Lin Muci hadn't expected that the shadow-legged insect, which had been lunging and clawing just moments ago, would be so easily dealt with by Ling Qianhe.
She stared blankly at Ling Qianhe, her lips trembling slightly, still finding it all incredibly miraculous and unbelievable.
"It was resolved that quickly?"
"Just... that easy?"
"I thought these shadow-legged insects would be difficult to handle. I truly didn't expect it to be so effortless to instantly kill this one!"
Lin Muci was astonished.
Hearing her shocked tone, Ling Qianhe appeared as if this was only to be expected, calm and rational.
"The hardest part is identifying the shadow-legged insect among humans – that's where the difficulty lies, not in how to slay it. Since I've found this shadow-legged insect, killing it is merely an easy matter for me!"
Lin Muci nodded, her gaze falling upon the monstrous insectoid corpse not far away. Suddenly, another possibility flickered through her mind.
"What if—"
"There's more than just one shadow-legged insect here?"
"I still feel like our operation here might be going a bit too smoothly. If there's more than one shadow-legged insect, it will reappear and cause trouble after we leave. Unless we thoroughly search all the humans here..."
Lin Muci took a deep breath, a vague premonition lingering in her heart, causing her to feel extremely uneasy. She looked up at Ling Qianhe, her brow furrowed.
"If there's more than one shadow-legged insect here, could this also be a trap set by the insectoids, making us mistakenly believe all of them have been annihilated, while this one has been hiding?"
She raised her eyes to meet Ling Qianhe's, tentatively asking.
"How can we be sure the insectoids have been completely purged?"
"If there are other insectoids, and it deliberately hides, we might not be able to find any trace of it."
Upon hearing Lin Muci's words, Ling Qianhe's gaze fixed on the monstrous insectoid corpse. He said,
"Let's wait for the military to arrive and handle this insectoid corpse first. If there are other shadow-legged insects hidden in this underground base, they will eventually reveal themselves."
"The resources here are depleting. Staying here is a dead end. No matter what, they will rush out, seize an opportunity, and leave this place."
...
The military personnel arrived the next day. The leader was indeed Altusius. He was surprised to see Lin Muci, having never expected her to appear here.
"How did you..."
Upon seeing the powerful yet seemingly indifferent man beside Lin Muci, Altusius directly gasped, his eyes instantly becoming sharp, wishing he could grab the man's neck and demand an answer!
"How could you let her come to such a dangerous place?"
"I know you're capable, but this place is too dangerous..."
"You have no idea what's recorded in the military's secret files – other students coming here can be considered training, but for her to be here... are you that confident you can protect her?"
The red-haired man was furious.
He had initially intended to use this opportunity to vent his anger.
But the next moment, he couldn't help but freeze, as Ling Qianhe, with a cold smile, tossed something over!
"Of course, I'm different from you useless individuals."
"Naturally, I can protect her."
What Ling Qianhe threw was an incredibly monstrous insectoid corpse!
Altusius's expression instantly became extraordinary. He stood frozen, staring at the insectoid corpse before him, as he had only ever seen such a creature in illustrated books – its ferocious limbs, its crimson markings...
He looked up in disbelief.
"A shadow-legged insect?"
"You actually managed to slay a shadow-legged insect? How is that possible? You alone, and you brought along a..."
He hesitated to call Lin Muci a burden, glossing over it vaguely.
But his eyes were still filled with shock.
"How could you possibly succeed in slaying a shadow-legged insect!"
Ling Qianhe let out a proud snort.
"As I said, I'm different from you who lie in the military to gain merit."
"What you cannot do, I can."
His words were almost absolute.
Altusius, across from him, widened his eyes, his breathing becoming somewhat rapid, but more than that, a sense of shame washed over him.
The military students he brought with him were startled by the monstrous insect's ferocity at first, then retreated several steps, examining it closely and whispering amongst themselves.
"Is this an insectoid?"
"I didn't think our mission would actually involve an insectoid!"
"Didn't they say insectoids were extinct?"
"How can insectoids still be here – impossible, this must be impossible!"
These military students even began to doubt the authenticity of the history they had learned.
But the monstrous insectoid corpse lay before them. Seeing was believing, and they had to admit that perhaps insectoids had not been completely exterminated.
