“You’ve gone completely mad.”
The silver-gray monster rolled across the ground, blood splattering over the spiral patterns of the floor.
The deep gray Sub-King facing it appeared even more massive, its unfurled wings broad and powerful. Blood from its opponent dripped steadily from its sharp sub-teeth. It chewed and swallowed the torn flesh it had ripped away, accompanied by a cackling laugh.
“How pathetic, Clark,” it said. “How many Great Cycles has it been since I last saw you in such a frenzied state?”
“Why don’t you guess if that human you raised is still alive? I heard you kept him by your side—did you actually treat him like your own larva?”
“Tragic.”
The monster prowled with a laugh, as fire and debris rained down around them.
“Tragic, my brother.”
In the Insectoid common tongue, “brother” was a term with an extremely broad meaning, referring to almost any offspring produced by shared kin. Furthermore, it was far from the affectionate term found in human languages; here, the word signified bloodshed and slaughter—it meant mutual devouring.
“How tragic that you live in the past.”
A tail-whip covered in sharp bone spurs trailed behind it. Having entered a state of deep alienation, the Sub-King crept toward the opponent who had challenged it to a death match.
“You’ve learned human sentimentality and forgotten that you are an insect.”
“You’ve forgotten that when food is scarce, we even devour our own offspring. Wearing a human skin has given you an ill-timed delusion.”
“The one who has forgotten everything is you.”
Abandoning his usual obscure and elegant phrasing, the silver-gray male hissed violently as he dodged an attack.
“You even intend to snuff out your own swarm with your own hands.”
Krisha had reached a peak of insanity.
When the aerial defenses were breached and the main force descended to the surface, Clark had sternly ordered Arthur to remain on standby aboard the warship while he and the other Gray-Wing members delved deep into the King’s Nest.
Then, the Sub-King had detonated the entire Old King’s Nest right in front of him.
Knowing he could hardly defeat his brother in a direct fight, Krisha had used the entire core nest area as a trap. He cared nothing for the direct descendants still residing there; he set fires and released all airspace restrictions, allowing any swarm’s warships to charge in and take a piece of the action. His primary goal was to ensure no one survived.
From the docking orbits to the Great Information Nest, every facility in the core sector was affected, entering a countdown to disintegration.
As if a red-hot blade had been thrust into his heart, the silver-gray male nearly doubled over.
The forces that had charged into the core sector were mostly lost, and the insects stationed on the periphery were nearly all wiped out. He had left the human in the docking orbit to keep him away from danger, but the first place the Sub-King had destroyed was the orbital port—the only means of immediate evacuation.
Everything from over a dozen Great Cycles ago was returning, rewarding him with a thousand times the agony.
After losing all his larvae, he might have once again lost the human he had raised.
“I’ve wanted to rip your throat out for a long time.”
Roaring, he tackled his opponent, blood dripping down from his four gray eyes.
“Do you know why your throne is unstable?”
“Because you are stupid and weak.”
The two monsters tore at each other as everything around them collapsed and fell.
“You could have fought the Hard-Wing Swarm, but you ran!”
“You scavenged parts of the former King’s remains, wanting to find a place to digest what you’d eaten and achieve a genetic breakthrough. Because of that, you abandoned all the Gray-Wing members to the swarms invading our territory!”
Sharp teeth tore away a large chunk of flesh. Clark pinned the Sub-King—who was a size larger than himself—using both claws to try and rip open the other’s chest to pull out that beating heart.
“I’m so happy I could go mad!”
The other laughed, spraying bloody froth. Its two pairs of deep gray eyes flickered with a strange light as it stared at its own kin-brother.
“Good things always come together! Just as I finished digesting the Queen’s remains, I heard the story of your miserable little nest!”
“They say your mate watched as the larvae were devoured, and then he didn't last long in the hands of those crazed Hard-Wing females. Did you see their remains?”
“Will you kneel and weep like a human?”
The response was half a throat bitten clean off.
Every imitated human trait vanished completely. The four-eyed silver-gray monster clamped onto its opponent’s neck and tore out a massive hole. Warm liquid sprayed from the wound, drenching the attacker’s head and face.
Sub-Kings were physiologically different from other insects.
They had once shared the remains of the Queen, obtaining a genetic breakthrough that made their size and the hardness of their scales far superior to their kin.
Though this bite silenced the crazed provocation, it caused nearly half of the silver-gray male’s sub-teeth to snap and shatter. Blood flowed continuously along his slender tongue and his wide-split maw; fragments of teeth and back-flowing, slightly acidic fluid surged into his esophagus.
