Chapter 361: The Star Shines Brightly on Stage

"You've got the mouth of the God of Misfortune—good things never happen, but bad things always come true." Du Luo grinned, trying to shift the focus onto Negrilis so no one would gossip about why his face was scratched up.

Negrilis grumbled back: "This is the most likely scenario I deduced from the available data. If it came true, it proves I'm right—that's skill, understand?"

"Huh? Can the Curse-Mouth be explained like that? Then why are your predictions for good things always wrong?" Du Luo suddenly felt his mind had been opened.

"Why wrong? If they were wrong, would you be standing here? You're a dead lich whose phylactery's broken—if I hadn't intervened, would Ang have saved you?" Negrilis snapped.

"Makes sense." Du Luo fell silent, feeling convinced.

The bronze dragon rolled its eyes, nudged him with its little elbow, and asked: "Why did those two female teachers scratch you?"

Du Luo sighed: "It's embarrassing to explain…" If he were just telling the bronze dragon, it wouldn't matter—they'd known each other for years.

But the moment he opened his mouth, he felt everyone nearby freeze, heads nearly leaning in.

The only ones still moving were Ang's three little ones and the two insect gods—they were the only ones truly delighted.

Mutant insect-fish kept being dragged onto the beach, one after another, rushing toward Hemer and Ma Disi, only to be killed by Ang and piled to the side.

After Negrilis uttered his curse, everyone rushed to the beach to test it—no sooner had they spat than countless black leeches erupted from the sand like madness.

If you ignored their ring of sharp teeth, they looked exactly like leeches—but toss any piece of meat at them, and it vanished in an instant.

Imagine tomorrow's celebration, when the beach is packed with people, everyone in bikinis and shorts, laughing, sitting bare-legged on the sand—then these things suddenly crawl out and bite…

The scene was too brutal to imagine.

Too bad they ran into Ang—he was the insect's natural enemy. Both insect gods had been fed into "pigs" by him, and now, with this bait, every insect in the sand and bay was cleaned out.

For safety, Ang activated the Instant Death Aura, forcing any unhatched insects in the sand to emerge.

"The bay connects to the open sea. Even if we clean it now, more insect-fish might slip in tomorrow—I'll seal the bay first," said Aubenli.

Aubenli floated slowly into the air, her magic surging wildly as elements rushed toward her from all directions, gathering, gathering, gathering…

After fifteen minutes, Lu Se yawned boredly: "How much longer?"

"An arcane-level spell? It'll take ages. Spells this level should be cast by a whole mage regiment—otherwise, the elements are too hard to control. For a girl to cast it alone? She's got talent," Du Luo said with an air of ancient wisdom.

The undead maid servant stood nearby and winced internally: Nine hundred years old and still a "girl"? Kid, how old are you?

At that moment, Ang suddenly spoke: "Something's coming."

Soon, the sea boiled as countless dark shapes burst from the water, unfurled wings, glided through the air, then plunged back into the waves.

If you ignored the four eyes on their sides and their mutated sharp mouthparts, they were just flying fish.

The mutated four-eyed flying fish surged toward the bay like gliding artillery shells.

Holy hell—the insects in the bay were nothing. This was the real show.

"Sound the alarm—maximum level!" Aubenli shouted.

Negrilis, Du Luo, and Feiti's hearts sank: "They've been preparing for a long time. This is trouble."

"Trouble indeed. With this scale—what else is left in the sea?"

Since clearing the bay's insects, everyone had harbored a worry: if insects could breed in the sea, were there other living things there too?

The ocean was a far vaster ecosystem than land, with few natural predators—no gods or skeletons like on land. If insects could breed in the sea, they'd thrive even better.

In the Fresh Sea dimension, insects had already entered the water—but that was due to the insect-controller's manipulation. After Ang killed the controller, the insects couldn't spread further.

The main world's ocean was salty. Everyone had hoped insects couldn't adapt to it. But the moment insects appeared in the bay, that hope shattered—and that was trouble.

The thought of the entire ocean swarming with black insects made Negrilis's scalp tingle: "We need to find those two insect-controllers. Notify Night Crow and Brucek—tell them to be careful."

