97. King Worm
When Ying Chenlin uttered these words, the rest of KID looked somewhat bewildered.
However, there was no time for them to explain further. Huo Yan, tilting his head, suddenly noticed on the detection system that some red dots were approaching their direction, at varying speeds.
“Subordinate manipulation?” Huo Yan, who hadn’t used the protective shield much, said, “Oh no, some red pollutants under the influence of the Mantis are gathering in our direction.”
Ji Qingfeng, “Before figuring out the Mantis relationship, we might have to deal with this wave of pollutants coming first.”
“Since just now, we haven’t been able to contact Tang Jie and the others.” Lu Xi said, “Are we still within its range?”
If this ability was spatial displacement, then within its ability range, all mechas might be affected by a magnetic field, unable to connect with the outside world. Now, their movements were restricted, and although the Wind Blade Mantis’s attacks had slowed down, it continued to attack them. With a swarm of pollutants attacking, they would eventually perish in this place.
“It’s not subordinate manipulation.” Ying Chenlin raised his eyes slightly, “These two Mantises are probably already dead, or even if they aren’t dead, they are half-dead.”
You Su looked up and saw that the Female Mantis at the high ground remained motionless. In fact, since they were first transported to this location, the Female Mantis had rarely moved. The only ones moving were the Wind Blade Mantis and three or four pollutants.
Ji Qingfeng exclaimed, “But they’re jumping around… pollutants die, and the pollution value decreases.”
Lin Yao: “Speaking of pollution values, I was wondering why the pollution values of these two pollutants are both 8800?”
Inside the cockpit, Theo had been observing the surroundings. He earnestly said, “These two look weak. If we could shell them, we would have killed them already. Why don’t we pull everyone else out and just bombard them?”
Yousu asked, “You just said you know the relationship between them. What is it?”
“Just a guess, needs to be tested,” Ying Chenlin looked at Lu Xi, “Lu Xi, use your Water Flow Cannon to deal with the Mantises.”
Among artillery weapons, most carried fuel-based attack systems, but there were also special control weapons. The Water Flow Cannon, a type of control weapon that manipulated mechas , was one of them. Unlike sniper cannons that caused burning explosions, this weapon fired water-based projectiles, all coordinated by the anomalous crystal mounted on the weapon.
Lu Xi immediately understood. She aimed the Water Flow Cannon at the Mantises on the high ground and fired two consecutive shots. Both Mantises were hit. The ease of hitting them left Lu Xi somewhat stunned, but she didn’t stop. During the continuous attacks, she noticed that the speed of the Wind Blade Mantis had significantly slowed down.
Ji Qingfeng exclaimed, “The Wind Blade Mantis is even slower now.”
Lu Xi suddenly recalled that before being transported, she also used the Water Flow Cannon on the Mantises. At that time, the Mantises’ movements became sluggish in the Water Flow Cannon and her teammates’ attacks. She thought this Mantis was easy to deal with, “I know Mantises are afraid of water, but it’s already an S-class pollutant. How can this level of Water Flow Cannon have any effect on it?”
Ying Chenlin, seeing this scene, confirmed decisively, “It’s not that it’s afraid of water. The relationship between them is not among individual Mantises but something common within their bodies.”
His tone became slightly colder, “Have you ever heard of parasites?”
As soon as parasites were mentioned, everyone in KID suddenly realized something. Their gazes towards the two Mantises on high ground instantly became different.
“The Mantis that initially attacked us had the Wind Blade anomaly ability. Barring any surprises, the spatial displacement should be the anomaly ability of the Female Mantis. However, during its usage, it expands outward with the core focal point being the Wind Blade Mantis,” Ying Chenlin explained, “With a 15-kilometer separation, even radar cannot achieve such precision. So, I’ve been wondering what relationship exists between them that allows the Female Mantis to use the anomaly ability so precisely on the Wind Blade Mantis.”
This behavior was contradictory. The only possibility was that it was locked onto their relationship or the anomaly ability of the Female Mantis.
But now, there was no clear manifestation of such a relationship. The spatial anomaly ability had already exhibited two characteristics: spatial confinement and displacement.
They were unable to contact external communications due to the influence of the spatial anomaly characteristic. With the confirmation of these two characteristics, it was impossible for a third characteristic to appear on the Female Mantis, especially precise positioning or manipulation, which was obviously contradictory to spatial attributes.
In a situation where the relationship was unclear and the anomaly ability of the Female Mantis could not manifest, Ying Chenlin thought of the third pollutant. Having a third pollutant could connect the relationship between these two Mantises.
You Su chuckled lightly, “Have you heard of the theory that hairworms manipulate the movements of Mantises?”
“If the Mantis’s body has been emptied by parasitic-type pollutants, in reality, these two Mantises are now half-dead, moving rigidly, and only capable of hunting, which is one of the exhibited forms,” You Su looked towards the high ground, “The pollutant residing inside the Mantis is utilizing the abilities of the two Mantises to hunt for it. The dead pollutant does not have a high pollution value… this 8800 pollution value probably doesn’t belong to the Mantis but to the parasitic worm lurking inside the Mantis.”
Lin Yao raised his doubts, “Parasites are so small pollutants, how can they simultaneously control two pollutants?”
“I worked on the Frontier Contaminated Zone in my early years, where there were many pollutants in the Frontier Contaminated Zone. Among the insect-type pollutants, it is easy to evolve into a King Worm,” Huo Yan suggested one possibility, “This kind of King Worm has a certain dominance over its race. You can’t see it as an individual pollutant. It dominates a pollutant army and can completely mimic within its race.”