High-temperature flames burned a golden-red. As far as the eye could see, everything seemed plunged into an apocalypse, twisting and deforming with the rising heat waves.
The originally eerie and grotesque King’s Nest was coated in a layer of gold dust, with more sections disintegrating and fracturing every second.
Countless skulls collected by the Queen had long since decayed; they tumbled down in heaps, falling apart just like the other spiral patterns in the hall.
As the surface coating was stripped away by the fire, the piles of skeletons beneath were exposed.
This was the true Insect Nest.
Generation after generation, they were born here, and after death, they returned here. Every species sucked dry became the nourishment and mulch on the swarm’s path of evolution.
Until now.
The Gray-Wing Sub-King entrenched in the Old King’s Nest had detonated the entire structure. He had blown up not only all the surviving direct members in the nest area but also the Great Information Nest that connected all deep-space communications.
“You won’t have the chance to become the new King.”
Pinning his slightly smaller brother beneath him, Krisha’s throat—not yet fully recovered—emitted joyful hisses, his respiratory slits fluttering.
“And you won’t take the Gray-Wing Swarm either.”
“Always one step too late, Clark. Always one step too late.”
The silver-gray male no longer responded. His tail-whip tightly coiled around the other’s wings, snapping a section of his own upright bone spurs as he strangled fresh gashes into those steel-like wings.
He didn’t care anymore.
He wanted his brother to die right here, right now.
***
Meanwhile, on the other side of the nest’s core, the human youth’s exoskeleton armor was growing hot from the high temperatures.
But that wasn’t the most lethal part.
The most lethal part was that the disintegrating King’s Nest was leaking everywhere, and the oxygen levels were dropping rapidly.
This was nothing to the insects, who had very low oxygen requirements, but for a human, it was undoubtedly a harbinger of death.
The act of sneaking off the warship because he was worried about Clark had saved Arthur’s life. Just as he entered the core combat zone, the entire orbital port and everything around it had exploded completely without warning.
The docked Alpha warship had also been half-destroyed.
The King’s Nest was also collapsing, though not as quickly. Falling structures had pinned the human underneath, and it had taken a great deal of effort for him to crawl out.
However, the external oxygen supply equipment had been damaged in the sudden accident.
The main Gray-Wing force, having worse luck, had been buried outright. There were dead and injured, and some were still digging through the dirt, trying to crawl out.
The youth stood, adjusting his breathing and controlling his racing heart.
He had experience with deep diving and using primitive rebreathers; the more one panicked, the faster oxygen was consumed.
The way back was cut off. The enemy had never intended for them to leave the King’s Nest area alive. To that end, they had even used themselves as bait to seal off any possibility of evacuation.
He had to find Clark.
He did not discard his slightly damaged helmet. In an environment where debris was falling everywhere, the youth prioritized his own safety.
Before anything happened to his nurturer, he needed to ensure he stayed alive.
Alive to stay by the other’s side.
This explosion was merely the beginning.
Clark’s warship was equipped with a Time River port. Fortunately, half of the Alpha warship remained unexploded.
All ports were interconnected. The destruction of the King’s Nest and the Great Information Nest was already out of control, but what came next would be even more chaotic. Without outside help, the consequences would be far more terrifying than what was currently visible.
The worst-case scenario was a port collapse. These things were like nuclear bombs of the old era—extremely useful, but once they blew, they were truly lethal.
The triple-layered Akasha Rifts had already been enough to turn Kamran into a ghost realm. If the Time River—which inherited Akasha properties and had a transmission range spanning the entire galaxy—were to collapse, everyone would ascend to the heavens together on the spot.
The scope of this storm would reach far beyond the Insectoid habitat.
The Gray-Wing Swarm was in a state of collective disconnection. He could neither contact Gela nor ask Sakti for help.
Arthur leaned against a wall as he moved forward, with only a particle beam gun left on his person.
“Accidents really are unreasonable.”
His blue eyes crinkled slightly. His AI—the human information connector—was still continuously sending messages.
If any person, or any insect, could lend a hand to cool down the warship that was on the verge of exploding at any moment, it would literally save every species.
“Please, connect quickly.”
For the first time, the blue-eyed youth felt a slight sadness.
Whether insect or human, he had seen many individuals striving to live, yet that effort could be brushed away as lightly as a joke by fate.
