Just before Bai Zhongqi escaped from the clutches of the Star Sector ARM-5, the armed organization Star Warrior Sect, established by the Pilgrims in the Galaxy, was ordered by the greedy Pilgrims to attack Bai Zhongqi, attempting to seize his Immortal Body as an Elder of the Elder Race.
The leader of the Sect's Fleet was none other than the Star Warrior Master who had once betrayed Bai Zhongqi alongside Nan Ma. After the Pilgrim returned to this plane and took control of the Sect, he, as an old acquaintance of Nan Ma, was promoted to a higher position and became the new Pope of the Sect.
With the support of the Pilgrim, the Sect gradually evolved from an obscure entity in the Galaxy into the covert ruler of a civilization alliance composed of dozens of civilizations.
When Pope Hu led the Sect's Fleet personally on the campaign, it was like the Crusades of Earth's history, where every civilization that believed in the Sect dispatched fleets to join the campaign alongside the Pope. Their banner was similar to that of the Galactic Empire, aimed at suppressing calamities, but they added another goal, ensuring the purity of faith.
Sitting on his luxurious and noble throne, Hu, who usually appeared extremely wooden, had not changed much even after becoming the Pope. At that moment, he repeatedly went over the scene when Nan Ma had talked to him before the campaign, unable to calm himself for a long time.
"Letting the Sect lead this attack wasn't my idea," Nan Ma told Hu.
"You are Pilgrims, representing the same interests; whether it was you or another Pilgrim who made the request, does it make any difference to the Sect?"
Nan Ma glanced at the rigid Pope, then said, "There's no difference, but I want you to understand who you should blame if you end up dead."
Hu was somewhat stunned, but since he normally lacked expressiveness, looking almost mentally challenged, it was hard to discern his emotional changes.
"Do you think the Sect will fail?"
"The Galactic Empire failed, what more your Sect."
"Why warn me, are you suggesting I drag my feet, to preserve the Sect's strength?"
Nan Ma shook his head, bluntly saying, "If you really do that, you'll die just the same. My colleagues won't treat the Sect as anything precious, let alone you; if you are not to their convenience, they will crush you in an instant and replace you with a more obedient Pope."
Hu fell silent, and after a long while, he spoke without much inflection, "Understood, so you came to see me off. I just want to ask, do you really think so highly of Bai Zhongqi? You know, if it weren't for your hesitation back then, we could have killed him directly; it was you who affected Xiao Yu, sending him into the Void and letting him complete the transformation of the Elder Race. I don't know how you exonerated yourself with the Pilgrims, but to me, you seem more like one of them."
Nan Ma's expression remained unchanged, still characteristically reckless and unruly; he did not directly meet Hu's gaze, touched his bald head, and laughed, "Born a Pilgrim, that's something I can't change, maybe I was too selfish then, killing Bai Zhongqi at that time, both of us along with the idiot Xiao Yu, would have been doomed. The law of cause and effect isn't something you can just evade by poking around."
Hu did not speak for a long time, finally asking, "Facing Bai Zhongqi, am I destined to die?"
Nan Ma smirked, "Hard to say, but while my colleagues can't see clearly, I do understand; you and the Sect stand no chance against him, he has too many cards in his hand."
Hu said, "Then let it be."
Xiao Yu had in fact never even seen Bai Zhongqi, let alone entered the Arm-5 Star Sector.
On the thirteenth day after the deployment, within the fleet of the Sect, some crew members suddenly displayed symptoms of nausea, dizziness, and even fainting. When these crew members were taken to the medical bay for treatment, medical staff discovered terrifying insects inside their bodies.
The leaders of the Sect immediately reported to their Pope, who simply sat there listening intently.
"Pope, what should we do?" The Archbishop appeared anxious, as almost the entire fleet was experiencing this issue, creating widespread panic among everyone.
The insects discovered within the crew members could not be removed; if they were excised from the human body, the host would die instantly. Although the medical personnel were not sure why, it was clear that these parasites had pushed the fleet to the brink of an abyss.
Pope Xiao sat idly on his throne, and the Archbishops were helpless. The Pope had always been , seemingly prone to drifting off into space.
"Could this be a tactic used by Bai Zhongqi?" Xiao wondered in his heart.
Just as Xiao pondered, suddenly the red warning lights and alarms within the ship blared loudly.
"What's happened?" the Archbishop exclaimed.
His attendant, after checking the situation, replied with a pale face, "It's bad, my lord. Those crew members with insects inside them have been torn open by the insects; now these swift, immensely strong insects have emerged and started wreaking havoc aboard our ship!"
One Archbishop, retreating in fear, exclaimed, "The Insect Race, this is the Insect Race! The disaster knew of our plans to attack them and came to attack us first. Your Holiness, please think of something quickly. The Star Warriors might hold them off for a while, but the ordinary crew members will soon be wiped out by these insects!"
Xiao stood up and commanded, "Kill those infected. Anyone who has been infected by the insects, kill them and throw them into the incinerator for complete destruction. We must purify ourselves."
However, just then, the fleet of the Sect also came under intense attack from outside. A mysterious fleet suddenly appeared and started bombarding the Sect's fleet mercilessly.
"What are those? These ambushers, they plan to deploy the Marine Corps onto our warships? Have they gone mad?" one Archbishop said, panicking as he watched landing pods, resembling cocoons, being spewed from the massive, eerie warships.
"My lord, our energy shields are ineffective against those landing pods! They are breaking through our shields directly!"
An incomprehensible scene unfolded as these individual landing pods passed through the energy shields as if nothing were there and landed atop the Sect's warships.
The landing pods, resembling massive insect eggs, began secreting a liquid that could dissolve armor, melting through the thick armor. From them emerged hulking, fierce Insectoids with human-like torsos and limbs—sometimes four, sometimes six—but their heads bore insect-like features: large compound eyes, mandibles, and antennae on their heads.
The Insectoids launched themselves straight at the Sect's soldiers; even those bearing arms for self-defense could not resist such foes.