“These pollutants are very difficult to deal with. Without finding the King Worm, killing one would mean killing a group. It has only one anomaly ability, which is control and dominance. It can control all those of the same race within its territory,” Huo Yan looked towards the two pollutants on the high ground, “If the King Worm is inside the Female Mantis, and the offspring are in the Wind Blade Mantis, then it can easily locate the position of the offspring to determine the location of the Wind Blade Mantis.”
“I understand now. There is another King Worm pollutant that has implanted its descendants in both Mantises, using these two Mantises to hunt and feed the family,” Ji Qingfeng exclaimed.
“So complicated,” Lin Yao focused on the main point, “Are their anomalous crystals still inside them?”
Ying Chenlin said, “Yes, and we can probably obtain three anomalous crystals.”
Lin Yao: “!!!”
—
In the Coria Management Bureau lounge, from the moment the mecha signal from the Second Star Domain disappeared on the main planet, all the coaches in the lounge entered a new planning coordination. Now that they couldn’t contact KID at all and couldn’t get KID to turn off the mecha signal, KID was like the brightest spot on the map. The Second Star Domain could easily find the corresponding S-level pollution source by locking onto KID’s position.
This was unfavorable for them, but not entirely unfavorable.
The Second Star Domain had three teams on the main planet: GBK, and two other teams originally held back by pollutants.
The staff was trying their best to capture the movements of other mechas. The mecha signals on the other two planets in the Second Star Domain were still there, only the signal on the main planet was lost. Obviously, the Second Star Domain didn’t want the Coria Management Bureau, including the Dawn Galaxy, to know their movements.
“The two teams from the Second Star Domain may be about to leave. A large number of concentrated red dots on the map are dispersing.”
“GBK’s movements are unknown. Qi Sicheng’s team has not encountered anyone.”
Qi Sicheng also established contact with the lounge. Without any obstacles along the way, they had already begun fighting the first S-level pollutant in the mountains. “Has YDS contacted Black Crow?”
“Contacted.” Zhang Ge continued, “From the current situation, there is a small outbreak of friction, but with their abilities, they can hold on for the time being.”
Now, the only people who could be mobilized to help KID were the Individual Soldiers. However, their current location was at the other end of the galaxy, far from KID. It was certain that they wouldn’t make it in time to rescue KID.
“Then we can’t save KID,” Qi Sicheng’s voice was slightly heavy. He had already thought of other ways to fight. “Our advantage hasn’t actually changed. The spatial displacement anomalous crystal has attracted the attention of GBK. Considering the positions of various pollution sources, GBK probably won’t go elsewhere. They will only go to KID’s location, trying to seize it before KID takes down the anomalous crystal.”
Zhao Lejie said, “They didn’t leap into the mountains at the beginning and have been waiting on the periphery for this reason.”
He cursed, “These people are too treacherous. Initially, we thought their goal was to clear us out and get all the S-level resources. But such thinking is too one-sided; they have a deeper consideration, using our Dawn Galaxy to determine the locations and situations of other pollution sources, thereby narrowing down their targets.”
The swamp forest was a monitoring blind spot, so to ensure forces, they sent two teams and kept the powerful GBK always on the outskirts.
All of this was carefully calculated by them, with two steps mixed in one step, appearing aloof and superior.
Shen Xingtang asked Qi Sicheng, “What’s your plan now?”
“Not rescuing. On the contrary, we will use the advantage created by KID for us,” Qi Sicheng thought of the meeting before departure. At that time, the maintenance worker from KID said a sentence, “We must reduce the provocation; our goal is to get resources.”
This blind box dug out by KID immediately diverted the three teams on the main planet, meaning that the remaining resources were now in competition among five individuals.
So what if the mecha’s location was unknown? They didn’t need to consider the Second Star Domain’s strategy. They only needed to prioritize their own goal—getting resources.
Qi Sicheng said, “We’re turning off our signals too.”
Zhao Lejie was surprised, “Boss, isn’t this going to be a night battle?”
“Individual soldiers need to snatch the farthest one. We will use this time to take down the anomalous crystal in the mountains.”
Qi Sicheng said, “KID is not that weak. If we go to help now, we will completely collapse.”
After ending the call with Qi Sicheng, the people in the lounge saw the signal representing the Gale, which also disappeared from Coria’s detection system. Currently, only KID’s signal was lit up in Coria, mixed in with the two S-level pollution sources. It was worrisome at a glance.
Jiang Simiao said, “I just did the speed calculation. With GBK’s forward speed, without any hindrance, they probably have about 10 minutes to reach KID’s location.”
Others: “…”
Good guy, this is wanting to have KID accomplish a heroic feat of one against three!
Zhang Ge said, “What about us?”
Jiang Simiao’s expression carried a touch of desolation, “Unfortunately, we’re motionless, about to take a beating.”
Another staff member beside them said, “Zhang Ge, maybe even more than that.”
Zhang Ge: “?”
The staff member released the pollution detection report around KID, showing many red dots representing pollutants approaching.
GBK’s approach, two S-level pollutants, and nearby approaching groups of pollutants.
The staff member remained silent for a while before saying, “KID is about to face a three-way brawl.”
_
In the swamp forest, KID, about to face a three-way brawl, remained in the swamp, but many pollutants had already surrounded it. These pollutants, resembling walking corpses, approached KID’s mecha. Ji Qingfeng, who was originally trying to move away, seeing this situation, immediately grabbed his short-bladed weapon and swung it towards the pollutants without hesitation.
With this swing, he directly cut the approaching pollutant into two halves.
Lin Yao: “Impressive, Da Feng ah!”
Ji Qingfeng was taken aback: “Did I become stronger!?”