The temperature of the burning buildings evaporated moisture, making breathing increasingly difficult.
The physical difference between him and his nurturer was cruelly displayed at this moment. Just as Sakti had said, it was difficult for a human to survive in an insect habitat in a natural state.
*If I see him again, if I can survive,* the human thought.
*I’ll tell him that I like him.*
***
The exterior of the entire King’s Nest had fallen into complete chaos and disorder.
The moment the anti-air defense grid was fully released and the defensive orbits were completely destroyed, other core genetic swarms that had been lying in wait appeared.
The Gray-Wing Swarm wasn't the only one that would split its forces.
Its neighbors would, too.
This final bout of madness from the Sub-King had not only buried more than half of his own swarm’s combat units underground but had also drawn in more bloodthirsty opportunists.
Sakti, who had just jumped into the core sector, cursed under his breath on the spot.
The King’s Nest, which he had seen several times in his past life, looked like it was about to collapse at a glance. The Great Information Nest, built upon the King’s Nest as its foundation, was also about to fall. All the docking orbits available for mooring were scorched black.
The silver-gray male’s Alpha warship had a fairly conspicuous exterior; it was currently sputtering sparks, its self-repair speed clearly unable to keep up with the rate of internal circuit explosions.
He had been disconnected from Kleiman and Gela for a while now, but only now did he finally understand the reason.
Some bastard had blown up an entire database, information hub, and communication base station, giving every insect a three-in-one gift package.
This kind of operation obviously couldn't have been orchestrated by Clark. No matter how crazy the silver-gray male was, he knew the priorities and would never risk the entire swarm. That left only the current Sub-King.
He should have twisted Krisha’s head off sooner.
Immediately after, he remembered that Clark’s ship was connected to a Time River.
This was bad.
Other swarms, not understanding the danger level, were still trying to blast Sakti’s warship to pieces to eliminate this small interference that had suddenly barged into the battlefield. But he could no longer care about them, charging straight toward the high-risk bomb that could go off at any moment.
A large number of insects swarmed behind the Core Species, intercepting this Gray-Wing ship that didn't know the heights of the heavens.
A large group of unlucky bastards had finally rushed into their powerful neighbor’s home, crazed with joy, cannibalizing everything with a mindset of "loot, loot, loot, don't let anything go."
Sakti was entangled and slowed down, always a short distance away from the wreckage of the warship equipped with the Time River.
No matter what, he couldn't let it explode.
The Core Species almost abandoned all defensive and counter-attack measures, attempting to force his way through.
However, in the next second, a massive shadow loomed over everything.
Directly above the King’s Nest, a huge, deep, and narrow rift tore open.
This gap, shaped like an Akasha Rift, continued to expand until it covered nearly a third of the King’s Nest.
It was not a conventional Time River passage; it looked more like a wound forcibly torn into the universe.
A corner of a crimson, sharp outer hull slowly emerged from the abyss. Before its full form was even revealed, it had already cast a force field over the crumbling Great Information Nest and the Alpha warship.
A gentle static field caught the continuously fracturing parts.
At the same time, an ultra-cold coolant rapidly spread over the half-destroyed warship, instantly sealing the wreckage that was about to explode.
All the insects froze in their tracks.
They stared at the crimson behemoth descending upon the King’s Nest.
The Core Species’ hand nearly crushed the warship’s control screen, his gaze unable to shift even a fraction.
He had never expected to reunite with the other at such a time and in such a place.
Before logic could take hold, he had already murmured unconsciously:
“Red Tai-Sui.”
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 亚王虫 | Sub-King | A high-ranking insectoid that has undergone genetic breakthroughs, often by consuming Queen remains. |
| 克里沙 | Krisha | The antagonist Sub-King, Clark's rival/brother. |
| 呼吸缝 | Respiratory slits | Physiological features of the insectoids used for breathing. |
| 红太岁 | Red Tai-Sui | A legendary, massive crimson warship or entity; "Tai-Sui" refers to a god or a mysterious biological mass in Chinese culture. |
| 静止场 | Static field | A technological field used to halt motion or stabilize structures. |
| 核心种 | Core Species | The elite class of insectoids to which Sakti belongs. |
| 大信息巢 | Great Information Nest | The central communication and data hub for the insect swarms. |
| 时间河 | Time River | A high-level spatial/temporal transport mechanism. |
| 阿卡夏裂隙 | Akasha Rift | A spatial phenomenon allowing for instantaneous travel or communication across vast distances. |
