Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Section 26. Breathtaking (Real) Operation

Slaughter, more slaughter. Unending slaughter.

As Zheng Zha jumped into the abyss, countless warrior insects, flying insects, and many other miscellaneous insects of indistinguishable species surged out from the rock crevices, caves, and fissures on both sides, threatening to completely overwhelm him. They didn't even expect to harm Zheng Zha; they simply tried to block his path with their bodies so that the fire-breathing insects and plasma-blasting insects behind him could make use of them.

They are fearless and relentless.

Then Zheng Zha granted them all their wishes.

Insects wielding sharp claws were severed along with their claws. Insects spitting proboscis were cleaved along their central axis. Attacking flames or plasma dissipated outside the boiling energy surrounding him. He swung his arms, wielding his blade with lightning speed—or rather, even an airplane couldn't match his blade's speed. And in just a moment, the crimson greatsword of destruction constructed an impenetrable, rain-proof, scarlet light barrier around him, shattering all the insects that tried to attack him, and leveling all obstacles in his way.

Insects, strata, rocks, artillery fire—his blade shattered everything in his path as he descended. Patchouli's voice whispered in his ear, pointing him to the location of the brain worm. And all he needed to do was keep descending, descending, descending!

The surrounding noise stopped abruptly.

“You take Mingyanwei and the capture device and go down. Zero and I will deal with the main force of the swarm here. The cerebrate is currently trying to escape under the protection of a small swarm of guard swarms. All the swarms here are sacrificial pawns to cover its escape.”

Patchouli's voice suddenly rang out nearby. Zheng Zha looked up and saw that the swarm of insects that had previously attacked him were now frozen in place like metal statues, constantly twisting and shrinking while emitting an eerie metallic sheen. In that instant, at least dozens of the completely corroded insects turned into thin streams of silver-gray and then rushed towards Patchouli, who was suspended in the air, circling around her endlessly.

The Argonaut swarm only feeds on flesh and special ores, while the nanobot swarm eats anything indiscriminately. The plasma bugs and fire-breathing bugs that initially bombarded Zheng Zha from afar had long been devoured by Patchouli's nanobot swarm, while even more bugs surged in from afar in the underground strata.

Thousands upon thousands of insects surged forth in a swarm, soon to clash head-on with the nano-gray tide controlled by Patchouli. The outcome might already be decided, but the battle for survival would take time. Just then, Ming Yanwei, who barely possessed the ability to fly thanks to the numerous thrusters on her power armor, arrived beside Zheng Zha carrying a sealed box half her height. With a gesture from Zheng Zha and the sound of Zero Sniper piercing a sealed rock layer, the four members of the team split into two groups once more.

Zheng Zha went down, and Ming Yanwei, who was following behind him, also went down.

He wasn't worried about Patchouli and Zero's safety, because Patchouli's victory was already obvious. The nanobot swarm couldn't possibly lose to the flesh swarm; his only concern was himself—he wasn't sure if he could pinpoint the location of the brain bug without Patchouli's guidance.

However, Patchouli would naturally take this into account.

"The satellite system is now connected, and the corresponding underground topographic map has been completed." Ming Yanwei's clear voice rang out beside him, a voice that sounded like heavenly music to him. "At the same time, Miss Patchouli has also transferred the authority to the miniature trackers created by the nanobots to me, and we can now pinpoint the location of the brain worm accurately."

Ming Yanwei raised her hand and made a gesture in the air, just as Alice or Patchouli usually did. The next moment, a light screen appeared at the beginning and end of her finger's gesture, and a constantly updating underground topographic map and a moving red dot that was highlighted were clearly visible.

"Excellent."

Zheng Zha gave a thumbs-up, ignoring the strange passages, and plunged headlong into the direction of the red dot on the map. He used his Destruction Blade to clear a path, pulverizing the rock layers, stones, and unmined metal ore along the way—he wasn't worried about being buried underground, because…

Did Norrell stop me from doing this?

No.

This means that this is a feasible strategy.

A simple syllogism quickly took shape in his mind. Ignoring Ming Yanwei's stunned gaze behind him, he dug a huge hole in the ground in the blink of an eye! The hole continued to deepen with the flying debris and dust, and in the blink of an eye, it had been dug hundreds of meters underground!

Ming Yanwei's lips twitched.

