Chapter 80
"......."
You must remain silent and patient.
Hill clenched her teeth, feeling the scalding blood splash onto her cheek—so hot, so very hot!
The heat made him instantly sink into a state of utter desolation.
Tears involuntarily streamed down his face as rough, calloused fingers probed his lips and penetrated his mouth. He had no strength and could only weakly hold them in.
Celtic stroked his aching teeth one by one, sending a slight shiver through him—so sore, so numb.
“You can bite me.” Hill vaguely understood that he was worried about him.
Celt picked up the male insect, who was still trembling and had dazed eyes. The female insect's coordinates hadn't moved for a long time, and his accomplices would soon arrive. Before that, they had to leave.
Why isn't Barrow in place?
The female insects began exchanging messages and simultaneously changed direction, gathering towards Celt's location.
"Selty has started his breakout attempt; he's chosen point B4. We need to hurry—"
His voice abruptly stopped, and gushing blood spurted from his throat, wetting the quantum computer he was still operating.
His pupils widened rapidly. In the last second before his life faded, he wondered how it could be so fast? He was an S-class female insect, how could Celt possess such speed while carrying a male insect?
The body fell into the bushes with a thud, disappearing along with his doubts.
Hill wrapped his arms tightly around Celtic's neck. Celtic held him with one hand and used the other to kill. They were too close, close enough to feel the fear of life slipping away.
"Close your eyes if you're scared." Celt spread his bone wings again. His bone wings were ferocious and huge, too conspicuous in the daytime, but in the night they were like lurking ghosts, silent and swift, ready to reap lives at any moment.
This was the tenth female insect he had harvested; the entire encirclement consisted of only a few hundred female insects.
“I’m not afraid,” Hill said, trying to sound calm. “I can be the bait.”
Knowing that he had indeed affected Celt's fighting strength, he had to survive and could not let down his parents and all the insects. He had to get through this night safely.
The attraction of male insects to female insects is endless; as long as he is there, countless female insects will follow him in his footsteps.
Celt's eyes, stained with the blood of slaughter, were devoid of any emotion, only a mechanical chill remained in the darkness. Upon hearing these words, Celt tightened his grip on his arm, giving Hill the illusion that he was being crushed into his bones.
"unnecessary."
Celtic stated coldly.
During the budding stage, female insects have an extreme possessiveness towards male insects. Celt would not accept the suggestion of making him a bait to be coveted by other female insects.
Hill's eyelashes fluttered, her lips tightened, and she hugged Celt's neck even tighter, trying her best to release male insect pheromones to regulate Celt's state.
However, he was only Grade A, and his pheromones were even declining. Without Sirius's support, his pheromones were so faint that they could only be detected when they were very close.
His mental strength is also weak, and his body is so weak that he can't use it. He's so useless. He will remain in this state until he advances in rank.
Hill gritted his teeth; he couldn't accept how useless he was.
The killing continued; female insects fell one after another in the darkness, and death and blood soaked the ancient primeval jungle.
“Celt has begun to counterattack, probably realizing that reinforcements are unlikely to arrive. The fact that they've only managed to launch a counterattack now suggests that Hilgard's situation is indeed very dire. There are only four hours left.” Hessen smiled faintly.
Celt's personality has always been so arrogant that he is self-centered, and any insect that dares to provoke him will pay the price.
"Should we provide support to Wilson?" Brandon asked somewhat uneasily.
“No,” Hessen shook his head. “We’re here to confirm Wilson’s identity. It’s something that can be done in four hours. Why get our hands dirty?”
In the tranquil forest, a female insect was chasing a red dot: "What's going on with Parker?"
"Didn't we just find his body?"
"Why is he still moving? Is Celt controlling his personal terminal?"
Several female insects quickly chased after them and took out heavy energy guns, resting them against their arms to fire at any moment.
Parting a leaf that was as wide as two insects, they were surprised to find a giant squirrel before their eyes.
"So it was a squirrel," the females instinctively breathed a sigh of relief, then reached out to remove the quantum computer device. "Did the squirrel take the quantum computer itself, or did Celt try to mislead us—"
The moment his hand touched the quantum computer, it exploded, the massive shockwave masking the female insect's voice and destroying the heavy energy guns in their hands.
"Selter!" Wilson roared the name, wishing he could tear him to pieces. In the past hour, he had lost nearly half of his subordinates, all of whom were elite Federation insects. If this continued, Celter could easily escape in the final stage. "Tighten the encirclement and stop the search!"
"The Marshal's killing methods are so impressive that they could be included in the Imperial Military Academy's highlight reel," Hessen exclaimed. "They could also be used as a demonstration of rehabilitation courses for female soldiers."
"But judging from the current situation, Wilson doesn't seem to be able to stop the Marshal," Brandon said with deep concern.
“Indeed,” Hessen nodded in agreement. “Then deploy annihilation-class weapons and destroy them once the marshal’s location is confirmed.”
