Chapter 558: Hive
The sky was crimson, the land grayish-brown. In the distance, twisted rock pillars and bottomless ravines were visible.
"Approaching Forward Base Three." The pilot’s voice came through the comms channel. "Detecting Energy Fluctuation below. Could be alien insect activity."
Xu Wuyi rose and walked over to the viewport.
Below, in a relatively flat valley, a cluster of the Federation’s silver-gray buildings was clearly visible.
That was Forward Base Three, its perimeter enveloped by an Energy Shield. Outside the shield, a dense mass of grayish-brown figures writhed.
Alien Insects.
There were at least a thousand of them. They used their sharp, jointed limbs to tear at the ground, attempting to tunnel toward the base.
The Defense Cannon Platforms fired ceaselessly, beams of energy sweeping across the swarm and splattering viscous fluids everywhere. Yet more insects surged forward to replace the fallen.
"Quite the horde." Tie Zhan walked to Xu Wuyi’s side and narrowed his eyes. "Looks like the Alien Insect Nest here is very active."
"Prepare for airdrop," Xu Wuyi said.
The transport ship began to descend, hovering in a safe zone three kilometers from the base.
The bay door opened, and four fast-ropes descended.
"Zhou Kai, you stay on the ship and coordinate." Xu Wuyi shouldered his weapons bag and grabbed a fast-rope. "Tie Zhan, Lu Wenquan, the three of us are going down. First we clear the area, then we find the Alien Insect Nest."
"Roger that."
The three of them leaped out of the bay door simultaneously, sliding down the fast-ropes at high speed.
When they were still fifty meters from the ground, Xu Wuyi let go, his body plummeting like a meteor.
The moment he landed, he used Quicksand Step. A Gravity Field flared beneath his feet, cushioning the impact. He landed firmly on the grayish-brown rock, barely raising a speck of dust.
Tie Zhan and Lu Wenquan landed a moment later, and the three of them took up a triangular formation.
The swarm of Alien Insects ahead had already spotted them. A portion of the insects turned, their six jointed limbs scrabbling rapidly as they charged the trio.
Xu Wuyi didn’t draw his gun.
He raised his right hand, fingers curling as if to grasp something.
A three-hundred-and-fifty-meter-radius Gravity Field suddenly changed.
"Profound Nether·Mountain Suppression."
A crushing, almost tangible pressure descended. The dozens of Alien Insects at the forefront of the charge froze simultaneously, their limbs sinking deep into the ground as their exoskeletons emitted an overburdened CRACK.
But the Alien Insects felt neither pain nor fear.
They struggled, continuing to crawl forward, spitting a pale yellow corrosive liquid from their maws.
Xu Wuyi’s brow furrowed slightly.
’These insects’ exoskeletons really are tough. They can still move under five times the normal gravity.’
With a mere thought, the direction of the gravity changed.
The pull shifted from downward to inward.
All objects within a three-hundred-and-fifty-meter radius of him were now being pulled toward the center.
The ground cracked, and chunks of rock were torn free by an unseen force, surging toward Xu Wuyi along with the Alien Insects.
Tie Zhan and Lu Wenquan had already retreated to a safe distance.
Watching the swarm get dragged in by the Gravity Field, Xu Wuyi brought his hands together before his chest, palms facing but not touching.
A phantom image of a great, dark-golden swamp appeared behind him, and from it, a massive Seal Platform, three meters to a side, rapidly formed.
"Returning Ruins Seal: Suppress."
The moment the Seal Platform formed, an Intention of suppression naturally spread out. The Alien Insects being pulled in faltered once more, as if they had fallen into an invisible mire.
Xu Wuyi pressed his hands downward.
The Seal Platform plummeted, smashing into the densest part of the swarm.
There was no explosion, no brilliant light—only the eruption of a Mental Realm of pure, ultimate "weight."