She shook her head, finally snapping out of her daze at Zheng Zha's "preventing things from getting complicated" strategy. As she activated the jetpack, hurriedly following the path Zheng Zha had cleared down to catch up with the reckless fellow, the brain worm and its elite guards came into Zheng Zha's view!

Without a doubt, the swarm of Zerg guards surrounding the brain worm are far superior to ordinary warrior Zerg. They are swift, energetic, muscular, and disciplined. They…

...They are completely useless.

Zheng Zha charged into the swarm's ranks as Ming Yanwei picked up her bow, killing a third of the swarm's guards as she nocked her arrow. And as she drew her bow fully, instinctively taking aim, the last swarm guard was annihilated by Zheng Zha's destructive blade.

He exhaled a breath of scorching white air, and the heavy killing blade slammed with a 'clang' against a stone wall next to the brain worm. The enormous, white worm with its unsettling multiple eyes immediately trembled and curled up into a ball, cowering in a corner.

“Mission accomplished.” Zheng Zha brandished his sword, looking smugly at Ming Yanwei who was slowly approaching. “You can tell Norege that our operation here is over. We can wrap things up right now.”

Ming Yanwei glanced at him, then at the gaping hole slashed by the Destruction Blade behind him, and then at the trembling white brain worm. This enormous creature, which would normally only evoke disgust in movies, now seemed rather pitiful. She sighed, untied the sealed box on her back, and opened it. A folding metal frame quickly unfolded, enveloping the incredibly docile brain worm within seconds, sealing it inside a sturdy metal cage.

“Captain Zheng Zha,” she said, looking at him with concern. “I think… next time, could you perhaps take a more logical approach? The geology here…”

She pointed to the small, scattered stones that kept falling into the large hole.

"...It might not be very stable."

"Hahaha~" Zheng scratched his head, revealing his usual hearty smile. "Relax, relax, the ground here is very sturdy. I took that into consideration before I started. The insects have been burrowing and living here for so many years, and the fact that the burrows haven't collapsed means they've maintained the mechanical balance of this place very well! Making a hole is no problem!"

"...But isn't mechanical equilibrium something that can't be broken at will?"

"Don't worry, this place is very sturdy. Didn't you see Norege didn't try to stop me?" Zheng Zha waved his hand, then punched the stone wall beside him. "Even if I punched it with this much force, it wouldn't—"

The next moment, with his heavy punch, the ground above him trembled unsettlingly.

A very disturbing tremor.

"...Something came up."

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

About forty minutes later...

As Patchouli controlled her swarm of nanobots to erode the ground and used the precise, surgical-like orbital bombardment from her starship in space to remove all the collapsed rubble, she saw Ming Yanwei, covered in dust and grime, the brain worm barely clinging to life in its cage, and Zheng Zha looking at the ground with an embarrassed expression.

She was too lazy to say anything, and didn't want to say anything.

Section 27 - A Brief Transition

Ghost Tango is a typical terrestrial planet. Aside from a severe lack of water, its temperature, gravity, atmospheric humidity, and gas composition are almost identical to Earth's. Frankly, if it weren't for the insects, this planet would actually be quite suitable for terraforming into a habitable one. After all, while the insects have altered the geology, they haven't at least eroded the planet into the riddled state of Korenda.

Unfortunately, there are bugs here.

—Many insects.

As the large transport planes, escorted by the convoy, slowly landed and carried away the poor giant white-brained worm, the swarm's attacks to reclaim its leader never ceased. They poured out from every possible hiding place within hundreds of kilometers, brandishing claws, plasma, or intense flames, launching attack after attack on the Reincarnators, only to be blasted away by Patchouli's swarm of nanobots and the orbital artillery barrage from the sky.

The Zerg's plasma cannons were incredibly slow. So slow that it took them several minutes to travel from the surface to outer space. With the human fleet prepared, destroying these powerful but slow-moving plasma spheres from hundreds or thousands of kilometers away was a piece of cake. Having lost this only weapon that could regain control of the universe, the Zerg swarm's fate was sealed: utter defeat.

“There can’t be just one brain worm on this planet.” Patchouli glanced at the large transport plane that had disappeared into the horizon, then her gaze shifted slightly. A thin stream of silvery-gray material containing a small piece of radioactive material shot out from beside her and struck the landing pod that the crew had left on the ground.

Visibly, the landing module was quickly disassembled and then reconstructed, with numerous electronic instruments and jet propulsion devices being created from scratch at a visible speed. In just a minute or two, a newly built aircraft appeared in the reincarnators' field of vision.

