Zero Point’s demeanor was perpetually cold and detached, though this differed from Chu Xuan’s particular brand of icy indifference. His coldness stemmed more from a combat instinct, ensuring he always maintained a distant, observer’s perspective. This allowed him, especially during long-range sniping operations, never to lose himself, enabling him to strike the enemy with absolute calmness.

Upon receiving the order from Zheng Zha, the man moved without hesitation to the designated location on the mental scan map. He then set up his Gauss sniper rifle, aiming squarely at the cave entrance. Just in case, he deliberately loaded the final Gauss explosive round into the chamber. He squatted there, silently watching the distant cavern. Surrounding him were giant, terrestrial worms, yet Zero Point’s expression never wavered, as if these creatures simply did not exist. He remained crouched, silent.

When Luo Gandao reached Zero Point’s side, the young man was still meticulously trying to avoid the surrounding terrestrial worms, looking as if even a brush with them would provoke an attack. Coincidentally, the psychic controller he was carrying was screaming incoherently. These two cowards had huddled together. Finally, the pair reached Zero Point, at which point the cartoon bear immediately slumped onto the ground, appearing utterly unwilling to move another inch.

“Moni… Moni! Moni…” The cartoon bear robot began emitting this ridiculous sound.

Zero Point stated coolly, “What about the psychic controller you’re holding? Have him deploy the Mind Chain…”

Luo Gandao seemed to snap back to reality. He called out “Moni” twice more to the Ni Gaiya Bin he was carrying, finally establishing a mental link with Zero Point. The young man asked cautiously, “Zero Point, I heard you’re an assassin… Aren’t you ever afraid? Afraid of death, afraid of being killed…”

Zero Point replied without turning his head, “Afraid. Everyone is afraid of death. Those who aren’t afraid of death are not far from it… But more than death, I fear losing something important…”

Luo Gandao instantly grew interested and eagerly pressed, “What is it? What important thing are you afraid of losing?”

“For instance… companions, or… the future!” Zero Point murmured.

“I can understand ‘companions,’ but what does ‘future’ mean? Does it mean having no future? Does it mean dying here in this horror world? Is that what you mean?” Luo Gandao questioned curiously.

“No. The future should mean… the basis or perhaps the excuse for continuing to live. I don’t want to lose even that excuse to keep breathing,” Zero Point stated, crouching motionless like a statue, his voice transmitting through the Mind Chain into Luo Gandao’s consciousness.

“The excuse… to live?”

Setting aside the conversation between Zero Point and Luo Gandao, Zheng Zha, having handed off the Shinzhou team members to others, finally met the swarm of insects head-on. Compared to their last battle on the insect homeworld, this time Zheng Zha unleashed his full power. Besides ‘Explosion’ and ‘Destruction,’ he now employed the Tiger Soul Blade Radiance, augmented by physical capabilities ten times that of an ordinary man, along with his increased speed from the light body technique. By the time he closed in on the insects, these terrestrial worms barely had time to react; one sweep of his blade turned dozens into fragments.

Zheng Zha sprinted forward, stepping on these insect remains. Following the direction indicated by the mental scan map in his mind, he darted into a small passage beside the main plaza. He then traversed several continuous tunnels, effectively circling around to get behind the Brain Bug. His plan was to herd the Brain Bug toward the grand plaza where Zero Point was positioned, and then… everything else relied on Zero Point’s single shot. Whether they lived or died, the final outcome for everyone, depended on whether Zero Point could hit the target.

“Zhan Lan, besides the terrain, mark the distribution of all the bugs… If you can’t manage alone, have Xue Ling’er help you. I need the location of every type of insect. Before I get near the Brain Bug, I absolutely cannot encounter the Guard Insects…” Zheng Zha instructed the two women in his mind.

Swiftly, with the cooperation of the two psychic controllers, the insects within the underground passages were mapped out one by one. Aside from the terrestrial worms and fire-spitting beetles, there were even some flying insects clinging to the overhangs in certain sections. Furthermore, the Guard Insects were also marked. Centered around the Brain Bug, within a thousand-meter radius, were terrestrial worms with uniquely dark, obsidian shells, but their speed and strength were significantly greater than the common terrestrial worms.

