Chapter 89: Battle Insect Clan

Emperor Tomb Mountain Range.

North of the earth-gaping cliff where the Evil Eye Tower stands.

A vast army of countless insects, dense as locusts, blanketed the earth and advanced toward the location of the Evil Eye Tower at incredible speed.

Upon detecting the anomaly, the Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit swiftly withdrew the black Black Tide forces still ravaging the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, constructing a towering wall of black mist centered on the Evil Eye Tower, ready to unleash a sudden war.

Upon the Tower, the Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit’s expression was extremely grave.

In his perceptual viewpoint, the main bodies of the insect warriors were composed of semi-transparent crystals, shimmering in vibrant colors under the Evil Moon, with three pairs of thin, cicada-wing-like wings extending from their backs, covered in energy spirit patterns; their eyes resembled rubies, capable of changing color with the environment; through the semi-transparent exoskeleton, one could see a heart-like organ pulsing in the middle of their bodies, each contraction causing the spirit patterns on their skin to light up.

Their lower limbs consisted of four slender, jointed legs; beside their tooth-filled mouthparts grew a pair of sharply raised, scythe-like mandibles.

The insect swarm moved with extreme speed and immense numbers; each insect warrior radiated a chilling, murderous aura.

Upon contact with the black Black Tide controlled by the Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit, the spirit patterns on the insects ignited, spewing elongated threads of energy that instantly severed the black Black Tide evils they touched, which then reabsorbed back into the black Black Tide.

The war between the insect Black Tide and the black Black Tide ignited into a white-hot battle in an instant.

Like two waves of different colors colliding at their centers, they erupted into bloody combat.

This scene unfolded under Qi Sheng’s consciousness surveillance.

The Guide, who had been continuously monitoring the Evil Eye Tower’s movements, transmitted the news to him the moment the anomaly was detected.

Through the Guide’s analytical data, Qi Sheng obtained detailed information on the insect warriors:

【Crystalwing Order (Battle Insect Clan)】

Hunting Rank: 15

Analytical Data: A low-tier combat unit of the Battle Insect Clan, possessing the racial ability to rapidly evolve by consuming substances, controlled by a "Low-Level Master Brain" unit; each battle allows them to acquire pheromones from targets (the Master Brain can obtain pheromones through the insect swarm, adjusting the growth direction of new insect generations to evolve combat organs that counter enemy factions).

……

“Another new faction has appeared. Interesting—they dare to launch an offensive against the terrifying black Black Tide.”

On the Primordial Altar, Qi Sheng’s mind conjured the image of the insect swarm and black Black Tide locked in fierce combat, muttering in amazement.

Upon hearing this, the Guide’s water sphere surfaced with a thoughtful expression:

【Indeed, they are formidable. I suspect this faction known as the “Battle Insect Clan” likely chased the black Black Tide into the Monster World, rather than being forced here after world collapse like most races, or arriving solely for revenge after destruction.】

“What new discovery have you made?” Qi Sheng asked curiously, looking at the Guide.

In response, the Guide’s thought flashed instantly; Qi Sheng’s viewpoint zoomed in on the insect warriors battling the black Black Tide evils, then the Guide manifested an arm pointing at a Crystalwing severed into fragments:

【Boss, have you noticed anything unusual about the state of the insects after death?】

Qi Sheng’s gaze swept over the shattered remains of the Crystalwing, and he immediately grasped the issue:

“The black Black Tide cannot fully consume the flesh fragments of the Crystalwing—only part of their bodies.”

This discovery struck Qi Sheng as truly incredible.

The most terrifying trait of the black Black Tide is its ability to consume and grow; this was not evident in battles against players, but it was utterly unstoppable against other lifeforms.

Yet this strongest trait of the black Black Tide failed to fully manifest in its confrontation with the insect swarm.

Based on Qi Sheng’s understanding of the black Black Tide, the normal progression should be: black Black Tide evils die, reabsorb into the black mist, regenerate new evils with minimal energy cost, while the dead insect warriors’ flesh is absorbed and digested by the mist.

Ultimately, the black Black Tide would grow rapidly like a snowball with minimal loss.

But in this battle, when black Black Tide evils kill insect warriors, they can only absorb partial flesh, failing to achieve perfect consumption.

“These insects have evolved bodily structures resistant to black Black Tide consumption.”

