48: Insect swarm?

In the myths chanted in ancient Sanskrit for thousands of years, the great dragon Vritra, representing "Destruction," imprisoned all the world's water sources, severing the hope of survival for the people.

At the critical moment, Indra, the King of Gods, wielding the divine weapon symbolizing destruction and creation—the Vajra—split open Vritra's abdomen, accomplishing the great salvation——

Watching the scene before him, this scene originating from Indian mythology inexplicably surfaced in Xi Hai's mind.

"Boom!!"

The shining torpedo exploded in the abdomen of that Colossal Insect, twisted entrails flew everywhere, and leaping lightning snakes swayed wantonly.

Under this epic scene, the Z25 Sentry Post, stripped of a large number of external structures and left with almost nothing but a skeleton, endured the intense shockwave and was shaking crazily:

The trembling steel plates and windows told of the urgency of the situation everywhere, and the twisted supports and keel loudly declared their peril.

But none of this was a problem anymore, because——

"Baili Ying,"

"You,"

"Aren't you crying, are you?"

On the communication console, the voice of White Shark, feigning ease, rang out.

——They had been saved.

The familiar voice, and the ensuing sense of security, allowed the tense Baili Ying to instantly relax.

Her tear glands, already slightly loosened, burst open at this moment.

Large, hot tears streaked down her jade-white cheeks, hitting the floor heavily with a "patter, patter" sound.

But even so, she was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly bristling and hissing, refuting with claws and teeth bared:

"Impossible!"

"How could I possibly be crying!"

"That is pure slander!"

"..."

There was a brief silence from the other side,

"It's good that you aren't crying."

"How is the situation on your end?"

"Can you organize the transfer of personnel and some equipment now?"

Baili Ying was stunned for a moment——after that operation just now, it seemed... it was really hard to say!

...

Li Lun, a socially fostered individual, was born in some unknown artificial womb chamber.

By some coincidence six or seven years ago, he became a subordinate of White Shark.

Just in the last few days, he had encountered the biggest upheaval since his birth.

First, the leader took the initiative to jump ship, and then a bunch of bugs popped out inexplicably, causing everyone to huddle in this dilapidated little space station Starport playing Star Trek——

"Thud!!"

"Clang!!"

Suddenly, the floor beneath his feet shook again, and a loud noise came from somewhere unknown.

Except for a few unlucky fellows who stumbled a few steps because they couldn't stand steady, the crowd had no other reaction—everyone was already accustomed to it.

"How long have we been drifting?"

Li Lun quietly nudged the guy sitting next to him and asked. The man raised a mechanical watch that had stopped for who knows how long, stared at it intently, and then replied uncertainly:

"About... ten hours or so?"

"Bang!"

The trembling and noise came again, echoing in the empty and oppressive environment.

Li Lun looked up to his side; at some point, the windows of the space station had all been closed.

According to the little girl at the broadcasting station who was very familiar with the boss, they were currently moving on a hidden orbit, and someone would come to save them soon.

To be honest, he didn't quite believe it, but the boss's adjutant, Mr. Gunt, was currently standing in the crowd, maintaining the fragile order at the scene.

Everyone trusted the boss, and the boss's deputy could naturally represent the boss, so everyone trusted Mr. Gunt.

After almost countless self-hypnosis sessions, Li Lun finally felt a hint of drowsiness. He leaned against the corner and gradually narrowed his eyes.

Watching the calm crowd, Gunt sighed. It was he who had asked Baili Ying to go to the central control console.

This space station was actually very small, and the vacuum cargo hold occupied the vast majority of the space.

Originally, the best solution for the current situation was to disperse the crowd to different places to prevent any gathering from occurring.

But, sorry, there was no space.

Now, only his prestige could keep these men in check; only Baili Ying's experience could operate this space station beneath their feet.

To be honest, although he had also seen that the AI calling itself "night lamp" claimed to have sent out a distress signal, he actually didn't think he could be saved.

Having lived so freely for so many years, he now only wanted a decent way to die.

"Hum!"

A slight sound, slightly different from before, came, waking up Li Lun who had just been leaning against the corner.

He raised his head and looked around slightly, "Is it okay?" "Why does it feel like the commotion just now was a bit different?"

Thinking this, he hugged a fixed iron frame leg tightly, wanting to give himself a tiny bit of security——

"Squeak————Clang——!!!"

"Thud——! Rumble——!!!"

Without any warning, a tremor more violent than any previous one came. The load-bearing frame instantly let out a scream of being unable to bear the weight. It seemed the space station was making a sharp turn. A large number of people on the ground were thrown out by inertia before they knew what happened, hitting the wall heavily, and the scene immediately fell into chaos——

"Get up! Get up!"

"You idiot! You stepped on my brother!"

"What's going on!"

