Chapter 290

Chapter 290

Ye Mo brought the main ship to a halt and then lowered its altitude.

Below was a flat sandy area with scattered rocks.

"Why are we stopping here? Where's the King Insect Cyril mentioned? There's nothing."

"Probably someone fed him intel."

Ye Mo had already stood up. The warship opened its bottom hatch, dropped bombs, spun around, and climbed higher, followed by a thunderous boom and a huge cloud of dust.

The warship hovered to the side, waiting for the dust to clear before moving forward and lowering its altitude slightly.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary down there.

But Ye Mo had already gripped his sword tightly, his knees slightly bent—ready to strike at any moment.

The dust had mostly settled by now.

You could just barely make out the scene below.

The weapon they'd just dropped wasn't that powerful—just to clear a path, but it still left a deep crater with no bottom in sight.

Another cannon barrel extended from the bottom of the ship, aimed at the pit, and fired once. This time it released chemical agents designed specifically for insectoids.

A few seconds later, a wave of shrieks erupted from below.

Then insectoids came pouring out of the hole nonstop.

Inside the warship, the adjutant looked at the dense red dots on the screen in front of him, then sounded an alert, telling everyone on board to get ready.

With that done, the adjutant let out a long sigh. "They all came out at once—saves ammo."

Ye Mo's eyes suddenly locked onto a direction. The King Insect came out on its own. Perfect.

It was hard to miss. Even before the dust fully cleared, you could already see its massive form looming below.

Even now, part of its body hadn't fully emerged from the nest.

The main camera was also aimed below.

"This one's way too big, isn't it?"

"No wonder the previous one was so small—it was a small one even for a King Insect. I was wondering how it managed to jump through space."

"Jumping doesn't depend on size for King Insects, and not all of them can do it solo. Some have to produce specialized jump insects to hitch a ride to move positions. That's pretty rare though. After all, if a King Insect lands in a bad spot and can't jump, it's screwed."

"There are environments insectoids can't adapt to?"

"Cyril can't go down this time, can he? How many mechs can this thing take?"

The dust below had mostly cleared.

The main camera shifted to Ye Mo. The host spoke, "Looks like our Cyril's hesitating—"

Before the words faded, Ye Mo leaped down.

The host stood up. "Cyril went down!"

The main camera closely followed Ye Mo, afraid of missing a single moment.

The King Insect changed direction mid-movement; this time Ye Mo landed a good distance to the left of the King Insect.

When he landed, the camera angle was looking up—first his boots, then his legs.

As soon as Ye Mo landed, he immediately made a beeline for the King Insect.

The main camera kept right on him.

The King Insect also noticed Ye Mo. It was already pissed off from what the Glands warship dropped in, and now Ye Mo was actively approaching. It furiously charged toward him, its massive, shell-covered body sliding across the ground with surprising agility, shrieking and snapping at him.

Ye Mo leaped, dodged its head, and landed on its body. Without pausing, he sprinted up along its body.

The King Insect thrashed its body, but Ye Mo maintained his balance, didn't slow down one bit.

It rolled over violently, its limbs crushing rocks.

Other insectoids came swarming at its command.

Ye Mo simply leaped again, landed back on its body, hacked off one of its limbs, and kicked away an insectoid that lunged at him.

"Be good."

"It'll be over quick!"

Before the words ended, Ye Mo leaped once more, and when he landed again, his sword plunged into the King Insect's head.

The King Insect froze in its previous posture.

"Told you it'd be quick!"

"Finally able to breathe—I held my breath the whole time. But damn, this camera angle is sick, absolutely sick. You guys gotta try it in holographic mode!"

"A King Insect this size definitely has a crystal—we're loaded! Cyril, don't leave, go pick up the crystal first!"

"Has it already built a nest? That didn't take long."

"Did you guys have the sound off? Cyril just said it's already built a nest in that short a time."

"Sorry, I was too busy watching them kill bugs to notice."

"From this, they're not here to hunt—they're relocating. No wonder the King Insect is here too. Guess the colony's too big and about to split. If they actually set up a nest here, that'd be bad. This area is past the safety belt, right? Previously, insectoids smuggled onto nearby planets and built nests; the Star Alliance spent a ton of manpower and resources to clean them up."

Ye Mo moved through the insectoid swarm.

