The port’s control centre.
A thin man wearing a hat looked quite worried.
“Chief, we have to find a way out soon. We’re almost out of supplies. We’re living off the basic supplies those lunatics from the Empire sent for now. There’s only three days’ worth left at most.”
He lowered his voice.
“That thing is also getting more and more active. We almost can’t keep up with the amount it’s consuming. Why don’t we abandon it and rush out using the warship?”
The redheaded man scowled impatiently. “Didn’t I tell you to feed it the corpses? That thing will eat anything.”
“They’re all gone. I even threw our own men’s corpses down there.”
The redheaded man whirled on him. “But without it, we’re the ones who’re screwed! We wouldn’t even have been able to get up to this control centre without it. And the Grantz Empire has us surrounded! If it were any other country, even the Federation, I’d rush out even if all I had was a dagger.”
With that, he slapped the table hard. “Those cowards. I should have known they wouldn’t dare to take on Grantz. They even gave up on the king insect.”
The thin man cautiously suggested, “We could go grab those students and use them as hostages to secure a way out.”
The redheaded man impatiently spat out, “We’ve already killed so many of theirs, using those insects at that. They won’t let us go.”
The redheaded man suddenly turned around again. “Where are all the insects that were in the port being kept?”
The thin man: “We were able to herd all that we could into the cargo containers using the king insect’s blood. The rest were put down on the spot.”
The thin man couldn’t help but complain, “We wasted so many bullets.”
The redheaded man pondered for a moment.
“Go back and drop them all on the surface. Leave the king insect at the factory where we tossed the eggs and park the warship out of sight. When the swarm attracts the attention of the fleet, they’re sure to break formation and come save their students. We’ll sneak out then.”
……
The surrounding area was as quiet again as before, but Ye Muo and Ye Yun both knew what was underneath their feet now. The two of them cautiously pressed themselves against the wall.
As if realising Ye Muo and Ye Yun would not ever be coming down, the sounds of rustling and crawling resumed below. Grotesque chewing could even be heard from time to time.
The dead silence from before was even more abnormal in hindsight.
Ye Muo’s face was still pale. He said in a wavering whisper, “They were deliberately luring us down there before.”
It was not hard to imagine what would have happened if they had just gone down the stairs like that.
Ye Yun had calmed down already. “There’s nothing down there so they’re resorting to cannibalism. The king insect shouldn’t be here.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
If there was a king insect present, all the other bugs would be considered living extensions of itself. A king insect would not allow this to happen.
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Tf Zeb rboais rjlv, “Vbwfbcf vewqfv lcrfma fuur vbkc atfgf ktlmt tjamtfv. Dea rlcmf atfgf’r cb obbv, atfs rajgafv gfrbgalcu ab mjcclyjilrw.”
Ye Yun looked up at him before continuing, “The reason why their degree of development varies is because eggs were dumped in at different times. Those that hatched first would consume some of the new eggs, but some would manage to survive.”
Regardless of whether those galactic pirates were behind this or not, this place was definitely not safe.
Ye Yun made an immediate decision. “While it’s still dark, let’s leave from above.”
They started walking back to the spiral staircase.
Yet halfway, Ye Yun stopped.
The sound of something heavy hitting the ground came from in front of them, followed by faint conversation and heavy footsteps.
It was nearly dawn.
He turned back, locking eyes with Ye Muo and gesturing.
……
“Be careful, you guys!”
A short, stout man was carrying a black bag. His two companions behind him were carrying a larger bag together. The one in front seemed to be exhausted. The bag on his back slipped to the ground.
The man in front wiped the sweat from his forehead before lifting the big bag again. He couldn’t help but grumble.
“Why the fuck do I need to be careful with this thing? It won’t die anyway. Ugh, if those imperial lunatics didn’t make us waste so much time here, we wouldn’t be in this state. If it were up to me, I would burn the whole damn thing to ashes and save myself the trouble.”
The short, stout man seemed very tense. He kept adjusting the bag over his shoulder.
“Stop complaining so we can get out of here ASAP. The chief said yesterday that we’re moving out today.”
The people lifted their heavy cargo again and proceeded down.
The short, stout man was in the forefront. As he passed the window, happened to glance out and spot something thanks to the dim light.
Dawn was almost upon them.
He squinted and took a step toward the window. He looked down just in time to lock eyes with the person below.
His eyes widened. Before he had time to shout, Ye Yun, hiding beneath by holding onto the windowsill, slit his throat with a dagger. The black bag slung across the man’s shoulder dropped to the floor as he went limp and collapsed half out of the window.
Tsk. Discovered.
Ye Yun quickly kicked the corpse away and flipped inside.
The other two men following behind had already thrown down the other bag and drawn blades from their waists.
Ye Yun acted first, trying to stab one of them in the chest. However, the corpse at his feet slowed him for a beat and he was caught by the wrist. He pivoted on one leg, the other slamming upwards against his opponent’s head. The man let him go due to the pain. Ye Yun twisted back around and viciously stabbed forward.
Because of the delay just now, Ye Yun’s dagger was still embedded in the man’s body when he turned around and saw the other man swing his machete down at him.