“No, these pollutants are just too easy to deal with. They are rushing towards my blade as if they were delivered. I’ve encountered sent ones, but never seen such enthusiastic ones,” Ji Qingfeng explained, busy peeling off the pollutants that fell into the swamp, trying to extract their anomalous crystals. However, he found that these pollutants were empty inside and exclaimed, “Damn, these pollutants have been hollowed out!”
As he slashed them open, many long, thread-like black bugs, as thick as human thighs, dropped to the ground, wriggling disgustingly as they fell into the swamp.
Ji Qingfeng: “Damn, What the hell is this ah!”
As more pollutants arrived, each one was dealt with individually by the three melee mechas. It was a manageable situation for them—essentially a stand-and-fight scenario. However, with the landing of these pollutants, black bugs gradually crawled out of their bodies. As soon as these bugs fell into the swamp, they immediately became agile and swam toward the mechas, seemingly struggling to enter their interiors.
Ji Qingfeng, feeling his scalp tingling, exclaimed, “What the hell is this!”
Lu Xi, seeing this, said, “It looks somewhat like iron-thread worms… but much thicker than iron-thread worms.”
“So that’s why you made me use the Water Flow Cannon,” she immediately realized, understanding why Ying Chenlin had instructed her to use water attacks. If these mutated bugs were originally iron-thread worms, then they retained the characteristics of iron-thread worms, such as enjoying water and sunlight.
The Female Mantis in the high position didn’t move much, but the location where it was situated was a dappled light spot within the mottled tree shadows.
In the swamp forest, sunlight was scarce, and the tall trees meant that pollutants unable to fly had limited exposure to light.
Ying Chenlin brushed away the bugs swimming towards him. When he saw the pollutants’ contamination values accumulating in the detection system, strangely fixed at 8800, he observed that despite their displayed attacking capabilities were lower than even A-class pollutants, “These pollutants have been hollowed out. The King Worm used the Female Mantis to teleport us here because we are their food, or rather, their new hosts.”
Both water and food were their preferences, and encountering water created behavioral contradictions.
The one with true intelligence was the King Worm; the other offspring pollutants were merely dominated by it. However, this domination was not absolute. Therefore, when the Wind Blade Mantis was attacked with water, it was also partially affected. Some lower-intelligence parasitic creatures wanted to approach the water, while others wanted to control the Mantis to attack for food, resulting in delayed behavior.
Ji Qingfeng: “No wonder both Mantises stayed in high places. They didn’t want to be affected by the swamp below, right!?”
“Too much water would make it difficult for the King Worm to control a large number of offspring.” Ying Chenlin looked towards the high ground. “So dealing with the Wind Blade Mantis is straightforward, even effortless. Just keep attacking it with water, and a small part will come out from its body.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Xi understood. She had been targeting the Wind Blade Mantis with water flow cannon attacks. Those wind blades had not been used for several minutes, and the Mantis at high altitude swayed as if it was about to fall.
The King Worm was very intelligent; it wanted to feed on more energetic pollutants, putting its thirst for water in second place.
However, the other offspring were not as smart; they liked both energetic host pollutants and water.
The surrounding environment was not that simple, with more and more manipulated ‘pollutants’ coming towards them like walking corpses.
Their difficulty was no longer dealing with the two Mantises. The focus had shifted to figuring out how to deal with these iron-thread worms. Even if they only had B-class attack power, under the control of the King Worm, the collective attack power of numerous iron-thread worms was considerable.
In such a passive environment in the swamp, it was challenging for them. Although Huo Yan and the others could use melee weapons to repel the enemies, it was challenging for You Su and Ying Chenlin, who couldn’t use projectile weapons. You Su had no melee weapons and could only use the energy cannon barrel as an improvised melee weapon, attacking the monsters with it.
Theo looked distressed: “Ah! That’s the weapon Ying Chenlin installed for me. Can’t you be more gentle?”
You Su ignored Theo, and after driving away the pollutants around, he approached Ying Chenlin. While Lu Xi could repel using the water flow cannon, both of Ying Chenlin’s weapons were projectile-type weapons, making them unsuitable for melee combat.
Theo flew to Ying Chenlin’s side, saying, “Give me your hand.”
When Ying Chenlin saw the mecha’s hand, he hesitated for a moment. He didn’t refuse You Su’s goodwill but, while holding hands, more pollutants attacked from the surroundings.
Relentless, they were not given any chance to evacuate from the swamp.
You Su fought back the pollutants around, and if the sniper cannon worked, these bugs would have been incinerated long ago.
“Hold on tight,” You Su pulled a person with one hand and used the cannon barrel to repel the pollutants around with the other.
The descent speed of the mecha was faster than they had imagined. As they resisted these black bugs, the mecha sank because of occasional movements. Among the free-moving individuals, only You Su was left. Ying Chenlin knew that such a passive situation was too unfavorable.
Lin Yao spoke up, “Why can they invade the body of an S-class pollutant? I know the King Worm, an S-class, can go in, but how did they get in the Wind Blade Mantis?”
At this point, Ji Qingfeng coughed, “Yao Bao, there are things you shouldn’t ask. You’re too young.”
Ying Chenlin, who had been contemplating the issue, hesitated upon hearing others discuss it. “Ask what?”
Lin Yao: “I don’t know either.”
Others: “…”
Ying Chenlin: “?”
You Su: “…”
In a moment, Ying Chenlin gave up asking about that thing. “We need to find a way to get out; we’ll be dragged to death here.”
The completely lost communication environment gave a sense of oppression. Ying Chenlin looked at the detection system; they were like two eyes in complete darkness. They had wasted too much time here, and the environment was too passive. He could only look up at the high ground where the Female Mantis remained motionless.
Even when attacked by Lu Xi’s water flow cannon, it leisurely moved to another position, observing the struggling prey below.
