Chapter 497: Blood Dragon Blade, Dragon's Glory, Breaking Army

Soon.

Sui Meng's Glory Master Class flagship also completely left the water ripple‑shaped fault tunnel, returning to the real universe via 'the End'.

At this moment, the scene presented to Sui Meng and all the crew members was that the insects had surrounded Tai Luo Ke Er so tightly that, aside from some land and sea still retaining green and blue, other areas had been utterly eaten clean.

At the same time, everyone also saw the th Battalion fleet engaged with millions of living warships.

Seeing this.

"Notify all battalions, open fire full blast, bore through the insect swarm." Sui Meng immediately gave the order.

"Yes, sir."

All crew members immediately relayed the order to each department and then began to carry out the operation.

Left the bridge.

Arrived in outer space.

A fleet composed of over five hundred warships of various classes, with the Glory Master Class flagship as the spear tip, formed the regular △ triangle formation for the breakthrough.

Moreover, while the fleet surged forward, its main and secondary guns were fully opened, continuously bombarding the living warships closing in on them, and it also provided support to the th Battalion fleet as it gradually converged with the fleet.

Once the th Battalion fleet successfully joined the fleet, this Assaulter legion fleet released matrix nodes from any warship that was Yandu‑class or higher and used for attack or breakthrough.

In an instant, nearly ten thousand matrix nodes of varying lengths, while moving swiftly with the fleet, unfolded into a near‑hexagonal matrix, and then…

Ree——!!

Whoosh——!!

The matrix formed from ten thousand matrix nodes instantly shot out a beam that could steer, twist, and change trajectory.

Boom!! Boom!!

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of living warships or living transport vessels under two kilometers in length had their biological barriers shatter on contact with the matrix beam, making effective defense impossible.

In less than a blink, the matrix beam cut a gap through which the Assaulter fleet could easily pass, arriving at low orbit over Tai Luo Ke Er.

Immediately afterward, the matrix continued to release high‑energy beams while the fleet kept its guns blazing, quickly reaching an altitude of two hundred kilometers over the metropolitan area and at once initiating orbital drop‑off and transport, sending over six thousand Assaulters and more than one hundred thousand support troops, along with various armored units, to the ground.

During this period, the beam matrix and the artillery never ceased; although the Assaulters were hastily prepared reinforcements, their missile stocks were absolutely ample, and the supply ships also carried plenty of missiles and necessities.

However, as an OriginalBody who also loved charging into battle, Sui Meng did not choose to descend immediately onto the surface of Tai Luo Ke Er.

At this moment.

In the central section of the Glory Master Class flagship's hull, a area decorated with red wood served as a hall where Astate prayed to and 'confessed' before his father; here gathered nearly a hundred Assaulters wearing exclusive Terminator armor, standing about 3.9 meters tall, some approaching four meters.

Their Terminator armor's style and decoration leaned toward Chinese aesthetics, and each helmet bore a seemingly ferocious demon mask.

Moreover, these hundred power halberdiers equipped with upgraded bolt‑launchers, whose weapons were finely tuned, were precisely the 'Breaking Army', belonging to Sui Meng's Honor Guard.

As for the OriginalBody of the Breaking Army, he too stood at the front of the hall, using a holographic star map to give a brief briefing to everyone.

On the holographic star map, the exact positions of Tai Luo Ke Er, the Assaulter fleet, and the Tai Luo Insect Race fleet were outlined; moreover, a gigantic biological warship a hundred kilometers long, resembling a nautilus in appearance, was marked with a red circle.

"According to our fleet's firepower estimate, we can break the enemy's offensive in forty‑five minutes, but I want to speed this up." Sui Meng said in a low voice, then turned his gaze to that 'nautilus' and continued:

"So we will teleport onto the suspected enemy flagship's biological hull and then try to capture and destroy the enemy's insect queen, insect king, or leader‑type insects, understood?"

"." The Breaking Army nodded silently.

"Very good."

Sui Meng lightly waved his right hand, dispelling the holographic star map, then naturally reached for the 'long blade' strapped to his back, gripped its wholly dark, scale‑patternd hilt, and drew it out.

This time, he finally made out the appearance of the 'long blade': besides the dragon‑scale pattern, a dark‑red 'blood dragon' coiled around the hilt all the way to the blade's tip.

This weapon, forged by Hephestus, was also named by Sui Meng the 'Blood Dragon Blade'.

