The squad seemed to have ventured deep into some kind of ancient jet engine, the "breathing" of the vents—those foul-smelling pale yellow gases—whistled past Bei Dang and his companions.
This gas corroded their protective suits, and in some areas, a rough, white frost-like pattern immediately formed.
All around were living bodies of the Insect Race, dark red, brownish-yellow, deep black, purple-blue vessels, nerves, tissues, muscles, and so on, writhing constantly. Even beneath their feet, there were continuous undulations, making the squad members quite uncomfortable.
At the forefront of the group, Chen Gu spoke: "Speed up, I sense the insects are getting suspicious."
The group moved swiftly underfoot, as Chen Gu led the way, quickly delving along the vent passage to the very bottom, where they encountered a special organ with a honeycomb structure. This part secreted a slime from its densely packed, fist-sized holes.
Bei Dang tried it out, his face changing: "This is highly corrosive, don't touch it."
The team members looked at Chen Gu: "Captain, what should we do next?"
Chen Gu gently raised a finger: "Shh, give me some time." He spread his arms, and an invisible force rapidly spread out. Bei Dang and several team members exchanged glances, realizing this must be the Radiation Field ability mentioned in the intel about Chen Gu.
About half a minute later, Chen Gu pointed to a position: "We need to break through here and fight our way in. But as soon as we move, the insects will immediately catch on. I can't continue to use the Psychological Spy ability to shield everyone, we'll be exposed and face direct attacks from the insects."
Bei Dang and the others prepared their weapons, nodding in unison: "We are ready."
Chen Gu nodded: "Use laser cutting weapons to clear the path. Follow my lead, I'll cover the rear. You just need to keep moving forward."
Two team members equipped with high-energy laser weapons stepped up, tearing off their protective suits to reveal their combat mecha. Then the mechanical structures on their arms rotated, each extending a large-caliber laser blaster.
Chen Gu, with a somewhat mystical air, said: "Just open the path, I'll guide your direction."
Before the two team members could inquire, they naturally understood which direction to blaze a trail in their minds. With solemn expressions, they raised their laser weapons: "Ready—begin!"
ZZZ—
ZZZ—
Two massive laser beams shot out, converging in front of them into an even larger beam that rapidly melted the Insect Race's living material ahead into gas, opening up a passage.
The enormous meat mat trembled violently, then those vents let out a high-frequency shriek. Humans couldn't hear it, but nearby insects rushed back frantically.
Within the meat mat, in certain areas, various warrior insects being incubated accelerated their hatching, one by one detaching, heading towards the squad through some channels within the meat mat to encircle them.
In a short time, a large batch of insects appeared behind the squad. Chen Gu stood calmly, continuously unleashing various professional skills between his hands, repelling wave after wave of the swarm behind them.
Bei Dang and the team either used weapons or deployed their professional abilities to eliminate any stragglers. The squad steadily advanced, and with speed, the meat mat seemed in extreme pain, its massive body trembling incessantly.
On Bei Dang's single man mecha, a device transmitted everything they saw back to the Tai Xing base camp. Marshal Kang Kesi watched everything unfold, nodding slowly: "As expected of a powerful multi-classer. He has already revealed more than five classes."
Deep within the meat mat, a gigantic, bizarre worm-like creature resided. It seemed like a soft worm, but was five hundred meters long, covered in tentacles of all sizes, each possessing a flesh bubble that emitted a faint green glow at its tip.
These flesh bubbles swayed, and suddenly, the worm's upper body rose, its tentacles quickly flailing as if it had discovered something.
Then, the worm's body moved, surprisingly not slow, and along with the meat mat functioning like a conveyor belt, it rapidly ascended upwards. In just over half a minute, it charged to the underside of Chen Gu's squad.
Suddenly, the worm opened its massive maw, indiscriminately swallowing the entire squad along with the surrounding insects and meat mat structures!
In the base camp, Marshal Kang Kesi immediately ordered: "We've found it! Take action immediately; we may not have much time!"
In the Star Sea, behind the Freedom Alliance fleet and the Star Sea insect swarm engaging in fierce combat, a special fleet lay hidden. Hailing from the Star State, these warships were not large but agile and swift.
Upon receiving Marshal Kang Kesi's orders, the fleet's commander immediately initiated a full-scale assault. Simultaneously, the nearby Freedom Alliance fleet spared no effort in clearing a path, leading straight to Tai Xing's near-Earth orbit.
The fleet charged through and then extended its main cannon in near-Earth orbit.
Their main cannon was distinct from average warship cannons, with a heavier base but a much smaller caliber, resembling a metallic pyramid.
"Target locked, fire!"
