Family

More of the swarm surrounded this base from all directions, and one by one, flame towers rose; as compressed fuel was injected into their bases, extremely high-temperature flames erupted, causing the swarm to retreat in large numbers as they let out ear-piercing shrieks from the scorching heat.

That fuel was not only combustible, but the inducer packed inside could also disrupt the swarm's pheromones.

The disruption of pheromones caused them to blindly trample over the corpses of their kin and even attack their own members; predators that had just crawled onto the corpse mounds had no time to roar before shadow hunters, which had been lurking for a long time, pounced out, cutting open their chests, splashing green blood, and pulling off heads to dangle from their mantis blades as trophies.

The vibrating wings of one such shadow hunter quickly retracted as it prepared to slip back into the shadows, only for a heavy hammer of hardened chitin to smash down in front of it, pulping its head into mush—it was a five-meter-tall maintenance worker.

Its body was likewise covered in predators that were tearing at its flesh with their fangs; the pain made its eyes turn red and caused it to lose its mind, wildly swinging its lethal chitinous hammer and transforming into a meat grinder on the battlefield.

A soldier holding a blazing blade suddenly leaped out, cutting open the maintenance worker's chest and stepping forward, swinging the long blade in rapid succession; every strike precisely sliced off a Zerg head, bringing forth a spray of corrosive blood, as the inducer coating the barrier misled the swarm into thinking these soldiers were their kin, unaware that this 'companion' was turning into a killing machine, frantically slaughtering their lives.

"The inducer that disrupts the swarm's pheromones is also an invention of Dr. Klef."

Even though Mondeville's tone remained calm, anyone could hear the admiration for Dr. Klef in the major's words, and a fanatical fire seemed to burn deep within his eyes.

Whether it was fire or shells, or even the sharp claws of the Zerg, nothing could harm these soldiers, and the shrieks of the swarm only bolstered their morale; as time passed and the scale of the swarm visibly dwindled, the lurking commander suddenly woke up, realized something was wrong, let out a skyward shriek, and began to lead the main force in retreat.

This also allowed the soldiers to locate it—a commander disguised as a carrier; this type of Zerg had an inverted triangle on its head, with flesh and metal canisters fused together, and three slender legs that kept it moving at high speed at all times, a unique body structure that allowed them to carry loads thousands of times their own body weight.

"It's over there, don't let it get away!" a soldier shouted.

The base's close-in defense cannons and flame towers responded immediately, aiming toward the commander; flames soared into the sky, and under the indiscriminate carpet bombing, Zerg were sent flying every second.

Inferior Zerg, known as workers, lacked the ability to think and had their consciousness controlled by a collective network; every swarm population had a 'Pin' nailed to the area, responsible for receiving instructions from high-tier Zerg and then passing those instructions down to the workers, and these Pins were often the commanders of a Zerg squad, leading anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of workers.

In the offensive and defensive battles against the Zerg, decapitating the commander was considered the most important objective; once the commander died, the remaining workers would be leaderless, lose their target, and spontaneously flee.

Sensing its own danger, that Zerg commander scrambled frantically in all directions, its three semi-mechanical claws crawling rapidly as countless predator workers pounced forward to block the incoming fire with their fleshy bodies, shrieking as they died one after another.

The Zerg scattered across the battlefield converged like a tide in the same direction, and even those soldiers could not immediately break through the barrier formed by the swarm's bodies, only able to watch them go far away.

"That guy is about to get away," Mountain Crow reminded. "Dr. Klef, if you have any more black tech, hurry up and bring it out."

Mondeville stood in place, calmly watching the direction where the commander was retreating.

"If we let that commander go back, won't this intelligence be leaked?"

Seeing that the commander was about to be swept away by the Zerg army, Mountain Crow was getting restless, but Cloud Magpie beside him moved first; he crouched and dashed forward, leaping into the air as the divine blade Seiyumaru Mitetsu was unsheathed, cold air overflowing and then suddenly exploding, as a bone-chilling cold wave swept the field, the extreme frost even causing the air to congeal.

"Cold Mind-Flow: Egoless Lotus."

Accompanied by a metallic chime, two glaciers spanning thousands of meters rose from the desert sands out of thin air, traversing the entire desert; every Zerg along the way was frozen within, the icy stones overflowing with cold mist, and even just looking at it made one feel a chill running through their body as if facing a desolate, frozen abyss.

Under the crushing weight of absolute power, the struggles of weak creatures were meaningless; landing light as a swallow, Cloud Magpie sheathed his divine blade, and the glaciers exploded accordingly, the Zerg within completely annihilated by the sharpness hidden in the ice.