Grasped the weapon.

He half‑closed his eyes.

Swish——

The hall flashed with a burst of black‑red spiritual energy, and as the light rose, Sui Meng completed the spiritual‑energy transfer.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark, sticky, damp space where the air was unfit for human breathing; though called a deck, it resembled the writhing walls of a stomach or intestine—a 'storage' chamber.

It seemed he had, via the spiritual‑energy transmission learned from his father, bypassed the biological barrier and jumped straight into the interior of the 'nautilus'.

Thereafter, Sui Meng used the OriginalBody power armor he wore, called 'Dragon's Glory', to pinpoint his location.

Swish——!!

Accompanied by a flash of blue light and a faint vibration, the hundred Breaking Army soldiers, via 'lock‑on', followed their OriginalBody and successfully reached the 'nautilus' interior from the Glory Master Class flagship.

"Go."

Sui Meng issued an extremely brief command, donned a helmet likewise bearing a demonic mask, causing his visor monitors to emit a faint red light, and led a hundred bodyguards, preparing to charge straight through the Tai Luo Insect Race flagship.

Next, he swung the Blood Dragon Blade, easily slicing open the biological bulkhead and entered a much wider, more spacious chamber.

Here, resembling the inhaling and exhaling of humans or other animals, the sticky, smooth biological deck and walls were covered with countless egg sacs of various sizes.

At the same time, innumerable plump white worms bearing human‑like tentacles crawled over, inspecting the condition of each egg sac.

No communication needed.

An Assaulter equipped with a micro‑missile launcher on his left shoulder fired a micro‑missile at the chamber's upper‑center position.

Thump——

A low‑intensity explosion sound followed.

The missile's blast produced no intense fire, instead spewing a mist of dark‑green liquid that represented corrosive blood; it drifted down at random, settling on the worms and egg sacs, then began to spread as if possessed of its own will.

Sizzle……!!

Howl……!!

The intense corrosive noise and the worms' thin, piercing cries echoed throughout the chamber.

Nevertheless, the OriginalBody and the Honor Guard, even if they actively dispelled their spiritual‑energy barrier or shut down their armor's energy shield, could pass through the mist unharmed.

Because the strong acid distinguishes friend from foe, it not only refrains from attacking Sui Meng and his companions, but also leaves them a clear path to travel.

After all, the strong acid liquid cultivated from alien blood likewise uses nanotechnology for constant updates and iterations; as for the strong acid shells fired by the Breaker unit, they can last about twenty-five minutes, and they also have friend-or-foe identification, and can be sped up, slowed down, or stopped according to the firer's command.

While passing through, Sui Meng also saw through the translucent thin wall of the egg sheath that, inside several egg sheaths not yet corroded, there were actually newly formed human bodies with clear facial features and limbs.

「…」

Before reaching Tai Luo Ke Er, Sui Meng had already reviewed all the data sent by Zax Redfield, which included the Tai Luo Ke Er Intelligence Bureau's speculation that the Tai Luo Insect Race possesses the ability to absorb genes from various races.

Unexpectedly, in just over ten hours, the Tai Luo Insect Race has already been able to cultivate on its own something whose appearance and form are almost identical to humans…

「Bug」

If not contained at the source, even if it cannot cause destructive damage to current humanity, it will still sharply increase the workload of the intelligence departments of all colonies.

In terms of infiltration, this «Bug» that looks identical to humans on the outside seems to be the ideal «tool», and only nanotechnology can tell real from fake.

This point, however, is temporarily not within Sui Meng's consideration; he and the Honor Guard's primary goal is to look for possible brain worms, worm queens, and the like.

Everyone quickly passed through and left.

Not long after…

「Whooo—! 」 A violent airflow surged, swaying in the cabin filled with egg sheaths.

It turned out that the strong acid had completely corroded the biological bulkhead whose strength was no less than the ship's hull armor, exposing the entire cabin to vacuum, and the pressure difference sucked everything out of the cabin.

However, the corrosive reaction of the strong acid is still ongoing; only after twenty-five minutes will the reaction stop, and before that, the «Nautilus» will continue to feel «pain».

Of course, Sui Meng and the others would not fire just a single strong acid shell.

Next, they formed teams of two, making fifty groups in total, wreaking havoc inside the «Nautilus»; the Breaker units equipped with micro-missile launchers would fire a strong acid shell every time they passed four or five cabins, thereby maximizing the destruction caused by the corrosive reaction.