The warship's main cannon fired energy beams with a diameter of only thirty centimeters, containing extremely high energy with superior penetration.
Passing through Tai Xing's atmosphere, the energy had already dissipated nearly forty percent, but the remaining force accurately penetrated the meat mat, striking the worm general that had swallowed the squad.
After a round of salvo, huge wounds appeared on the meat carpet. Severely damaged, the meat carpet ceased to wriggle, and those vents fell silent.
Kang Kesi and the fleet commander awaited the final outcome: "Have we killed the Insect General?"
"Send out the reconnaissance robots."
Dozens of objects resembling starry sky fighters were released by the fleet, navigating through Tai Xing's atmosphere and landing near the meat carpet. They transformed into spider-shaped reconnaissance robots and quickly burrowed into the wounds of the meat carpet.
Meanwhile, back at the base, a technician near Kang Kesi suddenly noticed a detail and loudly reported: "Marshal, one fully stealth fighter has flown off on its own!"
"Hmm?" Kang Kesi's heart skipped a beat, an ominous feeling washing over him.
The fully stealth fighter was unoccupied; it had previously been piloted by a team member. There had been no remote operation of the fighter from their side, so why did it fly away from the meat carpet, leaving the core area of battle on its own?
The reconnaissance robots quickly darted into the meat carpet's interior, and soon the images were transmitted back.
The meat carpet had indeed been heavily damaged by the salvo, essentially rendered useless, and many insect creatures gestating within it had perished, marking a significant victory.
However, despite searching throughout the meat carpet, the reconnaissance robots couldn't find the body of the Insect General.
"What's going on?" Cold sweat broke out on the brows of Kang Kesi and the fleet commander.
Inside the fully stealth fighter, Chen Gu and Milgray emerged, abandoning the fighter to free themselves from the Freedom Alliance's surveillance.
Milgray smiled and said, "You guessed right, they indeed have ill intentions."
Chen Gu gently shook his head, "I knew they would definitely have a scheme, but I didn't expect them to be so ruthless, using their own professional squad to monitor me as bait, hoping to lure out that Insect General."
This new breed of insects' success to a certain extent comes from the professionals, so they have a very strong desire·······.·for professionals.
A high energy level multi-professional like Chen Gu is an irresistible delicacy for the Insect General.
And the Star State and Freedom Alliance must have reached a secret agreement, with the Freedom Alliance negotiating with Chen Gu to join this operation, while the Star State conveniently has a new battleship capable of executing the mission of sniping the Insect General from the starry sky.
If this plan succeeds, Tai Xing's crisis will be resolved; without the Insect General's command, the insect swarm would be a disorganized mess, destined to be eliminated one by one by the Freedom Alliance's forces.
The Freedom Alliance needs the Star State because their military technology is significantly lagging, lacking such battleships and main cannons.
Even a Close Range Attack Ship cannot threaten the Insect General. However, the power of a standard battleship's main cannon is too "scattered," lacking concentration, vaporizing the Insect General in one shot.
Moreover, their massive battleships may not even be able to break through the starry sky insect swarm's interception.
The value of such an Insect General is immeasurable. If it can be thoroughly researched, it will greatly aid in understanding the new insects' combat secrets, providing significant leverage in future negotiations with the Confederation.
Thus, they need the Insect General's body; it must be sniped, not blown to pieces.
Otherwise, the notoriously cunning Freedom Alliance would surely ditch the Star State and handle things on their own.
Unexpectedly, even though they saw with their own eyes the Insect General devouring the squad and Chen Gu, they couldn't find the Insect General's body after the operation!
Bei Dang squad's voluntary sacrifice wasn't as "heroic" as Chen Gu imagined; they were all sentenced to death by the military court. Executing this mission erased their previous crimes, and their families could receive generous compensation and posthumous honors.
The Star State's fleet commander, significantly displeased, questioned over the comms: "Marshal Kang Kesi, what on earth is going on? Our Star State fulfilled the terms of the agreement, and you owe us an explanation for this outcome!"
Kang Kesi angrily shut off the communication channel: "The Star State people are always so self-righteous and arrogant."
Finally realizing, the Eighth Energy Level by his side stepped forward and said, "Marshal, we might have been deceived. I'm not sure if it's [Electric Light Operator] or [Illusion Weaver], or perhaps another rare profession. What we're seeing is what Chen Gu wants us to see."
Kang Kesi pondered and said, "Deploy the Divine Squad Nine, I need to know what really happened there!"
"Yes!"
[Divine Squad] is the most elite professional special operations unit of the Freedom Alliance military, with Squad Nine being the finest of the fine, led by an Eighth Energy Level, composed of Seventh and Sixth Energy Level professionals.
At the base, a large ground aircraft soared into the sky.