No sooner had Negrilis finished than the four-eyed flying fish reached the bay's edge, surging wildly over the breakwater into the bay.

In the darkness, a beam of light pierced the night, carving a clean path through the swarm: "Aaaah!"

Without even looking, Negrilis knew who cast it—and groaned, covering his face.

Holy Light's power was strong, but against this scale, it was a drop in the ocean—the cleared path was instantly filled again, leaving no trace of the attack.

But the little angel, after unleashing her big move, was delighted, skipping and bouncing as she fired Holy Light Missiles from her Archangel Staff.

Then, a black beam sliced through the sky: "Aaaah!"

In the darkness, the little zombie's Death Wave wasn't visible—everyone only noticed the sudden gap in the flying fish swarm, realizing how terrifying it was.

But these were just preludes. Suddenly, Ang beside the little angel and little zombie opened fire—fireballs streaked across the night, painting a curtain of red.

"One, two, three… twenty? Twenty per second? He's sped up again?" Negrilis silently counted, reaching a shocking conclusion.

Du Luo's jaw hung open: "Instant-cast level-four magic? Twenty per second? Is he a magic artillery platform?"

Negrilis sneered: "Level? Look closer."

Du Luo frowned: "Level two? No—that power doesn't match. This is at least level four."

"Don't care if it matches—just tell me, is it level two?" Negrilis immediately felt the superiority of knowing a secret, smugly asking.

"From mana consumption, it's level two—but the power? At least level four. The most likely reason is proficiency—how much proficiency does he have?" Du Luo quickly guessed the answer, astonished.

"Proficiency?" Negrilis blinked. "Can proficiency be quantified? What's the standard?"

"Number of casts. One cast equals one point. A magic apprentice's daily mana is enough for about ten zero-level spells. Practice the same spell daily for a year—you get over three thousand six hundred points, enough to level up."

"A normal mage's proficiency for a single spell is usually between three and five thousand."

After Du Luo finished, he saw Negrilis counting on his fingers and asked curiously: "What are you counting?"

"I'm calculating Ang's proficiency. His highest is probably Rain Spell—during planting season, five thousand casts per day. Six months? A thousand years?"

"N… nine million casts?" Du Luo gasped.

He knew Negrilis was being deliberate—someone capable of calculating relative displacement in the void wouldn't struggle with a simple math problem; he just wanted others to do the math so he could show off.

Even though he saw through Negrilis's scheme, Du Luo was stunned—nearly ten million proficiency points, while normal mages had only a few thousand. They weren't even in the same league.

Du Luo's shock perfectly satisfied Negrilis's mischief. He kept boasting: "Explosive Fireball is used less, but he used to fire thirteen per second—could sustain it for days and nights. His proficiency must be over a hundred thousand."

Whether a hundred thousand or a million or ten million, the number was unimaginable compared to normal people. Du Luo could no longer use his old standards—he just glared at Negrilis: "It's not you casting."

"I taught him," Negrilis crossed his arms.

Ang's magic artillery stunned everyone. When he unleashed his fire curtain, every eye turned to him. As the curtain lasted longer, even Aubenli couldn't remain calm.

"Still going? Can anyone really sustain this long? How much mana does he have?"

When a flying fish was hit, the fireball exploded, shattering it—bodies thudded into the bay.

Hemer and Ma Disi were ecstatic—Ang fed them grass and stalks every day, and now they finally got meat. They dove beneath the water, the two insect gods devouring furiously.

Insect gods eating insects was natural. Back when Hemer raised insects, it was to feed himself. These plump four-eyed flying fish—after long-term malnutrition, the insect gods, once just fat and weak, began to change.

Aubenli had to disperse her gathered elements—she realized Ang had drained the nearby elements, creating conflict. If she didn't release them, she'd be dragging Ang down.

"I… a level-two spell is stealing elements from my arcane spell? What kind of world is this?" Aubenli felt magic itself had changed. As a Truth Mage, she no longer understood.