Too calm. The King Worm’s only goal was to wear them down, and then they would become its food or hosts.
At this moment, Ying Chenlin lowered his head to look at the internal radar of the mecha. He minimized the radar to see how large the sensing range was in space.
When he minimized it, he instantly noticed a strange trend in the movement of pollutants at the edge of the detection. In one place, the pollutants seemed to be empty.
Bad.
Ying Chenlin turned his head abruptly, seeing Ji Qingfeng almost coming out of the swamp.
Ji Qingfeng had a binding lock, making his movements relatively more convenient than others.
Ying Chenlin looked at You Su, “You Ge, let go and help Ji Qingfeng.”
Upon hearing this, You Su paused, “You handle it yourself for a while.”
Ying Chenlin nodded, and the gravity on his right hand suddenly eased.
Ji Qingfeng said, “I’m coming out soon. It’s inconvenient for you to hold the cannon, let Brother You help you.”
“We don’t have time,” Ying Chenlin said calmly, “Just now, there was a disturbance in the pollutant response on the radar. I suspect that the Second Star Domain is already coming towards our direction.”
KID: “!”
Huo Yan pondered, “With our current situation, them coming here is equivalent to handing us the anomalous crystals.”
Lu Xi was puzzled, “Can we make it?”
Ying Chenlin saw Ji Qingfeng about to come out with the help of You Su, and immediately said, “Since it’s an unfavorable environment, let’s turn it to our advantage.”
You Su asked, “How?”
Ying Chenlin said, “Attack the Female Mantis. We have to take a gamble and let it know the danger.”
Without hesitation, Ji Qingfeng, who had just come out of the swamp with the help of You Su, immediately sent out the binding lock scythe in his hand and rushed towards the position of the Female Mantis. The Female Mantis seemed unprepared for Ji Qingfeng’s attack to come so quickly. It hastily avoided the attack and manipulated other pollutants to counter Ji Qingfeng.
However, among these walking dead-like pollutants, only the Wind Blade Mantis posed a threat, and that Mantis had already been controlled by Lu Xi. Ji Qingfeng quickly approached the Female Mantis with a slash for each Mantis. When the Female Mantis tried to jump out, a gun mecha suddenly appeared behind.
“Pull it down!” Ying Chenlin shouted to the high ground.
Although You Su’s gun couldn’t be used, it could still block the direction. He blocked the escape route of the Female Mantis.
Without any attack capability, the Female Mantis had to change its direction. However, this change in direction gave Ji Qingfeng an opportunity. He used the binding lock scythe to hook onto the head of the Female Mantis and pulled the entire Mantis into the swamp on the ground.
When it fell into the water, the Female Mantis felt a sense of crisis. The king worm lurking inside it seemed to have discovered something and struggled to break free.
At this moment, Ying Chenlin noticed the gradually reddening eyes of the Female Mantis and the ground gradually turning red. He shouted, “Ji Qingfeng, try lifting its head!”
Ji Qingfeng immediately did so, and the red area on the ground stopped spreading.
Ying Chenlin shouted again, “Loosen a bit.”
When he slightly loosened the grip, the red area on the ground deepened, and Ying Chenlin could feel the oppressive force.
Ji Qingfeng had no choice but to relax, “Brother ah, this guy is not easy to handle!”
*JQF used di which is younger brother for Chenlin.
“Tighten it again!” Ying Chenlin unexpectedly interrupted, “This head is secured well.”
Huo Yan asked, “Was that pollutant just about to initiate a displacement?”
Lin Yao had just sensed a squeezing feeling, “Can we use it as a mount? Let it take us away from this place?”
KID and the others seemed to have discovered something interesting. Ji Qingfeng looked at the Female Mantis under his feet, “Can we really play like this?”
At this moment, the Wind Blade Mantis from above was knocked down by Lu Xi and fell into the water. Lu Xi shouted, “It’s down.”
Ying Chenlin looked at the ground, “Enter the range of the Female Mantis, let it take us away from this place.”
Others who were trapped in the swamp tried their best to move inward, feeling the pressure from the displacement.
Seeing this scene, You Su knew what Ying Chenlin wanted to do. He looked at the radar position, noticed the gap in the pollutants, and said, “Ji Qingfeng, tighten it, don’t loosen it.”
Ji Qingfeng felt the struggling force under his hand, “Damn, Ge, this thing is like a wild horse!”
Lu Xi looked astonished behind her and shouted, “Oops, the Mantis is outside the circle.”
The Mantis with the ability to use Wind Blades fell outside the range. KID and the others hurriedly looked and indeed saw that the pollutant was just a hair’s breadth away from the red circle.
“Old Huo, that Mantis!” Lin Yao shouted towards the nearest Huo Yan, “80 million!!!”
“Right away!” Huo Yan turned around, using his weapon to pull the Wind Blade Mantis forcefully, trying hard to squeeze it into the range, “Wait for me, right away!”
Ji Qingfeng exerted force until his face turned red, “80 million, can’t let go.”
Seeing everyone entering the range, Ji Qingfeng was about to release it, but You Su suddenly shouted.
Ji Qingfeng said, “Ge, I can’t hold it.”
“Don’t release it for now.” You Su entered the range. His gaze looked into the distance, “A mecha is coming.”
Lu Xi was stunned, “It’s a mecha from the Second Star Domain.”
Ji Qingfeng, still exerting force and scolding, said, “Those guys probably want to come and snatch things, right!?”
Lin Yao was anxious, “Shouldn’t we hurry up and leave?”
Ying Chenlin looked at the radar, noticed something unusual, and thought of an idea when he saw You Su’s sniper cannon, “Shall we play a big one?”
