Chapter 24#
Insect Whispers#
The cave was dark and narrow.
The surface was scalding hot, but the underground cave walls had long since cooled. The high-temperature lava that had once erupted had already crystallized the rock strata. Gravel from the tunnel cascaded down on their bodies, and dark, indistinct shapes rolled past their feet.
Ning Feng leaned against the wall, waiting for his vision to recover.
Yin Beichen stood in place for a moment, waiting until the man had steadied himself before continuing forward.
Ahead of them, Qu Jingshan carefully assessed the road conditions. The searchlights above everyone’s heads and the warning lights on their backs had all been turned on, but the light they provided was insufficient. Still, the man’s eyes had already adjusted to the darkness.
He looked around and found that this rugged passage stretched in two opposite directions, with no forks visible as far as the eye could see. However, the passage was very narrow; walking inside, the massive mechas could barely turn around. The advantage was that they could use the terrain to avoid being surrounded by the Swarm, while the disadvantage was that if they encountered enemies, the support their teammates could offer would be limited.
The tunnel was quiet. No one spoke along the way, save for Qu Jingshan occasionally broadcasting the situation ahead. The heavy footsteps of the mechas echoed in their ears, along with Qiao Xi’s noisy voice.
“Commander, have you seen any larvae inside?”
“Commander, how big are those bug eggs?”
“Scout bugs? Can we capture some live specimens?”
…
Since arriving on the Hive Planet, Qiao Xi had seemed exceptionally excited, chattering nonstop in the squad channel, which annoyed the team members to no end.
What was wrong with this guy? They were currently deep behind enemy lines. If anything went wrong, they could easily be buried here. How was he acting like he was on a sightseeing trip?
“I thought my boyfriend was naggy enough,” Xiao Si couldn’t help but mutter. “How many tongues does this guy have?”
“Exactly, he has more questions than my three-year-old little brother,” Xiao Wu chimed in. “By the way, when are you and your boyfriend getting married?”
“Hehe, we’re getting our marriage certificate as soon as we return from this mission.”
“Yo, you won’t mind if I bring my brother to crash your wedding feast, will you?”
“Haha, you are absolutely welcome.”
…
Compared to the impatience of the others, Yin Beichen didn’t react much. Occasionally, he would even describe the encountered alien insects in detail, asking Qiao Xi if they were worth sampling.
Ning Feng closed his eyes tightly, trying to focus his attention on the present.
The further in they went, the colder his body felt, and the more a throbbing pain grew at the back of his neck. He felt this place was too eerie; it was as if something was constantly talking, seemingly coming from a very distant place, yet he couldn’t hear a single word clearly.
Tsk, so noisy!
He furrowed his brows. Just as he was about to tell this guy to shut up, Yin Beichen’s cold, handsome face suddenly flashed across his mind.
【As commander, I hope you can get along well.】
Ning Feng pursed his lips.
Forget it, the commander himself hasn’t even said anything. Why should I be in such a rush to express my opinion? He sneered softly and turned the volume of the squad voice channel down to the minimum.
Along the way, they didn’t encounter any attacks from the Swarm. Only occasionally did a few scout larvae crawl around, but before they could sound an alarm, they were skewered straight through by light daggers.
Ning Feng deduced that their settlement was not nearby. He knew that high-tier Zerg preferred to stay in deeper places, but the presence of volcanic eruption traces here meant there had to be a path leading down.
【They’re here… they’re here…】
Ning Feng: ?
Suddenly, Ning Feng heard a voice.
No, it wasn’t heard by his ears, but echoed in the depths of his consciousness!
He froze, shaking his head hard, but soon, the voice came again.
【Quick, lure them over! The children are hungry!】
【No need to rush, they will take the right path.】
【Take the right.】
…
This voice was bizarre, low, and cold, accompanied by strange chirps, echoing directly in his bone cavities, chilling him to the marrow. He didn’t recognize a single syllable, yet despite this, Ning Feng understood it and felt it had a strange, unfamiliar, yet weirdly… familiar warmth?
Who is… speaking?
Who is it?
