Chapter 2252: Pass Five Gates, Slay Six Generals
Three hours later, an utterly exhausted Xuance lay sprawled on the incubation platform!
His eyes were vacant, staring blankly at the sunlight insects on the ceiling. Trembling, he pulled out a cigarette, slowly placed it between his lips, and lit it.
Taking a deep drag, he exhaled a wisp of smoke. A single tear trickled from the corner of his eye.
(´థ3థ)⋋︴ Hu~
Xuance couldn't help but press his hand to his forehead. Farewell, happiness!
Farewell, bottom line!
He had finally crossed that threshold. Now he was in hell, with no light in sight.
The cup of hot water by the bedside had long gone cold.
Chong Ruhua lay beside Xuance like a limp puddle, holding his arm, her face full of shyness.
ᥬ(๑מּൠמּ)᭄ "Milord! You're amazing! So incredible!"
As she spoke, she traced circles on his chest with her finger, practically sparking.
Chong Siyu was already on the ground, her face glowing with a blissful, satisfied smile.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out three bags of shriveled red fruits.
With a casual flick, she tossed them onto Xuance.
ᥬ(๑‾᷄ൠ‾᷅)᭄ﾂ "Here—take these to replenish yourself. They're heavenly sun wolfberries. Eat them; they're good for your health!"
Xuance clenched his steel teeth, struggled to sit up, took the wolfberries with a long sigh, then closed his eyes and swallowed them in one go.
"Now! You've all witnessed my ability, haven't you? Do I qualify to meet your mother insect emperor?"
Chong Ruhua giggled: "Yes, of course you do! Your ability far exceeds the assessment standards!"
"We two sisters will now take you to meet the insect emperor!"
Xuance's eyes lit up. Finally! Finally he had a chance?
Chong Siyu asked in surprise: "But are you going just like that? Don't you need to rest?"
Xuance immediately stood up and glared:
(งᵒ̌皿ᵒ̌)ง "Rest my ass? You looking down on me? I can still fight!"
At this moment, Xuance was bursting with motivation. As they say, better to endure the pain quickly than to drag it out.
Better to end this hellish journey as soon as possible.
Chong Ruhua giggled: "Alright then, I'll lead the way!"
So Chong Ruhua and Chong Siyu took Xuance onto a transport insect and set off again.
In the appendix combat command room, Jiangnan and the others, who had weathered three hours of stormy seas, finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
They had safely passed the test, one step closer to the mission objective!
But halfway there, the transport insect turned again.
Xuance: ???
(｡･ˇ益ˇ･) "Why are we turning again? Aren't we going to the central insect hive to meet the mother insect emperor? What—"
Chong Siyu laughed: ᥬ(˵ಡൠಡ˵)᭄ "You only passed our test, not the insect emperor's test."
"As the mother insect emperor, her strength is many times greater than ours. Of course, you have to be tested by the insect emperor's clone personally."
Chong Ruhua cheered him on: "Keep it up, Milord, I believe in you~"
Xuance: !!!
Damn it! Again? No way, no way, I really can't take it anymore!
But Jiangnan had anticipated this and wasn't surprised.
(〃ᵒ̴̶̷◠ᵒ̴̶̷)و "Xuance! Hang in there! If you quit now, all your previous efforts will be wasted!"
Xuance's expression froze. I shouldn't have trusted his evil talk!
[From Xuance's Resentment Value +777!]
[From...]
Inside the living quarters of the swarm's fifth ring centipede hive.
Xuance stood there, his face pale. Behind him were Chong Ruhua and Chong Siyu.
In front of him stood one of Chong Bishi's clones.
Her body was a centipede-like form, entirely so.
Dense clusters of insect legs lined both sides of her body, numbering in the tens of thousands.
The front half of her body rose like a cobra, and at the head was embedded Chong Bishi's stunning face.
(∗❛ั̫❛ั) "Giggle~ Xuance, you little rascal, finally we meet. I've heard from Ruhua and Siyu that you're quite impressive."
"So? Is this form your type?"
Xuance was screaming internally.
Type my ass! This is even harder to accept than Ruhua and Siyu!
What good is just having a human face? It's not even as good as them!
How am I supposed to handle this?
Xuance's forehead beaded with sweat: =͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪‧̣̥̇) "Sister Bishi? That's a bit unfair, isn't it? I came with full sincerity, and you're testing me and fobbing me off with a clone."
"Is it really that hard to see your true body? I'm not going to harm you. I just want to spend a wonderful night with you."
Chong Bishi's eyes sparkled seductively:
(∗ᵒ̶̶̷̫̀˂̶́) "A clone is still me. Falling in love with me over and over again—isn't that romantic?"
"Besides, why must you insist on my true body? If you're strong enough, everything will naturally fall into place."
"Or do you have some ulterior motive for getting close to my true body?"
Xuance's heart tightened. She's this alert?
But on the surface, he gave a bitter smile:
(´-ㅂ-`；) "Sister Bishi, you're joking. How would I dare? Start a fight with you in the insect hive? I'd just be asking for trouble."
