Chapter 1931: Chapter Twenty-Five; Annihilation?

On a desolate Gobi desert plain, a furious wind howled.

A worm nest nearly twenty-six meters high stood there, its surface coated in sand and dirt, making it look like a large dirt mound.

A battle insect species resembling sand scarab beetles was anxiously scurrying around the nest, as approximately 1,200 Puttes had surrounded the area.

Puttes

Speed: ★★★

Destructive Power: ★★★

Defense: ★★

……

Overall, Puttes are not weak, but they are not as abnormal as demon beasts; their destructive power reaches ★★★★, while their speed and defense are top-tier at the third stage.

After the 1,200 Puttes surrounded the earth-yellow worm nest, they seemed to receive a signal and launched a simultaneous attack.

In an instant, shattered shells flew everywhere, sharp bone spurs arced through the air—Puttes were not merely melee insectoids; they also possessed ranged attack capability, each storing three bone spurs in its mouth, each one meter long, which required returning to the nest to replenish via bio-energy after use.

One volley left the earth-yellow worm nest riddled with thousands of holes, its core transformed into a hedgehog.

Five minutes later, the battle ended; 1,175 Puttes began cleaning the battlefield, the accompanying Tanjia carried remnants of the mother nest on their backs, and the insect army marched back in mighty formation—this was already the fifth worm nest they had destroyed.

Two kilometers south of the battlefield, three contractors stood or half-crouched; one of them peered through a telescope, this man wearing earth-yellow combat gear, bald-headed and appearing somewhat fierce.

"This insect force is abnormal—compared to battle insects, basic insects are too few, and normally, insectoids follow 'collective hive consciousness'; they rarely attack other nests to develop themselves, as that would doom the entire species. As a race that has endured on this continent for a thousand years, their evolution would not permit such behavior."

The bald man lowered the telescope, his expression grave—clearly a man of few words.

"Cut the talk—just tell me: could this be the insect force controlled by that madman?"

A girl with a diagonal ponytail, clad in tight-fitting attire, spoke while stretching, even pulling out an electronic scale to weigh herself.

"The probability exceeds 36.5%."

The bald man picked up the telescope again to observe.

"How did you judge that 0.5% chance? Never mind these minor points—tell me… what exercise burns the most fat? I've been getting a bit plump lately, despite constant fighting."

The ponytail girl sighed as she spoke, worried about her weight; even as a powerful female contractor, she still cared about her appearance—this is human nature.

"The most fat-burning exercise…" The bald man pondered briefly, then said seriously: "Cremation."

"Eh~"

The ponytail girl froze—she clearly felt he was mocking her, yet could think of no retort.

"How did I end up on a team with you two? Following those battle insects, I sensed the mental imprint of contractors on them—someone is forcibly controlling them."

A woman with wavy hair spoke.

"Did we win the prize?"

The girl holding the electronic scale looked somewhat excited.

"Yes, we won."

All three were skilled at concealment; without making a move, they vanished into the low hills of the Gobi desert.

Just as they left, having blended into the environment, Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang, crouched on the small hill, let out a yawn.

Was it these three who won? Luck exploding? Of course not—Xiang Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang spotted them and immediately notified Su Xiao, who calculated their path and selectively attacked that second-stage worm nest.

Far away, in the mist-light worm nest several li distant, Su Xiao opened his eyes—the one he awaited was approaching.

……

In a mountain range of jagged rocks, the bald man and his two companions lay prone in a mountain hollow, not daring to breathe loudly.

Just half a li away, a massive worm nest stood in the valley, surrounded by thousands of battle insects—this did not even count the units already out hunting.

Compared to the battle insects, basic insect numbers were far lower—only a few dozen Tanjia, appearing pitifully scarce.

Originally, the mist-light worm nest had hundreds of basic insects, but Su Xiao had eliminated them all; such numbers could not belong to a nest operating in mass-production mode.

"Notify Akelo—we've found it."

As the wavy-haired woman spoke, the ponytail girl beside her immediately clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Shh~ You wanna die? If discovered by thousands of insectoids, we're dead."

