," he once said, "is so grand and powerful that He doesn't need worship from His creations."

  Lyna had never seen her husband perform any strange rituals or adhere to specific religious teachings. He was simply a kind and generous person, always helping those in need. When Lyna asked what "Merit" was, he only smiled and said, "Something far more important than the world and everything in it."

  This belief made him certain they would remain together in the afterlife. But the reality Lyna now experienced was…

  Darkness and silence.

  “You lied!”

  Lyna tried to scream, but no sound came out.

  “You lied! You’re not here!”

  She sobbed, but even tears refused to flow.

  “YOU LIED!! I’m all alone here! There’s no white light! No soothing music! Nothing! Nothing! YOU’RE NOT HERE!!”

  Lyna struggled, but her body didn’t move at all.

  “Where are you? Where are you, husband—”

  DING!

  {System detected life signs in Subject L-90987}

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  {Initiating Revival Project program!}

  “Ah?”

  The mechanical voice shattered the silence. Lyna, who had been trapped in endless darkness, felt her consciousness quiver. Something was happening—something she couldn’t fully understand, but it felt as though it would change everything.

  Suddenly, a foreign memory intruded into her mind, as if her memories were being altered—like a video re-uploaded with additional scenes. This memory recounted the story of a queen from a species called the Xynomera, giant insect-like creatures with an extraordinary culture and civilization. The queen, Lakshmipati, was one of the last hundred Xynomera queens before their species was annihilated by the Arachnoax.

  Lakshmipati was a wise and compassionate leader, guiding her offspring with tenderness and patience, like a mother with boundless love. However, when Lyna noticed the physical similarities between the Xynomera and the Arachnoax, a wave of disgust swept over her. But, these two giant insect species might appear similar, but the differences were stark.

  If the Arachnoax represented hell—brutality and tyranny—then the Xynomera were their opposite: a paradise of harmony, freedom, and democracy. Yet, the universe rarely allowed room for freedom alone; strength was the ultimate law. As the weaker species, the Xynomera had no choice but to fall victim, reduced to a source of biomass for the Arachnoax.

  The war between the Arachnoax and the Xynomera opened Lyna’s eyes to the terrifying power of the Arachnoax. Their close territorial proximity enabled the Arachnoax to unleash their full strength without the need to explore new nodes. A chilling realization struck her—if the Arachnoax launched a similarly brutal assault on humanity, humankind would perish faster than she had ever imagined. Ultimately, like the Xynomera, humanity too would become nothing more than biomass for the Arachnoax’s Broodmothers.

  Even without Lakshmipati’s memories, Lyna had already come to terms with this grim truth: humanity had no chance of victory against the Arachnoax. She vividly recalled her final moments aboard The Nest, her proud flagship, before she and her entire crew perished on a suicide mission.

  At that time, they were closing in on Vamrah, the Locust Queen.

  The energy of the Arcnova Cascade had been charged to its limit, boiling to the point of imminent detonation. Lyna’s plan was simple yet daring: to fire the energy directly at the Broodmother, Vamrah.

  She knew the shot alone wouldn’t be enough to kill Vamrah—a figure so powerful and nearly invincible. However, Lyna had another objective. She hoped to get close enough to Vamrah to detonate themselves right in front of the queen’s face, delivering an unexpected final blow.

  Despite the relentless attacks of the swarm fleets, Lyna remained confident that The Nest, with its durable shielding, could hold out long enough to reach the target. But as they drew closer, something unforeseen occurred.

  An extraordinary psychic force immobilized their ship. Lyna had never encountered telekinesis of such magnitude before—not even the combined strength of a thousand Psychics could compare. Before their ship could be completely destroyed by this force, Lyna gave the order to release the energy valves, triggering the explosion.

  However, what happened next made Lyna, for the first time, feel true despair. The devastating explosion of the Arcnova Cascade—which she had hoped would injure or perhaps even kill Vamrah—was effortlessly deflected by the queen. In the end, all they had achieved was their own destruction. Meanwhile, Vamrah had only lost a few hundred thousand Arachnoax subordinates—a minuscule loss for her virtually limitless army.

  Lyna now understood: the power of the Arachnoax was far beyond humanity’s reach. Hope seemed like nothing more than an illusion.

  She was dead and no longer cared about humanity’s survival. Whether they perished or endured, it was no longer her concern. Such matters were the responsibility of the living, not the burden of someone who had passed.

  Yet, why did Lakshmipati’s memory feel so real? What was truly happening to her now?

  Before Lyna could delve deeper into these questions, the mechanical voice broke through her thoughts again.

  {Queen’s memories successfully integrated into subject’s mind.}

  {Playing the Queen’s final message.}