[Notice - Overmind, you have arrived at your destination.]

Emerging from the very walls themselves, a colossal manifestation of the zerg drone breached the boundary between worlds.

Its formidable frame was half-burrowed out from the wall as its cavernous maw stretched wide, granting an exit passage to its occupants

This was one of his mutated drones, one he coined with the term 'transport drone' - a metamorphosed titan born from survival and carnivorous feasting, forged in the crucible of the Forest of Death's relentless trials.

In addition to its giant size, it had the ability to burrow through the ground, an ability many of his other zergs were now endowed with. Zergs in reality were much more versatile compared to their fixed units counterparts in a video game.

The transport drone lowered itself to the ground, letting Shino step off. In his embrace was puffy-eyed Karin – Her tears had finally subsided, and she had fallen asleep in his arms.

As the transport drone sunk back through the wall behind him, Shino took a glance around his underground base. This was something he had built over the months outside of Konoha – deep, deep underground to avoid the detection of special eyes such as the Byakugan.

This base was a marvel of engineering – a combination of Konoha and Zerg infrastructures. It was designed by his AI, Alina, after analyzing all the Konoha infrastructure data he had gathered coupled with his gene bank as a zerg dominator.

At its core, the base featured a human-friendly interior, referenced from structures in Konoha. Within the inner layer, there was a swarm of insects mutated with the ability to recycle carbon dioxide into oxygen – a courtesy of plant genes.

Moving outwards, the core was wrapped by layers and layers of purplish viscous substance.

This was the creep – a living superorganism!

After collecting the Rinkaichu, a nano-sized, venomous insect from his father, Shino noticed their uncanny resemblance to the well-known zerg ability.

So, with the assistance of Alina, he went through months of arduous experimentation before finally discovering how to harness his inherent hatchery ability to spawn this elusive entity.

This creep was created through combination of the system's biomass and his own chakra-transformed bio-energy he had been using to feed his zergs. After its initial creation, it could nourish its own expansion by devouring corpses and minerals.

Naturally, his biomass also sufficed as a fuel for its growth.

Combining these two methods, the external shell of his base was formed.

As for the other resources used for construction, they were either harvested by his drones or purchased with the funds he received from missions and the secret sales of his assets.

The material were in place, it was just a matter of builders... and there was no need to kidnap any human ones when he had ready-made ones - his drones!

The expansion of his drone army had reached an unprecedented level, rendering the detachment of a group for construction purposes irrelevant.

Thanks to his small army of tireless drones working overtime, the base was constructed in secret over the course of several months.

From the outside, the structure appeared to be a grotesque biosphere, but upon closer inspection, one could see the intricate ecosystem that had been carefully crafted within. The sight was both repulsive and alluring, a true testament to the beauty that could be found in the grotesque.

Despite its creepy exterior that mimicked the menacing appearance of a zerg structure, this base was unfortunately... not a real zerg structure.

It didn't have any actual functionality outside of its slowly growing creep exterior, which Shino had imposed restrictions to prevent the creep from overwhelmingly growing past a certain size.

But regardless if this infrastructure had any special abilities or not, the base still a place where he could finally implement some of his plans – away from the prying eyes of others.

As the only method to enter and exit was through the burrowing ability of his bugs, this place could also ensure Karin's safety without fear of being discovered.

Of course, Shino was well aware of the tracking skills possessed by the most experienced ninjas, and the strange ninjutsu which allows some to burrow through the earth. He knew better than to let his guard down.

Hence, Shino had cloaked the entire base. Using an arsenal of cutting-edge anti-detection bugs, he had fortified the exterior with a combination of jamming, camouflage, and stealth techniques that rendered it invisible to visual, life, sound, and chakra detection.

These bugs thrived on the creep-covered exterior, providing permanent protection against intruders who like to burrow through the ground, like the filial sons of a certain beauty trapped on the moon.

Not only that, the layer of creeps served as a tough exterior that could endure heavy brute damage.

Until the ninjas had learned of its weakness against fire, it will serve its duty to delay enemies outside long enough such that he could transfer the important resources in the base.

But this was the limit he could do for now. Once the creation interface is unlocked, maybe he could upgrade his base into one that could defend itself.

Now, its only defenses were the drones accompanied by various poisonous and plague-bearing insects, all manually controlled with the assistance of Alina.

Standing in his underground base, Shino's mind eventually turned to Karin, racing with thoughts on what to do with her. He had brought her here for his own purpose, but he knew that keeping her here against her will would not sit well with her.