She waved her hand, and the aircraft began to operate on its own. The small fusion reactor, which had been manufactured less than thirty seconds ago, successfully ignited, and numerous vector nozzles and anti-gravity wells began to operate. With a clear hum of air rubbing together, this simple means of transportation floated lightly to the side of the reincarnators. As she entered the cockpit, the others also jumped onto the aircraft's cabin.

—The swarm of silver-gray nanobots also drifted over, hiding at the bottom of the spacecraft like an elusive wisp of mist, motionless.

The aircraft then began to operate.

“We still have plenty of time, but about a day of the three days has already passed, so we’ll be a little busy from now on.” Patchouli stretched out her hand and pulled out a large light screen next to her, which was marked with a topographical map of the entire Tango Ghost Star. At the top of the light screen, a dozen or so red dots were prominently marked.

There were a dozen or so points, some far away, some near, the closest less than 300 kilometers away. While the aircraft flew smoothly, this was due to air bubbles created by Patchouli's controlled nanite swarm, which rectified the airflow and allowed it to reach speeds exceeding 600 kilometers per hour. It would soon break the sound barrier, and then its speed would increase again.

Ten minutes... or maybe less.

This period of time was just enough for Patchouli to explain the current situation.

“This is a suspected location on this planet where brain worms might exist. Of course, I believe that perhaps half of them are empty. But it’s only half; every additional one we dig up will increase our profits significantly. Moreover, the swarm controls more than just Tango Ghost Star.” Patchouli said softly, her gaze inadvertently drifting towards Zheng Zha as she spoke, her tone revealing neither anger nor any other emotion.

"If we want to earn reward points and side quests, then we'll have to run around to each location one by one—it's pure physical labor, but the rewards will definitely be there. After all, it's one of the few times the main god gives fixed kill rewards, so even if we don't find the Brain Bug, it won't be a waste. Of course, if some people have too much energy, then I recommend that they go back and conserve their energy to prepare for a head-on confrontation with the Senzhou team."

Zheng Zha looked embarrassed.

He knew Patchouli was complaining, complaining that he had added to her workload. And he had to admit that he was indeed doing something foolish. Because, judging from the speed at which they had cleared things out earlier, the time it took to dig him and that cage out of the ground was enough to clear out two... or even three suspicious spots.

He was embarrassed, and in his embarrassment, he had to look to both sides for help from his companions.

then……

Ming Yanwei rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the fleeting, monotonous scenery outside the window as she estimated the speed of the aircraft. Her eyes sparkled, clearly indicating that she was engrossed in consuming a great deal of computational power and had no time to think about anything else.

Meanwhile, Zero was busy preparing his beloved high-tech sniper rifle. Although the rifle's technology far exceeded the scope of needing frequent maintenance, Zero simply enjoyed doing so—though he didn't know if his gun might one day suddenly transform into a cute girl. But clearly, at least for now, his attention couldn't be diverted from that gun.

—That's good.

Zheng Zha sighed sadly.

“Okay, I admit I was wrong. I’ll think things through a bit more in the future and won’t resort to the stupid strategy of taking the shortest route between two points.” He apologized to Patchouli dejectedly, looking listless. “Besides, I think I’m pretty short on reward points, and conserving my energy doesn’t suit my style.”

“When did I say you did something wrong?” Patchouli glanced at him. “The power is in your hands, and how you use it is in your heart. How you go down and capture that giant white-brained worm is your own business, and I won’t tell you what to do on that matter.”

"Uh... then why?" Zheng Zha scratched his head, looking puzzled. "Aren't you complaining that I caused the ground to collapse...?"

“It’s not that hard to dig you out.” Patchouli glared at him angrily. “I just don’t understand, since you can make a path down, why can’t you make another one up yourself instead of waiting for me to dig it out! You don’t look like you’re exhausted or lacking energy, and digging a tunnel from top to bottom is definitely not much harder than making a path from bottom to top!”

"These are the most basic things! The most basic physics knowledge! Why don't you come out yourself instead of making me waste time using a method I'm not good at!"

"This...this..." Zheng Zha's lips twitched, and he felt his face burning, because he himself felt that his actions were rather foolish. However, having just lowered his head once, he really didn't want to do it a second time, so he blurted out in a moment of quick thinking, "Didn't you say so?"

"So I have to explain this to you too?" Patchouli looked at him as if he were a piece of rotten wood.

