Facing the endless swarm of insects, even if he exhausted his Spiritual Power, it didn't reduce the scale of the infestation.
He let out a bitter laugh and raised his gun to his chin, intending to save the last bullet for himself; he didn't want to be slowly devoured by these bugs.
Pulling the trigger, a slight click sounded; his Spiritual Power wasn't enough to fire the bullet. The rcenary's face twisted montarily, and he scread in collapse, dragged into the swarm by several predators, gutted alive. The man experienced agony, struggle, and finally numbness, dying painfully, with the live stream freezing on his gray face.
After five hours of resistance, the chanized brigade's front completely collapsed, the tattered flag fluttering in the bloodstained dawn.
...
In the dim room, red alert boxes flashed across the screen.
"Cold Crow Team has disconnected communications."
"Forest Sheep Team has disconnected communications."
"Qinglu Team has disconnected communications."
"Desert Fox Team has disconnected communications."
"Damn it!" Thistle Xuedong slamd the console in a fit of losing control.
On the battlefield, communication breakdown signifies sacrifice, swallowed by bugs with no remains.
Over ninety percent of the outgoing teams were lost; including her, the command tier severely misjudged the danger level of this event. In the latter half of the night, the Insect Race gathered troops, abandoning the blockade of positions 169, 167, and 165, suddenly turning towards the battlefield outside the city.
This was a preditated attack; by the ti they realized it and requested help from inside the city, the route was completely blocked. The decision errors led to the near wipeout of the current recruits.
The cold alert tones echoed one after another, avatars of various teams dimming one by one; the team sent to support Chichu Chun also lost contact.
If these swarms took this opportunity to gather strength, breaking through this gap and advancing south, reaching the populated area before the military could intercept, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Just then, a resolute voice broke out, unexpectedly abrupt in the silent battle channel, yet like the faintest glimpse of hope in the darkness.
"I have arrived near the Far Traveler Team's coordinates, what are the next combat orders?"
"Chichu Chun!" Thistle Xuedong was startled, quickly replying,
"Why didn't you follow the orders to the rendezvous point and act alone?"
"Because I'm a scourge." Chichu Chun answered.
"People related to always end up unfortunate."
"If nothing went wrong, the team sent to support would have disconnected before reaching the coordinates, right?"
"So, I'm still better suited to proceed alone; so things only soone like , a scourge, can accomplish."
"Return to ." Thistle Xuedong whispered, "This is a military order; a soldier's duty is to obey orders!"
"Is this a military order or your personal agenda?" Chichu Chun suddenly retorted. "You're just my superior; I'm just a soldier, that's all.
"Over these past six months, you've given quite a hard ti, and I have no fondness for you. After tonight, I won't need to see you again."
Thistle Xuedong's expression froze on her face, then her gaze fell.
"What do you want to do?"
Chichu Chun didn't respond, leaving Thistle Xuedong feeling powerless.
As the girl slightly lowered her gaze, the woman's equally steadfast voice echoed in her ears.
"Just go and do it."
Chichu Chun's eyes flickered, quickly replying.
"Roger."
Receiving the woman's response, Chichu Chun felt invigorated, recalling the monts shared with the woman over these months, frowning slightly.
Everything she said was from the heart.
Who would truly like soone who constantly gives them trouble for no reason; she's not suffering from Stockholm Syndro.
The scourge either.
"Co out now." Chichu Chun said.
Seeing no movent from behind him, he turned back, hurling the Spider Gu Fang which pierced through the tree trunk.
The bushes beneath the tree trunk shifted slightly, and then a frightened figure slowly erged—it was the two mbers of the Far Traveler Team.
"Is that you, Rice Wine? How is the situation outside? I just thought you were the enemy in disguise, so I..." Xilin hurriedly explained.
The other person was equally fearful, afraid she might attack them.
At this mont, Chichu Chun's lips slightly moved, trembling at a fixed frequency, producing a sound between a spider and a cicada's hiss, which caused the two mbers of the Far Traveler Team present to be montarily stunned.