[Requesting host to collect target Uzumaki Karin's blood and tissue samples…]

After collecting samples of Karin's blood and tissues, Shino stood quietly, planning his speech and waited while Alina analyzed the samples.

Not long later, Karin woke up from her deep slumber and sat up, looking around the room in confusion.

She saw Shino standing there and immediately remembered what had happened. "Where am I?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You're in my underground base," Shino replied, his voice calm and even. "I brought you here to keep you safe."

Karin's eyes glistened, before she asked in a shy voice. "Can I know your name?"

"You can call me, Overmind," Shino said as he adjusted his glasses.

Karin nodded slowly, understanding dawning on her face. "Thank you… Overmind. But what now? Am I stuck here?"

Shino hesitated for a moment before answering. "For now, yes. It's not safe for you to leave. But I promise you, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe until you are ready to go out."

Karin looked down at her hands, feeling helpless and trapped. "What about food and water? How am I supposed to survive down here?"

Shino pointed to a small cabinet in the corner of the room. "There's some food and water in there. More will be delivered every couple of days. There are spare clothes in the storage room. And if you need anything else, just speak to the bugs."

Karin threw a skeptical glance at the bugs before turning back to give Shino a nod, feeling a little bit better. "Thank you, Overmind. But... what about you? Are you going to stay down here with me?"

Shino hesitated again, looking at Karin with a mixture of concern as his thoughts churned – considering the consequences of his choices. "I can't stay down here with you all the time, Karin. I have missions to attend to. But I promise you, I'll check on you regularly, and get your help with some... research. And if you need anything, just let me know."

Karin looked up at Shino, her eyes pleading. But in the end, she was silent as she bowed her head and nodded.

Shino sighed, feeling a sense of guilt wash over him. "I can't stay here with you all the time, Karin. But I can leave this clone here to keep you company. It won't be the same as having me here, but at least you won't be completely alone."

Karin looked up with a sense of surprise and nodded, feeling a sense of relief wash over her. Her face then had a faint blush as she whispered, "Thank you."

Shino nodded and walked over to the corner of the room, where he sat his clone down. With Alina secretly managing it in the background, this clone of his can stay active as long as there is a sufficient supply of bugs. There will be no problems keeping it here and he could easily return here anytime.

"Alright, Karin. I have to go now," Shino adjusted his glasses. "Remember, if there's a problem, just speak to the bugs. They'll bring me the message."

Karin watched as the man's expression became dull, signifying his consciousness had left the clone. She felt a sense of loneliness and despair wash over her.

"Hey, research huh?" she mumbled in a soft voice. "But if that's all it takes, I'm willing. Thanks for showing me the light of salvation… I'll make sure I am worthy to learn your name one day."

The first thing that Karin did was to explore her new home.

The base was a compact hub of activity, comprising a laboratory, a couple of cozy bedrooms with bathrooms, a well-stocked storage room, water-storage tanks, a small kitchen, and a comfortable lounge area - all cleverly designed to maximize space and efficiency.

After her short exploration, Karin sat besides the clone as her eyes settled on his face, feeling a strange sense of comfort wash over her. It was a moment of quiet contemplation, a brief respite from her previous chaotic life full of pain in the outside world.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked, staring at the quiet, expressionless man in front of her.

The more she stared, the more she felt a heat arise in her, and a strange blush gradually arose on her face. Her hand slowly reached out...

Naturally, Karin's actions were reported back to Shino by Alina. Shino felt a pang of guilt in his chest, a strange look appearing on his face.

He could imagine Karin's face when she realizes his body was an aggregation of bugs... but he pushed the guilt aside for now. He knew that what he would do later would bring even greater remorse and heartache.

But it was necessary, even if it wasn't entirely ethical.

"It's all for survival," Shino said as he firmed his determination. "Alina, prepare to implement Project Queen."

[Affirmative, Overmind. Project Queen logged in system. Deploying bugs to gather data… analyzing samples… implementing protocols…]

[Estimated implementation time: 29 days]

"So, after the Chunin exams huh?" Shino stares at the countdown with a sense of eerie fervor.

The pieces are moving as planned, and the countdown to the hive's explosive power draw nears...

But for now, it was time to focus his attention back on the Chunin exam.

The contestants had all arrived. Thus, it was time for a battle of skill, strength, and strategy!

It's time for... the preliminary elimination! Only the strongest would make it through to the final round!