It was undeniable that most members of the Wind Crane and Cloud Magpie families within the Five Great Chi Families were not skilled in combat; the former's daily activities primarily involved supervising various organizations and forces within Chi Pin Heaven, with oversight agencies set up across the territory, while the latter's industrial focus was concentrated on the education and medical sectors.

However, this Cloud Magpie family head was an exception; his age remained a mystery to this day, and people only knew that his appearance had never changed over the years and that he was very powerful, having been active on the battlefields of the Tower City as early as over a decade ago; in his earlier years, he was even known as one of the Three Chi Heroes alongside Chihong and Heifeng, having joined forces with them to end a contact incident of the Remains.

Later on, he joined Mountain Crow and Snow Thistle to form the Crow-Magpie-Winter trio that the people of Chi Pin Heaven spoke of with great interest, often appearing together in the public eye.

After tens of thousands of Zerg were wiped out with such nonchalance, the soldiers on the scene did not recover from their surprise for a long time; until the alarm circling above the base was lifted, many soldiers silently lowered their heads, knowing the gap between themselves and the strong was vast, but never imagining it would be like a celestial chasm that could not be reached even if they walked to the end of this desert.

Most of them had already burned half their lives in this desert, and the yellow sand filling the sky buried more than just their youth and freedom; some veterans never saw their loved ones again before dying on the battlefield, buried in the yellow earth along with old photos that preserved their longing.

"Why aren't those people in high positions willing to come and end all of this?" a soldier said with his head down, his voice not loud, yet it was clearly captured by Cloud Magpie.

"With their power, they could clearly end all of this very quickly, yet they sit high above, watching us die in this desert—are the lives of us soldiers not worth anything?"

"They always talk a good game, but they're just a bunch of hypocritical bastards."

Cloud Magpie's gaze narrowed, and Mountain Crow came to his side; seeing the youth shake his head, he said nothing.

With the crisis resolved, they followed Mondeville back into the base; after Cloud Magpie demonstrated his ability, the major had suddenly become silent, walking ahead with a tense face without saying a word, and deeper inside was the research lab of the outpost base, where Dr. Klef was located.

The soldiers' wariness toward them grew heavier, and the gloomy atmosphere of the congealing air did not dissipate with the end of the battle; instead, there was a sense of calm that felt as if the veil of truth was about to be pulled back.

A veteran's weathered gaze lingered on the three of them; he skillfully used a knife to cut open a predator's spider-fang, from which flowed a semi-solid substance resembling saliva, and then he collected the substance, waited for it to solidify and harden at room temperature, crushed it, and picked up a piece to put into his mouth.

The drug cinnabar drool, circulated throughout the territory of Chi Pin to suppress people's fear, was simply processed from the saliva of the Eight-Spider Zerg; for them, cinnabar drool was as common in life as food and water, accompanying them from birth to death, and aside from these soldiers, few knew the production process of these vermilion crystal blocks.

"Dr. Klef is inside; he is currently unable to get away, so please wait a moment outside, my lords, and I will go in to inform him."

"What a grand display."

Mountain Crow arched an eyebrow and spread his hands half-joking, "Two small research scholars making three family heads wait outside the door for him; if word gets out, we'll be laughed at by our subordinates—where would I put my face?"

Dead silence responded to him, and Snow Thistle keenly noticed that the door they came through had been closed, and the soldiers originally stationed on the periphery were silently moving toward their direction; the female soldier closest to them appeared to be checking the time, but the muzzle of a gun hidden under her uniform was already exposed, gleaming with a dark, bluish light.

Beside her, several male soldiers approached an armored vehicle; once a firefight broke out, that would be the position where they could enter cover the fastest.

Unbeknownst to them, a 'dragnet' targeting them had already been laid out.

Of course, for these three, these subtle changes were as ridiculous as an ant trying to trap an elephant with a hunting net; the only reason they hadn't torn off their masks on the spot was because they wanted to see exactly how many more surprises this outpost could give them.

Just then, a thin soldier clutching a stack of data ran out in a hurry, breaking the silence of the atmosphere; he was flustered and lost his footing, tripping and falling to the ground, scattering the documents and data everywhere; one of the experimental reports flew to Snow Thistle's feet, and it was a research report concerning cinnabar drool—the symbols on it looked familiar to the woman, as if she had seen them on the outpost's water supply system.

"Oh no, oh no, these are all the doctor's research reports; I hope I didn't lose any, or the doctor will scold me again..."

The thin soldier muttered to himself, hurriedly scrambling up to pick up the data scattered on the ground; Snow Thistle said nothing, silently bending over to pick up the stack of data and handing it to the soldier.

During the exchange, Snow Thistle noticed that the soldier's slender arms were covered in needle marks and bruises, and his face was covered in grime, looking very dark.

