Chapter 563: 405
Watching the plasma bombs shoot towards their direction from afar, everyone’s faces in the vehicle turned somewhat unpleasant. As for other places, they weren’t sure, but in Kyoto, wherever plasma bugs appeared, the Imperial Court would arrange for the execution squad to eliminate them immediately.
Under normal circumstances, plasma bugs wouldn’t be allowed to live long enough to attack freely.
Their being attacked by plasma bombs this time suggested that the Bug Race’s previous reckless image was likely feigned, meant to lull humans into complacency.
It was only then that Zachary remembered a plot he had seen in a movie: humans receiving a distress signal, followed by the arrangement of the protagonist’s team to conduct the rescue.
When the protagonist’s team arrived at the rescue site, they discovered it was a trap set by the Bug Race to lure and kill humans.
Zachary never expected that the scenario from the movie would replay itself in his life. Gazing at the approaching plasma bombs in the distance, Zachary turned his attention towards Gavin.
Gavin had also noticed the plasma bombs flying from a distance. After surveying the surroundings, he shouted to everyone, "This vehicle is probably a goner. The intelligence for this mission is wrong; it’s not a rescue mission but a trap deliberately set by the Bug Race. Everyone break out on their own and regroup in the city."
Although in the recent battle it seemed that Zachary’s team had barely fended off the Soldier Bugs, that was because it was a defensive battle. The area limited their abilities during the defense, effectively weakening their combat efficacy.
But when Gavin announced the breakout, that limitation vanished, and every member chose a direction to break through.
Watching the others quickly escape from the vehicle and disappear into the encirclement of Soldier Bugs, Zachary didn’t waste the behemoth they had ridden on the way there. He collected it into his Cave and then used the Invisibility Technique to fly into the sky with Sword Flight.
Although the sky was also swarming with many Flying Bugs circling around, in just the blink of an eye, the Flying Swords had carried Zachary into the clouds, a height already far beyond the Flying Bugs’ circling range.
Standing in the sky, Zachary watched for the occasional openings and flashes of light from the Bug Nest below. He knew these were the disturbances caused by his teammates breaking through.
Seeing the disturbances below grow smaller, Zachary knew it wasn’t that his teammates were tired and in danger. Instead, they were adjusting to the swarms, consciously reducing the frequency of combat to decrease their exertion and increase the chances of a successful breakout while ensuring their safety.
Already flying in the sky, Zachary saw the full extent of the Bug Race’s encirclement. From realizing they had fallen into a trap to being surrounded and defending themselves against the Bug Race, it had all happened in just over an hour.
Yet, Zachary could never have imagined the scale of the encirclement the Bug Race had managed to create this time.
However, because the encirclement was mostly made up of the lowest-ranked Soldier Bugs, the circle seemed to gather a vast number of the Bug Race, but the quality was severely lacking.
Ants can take down an elephant, but the key is not the number of ants but making the elephant stand still and allow the ants to attack without retaliation.
Watching each teammate gradually succeed in breaking through, Zachary turned his gaze in the opposite direction from where his teammates had fled.
The plasma bombs that had forced them to abandon the vehicle had been shot from this direction.
Following the trail of the plasma bomb’s tail flame, Zachary quickly located the culprit behind the attack. As he set his eyes in that direction, he was suddenly taken aback. He never expected to find over thirty plasma bugs gathered in that place.
So many plasma bugs gathered together. They could annihilate his temporarily assembled team, let alone facing a standard Imperial Court organized military force. If all plasma bombs were fired together and hit their target, it could spell disaster for the opponent.
At this realization, without any other people present, Zachary did not need to hide his strength. He could fight at full capacity, unlike when he had to hold back among Gavin’s team.
Of course, flying in the sky, Zachary certainly wouldn’t compromise his security by landing on the ground for close combat.
As Zachary sifted through his Storage Space, he searched for a suitable weapon to use now, only after a long search to find that the firearms he had collected were fine against humanoid creatures, but facing the colossal plasma bugs, they were unlikely to cause substantial damage.
Considering this, Zachary felt somewhat helpless. However, he couldn’t just go back to look for suitable weapons and then come back to exterminate the plasma bugs.
While Sword Control meant that going back and forth wouldn’t take much time, Zachary had no access to weapons that could severely damage the giants. While he could indeed get them if he really wanted to, it would cost a lot of favors and take a long time.
If it were a convenient matter, Zachary might act decisively to resolve it. But spending so much effort on something that wouldn’t significantly impact him might not spur him into action.
Standing on the Flying Swords, Zachary frowned down at the plasma bugs, gathered with their tails retracted on the ground, wondering what in his Cave could be used to slay them.
