"Detonate it!" Zheng Zha roared. Wang Xia truly possessed an innate talent for rigging and modifying explosives and bombs. In those brief tens of minutes, he had completely overhauled the timed explosives and stink bombs, altering the fuses of the timers to create remotely detonated devices. Furthermore, he removed the majority of the explosive filler, ensuring the bombs wouldn't completely obliterate the stink bombs but would instead ignite them. This level of skill struck Zheng Zha as almost unbelievable, though Ba Wang and Chu Xuan remained impassive; perhaps for them, such a talent was simply expected, as anyone lacking it wouldn't qualify to be a special forces demolitions expert.

As Zheng Zha bellowed the command, Wang Xia slammed a button in his hand. Instantly, several bursts of black dust erupted around the research facility, not only shielding him and Ba Wang but also enveloping a portion of the building in smoke.

It was then that the sound of countless beating wings gradually became distinct. Everyone looked up to see a torrent of black rushing wildly out of the facility. Palm-sized bees began flying out incessantly, and as the swarm continued, the size of the bees kept increasing. The largest soldier bees were now as massive as an adult's entire arm. Following the exodus of these colossal bee-like insects, a dense cloud of black smoke finally surged from the facility. Zheng Zha took a deep breath, hefted Chu Xuan onto his back, and charged toward the building.

The two men had just burst through the thick smoke.

Already, hundreds of giant bees were diving at them. But Chu Xuan had drawn his Gauss pistol, firing not just straight ahead, but constantly sweeping his shots to the sides and behind them in several directions. Strangely, not a single one of these densely packed insects managed to close the distance; all were pulverized by the bullets spraying in every direction.

As Zheng Zha emerged from the smoke, he had already activated his unlocked gene-lock state, simultaneously employing his Qinggong, speeding forward like the wind itself.

Seconds later, he had ascended the slope to the research facility's door, which had been blasted open by gunfire. He leaped up and plunged straight inside.

The entrance hall of the research facility was thick with haze. For an ordinary person, visibility was zero.

Not only that, but the walls were slick with a thick, viscous secretion. It lacked the sweet aroma of honey collected by common bees; instead, this substance carried an overwhelmingly strong scent of blood. A careful look would reveal that the secretion was entirely composed of dense, congealed plasma! Zheng Zha had no time to consider this now.

His speed, even in his normal state, was at its limit, and he rocketed forward, using the walls and pillars to push off and accelerate further due to his unlocked gene-lock state.

This only increased his velocity significantly. In perhaps twenty seconds, he had transitioned from the entrance to the central hall of the facility.

The central hall was unrecognizable. Black-and-red hexagonal honeycombs covered everything. Within these hives were either bee eggs resembling ostrich eggs or massive, wriggling maggots, the sheer density of which filled Zheng Zha with mounting frustration. Furthermore,

The ground was entirely paved with these same hexagonal combs,

Slowing his pace considerably; every step landed in a squelch of plasma.

This space was more unnerving than an Alien hive.

Neither he nor Chu Xuan could speak at this moment. As he looked around, Chu Xuan pointed toward a spot to the back-left of the main hall. Understanding immediately, Zheng Zha stomped down hard, shattering the hexagonal comb beneath his foot, and launched himself across a distance of nearly seven meters. He kicked against the wall there, breaking through a thick layer of honeycomb, and both he and Chu Xuan plunged into the space behind it—a small document storage room. This room was utterly ruined; all files were gone, and the floor was awash with thick, red plasma. The air, besides the heavy black smoke, carried a piercing, putrid stench.

Zheng Zha didn't need Chu Xuan’s prompt. He instantly drew the Zaku Lightning Axe from his spatial ring and began swinging the axe to clear the surrounding hexagonal combs in the room. As he worked, he suddenly heard a ding. Both men tensed. Zheng Zha quickly reached into the plasma and pulled out a heavily corroded safe.

