Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Several Grath warships hovered above the chasm, occupying the airspace along its entire length like a coiling giant serpent.

These vessels carried most of Grath’s firepower in the area. They would not land throughout the entire Insect Tide period; even resupply would be conducted via mid-air transfers.

To facilitate entry into the chasm, the warship carrying Arnold was smaller than these vessels, but its hull was constructed from a special, more resilient metal. It slowly approached the chasm, and the massive fleet tacitly parted to make way for the ship that seemed diminutive next to them.

The warship confirmed its coordinates and began a gradual descent from the center of the chasm, sinking into the darkness.

The monitoring device that had been constantly observing the King Insect suddenly pivoted, angling upward to point at the faint light filtering down from above.

It slowly adjusted its angle as it searched, finally locking onto a point. Seconds later, the warship’s image popped up on the screens in the command center.

The discussion in the command center died down as everyone quieted down, watching the screen.

A dash of white stood out starkly against the all-black warship. Even before the camera feed stabilized, Ye Mo almost instantly recognized it—it was Arnold!

Ye Mo involuntarily clenched his fist, his gaze fixed intently on the screen. The warship’s hatch opened—no, to prevent accidents, the hatch had two layers. The inner hatch remained tightly shut; only the outermost hatch was opened.

Arnold crouched at the hatch, poised for action like a big cat. One hand gripped the hatch frame, the other held his sword blade. Nearly half of his body was outside the ship as he looked down with a cool gaze, sweeping over the monitoring equipment suspended in mid-air below before finally settling on the King Insect clinging motionlessly to the rock face.

The warship adjusted its course, slowly approaching the King Insect as it descended. This precise maneuver was manually adjusted. Inside the ship, the pilot’s forehead was beaded with fine sweat. Getting too close to the King Insect was extremely dangerous, but they had to close the distance.

Its carapace had matured.

Psychic Blades, capable of long-range attack, could not penetrate the carapace to reach the King Insect’s heavily protected vital points. In other situations, one might leisurely wear it down with Psychic Blades, but here, in this semi-enclosed space of the chasm, the warship’s movements were severely restricted. They needed a single, decisive strike.

The pilot judged an appropriate distance based on experience and Arnold’s feedback.

The warship slowly advanced.

The King Insect still showed no reaction, but this silence only heightened the tension for the others on board. Once it decided to attack, its speed could surpass that of most known predators.

Behind Arnold, the still-closed inner hatch separated several other soldiers. If anything went wrong during Arnold’s attempt to slay the King Insect, they would step up to face the enraged creature.

While the warship was still a considerable distance from the King Insect, Arnold suddenly stood up. He released his grip on the hatch, his right hand tightly clutching his sword. He took a slight step back with one leg, bracing against the deck, and then leaped out.

The sword Arnold was using now was not the one his father had given him when he received his name, but it was still crafted from the finest materials with the most exquisite craftsmanship.

Psychic energy sheathed the blade in an instant, granting it an unstoppable sharpness. The warship had not yet reached its intended altitude; the King Insect was still below the ship, but Arnold had already leaped.

Arnold drove the sword blade deep into the rock wall. Relying on the blade’s sharpness, he swiftly tore a gash in the rock wall—hard enough to support millions of climbing King Insects—as if slicing through cloth.

The previously dormant King Insect seemed to sense the impending danger. It suddenly released its forelimbs, twisting its body to one side to avoid exposing its vitals to Arnold’s blade. Its thick, non-vital carapace met the attack instead. Then, it opened its previously clamped mandibles, shrieking as it twisted back from the other side to attack Arnold.

Arnold reacted immediately. He almost instantly reversed the grip on his sword, stepped onto the King Insect’s carapace, pulled the sword free from the rock wall with a twist of his body, and then, using the creature’s body as footing, severed the limbs deeply embedded in the rock wall along with part of its torso.

Most of the forelimbs anchoring the King Insect’s front half were severed, causing it to inevitably tilt backward. Arnold, gripping his sword, moved forward along its falling body. Just as the King Insect managed to stabilize itself using its remaining hind limbs, Arnold reached its head. Holding the sword with both hands, he thrust it into the King Insect’s body right at the mandibles, then used his body’s momentum to slide to the side, cleanly severing the head along with a portion of the upper torso.

