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"Ssssssss!"

At that moment, a sharp noise transmitted through the receiver into everyone’s ears, clear and loud, completely overshadowing the injured engineer’s screams.

Everyone else’s nerves instantly tightened to the extreme!

Up until just now, they hadn’t heard the insects on the ground make any sound.

Everyone was holding guns, keeping watch from side to side, their legs trembling slightly—they weren’t professional soldiers, just technicians maintaining equipment operations. Handling such a bizarre situation was truly beyond their ability scope.

The answer soon revealed itself.

The holes on the door connected into one, turning into a rippling black curtain, followed by an enormous insect sticking its head out from the doorway. It was a creature never seen on Earth, its head shaped like a flat triangle, covered in dark brown armor on top, and beneath it had four pairs of compound eyes. In the middle of the compound eyes was a vertically opening mouth, inside which were shark-like dense teeth, and scythe-like mandibles flanked the mouth.

The continuous ssssss sound was produced by the creature rubbing its mandibles against each other.

If Chen Xuan could see this insect at this moment, he would definitely think, "This thing looks quite like the Star God."

If its size didn’t break limits, no matter how terrifying it looked, it wouldn’t instill fear in people.

However, just the head of this insect alone was over a meter high, two meters long. Including the mandible length, it almost filled the employee passageway.

Everyone finally reacted.

The insect wasn’t hidden in the control room but came from another world.

That security door had become the invasion point.

"Back up! Back up!"

The terrified engineers fired while retreating. Meanwhile, the security robots charged forward, equipped with welding guns on their mechanical arms that could release over a million volts of high pressure. Though not weapons, their lethality to living beings wasn’t much less than Gauss guns.

But with just one encounter, the robots were sliced in half by the insect’s mandibles. Whether it was plastic outer shell or alloy skeleton, in front of it, they were nothing more than noodles. It was as if it was driven not by muscle but by a high-power hydraulic system; otherwise, there’s no way to explain why robots whose structure rigidity was comparable to household cars couldn’t withstand a simple crushing.

As for bullets, they couldn’t even breach the armor’s defense, leaving only a few white marks, hardly able to pose any threat to the insect.

Instead, a ricochet hit an unlucky individual’s thigh, causing him to scream and collapse to the ground.

As everyone thought the fellow would be swallowed by the insect as fodder, it completely ignored the panicked retreating humans.

It merely turned its head to glance at the engineer rolling on the ground and then moved its gaze away. Liang Mingzhe heard a throat-swallowing sound around him—undoubtedly, the researchers felt the contempt displayed by the other side; humans at this moment seem to become the inferior side.

With a loud bang, the giant insect crashed into the wall, forcibly drilling a gap as wide as its body in the five-millimeter-thick steel plate.

Its rear half finally revealed itself as well, equally flat, multi-legged, segmented, like a blend of beetle and centipede.

The insect quickly passed through the hole, disappearing from sight.

Personnel on-site could only judge its advancement towards the edge of the Computation Well based on the fading collision sounds.

"Ssssss—!"

Before they could collect their thoughts, a second insect drilled out from the invasion point, followed by a third, fourth.

Not a single insect paid attention to the humans.

"They... what are they trying to do?" Zhao Qian wondered.

Liang Mingzhe felt a strong sense of unease arise within him.

"Professor, there’s an air pressure alarm from Computation Well 42!"

"The pressure inside is rapidly decreasing!"

Could it be...

The elderly man’s face changed dramatically, hastily shouting, "Quickly check the external monitoring of the Ark, bring up the monitor footage near Well 42!"

The moment everyone saw the scene, they were dumbfounded. A tiny crack appeared on the smooth and flawless surface of the Computation Well’s shell. Although its size was insignificant compared to the entire tower, in space, any tiny crack could lead to catastrophic damage.

A large volume of gas was escaping from that spot, forming kilometer-long line-shaped white mist after rapid condensation. The pressure difference caused the Computation Well’s shell to no longer be smooth, showing a slight bulge, while the outermost insulation module kept peeling off from the deformed shell.

The perpetrators of all this were those terrifying insects.

They tore apart the layers of Computation Well armor with mandibles, mouthparts, and acid, crawling from inside to Well 42’s exterior shell.

Apparently, the vacuum environment did not kill them.