The three began to retreat in a crawling posture, sweat beading on their foreheads; fortunately, they spotted the threat early—had they been a few days later, they'd have faced a legion of ten thousand insectoids.

Once the mist-light worm nest's battle insect Puttes count reached 3,500, development ceased; the nest began normal hunting, converting acquired bio-energy into life stones, stored for later demon beast cultivation.

The trio from Death Paradise retreated with trembling hearts, yet their announcement in the war channel caused a sensation.

……

Sun Tribe, a branch settlement within.

The fire basin in the wooden tent burned fiercely; inside were representatives of the three Paradises.

Akelo of Death Paradise, Mu Yu Shi of Initiate Paradise, and the Big-Breasted Mother A Fu Luo of Holy Light Paradise.

A Fu Luo drew the most attention—due to her ability, she gave off an aura of sacred inviolability; even if lustful thoughts arose upon seeing her, they would be seared by holy yang.

"Position confirmed—within this region."

Mu Yu Shi of Initiate Paradise waved her hand; a water-element-drawn map appeared before her, layers of cold air rising—this was ultra-cold water element, colder than ice, piercing to the bone.

Though Mu Yu Shi possessed water+ice abilities, she gave off a feeling like a spring breeze—clearly someone easy to talk to.

"Then let's raze it—every minute delayed lets the nest grow stronger."

Akelo spoke; compared to Mu Yu Shi and A Fu Luo, he was not a qualified leader—after all, he was Death Paradise's Punishment Knight, specialized in hunting violators, accustomed to lone operations; this time he had been pushed into leadership.

"The reasoning is sound, but… who should take the vanguard? Our situation, you've seen it—after battling those madmen, we're practically targets."

A Fu Luo smiled, her gestures sending golden light particles flickering—she was a woman born with a natural 'halo'.

"Naturally, the old brothers of Death Paradise—we slackers, put bluntly, when things go smoothly, we advance faster than anyone charges; retreat is also…"

Mu Yu Shi gave a slightly helpless smile; behind her, several Initiate Paradise representatives either coughed lightly or turned their heads east and west—leading a charge was impossible for them.

"Our Death Paradise first echelon, Initiate Paradise second, Holy Light Paradise third—any objections?"

Akuro spoke in a low voice, he now knew what it felt like to have two pig teammates.

"Of course there's no problem."

Afuro bowed her head in apology, her graceful demeanor unmistakable.

"The big brothers of Death Paradise are impressive, then let's set out?"

"Set out."

Akuro's group left the wooden tent, most of the contractors from the three paradises had gathered, a total of 840 contractors deployed, leaving only a small portion behind at the ancient ruins.

The contractors moved quickly, taking only half an hour to reach the mountain range near the Mist Light Insect Nest.

Everyone hid in various parts of the mountain range, seeing the sixty-meter-high dark green insect nest and at least over three thousand combat insects nearby, most of the contractors from Dawn Paradise swallowed their saliva.

"The enemy has discovered us."

"As expected, we have too many people."

"Let the long-range types prepare..."

As Mu Yu Shi's words fell, he leapt onto a rock, which instantly turned ice-blue.

A mournful tearing sound appeared ahead, a dense mass of bone spikes came rushing.

"Conceal!"

A contractor from Dawn Paradise had just roared angrily when, in the next moment, the mountain body he was hiding in was shattered by spikes, his entire upper body pinned with bone spikes, he fell straight down, the spikes were too numerous, leaving no chance to dodge.

"Roar!!"

The insect swarm's roars merged into one, spider-like combat insects, the Putus, surged out, stretching as far as the eye could see in a black mass, the Mist Light Insect Nest looked like a beehive that had just been stabbed.

Boom, boom, boom...

The sound of dense explosions spread, orange-red flames rose, large swarms of insects were blown into fragments, the crackling of scorched carapaces rang out, emitting a pungent burnt smell.

Yet these insects feared no death, death was their destination.

In just over ten seconds, the insect tide surged out of the valley like bees, rushing toward the contractors of the Three Paradise Alliance.