Chapter 27

Zero was always so indifferent. It was a different kind of indifference from Xuan. His was a combatant instinct, to place himself on the perspective of an observer so that he would not lose himself during snipes and he could fire with the calmest attitude.

He headed to the marked spot in the scan as soon as he received the order from Zheng. He set up his Gauss rifle and aimed it at an entrance to a hole. Just to be safe, he readied his last explosive bullet. Then he just crouched there and waited. Large bugs walked around him but he wasn’t moved in the least bit as if these bugs were non existent. He waited quietly.

Gando came over to Zero, avoiding the bugs carefully. He acted like he would get attacked if he were to simply touch these bugs. In contrast, Nick who was in his arm was screaming. These two cowards being together made it so much effort to walk over to Zero. The bear robot sat on the ground, seemingly didn’t want to move again.

“Fumoffu!” The robot spoke.

Zero replied calmly. “What about the psyche force user in your hand? Make him use soul link.”

That was when Gando seemed to realize it. The robot spoke to Nick in Fumoffu then their minds were connected.

Gando asked carefully. “I heard you are an assassin. Won’t you feel scared? Scared of death, scared of being killed?”

Zero replied without turning his head. “Scared. Everyone gets scared of death. People who have gotten over this fear isn’t far away from death. However, compared to death, I am more scared of losing something important.”

That piqued Gando’s interest. “What things? What important things are you scared of losing?”

“Comrades, future!” Zero said.

“I can understand comrades but what do you mean by future? A lack of future by dying in this realm?”

“No. It’s the excuse you cling onto to stay alive. I don’t want lose this excuse.” Zero crouched there without moving. His thought came through soul link.

“The excuse to stay alive?”

Zheng handed Roste and Nick over then charged into the sea of bugs. He brought out his full strength this time in comparison to the fight in Klendathu. The light blade, use of his full physical stats, and his movement technique. The bugs couldn’t even react when the sword slashed across and shredded dozens into pieces.

Zheng stepped on the pieces of shattered bugs as he moved forward. He entered a narrow hole from the side, crossed several tunnels and made a big round to the back of the brain bug. The plan was to drive the brain bug to where Zero was. The ending of this movie depended on whether Zero could hit his target.

“Lan, mark all the bugs. If you can’t do it, have Snow help you. I need to know the location of all types of bugs. I can’t run into the bodyguards before reaching the brain bug.” Zheng said to Lan and Snow.

The two psyche force users quickly marked all the bugs in the tunnels. Warrior bugs, blaster bugs, and even some hoppers hanging on the ceilings. The bodyguards were also marked. They had black exoskeletons and covered a thousand meter area around the brain bug. Their speed and strength were much higher than normal warrior bugs.

Zheng examined the scan as he ran. Unfortunately, he had to run into at least three groups of bodyguards with each group having three to four bugs. What he worried most wasn’t being injured by these bugs since that was not likely. He was worried these bugs would slow him down. His goal was to drive the brain bug. If the brain bug went into a different path, someone in the group being surrounded by the bugs might die. Zero wouldn’t be of use also, even though he was the safest among the team.

“The bodyguards are covered in this tough exoskeleton aside from their eyes and joints. However, no matter how tough their exoskeleton is, their joints will bend from being attacked. That is your chance. I think you will cause more damage in Explosion without using your sword.” Xuan said.

“That’s true but how do you think I will feel if I am to tear the bugs apart with my hands when I have a weapon on hand?” Zheng wasn’t so interested in Xuan’s suggestion.

Xuan’s ideas were too logical. Zheng understood that breaking the joints with huge force was more effective than Tiger’s Soul. However, it didn’t feel good to do so when he had such a weapon. Xuan suggested the idea without a care. That was the difference between someone so logical and a normal person.

Zheng complained to himself but he still had to keep going. He quickly moved through several smaller tunnels. The scan showed the group around the brain bug slowed down. It wasn’t a good message since it might mean the brain bug had found out their goal. It was hesitating whether it should continue moving toward team China. Zheng was 10k meters away from the brain bug with three groups of bodyguards in between. Those were the last obstacles.