Centered on the point of impact, the ground within a hundred-meter radius sank by half a meter. The exoskeletons of all Alien Insects within that range shattered in unison, their body fluids spraying from the cracks as they were killed instantly.
One strike cleared out over a hundred.
But the swarm numbered far more than that.
More Alien Insects burrowed out of the ground, crawled from fissures in the rock, and swarmed in from all directions.
They had no intelligence, only the instinct to hunt and destroy. The Life Energy radiating from the three of them was the most delectable bait.
"This is a pain," Tie Zhan spat, his warhammer in his hand. "We’ll never kill them all. We have to find the Alien Insect Nest first."
"I’ll find it." Lu Wenquan knelt down, pressing his hands to the ground. Silver-white runes spread out from his palms and seeped into the earth.
He was a rune master, specializing in Energy detection and laying arrays.
As a nexus of biological energy, the Alien Insect Nest’s underground Energy Fluctuation was as obvious as a beacon in the night.
"Found it." Lu Wenquan opened his eyes and pointed toward his ten o’clock.
"Eight hundred meters out, forty meters deep. Strong Energy Fluctuation. Confirmed, it’s the Nest’s core. The nest structure is umbrella-shaped, with twelve main tunnels leading to the surface. There are three right under our feet."
He paused, then added, "At least five hundred Alien Insects are guarding the Nest’s perimeter. There could be even more in the tunnels."
Tie Zhan walked over, shouldering his warhammer. "What’s the plan? Do we just blast open the ground and charge in?"
Xu Wuyi shook his head. "The underground structure is complex. A direct assault could trigger a cave-in and bury the Alien Insect Nest completely. The recovery team needs intact biological tissue samples."
He looked at Lu Wenquan. "Can you block the Alien Insect Nest’s commands to the swarm?"
"I can try." Lu Wenquan pushed up his glasses. "The Alien Insect Nest commands the swarm using bio-wave signals, similar to a low-level hive mind. Give me three minutes to set up an interference barrier. I can temporarily sever the signal connection, but its range is limited. It can only cover a two-hundred-meter radius."
"That’s enough." Xu Wuyi’s gaze swept over the still-approaching swarm. "Tie Zhan, you handle the insects outside the barrier. Don’t let them interfere with Lu Wenquan’s work. Lu Wenquan, notify me the moment the barrier is complete."
"Understood."
Tie Zhan grinned, twirling his warhammer. "I’ve been itching for a fight."
He strode forward, charging toward the densest part of the swarm.
He swung his crimson warhammer. Where its shadow passed, three Alien Insects were smashed to pieces, splattering fluids and carapace fragments everywhere.
Meanwhile, Lu Wenquan quickly took twelve silver-white rune stones from his tactical pouch and inserted them into the ground in a specific pattern.
He formed hand seals and chanted an obscure Spell. One by one, the rune stones lit up, connecting with each other to form a complex geometric pattern.
Xu Wuyi stood his ground, unmoving.
His task was the most critical: the moment the interference barrier took effect, he had to break through the underground defenses and destroy the Alien Insect Nest’s core.
In his sea of consciousness, the dark-golden great swamp "breathed" slowly, its rhythmic fluctuations of weight spreading through his body like a heartbeat.
After his Visualization at the cold pool and Liang Sixian’s guidance, the Heavy Water aspect had reached Great Success, and that "living" rhythm was now deeply integrated into the essence of his Heart Image.
The ultimate penetration of "Water Drop" and the area-of-effect suppression of the "Returning Ruins Seal" had both taken a qualitative leap forward.
Now was the time to test the results.
Two minutes and forty-seven seconds later, Lu Wenquan’s voice rang out: "Interference barrier complete. Countdown initiated. Effective for one hundred and twenty seconds."
Almost simultaneously, the surrounding swarm fell into obvious chaos.
Their once-orderly charge formation began to break down. Some Alien Insects stopped in place, their limbs moving meaninglessly; others turned to attack their own kind. Only a few were still charging the trio, but their movements were no longer coordinated.