"Thank you."

The soldier scratched his head with an awkward smile.

"What is your name?" Snow Thistle asked.

"I don't have a name, they all call me Xiao Liu; why do you ask?"

"It's nothing," Snow Thistle shook her head.

"Are you here to see Dr. Klef?" Xiao Liu asked.

He was unaware of the identities of the three people standing before him.

"Yes, we have some things we need to ask him clearly," Snow Thistle smiled.

"Dr. Klef is a very good person; he cares about every one of us soldiers and often pays attention to our physical condition!" As soon as Xiao Liu mentioned Dr. Klef, it was like opening a floodgate, as he praised the research scholar incessantly.

"Sometimes he even looks after us in our daily lives, often suggesting improvements to the base facilities to enhance our quality of life, treating us like his own children. Look, those water purifiers and many of the impressive research equipment were all set up by him."

"He was also the one who took the lead in exchanging supplies with the nearby refugee settlements to solve the problem of supply shortages in the outpost..."

Just as Xiao Liu was about to continue, a neutral voice interrupted him.

"Xiao Liu."

At that moment, the owner of the voice walked out slowly with the support of Mondeville.

"Did you get into trouble again?"

"Hehe..." Xiao Liu lowered his head guiltily.

The soldiers all spoke up at once the moment they saw the man:

"Dr. Klef, you, you're...!"

The middle-aged man with a hunched back let out a few soft coughs; meeting the surprised and expectant gazes of the crowd, the cane he was leaning on wavered twice before slowly falling to the ground, and he opened his arms to all the soldiers, as if embracing his own children.

"As you can see, I have already left that wheelchair and gained a new life!"

"That's wonderful!" the soldiers cheered together, some even weeping with joy.

Seeing the soldiers, who were still wary moments ago, suddenly undergo such a massive change and become as joyful as children, this eerie scene left the three family heads somewhat confused for a moment.

"Children, I can understand your joy, but for now, we have more important things to do, don't we?" Klef lowered his hands with a peaceful smile, his meaningful gaze sweeping over the three people below.

"What wind exactly has blown the three lords to my place?"

"Forget it, let's lay our cards on the table, although I don't know how a damnable bastard like you brainwashed these soldiers," Mountain Crow pulled out Passionate Lover from his coat, the revolver's muzzle pointing directly at the man's face.

"Klef, did you think we didn't know about your little schemes? Privately connecting with high-tier Zerg, human experimentation, secretly conducting forbidden rituals, and using the lives of thousands as sacrifices."

"There's no need to take you back for trial; we're here to send you on your way!"

"What... what are they talking about?"

The surrounding soldiers began to whisper among themselves.

"Yeah, yeah, these things..."

"They were already a matter of course."

"Is that not how it should be?"

"Those big shots sitting high above have never paid attention to us; they don't care about our lives or deaths at all. It was Dr. Klef who gave us care and a new life, even going as far as to contact high-tier Zerg and sacrifice the lives of those insignificant people—what noble and selfless love that is..."

Someone spoke through tears, looking at the middle-aged man as if they were gazing at a deity.

"This is the warmth of a family; being enveloped by this warmth, I have never been so happy."

"This is love from an elder."

Realizing that everyone had become different from usual, no matter how slow Xiao Liu was, he also sensed the abnormality; he retreated a few steps with trembling eyes, his gaze full of disbelief.

"Wha... what? Dr. Klef did all those things?" Xiao Liu lost his voice. "How is that possible?"

Clearly, the series of evil deeds by the middle-aged man was a bigger shock to him than the three family heads gathering before him.

Soldiers spontaneously prostrated themselves on the ground, their gazes full of fanaticism.

As he did so, the people around him followed suit; Dr. Klef enjoyed this sense of adoration, placing one hand on the railing, his peaceful gaze passing over the three of them before finally landing on Xiao Liu.

"Xiao Liu, what are you still thinking about? Come back to the embrace of the Family."

"We need to see our guests out."

As the man's words fell, the heads of all the soldiers exploded in unison, with red and white bone fragments flying everywhere; their spines crawled out like hideous long worms, dancing wildly in the air and letting out ear-piercing shrieks. The cores of their combat suits activated simultaneously, invisible barriers covering their entire bodies, as they collectively murmured words like "Family" and "Swarm" while closing in on the three of them.

"Tch, what the hell is this? This scene is even more messed up than a miracle advent," Mountain Crow cursed.

"I knew it would be like this," Cloud Magpie sighed, placing his hands on his blade, "Let's settle this quickly."

"The old rules."

Snow Thistle looked up, her cold eyes gradually frosting over as she stared at Dr. Klef standing in the middle of the base.

"Leave the final strike to me."