Chapter 509: Chapter 378 Different Situations in Different Cities
Since the second wave of the Bug Race appeared, the wilderness had been quiet for over a month, but everyone knew that a natural disaster couldn’t just end abruptly without a proper conclusion. The current calm was merely a precursor to a greater chaos that would come later.
Although many Soldier Bugs died during the attack on Kyoto, everyone remembered that when the post-battle tally was taken, the bodies of very few Flame Bugs were found, nor was the flying bug that had appeared only once and then never again seen.
Another month passed, and the Bug Race portal once again appeared in the sky. This time, however, it was different from the first two occurrences. The Imperial Court, now prepared, detected the portal’s emergence immediately.
When the commander, responsible for leading the interception mission, saw countless flying bugs circling the portal like guards, he knew the welcoming gift they had prepared probably wouldn’t be delivered.
With the experience of the previous two invasions, and considering the substantial size of this space portal, even though the entrance was still in the air, the speed at which the Bug Mountain was accumulated was extraordinarily fast.
After Bug Mountain reached a certain height, Flame Bugs were the first to crawl out from the portal, followed by some carriers that actually brought out a Brain Bug.
With the emergence of this Brain Bug, the previously disorderly Bug Race on the ground immediately became organized and methodical.
Witnessing the transformation of the surrounding Bug Race after the Brain Bug appeared on the monitors, everyone felt a tingling sensation on their scalps.
The commander decisively gathered the higher echelons of military power, ready to execute a beheading plan as soon as the battle commenced.
With the commander’s keen sense of warfare, he knew that fighting the Bug Race with and without a central command were two entirely different concepts—even though the two sides had not yet engaged in direct combat.
What nobody expected was that just after the carriers had brought the Brain Bug down from Bug Mountain, a hole suddenly collapsed in the ground nearby, and the carriers went directly into the Cavern with the Brain Bug.
This unexpected turn of events left the survivors, who were watching the monitors, somewhat unprepared. They were already concerned about how tricky it would be to face a commanded Bug Race, but they hadn’t anticipated that the Bug Race’s commander would be so tenacious.
Before the fight had even started, it had already hidden underground, and it seemed that this hole was not something dug up on the spot. It seemed likely that the Flame Bugs that had disappeared from the last battlefield were responsible for this task.
Although it was not clear why the Bug Race had spent over two months preparing for their attack, and whether it was to give the Flame Bugs time to dig a nesting cavern underground, the fact that the Brain Bug had avoided confrontation before combat led the strategic planning department to upgrade their assessment of the Bug Race’s intelligence by another level.
Upon realizing they could no longer rely on a tactical advantage for victory, the military headquarters issued a prepare-for-battle alert to the entire army.
The reason the commander didn’t seize the moment to strike at the Bug Race just after their portal crossing was due to the memory of Plasma Bombs shot from the opposite side of the space portal during its first appearance.
Now that the Brain Bug had entered underground, even if they approached, maybe they could disrupt the influx of the Bug Race from the portal slightly. Still, with Plasma Bombs present, their own losses would also be significant.
It would be easier to wait for the space portal to close; afterwards, dealing with both Soldier Bugs and Flame Bugs would be relatively straightforward.
Yet, as more and more Bug Race creatures appeared, the expression on the survivors observing the situation through the monitors grew increasingly grave.
Unlike the previous time when the Bug Race crossed the portal and scattered to attack everywhere on Blue Star, this time after crossing the portal, many Cavern entrances seemingly sprouted out of nowhere near Bug Mountain, and the majority of the Bug Race, instead of wandering as before, went directly into these Caverns.
This time, the space portal, without any disturbances, remained open for just three days. When it closed, the Imperial Court immediately contacted Officials from other locations.
Most areas were experiencing a situation similar to Kyoto’s: The Flame Bugs from the last portal emergence had not joined in the attack on the cities but instead had concealed themselves underground, continuously expanding the subterranean space, and during the opening of the portal this time, they had ushered the Brain Bug into the Caverns.
However, Pengcheng was an exception. After the previous portal appearance, the majority of the Bug Race followed the path opened by the first wave of Soldier Bugs, entering behind the tree shade and disappearing. Whether Soldier Bugs, flying bugs, or Flame Bugs, they all vanished after entering the tree shade.
After the Brain Bug appeared this time, the pattern was the same. However, the survivors monitoring the Bug Race’s movements astutely noticed that the Brain Bug seemed unsettled, even though it was their first time seeing one.
As the carriers and the Brain Bug got closer to the tree shade, everyone could sense the Brain Bug resisting vehemently.
Regardless of the Brain Bug’s resistance, the carrier bugs beneath it steadily moved toward the tree shade, unwavering in their course.
As they neared the tree shade, observers were shocked to see many short limbs emerge from beneath the Brain Bug. It seemed to be attempting to free itself from its carriers and move away from the tree shade on its own power.
But just as the short limbs of the Brain Bug touched the ground, the carriers beneath it went into a frenzy and bit them off, continuing to carry the Brain Bug on their backs toward the direction of the tree shade.