“Fuck it! There’s no time to hesitate!” Zheng gave a shout and jumped out from the tunnel with his sword.

He slashed horizontally and cut through dozens of warrior bugs that just came up. Then he stepped over their wriggling limbs. The first group of bodyguards appeared in front of him. These three black warrior bugs were a size bigger than the normal ones and they seemed to have some form of intelligence. They stood within the sea of bugs and didn’t run around restlessly.

Zheng jumped forward then dropped straight down from six meters. Tiger’s Soul chopped downward and cut the warrior bugs in front of a bodyguard in half. These warrior bugs didn’t stand a chance against the light blade. But the light blade ignited sparks as it struck the black exoskeleton of the bodyguard just like when two pieces of metal met. The light blade carved an inch into the exoskeleton then stopped. Zheng landed back on the ground.

“Doesn’t work as I thought. Am I not using enough strength?” Zheng muttered to himself.

Though he was aware this wasn’t the time to ponder because large number of bugs were surrounding him from all sides. There were also buzzing of wings from above. Probably the hoppers. He knew he would be trapped if this continued. So he activated Explosion at once and leaped toward the bodyguards. The rock he stepped on exploded.

The first bodyguard seemed a little dazed from the strike. The other two spread their mini wings and jumped to a height just slightly below Zheng. They were only two meters apart. The pincers swiped next to Zheng’s face. He continued flying forward while the bugs dropped down. The bloody scent that drifted past gave him cold sweats.

The bodyguard bugs’ strength, speed, and leaps were all impressive. Furthermore, they possessed an awareness for combat that normal bugs didn’t have. This put Zheng into a passive position. If their speed and reaction were a little faster, the awareness would seem like they were in the unlocked mode.

Zheng leaped over the three bugs then sprinted ahead without stopping. He deactivated Explosion and entered the unlocked mode. Tiger’s Soul slashed at the normal bugs in front of him. The sharpness of the light blade sliced these bugs in two as soon as they came into sight. If it wasn’t due to the fact that the bugs had no sense of fear, they wouldn’t keep coming up to Zheng.

The bodyguard bugs weren’t much slower than Zheng. They were charging through and knocking away the normal bugs in their path with their huge bodies. Zheng wasn’t simply running after all. He had to deal with the sea of bugs swarming toward him.

The bugs proved they were a race most adapted to combat. Every one aside from the brain bug had no sense of death nor fear. All that was left was their instincts and their forms from millions of years of evolution that even included types adapted to space travel. Zheng exclaimed.

He felt his arm getting sore from the hundreds of swings. The number of bugs he killed were in the thousands. Every area he ran past were left with a whole ground of broken limbs and corpses. No bug lasted more than a moment in front of him, aside from the bodyguard bugs.

The bodyguard bugs were an abnormal type. They didn’t exist in the original movies. It was shocking that their black exoskeleton could withstand strikes from the light blade. Furthermore, their awareness in combat seemed like they reached the first unlocked stage. They were the biggest problem Zheng had to deal with.

After Zheng killed his way through for three thousand meters, the second group of bodyguard bugs blocked in front of him. There were four this time and three more chasing from his behind, only five hundred meters away. They could surround him if he even just stopped for a moment.

Zheng looked up at the sky. A few dozens of hoppers flew down from the ceiling. He normally wouldn’t be afraid of hoppers in low numbers but any hinders during his jump would drop him down to get surrounded by the bodyguard bugs. That would force him to use Destruction to escape.

Leaping through wasn’t viable this time. The psyche scan showed the brain bug had started heading at the direction of their plan. However, it was moving extremely slow. If Zheng was to drive the brain bug to the plan’s designated location, he must run pass the three groups of bodyguard bugs and reach within a thousand meter of the brain bug.

He activated Explosion. The energy stored in his rings and the amount recovered during his running combined to over half the amount in his peak state. So he could use Explosion for short period of time. The environment slowed down at once. He slashed across without a second thought, slicing the normal bugs in front then charged forward. Every step he took crushed the rocks on the ground. He reached the nearest bodyguard bug then thrusted the sword toward its eye.

