The forward thrust, offense, has always been an indispensable form of human military engagement, particularly against a hive-structured society. Theoretically, this approach represents an exceptionally effective means.
On the projection screen, the mercenary force that entered the Pandora world immediately displayed devastating lethality. Those fish-scale gorillas, whose skin possessed bulletproof qualities, proved utterly fragile against the mercenaries’ armor-piercing rounds.
The myriad creatures born from the Queen’s various eggs, each possessing distinct abilities, might have inflicted considerable damage had the mercenaries encountered them rashly. Unfortunately for the fauna, the capabilities and data of these beings had already been mapped out by the mercenaries.
They advanced like a hot knife through butter. Appearing and disappearing without warning, they weaved through the Pandoran creatures’ defensive lines on this foreign battlefield as if it were their home ground. Any creatures acting as hidden sentries were dispatched instantly with close-quarters martial arts, allowing the mercenaries to materialize directly at the heart of the hive.
Qin Fen watched as a dozen mercenaries encircled the Queen, all their high-lethality weaponry aimed squarely at her. It seemed everything was about to conclude.
If the Queen, the source of progeny, could be eliminated; if the Queen, capable of rapid biological evolution, could be slain, then the rest of the world's creatures would cease to be a problem.
Everything appeared perfectly set! A dozen different weapons opened fire on the Queen simultaneously. At the instant the mission was about to reach its flawless conclusion, the projection displayed a completely contrary outcome.
The Queen, burdened by an enormous ovipositor, appearing incredibly slow and seemingly confined to reproductive functions, moved! Her speed was blinding. Though the projector left no trace of a yellow streak, Qin Fen observed with startling clarity: in that single instant, the Queen executed an unparalleled burst of hyper-speed movement, a velocity that rivaled even his own Lightning Step technique.
Firearms were utterly incapable of harming the Queen; the mercenaries’ martial might likewise proved useless against her. Conversely, the Queen could casually strike them down with ease.
The Queen did not immediately kill the mercenaries. She chose to incapacitate them first, then devoured them one by one. She even consumed the weapons they brought, along with other ‘provisions’—other creatures.
The preemptive action, upon encountering the first light of resistance, suddenly plunged into complete darkness. No one had anticipated that the Queen, observed and monitored countless times, assumed to be nothing more than a fertility machine lacking combat capacity, possessed such formidable strength!
Her power could potentially annihilate the entire Pandora world! Qin Fen’s eyebrows lifted slightly in astonishment before he instantly sank into deep contemplation. Possessing such immense power, why had she never displayed it, only ordering her subordinates to attack the human society’s various cultivation machines? Why hide her strength?
Qin Fen could not believe the Queen’s goal was simply to show off, hiding her power as a trope in a novel until some fool provoked her. This was inconsistent with the mindset of a societal leader.
Hiding her strength must serve a specific purpose! Yet, a shadow of worry gathered on Qin Fen’s brow—what exactly was the Queen hiding her power for?
In the projection, the Queen began laying eggs again. Transparent white spheres, a meter in length, dropped one after another onto the ground.
These eggs writhed, and soon, creatures resembling humans hatched from them. They lacked the precise form of pure humans, yet they walked upright. Some had the standard two arms and two legs; others possessed eight arms in addition to their legs; still others had massive, spider-like abdomens beneath six legs, while their upper bodies were humanoid, complete with human arms and bizarre faces.
“What is that?” Qin Fen flinched at a creature in the projection. The monster with the spider-like body suddenly convulsed near its massive abdomen, extruding two flesh tubes resembling steel pipes. A rapid succession of fire-like shots erupted from these tubes! White, small net-like masses formed into spheres; when highly condensed and then ejected, their power instantly riddled a wall with holes.
The Queen devoured the firearms, she devoured the spider-spawn, she devoured a mercenary soldier, and the resulting new organisms had even assimilated the capabilities of weaponry!
Cutting off the opportunity for technological development, the power of evolution was finally unleashed completely. They needed no technology development; they merely needed to consume weapons and other life forms to acquire those very abilities.
Qin Fen formed a new understanding of the Queen in an instant: she was a truly terrifying soldier manufacturer.
A monster with eight arms, standing upright like a human, suddenly swung its limbs and executed a set of Luohan Quan! Eight-Armed Arhat! It didn't need to move its fists at hyper-speed; it simply had eight arms.
Though faint, Qin Fen clearly perceived through the screen that this monster differed vastly from the previous offspring produced by the Queen: this one possessed Qi.