Finally, he steadied himself, forcefully pushed off the headless body of the King Insect, and leaped back onto the warship.

Everything happened too suddenly, taking only about ten seconds. Before the other personnel on the warship could even react, Arnold had already used the King Insect’s body as a stepping stone and returned to the ship.

Only the stains from the King Insect’s blood splattered on Arnold’s body remained.

His teammates, separated by the inner hatch, couldn’t help but whisper, “So cool. I’ve only seen moves like that in movies.”

“The Commander is too bold. If he had fallen…”

They all understood. At the bottom of the unfathomably deep chasm were tens of thousands of King Insects. Even immature ones—a tiny King Insect larva—possessed enough strength to snap a human neck.

Outside the hatch, Arnold steadied himself, crouched down again, lightly resting a hand on the hatch frame, and glanced at the King Insect’s remains.

The severed limb stumps revealed a blue organ split in two.

This was the King Insect’s “heart.” If its heart wasn’t destroyed, the King Insect would continue to live even after being decapitated.

Some King Insects cunningly hid their “hearts” in more concealed locations within their bodies, but this one apparently hadn’t learned that trick yet. It had brazenly placed its heart in its abdomen, close to the head.

The force of Arnold’s strike was so great that it wrenched the King Insect’s limbs free from the rock wall. The massive corpse of the King Insect slowly detached from the rock face and finally plummeted into the unfathomable depths.

Arnold didn’t give it another glance. The device on his neck lit up, and a mechanical, synthesized voice sounded, “Let’s go. Next one.”

The warship ascended again, heading toward another anomalous coordinate.

In the command center, the conversation naturally turned to Arnold. “At this efficiency, the anomalous King Insects can be cleared quickly. But the bottom of the chasm—”

Another person interrupted him.

“Commander Arnold’s strength far exceeds that of a typical S-rank, almost comparable to a Grath. I hope our Guard teams can produce a few more young people with this level of strength.”

By the time Arnold had dealt with the second and third King Insects, most screens in the command center were no longer showing Arnold’s feed. They had switched back to other camera angles, with Arnold’s situation moved to a side screen.

The discussion also shifted away from Arnold. Norton had long since averted his gaze, though he was still listening to the others’ discussions.

Only Ye Mo had taken a chair, inching it along to follow the position of Arnold’s camera feed, eventually moving all the way to a corner of the command room.

The debate in the command room still revolved around whether or not to send people to the chasm bottom.

Because King Insects blocked most signal transmission, and with such dense numbers at the bottom, monitoring devices simply couldn’t penetrate deep into the chasm.

They analyzed the data back and forth, unable to convince each other. Finally, Norton concluded the discussion: “If the number of anomalous coordinates continues to increase within twenty-four hours, then we take measures.”

With the discussion temporarily over, the people gathered around Norton dispersed. Ye Mo was still watching Arnold eliminate King Insect after King Insect.

Norton stood up and walked behind Ye Mo, watching the screen alongside him. The screen still showed Arnold’s figure.

It wasn’t until Secretary-General Lin entered from outside and softly called out “Your Majesty” that Ye Mo looked up and noticed Norton behind him.

Secretary-General Lin briefly reported his issue, received Norton’s response, and hurried out again.

Leaving Ye Mo and Norton alone, Norton turned back. His arm naturally went around Ye Mo, his hand gently touching the side of Ye Mo’s face.

Then he looked back at Arnold on the screen. “When the Insect Tide nears its end, during the final cleanup, the remaining King Insects cling to the rock walls like this, avoiding artillery bombardment, unwilling to show themselves.”

“My father once led us here, taught us how to hunt King Insects, and started a competition. Whoever bagged the most King Insects could take one item from his treasury.”

Ye Mo looked at Norton, instinctively feeling a bit nervous. “Like Arnold does?”

Ye Mo was afraid of two things: bugs and heights. This activity involved both.

Norton paused, then leaned down. Ye Mo instinctively leaned back slightly, and Norton stopped, waiting for Ye Mo to react.

Then he kissed Ye Mo’s forehead and straightened up again. “You don’t need to learn these things yet.”

“It’s time for you to rest. Adelaide reminded me to ensure you get sufficient sleep.”