Zheng Zha leaped clear over the heads of the three guard bugs, then charged forward relentlessly, reverting from his "Explosion" state back to normal as he ran, though he remained with his Genetic Lock fully released, wielding the Tiger-Soul blade and relentlessly slashing at the ordinary ground bugs before him. These common ground bugs were no match for the elite guards; most were cleaved in two the moment they appeared. If these bugs possessed the capacity for fear, they would have fled from such a slaughtering fiend, rather than desperately swarming him as they did. Zheng Zha’s speed was immense, but the three guard bugs behind him were not far behind; they even smashed through the ordinary ground bugs blocking their path, charging after him with their massive bodies, only a few fractions slower than Zheng-Zha in his current state, considering Zheng Zha wasn't just running, but navigating a surging sea of bugs ahead of him.

One had to admit that bugs were truly the species best suited for combat. Apart from the highest echelon of Brain Bugs, the others possessed no concept of death or fear; they were driven purely by instinct, amplified by millions of years of evolution into multi-form species, including even cosmic transport bugs—such a Hive truly was terrifying.

Zheng Zha felt this deeply now; even with his physical conditioning, his arms ached after swinging his blade hundreds of times. He had killed countless thousands of bugs; every path he traversed was littered with their severed limbs and corpses.

Every bug that blocked his path was instantly slain beneath the edge of the Tiger-Soul, save for... the guard bugs.

These guard bugs were genuine anomalies, types he had never encountered in the original film. Their pitch-black shells actually withstood the blade light of the Tiger-Soul. This hardness alone was staggering, but more frightening was their top-tier combat intuition—it was as if they were all operating at the first stage of the Genetic Lock release. This was the core problem Zheng Zha faced.

When he had carved a path two to three kilometers out, the second squadron of guard bugs blocked his way—this time numbering four.

The first group of three guard bugs was only four to five hundred meters behind him. If Zheng Zha stopped, the bugs, given their speed, could easily surround him.

Zheng Zha glanced silently upward. Dozens of flying bugs were descending from the rocky overhang above. Normally, given his power, he wouldn't fear such numbers, but if he jumped, even a slight obstruction from a flying bug could send him plummeting back to the ground, and once trapped within the guard bugs' encirclement, escape would become extremely difficult unless he deployed the "Destruction" skill.

(But the "Destruction" skill could only be used for less than five seconds before rendering him completely powerless, giving him a safe window of only two or three seconds. How could he waste it before killing the Brain Bug?) Zheng Zha's previous jumping strategy was no longer viable. The four guard bugs were positioned perfectly to block his path forward. Furthermore, based on the mental scan data transmitted by Zhan Lan, the Brain Bug was indeed moving toward their planned sniping vector, but it was moving slowly and hesitantly. If he wanted to drive the Brain Bug into the optimal position quickly, the first thing he needed to do was bypass the three waves of guard bugs ahead and close the distance to within a thousand meters of the Brain Bug! Realizing this, Zheng Zha hesitated no more. He immediately activated the "Explosion" skill, drawing upon the internal energy and vampire energy stored in his two rings, plus the energy his body had naturally recovered during this time. While it wasn't his peak capacity, he had recovered more than half his total energy, so using "Explosion" for a short duration placed minimal strain on his body.

As the "Explosion" skill took effect, everything around Zheng Zha seemed to slow down. Coupled with his state of unlocked Genetic Lock, Zheng Zha instinctively swept the Tiger-Soul horizontally. The dozens of ordinary ground bugs obstructing the path of the guard bugs were instantly severed in half. Zheng Zha pressed on without pause, charging forward, his every footfall causing the stone ground to erupt. In a single stride, he reached the foremost guard bug and drove the tip of the Tiger-Soul straight toward its eye.

However, the guard bug proved worthy of its status defending the Brain Bug. Its quasi-Genetic Lock combat instinct saved its life; it managed a slight head movement, and the strike landed against the shell right beside its eye. A metallic clang echoed—just as he had tested before, the shell’s hardness surpassed the sharpness of the Tiger-Soul. Unless it was the complete version of the blade, there was no way to cut through this material.