97. King Worm
When Ying Chenlin uttered these words, the rest of KID looked somewhat bewildered.
However, there was no time for them to explain further. Huo Yan, tilting his head, suddenly noticed on the detection system that some red dots were approaching their direction, at varying speeds.
“Subordinate manipulation?” Huo Yan, who hadn’t used the protective shield much, said, “Oh no, some red pollutants under the influence of the Mantis are gathering in our direction.”
Ji Qingfeng, “Before figuring out the Mantis relationship, we might have to deal with this wave of pollutants coming first.”
“Since just now, we haven’t been able to contact Tang Jie and the others.” Lu Xi said, “Are we still within its range?”
If this ability was spatial displacement, then within its ability range, all mechas might be affected by a magnetic field, unable to connect with the outside world. Now, their movements were restricted, and although the Wind Blade Mantis’s attacks had slowed down, it continued to attack them. With a swarm of pollutants attacking, they would eventually perish in this place.
“It’s not subordinate manipulation.” Ying Chenlin raised his eyes slightly, “These two Mantises are probably already dead, or even if they aren’t dead, they are half-dead.”
You Su looked up and saw that the Female Mantis at the high ground remained motionless. In fact, since they were first transported to this location, the Female Mantis had rarely moved. The only ones moving were the Wind Blade Mantis and three or four pollutants.
Ji Qingfeng exclaimed, “But they’re jumping around… pollutants die, and the pollution value decreases.”
Lin Yao: “Speaking of pollution values, I was wondering why the pollution values of these two pollutants are both 8800?”
Inside the cockpit, Theo had been observing the surroundings. He earnestly said, “These two look weak. If we could shell them, we would have killed them already. Why don’t we pull everyone else out and just bombard them?”
Yousu asked, “You just said you know the relationship between them. What is it?”
“Just a guess, needs to be tested,” Ying Chenlin looked at Lu Xi, “Lu Xi, use your Water Flow Cannon to deal with the Mantises.”
Among artillery weapons, most carried fuel-based attack systems, but there were also special control weapons. The Water Flow Cannon, a type of control weapon that manipulated mechas , was one of them. Unlike sniper cannons that caused burning explosions, this weapon fired water-based projectiles, all coordinated by the anomalous crystal mounted on the weapon.
Lu Xi immediately understood. She aimed the Water Flow Cannon at the Mantises on the high ground and fired two consecutive shots. Both Mantises were hit. The ease of hitting them left Lu Xi somewhat stunned, but she didn’t stop. During the continuous attacks, she noticed that the speed of the Wind Blade Mantis had significantly slowed down.
Ji Qingfeng exclaimed, “The Wind Blade Mantis is even slower now.”
Lu Xi suddenly recalled that before being transported, she also used the Water Flow Cannon on the Mantises. At that time, the Mantises’ movements became sluggish in the Water Flow Cannon and her teammates’ attacks. She thought this Mantis was easy to deal with, “I know Mantises are afraid of water, but it’s already an S-class pollutant. How can this level of Water Flow Cannon have any effect on it?”
Ying Chenlin, seeing this scene, confirmed decisively, “It’s not that it’s afraid of water. The relationship between them is not among individual Mantises but something common within their bodies.”
His tone became slightly colder, “Have you ever heard of parasites?”
As soon as parasites were mentioned, everyone in KID suddenly realized something. Their gazes towards the two Mantises on high ground instantly became different.
“The Mantis that initially attacked us had the Wind Blade anomaly ability. Barring any surprises, the spatial displacement should be the anomaly ability of the Female Mantis. However, during its usage, it expands outward with the core focal point being the Wind Blade Mantis,” Ying Chenlin explained, “With a 15-kilometer separation, even radar cannot achieve such precision. So, I’ve been wondering what relationship exists between them that allows the Female Mantis to use the anomaly ability so precisely on the Wind Blade Mantis.”
This behavior was contradictory. The only possibility was that it was locked onto their relationship or the anomaly ability of the Female Mantis.
But now, there was no clear manifestation of such a relationship. The spatial anomaly ability had already exhibited two characteristics: spatial confinement and displacement.
They were unable to contact external communications due to the influence of the spatial anomaly characteristic. With the confirmation of these two characteristics, it was impossible for a third characteristic to appear on the Female Mantis, especially precise positioning or manipulation, which was obviously contradictory to spatial attributes.
In a situation where the relationship was unclear and the anomaly ability of the Female Mantis could not manifest, Ying Chenlin thought of the third pollutant. Having a third pollutant could connect the relationship between these two Mantises.
You Su chuckled lightly, “Have you heard of the theory that hairworms manipulate the movements of Mantises?”
“If the Mantis’s body has been emptied by parasitic-type pollutants, in reality, these two Mantises are now half-dead, moving rigidly, and only capable of hunting, which is one of the exhibited forms,” You Su looked towards the high ground, “The pollutant residing inside the Mantis is utilizing the abilities of the two Mantises to hunt for it. The dead pollutant does not have a high pollution value… this 8800 pollution value probably doesn’t belong to the Mantis but to the parasitic worm lurking inside the Mantis.”
Lin Yao raised his doubts, “Parasites are so small pollutants, how can they simultaneously control two pollutants?”
“I worked on the Frontier Contaminated Zone in my early years, where there were many pollutants in the Frontier Contaminated Zone. Among the insect-type pollutants, it is easy to evolve into a King Worm,” Huo Yan suggested one possibility, “This kind of King Worm has a certain dominance over its race. You can’t see it as an individual pollutant. It dominates a pollutant army and can completely mimic within its race.”
