The queen cell larva, starved for a full day, finally gave in.

When Shen Cong pushed Activity into its body, the resistance stopped. It began adjusting its own Activity radiation frequency, working to align with his. But the attempt was labored — the larval stage apparently had less capacity for self-modification than an egg did. It tried repeatedly and failed each time. By the time it was clearly fading, Shen Cong abandoned the attempt, fed it a small amount of Royal Treasure Jelly to stabilize it, and noted the failure for future reference.

My own radiation frequency can't be changed — the body has locked it in. But Great Vajra's can. If I tune Great Vajra's frequency to match the larva's, would that create a temporary link?

He tried it immediately. Great Vajra's Activity frequency was something he could guide and adjust with ease now — within about fifteen seconds, he had it aligned with the larva's.

He attempted to establish a perceptual link through the vehicle.

Failure.

A mimicked frequency didn't produce the same connection as a genuine one.

Not surprising, really. If it worked, I could use Great Vajra to communicate with any evolved beast. That's too convenient to be real.

He shelved the experiment and moved on to other things.

The Mechanical Vine's perceptual signal was running its usual background commentary — comfortable, not comfortable — with the same existential weightlessness it always had.

The Activity Peach seedling had broken soil and was establishing itself as a small plant. The Life-Saving Yellow Soybeans he'd recently planted showed no movement yet.

He closed the greenhouse door and was starting to think about dinner when a different signal arrived through the perceptual network — the Antgod, in a state of excited agitation.

He understood immediately. The Antgod was laying eggs.

Not a surprise. Since the wing-shedding, the growing abdomen — the timeline had been clear. What came next was the question.

Can I build a perceptual link with the Antgod's eggs?

The egg she'd just laid was already approaching Blackhead's own size. Shen Cong picked it up and pushed…