I transformed into a cute girl and lived a carefree life in the apocalypse.

Yan Ziming became more and more puzzled as she spoke. She remembered something: the 'Gu King' they killed today did indeed have the aura of a mutated species.

The difference between mutant species and mutated species is quite significant. Mutant species largely inherit the superpowers they had when they were human, which is why they are more powerful than ordinary mutant species.

Today's target clearly has the characteristics of an insect beast. If Yan Ziming had to say, he thought it was like an SSS-level Sky Beetle, but much stronger.

If we take a single insectoid creature as the standard, then the Sky Beetle, the Blazing Moth, the Night Ghost, and even the lowest-level Scythe Spider all belong to a separate species...

Yan Ziming closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then said, "I think we have another theory to add to our speculation: there may be more than one Gu King."

"..."

"Sigh, there's so much to do." Li Hao's expression was extremely complicated.

This is truly a case of one wave subsiding only for another to rise; before the previous speculations could even be proven, a new one has emerged.

Things have escalated to this point, and we really need to have a serious talk with the other countries; no one can remain unaffected.

Bai He slowly raised her head, as if she had a question she couldn't hold back any longer, and said:

"Have you thought about this question? Why does the Mirage Dragon keep operating within China? That person... Xian'er is in China, but it insists on roaming around the country. The risks are too great. If it were in the United States or the European Union, it would basically be unstoppable and live a much more comfortable life than in China."

64. When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we harass.

"This can only mean that there's something within our country that makes her want to stay and refuse to leave, right?"

"That's how it should be."

Everyone present agreed with this viewpoint. Even the Gu King only operates within Asia, so it's hard to say there's no connection between them.

"If so, then what could this thing be?"

Yan Ziming's gaze shifted to Xiao Ze.

"Huh? Is it still me?"

Ozawa belatedly realized this, but he had already grown up. Even if he was still no match for the Mirage Dragon, he was not someone to be easily bullied.

"Ah... the key is that we really can't think of anything else that it could covet."

"That's enough for today's topic. You can arrange what you need to do yourselves."

After saying that, Bai He stood up, opened the door and went out. After confirming that Li Haoyi had no further questions, Yan Ziming and the others also left one after another.

Li Hao shook his head with a headache, explained the matter to the other pillars of the state, and then began a series of preparations.

..................

Suspicious points were discovered, but Operation Ten East Winds still had to continue. Three days after the first phase ended, the second phase began in full swing under the leadership of a group of ninth-rank officials.

After so many defeats, the insectoid beasts finally learned their lesson and stopped choosing to hide in their nests and be trapped to death. Instead, they began to take the initiative to attack.

Just as the second phase began and the army embarked on its journey, the attack from the insectoid beasts arrived.

They arrived without warning, lurking underground and managing to evade the army's surveillance. By the time they realized what was happening, the situation had already descended into chaos.

Fortunately, many ninth-tier beings arrived in time, and after paying some price, they managed to suppress the first wave of the insect beasts' sneak attack.

"We can't let this go! They have to pay the price!"

Qin Tianhai's angry growl made the generals present straighten their backs, sit upright, and dare not utter a sound.

Although they successfully repelled the enemy during the previous insectoid attack, the total loss of personnel on all sides amounted to more than two thousand, which was an utter disgrace!

"That being said, we have no other targets to choose from," Huang Tao said in a deep voice.

"According to satellite surveys, the insects and beasts in the area we are about to clean up have all left their nests and scattered to various places. If we go there now, we will only be fighting with thin air."

Crackling sounds...

Li Hao clenched his fists, furious. He hadn't expected these insectoid beasts to use the tactic of 'sacrifice pawns' and abandon their home to run away!

Moreover, they were scattered in small groups, completely mixed up with the mutated species. They had lost their target, and the next step of the plan could not be implemented.

This kind of thinking and these tactics made them even more convinced that the Gu King was not dead.

Mo Sheng asked, "What should we do? Do we still want to go to that insect nest?"

"Go, of course we have to go! The insect nest is the ideal hatching environment for insect eggs. They can't survive for long in ordinary environments. Even though they're gone, the eggs might still be there. Let's raid their nest!"

After a day of discussions, the army began a large-scale withdrawal to various military administrative regions, leaving only about a thousand superhumans to prepare to place oxygen-destroying bombs in the now-empty nests.

Just as they initially thought, the insect nest plum did indeed leave behind a large number of insect eggs. After taking some back for research purposes, the rest began to go extinct.

In just two days, the insect nests in the area connecting Bei'an to southern Guangdong and extending southeast to the coastline were completely wiped out by the "extinction plan," eliminating all the insect eggs inside.

After that, the military changed its focus. Since they couldn't kill the insects and beasts here, they decided to kill them elsewhere!

After several relocations, the army began to advance southwest, but before the battle could even begin, the insect beasts there abandoned their homes and fled. The army once again found nothing, and could only resort to dropping oxygen-destroying bombs, just like before, to wipe out the insect eggs completely.