Though the guard bug’s eye-adjacent carapace was only scraped, the force of the "Explosion" could not be easily negated. Its massive body was thrown nearly ten meters outward, crushing the ground bugs beneath it. The remaining three guard bugs simultaneously lunged at Zheng Zha.

Failing the stab, the other bugs were only three to five meters away. If another strike missed, he would have to absorb attacks from two guard bugs. So, he swiftly sheathed the Tiger-Soul into his spatial ring and grabbed the nearest bug by its mandibles with both hands.

The strength of this guard bug surely couldn't compare to Zheng Zha when he entered his "Guarantee" state. The clamping force of the mandibles was immense, yet Zheng Zha used sheer strength to force the closing claws open inch by inch. His muscles began to bulge rapidly, and before the other two guard bugs closed in, he roared, exerted all his force, and tore, bending the mandibles backward. As Chu Xuan had predicted, no matter how solid the outer shell, the joints, necessary for flexibility, could not possess the same density.

Without a second thought, Zheng Zha stored the severed claw in his space bag.

In fact, the moment Chu Xuan calculated the hardness of that dark shell, he knew it had to be a valuable material—substances that could resist the blade light of the Tiger-Soul, even high-grade Gallium alloy couldn't manage it. Thus, he certainly wouldn't waste those mandibles. Simultaneously, the other two guard bugs were upon him, but their speed and strength were easily less than half of Zheng Zha's. After easily evading their biting attacks, Zheng Zha seized the opportunity when one bug executed a wide swing, pinning its head with one arm while drawing the Tiger-Soul with the other and plunging it directly into the bug's eye. Under Zheng Zha’s powerful restraint, the bug’s attempted dodging maneuver failed utterly. With a slight hiss, the Tiger-Soul pierced its eye, pulverizing its internal neural center.

This bug was also immediately transferred to Zheng Zha's space bag, and the reward points for killing it were astonishing, though killing them was incredibly difficult. Taking advantage of the situation—one of the four guard bugs was dead, two were down, and one was behind him—Zheng Zha charged forward without hesitation. After bursting forward a hundred meters, he finally reverted from his "Explosion" state. Six guard bugs were now in pursuit behind him, a sight that was truly terrifying.

Zheng Zha took a deep breath, constantly checking the mental scan map. The third wave of bugs was extremely close; there were only four of them this time, but they guarded a wide plaza. Far across this open square was the location of the Brain Bug and a large contingent of other guard bugs. This plaza led through one final passage to the ambush zone. Perhaps the Brain Bug had a bad premonition, or perhaps it sensed the trap, but it had stopped advancing and was now standing still right at the edge of the plaza entrance, accompanied by numerous guard bugs.

"Damn it, I refuse to believe a bug can possess the warped intellect of Chu Xuan!" Zheng Zha muttered, finally seeing the terrifying sight of several thousand guard bugs lurking in the distance. Such a number of elite guards could easily annihilate the planet's human armies and fortresses. Within the encirclement of the guard bugs, a stout, four-meter-tall bug stood there, and beneath this large bug were smaller, cockroach-like insects that appeared to serve as its mobile legs.

Zheng Zha was being chased by six guard bugs, dozens of flying bugs, and over a thousand ground bugs, while four guard bugs stood ready directly in front of him. The massive number of ground bugs were a non-issue; Zheng Zha knew that only the guard bugs posed any real threat; the rest were mere cannon fodder.

(...A direct confrontation risks being caught by the pursuing guard bugs, while jumping risks attack from the flyers. Unless I jump and then suddenly accelerate... I get it, time to try that idea from last time!) Zheng Zha roared, stamping his foot hard and leaping toward the four guard bugs ahead. Just as the four bugs prepared to jump, and the group of flying bugs behind him accelerated toward Zheng Zha, he suddenly stomped his foot again, rocketing forward into the distance.

"Moon Walk!" Having jumped...