Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

Chapter 846: Infiltrating the Hive Mind

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Patricia would say that she volunteered because she felt guilty. Both she and Nick relied on Gibson, Berk, and Urek to run the council while they were in seclusion, after all, so it’s only right for her to resume her duties once she returns.

But that wouldn’t be the whole truth. She knows it. Nick knows it. And so do Gibson, Berk, and Urek.

“Please don’t go overboard.” Nick sighed as he flew next to her.

They were making their way to the Crimson Womb Universe with nothing but their bare flesh, bravely trekking the void as if it couldn’t do anything to them at all.

Patricia looked scandalized when she heard him say this. She placed a hand on her chest, wore an exaggerated look of shock, and said,

“Why would you ever think that I would do such a thing? Am I so barbaric in your eyes, Nick?”

Nick gave her a blank gaze as if saying, ’Really? Are you seriously doing this right now? ’

Patricia let out an ugly snort and relented.

“Okay, fine. I wasn’t thinking of doing a lot, I swear. Though I did want to pick a fight with her, I know my priorities.”

Nick just sighed because honestly, she can’t even blame her.

With how long they and the Bug Empress have been enemies, it’s practically a fight on sight at this point. Their enmity had long since evolved to a point where one party can’t survive if the other lives.

The Bug Empress had been a painful and massive thorn on their side for so long that reconciliation had become impossible.

Nick himself had long wanted to strangle the Bug Empress to death. He just couldn’t back then.

But now…now it’s different.

“We’ll have our time, Pat,” he said. “We’ve been at each other’s throats for so long now. What’s a few more decades or centuries?”

This was his way of reminding her to stick with the job and just that for now. And maybe, this reminder wasn’t just for her but for him as well.

“Dang it,” Patricia sighed, as if relenting to his request. “I really want to slap her ugly mug a few dozen times this time. But I guess I’ll do it later. Anyway, let’s pause here. I sense a couple of them.”

She and Nick stepped out of the wormhole they’ve been using to travel. And as soon as they got out, Patricia hid them using a technique called ’Spirit Veil,’ which practically turns them invisible to everybody’s senses.

Patricia had been using this technique for basically her entire life at this point, but it became even better now that she had comprehended all the necessary law essences for Origin Soul Laws.

Even the Bug Empress herself would find it nearly impossible to detect her while she’s using this technique.

Patricia led them to where the bugs she found were hidden.

They’re not that far from the Crimson Womb Universe, actually. Had they continued on their way a little bit more, they would’ve arrived practically in front of it. But Patricia decided to pause here for now.

Without needing Nick’s signal, Patricia made a move.

She sent out a probe—faint, gentle, and imperceptible. Even Nick himself barely sensed it.

The probe touched the mind of the peaceful bug, who didn’t even sense it at all. Its touch was so quiet and gentle that it didn’t cause any ripple at all. It sank to the bug’s consciousness and made its way to the part where it’s connected to the hive mind.

Under Patricia’s gentle and elegant control, the probe went on without raising any alarms. It passed through every filter and trap that could be tripped to alert the hive mind. It went completely unnoticed, and the best part? Patricia barely had to make an effort at all.

It should be said that about a thousand years ago, this would’ve been impossible.

Patricia wouldn’t even dare think that she could infiltrate the soul of any bug of the Horde without alerting the hive mind of it.

But now, she did it as easily as breathing. Maybe even easier.

It must also be stated that she and Nick weren’t even remotely ’close’ to where the target was. They stood about a small cosmic realm away from where it was, completely nowhere near it. Yet Patricia was able to reach out to its soul like it was standing right in front of her.

Now that she’s in this deep, Patricia would admit that she hesitated.

It’s not surprising for her to feel this way. After all, she’d never been able to go this far, and she’s, admittedly, a little bit out of her element here. If this was the past, the hive mind would’ve been screeching in alarm at her intrusion. Yet now, not even a whisper.

None of them knew that a piece of her slipped in. They couldn’t sense her at all.

Now, she’s looking at the sheer extent of the Hive Mind. She’s taking everything in and making educated guesses left and right but not taking any action just yet.

“An organized chaos. That’s what the hive mind is.” She whispered next to Nick. “It’s so messy, but it makes sense. For creatures like them, this is practically a work of art.”

“Priorities, Pat. We’re not here to admire the hive mind.”

“I know, silly. I’m just biding my time and clearing the dead air. I’m studying it because I’ve never been able to go this far, and I don’t want to fail now,” Patricia complained, which made Nick shut up.

Knowing how delicate and messy the hive mind was, Patricia was a bit stuck.

She knows that she can’t carelessly touch anything here, as that would leave traces everywhere. But without interacting with the hive mind, how was she able to understand the messages they’re sending?

“Oh, I have an idea!” Patricia gasped.

Once again, she sent out a probe. But this time, she was laced with an additional ability—scrying.

As the probe sank to the consciousness and soul of the bug, it once again landed in the hive mind without tripping the traps and filters. This time, the scrying ability was launched.

It blended seamlessly with the thought of the bug and was sent to the deeper parts of the hive mind.

To put it in simpler terms, Patricia threw an invisible stone in the connection that could translate and search for the information she wanted out of the hive mind.

This stone couldn’t be detected at all, but it’s there, and only Patricia knows of it and could use it. It’s connected to her, which means that she could remotely control it and use it to practically scan the entire hive mind for the information she needed without them knowing.

Even the Bug Empress herself wouldn’t be able to detect this. Meaning that now, the Horde’s hive mind had effectively been compromised without them knowing.

“Made it.” She clenched her fist at her success, fighting off the grin from forming on her face. All while Nick remained puzzled but patient until he got an explanation from her.

Then, without any preamble, Patricia began searching for the information. The reason behind the Horde’s inactivity in the past 500 years. And what she found out surprised her a bit.

“Ah, so that’s what happened. Poor thing.”

“Some context would be nice, Pat. Just reminding you that I’m here and confused.”

“Right, sorry. So, basically, what happened was…”

Then, she began telling Nick of what she discovered. She revealed Cain’s existence to him, what happened to him, and how his situation practically affected the entire race.

The details she got were incredibly detailed, and so was her storytelling. Which was a testament to how effectively she infiltrated the hive mind of the Horde.

“That’s what she gets by forcing the Supreme Will’s hand.” Nicholas sighed, “A pity for the child, though. I’m pretty sure he didn’t ask for any of this.”

The Human Sovereigns knew that the Bug Empress has a family. They knew only surface-level information about them. However, with Patricia’s infiltration just now, they finally held the complete information. She was able to trace the origins of Cain to the roots because of her improved abilities.

And even with their deep enmity with the Bug Empress, they knew and recognized the innocence of Cain. That child never did anything wrong. He only existed, died miserably at a young age, and was resurrected into this new but cursed form by the Bug Empress.

They might hate the Bug Empress to the bitter end, but that doesn’t extend to Cain, who has been proven innocent so far.

“Now, she’s in seclusion, and the entire Crimson Womb Chaos Realm is alert and heavily fortified.”

“Yes,” Patricia nodded, “her hatred towards the Supreme Will has peaked at this point, so much so that she doesn’t care about us anymore. She’s desperately seeking to comprehend the Origin Laws just like we did, and she planned on making a move afterwards.”

“She’s gone insane, then,” Nick concluded. “Whether that’s good news for us or not remains to be seen.”