One minute had passed. Without hesitation, Zheng Zha raised the axe and brought it down forcefully, slicing neatly through the safe’s outer door panel. Chu Xuan jumped down from his back. No further communication was necessary. Zheng Zha turned and charged toward the exit, while Chu Xuan began examining the hundreds of files inside the safe... Time... Time! Zheng Zha could hold his breath for five minutes or more, but Chu Xuan could not sustain that for long. More than a minute had already elapsed. He had to neutralize the Queen within the next minute and then evacuate Chu Xuan from the facility, otherwise, even if they weren't killed by the giant bees, Chu Xuan would certainly succumb to the gas or simply suffocate... The central hall of the research base was genuinely enormous, easily half the size of a football field. But then again, this place was meant for studying and reviving dinosaurs; it would be strange if it were small. However, its immense size, coupled with the entire space being choked with hexagonal honeycombs, made the atmosphere even more terrifying. Imagine: every visible surface covered in countless tiny holes—a truly dreadful sensation. Zheng Zha stood in this environment, forced to relentlessly search for the Queen Bee within the complex.

Suddenly, the sound of beating wings echoed again. Zheng Zha quickly looked up. Several unbelievably large bees were descending toward him from the ceiling. These insects were truly colossal, far larger than the soldier bees they had encountered earlier.

They were nearly as large as half his body, and these bees were clearly unaffected by the black smoke. They could spot Zheng Zha from a great distance, closing in rapidly, starting their attack from barely half a meter away with exaggerated speed.

Zheng Zha suddenly recalled what Chu Xuan had privately told him before entering: unlike an ant queen, the Bee Queen was not merely a sluggish reproductive vessel; in fact, her offensive power and combat strength were the highest in the swarm. Furthermore, based on bee biology, she should be guarded by a dozen or more drone males.

These were the drone males, significantly larger than normal bees, and they would perpetually protect the Queen.

"...Furthermore, the strength and reaction speed of insects far surpass that of mammals. An ant can lift twenty times its body weight—an incredible feat for humans. Not just for humans, but for any other creature. While it's uncertain if their strength and speed scale proportionally when they become larger, one thing is certain: for the same physical size, mammals cannot match insects in terms of raw power and neural reaction time. Absolutely not!" Zheng Zha only managed to recall this passage. Even with his first stage of gene-lock unlocked, his reaction time wasn't fast enough. He had just managed to bring the Lightning Axe up to block when the leading drone rammed its tail brutally against the axe head.

A massive force followed. Zheng Zha almost lost his grip on the axe; the sheer power was overwhelming.

If Zheng Zha were relying solely on internal force and the first stage of his gene-lock, his strength would only be a few times that of an average person. These drones, however... they possessed at least ten times the strength of an average human! "Ah!" Zheng Zha was shoved back several meters by the impact. Though the combat capability of these insects exceeded his expectations, he was a veteran forged through countless life-or-death trials, someone who had carved paths through hordes of monsters—Xenomorphs, ghosts, endless zombies, lickers, stalkers, and other formidable powers. The monsters he had faced were no less terrifying than these giant insects. Thus, as he was shoved back, before the insects could close the distance again, he slammed into the second stage of his gene-lock activation. His arms swelled, and his neural reaction speed began to rapidly increase. When the next drone charged him, he swept the axe blade, slicing the insect cleanly in half in a flash.

Danger brings reward, and through countless moments of existential peril... he was becoming stronger, and stronger, and stronger, unconsciously! Even without using his 'Explosion' skill or its advanced forms, his combat power was sufficient to contend with these terrifying, giantized insects. Had it been another team member, say Ba Wang, even with the immense power of his firearms, his own reaction time might not have even registered the giant drones' movements before his body was pierced by their stingers... Technology is useful, but it is not everything; evolution and becoming stronger—that is the best response to danger! Zheng Zha cleaved through another drone, stomped hard beneath his feet, and charged rapidly in the direction the swarm was coming from... Leaping toward...