However, being the most powerful force of the bugs, its awareness saved its life. The bug moved its head slightly. The sword hit the exoskeleton to the side of its eye. Clank! The toughness of the exoskeleton exceeded the sharpness of the sword. Unless Zheng had the full version of Tiger’s Soul, he wouldn’t be able to cut through this toughness.

The bug wasn’t injured but the force of the thrust couldn’t be negated so easily. It threw the bug back for ten meters and smashed the normal bugs on its path. The other three bodyguard bugs leaped at Zheng.

There were only five meters in between him and the rest of the bodyguard bugs. If he missed again, he had to take the attacks from two bugs. He put the sword back into the ring then grabbed both pincers of the bug nearest him with his bare hands.

The bugs’ strength was of course no match for Zheng in Explosion. The pincers contained great force but Zheng pulled them apart as his muscles expanded. He gave a shout and snapped the two pincers before the two other bugs got to him. It was just like Xuan had said. The joints weren’t as tough as their exoskeleton in order for the bugs to maintain flexibility.

Zheng put the pincers into his storage bag. He realized this exoskeleton was good material when he heard of its toughness. Not even Gundanium alloy could withstand the light blade of Tiger’s Soul. He wouldn’t waste the pincers. The other two bugs had closed in on him. However, they were simply slower than Zheng. He easily dodged their bites and attacks. After a bug performed a big movement, he grabbed its head with one arm and thrusted the sword into its eye with the other hand. His strength confined the bug from moving its head. Tiger’s Soul penetrated into its eye and pulverized its central nervous system.

Zheng threw the whole bug into his bag. He also received notification of 1000 points for killing the bug. Their rewards were high but it was also difficult to kill them. Now that one bodyguard bug was killed, two knocked down on the ground, and one behind him, Zheng sprinted forward. He ran a hundred meters before deactivating Explosion. Six bugs were chasing after him from behind.

Zheng took a deep breath as he glanced over the map from psyche scan. He was very close to the third group of bodyguard bugs. The third group also had four. They guarded a large open area. Far into this open area were the brain bug and a large number of bodyguard bugs. Crossing over this open area and through a tunnel would lead to the place where Zero was at. Yet, maybe the brain bug sensed something or guessed their intention, it stopped before entering the tunnel.

“Fuck. I won’t believe a bug can rival Xuan in wits.” Zheng cursed.

He saw the swarm of thousands of bodyguard bugs in afar. This swarm could raid all the fortresses and human army in this planet. A four-meter-tall fat bug stood in the middle of the swarm. There were many smaller bugs underneath it. They seemed to be carrying the fat bug.

Behind Zheng were the six bodyguard bugs, a few dozens of hoppers and a thousand warrior bugs. Zheng knew that only the bodyguard bugs could cause him any trouble.

He gave a shout and leaped at the four bugs in front. The hoppers quickly flew over at him and the four bugs were ready to leap. Zheng suddenly stepped on the air again and accelerated. “Geppou!”

This was an idea Zheng came up with before the movie, an instant Destruction state. Destruction was powerful but so was the burden it put forth. It was best to leave Destruction for when he was certain of winning unless the fight was one of life and death, such as a fight against his clone. However, many situations required him to use Destruction in reality. If he could use it against the bodyguard bugs at will, he could tear them apart at the joints. He wasn’t confident at tearing through their exoskeleton with his bare hands even in Destruction.

That was why Zheng came up with the idea of instant Destruction!

Time seemed as though it slowed down once he activated Destruction. One second might feel like several for him, so he could perform many actions in an instant. He could use a Rankyaku or Soru or Geppo when he was in the air to change direction and accelerate. One instant was enough time to use these abilities and wouldn’t put a large burden on his body.

Zheng researched the possibility of his idea carefully back in God’s dimension. The most difficult obstacle was how to collide his qi and blood energy for just an instant. It would otherwise be a fantasy if he couldn’t achieve this.

It was indeed difficult for the human body to collide the qi near its navel and the blood energy in its head. The meridian network wasn’t a laser circuit. The energies required time for movement and collision. Furthermore, would they separate so easily afterward? The whole process would take at least one second. His idea was theoretically impossible. The shortest Destruction activation was at least one second.