They possessed a circulatory system capable of operating in extremely cold and oxygen-deficient environments, which alone was far superior to humans.

One of the insects leaped and flew over hundreds of meters, attaching tightly to the nearby Well 41 like a magnet.

Another crawled toward the bottom of the well — further down was the body of the Salvation Ark.

Now Liang Mingzhe understood what they were trying to do.

The target of these insects is the entire spacecraft!

He could no longer wait.

It was undoubtedly important for the new deity to grow quickly, but if the Salvation Ark was destroyed, then nothing would matter.

"Quick, activate the emergency separation engines for Wells 41 and 42!" Liang Mingzhe ordered loudly, "Prepare the whole ship for impact resistance!"

This meant completely abandoning the two Computation Wells and all the data stored within them. For those in the hall, this was an immeasurable loss, but seeing the current situation, everyone understood that the professor’s decision was necessary.

"Professor, the maintenance team hasn’t returned yet!" Zhao Qian reminded, "Should we wait a few more minutes..."

Her voice gradually faded, as the old man’s indifferent eyes already conveyed everything.

Compared to the safety of the entire spacecraft, the lives of a few engineers were insignificant.

Brilliant flames erupted in succession from the bottoms of Wells 42 and 41; it was the blaze from the ignition of solid rocket engines. Subsequently, the explosive bolts fixing the Computation Wells simultaneously detonated, and the suddenly weakened support structure could no longer retain the enormous Computation Wells, which shot skyward like rockets, rising vertically from the back of the Salvation Ark and darting into the boundless space.

...

Chen Xuan found the world suddenly plunged into darkness, and the souls of the store managers he was fighting against vanished into the boundless darkness along with it.

This experience was akin to a power outage.

"Is it over?" He sat down, panting heavily, drenched as if he had just been pulled out from the water. But after only a couple of breaths, he suddenly realized that the exhaustion and pain that almost overwhelmed him had vanished, making breathing itself an unnecessary act.

Because he no longer needed to breathe.

"What a pity." The Star God quietly walked out from beside him, his tone filled with regret, "I was just a step away from securing an additional prize."

"What do you mean?" Chen Xuan heard a hint of conspiracy.

"Nothing." The Star God chuckled, "You’re still alive, which is a delightful surprise."

He didn’t bother to think about it or ask, "Is the passage open?"

"Indeed." The other spread his arms, like a conductor leading an orchestra, "Your escape plan was quite successful, and we are already on our way back."

"That’s fine then." Chen Xuan felt a strange numbness surging in his mind, as if all thoughts were about to stall, yet amidst the numbness, there was a reassuring calm, "I guess I should say thank you."

"No need to be so formal." The Star God generous said, "Your soul already belongs to me, and in the long years to come, you have plenty of time to repay this kindness."

"Well..." He chuckled lightly, "I’m afraid I won’t be able to."

"A soul contract is irresistible; whether you want to abide by it or not, you must— huh?" The Star God’s expression suddenly froze, he reached out and grabbed, then erupted in fury, "What is this? No, why can’t the contract be executed!?"

"The Celestial Patrol mentioned before ascending that he left me a gift," Chen Xuan slowly said, the numbness already fully occupying his mind, causing his speech to become increasingly slow, "Even after my death, my soul will not fall into your hands."

"You—" The Star God’s face twisted completely, his already ugly appearance now more menacing, "You actually dared to deceive me! For the second time!"

"What choice did I have..." Chen Xuan grinned, "So the thank you is still necessary."

"Do you know what you’ve chosen!" he snarled through gritted teeth, discarding any pretended elegance and grace, "Without a physical vessel, your departure from me will immediately cause your soul to scatter, never to awaken again! It’s true death in every sense!"

"I know." Chen Xuan nodded slightly, "Choosing the lesser of two evils..."

The last half of the sentence was almost inaudible.

He felt his consciousness begin to fade, his past memories flashing through his mind like a revolving lantern.

Though the Star God’s angry curses and curses persisted, they sounded as if they came from afar, almost indistinguishable.

It was a pity not being able to return to Jiang City to see Lin Qing once more.

However, she should be able to sense his response.

After all, that coin wouldn’t fall out for no reason... right?

This was... his final farewell.

Like water, the tranquility enveloped Chen Xuan, and he closed his eyes.

End of Volume Three