The Failed Plan
Over the course of three days, many proposals were put forward, but all of them were rejected.
On the third day, Stda suddenly asked, "Gu Ding, since we can't get around the three five-star Insect Beast Commander no matter what we do, why don't we just find a breakthrough from those three Insect Beast Commander? Do you know what kind of insect beasts those three are?"
Gu Ding nodded and relayed the message that the Sea Emperor had given him.
"One is Hundred-Eyed Spider, one is Heavy Armor Cannon Horseshoe Crab, and the other is Gluttonous Insect."
"This is a bit tricky. I've heard of the Hundred-Eyed Spider; it's an insect-beast with extremely strong hunting abilities. Besides possessing super-developed, all-seeing vision, they also have extremely sensitive hearing and touch. Their special ability is to spit out silk threads comparable in strength to divine artifacts. These threads can be both soft and hard, capable of instantly strangling most enemies of the same level, or weaving them into webs to capture opponents. In addition, their tear glands can spray deadly venom, capable of killing those three levels above them. As for the other two insect-beasts, I've never even heard of them. Gu Ding, you know the names of these two insect-beasts, so you must have done some research beforehand, right? Can you tell me about them?"
"The Heavy Armor Cannon Horseshoe Crab is an extremely large insect beast with defensive capabilities exceeding five levels of its own cultivation. In addition to its defensive capabilities, this insect beast is extremely adept at long-range attacks. It can absorb powerful air currents from the air, mix them with its own energy, and spew out powerful air-blasting projectiles. Even a mere soldier-level Heavy Armor Cannon Horseshoe Crab can easily destroy a city with a population of tens of millions with a single projectile."
"The Gluttonous Insect are even more terrifying. They belong to the higher strata of the insect race and possess a terrifying ability to devour. Their mouthparts have a very special structure with an extremely powerful attraction inside. Once prey is targeted by them, few can escape. In addition, their bodies are designed for killing. They are born with strong combat talents and are extremely strong in close combat. This Gluttonous Insect is the most dangerous of these three insect beasts."
Gu Ding's information was naturally copied directly from the Sea Emperor.
"It seems this is not a good situation. The Mother Queen has melee fighters, ranged fighters, and those skilled in reconnaissance." Kass frowned. As prospective members of the top 1 team, they had never encountered such a difficult task before. Given the strength of the three five-star Insect Beast Commander, even with all the regular members of the top 1 team present, the chances of successfully hunting down the Mother Queen were slim.
"Gu Ding, how big is that Gluttonous Insect?" Stda suddenly asked.
"This one is nearly twenty meters long." Gu Ding found this question rather strange.
"From your description, they swallow their food whole without using their teeth?" Stda continued.
"Yes, Gluttonous Insect. Its hunger is terrifying; it's almost always hungry. When it encounters food, it swallows it whole, never letting it linger in its mouth. As long as there's suitable prey, it will hunt, even its own kind." Gu Ding gave an affirmative answer. "Moreover, although this Gluttonous Insect spends most of its time guarding the Mother Queen, it has one hour each day for free hunting."
"If that's the case, I do have an idea." Stda's lips curled up slightly. "We can put Super Bomb inside the stomach of a bug beast, then control that bug beast to fly into the Gluttonous Insect's hunting range and let it swallow it whole. When the Gluttonous Insect finishes its hunt and returns to the Mother Queen, we can detonate the bomb. If I remember correctly, Liliath has the ability to hypnotize. Judging from the Purgatory Fire she used before, her soul strength is enough to hypnotize most bug beasts."
This method sounded feasible, far more so than the various previously proposed methods of artificially placing Super Bomb. Therefore, it was immediately adopted. After discussing the details, the group began implementation.
Based on the Gluttonous Insect's food preferences, Gu Ding chose the Black-Striped Beetle as the carrier of the Super Bomb. This beetle, which is spherical in shape, has thin skin and is juicy, making it a favorite prey of the Gluttonous Insect.
Gu Ding and the others specifically chose a Five-Star Soldier Rank creature to prevent it from being killed by other insectoid beasts. After capturing the insectoid beast alive, Liliath easily hypnotized it, and Robert placed a Super Bomb inside its stomach. Then, under hypnosis, the insectoid beast flew towards the Gluttonous Insect's hunting range.
Sea Emperor also kept a close watch on the movements of the Black-Striped Beetle.
Since the Black-Striped Beetle is a five-star insect beast, it didn't encounter many stronger predators along the way and flew smoothly into the hunting range of the Gluttonous Insect. Then, it stopped somewhat dazedly on a branch of a large tree.
Liliath's hypnosis involved simply giving a command to enter that area and then find a place to rest. Because under hypnosis, the simpler the command, the easier it is to execute.
But Sea Emperor soon discovered that things were not so simple.
