Chapter 427

Chapter 427

Ye Mo stared at the massive insectoid creature slowly descending from the distant sky, hesitating, unsure whether he should follow it.

His muscles tensed as he prepared to rise, when Ambrose's psychic energy, which had been covering the ground, flowed up along the buildings, stopping beside him, gathering around him in increasing density.

Ye Mo's own psychic energy stirred restlessly within the psychic domain, more active than before, but still remaining under his control.

So Ye Mo crouched back down, a bit tense. "Theodore, Ambrose has noticed me. He seems to place great importance on this planet—this isn't just simple psychic coverage."

Simple psychic coverage only skims the surface layer and is quick; going deeper, like how the Captain maintains control over an entire fleet down to every minute detail, requires more psychic energy and time.

If it were the former, given the nature of Ye Mo's psychic energy, he could avoid detection as long as he was careful. As for the latter, Ye Mo had never tried to deliberately conceal himself from Ambrose.

Theodore licked Ye Mo's cheek. "That's to be expected. Ambrose is probably looking to take over a planet with complete infrastructure. Look, the buildings in the battle zone were barely damaged—he must have given orders long ago."

Ambrose's psychic energy was still locked onto Ye Mo.

Ye Mo had grown accustomed to being watched at Norton's place, so after the initial moment of tension, he shrugged it off.

He looked down, shifting back further, instinctively concealing himself.

Theodore followed his gaze. The building Ye Mo was crouched on had an artificial lake on one side and more buildings on the other, with a narrow alley running between them.

The alley was empty except for a trash bin at its entrance. Theodore's current mimicry was a cat—theoretically, he was near-perfect in every way for a cat. Even so, Theodore sensed nothing. The surroundings were quiet, but he didn't look away—he trusted Grath's keen instincts.

A dozen seconds later, footsteps echoed through the alley.

Several figures darted into the alley from around the corner, looking like they were fleeing something, running and glancing back, clearly not familiar with the area.

Some wore military uniforms, others were in civilian clothes. In the middle, a portly middle-aged man stumbled and fell, and the soldier at the rear pulled him up.

The middle-aged man kept waving his hand, panting heavily. "No, I can't... you all go on."

The man in the middle turned back. "Sadel! Keep up!"

Sadel forcefully hauled him up, but before he could move, the ones ahead stopped and then began fleeing back in terror.

A massive insectoid creature blocked the alley entrance. Its body was too large to squeeze through, but its long front limbs reached inside.

Alan and another young man in uniform, who had been covering the rear from the middle-back, now found themselves at the front as the others ran back.

He held his rifle, backing up slowly as the group huddled together again. Alan clicked his tongue, glanced back, and saw the medium-sized insectoid that had been chasing them now approaching from the other end of the alley. "Trouble. Today's just been rotten luck—everything bad that could happen has happened all at once."

The smaller insectoid squeezed into the alley, moving slowly toward them—whether wary of the larger one or simply in no hurry, it had clearly slowed down.

Sadel aimed his rifle at the other side. "How many of our team members are still missing?"

Alan tilted his chin up. He and Sadel hadn't spent much time with the team members; as Deputy, he handled the odd jobs and actually knew the members better than Sadel did.

"Just these three we found—these two are from other squads, pretty young. We've also reached four more through the communicator. The others haven't responded—either their signals are cut or they're too busy."

Alan grew agitated. "Honestly, if I survive this, I wouldn't dare face their parents. Might as well die here."

Sadel looked up, raised a hand, and gestured upward. "Up."

He didn't move himself, instead grabbing a nearby team member and pulling him over. "Climb up."

The member looked flustered. "C-Captain..."

Sadel ignored him and turned to the others. "Climb as high as you can."

Several civilians looked uneasy. They weren't military—either logistics or plain merchants. Upward, there were only window ledges and slight protrusions in the wall to step on.

"That's too hard."

"Then grab a weapon and stay here with me."

Sadel had already returned to his original position, rifle trained on the slowly approaching insectoid.

Alan observed for a moment, figured the larger one probably couldn't get through, and came over to stand beside Sadel. He waved at the team members and the strangers. "If you don't want to stay and feed the bugs, you'd better hurry."

Under pressure, some gritted their teeth and started climbing. Others who genuinely couldn't crowded behind Alan and Sadel, gripping whatever weapons they had—or, failing that, a few rocks they'd picked up from the ground.

