"Zhi!"
On the road amid the ruins,
a monster suddenly darted out.
Calling it a monster wasn't quite accurate—it looked more like a giant insect.
Its body wasn't large, only several dozen centimeters long, spindle-shaped, covered in tiger-striped carapace. At the front, its head resembled a massive pair of jaws that opened and closed vertically.
On either side of its head grew a pair of sharp limbs.
Beneath its body were four three-segmented blade-like legs, sharp as knives.
Once propped upright, it stood over a meter tall.
Tiger-Stripe Blade Insect
As it lifted its head and let out a shrill screech, over a dozen identical giant insects rushed in from behind. Their blade-legs stabbed into the ground as they ran, producing a series of crisp, dense rustling sounds.
Several dozen meters away,
behind a pile of shattered walls and rubble,
Chu Fan—who had just arrived—lifted his gaze upon hearing the sound.
Those were the numerous pack-dwelling monsters that infested the northern part of the city—the Tiger-Stripe Blade Insects.
In fact, almost all the monsters in the City of the Apocalypse were various kinds of insects. Perhaps that was why the system had suggested he choose the Insect Swarm Catastrophe back then—and also why he had chosen it without hesitation.
Hunting their own kind made it easier to obtain genes, allowing the swarm to evolve and develop more efficiently.
"Walker."
Chu Fan glanced to his side.
Walker, standing beside him, immediately stepped forward alone.
"Zhi zhi zhi!!!"
Sensing prey, the group of Tiger-Stripe Blade Insects let out piercing screeches and surged forward in a swarm.
The distance between the two sides rapidly closed.
Only when they were several meters apart did Walker raise both arms.
Two bone blades suddenly shot out from beneath his wrists.
Then he kicked off the ground. With powerful airflow bursting from the gaps in the carapace on his back, his entire body surged forward like a hurricane, even leaving behind an afterimage invisible to the naked eye.
This was the primary ability of a Jumping Bug leader—
Ambush!
"Bang!"
In the blink of an eye,
Walker slammed violently into the leading Tiger-Stripe Blade Insect.
Wrapped in heavy armor, combined with the explosive power of his two-meter-tall, muscular body, he sent it crashing backward several meters.
At the same time, the bone blade in his right hand thrust forward, precisely stabbing into the insect's gaping pincer-like mouth.
The instant one was killed,
another Tiger-Stripe Blade Insect lunged in and bit down on Walker's arm.
Its pair of sharp forelimbs followed closely, stabbing viciously toward him.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!!"
A rapid series of metallic collisions rang out.
The massive jaws clamped onto Walker's armored arm, yet failed to shake it in the slightest.
The forelimbs struck his dark-red outer carapace, as if hitting solid stone.
"Shua!"
"Puchi!"
Walker completely ignored the attacks.
With a backhand slash of the bone blade in his left hand, a lightning-fast strike pierced straight through the insect's head.
Kicking the corpse away,
he immediately turned to face the next one…
Relying on his formidable carapace for defense, Walker tore through the encirclement of Tiger-Stripe Blade Insects like rotten wood, unstoppable and overwhelming.
Behind him,
Chu Fan watched the battle unfold.
On his left and right, forty Jumping Bugs crouched low, baring their fangs.
Yet not a single one made a sound.
All of them maintained absolute silence, coiled and ready to strike, awaiting their master's command.
"The combat strength of an insect swarm leader really is terrifying."
"Against these Tiger-Stripe Blade Insects, it's a completely one-sided slaughter."
Chu Fan sighed inwardly.
Among the many monsters in the City of the Apocalypse, the Tiger-Stripe Blade Insect's individual combat power was relatively low—practically bottom-tier.
But that was only in comparison to other monsters.
In absolute terms, they were far from weak.
At the very least, to humans, they were several times more ferocious than tigers or wolves.
Back when food was scarce, he and his sister could only search for lone Tiger-Stripe Blade Insects, lure them into carefully prepared traps, and kill them that way.
Without firearms, relying solely on crude homemade sheet-metal shields and rebar spears, facing a massive insect covered head to toe in spiked armor and blade-legs head-on was tantamount to suicide.
Pulling his gaze back,
Chu Fan couldn't help but turn and look toward the direction of the main nest.
Originally, he had planned to personally lead half of the Jumping Bugs out to hunt monsters.
But with the high likelihood of a human military attack tomorrow, he had no choice but to take the risk and bring Walker along as well.
As the leader of the Jumping Bugs, Walker's combat power was exactly as expected.
With his participation, hunting monsters outside would be much faster, replenishing the main nest's energy to hatch more combat Jumping Bugs.
Moreover, this overwhelming difference in strength could minimize casualties during hunts, preserving and accumulating living forces to face tomorrow's crisis.
"As long as we can withstand one wave of human attacks and buy some time to expand the swarm…"
"…I won't have to be this cautious anymore."
Chu Fan muttered silently.
