Vol 14 Chapter 20-1
“That’s basically it. I used Destruction and fortunately didn’t kill him. Though the flagship was completely ruined.” Zheng said in front of a group and said.
Among this group were the other six members of team China and five members from team Africa. A Caucasian and a black man were in terrible shapes. The Caucasian lay on the floor without any limbs. The black man’s body was covered in numerous bumps.
There was another person submerged in liquid behind them. The middle age man looked equally terrible. There were cuts all over his body. It seemed as though he just came out from a slaughter house.
Zheng was in a much better shape in contrast. He was also wounded all over when he met with the others and there were ice forming over his wounds. But before long, the wounds began to regenerate. Such a strong body surprised and terrified the two members of team Africa who were still conscious.
Xuan told Zheng his decision when they met. Zheng had no objection to it since team Africa’s strength was more important than some points and rewards at this point. He couldn’t accept it if any member dies during the battle against team South America because of his greed. None of them had another chance to revive. It was simply that.
That was why they immediately gave Richard treatment. The Caucasian and black man were excluded. Then everyone sat down quietly and began to discuss the upcoming attack from the bugs.
During the fight within the fleet, Kampa and WangXia took their opportunities and destroyed three starships. This gave everyone in team China 3000 points. The starships also scanned a large quantity of unknown objects closing in the fleet from three directions. Their numbers were at least five times the number of starships. They hadn’t begun their attack but the numbers along were scary enough. The chaotic fight quickly stopped and the starships moved into a formation around the flagship.
Xuan adjusted his glasses and said calmly. “We will leave the events concerning the flagship for later. The core of this starship wasn’t damaged too much. Now team Africa, you had surrendered. Following our agreement, we will kill these two people and she will stay within our protection. The two of you must listen to our arrangements until the end of the movie. Any objections?”
Aya shook her head. “No problem. We will follow your arrangements. How are you going to deal with the space bugs? Our powers have minimal effect in a space battle. Any explosion can wipe us out. Do you have the confidence for such a battle?”
Xuan replied calmly. “You don’t have to worry about this. Have you seen the map of the distribution of the bugs? Why do they surround three directions and leaving one open? Because they are giving us a hope of escaping. The bugs aren’t going to win against the massive metallic weapons that are starships with merely five times the numbers. They have to use other methods. The best one is to make us feel defeated without fighting. When there’s a hope of escaping, people wouldn’t be as inclined to fight. What’s interesting is the opening they left leads to Planet P.”
Zheng was recovering his Qi during this time so he didn’t see the distribution map and other information. He asked. “What does that mean? You want to say that the bugs want to force us to land on Planet P and swarm us? We aren’t idiots. Why would we land the starships and face the sea of bugs?”
Xuan waved his hand. “This is where they are smart. I am certain there’s a large number of space bugs waiting outside Planet P. Once we head their way, the space bugs would surround the fleet. The fleet would then be caught in a difficult fight. The destruction of starships means death while landing isn’t necessarily so. How would you choose? Based on current information, there isn’t a sea of bugs on Planet P. In fact, the federation has several fortresses on the planet. Do you still feel it’s better to land or stay in space?”
Zheng picked up the photos of the space bugs. They were centipede like, twenty meters long, no legs, and had a crystalized exoskeleton. It was such evolution that enabled them to adapt to the terrible environment of space. Their bulky bodies and thick crystalized exoskeletons meant that they must move extremely slow on ground with the effect of gravity. They were probably only suited for space.
Aside from the these centipede bugs was a massive ball of flesh in the back. Its size almost approached that of a small satellite. Its exoskeleton was also crystalized, giving it a bronze color. There were also tubes extended out from its exoskeleton. The photos showed plasma coming out from the tubes. The plasma was what gave it the force to move.
“These bugs are frightening. They can evolve to such a state with just their bodies. Is God showing us through this movie the two extremes of evolution of the body and intelligence?” Gando moved over to Zheng and looked at the photos. Then he laughed out.
Gando returned to his cheerful personality after he was rescued. He didn’t mention a word about his capture as if that experience was merely a joke.
Xuan nodded. “Quite possible. These space bugs have completely abandoned technology. They displayed evolution of the body. The structure of their society is similar to that of bees and ants. A single mind holds command and the others form the parts of the body. The fact is, humans are fighting against the same organism. We can call this organism as a super life. The bugs’ evolution has way surpassed the human’s technological evolution in this era. This may be a hint from God of what’s more important between the body and technology.”
Aya sighed as she watched. She was convinced of Xuan’s intelligence. This was the strategist that defeated Neos. She thought over the battle of wits afterward and with the addition of some details within Xuan’s words, she finally knew that Neos’s lost wasn’t unwarranted. Team China stayed calmed in the team battle. Neos lost in the beginning. He wanted to annihilate team China because he had to challenge the incongruity of his team at the same time. While team China functioned in unity around Zheng with Xuan as support and the other members were forces in combat. Such a team was much stronger than team Africa.
Zheng and Xuan came to a conclusion. It was not possible to destroy the massive ball with the fleet. They also couldn’t participate in a space battle. In the end, they decided to let the fleet head toward Planet P. They had to contact the federation and the fortresses on the planet in order to obtain the necessary support as soon as they land.
“The fact is we still have big advantages after landing. One, the space bugs wouldn’t be able to move freely under gravity. So the starships don’t have to worry about their attacks. The starships are basically metallic fortresses. As long as we don’t get separated after landing, we can enter a formation that allows the starships to support each other. There are also tens of thousands of troopers we can command. Nothing worth worrying about in this battle. The only thing is the true mission that God is going to reveal soon. Judging from the time it takes to head to Planet P then land, we will still need to stay there for twenty-four to forty-eight hours. God is definitely going to announce a mission to make us encounter team South America. Are you ready?” Xuan looked at Zheng.
Zheng nodded and stood up. “Then let’s order the fleet to start heading toward Planet P. If we come to become enemies, it probably shouldn’t matter much to annihilate team South America.”