Great, the conversation has died again.

Ming Yanwei chuckled softly, and when Zheng Zha glared at her, she turned her head away and continued to look out the window at the unchanging desolate landscape of the Tango Ghost Star.

Meanwhile, Zero was still tidying up his precious gun.

Silence fell once again inside the aircraft.

Patchouli silently planned their next move, Zero silently fiddled with his beloved gun, and Ming Yanwei silently gazed out the window, practicing her dynamic vision. Zheng Zha silently stared into space.

The silence continued until the short distance of 600 kilometers was crossed and the second point appeared in the sight of the Reincarnations, which then came to an end. Zheng Zha jumped off the aircraft immediately, and soon, a bloodbath swept across the ground.

Poor bug, poor tango ghost.

While the irritable Zheng was venting his frustration on the ground, a large transport plane carrying the brain worm—which only needed to be transported back to trigger the plot and to curry favor with the hunting fleet—arrived at the de Chroy's receiving bay. Soon, under Zhang Jie's watchful eye, the enormous worm was transported to a suitable location.

One, a location not far from the Cross Star Dream Machine in the command center.

Section 28. A brief transition.

The night was deep.

Alice arrived at the lower part of a large city, gazing up at the unscientific city walls that were tens of meters high. The sparse, lazy guards were completely incongruous with these towering walls. Although this wasn't the most heavily fortified imperial capital, she felt her advantage... didn't seem to be that great.

She had spent a considerable amount of time understanding the situation of her world. However, contrary to her expectations, this world... did not seem to be permeated with the aura of what was called pills.

The country she lived in was called an empire—no prefix, just the simple word "empire." And this empire, from its founding to the present, had been in existence for exactly nine hundred and ninety-nine years, just a step away from the millennium—it was a huge flag, yet she doubted its effectiveness.

Firstly, while this country faces some internal and external troubles, the external threats are not particularly severe. As for the surrounding tribes… aside from the sea to the east, the other three directions, although attempting rebellions in recent years, have already seen the western and southern tribes routed by the Imperial army. Only the northern tribes are still struggling… struggling under Esdeath's command.

—The woman named Esdeath is a powerful general in this empire. While her battlefield command abilities are probably not great, her personal combat prowess is top-notch, to the point that command skills are rendered useless—according to intelligence, she single-handedly annihilated the southern barbarian army, rendering the empire's expeditionary force largely ineffective. And presumably, her time spent in the north won't be long—especially given her knowledge of her existence as an enemy.

Okay, external threats are no longer a problem, so now it's time for internal troubles. However, in reality, the internal troubles in this empire are pitifully few… First, it doesn't suffer from endless natural disasters; second, the country's industrial and agricultural level is close to that of the original Earth during World War I. The only truly troubling thing is that the country's ministers… or rather, the prime minister, have a habit of corruption and abuse of power.

Alice couldn't comprehend how a nation could descend into turmoil because of the personal desires of a powerful minister. After all, even Gorbachev, who accomplished the monumental feat of dismantling the Soviet Union, did so under the premise that a stronger power, the United States, was vying for supremacy. However, no nation in this world could rival an empire—while gathering intelligence, she had heard of an ambitious Western superpower in the far west, but that place was simply too far away, far beyond the reach of any Western power acting as a buffer.

There were no powerful external threats, nor natural disasters within the empire. Although taxes were harsh, food could still be grown. Despite the existence of some dubious rebel armies, the empire possessed a number of battle-hardened elites who had won several victories and annihilated several major alien races—and the empire's leadership was not short of money!

With money in hand, soldiers at his command, and the people living a hard but not impossible life, and with external enemies who had been defeated and crushed—under these circumstances, Alice truly couldn't think of any way to bring down this empire.

Ah, yes, that powerful prime minister often persecutes loyal officials and levies exorbitant taxes, and the nobles in the capital live a life of debauchery and extravagance... But so what? Isn't this normal? In such an ancient empire that has stood for a thousand years, what difference does it make if a few, dozens, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of ordinary people die?

—Nothing can be done.

The empire remained powerful, the army remained strong, and while the people lived a difficult life, they were not destitute. Even with ministers wielding power, the emperor, who maintained the legitimacy of this thousand-year-old empire, remained on his throne. Thus, the empire was stable and difficult to destroy… at least difficult to destroy by internal factors. Alice racked her brains, but could only come up with one way to overthrow the country.