Collapse Iron: Cosplaying the Near-Death Star, but with a full destiny.

The light faded.

The soul-rending dizziness also dissipated.

The five regained their sense of touch with the ground.

Hard, cold, and flat.

Xing opened his eyes immediately, gripping the baseball bat tightly in his hand, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.

But there was no roar of the swarm.

There was no smoke of war.

There was no destructive roar.

There was only a... chilling silence.

"This is……"

March 7th rubbed his eyes, looked at the scene before him, and slowly opened his mouth into an "O" shape.

They were standing in front of a magnificent city gate.

It was a colossal building constructed entirely of translucent biocrystals.

A faint, ethereal blue light flowed within the crystal, like a vast network of blood vessels connecting the entire city into a living entity.

The gates soar into the clouds—if there are clouds here.

Above us was a deep body of water, but it was blocked by some invisible force field. Sunlight refracted through the thick layer of water, casting shimmering shadows on the ground.

This is a crystal city sleeping beneath the deep sea.

Pure.

Holy.

It was completely different from the ruins filled with sandstorms and despair that had been there before.

"That ruin..."

Dan Heng put away Ji Yun and glanced around at the crystal walls that showed no signs of weathering.

"This is what it originally looked like."

"Or rather... its state before it was destroyed."

Nguyen Mai looked at the instrument in her hand.

The radiation index above has dropped to zero.

Instead, there are extremely active life energy readings.

"The composition of the air has changed."

"The oxygen content has increased significantly, and there is also an unknown inert gas, which seems to be there to protect these crystal structures."

Nihoshi did not speak.

She just stared blankly at the door.

My heart was pounding violently in my chest.

Although the "end" echo had weakened, another, more familiar feeling, one that left her feeling even more bewildered, welled up inside her.

thump.

thump.

thump.

That was... the call of destiny.

"welcome."

A voice.

Suddenly, it pierced through this silent underwater space.

The sound didn't go through an amplifier, yet it rang clearly in everyone's ears.

Warm and smooth.

Low-pitched.

It resonates with a peculiar resonance, like the vibration of cello strings in the air.

It was a male voice.

"Guests from afar."

As the sound faded.

The enormous crystal gate slowly opened.

There was no heavy friction sound, only a soft murmur like flowing water.

A figure emerged from the light inside the door.

It has a human-like upper body, covered with a carapace as delicate as white jade.

The lower body is a slender arthropod structure, with six legs moving gracefully in alternation, each step taken with extreme steadiness.

Its head has a pair of crystalline eyes that reflect the luster of compound eyes, and its antennae are slightly curved backward, making it appear humble and polite.

And the instant it opened its mouth.

Hoshi felt as if her breath had stopped.

sound……

tone of voice...

There's a habit of always having a slight upward inflection at the end of a sentence when speaking...

"I am Tremy-IV, a Zerg diplomatic envoy, number 7582."

The messenger stopped five meters away from the crowd.

It crossed its two forelimbs in front of its chest, making a somewhat strange but clearly welcoming gesture.

"Did you come because you received our distress signal?"

boom.

A thunderbolt exploded in Hoshino's mind.

Even though its current form is that of a giant insect.

Even though the scene is so unfamiliar.

But this sound.

She would never admit her mistake.

That was the sound she had conceived countless times in her mind during countless nights of creation.

It was the voice that said to her in the "end" dream, "Let us meet among the stars."

And that one... she didn't even have time to give him a proper name, so she could only mention him briefly in the character design book...

Main characters.

Or perhaps... the second male lead who's destined to die?

Anyway, he's that very important man!

Hoshino's fingers began to tremble violently.

She gripped Xing's sleeve tightly, her nails almost digging into the fabric.

Her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

It's him.

It's really him.

He actually... exists.

And... it was an insect?

Although the species is a bit off.

But this did not stop the tsunami in Hoshino's heart at this moment.

"A distress signal?"