The bay had become a soup—a soup irresistibly attractive to insects. The more insects died, the stronger the pull on the survivors—so strong they ignored the firestorm, desperate to plunge into this "soup."

It was perfect for Ang—just stand still and fire fireballs.

The flying fish seemed countless, but due to their size, there were probably only tens of thousands. Yet in volume, they rivaled millions of insects—the bay's water was now black with blood.

It should have been foul-smelling, but with two insect gods in the water, the stench vanished entirely, and even the blood was being absorbed. At this rate, the bay would be clear by dawn.

All eyes were on Ang when a silver "squirrel" shot over like lightning, scrambled up Aubenli's skirt, and perched on her shoulder.

Aubenli had noticed it long ago, so she didn't stop it. Only when it settled did she say: "You're awake."

"Of course I'm awake. You triggered the highest alert—I thought something terrible had happened. What's going on? Who is this human? So deranged? A new star?"

Aubenli asked: "Even you see him as human?"

"What do you mean? He's not human?" The squirrel blinked in surprise.

Aubenli didn't answer directly: "See for yourself when you get the chance. Don't offend him."

The squirrel's tail instantly bristled. It stared at Aubenli in shock. "Don't touch him" or "Don't bully him" would be normal—but she said "Don't offend him"?

What kind of situation was this? This human was someone Aubenli dared not offend?

Distracted by shock, the squirrel didn't notice a horse's mouth creeping up, biting its tail.

The squirrel and Aubenli turned in unison—only to see Lightning, chewing the tail: "Weird. Why does this squirrel's tail taste like lightning?"

The fur hat on Lightning's head opened two eyes and yowled: "Aow!"

"Squirrel?" The squirrel froze, danger flashing in its eyes. It whispered to Aubenli: "Can I kill this horse?"

Aubenli shook her head, then explained: "That human—kill it, and you'll offend him. Can't kill."

"Fine," the squirrel sighed, tensed its whole body—and suddenly, a thunderous crack split the sky.

Lightning felt an unstoppable, terrifying lightning surge from the squirrel's tail, turning it completely transparent—as if it had become a glowing horse.

Residual electricity traveled to its horn, triggering a second discharge, turning its fur hat into a ball—every hair standing rigid like a giant sea urchin.

After the lightning passed, Lightning drooled white smoke, eyes glazed, staggering like a drunkard, stumbling sideways.

The fur hat's eyes bulged, smoke curling from its hair tips—as if it had been cooked.

The palm-sized squirrel had transformed into a five-meter-tall, muscular, broad-backed, immensely powerful—Giant Squirrel.

"A thunderclap in the sky—the star shines bright! Star—Lei Ting! You dare call me a squirrel?" the giant squirrel roared.

Star Lei Ting—one of the three remaining leaders of the Star Republic.

Lightning's eyes spun dizzily, mumbling: "So… so big a… squirrel…"

Lei Ting wanted to grab Lightning and shake it—but then realized something: "Huh? High magic resistance? This isn't a normal unicorn."

It had recognized Lightning's identity all along—but still asked if the "horse" could be killed. Even as a unicorn, Lightning's magic resistance was absurdly high.

"Maybe it's the fur hat—there's a dimensional beast inside," Aubenli said.

"V… Void species? Dimensional beast?" Lei Ting's eyes widened.

The last flying fish corpse crashed into the bay. Ang finished, cheerfully gathered the uneaten insect-fish, burned them to ash—these were all fertilizer.

On a deserted island ten kilometers from the bay, a sleepy insect-controller rubbed his eyes, rose to urinate—and halfway through, screamed: "No! Where's our flying fish swarm?"

His cry woke the other controller. Both stood on the rocks, staring at the empty sea, utterly baffled.

"Where's the swarm? Without our command, they wouldn't scatter!"

"Unless it's the Insect God's summons, they would never lose control."

"Where is the Insect God anymore? We've bred insects that adapt to saltwater—we are the new Insect Gods!"

"What do we do? We were planning to let the children feast during the festival, but there's no time to save up again."

Amid the argument, none noticed several 'people' quietly descending from above.

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