“Sister Zhaozhao, please send this robot to the battlefield.”
The insectoids withdrew at astonishing speed, and Si Zhao had no time to waste asking why. She turned and handed the miniature robot to He Youchuan, then used her spatial ability to send him to the battlefield.
On the feed transmitted by the reconnaissance robot, He Youchuan appeared amid the chaos of the battlefield. Using the confusion as cover, he released the miniature robot.
As soon as Butler Four was no longer in contact with human body heat, it activated automatically. Its blue wings fluttered lightly.
The next second, it vanished from everyone’s sight. Even the reconnaissance robot could no longer detect it.
Si Zhao saw everything clearly through the display and immediately turned to Yunyang in surprise.
Yunyang explained, “It’s my family’s robot butler. Fu Shiyi modified it a little over the past two days, and I gave it the command to infiltrate the insect nest.”
When Fu Shiyi designed Rose Shadow, a small amount of the special material remained. That material was the key to Rose Shadow’s invisibility.
Over the past few days, the beast-husbands’ main task had been protecting Yunyang, but none of them had been idle.
Fu Shiyi had taken the opportunity to make use of the remaining material from Rose Shadow and modify Butler Four.
Butler Four had originally been less than the size of a fist. With the ability to turn invisible, its movements were even less restricted.
If Butler Four could find out what was happening inside the insect nest, they might be able to determine where the additional high-level insectoids had come from.
Yunyang did not explain these details. Seeing the Federation troops return to their starships one after another on the display, she immediately grabbed Pei Wenye and went to recover her mental power.
After several days of grueling combat, every Federation soldier’s contamination level had risen sharply.
She had to restore her mental power to its optimal state as quickly as possible so that she and Sister Zhaozhao could help purify the contamination in their bodies.
Si Zhao did not dwell on it either. As soon as He Youchuan returned to the starship, she recovered her mental power as quickly as possible.
Deep beneath the surface, in the insect nest.
Although the overall strength of the insectoid army had increased, the battle—which had lasted five days and five nights—had still inflicted heavy losses on them.
The Insect Queen was even more furious and vented its rage wildly.
The male insectoids stood before it one by one, not daring to make a sound.
The Insect Queen raged for a long time. Under the impact of its mental power, those male insectoids who were already wounded immediately went berserk, attacking their own kind indiscriminately.
The female insectoid watched silently, not even moving its eyes.
The Insect Queen did not care in the slightest about the insectoids’ losses. Once it had finished venting its fury, its gaze fell upon the remaining level-nine insectoids, and its vicious mouthparts twitched.
More than a dozen of the most seriously injured level-nine insectoids quickly crawled forward and prostrated themselves at the Insect Queen’s feet.
The Insect Queen spat out green mucus. The sticky substance wrapped around the level-nine insectoids and dragged them toward its mouthparts.
“Crunch, crunch…”
The nauseating sound of chewing filled the nest. The female insectoid raised its head and stared greedily at the half-body of a level-nine insectoid hanging from the Insect Queen’s mouth.
As if it had noticed the female insectoid’s hunger, the Insect Queen curled one of its forelegs and tossed two level-nine insectoid legs toward it.
The female insectoid immediately lowered its head. Before long, the chewing sounds in the nest had become two distinct streams.
After devouring more than a dozen level-nine insectoids, the Insect Queen unleashed another mental assault on the male insectoids.
Just as before, the male insectoids soon began devouring one another. Then, one after another, they lined up and entered the empty eggs produced by the Insect Queen.
Aboveground, after Yunyang and Si Zhao had recovered their mental power, they began purifying the Federation troops.
Si Zhao’s mental power had also risen to S-rank, so the two of them decided to work together. Combined with Yunyang’s blessing ability, their cooperation greatly increased their efficiency.
The insectoids rested for two days, and the Federation troops gained two days of respite as well.
Once they had finished purifying every Federation soldier, Yunyang finally found time to watch the video transmitted by Butler Four.
She and Si Zhao sat together as they watched.
The first thing to enter their vision on the display was a pitch-black, winding tunnel. Then the passage suddenly opened up, revealing an insect nest that occupied the underground of the entire planet.
Yunyang had ordered Butler Four to investigate the insectoids, so it headed straight for the location nearest to the Insect Queen.
Through the display, Yunyang saw the Insect Queen devouring the level-nine insectoids with perfect clarity.
The sound of chewing reached her ears, raising goosebumps across her body and making her feel physically ill.
Si Zhao handled it somewhat better, but it was obvious that she did not want to keep watching either.
However, in order to determine the reason behind the sudden increase in high-level insectoids, the two of them continued.
For the next two days, the insectoids made no other moves, and the Insect Queen remained curled up in its nest, recuperating from its injuries.
Butler Four had not left the insect nest, so the video continued updating in real time.
Yunyang left the display floating beside them. That way, if the insectoids made even the slightest move, she and Si Zhao could notice it immediately.
Then Yunyang looked at Leonardo. “Leonardo, have you discovered anything?”
Leonardo slowly shook his head. Whether the insectoids were incapable of communicating or for some other reason, he had not managed to obtain any useful information.
Yunyang was not disappointed. It had only been an attempt, after all, and the information they had obtained from the video was already sufficient.
The Insect Queen was indeed severely wounded. It was even having difficulty moving, but devouring level-nine insectoids seemed to restore some of its energy.
Furthermore, if she had guessed correctly, the reason the insectoid population had decreased while their levels had risen was also because they had devoured their own kind.
There was also the female insectoid beside the Insect Queen, whose body was even smaller than that of a level-one insectoid. It should be the female insectoid with the special ability Leonardo had mentioned before. Judging by its appearance, it seemed to be a juvenile.
Perhaps… it was one of the stragglers that had narrowly survived the last encounter with the Federation troops.
Yunyang thought through all of this in an instant, but she knew nothing about military tactics, so she relayed all the information to Wu Zhengming.
Wu Zhengming immediately issued orders for battle preparations before synchronizing the information with the other commanders.
Just then, in the footage transmitted by Butler Four, the first insect egg cracked open, and a massive level-nine insectoid crawled out.
Then the second, the third…
For a moment, everyone aboard the starship focused their attention on the display.
More and more insect eggs cracked open, and the levels of the insectoids emerging from them rose once again. The number of level-nine insectoids quickly surpassed three hundred.
Even Wu Zhengming, who was usually capable of remaining calm, could not help sucking in a sharp breath.
More than three hundred…
The number of SSS-rank ability users in the Federation was not even a fraction of the number of level-nine insectoids!
The rest were level-seven and level-eight insectoids. There were almost no level-five or level-six insectoids left.
Holmont cursed when he saw the scene through the video call.
Could they really do this?
Did the insectoids have to be this monstrous?
Kalunden drew a deep breath. “Zhengming, don’t argue with me this time. I’ll send reinforcements immediately!”
The Federation troops no longer held an advantage in either numbers or rank.
He could not stand by and watch Wu Zhengming and the other Federation soldiers lose their lives on the insect planet.
After Kalunden finished speaking, he rose to make the necessary arrangements.
At that moment, a familiar female voice came from the display.
“Commander Kalunden, I’m afraid it’s already too late.”