【Correct. These insect warriors—or rather, the Master Brain behind them—clearly are not fighting the black Black Tide for the first time. They’ve gathered sufficient pheromones through high-frequency combat and evolved resistance mechanisms aimed specifically at countering the black Black Tide: the crystalline structure of the Crystalwing. This material is at least indigestible to low-level black Black Tide, so only partial energy can be absorbed.】

【And another point, Boss—have you noticed that insect warriors emit mist-like energy particles during combat, which block the black mist from consuming the energy released by dying evils, slowing the black Black Tide’s regeneration speed? Thus, these insect warriors have evolved two specialized organs to counter the black Black Tide.】

“Interesting. Pull the viewpoint back and take a look behind.”

As Qi Sheng spoke, the Guide began guiding his consciousness through the vast insect swarm, entering the new region north of the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range.

This area was named in the analytical data: Phantom Marsh.

The speed of the viewpoint’s advance accelerated until it halted before a massive biological entity, as large as a small mountain.

Analytical data immediately surfaced.

【Insect Master Brain (Low-Level Master Brain)】:

Hunting Rank: 103

Target Description: A command unit within the insect clan’s ecological system, possessing four racial abilities: substance consumption, rapid reproduction, pheromone analysis, and reconstruction of life tissue.

……

Above the insect master brain, Qi Sheng also spotted a narrow fissure—a space rift nearly closed.

It was certain: the low-level insect master brain had just been airdropped here.

What remained unclear was whether this low-level master brain came specifically for the black Black Tide, or for resources—but upon arriving, it coincidentally sensed the black Black Tide’s aura and launched an offensive.

He did not dwell on this question; the reason didn’t matter.

Both the insect clan and the black Black Tide would be enemies of the player legion.

He observed insects near the master brain frenziedly felling nearby vegetation and rocks, hauling all matter to the master brain for smelting and digestion.

This faction’s destruction of the environment and resources was no less severe than that of the Mechanical Dominator; the ultimate master brain controlling the insects might even surpass the Mechanical Dominator in power.

【Fortunately, the hunting rank of this arriving insect master brain isn’t exceptionally high; otherwise, the current player legion would struggle to cope.】

Qi Sheng nodded upon hearing this.

The arrival of the insect clan was, in his view, a good thing.

Their strength was perfectly matched to the players’ level, ideal for boosting player combat power.

In terms of consumption and evolution, players would surpass both the insect clan and the black Black Tide.

The viewpoint now pulled back; the fierce battle between the black Black Tide and the insect swarm continued, during which the black Black Tide’s strength steadily rose by consuming partial bodies of insect warriors.

Through analysis, it became clear: the insect clan acted as experience packets for the black Black Tide, continuously elevating its strength.

But that wasn’t the point.

The key was that the insect front line was advancing; the black Black Tide evils’ resistance could not halt the steady push of the insect warriors.

This made Qi Sheng realize the true objective of the insect master brain.

A high-intelligence master brain would surely know the terrifying black Black Tide grows stronger through consumption during war; thus, it had no intention of engaging in a prolonged, grueling conflict. Its core target was always the black Black Tide’s core: the Evil Eye Tower.

This could be understood as the insect master brain’s blitzkrieg tactic.

Once the Evil Eye Tower was leveled, the black Black Tide’s influence would be drastically weakened.

This was also why the insect master brain allowed the black Black Tide to continuously gain strength through consumption during the war.

At this moment, atop the Evil Eye Tower, the Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit’s expression was grim.

The terrifying black Black Tide under his control had grown stronger through combat with the insect warriors, yet he had also discerned the insects’ true goal.

Facing the steadily retreating front line, he attempted multiple counterattacks with the black Black Tide, but each was crushed by the frenzied insect Black Tide.

If this trend continued, the insect army would advance to the Evil Eye Tower.

If the Tower were destroyed, he would lose the underlying domain node, and his control over the black Black Tide would be severely weakened.

Reclaiming it afterward would be difficult.

“Evil Eye, what exactly are these things?”

In response, the floating Evil Eye behind the Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit split open a fissure, remaining silent for a long while before speaking:

“According to intelligence shared by other nodes, this faction is called the Battle Insect Clan—one of the most troublesome powers we’ve ever faced. They’ve clashed with our warriors across multiple worlds, severely hindering our world-consumption speed.”