Dan Heng did not notice anything unusual about the star; his attention was entirely focused on this "diplomatic envoy."

As the train crew's most reliable bodyguard and temporary diplomat, he stepped forward immediately.

"Yes."

Dan Heng nodded, his tone polite and restrained.

"We are nameless passengers on the Star Train, currently on an interstellar journey."

"Although we did not receive a specific distress signal directly, we detected unusual fluctuations in this galaxy."

"If it's about an 'insect plague' or some kind of impending devastation..."

Dan Heng glanced at Xing and Ye Xing.

"That's exactly why we're here, hoping to offer some help."

These words were perfectly watertight.

This not only revealed their identity and explained their purpose, but also demonstrated goodwill.

As expected of Teacher Danheng.

Listening from the side, Mohoshi calmed down a bit.

Now that Danheng has picked up the conversation, the rest of the story should proceed as normal, right?

Get the information, accept the quest, fight monsters, and save the world.

This is the standard RPG process.

however.

The air suddenly became quiet.

The diplomat, number 7582, did not answer immediately.

Its pair of crystal-clear compound eyes flickered slightly.

The antennae on its head twitched a few times in confusion.

It tilted its head.

The movements were somewhat like those of a confused little animal.

"squeak……?"

It uttered a short, abrupt syllable that clearly did not belong to any known language.

That wasn't the gentle male voice from before.

Instead, it is a sharp, high-frequency vibration.

It's like two shells rubbing against each other rapidly.

Dan Heng was stunned.

"What?"

The messenger seemed to realize that something was wrong.

It then emitted several more complex syllables.

"Click... Lullaby... Buzz..."

It was in sync with the movements of its forelimbs gesturing in the air.

He looked somewhat anxious.

But this time.

No one could understand it.

The gentle male voice disappeared.

Instead, there are pure, primitive insect chirps.

"this……"

March 7th blinked, looking completely bewildered.

"Why did it suddenly start rapping?"

"Weren't you just speaking human language?"

Nguyen Mai stepped forward and glanced at the acoustic analysis on the instrument.

He raised an eyebrow slightly.

"An interesting phenomenon."

"It's not 'speaking' human language."

"Or rather... that sound just now was just its vocal organs trying to imitate a frequency that it considered 'universal'."

"But this is not language."

"Not language?"

Xing was stunned.

"What the heck was that 'distress signal' I just heard? Did I hallucinate too?"

"No."

Nguyen Mai pointed to the head of the messenger.

"That's a projection on a spiritual level. A high-level resonance based on pheromones."

"But this kind of projection is very vague and can only convey a general intention."

"As for the specific vocabulary..."

Ruan Mei glanced at Dan Heng.

"The reason you can hear specific words is because your subconscious automatically fills in the missing information."

"And now, when you try to engage in specific logical communication."

"Then an obstacle appears."

Dan Heng withdrew his hand somewhat awkwardly.

"In other words..."

"It doesn't understand what we're saying?"

"We didn't understand what it was saying either?"

"To be precise."

Nguyen Mai looked at the envoy who was still gesturing anxiously.

"It wasn't wearing a 'synesthetic beacon' at all."

"This kind of interstellar translation device is very useful for a civilization that has been closed off for a long time and may never have really come into contact with interstellar society."

"It's a concept that doesn't exist."

Nihoshi looked at the messenger.

Looking at its compound eyes, which had become somewhat dim due to the inability to communicate.

Watching it try so hard to express itself, but only able to make squeaking noises.

My heart suddenly sank.

That voice.

That voice that haunted her dreams.

So... it was just a kind of mental projection based on racial talent?

Or was it just auditory hallucinations created by her own brain trying to fulfill her dream?

This is a real blow.

It's even crueler than telling her directly that "the male protagonist is an insect."

"so……"

Hoshi leaned weakly against Hoshi.

"How are we supposed to talk to a giant bug without a translator about saving the world?"