"I... I just want to see the real you. Won't you even give me that chance?"
As he spoke, he approached Chong Bishi and boldly placed his hand on her cheek.
Jiangnan was tense. Xuance was incredible. As the king of Chaos, he went for it!
Chong Bishi giggled: "I've already given you the chance. Whether you can take it depends on you. First, satisfy me."
With that, her insect body leaned in, her myriad legs reaching to embrace Xuance.
Xuance shuddered and instinctively stepped back.
Chong Bishi frowned:
(ꐦ°᷄◠°᷅) "What? You don't want to?"
Xuance's mental world was on the verge of collapse. Who the hell would want this?
But Jiangnan was anxious. This was Chong Bishi's clone. Whether he could see the true body depended heavily on the impression of this clone.
He absolutely couldn't back down now!
So he quickly sent a telepathic message: (งᵒ̌皿ᵒ̌)ง "Xuance! What are you hesitating for? Go fight her! You got through Ruhua and Siyu; what's so hard about this?"
Xuance cursed inwardly:
(￢﹏￢) "Spit! Those two at least had a semblance of humanity. This one has more legs than I have hair! How can I do it?"
"You try it!"
Jiangnan urged: (°益°〃) "Then let me ask you: a voluptuous woman's body with an insect head—that's a human, but can't speak."
"Versus an insect body with a woman's head—that's an insect, but has a sweet voice and can talk. Which do you choose?"
Xuance struggled internally. What kind of soul-searching question was this? Wasn't there a normal option?
(´-益-｀٥) "I'd... I'd choose the silent insect-headed woman body, of course."
Jiangnan fumed: (｡･ˇ口ˇ･) "Bullshit! What's good about that? You can find those everywhere on the street! Of course you choose the woman-headed insect body!"
"We're in an era of faces now. After all, what man can refuse a talking bug? It's super cool!"
Xuance paused, looked at Chong Bishi's beautiful face, and thought about it. It wasn't so unacceptable after all.
It was pretty cool.
But in the appendix combat command room, everyone covered their faces. Where was the cool?
Xuance had been brainwashed by Boss Nan!
Jiangnan turned and ordered: "What are you waiting for? Start a new round of Strongman Pill + Chives! Get the assembly line going!"
As soon as the line started, Xuance immediately got into the zone.
He let out a dry laugh:
(͡°ㅂ͡°) "What are you talking about? How could I dislike you? I love you too much."
"Those two steps back were just me being stunned by your beauty. After all, your beauty is beyond reach."
Chong Bishi smiled seductively:
(⑉◔ლ◔ิ) "Giggle~ The king of Chaos indeed. This is the first time I've felt such a flutter. My heart is about to jump out of my throat."
"So, shall we fight?"
Xuance roared: "Let's fight!"
He charged forward immediately. But after a short while, Chong Bishi looked at him speechlessly.
(≖～≖) "What are you doing? Counting how many legs I have? What's there to count?"
Xuance sweated profusely. Who the hell is counting that?
I have my own troubles too!
In the appendix combat command room, Jiangnan and the others not only cut off the video feed but also covered their ears.
Boden shook his head in disappointment:
(︶益︶〃) "Hopeless. Totally hopeless. Clearly has no combat experience."
Jiangnan was speechless. It wasn't Xuance's fault. In this situation, even he would be at a loss.
So the appendix fell into another long silence.
Three and a half hours later, Xuance was taken by Chong Ruhua and Chong Siyu to the scorpion-snake hive in the fourth ring of the swarm.
He had evidently passed Chong Bishi's clone's test.
As for why it took an extra half hour—hmm, counting legs...
Now Xuance's face was even darker. I knew it. I'd have to work through every ring.
Otherwise, he couldn't even get through the door of the central hive.
In the scorpion-snake hive, new trials awaited Xuance, but he was already unfazed.
Since it had come to this, he could only sink into hell.
Come on! Fight! With the noblest dreams! To the sobs and roars in the darkness!
So the trials came one after another. In the appendix combat command room, Jiangnan and the others kept supplying Chives and Strongman Pills, weathering one storm after another.
Xuance endured Ruhua and Siyu, and cleared the five-ring trials of Bishi's swarm.
He passed five gates and slew six generals!
Finally, he earned the chance to enter the central hive.
At the center of the star system floated an enormous, dense web-like structure.
It was built entirely of insect glue, with each node being a planetary hive, even wrapping around stars and blue giants to provide energy and heat for the hive.
Such a massive, magnificent insect-built structure was rare even in the starry sky.
From afar, it looked as eerie as a demon king's castle.
Countless swarms flew in and out of the hive in orderly formations.
This place was like a kingdom, a dynasty that belonged solely to Chong Bishi.
Outside the central hive were locked countless enormous celestial dragon insects, densely packed.
Their size wasn't much smaller than that of star-devouring giant worms. The celestial dragon insects roared, forming a traction array.
They dragged the massive hive forward toward Tiantang Zhijing.
The central hive clearly had the ability to move.
Jiangnan's heart tightened. They were finally about to enter the central hive?