Alan glanced over, pulled a dagger from his waist, and tossed it over. Someone immediately grabbed it, clutching it tightly. But a small blade like that against a creature of that size—its greatest use was probably psychological comfort.

Alan thought, and inexplicably recalled the kid he'd seen on that planet earlier, and the rumors from the central battlefield.

Well, aside from them, those monsters also used melee weapons, he mused idly.

The soldiers climbed fastest. One of them, after scaling a stretch, paused at a window ledge. As he looked up to continue, he met Ye Mo's gaze peering down from above. His hand slipped, and he nearly lost his grip and fell.

Ye Mo quickly pulled back a little.

The man below immediately called out to Sadel. "Captain! There's someone up there."

Everyone below looked up.

Ye Mo hesitated, then leaned out again, speaking uncertainly. "Do you need help?"

As he spoke, the insectoid below stopped moving, and the group's attention shifted back to the creature in front of them.

The middle-aged man wiped sweat from his forehead, staring in terror at the seemingly startled insectoid, whispering shakily, "Don't talk, don't talk—"

No one took him seriously, except for Alan and Sadel.

Sadel's finger hovered over the trigger, tightening and relaxing several times.

Someone above shouted in alarm. "Captain, behind you!"

But it was too fast—by the time Sadel and the others turned, it was already within reach.

The next instant, a sword pierced the joint connecting the insectoid's head to its body, and it was slammed violently into the ground. Ye Mo stepped onto its skull, then locked onto the other target, drew his sword, and brushed past Sadel. He leaped swiftly, kicked off the side wall, and used the recoil to pin the other insectoid against the wall.

The alley fell silent. Ye Mo pulled out his sword, and the creature slid down, crashing heavily to the ground.

Ye Mo flicked his blade, looking at them. "You're clear."

A few seconds passed before Alan responded, somewhat dazed. "Ah... thanks."

...

The meeting room was silent. The entire hall was saturated with Ambrose's psychic energy. He was releasing it as if it cost nothing, flooding over the urban districts, gradually taking control of the entire planet.

Because Ambrose was barely restraining himself, focusing solely on deep-controlling the planet as fast as possible, the pressure on those around him was far greater than usual.

With Ambrose at the center, it was like the deepest part of the ocean—the closer you got, the more pronounced the pressure became.

So at this moment, aside from Ambrose, only Alanson and Alva were in the room, standing a short distance away at his side.

Ambrose opened his eyes, and Alanson beside him immediately looked at him. "What's wrong?"

Ambrose's face showed no expression, the tips of his hair drifting slightly, lifted by his nearly tangible psychic energy. Alanson barely held his gaze for a second before his own psychic domain started to tremble, and he quickly lowered his head.

Even after all this time with the Graths, he still felt a jolt of fear—how could a human body possibly hold that kind of terrifying power?

Since he wasn't holding back or suppressing his psychic energy, Ambrose looked a lot more imposing than he usually did. "Cyril is here. Go keep an eye on him."

Alanson traded a look with Alva, and without another word, Alva headed out while Alanson stayed put.

The second he was out of the room, Alva took off running. He didn't bother with the stairs—he smashed the window at the end of the hall and jumped.

Pushing through Ambrose's pressure, he carefully stretched out his psychic sense. Luckily, he only needed to spread it a little to pick up Ye Mo's trail.

Ambrose's psychic energy was so thick around him that he stood out like a beacon.

Alva headed straight for that spot, finally stopping under a small building and eyeing the insectoid corpse.

He hopped onto the corpse and peered into the alley. Ye Mo was at the far end, sword in hand.

There were strangers in the middle of the alley. He glanced at the wall—more strangers up there too.

When Ye Mo saw him, he looked somewhat surprised and took a few steps toward Alva. "Alva, why are you here? Are you done with everything?"

It was only then that the others turned around, a beat too late. Alan's gaze locked tightly onto Alva, his fingers twitching slightly. His abnormality was even noticed by Sadel beside him, who gently nudged him with an arm.

Alva looked at Ye Mo, gave a short "mm," then paused before adding, "Ambrose sent me to work with you."

Would saying "babysitting" directly be too hurtful? Kids this age seem to care about such things, he thought.

Ye Mo had already run over. "Great, let's go together."

He stayed close to Alva like a young lion who had found its guardian. "What are we doing?"

Alva answered concisely, "Clear out the insectoids, gather the people, and send them off."