Short on Manpower

Xi Xiu switched off the floating lamp, said goodnight to A Xian, closed her eyes, and fell peacefully asleep above the clouds.

The tranquility here was comforting, and sleep came quickly, though it felt different.

At five the next morning, all was silent above the clouds. The first light of the star flickered faintly amid the rolling cloud sea as Xi Xiu led her team back to the ground.

The Combat Robots had finished updating their programs. Their destination today was still the edge of the desert, where several King Insects remained.

With food scarce, the Insects' growth had been forced to slow.

The starving Insects were exceptionally vicious. The Combat Robots had killed many during the night, yet the newly grown Insects were already nearing yesterday's number of mature Insects.

They had thought today's mission would be somewhat easier, but it still looked to be a grueling, time-consuming battle.

The groups were arranged as they had been yesterday, except they needed to end the fight quickly today.

So Xi Xiu and A Xian decided that they would fight in small groups during the morning slaughter. In the afternoon, they would have to split up to kill more Insects.

Every Insect in this area had to be killed today, and all traces on the ground had to be cleared away.

They also had to carry out a kill mission in another forest, where there were far more Insects than here.

The teams assigned there were somewhat short-handed, and they needed to go reinforce them.

Xi Xiu did not concern herself with anything else. In one hour, she and Aona's group killed three King Insects, moving at their fastest speed and using the ninety percent of their strength everyone already knew about.

Seeing their captain work so hard, the other warriors