The main ship kept pace.

...

Star Alliance High Command.

An emergency meeting was underway.

A woman on the left spoke first, "The insectoid signal is still strong. Looks like more are coming this way."

The person next to her added, "It's not just Glands. Several border bases from other nations have already run into insectoids. This isn't just harassment—this is a full-scale insectoid invasion."

A middle-aged man frowned. "Why does it have to be now? Is there any other way to buy us some time? If we send people to intercept, can the Resource War proceed normally?"

One person stood up and slammed a file heavily on the table.

"Can we be rational here? Are we still thinking about the Resource War at a time like this? Behind the Resource War battlefield are several inhabited planets, and because it's the Resource War period, a few tourist planets are also packed with people. If we don't evacuate in time, the consequences would be a disaster!"

"Can we still get in and out now? If we move them to the central region, can we ensure the Resource War proceeds normally?"

The man standing snorted coldly. "If we do that, then by the time the Resource War ends, we'll just be picking up their bodies. About 80% of the bases have probably already been gnawed into empty shells by the Zerg."

The woman who spoke first added, "And if they start building nests on those planets, cleaning them out later will be a huge pain."

"What about the Resource War? There are so many troops in the Resource War; couldn't they at least slow down the Zerg a little?"

His face darkened even more. "Right now, apart from the bases on the Grath side, all other bases in the fringe zone have been immediately abandoned, with all those resources thrown to the Zerg! If it were up to me, we need to seal off the star sector."

"So you're not the chairman. Don't freak out. The problem will be solved. Are you that afraid of death, sir?"

The woman who spoke first turned to the chairman. "Mr. Chairman, what do you think?"

"Intervene. Suspend the Resource War first. As for sealing off the star sector..."

That would be very troublesome. So many people have come for the Resource War, and more importantly, there are a ton of national leaders and heads of state here who need to be consulted individually.

Suddenly, a red symbol flashed on the main screen. "Zerg numbers have reached the warning level! Zerg numbers have reached the warning level!"

The chairman stood up immediately and made a decision.

"Stop arguing. Intervene. Hit emergency mode and temporarily seal off the star sector!"

He turned to leave and handle things, then stopped as if remembering something and said to the others, "Suspend the Resource War."

What’s the Resource War compared to a Zerg warning?

A Zerg warning meant that this star sector could turn from human space back into a Zerg playground.

Maybe not many people would die—their mother ships are faster than the Zerg and can escape before the Zerg arrived. But that would mean countless people would once again become drifters, living their entire lives on mother ships.

The speed and sturdy shells of the mother ships had allowed them to shake off many Zerg and freely traverse Zerg-inhabited star sectors.

This made people let their guard down and live easy.

That comfort made them forget that humanity could no longer afford to lose any star sector.

...

Inside the main ship, the adjutant looked at the light screen showing Ye Mo, who was ceaselessly dodging through the Zerg swarm, and asked again, "Your Highness, do you need assistance? Or would you like to rest? You've been fighting for a long time."

Ye Mo looked up at the main ship. "Not yet. Give me a minute. You guys fly higher and don't get too close."

There were still tons of Zerg below, packed tight, and some species were capable of flight.

There are probably Zerg handling warp jumps at the bottom—when they took off, they can carry other Zerg and take over the sky.

Other warships couldn't come to assist for now, and this single ship only had so few people on board.

What if they get hurt? He needed to protect his main ship. Father had said this was very important.

Ye Mo swung his sword to the right and launched himself off the Zerg he'd stomped on.

If only he were as strong as his father—then he could kill them all in one go.

As he leaped again, a crashing sound came from behind him. Ye Mo turned his head in midair and widened his eyes.

His pupils reflected the sight of a warship being grappled by a mecha, tangled up and falling.

It was the enemy from before.

When did this happen? When did it get here?

The warship and the mecha landed on the ground, and the mecha immediately lifted off.

Ye Mo landed on the ground. A Zerg lunged at him.

Without even shifting his gaze, Ye Mo accelerated, dodged its attack, and headed straight for where the warship had crashed.

The swarm flooded toward the warship.

Ye Mo ignored the mecha that had already taken off and backed away. He rushed toward Grath's warship.

Theodore, lurking, sensed Norton's mental energy flicker, but it went quiet again.