Chapter 328: Chapter 328

"Insect Clan? Are you kidding me? Aren’t they nearly wiped out now?" Shi Xiaojun thought this was some kind of joke, or that he was being played with.

Three incredibly imposing Insects surrounded Shi Xiaojun.

The beetle-like Insect, cloaked in a brown shell with spines covering his arms, his short wings quivering behind him, hummed slowly, "Insect General Oliver, at your service, General."

The ant-like Insect, his limb muscles bulging and teeth exposed, twitched the antennae on his head and said with a wide grin, "Insect General Ghostphil, at your service, General."

The earthworm-like Insect, as ugly as if he had been skinned, blood-red and drooling profusely, his face a mask of greed, gurgled, "Insect General Sanchez, at your service, General. May I have a bite of you, General? I am really, really hungry!" New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on NoveI-Fire.ɴet

Shi Xiaojun looked at the three Insects. Their auras were no weaker than his own. He forced a grim smile. "Three Insect Generals! Do you Insect Clan members really think you can swallow both the Corpse Demon Clan and the Myriad Beasts Sect whole? Aren’t you afraid of choking?"

Oliver adopted a mysterious expression, covered his mouth with one hand, and whispered, "Let me tell you a secret. Our Empress, you know, was born three thousand years ago."

Hearing this, Shi Xiaojun’s expression turned grim. "So," he said, "this is a trap. Your Empress wants to devour us all in one go to ascend directly to the Middle Layer of the Star Sea?"

"Congratulations, you guessed it right! Your reward is a little love punch." Ghostphil’s fist instantly appeared above Shi Xiaojun’s head.

Shi Xiaojun broke out in a cold sweat as he stared at the completely collapsed grand hall. The green Corpse Demon who delivered the message earlier must have been reduced to a pile of minced flesh by now.

"Truly worthy of being a General of the Corpse Demon Clan, to be able to dodge even an attack like that," Ghostphil said mockingly. "I heard you were also injured by our Empress, and your wounds haven’t even healed yet. You really are strong."

"Hmph, just a few bugs." Shi Xiaojun sneered disdainfully, but inwardly he was screaming. I’m probably finished this time.

A major battle was imminent.

Gong Can didn’t really believe the Insect Clan possessed such high Spiritual Wisdom, but Chen Jiuge’s argument was well-reasoned and convincing. Still, to err on the side of caution, he grudgingly reported this conjecture.

"PFFT. How could that be possible? That Insect Nest has existed for nearly a thousand years, right? If they really had that kind of intelligence, how could we have so easily conquered such a vast swathe of their territory?" one of the staff members scoffed.

The other staff members chimed in agreement; all of them were veterans who had been battling the Insect Nest since they first began to develop this region. They all felt they understood the Insect Nest thoroughly.

Chen Yan, however, offered no opinion, merely pondering quietly. Hearing the noisy chatter from below, he said with some displeasure, "Silence! Bring up the display for the Stars at the periphery. Let’s see the situation."

Each Star housed a silver Altar. Once an Altar was destroyed, that Star’s presence would vanish from the Third Zone’s Star Map. Although Chen Yan also doubted the Insect Clan was capable of this, he decided to check, just in case.

A luminous Star Map materialized in mid-air. Seeing the clearly distinct Stars on it, Chen Yan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It seems Chen Jiuge was overthinking things. It’s his first time in the Infinite Star Sea; it’s understandable if he’s not yet accustomed to it. It’s quite nor—"

The word "normal" hadn’t even fully left his mouth when three Stars on the outermost edge of the Star Map instantly winked out.

"How is this possible?" a staff member exclaimed, leaping to his feet in shock.

Then, as if a plague was spreading, dozens more Stars went out. The Insect Clan truly was counterattacking in secret!

"Deploy the last contingent of White Tiger Guards!" Chen Yan roared. "We must find out exactly what’s going on!"

Judging by the path of extinguished Stars, the Insect Clan’s next target was the region where Chen Jiuge’s Butterfly Star was located.

Hu Xiao raced his Flying Boat at top speed directly toward Butterfly Star. He was deeply anxious, desperately hoping the Young Master’s speculation was wrong.

What is that? Hu Xiao wondered, spotting a trail of mangled remains suddenly appearing in the Flying Boat’s path. He cautiously moved closer to inspect.

The charred corpse’s eyes snapped open. A pitch-black hand shot out and grabbed Hu Xiao’s ankle. "I recognize you," it rasped. "You’re the subordinate of that human from before. That human... I think he was called Chen Jiuge."

Hu Xiao, his Divine Skills gathered but not yet unleashed, demanded, "Who are you?"

"Shi Xiaojun of the Corpse Demon Clan," he said weakly. "I have vital intelligence... The Insect Clan has counterattacked."

Hu Xiao wanted to ask more, but Shi Xiaojun had already lost consciousness. Hu Xiao carried him back to the Flying Boat and quickly fed him a large quantity of Healing Pills. Three hours later, Shi Xiaojun finally opened his eyes.

"What exactly happened?" Hu Xiao, who had been waiting anxiously by the bed, asked urgently.

Shi Xiaojun sat up, a numb expression on his face. "The Corpse Demon Clan... is gone," he said. "The Insect Clan dispatched at least four Generals."

"So, the Myriad Beasts Sect is next?" Hu Xiao asked, his cheek twitching. Butterfly Star wasn’t the absolute most peripheral Star, but it was very close.

Comms... comms... No signal? Hu Xiao stared blankly at the unresponsive communication talisman.

Shi Xiaojun said with a look of pity, "The Insect Clan must have used some trick; communications are jammed. If you leave quickly now, you might still make it back to your own Star."

Fortunately for Hu Xiao, the Insect Clan was advancing from a different direction.

Whether it was a stroke of luck or divine providence, Hu Xiao managed to return safely to Butterfly Star.

Without time to explain Shi Xiaojun’s presence, Hu Xiao yelled to Mo Yu, "The Insect Clan is coming!"

Chen Jiuge, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. He had been out of Bran Star for barely two days when he encountered a massive Insect Clan army.

Ghostphil, spotting the suddenly appearing Flying Boat, revealed a ferocious smile and said, "The Empress is indeed wise and prescient! Humans always try to save their own skins. And look, a deserter who’s enjoyed enough benefits, now running right into our hands!"