Ye Chen turned his head and immediately saw a vast expanse of black insects swarming over from a distance. The cars on the street were swiftly covered, submerged, turning the ground pitch black. Countless surging insects emitted piercing screeches that made one's scalp crawl.
Ye Chen’s gaze sharpened. Facing this many bugs, even entering his Superman state wouldn't allow him to resist; he could only flee. Ants can overwhelm an elephant, and against such overwhelming numbers, even the strongest individual power will eventually be depleted—especially since the Superman state only lasts for five minutes!
“Now, I have no choice but to use it.”
Ye Chen leaped out of the tank. With a thought, a black portal fifty meters in diameter materialized before him, towering about ten stories high. A stream of monsters poured out, led by an exceptionally tall and burly Blood-Tooth Tiger, radiating a savage aura.
Behind it followed numerous Three-Tailed Silver Hounds, Crooked-Winged Green Snakes, and various other creatures—dozens in total. After leaping out of the void, they didn't even have time to express excitement before they saw the massive swarm of insects in the distance and recoiled in shock, shrieking as they tried to retreat.
Ye Chen snorted coldly. “Whoever takes a step will have their entire body dissolve into putrid blood and rot!”
All the Black Scale Bugs instinctively sucked in a breath, shivering violently, daring not to move. Compared to these insect-monsters, they feared the venom hidden within their own bodies far more. Furthermore, after such a long time together, they knew Ye Chen never engaged in a losing bargain. With his power, he could easily escape, yet he chose to stay and confront the horde, meaning he must have confidence!
Ye Chen turned, fired up the tank's generator, and whispered a few words. The old green-talisman man, receiving the message, quickly manipulated the transport conduit, extending it from the black portal to connect with the generator. The electricity from the generator was converted into energy and transmitted into the spaceship.
Next, Ye Chen activated the diesel engine inside the tank and connected the transport conduit to it. This civilization of runes possessed technology that could convert matter directly into energy, effortlessly turning the diesel into the required power source, which was then ferried into the ship.
The diesel from all ten tanks was successfully converted.
The starting mechanism for the diesel tank involved high-pressure air ignition. Due to its heavy armor, the tank was immensely weighty, making its speed significantly slower than a car when propelled by high-pressure air.
“Is that enough?” Ye Chen frowned.
The old green-talisman man’s voice crackled through the earpiece. “Barely enough. It can power the smallest cannon on the ship—but only for a single shot.”
Most of the ship’s main cannons were damaged, though a few smaller ones remained intact.
Ye Chen managed a faint, wry smile. The energy converted from the ten tanks of diesel was only enough to fire one shot. He sighed. “Aim for the direction with the largest concentration first!”
“Understood!” the old green-talisman man replied. Then, from the black portal, a dark, ominous cannon barrel slowly extended. Its caliber was thick, about the size of a football, gleaming with metallic luster and covered in profound, mystical patterns.
“Beep… Charging!”
“Target locked!”
The ship system reported through the earpiece. Ye Chen watched the approaching swarm and yelled, “Fire!”
“Preparing to la—”
“Countdown…”
Bang!
A white beam of light erupted from the cannon muzzle, sweeping across the sky like a silver river, plunging into the dense, black mass of insects. For an instant, the space around seemed to hold its breath.
Then—
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion roared, like a comet striking the Earth. If any ordinary person were present, their eardrums would have instantly ruptured, potentially causing severe mental damage leading to idiocy.
Ye Chen felt the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly, akin to a level-three earthquake. Ahead, everything was shrouded in blinding white. Moments later, as the light dissipated, a truly shocking scene unfolded before his eyes.
It was a massive crater!
Approximately a hundred meters in diameter and over ten meters deep, the interior was scorched black. The bodies of the insect-monsters had been utterly blasted into fine ash, vanished. Within a hundred-meter radius beneath the blast zone, the very ground had evaporated. How many bugs must have died?
Ye Chen’s pupils contracted. He hadn't expected this spaceship’s power to be so terrifying, and this was only the smallest cannon. If they used the main cannons, how powerful would that single shot be?
Unfortunately, they had no energy left.
The old green-talisman man sounded pained. “That shot consumed not only the energy siphoned from those ten scrap tanks but also burned through more than half of my own stored reserves. From now on, I can barely support opening the space connection portal one more time.”
