Chapter 1352: New Confrontation

A barely perceptible tremor ran through his body.

Listening to Chu An's undisguised threat, Wu Qing suddenly laughed.

Perhaps he didn't know why, but maybe he realized he had been furious to the extreme, furious to the point of wanting to kill the man before him, to kill that damned, hateful smile!

But he still laughed.

It was like a helpless approval, unwilling to reveal his powerless smile in front of the enemy.

However, it was just a minor trouble; he believed the ultimate victory would still belong to them.

"Speak, what are your conditions?"

Without any nonsense, Wu Qing spoke calmly, curious as to what condition this insectoid was demanding, using all of humanity as leverage to force negotiations.

Nuclear radiation, contamination, nuclear winter, geological disasters..

These had no effect on them whatsoever.

Even the most fragile individuals of their species could easily survive in this world.

Remarkable, they would slightly regret that such a beautiful world had been soiled.

In the face of survival, these were insignificant.

But human death meant they would have no more vessels to use.

Perhaps some Awakened Ones could survive, perhaps they could retain some vessels before humanity died en masse, but the all-pervasive nuclear radiation would fundamentally destroy the DNA of these insects, making it feel like burrowing into festering rotting flesh once they entered these bodies, causing unbearable pain.

There would be no next generation.

Even a Sovereign at the peak of the Fourth Stage could not possibly clear radiation with a decay cycle lasting hundreds of millions of years. Such a high dose of nuclear radiation would completely strip these insects of their reproductive ability; even if they gave birth, the offspring would be nothing but a lump of rotting flesh!

He never expected that the insects' fragile flesh would instead become a trump card dragging them all into extinction!

Without vessels, no clansperson could descend into this world! Trapped on this icy planet, they would watch helplessly as both races faced annihilation!

"It's simple."

"I said, you retreat to the capital. And you, stay here."

Like old friends catching up, Chu An still kept his human-like smile, nodding at the Alien Species Emperor.

As if saying, he would keep the other company here.

As his words fell, a flash of harsh light flickered in Wu Qing's dark-gold pupils; seeing this, he spoke without hesitation, refusing:

"Impossible!"

"You think self-destruction can stop us?!"

"I only need to leave a batch of humans to breed; a thousand people are enough! Even if we rely on cloning, we'll still have enough vessels!"

"As long as we rebuild cities underground, we can isolate radiation contamination!"

Speaking coldly, Wu Qing stared fixedly into Chu An's eyes, betting that the man before him didn't know the true purpose of vessels, betting that Chu An didn't realize cloned vessels couldn't fool the system!

Want to keep him here? Want to let Lin An slaughter without restraint in the rear?!

What a joke—what's the difference between that and slow suicide?!

Rather than wait to die, they had no shortage of courage to stake everything!

However, contrary to his expectations, Chu An didn't rebut his words at all, merely turning his head to look into the distance:

"I never thought of dragging you down with us after our death."

"That would be too cowardly..."

"In fact, you fled your own world because of the apocalypse threat, right?"

"Nuclear radiation may be deadly to humans, but for zombies and mutants it's nothing short of perfect energy."

"Moreover, your world likely lacks memes and supernatural incidents; with minds in sync and a simple thought network, you have little soil for fear."

"But do you know? Although these human insects are fragile, the beings born after our death might be even more terrifying than the Fifth Stage..."

Turning his head, Chu An ignored the Alien Species Emperor whose pupils had suddenly contracted, and gave a light laugh.

"Let tens of billions of people die in pain and despair..."

"Let us watch the world march toward destruction with our own eyes."

"Let us watch monsters devour our families and occupy our flesh."

"Let us see ourselves rot in radiation, eventually becoming a lump of rotting flesh with no hope."

"What do you think we will become?"

His smile grew even more radiant.

At this moment, Chu An seemed like the most evil, utterly insane madman, laughing as he spoke of the suffering and torment he would inflict on humanity.

