Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 190 The Origin of the Mother Nest

The smoke had not yet dissipated, and the pungent smell of broken insect carcasses still lingered among the scorched earth.

The Crimson Tide Knights are cleaning up the battlefield, recovering the remains of the magic explosion, and burying the bones of their comrades, their movements meticulous.

A figure in a silver cloak quietly bypassed the crowd and walked alone toward the collapsed remains of the mother nest.

Eduardo Calvin, the third son of the Duke of Calvin and the Papacy's investigator of the Golden Feather Flower, has remained silent since the start of the battle.

Even as the mother hive was destroyed, he merely frowned and stared, as if he saw something indescribably familiar.

Why do I feel like I've seen it before?

The dilapidated nest before me resembled a charred stone, with lingering slime faintly visible in the cracks.

And biological tissues that should not exist in the world.

They were still twitching, as if they were unwilling to give up some kind of mission of "birth" even after death.

“...It’s so similar.” He murmured to himself, and finally stepped forward.

Eduardo removed his gloves, revealing his slightly glowing right palm, in which a golden pattern resembling a feather appeared.

That was a divine grace bestowed upon him by the Pope himself, granting him the ability to read the remnants of the dead's memories.

This is also why the church sent him to investigate the Grand Master's whereabouts.

"If you ever had consciousness... then tell me."

When the palm lightly touched the fleshy wall that had once been the oviposition cavity, the earth seemed to tremble for a moment.

boom!
My mind felt like it was on fire, and a torrent of information surged forth.

Crying, laughter, wailing, curses, blood, fire, flesh, pregnancy, and devouring.

Thousands of memories flooded his consciousness, the pain causing him to instantly lose himself.

"Well--!!"

Eduardo suddenly knelt down, blood gushing from his nose, his vision blurring.

He disconnected almost immediately, breathing heavily, his heart pounding like a drum.

These are memories that should not be touched by humans.

But in that terrifying abyss, he still managed to glean a vague yet clear piece of information.

It was not generated naturally.

This mother nest was not born naturally, but was "planted".

A woman in a white robe stood in a valley amidst a blizzard.

She took the nest eggs one by one from the tattered leather bag, pressed them into the frozen soil, buried them, sealed them, chanted incantations, and performed a blood sacrifice...

“A bag…” Eduardo murmured, the image still lingering in his mind: the heavy bag of eggs, the woman’s gentle yet crazed smile…

She's not manufacturing weapons, she's cultivating war.

“This isn’t the only one…” Eduardo’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead. He knew what this meant.

Eduardo stood amidst the wreckage, his fingers trembling slightly.

That moment of "divine revelation" brought not only pain and fear, but also a revelation so heavy it was almost suffocating.

If there are any others... if any of those eggs still remain...

He could imagine how many villages would be instantly destroyed and how many civilians would be turned into flesh fields for the insect swarms to incubate when these mother nests awoke in other corners of the world.

They knew nothing, not even that "disaster was about to strike."

"It should be reported to the church."

The thought first arose almost instinctively.

His duties, his identity, and his beliefs have always revolved around that towering Golden Feather Temple.

If there are signs of evil, they should be handed over to the church for judgment.

But the next second, he stopped. The image that flashed through his mind was the cold gaze of those high-ranking members of the Vatican.

It wasn't anger, it wasn't worry, but rather calculation and weighing.

How deep are the ties with the empire?

"If this spreads, will it benefit the church's position?"

"Could it be used as a bargaining chip to balance the empire?"

He knew very well what the bishops of these churches were like today, those people dressed in holy robes.

They became even more unscrupulous after the Pope fell into a deep sleep.

“They won’t help the Empire,” he said in a low voice, almost through gritted teeth.

A gust of wind blew by, carrying a mixture of the smells of blood and the stench of burning.

Eduardo gazed at the knights' retreating figures in the distance, his heart filled with complex emotions.

If he hadn't spoken up, perhaps he could have protected himself and continued to navigate the world with that composed facade.

If he reveals it, he will have to hand over some of his secrets and even bear unnecessary attention and suspicion.

"But...can I sleep peacefully? What will the Lord think?"

He gripped the cloak tightly with his fingertips, looked down at his palm, and the golden feather pattern quietly disappeared, leaving only a slightly cool touch.

The inner struggle felt like iron chains binding my chest.

Responsibility, conscience, identity, and faith collide violently in the depths of the soul.

Finally, he looked up.

Eduardo took a deep breath, his expression returning to calm, and that gentle composure returned to his face.

“I should say it,” he said softly, “but not all of it.”

The source of power? No need to mention divine grace.

It is said to be a rare empathic ability in the bloodline of knights, which allows one to perceive fragments of memory when in contact with living remains.

Bloodline talents are incredibly diverse in the world; even a nobleman might wake up one day with an extra tail and claim it as a bloodline talent.

What does it matter if he has one more "resonance memory"?
That's enough as long as we can remind them to be vigilant early.

With this in mind, he finally took a step and walked towards Louis.

Louis had already noticed his every move, but he didn't understand what he was thinking about.

Eduardo approached, stopped in front of him, hesitated slightly, carefully choosing his words, and spoke in a low voice:
"My bloodline ability is to read the remaining fragments of memories of the dead."

On the rotting corpses of the Mother Nest, I saw the image of a female mage.

He paused, his gaze grave. "She... is the originator and controller of this entire swarm, or at least this mother hive."

Duke Edmund stood to the side, frowning, a hint of wariness flashing in his eyes: "You mean there's more than one mother hive?"

Eduardo nodded, his tone heavy: "There are at least a dozen seeds."

Edmund didn't immediately question it; a horrifying image quickly flashed through his mind:

What a disaster it would be if a dozen or so mother nests were scattered throughout the North, or even surrounding Snow Eagle City.
Countless insect corpses surged out from all directions, devouring all living beings. The terrifying sight, which even the Snow Oathkeeper could not withstand, instantly made him frown.

“This…is far more terrifying than the Snowsworn.” He said in a low voice, his expression grave.

Louis felt a slight sense of relief as he listened to their conversation. He had just been thinking about how to convey the information about the "experiment" in the intelligence system to the Duke.

Unexpectedly, Eduardo spoke first.

Louis felt a surge of surprise and admiration.

He never expected that his brother, who was a spy for an enemy country, would risk exposing his own identity and speak so frankly about this matter at such a critical moment.

At that moment, he saw Eduardo's sincerity and sense of responsibility hidden beneath the surface.

(End of this chapter)