Ye Chen rubbed his nose. “I will compensate you next month.”
“You better keep your word,” the old man mumbled mournfully.
Just then, the remaining insects in front roared again and charged forward. That single shot had covered a hundred-meter diameter, annihilating six or seven thousand insect-monsters, with thousands more killed by the shockwave—casualties totaled around ten thousand. Their numbers had suddenly dropped to about fifty thousand.
“Kill!” Ye Chen commanded coldly.
Roar!
Led by the Blood-Tooth Tiger, the monsters charged down. Most of these insects were only Level One or Two in constitution; they weren't as powerful as the evolved insect-monsters which had reached Levels Five or Six.
Dark creatures and evolved animals, though belonging to the same broader classification, had vast differences in individual strength, yet they possessed enormous numbers and, due to later adaptations, remained one of the three most ferocious and terrifying factions globally.
With its Level 50 constitution, the Blood-Tooth Tiger swept its paw, turning a large group of bugs into slurry. Under its leadership, the other monsters followed closely, carving a gap through the insect swarm like a sharp blade.
Huddled inside the tank, Xu Tianguo and the other two watched, slack-jawed. Especially that mysterious black portal that suddenly appeared, from which a dark cannon barrel extended. If it could fire a few more times, those tens of thousands of bugs could be wiped out instantly. What terrifying weaponry!
What shocked them most was how docile those ferocious, terrifying monsters were before Ye Chen, acting as his enforcers to kill other monsters.
Monsters obeying human commands?
Even with Xu Tianguo's intelligence, his mind struggled to process the paradox. He stood there, mouth slightly agape.
Ye Chen calmly watched the Blood-Tooth Tiger and the other monsters bounding through the insect sea, slaughtering the bugs. The weaker monsters clustered together, assisting each other to make kills, forming small teams. It had to be admitted, the Black Scale Bug was an intelligent and cunning creature.
Even so, faced with the surging tide of tens of thousands of bugs, if it weren't for the Level 50 Blood-Tooth Tiger leading the charge, these summoned monsters would have been swamped. After the initial breakthrough, they began to be surrounded by the insect tide, feeling as if they were sinking deep into mud, unable to extricate themselves.
Ye Chen clenched his fist, a pure black light flashing in his eyes.
“Superman Mode, activate!”
Boom!
The ground beneath his feet cracked, fissures spreading outward. Ye Chen’s skin took on a faint black hue, his flowing black hair whipped up without wind, and his eyes turned pitch black like a cat’s. From his forehead, a pair of antennae slowly emerged, resembling demonic horns.
A terrifying airflow enveloped Ye Chen. All his human genes instantly converted to Superman genes, causing a fundamental change in his body. Though still technically human, he surpassed humanity—hence, "Superman"!
Ye Chen moved, turning towards another nearby unmanned tank. Grasping a corner of the tank with both hands, he grunted, instantly lifting the heavy vehicle. In Superman state, Ye Chen’s constitution reached Level 600!
Stage One: 20x Strength Multiplier!
Although Ye Chen’s current sight and hearing were still at the Level 30 human standard, his strength had attained Level 600 intensity. Furthermore, because all his genes had converted to Superman genes, his bones and structure underwent qualitative changes, becoming incredibly resilient, perfectly capable of supporting the tank’s weight!
Whoosh!
Ye Chen let out a low cry, swung his arms, and tossed the tank in his grasp like a stone into the insect swarm. With its tens of tons of weight combined with the force of the fall, the frail-bodied bugs were instantly crushed. The tank rolled seven or eight times under the immense force before stopping, flattening a swath of insects along its path!
Xu Tianguo, Huang Tianci, and his sister, watching from the side, nearly popped their eyeballs out. They were utterly dumbfounded, stunned into silence.
Ye Chen turned toward another tank. Since these bugs had forced him to pay such a heavy price, he would annihilate every last one, leaving none behind!
There were seventy or eighty thousand insect-monsters; how many "Base-Mutations" would be among them?
Roar~~
Just then, a roar sounded from the distance, followed by several tall figures charging out from around a street corner. They were fifteen feet tall, their bodies radiating crimson, with long, protruding fangs—they were three or four evolved Tiger-clan monsters!