True Qi! A creature with an overwhelmingly robust body, a profound predatory instinct, and wild ferocity—the moment it possessed True Qi, it implied...
Danger! Threat!
The fire-spitting monster was the result of swallowing a flamethrower. A six-barreled Gatling gun, even missiles—these creatures were demonstrating the weapons’ capabilities in an alternative form through their unique special abilities.
Qin Fen secretly drew a sharp breath. This was no preemptive action! This foolish ‘preemptive action’ had turned into the great transport captain, accelerating the creatures' evolutionary capabilities.
“Foolish,” a weathered voice echoed with deep regret. “It was a foolish military operation. That scientific collective understood one thing: with their current capabilities, they could not entirely eradicate this monstrous collective. So, for the first time, they secretly sent out a call for outside help, while simultaneously attempting self-rescue. They invited the strongest martial artist of that era to assist.”
The strongest martial artist? Qin Fen raised an eyebrow, a name already forming on his lips.
“Young man, the name of that person is not unfamiliar to you. His name was Song Wendong, the first Divine Beast Martial Artist produced by humanity. Though, the title of Divine Beast Martial Artist did not exist at that time.”
“Through the historical image data from that period, the scientific collective knew there was only one person who could kill the Queen: Song Wendong! At least, only Song Wendong possessed that ability back then.”
As Qin Fen listened to the aged voice, a bad premonition began to surface.
“Song Wendong arrived. After receiving the scientific collective's distress signal, he truly came,” the old voice grew animated. “Upon understanding the entire situation, Song Wendong showed no hesitation. This top master of the Federation at the time entered the scientific collective’s base, first expressing reverence to all the scientists, rather than blame. He thanked them for their immense contributions to human societal development. After a brief briefing, Song Wendong viewed the projection and stated that killing the Queen would not be difficult.”
Qin Fen’s bad premonition intensified. The old voice suddenly contained a hint of melancholy: “But…”
In the projection, Song Wendong entered the Pandora world. The moment he stepped through, Qin Fen’s eyes instantly lit up, and he murmured softly, “Wrong!”
Chen Feiyu’s face also registered surprise. The instant Song Wendong appeared in the Pandora world, his form, while appearing normal to the layperson, was indeed abnormal. A vast power seemed suppressed; his strength was forcefully diminished in a single moment.
“You noticed? Unsurprisingly, a Martial Dao Grandmaster level expert. It is a pity the scientists of that era could not discern the anomaly in Song Wendong.”
In the projection, Song Wendong’s brow furrowed. He did not retreat but walked calmly across the alien ground. With a wave of his hand, the attacking monsters fell. He initiated his assault like a special forces operative, choosing not to waste energy eliminating the minor creatures but driving directly toward the Queen at the hive’s center.
Then, a world-shaking battle began to unfold on the projection screen. For some inexplicable reason, Song Wendong could not unleash his full strength; the power he could manifest was matched against the Queen’s, perhaps even slightly disadvantaged. However, Song Wendong’s Martial Dao foundation manifested its incredible might in this contest.
His experience from countless life-and-death struggles gave him a perception of death far sharper than that of the monsters. He knew how to fight to gain the upper hand even when disadvantaged. His Martial Dao converged, resulting in a spectacular battle Qin Fen had never witnessed.
This fight, surpassing the power level of the battle at Qilin Mountain Peak that day, was no less magnificent. Many capabilities that remained untapped during the Qilin Mountain engagement blossomed in this confrontation.
Despite her immense power, the Queen gradually found herself on the defensive. This fight was not settled in three or five minutes; it raged for over half an hour. Song Wendong sustained thirty-two injuries. Qin Fen could tell even from the screen that Song Wendong had broken at least four ribs by this point, yet he fought on as if unhurt.
The Queen also sustained considerable damage. After forty minutes of fierce combat, the Queen was even more grievously wounded. She fled without regard for her safety, and Song Wendong pursued her relentlessly for days and nights. Regrettably, in the end, his efforts were in vain; she escaped.
By this time, Song Wendong’s massive expenditure of stamina made further pursuit impossible. If he had continued, he might not have killed the Queen before his rapidly dwindling strength left him overwhelmed by the tide of other monsters.
Song Wendong retreated; he needed to recuperate. He did not return to the human world but summoned his two chief experts to provide protection while he healed.
Qin Fen looked at Song Wendong’s two guardians with astonishment. He knew both of these men! Butler Hou! The elderly Butler Hou already appeared ancient back then! The other individual… brought an even greater shock to Qin Fen. (To be continued)