Zheng Zha ran while meticulously observing the mental scan map. Regrettably, on his path to the Brain Bug, he was destined to encounter at least three squads of these Guard Insects, each containing three to four individuals. For these creatures, which barely flinched from his Tiger Soul sharpness, his greatest concern wasn't being wounded by them—in terms of speed or reaction, they couldn't harm him. His real worry was these insects slowing him down.

Because his objective was to drive the Brain Bug. If the Brain Bug managed to move down another tunnel, some team members surrounded by the swarm would surely die, and Zero Point’s ambush would become useless. Although he was the person least likely to be eliminated among them, being surrounded by a large contingent of Guard Insects drastically increased his chances of injury or death. Therefore, he could not afford to be slowed down before successfully herding the Brain Bug.

“…These Guard Insects all have such hard shells. The only exceptions are their eyes and joints. Especially the joints—no matter how tough the shell, attacking the joint will cause distortion, and that is your opportunity… I actually think that if you don’t use the Tiger Soul, using the ‘Explosion’ state might inflict greater damage on these bugs.”

“While that may be true… asking me to tear apart insects with my bare hands, especially when I have a divine weapon equipped—how do you think I would feel about that?”

Zheng Zha was rather unimpressed by Chu Xuan’s suggestion. The man’s thinking was excessively rational. Although Zheng Zha understood that using immense force to rip apart the joints of these Guard Insects might actually inflict more damage than using the Tiger Soul Blade, doing so while equipped with the Tiger Soul felt fundamentally wrong to him. Yet Chu Xuan proposed it so casually—this was the difference between absolute rationality and the considerations of an ordinary person.

Zheng Zha kept muttering to himself, but he had to advance. He rapidly passed through several small tunnels. The mental scan map provided by Zhan Lan now showed that the group of insects surrounding the Brain Bug had actually begun to slow down. This was not good news; at least such a sign could be interpreted as the Brain Bug having detected their plan and hesitating about whether to approach this group of people. Zheng Zha was still about ten thousand meters away from the Brain Bug, with approximately three squads of Guard Insects positioned between them—this was the final barrier he had to breach!

“I’m going all in! There’s no more time to hesitate!”

Zheng Zha roared, gripping the Tiger Soul Blade as he shot toward the other end of the tunnel, sweeping everything in his path. Dozens of terrestrial worms were cut in half with a single slash the moment they showed themselves. Zheng Zha then ran forward, stepping on their still-twitching limbs. Ahead, the first squad of Guard Insects appeared before him. These three obsidian-colored terrestrial worms were visibly larger than the surrounding ones and seemed to possess a modicum of intelligence, standing motionless among the multitude of frantic terrestrial worms, unlike the others who writhed restlessly.

Zheng Zha’s speed was extreme. He pushed off the ground, leaping into the air, and descended with his first slash aimed directly downward. He cut through dozens of terrestrial worms in front of the Guard Insects. The power of the blade radiance was something these lesser bugs could not withstand. However, when the radiance struck the dark shells of the Guard Insects, it erupted with countless sparks, like the flare of colliding metal. The blade radiance managed only to etch slightly into the shell and then ceased advancing, frozen mid-air. Zheng Zha landed back on the ground from his leap.

“It really didn’t work. Is the blade radiance’s power insufficient? Or was the force I applied too small?”

Zheng Zha pondered briefly, but he knew this was not the time for such thoughts. Large numbers of terrestrial worms were beginning to swarm in from all sides, and the sound of flapping wings echoed from above—likely the flying insects descending. Zheng Zha knew that lingering here meant being completely surrounded. Without a second thought, he unleashed the ‘Explosion’ skill. He stomped down hard, and with a sharp crack, the rock beneath his feet shattered as his body shot backward, past the Guard Insects.

Of the three Guard Insects, the first one, having taken the full force of the downward slash, appeared momentarily stunned. The other two unexpectedly deployed their small back wings and leaped up. These two Guard Insects achieved a height nearly comparable to Zheng Zha’s jump, separated by only a little over two meters. The Guard Insects’ pincers swept past Zheng Zha’s face, followed by his forward flight and their downward descent. Even in that brief instant, the stench of their breath made Zheng Zha break out in a cold sweat across his back… Jumping toward...