His consciousness drifted further toward a certain terrifying speculation. Ning Feng felt a sensation akin to a shudder well up from the bottom of his stomach, and he couldn’t help but touch the back of his neck.
“Commander, a fork in the road has been found ahead,” Xiao Si, the team member in front, reported just then.
Upon hearing this, Yin Beichen directly muted Qiao Xi’s voice channel. The world was finally quiet. “Send it over.”
Following the visual feed sent by Qu Jingshan, it was clear that this passage came to an end in less than a hundred steps. At the end of their line of sight, there were two narrow forks. Judging by the angle of the cave walls and the irregularity of the passages, the one on the left was a naturally formed rock crevice, pitch black; the one on the right showed obvious excavation marks and was wider.
“Take the right,” Qu Jingshan made a swift decision.
【Take the right.】
Almost everyone agreed with the captain’s choice. Remembering the bizarre dialogue from just now, an inexplicable anxiety suddenly swept over Ning Feng.
Was it the alien insects speaking just now?
He could hear the bugs talk?!
How was that possible!
His heart pounding wildly, Ning Feng bit his lower lip. He wanted to pretend he knew nothing, but seeing that the others were indeed preparing to move, he hesitated for a long while before saying in a deep voice, “Commander, I think it’s better to go left.”
“How could it be the left?” Qu Jingshan was the first to disagree. “The right clearly leads to the Hive. The left is pitch black; it might very well be a dead end!”
“Reason,” Yin Beichen asked.
A reason? What reason could there be!
He couldn’t exactly say “I heard the bugs talking,” could he?
Ning Feng pondered for a moment. “The sizes of these two passages are different. The right side is likely a hive for low-to-mid-tier alien insects. High-tier Zerg are quite small; they might not gather together with ordinary insects. Assuming they possess analytical abilities, they would surely hide in the direction opposite to what we would expect.”
Seeing the others’ stances waver slightly, he added, “Furthermore, the right fork is open. If we encounter enemies, we could easily be surrounded.”
Yin Beichen nodded. “Captain Qu, what do you think?”
“We haven’t even seen a single bug yet, where would an ambush come from?” Although Qu Jingshan muttered under his breath, he ultimately agreed with Ning Feng’s reasoning. Pivoting, he headed down the left path.
Ning Feng held his gun, following absentmindedly.
At this moment, he couldn’t quite describe his feelings. He both wanted the Swarm to suddenly appear to prove that what he had heard was just a hallucination, and worried that real danger would actually emerge.
Yet to his despair, he found that although the left path was narrow, it was indeed flatter, and there weren’t many larvae along the way. They walked for several hundred meters without encountering any issues. Before long, he heard the faint whispers once more.
【They didn’t go this way!】
【Cunning!】
【Where are they going?】
【Where?】
…
Hearing this, Ning Feng let out a soft laugh.
Indeed, he really could hear the Swarm’s language.
He was really… turning into one of these bugs.
For some reason, Ning Feng recalled those foul-smelling infected hosts again, as well as Yin Beichen’s blue eyes that looked at them as if they were dead things. Suddenly, his entire body went cold, and an inexplicable bitterness washed over him. He took a trembling breath, his pace slowing down.
“Ning Feng.” Suddenly, Yin Beichen turned to look at him.
“Ah?”
“Don’t fall behind.”
Ning Feng snapped back to reality and realized that the other man was standing ahead, waiting for him. He let out a dry laugh and quickly caught up.
Just like that, relying on the occasional bug whispers, Ning Feng kept pointing the way deeper into the rugged, branching tunnels. The journey was exceptionally smooth without any danger—so smooth that even Qu Jingshan couldn’t help but grow suspicious.
“What’s going on? Has this bunch of bugs collectively lost their minds?” he muttered as he nailed markers into the junction.
The group walked for another long stretch. The faint whispers kept echoing, but most of them were meaningless chirps and complaints. Ning Feng listened in silence, feeling a sense of thrill as if he were eavesdropping on the enemy’s communication channel.
Actually, being assimilated into that kind of disgusting thing might not be entirely bad.
Ning Feng thought optimistically.
