Beneath the blue glow of the neural tower on the Returning Nest planet, a metal cage forged by the Hive Matriarch grows along Shen Yao's spine. It is a poisonous vow and shackle planted there by Xiao Ying herself. As the Host of the "Seven Luminaries" weapon project, every beat of his heart supplies nourishment to the scorpion-tailed parasite in Xiao Ying's chest. On the monitor tracking the fusion rate of the cloned embryo, the blood-red [59.9%] is closing in on the threshold for erasing his personality. This taming, done in the name of love, began with one sweet, poisonous vow: “Use my corpse to wager on the last shred of humanity in you.”