What angered Qin Tianhai and the others even more was that the insects and beasts in the southeast had already abandoned their homes and refused to return, but as soon as the army left, they came back, reclaimed their nests, and began to recuperate.

"Damn it! They're playing us for fools!"

In recent days, the roars of military leaders have been heard all the time. The insectoid beasts' strategy of avoiding battle has really given them a lot of trouble. The insectoid beasts are abandoning their bases faster than they can gather and deploy their forces, so a blitzkrieg is no longer an option.

Yan Ziming remained silent at home.

She didn't have any good ideas either. If things continued like this, the only option left would be to use nuclear weapons to wipe out the entire population.

After the Ten Directions East Wind operation failed, the army, just like the previous two times, raided the insect nests in other areas before beginning a full withdrawal. Yan Ziming also returned to Beian City.

It's a pity that the insect beasts weren't completely eradicated, but eliminating the insect eggs in the nest did somewhat curb the insect beasts' expansion, so it's better than nothing.

"I never imagined they'd be so strong, yet they can't handle these ants. It's laughable..."

Yan Ziming lay on his back on the bed and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Her strength is now vastly different from before; she has even killed those at the Sequence level. It's ironic that she can't handle a group of insect beasts with pitifully low average strength.

"You don't need to be so self-deprecating."

"Whoa—!!! Holy crap, how did you get out of there?!"

Mu Mu crawled out from under the bed, startling Yan Ziming.

"What's the big deal?" Mu Mu lay down next to Yan Ziming and muttered to herself, "The most crucial issue now is the Gu King. Without the Gu King, they are leaderless and nothing more than a disorganized mess."

"The key issue now is that we can't find it."

China is a vast country, so it wouldn't be surprising if the Gu King were in any corner of the country. Moreover, the Gu King's range of activity is not limited to China, but extends to the entire Asia. How easy would it be to find it?

The current information is that the Mirage Dragon is guarding the Gu King, and the Gu King they killed before can be confirmed to be fake, or rather, it was just one of several Gu Kings.

Because Luo Li discovered through sample testing that the corpse sample brought back by Yan Ziming had a high degree of similarity to an insect beast with the individual name Tianjiachong.

"But that guy is clearly a mutated species..." Yan Ziming thought for a moment, then suddenly sat up and pondered for a while.

"Hey, Mu Mu, back then... back when the mutation incident first started, how many SSS-level mutated species appeared?"

Mu Mu recalled for a moment, "I remember... there are thirteen recorded eighth-level mutated ability users worldwide. Seven of them were not eliminated after becoming SSS-level mutated species, and then they completely disappeared."

She paused for a moment and asked, "You don't mean you suspect...?"

Yan Ziming nodded.

"It's just a suspicion. After all, there are so many SSS-level mutant species. The one we killed before might have been one of them."

"That's true, but trying to drag these different kinds of mutated species into the vortex of insect beasts seems a bit far-fetched... There must be some inside story we don't know. What is it about the real Gu King that makes the Mirage Dragon covet it?"

"Ahhh, no, we really have to bring Wen Xintong back! Once we find the Mirage Dragon, everything will be fine."

Yan Ziming rolled around on the bed in a frenzy.

"Then let's go," Mu Mu said nonchalantly.

"Whether they'll even let me into Crescent City is a question."

"Oh my, didn't you know? His Majesty the Emperor of Odyssey, that guy Id, has broken through to the ninth rank and is now inviting all countries to his country to participate in the formal coronation ceremony."

65. The Multiple Meanings of a List

Something big happened in Odyssey.

Their emperor, Id, has officially broken through to the ninth rank, and from then on, Odyssey has ushered in its peak period, becoming even stronger than the United States.

Although Id is the emperor, he has not been formally crowned in recent years, but has only ruled the royal family as regent.

Now, the three-year period is over, no, the best opportunity for coronation has arrived, which can push the confidence of the Odyssey people to a new height.

They extended invitations to a wide range of people, from government officials to prominent businesspeople, hoping the whole world would witness the ceremony and expand its influence globally.

There is less than a day left before the official coronation ceremony begins. Yan Ziming was busy with Operation Ten Directions, so he only found out now.

"Hmm... how do I lure Wen Xintong out... it'll be hard to find her once she's inside..."

Yan Ziming knew that Wen Xintong was a member of Odyssey, but he didn't know her true identity within Odyssey.

If it's a classified person, then it's unlikely that I would be able to meet them.

"Big sister, are you really going?"

Ye Qianxue really wanted to go with Yan Ziming. You see, Yan Ziming's purpose in doing this was to help Wen Xintong, her love rival, and Ye Qianxue was very worried about her.

Who knows, Wen Xintong might be determined to use all the power of Odyssey to win over Yan Ziming and do some funny and entertaining things!