It was too late to dodge. Ye Yun’s movements stalled as he forcibly resisted the urge to dodge. Instead, he charged forward with his shoulder, ready to take the blow. Then Ye Yun could only watch as the machete man collapsed, revealing Ye Muo clutching his dagger behind him.
Because they were so close, a few drops of blood had splattered onto Ye Yun’s face. He was too amped to care.
“Good work.”
The window was too small for the both of them, so Ye Muo just hid underneath the stairs.
Ye Yun first looted the corpses for ammo and weapons before crouching down and cutting a small opening in the large black bag they were carrying.
A puddle of mucus and white eggs gushed out from within. One slid to Ye Muo’s feet.
Ye Yun resealed the bag with a knot.
“These galactic pirates are holding on to a king insect.”
As long as a king insect lived, it would keep producing eggs until it believed there were enough. It could lay eggs very quickly, and the longer it went without receiving feedback from adult insects, the faster it would go. Food was not a priority for king insects at this stage. It would even irrationally consume itself to keep laying eggs until it died of exhaustion.
Ye Yun wanted to check out the other, smaller bag, which was soaked with blood coming from a corpse. He was just about to cut it open when the egg by Ye Muo’s feet suddenly moved.
Something inside made it bulge outward. Ye Muo subconsciously took a step back. Half-crouched at his feet, Ye Yun immediately ran it through with his dagger. The surface of the egg trembled a few times before going still.
Ye Yun disposed of the other exposed eggs as well before picking up the large bag on the ground. This heavy thing that two men were struggling to carry seemed to weigh nothing to him. Then he picked up the other bag with one hand too.
“They’re about to hatch. We need to dispose of them ASAP.”
While following him, Ye Muo asked, “How will we do that?”
Ye Yun replied simply, “Same as the pirates have been doing. Tossing them down there.”
He straightened his back. “I don’t want to have to deal with a bunch of bugs AND the pirates.”
Ye Muo went to take the bag on his shoulder, but Ye Yun sidestepped him. “Stay back. You’ll get in my way.”
Ye Yun and Ye Muo headed to the deep well again. At first, Ye Yun stabbed each egg to death before tossing it down, but he quickly grew impatient and hurled the entire bag down there.
Ye Muo was a little scared. He stayed far away.
Ye Yun first threw down the large bag that he had opened before. After a dull thud, rusting came from beneath them.
Then he picked up the smaller bag. When he was about to throw it down too, the surface of the bag violently broke open. A sticky, soft tentacle shot out from within and wrapped around his neck.
The bag fell to the floor, scattering pure white eggs all over the place.
Only now was the thing inside completely revealed. It was very fat with mucus drenching its pure white body. Its muzzle was stained with a bit of red. Pairs of eyes lined its back. It wasn’t that tall, probably only reaching the human calf when standing.
It wrapped around Ye Yun’s neck from behind and tightly clung to his back.
Ye Yun instinctively grasped the foreign object on his neck with both hands. He bent over, trying to pry it off. However, this thing was extraordinarily strong. The limb around Ye Yun’s neck continued to slowly tighten.
Ye Muo immediately ran over and grabbed the thing with one hand, stabbing his dagger into its body at an angle that avoided Ye Yun. The blade easily sunk into soft flesh, but it still didn’t let go of Ye Yun. Its tail did however wrap around Ye Muo’s forearm.
Ye Muo grunted. His arm seemed to have been snapped just now, but he still didn’t let go. He attempted to tear this thing off Ye Yun with his other hand.
Still bowed over, Ye Yun took a step back and collapsed to one knee against the railing. He gasped for breath.
“Ye Muo. Let go.”
“Listen, this should be the king insect. Let’s split up. I’ll jump down with it later, and you go find the others and tell them there’s a king insect here.”
Ye Muo shook his head. With tightly clenched teeth, he used his other hand to grasp a part of the king insect and pull back with all his strength. Yet rather than it budging, he was the one being pulled closer.
Ye Yun stepped back again. “I thought you found this kind of thing disgusting?”
“Let go!”
He barked sternly. At the same time, he took the initiative to let go as well, offering himself to the king insect so it would leave Ye Muo alone.
Ye Muo did let go, but only so he could slash his own arm with his dagger and once again use his blood-soaked arm to grab Ye Yun.
That thing didn’t even hesitate to let go of Ye Yun and latch itself onto Ye Muo this time. It was so quick that all Ye Yun saw when he climbed to his feet was Ye Muo against the railing, his head and arm covered. Only the lower half of his face was visible.
With almost no hesitation, Ye Muo vaulted over the railing and jumped down.
Burst after burst of shrill screeches came from the endless darkness.
Ye Yun’s pupils shrank sharply.
Author’s Corner
This isn’t the plot point described in the synopsis, ah! I noticed many readers making that assumption and I’m afraid you’ll all come beat me up. That plot point will come a bit later, but his dad will save the day (really).
Can’t wait!
Thanks for the chapter!
That was so brave! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️
no no why did I read this today? this is the worst cliff! I need a new chapter….someone save that poor baby
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
😭😭😭
That author note XD