However, an item made this idea came true, the mithril rings. The rings stored energy and the amount that came out was determined by his mind. The entrance where energy entered his body was at his fingers. When he wore two rings on the same finger, their energies would meet the instant he drew them out. He would move these two energies to his heart while colliding them on the path. Once he used that instant of Destruction, the energies would be used up. He only had to drain them depending on how much time he needed.

(It’s still not perfect. The path going from my finger to my heart hurts so much. It seems like I am injured internally already. Can’t use this instant Destruction so much either.)

Instant Destruction allowed him to use abilities that he could only use in Destruction. He flew another fifty meters. What was left in front were the warrior bugs and then the bodyguard bugs further away. The brain bug shifted its body with unease. But the presence of thousands of bodyguard bugs calmed it down.

Zheng was two thousand meters away from the brain bug. Any normal bugs in front of him would get sliced by a slash. The bodyguard bugs chasing was over a hundred meters behind. He killed his way through with the ten-meter light blade. The unlocked mode also allowed him to take care of hoppers that sneaked up from behind. Zheng’s expression was slowly growing with insanity.

The brain bug seemed to be highly intelligent. As soon as it saw Zheng’s strength and speed, it reacted by sending the bodyguard bugs ahead to block him. While it walked slowly toward the tunnel entrance. However, it was walking slow as if it wanted to see if the bodyguard bugs could take down Zheng.

Zheng killed forward another several hundred meters. The normal bugs suddenly moved over to the side and the bodyguard bugs appeared. He was 1.2 kilometers away from the brain bug. There were hundreds of bodyguards in front that didn’t fear his light blade. He could only run with Destruction if he got caught.

Though Zheng had his plan. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get near the brain bug if he just headed straight into the bugs. The only thing he could do now was perform unexpected attacks with instant Destruction. He needed to scare the brain bug into going through the tunnel to where Zero was waiting.

When Zheng was ten meters away from the bodyguard bugs, he jumped. All the bodyguard bugs jumped along but they couldn’t reach the same height as Zheng using the movement technique. He stepped on the air and used Geppo continuously to move toward the brain bug swiftly.

He thought about using the Sky Stick since this was a wide open area. However, the hoppers in the sky flew faster than the Sky Stick. And if he were to use its jet system, that would make him go too fast. He had no choice but to use Geppo which had more flexibility. Several steps later, he closed in another several hundred meters.

The brain bug finally showed further reaction. It retreated toward the tunnel while ordering the bodyguard bugs to attack Zheng. The hoppers also charged at him with no holding back.

Zheng was 400 meters away from the brain bug. He finally entered real Destruction!

He dropped down abruptly to the ground. The bodyguard bugs couldn’t even react due to his speed. He stepped on top of a bodyguard bug and leaped again. The bug got pushed into the ground. Then Zheng used Rankyaku.

It wasn’t a powerful attack but its speed was extremely fast. The vacuum blade crossed hundreds of meters within a second toward the brain bug. A dozen bodyguard bugs near it jumped up to block the blade with their bodies. Saying it was weak was just relative to the other attacks Zheng could perform in Destruction. The force still sent the bodyguard bugs flying. A few collided with the brain bug and made the brain bug ran for his life toward the tunnel. Zheng came back down to the ground.

He immediately exited Destruction. The series of actions took him a total of two seconds. All those instant Destructions added up to about one second. He only had one to two seconds left. The tiny blood vessels on his sky were busted and blood spurted out. He looked in terrible condition. However, he still entered Explosion as soon as he landed before the swarm of bugs tore him apart.

Even though Zheng was feeling sore and exhausted through out, he still slashed at the bodyguard bugs nearby with Tiger’s Soul.

He shouted through his mind. “Zero! See the brain bug? Fire! That’s the bonus mission of this movie!”

The moment his said these words, Zero pulled the trigger. With a loud bang, a bullet pierced right into the brain bug’s head that was only half way out the tunnel. A brilliant light radiated outward and illuminated the tunnel and a two-hundred-meter area.