As for Sui Meng?

This Original Body, for efficiency, did not bring any guard escort; moreover, as someone skilled at charging into battle, he had absolute confidence in defeating any opponent inside the «Nautilus».

Facing the commotion caused by a hundred giants, the threatened «Nautilus» finally activated a strong «immune system» composed of many chief warriors and guards, to eliminate the «dangerous microorganisms» within its body—Sui Meng and the Breaker guard unit.

———————

…

Soon after.

「Screech!! 」 The sharp blade easily sliced through the barrier and then proceeded to cut the body beneath it.

「Howl…» Miserable cries came one after another.

All that could be seen was that, in what seemed to be an upper or middle-level cabin of the «Nautilus», the biological deck was littered with severed limbs, and the only one standing was Sui Meng, who shook off his Blood Dragon Blade and continued forward.

All along, he has slain countless chief-type insectoids weighing hundreds of tons, yet their speed and reactions are not at all clumsy.

If these chief insectoids were to descend upon the metropolis, even with the living saint Celesstin and the Soldier Boy capable of launching a nuclear blast at any moment, plus the reserve combat squad, the casualty count in Tai Luo Ke Er before the assault troops arrive would at least multiply severalfold.

But when the Original Body arrives, even a young Original Body who has just come of age treats these insectoids like empty drink cans—crushing as many as come, without any effort.

At this time, the Tai Luo Ke Er metropolis has already gathered thousands of Astartes and over a hundred thousand auxiliary troops.

Although their assault troops are not as wealthy as elite warriors or the long-standing Dark Crow Guard, which could equip every elite battalion Astartes with antimatter explosive arrows, their offense is lacking while defense is sufficient; theoretically, clearing the insectoids counted in hundreds of millions from the metropolis would entail no pressure at all.

Cooperating with the navy and his Original Body to deal with the Tai Luo Insect Race's «main force» fleet, Tai Luo Ke Er can rest easy in the short term.

After wiping out a batch of chief insectoids, Sui Meng continued to advance steadily, using the pulse scan released from his armor to explore the enormous living flagship.

Before he even left the cabin, he saw the biological deck begin a violent writhing, devouring all the severed limbs; this shows that if the brain worm or worm queen is not found quickly, this «Nautilus» can continue producing chief-type insectoid units.

Tsk.

Troublesome.

Originally intending to obtain tissue samples of the brain worm or worm queen, then have Umbrella study them to better counter the Tai Luo Insect Race, but they never showed a trace.

This led Sui Meng to wonder whether, among the Tai Luo Insect Race fleet attacking Tai Luo Ke Er, there exists a similar high-level insectoid to command operations, or whether the Tai Luo Insect Race merely obeys a high-dimensional «Hive Mind».

「. 」

Sui Meng couldn't be bothered to think about it; rather than have him ponder the causes and effects, it would be more worthwhile to throw him into the insect swarm for a satisfying slaughter, so leaving the problem to his two Original Body elder brothers seems more cost-effective.

«All Breaker units, cease operations and immediately withdraw to the flagship. » So he opened communications and, as usual, issued the order in the simplest words.

«Yes. » The Breaker units all gave short replies.

Soon, Sui Meng saw the screen's feedback indicating that his Honor Guard had safely withdrawn.

Just as Sui Meng was about to swing the Blood Dragon Blade to release a Spiritual Energy blast capable of destroying the entire «Nautilus», and then use teleport to return to the flagship, he sensed another batch of chief insectoids approaching, while his helmet screen displayed the corresponding alert.

However, among this batch of chief insectoids, there seems to be a special individual.

Oh?

Upon noticing this, Sui Meng finally abandoned the idea of destroying the «Nautilus» right then.

After waiting a moment…

「Roar!!!! »

More than ten chief warriors and guards escorted a single individual whose appearance differed little from that of warriors and guards, but whose build was far larger, and whose head crest bore a long, scarlet-glowing bone spur, charging into the cabin where Sui Meng was located.

Judging by appearance alone, one can tell that this individual, with its distinctive form and size, is very likely to hold the status of a «brain worm» or «lord» of the Tai Luo Insect Race fleet.

«Finally, it has arrived. »

Sui Meng, who had long been impatient, muttered to himself, swung his Blood Dragon Blade with his right hand, drawing a blood-red arc, and then dashed forward at an unobservable speed.

(End of chapter)