Until he heard an urgent bug whisper.
【The Lord? They are going to find the Lord!】
【No! The Lord!】
【Intercept them! Intercept!】
The Lord?
A Level 12 Hive Lord?
Ning Feng’s breath caught, cold sweat instantly breaking out on the tip of his nose. He immediately shouted a warning in the squad channel.
“Everyone, retreat immediately!”
“What?” Team member Xiao Wu froze.
“Don’t ask, just run!”
Without giving them any time to react, Ning Feng controlled his Blade Mecha and spun around to sprint back. Seeing this, Yin Beichen was the first to follow. The others exchanged glances and also began to retreat rapidly.
The searchlights bounced and swayed in the passage, casting chaotic shadows. The path ahead of Ning Feng was pitch black, so dark he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.
At that moment, high-pitched screeches echoed from the depths, resonating within the cramped space, deafeningly loud. In the next instant, the radar display system began to flash continuously. Within the dark cave stretching out before them, motion detectors picked up movement, with crimson dots swarming toward them, densely packed.
“Brothers!” Ning Feng’s dark eyes narrowed slightly as he switched his machine gun to fully automatic. “We’ve got guests!”
The man’s words acted as a signal. Through the gaps, countless alien insects could be seen emerging in the distance. Their chaotic yet orderly figures cast shifting shadows upon a massive web, surging toward them like a black tide.
Screeech!!
When they were squeezing down through the rock crevices earlier, Ning Feng had wished the passage were wider. Now, however, he was incredibly grateful for this narrow stone pathway. This way, the Swarm had no room for a collective charge. Otherwise, they could have overwhelmed his squad with sheer numbers alone. Now, they could only come at them one by one, making them much easier to deal with.
Moving like the wind, Ning Feng held his gun steadily, crouching to aim.
Bang!
A deafening gunshot resonated through the air. A barrage of bullets swept across the semi-circular area in front of them, blasting the lunging monsters into shattered fragments.
Boom!!—
The surrounding alien insects were blown to pieces. Loose gravel rained down from above as the shockwave knocked back a dozen or so bugs. Yin Beichen immediately unleashed a barrage into the swarm, sending them straight to hell before they could even recover.
“Retreat!!” he shouted.
The highly trained squad members closed in instantly, moving as a single unit as they charged into the cloud of dust. They synchronized their steps, deliberately pouring firepower ahead.
The explosion of another bomb echoed from behind, and the gunfire grew even more intense. Ning Feng knew the entire team was covering his charge. Holding his breath, he seized the opportunity to break through the defensive line in one fell swoop.
Although the Swarm suffered heavy casualties, they seemed completely unconcerned. They quickly regrouped once more, swarming toward the squad.
【Don’t let them escape!】
The voice roared, strange and piercing, carrying an unusual irritation that made Ning Feng’s temples throb.
Shut the hell up!
A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eagle-like eyes. Ning Feng ripped the spare energy pack from his mecha, slammed it onto his machine gun, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
The moment the laser shot out, flames erupted, engulfing the entire passage. The monsters were trapped in the raging fire, letting out wails after wails that sounded like curses, yet also like dying cries.
Xiao Si whistled. “Awesome, Brother Feng! Changing classes to a flamethrower trooper?”
Ning Feng snorted twice. “You bet. I plan to submit the application as soon as we get back to base.”
The others were just about to tease him a bit, but to their surprise, Yin Beichen actually joined the chatter.
“No, I don’t agree.” However, as soon as he spoke, the conversation came to an abrupt end.
Everyone: ……
“Little Chenchen really doesn’t know how to carry a conversation,” Ning Feng muttered under his breath, firing a laser blast that pierced through a hydralisk attempting to ambush them from a crevice.
They launched a distress signal nearby and sprinted back along the misshapen passage, constantly keeping the path clear with their firepower. They also had to be careful not to trigger a cave-in of the fragile rock walls—which would bury them alive—while preventing any other alien insects from pouncing on them.
They ran for a long time, so long that they had nearly gone through three rotations of spare magazines, before finally hearing faint rumblings of bombardment from above.
The reinforcements had arrived!