Nan Minghuo was a burly man, exuding an aura of straightforwardness. However, after he joined the "Chu Xiang Mixed Brigade," the unit managed to achieve military success time and again, including this time when they approached the insect nest ahead of the real main forces.
He was a man who seemed crude but had a finesse to him.
He might not be highly intellectual, but he always managed to grasp the crux of the matter at critical moments.
Without hesitation, he made an angry call to his grandfather in the Central Operations Room. "Old Z... With hundreds of war satellites flying overhead, how is it possible that such a huge insect nest went undetected?!" Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱
This wasn't the insect nest they had set as their target.
"If the nest hadn't been breached inexplicably, we could have been annihilated this time! Inside that nest, not to mention the rest, there were dozens of Skyrocketing Insects. Just one of them could wipe out my mixed brigade!"
He roared, almost letting slip a self-referential "I" in his rage.
Bai Yunpeng couldn't help but glance at the old general. Had his grandfather not been there, that particular "I" would probably have burst out.
But he understood; this was typical of fierce warriors. Besides, anyone who had been tricked would fly into a rage.
Nan Zhendong spoke sternly, "What are you yelling about? What are you complaining about? You're a soldier! We need you to investigate this matter. Our military satellites completely missed this insect nest."
The Central Operations Room had designated this particular nest as "Nest 2," distinguishing it from "Nest 1," which was their operation's actual target.
This type of "yin-yang nest" arrangement had been seen before, as well as other configurations, such as "serial nests" and "star system nests."
In the past, a yin-yang nest setup typically meant a large nest on the surface with a smaller-scale nest hidden underground.
The underground nest couldn't hatch Skyrocketing Insects due to spatial constraints.
Yet this time, it was uncertain how the Insect Race had managed it. The nest was right there on the ground, but the war satellites had completely failed to detect it.
"Me?" Nan Minghuo said with a reluctant look. "I was planning to score big by hitting the main nest..."
Nest 1 was mere hundreds of kilometers away, the greatest accomplishment of the battle within easy reach—who would willingly give that up?
Nan Minghuo's eyes darted around, looking menacingly formidable.
After some thought, Bai Yunpeng said, "Investigate this thoroughly, and I promise that your 'Chu Xiang Mixed Brigade' will become the 'Chu Xiang Independent Division.'"
A direct promotion in organizational rank!
Nan Minghuo was overjoyed. "Really? You're not kidding?"
Bai Yunpeng frowned. Do I look like someone who jokes about these things?
"Not only do you need to thoroughly investigate how the Insect Race concealed this nest, but you also have to figure out how it was breached. Our forces haven't engaged it!"
"This issue is equally important!"
Nan Minghuo snapped to attention. "Yes, sir! I guarantee the completion of the mission!"
After ending the call and having secured the desired advantage, Nan Minghuo chuckled sinisterly. His staff officers, somewhat begrudgingly, said, "Commander, Nest 1 is within close reach..."
"Idiots!" Nan Minghuo cursed. "If the bugs can hide Nest 2, they can hide Nest 3, 4, and 5! Who knows how many more are lying in ambush near Nest 1? If we blunder into it, there would be no place to bury our dead!
"It's best to let this merit go.
"Anyway, as long as we get to the bottom of this, we'll become an independent division afterward, heh heh heh!"
Nan Minghuo was in high spirits. "All troops, turn towards Nest 2!" he commanded.
"Find out who took care of this nest. Goodness, they are a great benefactor to our Independent Brigade!"
The benefactor had just woken up from a deep sleep. He crawled out from the shell of the Skyrocketing Insect and secretly felt fortunate that nothing had happened while he was asleep.
He also cursed Isabella Wu under his breath. It was all her fault. It goes to show that gluttony is undesirable, as fish meet their end by greedily swallowing bait.
However, as Chen Gu moved his body, he froze. Hmm? It seems like my physical fitness has greatly improved?
Chen Gu's physical fitness had already far exceeded that of other professionals at the same Energy Level. He had hit a bottleneck or, to put it another way, reached the ceiling of the Second Energy Level in terms of physical fitness. To improve significantly again, the only option was to advance to the Third Energy Level.
But now, he clearly felt that he was practically a monster!
Chen Gu's eyes roved around. Beside him was a massive boulder weighing thousands of kilograms. He walked over, pushed with some effort, and the rock rolled dozens of meters away!
It has indeed improved a lot.
Chen Gu instantly realized, That piece of insect flesh was the essence of this extraordinarily powerful Skyrocketing Insect.
Isabella Wu's "weird eating habits" were hard to define as a disease or an ability; she always managed to consume odd things that were greatly beneficial to her.
However, this often resulted in stomach trouble, confining her to the restroom for many days.
Fortunately, this time Chen Gu had gotten the good stuff.
Even so, Chen Gu couldn't help feeling a tinge of fear. Forget it. I'd better not use this ability if I can avoid it in the future.
Chen Gu looked around, chose a direction opposite to that of the nest, and took off running at full speed—his pace was also much faster than before.
Across the wasteland, a gray line quickly stretched far into the distance.
It didn't take long for Nan Minghuo to find out. Giant flea-like insects were responsible. These insects had essentially no other abilities and were weak in combat, but they could spew out a bioluminescent fog with exceptional camouflaging effects, which had concealed Nest 2.
Having clarified this, it was almost certain that the "Chu Xiang Mixed Brigade" would be promoted to the "Chu Xiang Independent Division."
However, it was still a mystery who had breached this nest.
Soon, his subordinates had completed inspecting the entire valley for traces of battle. After the staff had consolidated the information, they came to a shocking conclusion. "Commander... according to the traces of battle, a Skyrocketing Insect did it all!"
Furthermore, they presented some images to Nan Minghuo. "It's very likely this one."
Out of over thirty insect cocoons, only one had hatched successfully; the rest were killed directly inside their cocoons.
"Only traces of the Skyrocketing Insect's attacks are found around, with no signs of damage caused by human weapons."
"Moreover, this Skyrocketing Insect seems to be a mutant variant, having grown to an astonishing five hundred meters!"
Nan Minghuo found it all very fantastical. A mutant Skyrocketing Insect rebelling?!
But soon, scout cavalry found this mutant Skyrocketing Insect dozens of kilometers away. Nan Minghuo swiftly arrived at the site, then stood dumbfounded. Suicide by crashing into a mountain???
Benefactor, why did you choose such a tragic end...