332: Chapter 326: Seizing the Treasure

“Spread out and search.”

The leading beast waved its thick arm, “Since humans have been here, they might not be far.”

Several subordinates immediately scattered, their heavy breathing echoing in the spacious hall.

Just then, a rustling, scraping sound came from the other side of the hall.

“Hiss—there's the scent of a living thing.”

Immediately after, six figures crawled out from the shadows—they were Insect Race warriors.

The two teams instantly stood in a standoff.

The Beast Race leader gripped the energy weapon on its back: “Insect Race scum, you want a piece of the pie too?”

An Insect Race warrior flicked its antennae and mocked:

“Stupid beast, do you think you are worthy of touching the secrets of this ship?”

“Enough.”

The Insect Race leader suddenly put away its hostility, its compound eyes turning toward the depths of the hall, “There is no need for us to waste energy on each other here. Neither side can pass the mechanisms in the passage ahead alone.”

The Beast Race leader narrowed its blood-red eyes: “You want to cooperate?”

“Temporarily.”

The Insect Race leader's antennae pointed toward the entrance of the passage, where dense holes were vaguely visible, “The laser defense system is quite formidable. If we join forces, we can each get what we need.”

After a moment of silence, the Beast Race leader grinned, revealing its fangs:

“An interesting proposal. Let's see if you Insect Race truly have the sincerity to cooperate.”

Eleven figures began to gather toward the passage.

“Prepare!”

As the Insect Race leader gave the order, both teams charged into the passage.

In an instant, countless searing white laser beams shot out from the holes in the walls, weaving into an impenetrable web of light.

The Beast Race warriors swung their energy weapons, violently bombarding the laser emitters.

The Insect Race was more cunning, using their agile bodies to weave between the beams and precisely destroy the key nodes.

The passage was mostly destroyed, and the scene at the end clearly appeared in the eyes of all the raiders.

Those were rows of translucent crystal chambers, inside which silver boxes were resting, their surfaces branded with complex silver patterns.

“It's the Mechanical Race's storage boxes!”

The wolf beast in the team shouted.

Whether it was the irritable Beast Race or the cold Insect Race, their breathing became three times heavier.

Mechanical Race technological creations, even if they were just scraps, were priceless treasures in the outside world that could be exchanged for a small base.

If they could obtain the complete collection within, their status in this star sector would be completely rewritten.

But just as this greed boiled over, behind them, a swift, peerless white Afterimage tore through the air, crashing into the group like a snow-white hurricane!

“Bang!”

A series of heavy muffled sounds merged together as several Beast Race and Insect Race warriors were sent flying by this irresistible giant force, the crisp sounds of breaking bones clearly audible.

The white Afterimage did not stop, charging straight through the remaining laser net and speeding toward the chambers.

“Stop it!”

The nearest Insect Race warrior reacted the fastest, exerting force with its limbs and lunging fiercely at the white Afterimage.

However, what greeted it was a sharp claw wrapped in the momentum of wind and thunder.

“Slap!”

The Insect Race warrior was effortlessly swatted away, its body crashing uncontrollably into the side wall, coincidentally passing through a laser beam that had just restarted.

There was no scream; it was instantly reduced to a charred piece of debris emitting black smoke, peeling off the wall.

“You're—courting death!”

The Beast Race leader was the first to recover from the shock, its blood-red pupils shrinking to needle points, veins bulging on its thick neck.

Having the fat meat snatched from its mouth was more painful than being killed.

Compared to the Beast Race's rage, the Insect Race leader appeared exceptionally calm.

Its six compound eyes stared fixedly at the white Afterimage, watching it easily maneuver between the remaining beams. Its pair of magnificent metallic wings could even withstand a few laser sweeps, only sparking with a little energy.

At this moment, the culprit—the Star Beast—had already arrived in front of the chambers.

It seemed full of curiosity about these boxes; its huge head leaned close to a transparent chamber wall, it smashed the glass with one claw, and took the treasure box inside into its hand.

“Bastard! Get over here and die!”

The Beast Race leader could no longer endure it; it took the hideous energy weapon from its back and aimed it in the direction of the Star Beast, not caring at all if it would damage the storage boxes behind it.

“Idiot, do you want to blow the treasures to pieces too?”

The Insect Race leader let out a hissing, cold laugh, stopping its impulse, “To think there's a Star Beast hidden in this ship! Everyone, flank it and catch it!”

“Star Beast...”

The Beast Race leader chewed on these two words in a low voice, its blood-red eyes first dazed, then replaced by ecstasy and greed like a volcanic eruption.

“It's a living Star Beast! Hahahaha! We're rich!”

“Catch it! A living Star Beast can be exchanged for an entire fleet!”

The temptation of wealth was far more inciting than the threat of death.

Without needing the leader to order, four Beast Race warriors with blood-red eyes, like hyenas smelling blood, lunged madly toward that white Afterimage.

Their sanity had been burned away by greed; all that remained in their minds was the thought of capturing that snow-white creature alive.

“Trash!”

The Insect Race leader's scolding was as cold as iron, “Formation! Press in from both sides!”

However, the speed of the Star Beast far exceeded their imagination.

It was like a slippery bolt of lightning, turning freely within the long, narrow passage.

Facing the direct, fierce lunges of the Beast Race, it even had the leisure to turn back and strike with a claw.

“Roar!”

A bear beast, relying on its thick skin and flesh, tried to block it with its body, but the white Afterimage just lightly kicked off the wall, its entire body tracing a graceful arc in mid-air, passing over its head, and incidentally leaving a wound deep enough to see bone on the bear beast's back with the edge of its magnificent metallic wings.

What made the pursuers even more furious was that while this Star Beast was fleeing, it didn't forget to continue “harvesting.”

It would sometimes use its claws to hook and shatter the crystal wall of a chamber, poke its head in to bite out a silver box, and sometimes use its tail to precisely coil around another box, rolling it out from a broken gap and swallowing it directly into its belly—the box disappeared into thin air, as if accommodated by an invisible dimensional space.

In a short chase of a thousand meters, seven or eight more storage boxes fell into its claws.

“Stop right there!”

The Beast Race leader was so angry its lungs were about to explode; while running wildly, it raised its energy weapon and fired indiscriminately, the scorching energy beams grazing the Star Beast's fur and melting pitch-black pits into the passage walls.

“Idiot! Do you want to dismantle the entire ship!”

The Insect Race leader roared. One of its subordinates, because it was dodging the Beast Race leader's accidental fire, was a beat slow and was struck by the Star Beast's tail sweep. Its hard carapace cracked inch by inch, and it fainted on the spot.

The Star Beast seemed amused by the clamor behind it; it glanced back at the exasperated pursuers, emitting a low growl in its throat similar to a young lion's roar, carrying a hint of provocation.

Immediately after, it dove into a fork at the end of the passage, its snow-white body flashing and disappearing around the corner.

“Chase!”

The Beast Race leader didn't think twice, taking its subordinates and following it in.

The Insect Race leader hesitated slightly, looking at the half-emptied storage area, waved its limbs, and issued the order:

“Follow! Today, this Star Beast and the remaining treasures must be ours!”