“These pollutants are very difficult to deal with. Without finding the King Worm, killing one would mean killing a group. It has only one anomaly ability, which is control and dominance. It can control all those of the same race within its territory,” Huo Yan looked towards the two pollutants on the high ground, “If the King Worm is inside the Female Mantis, and the offspring are in the Wind Blade Mantis, then it can easily locate the position of the offspring to determine the location of the Wind Blade Mantis.”
“I understand now. There is another King Worm pollutant that has implanted its descendants in both Mantises, using these two Mantises to hunt and feed the family,” Ji Qingfeng exclaimed.
“So complicated,” Lin Yao focused on the main point, “Are their anomalous crystals still inside them?”
Ying Chenlin said, “Yes, and we can probably obtain three anomalous crystals.”
Lin Yao: “!!!”
—
In the Coria Management Bureau lounge, from the moment the mecha signal from the Second Star Domain disappeared on the main planet, all the coaches in the lounge entered a new planning coordination. Now that they couldn’t contact KID at all and couldn’t get KID to turn off the mecha signal, KID was like the brightest spot on the map. The Second Star Domain could easily find the corresponding S-level pollution source by locking onto KID’s position.
This was unfavorable for them, but not entirely unfavorable.
The Second Star Domain had three teams on the main planet: GBK, and two other teams originally held back by pollutants.
The staff was trying their best to capture the movements of other mechas. The mecha signals on the other two planets in the Second Star Domain were still there, only the signal on the main planet was lost. Obviously, the Second Star Domain didn’t want the Coria Management Bureau, including the Dawn Galaxy, to know their movements.
“The two teams from the Second Star Domain may be about to leave. A large number of concentrated red dots on the map are dispersing.”
“GBK’s movements are unknown. Qi Sicheng’s team has not encountered anyone.”
Qi Sicheng also established contact with the lounge. Without any obstacles along the way, they had already begun fighting the first S-level pollutant in the mountains. “Has YDS contacted Black Crow?”
“Contacted.” Zhang Ge continued, “From the current situation, there is a small outbreak of friction, but with their abilities, they can hold on for the time being.”
Now, the only people who could be mobilized to help KID were the Individual Soldiers. However, their current location was at the other end of the galaxy, far from KID. It was certain that they wouldn’t make it in time to rescue KID.
“Then we can’t save KID,” Qi Sicheng’s voice was slightly heavy. He had already thought of other ways to fight. “Our advantage hasn’t actually changed. The spatial displacement anomalous crystal has attracted the attention of GBK. Considering the positions of various pollution sources, GBK probably won’t go elsewhere. They will only go to KID’s location, trying to seize it before KID takes down the anomalous crystal.”
Zhao Lejie said, “They didn’t leap into the mountains at the beginning and have been waiting on the periphery for this reason.”
He cursed, “These people are too treacherous. Initially, we thought their goal was to clear us out and get all the S-level resources. But such thinking is too one-sided; they have a deeper consideration, using our Dawn Galaxy to determine the locations and situations of other pollution sources, thereby narrowing down their targets.”
The swamp forest was a monitoring blind spot, so to ensure forces, they sent two teams and kept the powerful GBK always on the outskirts.
All of this was carefully calculated by them, with two steps mixed in one step, appearing aloof and superior.
Shen Xingtang asked Qi Sicheng, “What’s your plan now?”
“Not rescuing. On the contrary, we will use the advantage created by KID for us,” Qi Sicheng thought of the meeting before departure. At that time, the maintenance worker from KID said a sentence, “We must reduce the provocation; our goal is to get resources.”
This blind box dug out by KID immediately diverted the three teams on the main planet, meaning that the remaining resources were now in competition among five individuals.
So what if the mecha’s location was unknown? They didn’t need to consider the Second Star Domain’s strategy. They only needed to prioritize their own goal—getting resources.
Qi Sicheng said, “We’re turning off our signals too.”
Zhao Lejie was surprised, “Boss, isn’t this going to be a night battle?”
“Individual soldiers need to snatch the farthest one. We will use this time to take down the anomalous crystal in the mountains.”
Qi Sicheng said, “KID is not that weak. If we go to help now, we will completely collapse.”
After ending the call with Qi Sicheng, the people in the lounge saw the signal representing the Gale, which also disappeared from Coria’s detection system. Currently, only KID’s signal was lit up in Coria, mixed in with the two S-level pollution sources. It was worrisome at a glance.
Jiang Simiao said, “I just did the speed calculation. With GBK’s forward speed, without any hindrance, they probably have about 10 minutes to reach KID’s location.”
Others: “…”
Good guy, this is wanting to have KID accomplish a heroic feat of one against three!
Zhang Ge said, “What about us?”
Jiang Simiao’s expression carried a touch of desolation, “Unfortunately, we’re motionless, about to take a beating.”
Another staff member beside them said, “Zhang Ge, maybe even more than that.”
Zhang Ge: “?”
The staff member released the pollution detection report around KID, showing many red dots representing pollutants approaching.
GBK’s approach, two S-level pollutants, and nearby approaching groups of pollutants.
The staff member remained silent for a while before saying, “KID is about to face a three-way brawl.”
_
In the swamp forest, KID, about to face a three-way brawl, remained in the swamp, but many pollutants had already surrounded it. These pollutants, resembling walking corpses, approached KID’s mecha. Ji Qingfeng, who was originally trying to move away, seeing this situation, immediately grabbed his short-bladed weapon and swung it towards the pollutants without hesitation.
With this swing, he directly cut the approaching pollutant into two halves.
Lin Yao: “Impressive, Da Feng ah!”
Ji Qingfeng was taken aback: “Did I become stronger!?”