“Multiple worlds?” The Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit was startled.

“Correct—multiple worlds. The Battle Insect Clan’s strength is far more terrifying than you imagine. They possess the ability to collect pheromones and acquire target capabilities, then reconstruct offspring life structures to evolve organs that counter enemy races. They are a destruction-level faction nearly identical to ours. When we invaded other worlds, we repeatedly discovered the Battle Insect Clan had already begun devouring those worlds.”

The Evil Eye’s explanation made the Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit grasp the severity of the situation:

“So the black mist’s reflux has clearly slowed, and it cannot fully consume the corpses of insect warriors—because of the insects’ inherent capabilities.”

“Precisely. In some worlds, the insects have evolved bodily structures to counter our consumption and reflux. Though they cannot completely negate the black Black Tide’s traits, they can effectively reduce the pressure the black Black Tide imposes on them.”

Here, the Evil Eye shifted the Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit’s macroscopic viewpoint to a single Crystalwing in combat.

“The crystalline body structure, the slow-emitted energy—it’s all combat capability designed specifically to counter our black Black Tide traits. If I’m not mistaken, this insect clan followed our warriors’ footsteps into the Monster World, possibly even pursued us into it.”

“Pursued us?” The Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit froze, incredulous.

“Correct. Our race’s world-consumption process ends with world annihilation; then, the warriors involved are reassigned to different worlds. But the Battle Insect Clan is different—their combat desire is extreme; to them, ‘end’ means total lifelessness.”

“What’s the difference?” The Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit asked, puzzled.

“Vastly different. For example, after our black Black Tide completely consumed the Purple Rain World, many powerful lifeforms there escaped to other worlds by tearing space. We ignored them—we had no interest in wasting time on meaningless pursuit. World consumption is our ultimate goal; expending extra energy on pursuit is seen by us as extremely foolish.”

“But the Battle Insect Clan is different. They consume all life; if they discover life escaping a consumed world to another, they unhesitatingly launch cross-world pursuit.”

“In our past conflicts with them across other worlds, similar events occurred. We fully consumed a world and ceased caring about their harassment—but they refused to let our warriors leave, launching relentless pursuit, until we eradicated them entirely in another world.”

“It’s certain: the mother insect behind the Battle Insect Clan is extremely intelligent, possessing a very high wisdom rank—but their bloodthirsty instincts often drive them to act foolishly.”

“Now, the insect clan has descended into the Monster World following our footsteps. We Iron Face a new challenge in fully consuming this world. I hope their supreme ruler has not arrived—if he has, our consumption of the Monster World will be severely hindered.”

The Evil Eye’s explanation sent a chill down the Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit’s spine.

The existence of “Di Zhao,” the Monster World’s creator capable of opposing “My Lord,” had already stunned him.

Now, yet another new faction—the Battle Insect Clan—had emerged, waging war against the terrifying black Black Tide across multiple worlds.

“This world… is terrifying.”

“I was born in the Monster World and have never visited other worlds conquered by my race. But according to intelligence shared by other nodes, the difficulty of conquering this world far exceeds those other nodes have encountered—it’s not an exaggeration to call it the strongest. All factions here are extremely troublesome. This is precisely why our race has never succeeded in consuming the Monster World.”

Here, the Evil Eye paused:

“Analyzing the current situation, our consumption of the Monster World has been severely restricted, progress slowing further. We may need to deploy new forces from the Main World and other worlds into the Monster World.”

Hearing the Evil Eye’s explanation, the Earth-Remembering Evil Spirit’s doubts deepened:

“If this world is so important, why didn’t we send warriors from the Main World when we first discovered it?”

In response, the Evil Eye fell silent, beginning to read information transmitted from other nodes.

After a long time, the Evil Eye spoke:

“In fact, when my clan first entered this world, we realized it could not be easily devoured, so we immediately deployed forces of Demon God rank from the Main World to join the battle.”

“Demon God rank?” The Earth-Nie Evil Spirit was startled and quickly asked:

“So where are the Demon Gods? Where did they go?” At the mention of “Demon God,” the Earth-Nie Evil Spirit’s tone grew respectful—this was genuine reverence.

“Without exception, all were slain in battle.”