The other team mber's eyes slowly widened.
Seeing the two not respond, Chichu Chun didn't open her mouth this ti. Her throat contracted, also starting to tremble at high frequency, emitting the insect's hiss again, looking as though she was using her abdon to produce sound.
"You want... to join us?" The other person started but was killed by the suddenly aggressive Xilin before they could finish.
Xilin's previously frightened deanor disappeared, replaced by indifference as she slowly withdrew her hand from her comrade's chest.
"How do you know our language?"
Chichu Chun did not respond directly. Dark green patterns suddenly appeared on her body, resembling a sinister spider face from afar, with a spider's compound eye quickly occupying her left pupil.
"For , mastering your language is not difficult. My purpose in escaping today is to join you."
"How can I believe you?"
Looking at the young corpse on the ground, a centipede-like insect crawled out from his eye socket, and Chichu Chun calmly pointed at it.
Xilin didn't speak.
This kind of insect is called 'Chang.' By entering the human body, extending its limbs, and attaching to the host's nervous system, it controls the host's every move. It is effective for ordinary people, but it might not work on the Young Master.
Is the other party trying to earn their trust this way?
So naive.
The other party apparently overlooked the fact that the mont the Chang's limb touches the nerve, the host becos subject to the mother's gaze. All children would receive the mother's love equally, without exception.
Receiving such warm care, even if modern dicine can remove the Chang, those Chong Ghosts would still long to return to the mother's embrace.
An almost imperceptible curve lifted at her lips as she watched Chichu Chun step forward and place the Chang above her own eyelid, letting it squirm and crawl inside. Xilin let out a bizarre 'creaking' laugh.
Indeed, the mont the Chang entered her body, Chichu Chun's body began to tremble uncontrollably, gripping her eyes tightly in agony, her back bending from the intense spasms.
The world before her eyes abruptly shifted, as if she had suddenly co to a completely dark space, with a deep pool beneath her feet lightly rippling, and in front was a gigantic bed, frad in purple sandalwood, adorned corners of gold and copper, roped drapes hanging, soone calling her na, a voice lightly echoing in her ear, slightly tickling.
Chichu Chun looked up and saw that the towering bed's drapes had sohow been drawn back, a long neck extending out from inside, a woman's faceless visage appearing before her, her long hair coiled into a bun with a brown hairpin, the very sa one calling her.
"*Child,*"
"*You truly are my child,*"
"*You bear my blood within you,*"
"*Why not return to my embrace,*"
A distant yet ethereal voice reached her, seeming both far and close, and for so reason, the woman began to sob softly, sorrow like water drowning the dark space.
The presence before her,
is it the Eight-Spider Nest Mother?
Chichu Chun looked up at that majestic, bed-like a giant city tower, and the graceful figure behind the veil, inexplicably beautiful and enchanting, her breath quickening.
"Where are they?" Chichu Chun asked in a lost voice.
"Co into my embrace, child, and you will see all that we see."
The woman embraced her.
Clearly, there was no physical contact, yet Chichu Chun could feel the other embracing her as if her body were slowly sinking into a warm spring, so comforting and alluring that she wished to remain imrsed in the warmth forever.
"*How is it, my child?*"
"I see it all now." Chichu Chun's eyes bore a multitude of vistas, innurable soldiers still fighting, defending the last line with their lives, every minute marking the end of another life, families being torn apart. People stood silent before the martyrs' cetery, the elderly turned white, children and widows clinging together mourning.
Inside and outside Tower City, even when their bodies are devoured to bones, even when the last drop of blood spills, should the flag fluttering under the blood-red dawn fall, countless will rush to raise it again.
She could easily distinguish those visions that ca from the Syndicate, blending seamlessly into people's daily lives, smiling and engaging with others at work, or enjoying themselves at entertainnt places, thinking themselves impeccable, yet now they appeared full of flaws.
"I feel quite wonderful now."
Chichu Chun raised an excited smile.
"Thank you for your cooperation, I will soon kill them all."
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