“No, these pollutants are just too easy to deal with. They are rushing towards my blade as if they were delivered. I’ve encountered sent ones, but never seen such enthusiastic ones,” Ji Qingfeng explained, busy peeling off the pollutants that fell into the swamp, trying to extract their anomalous crystals. However, he found that these pollutants were empty inside and exclaimed, “Damn, these pollutants have been hollowed out!”
As he slashed them open, many long, thread-like black bugs, as thick as human thighs, dropped to the ground, wriggling disgustingly as they fell into the swamp.
Ji Qingfeng: “Damn, What the hell is this ah!”
As more pollutants arrived, each one was dealt with individually by the three melee mechas. It was a manageable situation for them—essentially a stand-and-fight scenario. However, with the landing of these pollutants, black bugs gradually crawled out of their bodies. As soon as these bugs fell into the swamp, they immediately became agile and swam toward the mechas, seemingly struggling to enter their interiors.
Ji Qingfeng, feeling his scalp tingling, exclaimed, “What the hell is this!”
Lu Xi, seeing this, said, “It looks somewhat like iron-thread worms… but much thicker than iron-thread worms.”
“So that’s why you made me use the Water Flow Cannon,” she immediately realized, understanding why Ying Chenlin had instructed her to use water attacks. If these mutated bugs were originally iron-thread worms, then they retained the characteristics of iron-thread worms, such as enjoying water and sunlight.
The Female Mantis in the high position didn’t move much, but the location where it was situated was a dappled light spot within the mottled tree shadows.
In the swamp forest, sunlight was scarce, and the tall trees meant that pollutants unable to fly had limited exposure to light.
Ying Chenlin brushed away the bugs swimming towards him. When he saw the pollutants’ contamination values accumulating in the detection system, strangely fixed at 8800, he observed that despite their displayed attacking capabilities were lower than even A-class pollutants, “These pollutants have been hollowed out. The King Worm used the Female Mantis to teleport us here because we are their food, or rather, their new hosts.”
Both water and food were their preferences, and encountering water created behavioral contradictions.
The one with true intelligence was the King Worm; the other offspring pollutants were merely dominated by it. However, this domination was not absolute. Therefore, when the Wind Blade Mantis was attacked with water, it was also partially affected. Some lower-intelligence parasitic creatures wanted to approach the water, while others wanted to control the Mantis to attack for food, resulting in delayed behavior.
Ji Qingfeng: “No wonder both Mantises stayed in high places. They didn’t want to be affected by the swamp below, right!?”
“Too much water would make it difficult for the King Worm to control a large number of offspring.” Ying Chenlin looked towards the high ground. “So dealing with the Wind Blade Mantis is straightforward, even effortless. Just keep attacking it with water, and a small part will come out from its body.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Xi understood. She had been targeting the Wind Blade Mantis with water flow cannon attacks. Those wind blades had not been used for several minutes, and the Mantis at high altitude swayed as if it was about to fall.
The King Worm was very intelligent; it wanted to feed on more energetic pollutants, putting its thirst for water in second place.
However, the other offspring were not as smart; they liked both energetic host pollutants and water.
The surrounding environment was not that simple, with more and more manipulated ‘pollutants’ coming towards them like walking corpses.
Their difficulty was no longer dealing with the two Mantises. The focus had shifted to figuring out how to deal with these iron-thread worms. Even if they only had B-class attack power, under the control of the King Worm, the collective attack power of numerous iron-thread worms was considerable.
In such a passive environment in the swamp, it was challenging for them. Although Huo Yan and the others could use melee weapons to repel the enemies, it was challenging for You Su and Ying Chenlin, who couldn’t use projectile weapons. You Su had no melee weapons and could only use the energy cannon barrel as an improvised melee weapon, attacking the monsters with it.
Theo looked distressed: “Ah! That’s the weapon Ying Chenlin installed for me. Can’t you be more gentle?”
You Su ignored Theo, and after driving away the pollutants around, he approached Ying Chenlin. While Lu Xi could repel using the water flow cannon, both of Ying Chenlin’s weapons were projectile-type weapons, making them unsuitable for melee combat.
Theo flew to Ying Chenlin’s side, saying, “Give me your hand.”
When Ying Chenlin saw the mecha’s hand, he hesitated for a moment. He didn’t refuse You Su’s goodwill but, while holding hands, more pollutants attacked from the surroundings.
Relentless, they were not given any chance to evacuate from the swamp.
You Su fought back the pollutants around, and if the sniper cannon worked, these bugs would have been incinerated long ago.
“Hold on tight,” You Su pulled a person with one hand and used the cannon barrel to repel the pollutants around with the other.
The descent speed of the mecha was faster than they had imagined. As they resisted these black bugs, the mecha sank because of occasional movements. Among the free-moving individuals, only You Su was left. Ying Chenlin knew that such a passive situation was too unfavorable.
Lin Yao spoke up, “Why can they invade the body of an S-class pollutant? I know the King Worm, an S-class, can go in, but how did they get in the Wind Blade Mantis?”
At this point, Ji Qingfeng coughed, “Yao Bao, there are things you shouldn’t ask. You’re too young.”
Ying Chenlin, who had been contemplating the issue, hesitated upon hearing others discuss it. “Ask what?”
Lin Yao: “I don’t know either.”
Others: “…”
Ying Chenlin: “?”
You Su: “…”
In a moment, Ying Chenlin gave up asking about that thing. “We need to find a way to get out; we’ll be dragged to death here.”
The completely lost communication environment gave a sense of oppression. Ying Chenlin looked at the detection system; they were like two eyes in complete darkness. They had wasted too much time here, and the environment was too passive. He could only look up at the high ground where the Female Mantis remained motionless.
Even when attacked by Lu Xi’s water flow cannon, it leisurely moved to another position, observing the struggling prey below.