Brandon's pupils contracted: "Then, Your Highness Hilgard—"
“Now that we’ve chosen to take action, there’s no turning back.” Hessen’s voice was gentle, but there was no smile in his eyes, which sent a chill down Brandon’s spine.
"But weapons capable of killing a marshal usually have problems with charging and aiming, and cannot move precisely." It would be difficult to aim at Marshal Celtic's speed.
"Then we'll need Lord Wilson to keep the Marshal occupied. Hopefully, Lord Wilson is still vigorous despite his age and not... so useless, is he?"
The covert attacks could no longer be sustained, and after a large-scale gathering, Celt soon encountered the female insects.
"Attack the male insect—"
"Hold him back—"
"His Excellency Wilson will be here shortly!"
After sacrificing countless insect lives, Wilson finally encountered Celt in this completely dark forest.
This was not the first time Wilson and Celt had met; they had clashed at the start of the war, even before Albert's death.
Wilson was then in his prime, with many larvae to follow, but now he is nearing the end of his life, while Selt holds in his arms the male larva he has chosen for Albert.
This precious male insect, needing the female's care, nestled in her embrace, its eyes still holding all the hazy, moist look of its early budding stage.
Hilgard, the male insect that once belonged to Albert, should have been the male insect of their family!
That damned bastard not only betrayed Albert but also colluded with Celtic, causing the death of his female offspring.
A glint of malice flashed in Wilson's eyes. He suddenly seemed to have thought of something and gave a cold, mocking laugh: "Selter, how about it? You killed Albert and stole this male insect."
This was a vague statement, so he mouthed it.
Impotence
When you killed Albert, did you consider that he was impotent? Did you consider that he couldn't support you through puberty? Did you consider that he was actually a low-level liar?
It was this male insect that caused Albert's death. He was filled with rage and a morbid sense of schadenfreude. Celtic was also deceived by this male insect!
Hill saw his lips move, his pupils widened slightly, and his hand quietly tightened its grip on Celtic's uniform.
How could he know? Did Albert pass on the message before he died?
“Celt…” Hill whispered in front of Celt’s heart.
The female insect knew his secret, and he couldn't let him live.
Celt nodded slightly, as if in response. The ferocious bone wings flapped in the wind, and almost in the blink of an eye, it swooped down towards Wilson, bringing a bloody gust of wind.
"What a stubborn female insect," Wilson thought with malice as he watched the female insect charging towards him.
He wasn't interested in the deadline of a few hours at all; it was just a trick to deceive Hessen, because he already knew that Hilgard was no good. This cripple wouldn't be able to get through this advancement even if he were given a few more hours.
—What he always wanted was to kill his enemies with his own hands.
The swarming female insects pounced on him in an instant, their overwhelming bony wings and killing spikes blotting out the sky and nearly suffocating Hill. He tried to look away, but the stench of blood filled his nostrils in a flash.
Seemingly realizing that the male insects were Celt's weakness, the female insects launched their deadly attacks at Hill. Many times, Hill heard the ear-piercing sound of bone spikes scraping against bone wings, as Celt used its bone wings to forcefully defend him.
Celtic, who had never been injured before, was finally wounded at this moment, and even ignored his injury to only seek to attack.
The smell of blood, mixed with the stench of gunpowder, completely enveloped Hill, who held Celt tightly in his arms.
He knew it, because time was running out.
Celtic must kill these troublesome females before the budding period ends, and get into the mark with him as soon as possible, much faster—
The mixing of pheromones from multiple female insects seemed to worsen Hill's symptoms. His breathing became rapid, and his body temperature rose, with wave after wave of almost scalding heat burning his sanity.
He hated being surrounded by the pheromones of these unfamiliar female insects; he needed pheromones, he needed them so badly...
Sharp bone wings are the best killing weapons, leaving countless severed limbs in their wake.
Wilson always believed that with his numerical advantage, he could wear down Celt on Nuka, even if it meant attrition.
But as it turns out, this is still out of reach in the face of absolute and overwhelming strength.
The difference in rank was enough to make any insect despair, and he only understood this at this moment.
Another wound was opened, and blood flowed like a stream. Wilson looked around and saw that there were very few female insects left of him, and most of the rest were injured. Even he himself had lost an arm.
He finally lost his temper and glared venomously at the sky: "What are you waiting for?!"
"Utterly useless, can't even last two hours." In the dark jungle, the female insect glanced down at the time, shook her head and sighed, then pressed a button.
In an instant, the female insect's biological facial features were completely distorted, transforming her into a completely unfamiliar female insect.
At that very moment, they launched a brazen attack.
There are enemy insects behind me—
Hill's eyes welled up with tears. Celtic had been tripped by Wilson, and his back was unprotected; he was going to get hurt.
His injury means he will also be injured.
The male insect closed its eyes, and a wisp of spiritual thread struggled to spread out.
Six years have passed, and he is no longer the helpless little boy he once was. He can do it, and he is much more useful now.
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