The urgency of the current situation stemmed from the fact that he had only just obtained the Zerg main nest.
After producing merely the first batch of several dozen Jumping Bugs, the human army outside had already come knocking.
Insufficient strength.
Early-stage development.
The main nest was extremely fragile—this was his weakest moment.
And among the threats he had to guard against, the monsters in the city had been relegated to a secondary concern.
The most pressing danger was the human soldiers right outside.
One single misstep would lead to the destruction of the main nest, all prior efforts wasted, and any hope of revenge reduced to nothing.
Yet Chu Fan felt no despair at all.
Just as he had analyzed before, he was full of confidence regarding tomorrow's battle.
If he could get through this—
once the swarm's numbers expanded,
every problem would cease to be a problem.
An endless insect tide would inevitably sweep away all the monsters in the city—
and it would also surge forth to devour the garrisoned forces outside,
burying everyone with his sister… as sacrifices!
Reining in his thoughts,
seeing that the Tiger-Stripe Blade Insects in his view had been nearly slaughtered, with only one remaining, Chu Fan immediately transmitted a strand of will.
There were no extra words.
Just a single command conveyed through consciousness.
Walker's bone blade, which had been swinging toward the Tiger-Stripe Blade Insect, instantly withdrew.
This was the will of the Overlord.
Chu Fan could clearly sense, within the collective consciousness network of the assembled swarm, the fluctuations of intent emitted by every insect—allowing him to issue precise, targeted commands.
Not far away,
Walker flashed backward.
With airflow bursting from his back carapace, he retreated at high speed, returning to Chu Fan's side in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, a nearby Jumping Bug sensed the Overlord's command and immediately crawled forward, pouncing.
"Zhi zhi zhi!!"
Opposite it,
the final Tiger-Stripe Blade Insect—over a meter tall—also lunged forward, screeching nonstop, sharp and grating.
In contrast, the Jumping Bug, barely half a meter tall and noticeably smaller, advanced in complete silence.
Only the flickering red glow in its eyes betrayed an intense, concentrated savagery.
"Whoosh!"
Closing the distance,
the Jumping Bug sprang up at once, its compact and agile body instantly clinging to the Tiger-Stripe Blade Insect.
The next moment—
"Puchi!"
"Puchi!!!"
A dense series of piercing sounds rang out.
The Jumping Bug's claws dug firmly into the insect's body, while the two sharp scythe-like forelimbs on its back stabbed downward in rapid succession.
The Tiger-Stripe Blade Insect's forelimbs on either side of its head also struck back just as quickly.
The two insects shared the same nature—
no fear,
no regard for life or death,
madly unleashing their limb-weapons upon each other.
Moments later,
the massive body of the Tiger-Stripe Blade Insect—now riddled with holes and leaking green insect blood—collapsed heavily onto the ground.
The Jumping Bug on top of it wasn't in much better shape.
Its dark-red outer carapace was dented everywhere, with many areas shattered.
Clearly, its armor wasn't nearly as hard as Leader Walker's.
Yet it didn't die from this.
Gravely injured, it still stubbornly hopped down, staggering—its vitality undeniably tenacious.
"One-on-one, it's a three-to-seven split."
"The Tiger-Stripe Blade Insect dies for sure, the Jumping Bug is heavily injured and loses combat capability."
"If two Jumping Bugs attack together, they should be able to kill it with only light injuries."
After gaining a clear understanding of the Jumping Bugs' combat strength, Chu Fan turned to Walker and gave detailed instructions:
"Later, I'll lead some of the Jumping Bugs to drag the corpses back to the nest."
"You will take the remaining Jumping Bugs and continue hunting."
"But remember—do not go to the east, west, or south of the city. Those areas are infested with many extremely powerful monsters. Only hunt small groups of Tiger-Stripe Blade Insects in the north."
"The north is their territory. It's relatively safe."
"While you're at it, keep an eye on the cracks and passages along the northern wall to guard against the human army outside. Even though the chance of them entering today is extremely low, we still can't afford to be careless."
"Also, do not go deep into the northeast. That's where the Tiger-Stripe Blade Insects' broodmother is located, protected by an enormous number of monsters."
"And one more thing…"
Chu Fan lifted his head and glanced at the sky, narrowing his eyes.
"There are definitely human reconnaissance drones in the air."
"We can't see them, but they absolutely exist."
"That's also how that five-man special operations squad was able to accurately locate where I was hiding."
"They're likely monitoring me constantly through drones. You and the Jumping Bugs are already exposed—there's no need to hide, and no time to play hide-and-seek. Focus on hunting."
"However, be careful. They might deploy drones to drop bombs."
"If you spot a drone approaching with explosives suspended beneath it, you must immediately order the Jumping Bugs to scatter and evade."
"As long as tomorrow…"
"…they can't wipe us out—"
"then it will be their doomsday!"
...
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"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
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(End Chapter)