Too calm. The King Worm’s only goal was to wear them down, and then they would become its food or hosts.
At this moment, Ying Chenlin lowered his head to look at the internal radar of the mecha. He minimized the radar to see how large the sensing range was in space.
When he minimized it, he instantly noticed a strange trend in the movement of pollutants at the edge of the detection. In one place, the pollutants seemed to be empty.
Bad.
Ying Chenlin turned his head abruptly, seeing Ji Qingfeng almost coming out of the swamp.
Ji Qingfeng had a binding lock, making his movements relatively more convenient than others.
Ying Chenlin looked at You Su, “You Ge, let go and help Ji Qingfeng.”
Upon hearing this, You Su paused, “You handle it yourself for a while.”
Ying Chenlin nodded, and the gravity on his right hand suddenly eased.
Ji Qingfeng said, “I’m coming out soon. It’s inconvenient for you to hold the cannon, let Brother You help you.”
“We don’t have time,” Ying Chenlin said calmly, “Just now, there was a disturbance in the pollutant response on the radar. I suspect that the Second Star Domain is already coming towards our direction.”
KID: “!”
Huo Yan pondered, “With our current situation, them coming here is equivalent to handing us the anomalous crystals.”
Lu Xi was puzzled, “Can we make it?”
Ying Chenlin saw Ji Qingfeng about to come out with the help of You Su, and immediately said, “Since it’s an unfavorable environment, let’s turn it to our advantage.”
You Su asked, “How?”
Ying Chenlin said, “Attack the Female Mantis. We have to take a gamble and let it know the danger.”
Without hesitation, Ji Qingfeng, who had just come out of the swamp with the help of You Su, immediately sent out the binding lock scythe in his hand and rushed towards the position of the Female Mantis. The Female Mantis seemed unprepared for Ji Qingfeng’s attack to come so quickly. It hastily avoided the attack and manipulated other pollutants to counter Ji Qingfeng.
However, among these walking dead-like pollutants, only the Wind Blade Mantis posed a threat, and that Mantis had already been controlled by Lu Xi. Ji Qingfeng quickly approached the Female Mantis with a slash for each Mantis. When the Female Mantis tried to jump out, a gun mecha suddenly appeared behind.
“Pull it down!” Ying Chenlin shouted to the high ground.
Although You Su’s gun couldn’t be used, it could still block the direction. He blocked the escape route of the Female Mantis.
Without any attack capability, the Female Mantis had to change its direction. However, this change in direction gave Ji Qingfeng an opportunity. He used the binding lock scythe to hook onto the head of the Female Mantis and pulled the entire Mantis into the swamp on the ground.
When it fell into the water, the Female Mantis felt a sense of crisis. The king worm lurking inside it seemed to have discovered something and struggled to break free.
At this moment, Ying Chenlin noticed the gradually reddening eyes of the Female Mantis and the ground gradually turning red. He shouted, “Ji Qingfeng, try lifting its head!”
Ji Qingfeng immediately did so, and the red area on the ground stopped spreading.
Ying Chenlin shouted again, “Loosen a bit.”
When he slightly loosened the grip, the red area on the ground deepened, and Ying Chenlin could feel the oppressive force.
Ji Qingfeng had no choice but to relax, “Brother ah, this guy is not easy to handle!”
*JQF used di which is younger brother for Chenlin.
“Tighten it again!” Ying Chenlin unexpectedly interrupted, “This head is secured well.”
Huo Yan asked, “Was that pollutant just about to initiate a displacement?”
Lin Yao had just sensed a squeezing feeling, “Can we use it as a mount? Let it take us away from this place?”
KID and the others seemed to have discovered something interesting. Ji Qingfeng looked at the Female Mantis under his feet, “Can we really play like this?”
At this moment, the Wind Blade Mantis from above was knocked down by Lu Xi and fell into the water. Lu Xi shouted, “It’s down.”
Ying Chenlin looked at the ground, “Enter the range of the Female Mantis, let it take us away from this place.”
Others who were trapped in the swamp tried their best to move inward, feeling the pressure from the displacement.
Seeing this scene, You Su knew what Ying Chenlin wanted to do. He looked at the radar position, noticed the gap in the pollutants, and said, “Ji Qingfeng, tighten it, don’t loosen it.”
Ji Qingfeng felt the struggling force under his hand, “Damn, Ge, this thing is like a wild horse!”
Lu Xi looked astonished behind her and shouted, “Oops, the Mantis is outside the circle.”
The Mantis with the ability to use Wind Blades fell outside the range. KID and the others hurriedly looked and indeed saw that the pollutant was just a hair’s breadth away from the red circle.
“Old Huo, that Mantis!” Lin Yao shouted towards the nearest Huo Yan, “80 million!!!”
“Right away!” Huo Yan turned around, using his weapon to pull the Wind Blade Mantis forcefully, trying hard to squeeze it into the range, “Wait for me, right away!”
Ji Qingfeng exerted force until his face turned red, “80 million, can’t let go.”
Seeing everyone entering the range, Ji Qingfeng was about to release it, but You Su suddenly shouted.
Ji Qingfeng said, “Ge, I can’t hold it.”
“Don’t release it for now.” You Su entered the range. His gaze looked into the distance, “A mecha is coming.”
Lu Xi was stunned, “It’s a mecha from the Second Star Domain.”
Ji Qingfeng, still exerting force and scolding, said, “Those guys probably want to come and snatch things, right!?”
Lin Yao was anxious, “Shouldn’t we hurry up and leave?”
Ying Chenlin looked at the radar, noticed something unusual, and thought of an idea when he saw You Su’s sniper cannon, “Shall we play a big one?”