The more than one thousand insectoid leaders newly bred by the Mother Queen entered this area not long after the Black-Striped Beetle arrived. (Pingnan hunted and devoured them, seemingly thoroughly enjoying his feast.)
This was something that had never happened before, and it was completely unexpected by the Sea Emperor and everyone else.
Left with no other option, the Sea Emperor told Gu Ding about the matter.
Gu Ding was also a little depressed after hearing this. He didn't expect to run into this situation at this time. If the plan could have been implemented a day earlier, it might have actually succeeded.
The Black-Striped Beetle was quickly spotted by a Red Sickle Insect leader. Normally, the Black-Striped Beetle would have immediately sensed the danger and fled. But under hypnosis, it remained motionless, dazed and confused.
The Red Sickle Insect had been lurking for half a day without noticing any movement from the Black-Striped Beetle -Black-Striped Beetle, so it finally couldn't resist making its move. It darted out swiftly, its two sharp, knife-like forelegs slashing at the beetle, easily tearing it in two. Even Five-Star Soldier Rank insect beast is incredibly vulnerable before a commander-level creature.
The Red Sickle Insect rapidly devoured the Black-Striped Beetle 'Black-Striped Beetle corpse, but it soon discovered a Super-Explosive Particle Annihilation Bomb hidden within. The newly hatched Zerg leader, naturally unaware that this was a human weapon, curiously tapped the cartridge case with its forelegs, producing a metallic clanging sound. After circling the Super Bomb, it used its two forelegs to pick it up, brought it to its mouth, and then bit down with its sharp teeth.
With a "clunk," the cartridge case deformed slightly, but wasn't broken. The Red Sickle Insect bit down hard, its teeth chattering, finally realizing this thing was inedible. Completely losing interest, it tossed it aside and flapped its wings away.
"What should we do now?" Sea Emperor told Gu Ding about the death of the Black-Striped Beetle and the Super Bomb falling to the ground. In his opinion, the operation had failed.
"Are all the more than a thousand commander-level insect beasts over there?" Gu Ding asked.
"That's right, they're all here." The Sea Emperor didn't know why Gu Ding would ask this question.
"If we detonate it now, will all these commander-level insect beasts die? And will it affect the Mother Queen?" Gu Ding's words finally made the Sea Emperor understand his intentions.
"This area is vast, and these insectoid beasts are incredibly fast. There are currently fewer than two hundred of them within a one-hundred-kilometer radius of the Super Bomb. If it were detonated, those two hundred would certainly die, but the remaining eight hundred would likely only suffer minor injuries, not fatal ones. It would have virtually no impact on the Mother Queen, as this hunting ground is over a thousand kilometers away from Mother Queen location." The Sea Emperor's reply proved that Gu Ding's idea of directly detonating the Super Bomb was not feasible.
"The Mother Queen is very intelligent. If we detonate it now, she will know that we have measures against her and the Zerg leader. She will become more cautious, and then she will be even more difficult to deal with," the Sea Emperor further explained.
"If this doesn't work either, then this mission is a complete failure." Gu Ding sighed somewhat unwillingly. "You keep an eye on things, I'll go gather the others and see if there are any other options."
After a while, the others heard Gu Ding's telepathic message and gathered together.
"Gu Ding, you just told us that the mission failed. What happened?" Stda asked anxiously.
Gu Ding then recounted what had happened, and everyone who heard it felt helpless.
"It seems this is our destiny, we can't escape this calamity." Sharp smiled bitterly. "Tomorrow, we have no choice but to fight to the death."
"There are still more than twelve hours before the Insect Tide arrives. Does anyone have any good ideas? Please come up with them quickly." Gu Ding had no other choice but to gather everyone together to see if anyone could come up with a better solution.
"How about we try again?" Liliath suddenly spoke up. "According to the Gluttonous Insect's habits, it can't avoid hunting once a day. Although the newly promoted Insect Beast Commander have occupied its hunting grounds, it can't just go hungry like this. Either it will return to that area after the new Insect Beast Commander finish eating, or it will move to another area to eat..."
"It's too late now. That Gluttonous Insect has indeed moved to another hunting area. By the time our insect beasts are ready and fly over, its hunting time will have already ended." Gu Ding shook his head. The Sea Emperor's detection showed that the Gluttonous Insect had gone to another area and had already begun hunting.
Meanwhile, in the same forest, a primal Insect Beast Commander reappeared beside the Super Bomb. After some probing, it discovered that the bomb was inedible. But instead of leaving, it picked up the Super Bomb and vanished in a flash...
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(Sorry, I've been writing this chapter since around 6 PM and I've been experiencing some writer's block. It's not a plot-related block; I know exactly how to write this part of the story, but I'm a bit stuck on the details. I'll make up for it tomorrow!)