Under absolute rationality, his thought process seemed unlike anyone else's.

He clearly realized that the only way to force the alien species to compromise was to drag them, at any cost, into genuine terror!

If unable to resist...

If we must truly die...

Then let us die in the utmost agony!

Let our pain and despair become the sweetest revenge!

In life, I cannot take you to hell, but in death I can!

"Madman! You are a madman!!"

"Damn it, you disgusting insect! You will surely go to true hell!!"

As his words fell, the several Dominion-level Alien Species standing behind the Alien Species Emperor could no longer hold back and roared aloud.

They had thought Chu An's threat a few seconds prior was already the limit, but they never imagined this madman's true intent was far more cruel, more disgusting, more insanely demented—tenfold, a hundredfold, and beyond!

If they had taken over this world, they might have treated humans like livestock, protecting them, and even gradually cleared the world's disasters.

But Chu An, quite simply, was sending all of humanity straight into Avīci hell!

There is absolutely no possibility of compromise! It's simply not rational!

It's as if they had just started to fight, hadn't even thrown a punch, and this madman had already planned to make all of humanity self-destruct, just to splash blood on their faces!

Emperor! Don't agree to him!

Let's give it our all! I don't believe he'd dare do that!!

Unable to stay calm, it was like facing the most deadly monster; at this moment, the Dominion-level Alien Species could not maintain rationality either.

Their faces mad, every Alien Species roared, demanding their Emperor not agree!

Negotiating with a madman—might as well give it our all!

However, seeming unmoved, a few seconds later Wu Qing slowly closed his eyes, and the raised right hand suddenly pressed down on his clansmen's madness.

Shut up!

In the long silence, time seemed both lengthy and fleeting.

Finally, he slowly opened his eyes, and spoke again without emotion:

"You're betting, betting that before I make up my mind, Lin An can kill me, right?"

Cold, rational.

As he spoke, Wu Qing took a deep look at Chu An before him, feeling a rare sense of helplessness he had never felt before.

He knew he had temporarily lost this game.

No need to say more.

He knew what Chu An was betting on.

He could now immediately bring people back to surround and kill Lin An, but Chu An could also destroy this world after Lin An's death.

Therefore, he had no other choice.

He could only bet that, during the time Chu An kept him here, the Alien Species guarding the Mother World could kill Lin An, or bet that he himself could find a way to break the situation within that time.

Chu An needed time, and he did too.

He lost because he lacked the courage to bet on whether Chu An really dared to destroy this world, and he lost because he bore the hope of the entire civilization.

They have survived to this day after enduring too much blood and tears. Generation after generation of Alien Species have sacrificed, and it is too heavy...

To survive, he could do anything, except he could not personally bury hope...

Having thought this, Wu Qing didn't mind that Chu An hadn't answered his question; he merely gave a light laugh and shook his head.

"I will stay here; you go back."

Ignoring the frantic dissuasions of the Overlord Alien Species behind him, he simply condensed a mass of spiritual energy into a throne and sat upon it.

Looking at Chu An standing in place, he even simply condensed a chair for him as well.

"Actually, I'm curious—when did this situation begin?"

"Before I came, I had already read your files; I just never imagined that your true intention in asking for the capital to go nuclear was those scraps..."

"Moreover, the so-called reliance on satellite monitoring of global disasters is also a facade, right?"

Feeling quite emotional, the Alien Species Emperor looked with interest at the silent Chu An, pointing to the sky.

"I actually regret it; I shouldn't have valued you so much, mobilizing all my forces."

"If I had hidden an Alien Species, do you think I would have a chance to win?"

He lightly lifted his glasses frame; Chu An nodded, and a strand of white hair fell from before him.

"The plan probably began when the Alien Species were first discovered."

"As for hope? You can try."

As the words fell, the two exchanged a smile.

But the smile turned cold, and both knew.

A new battle began.