At that moment, the Earth-Nie Evil Spirit’s gaze went blank; even his consciousness controlling the Black Black Tide slackened for several seconds.

Fortunately, he snapped back to awareness and resumed commanding the Black Black Tide, then turned to Iron Face the Evil Eye:

“All of them dead?”

“I can answer you definitively: all were slain in battle, without exception.”

The Earth-Nie Evil Spirit’s eyes glowed red as he suppressed his surging emotions and asked in a low voice:

“I want to know the specifics of the war.”

“I did not participate in the battle, nor did any other nodes I could connect with take part in this cataclysmic war. I cannot provide details on the course of the battle, but I know that every node that aided my clan’s warriors perished in that conflict… and our opponent was a Rule-Level deity of the Monster World. In the end, we lost. No warrior returned, and the Monster World’s Rule-Level deity vanished thereafter, not appearing in the millennia since.”

The information provided by the Evil Eye chilled the Earth-Nie Evil Spirit to the bone.

As a Commander-level warrior, he had participated in two minor-world battles and believed he had seen many powerful lifeforms.

But in the Monster World, what he once considered powerful could only be described as childish and laughable.

With his Commander-level strength, augmented by the Evil Eye’s Black Black Tide, he could not even seize a single region—he was utterly suppressed by the Player Clan, who kept multiplying endlessly.

He had assumed it was just bad luck—that the location he descended upon happened to be blocked by another invading force, stalling his expansion.

He never imagined the Monster World’s vast expanse held even more unimaginable foes.

The Player Clan he encountered wasn’t even a real threat; at least, no other nodes’ Evil Eyes had ever clashed with this faction, proving the Player Clan was merely a minor force that had invaded only this region, never appearing on the grander battlefield.

Recalling the Evil Eye’s words—that the Black Black Tide’s Core-Level forces, the “Demon Gods,” had all perished in battle—

he could not fathom the intensity of that war.

Perhaps even the battle’s residual shockwaves could effortlessly crush countless minor worlds.

“Focus on the battle. Don’t overthink. Your growth has only just begun. Don’t fall here.”

Hearing the Evil Eye’s reminder, the Earth-Nie Evil Spirit forced himself into a state of focus and began commanding the Black Black Tide to counterattack the advancing insect swarm.

The brutal slaughter continued as the Insect Clan warriors carved their path forward by sacrificing their lives.

To halt the Insect Clan’s advance, the Earth-Nie Evil Spirit was forced to withdraw Black Black Tide forces from other directions and concentrate all strength along the main frontline before the Evil Eye Tower.

Facing the threat of the Evil Eye Tower being dismantled, the Earth-Nie Evil Spirit, as commander, even considered joining the battle himself.

But his idea was blocked by the Evil Eye, who stated that Commanders must not engage in direct combat unless absolutely desperate—it would severely weaken the Black Black Tide’s combat effectiveness and plunge its offense into chaos and disorder.

…

On the other side.

Having eavesdropped on the conversation between the Earth-Nie Evil Spirit and the Evil Eye, Qi Sheng turned to the Guidance hovering beside him:

“Fight Demon Gods? Is that true?”

【Of course. I remember telling you about that scene right after you inherited the Emperor’s Mark and your primordial source.】

“Back then, when I first arrived in the Monster World, I was young and didn’t pay attention in class—I forgot. Now explain it in detail.”

【The situation was like this: a bunch of big-shot lords in the terrifying Black Black Tide, who controlled world-level rules, picked up giant cleavers and swore they’d chop us four brothers to death. Could we just sit there and take it? When we heard that, we four brothers were furious. We grabbed our axes and prepared to strike back. I charged ahead first, swung my blade—and killed two Demon Gods in one blow. I turned to see my Yanming brother use “Moon in the Well” and kill two more. Then I looked at my Super-Wei sister, swinging two massive iron hammers with terrifying force, keeping the entire group of Demon God lords at bay. That battle raged so fiercely the heavens darkened and the sun and moon vanished. I was nearly exhausted—I’ve never been this tired in my life… But we couldn’t back down. Those bastards were fighting to the death, threatening to tear our home apart. So of course we couldn’t show fear—we had to fight them to the end…】

In the Guidance’s simplified, down-to-earth retelling, Qi Sheng’s temples throbbed with veins.

(End of Chapter)