"Holy shit!!!!! Ah ha ha ha ha ah ah ah ah ah ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!!!"

Before those people could react, an even sharper turn came again. Those who were originally stacked on top instantly became the ones on the bottom, and some guys who had been stepped on in important places took the opportunity to step back hard.

Li Lun hugged the iron rod tightly. After being thrown twice, he finally knew what the phrase "I'll make you fly" would feel like if one experienced it.

Fortunately, the corridor of the space station was not wide, and the distribution of the crowd was not too dense. Most people were just startled by this accident.

The guy who was most seriously injured in the whole place was probably the buddy who was currently clutching a certain [redacted] area, rolling on the ground and screaming.

"Damn!"

"What the hell happened!"

"..."

"...%￥%...&&"

"Damn it..."

"%...&*（..."

This unexpected throw was like lighting a powder keg among the crowd. For a time, the Starport corridor was clamorous, with screams, curses, and inquiries mixed together.

Li Lun braced his body, wanting to stand up from the ground, but his legs wouldn't straighten no matter what.

He looked at the chaos before him; the noise in the air could even be felt with the naked eye.

A strong buzzing sound suddenly rang in his ears—this was his hereditary disease; whenever he was overly nervous, he would develop tinnitus.

"Quickly find something on the spot to secure yourself!"

"Take the wounded to the safety seats and strap them in!"

Mr. Gunt stood out.

He hugged an iron pillar and shouted to the crowd.

Some people moved, and the chaotic order began to improve slightly.

However, just as everything was beginning to get back on track, a more terrifying tremor came——

"Squeak————!!!"

As if the entire space station was about to fall apart, visible small cracks on the floor spread rapidly. Several tightly closed windows were squeezed open a crack—the skin of the giant beast shimmering with dark blue stripes outside the window was immediately exposed to everyone.

For a moment, a sense of suffocation blanketed everyone equally.

"Gulp..."

Looking at the part of the giant beast's body outside the window, Li Lun swallowed hard.

"We can't survive at all!"

"What rescue, what concealment,"

"It's all a lie!"

"We were on the road to death from the beginning!"

"It's a lie, ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!"

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!"

"Swish—!! Pfft——!!!"

Suddenly, a guy in a bionic leather suit next to him stood up abruptly, shouting the final madness at the top of his lungs. Then, the man raised a dagger and stabbed it fiercely into his own neck. After revealing a look of relief, he fell down.

Li Lun stared blankly at the guy in front of him, watching him wriggle on the ground, watching him gradually lose his life; Li Lun felt his face was wet.

Should I be terrified and scream because of this?

He thought blankly.

Until the liquid spreading on the ground soaked his shoe soles, Mr. Gunt's trembling roar rang out again.

"Don't listen to that guy!"

"Go back!"

"Didn't you see clearly!"

"That thing outside, it's dead!"

"Dead!"

"Those floating globs,"

"Those are its damn intestines!"

"Everyone go inside!"

"Don't look out the window!"

Enduring the intense tinnitus and nausea, Li Lun moved his feet, struggling to walk towards the place far away from the window.

But the people around seemed indifferent.

They all stared fixedly at the guy lying on the ground, as if mourning for him, regardless of whether they were friends, enemies, or strangers with him before he died.

Even the air solidified.

Something is wrong, very wrong.

The people present actually had very high psychological quality.

When running smuggling, hovering on the edge of life and death time and time again, they could still maintain their sanity, but why?

Li Lun suddenly felt terrified upon deep thought.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

"Hey, hey, hey!"

"Can you hear me?"

"The rescue to pick us up has arrived!"

"We,"

"Are safe!"

Suddenly, the broadcast sounded, interrupting Li Lun's thinking and breaking the strange silence in the venue.

...

"night lamp,"

"I feel these people's mental state is abnormal."

Watching the recording of the Starport on the screen, Xi Hai frowned.

These people who had just escaped from a life crisis, they were too calm.

"Pathfinder,"

"According to detection,"

"When we are within the control range of the Swarm,"

"The semi-fluid body fluids secreted by the Swarm are scattered in the vacuum,"

"And will become a transmission medium."

"An infrasonic wave of a certain frequency band is constantly playing in a loop here."

"It is speculated that it may achieve the effect of mass hypnosis."

Infrasonic waves? Mass hypnosis? This group of insects, it's getting more and more interesting, isn't it?

...

Ursa Major V12.22, on the orbit of Planet Three, the place closest to the void.

A huge, wriggling dark brown meat mass floated on the orbit.

"Pfft!"

With a slight sound of liquid gushing out, several Colossal Insects hundreds of meters long broke out of their shells again.

The tentacles that kept wriggling to transport materials made it look completely unlike a living creature, but rather—a flesh-and-blood factory with a clear division of labor!