However, some students still raised doubts.
"Could this be a specimen from a laboratory?"
"Possibly... or perhaps dug up from fossils? Shadow-legged insects shouldn't still be alive."
These students still found it unlikely for shadow-legged insects to have survived to this day.
Altusius, of course, understood the gravity of the situation better than these students. He also knew how shocking it was for Ling Qianhe to casually toss out the shadow-legged insect's corpse.
With this shadow-legged insect corpse, their mission was accomplished, and they could report back to the military.
Therefore, even though Altusius disliked the man before him, he had to speak.
"The military will record your merit."
His words were reluctant, but he had to admit that the man before him might receive astonishing commendation from the military. After all, shadow-legged insects ranked quite high in the insectoid hierarchy. A shadow-legged insect corpse, in times of war, could earn extremely impressive service medals.
Yet, the man before him waved his hand dismissively, not taking the so-called merit to heart. Instead, he dropped another shockingly significant piece of news.
"Oh, right."
"There's another human here who is on the verge of collapse. They are humans who were abandoned here originally. How does the military intend to deal with them now?"
"Will you bring them back to the central planet, or provide them with supplies to prolong their survival?"
Such a major matter, by rights, should only be decided by high-ranking military officials. Under normal circumstances, a communication could be initiated immediately. However, due to the communication blackout here, it would be necessary to report to superiors only after returning to the central planet.
Thus, even as a favorite of the military, Altusius could only offer vague responses in this matter.
He couldn't provide a decisive answer.
As Ling Qianhe was about to speak, a golden-haired youth suddenly stepped forward from the crowd behind Altusius. He spoke directly.
"Since there are still humans here, we must naturally take responsibility. Even if we cannot bring them back to the central planet, we absolutely cannot watch them perish!"
This golden-haired youth was tall and imposing. As he stepped forward, he spoke with passionate righteousness.
"Humans should stand together. Regardless of the reason these humans were left here, now that we are here, we cannot stand idly by."
"We have supplies, and we can give them all to them."
"We must save these humans!"
Ling Qianhe looked at the passionate youth before him and suddenly smiled, a faint, sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"Can you represent everyone?"
"The shadow-legged insect's corpse is right before everyone's eyes. This place is fraught with peril, and everyone will die. In a situation where you can barely protect yourself, thinking of saving others is so foolish and ignorant. Did the mech academies of the central planet only cultivate such imbeciles?"
Hearing Ling Qianhe's words, the golden-haired youth was clearly angered into stunned silence. However, he also knew he was no match for Ling Qianhe, especially with the monstrous insectoid corpse placed before them.
He cast a pleading glance towards Altusius.
Altusius took a deep breath, also finding Ling Qianhe utterly unbearable!
"Ling Qianhe, don't go too far! There's nothing wrong with my students having kind hearts. They are all humans; should we just watch them die?"
"Do you have any compassion at all?"
"Ling Qianhe, you're a madman yourself, do you think everyone in this world is like you?"
The youth, whose handsome features were unparalleled, merely sneered and moved aside.
He truly couldn't be bothered to watch these people rush to their deaths.
...
Over the next two days, Altusius had completed the census of the surviving humans here. There were actually more than Lin Muci had initially thought, at least over a hundred thousand, and among them were many elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.
Although the conditions of the abandoned citizens of this place were dire, they had at least not abandoned the infirm, the sick, the women, and the children.
Since large spacecraft could not be used to enter this area, Altusius had only brought a few small spacecraft, which were completely insufficient to transport these people back to the central planet. The supplies they could provide were also a drop in the bucket. Unless they returned to the central planet immediately and dispatched rescue teams, it would require immense cost. The council might not agree, as this place was too special, and the inability of large spacecraft to navigate would escalate costs to a point that even the central planet's resources could not bear!
The situation became a stalemate.
Altusius eventually accepted the local proposal with resignation. He would take a portion of the outstanding descendants selected from the local populace to the central planet. As for the others here, the central planet would arrange to send some supplies to ensure they could survive with minimal energy.
Lin Muci, holding the small rabbit in her arms, observed the scene. The rabbit sighed softly.
"If there really is a second shadow-legged insect, it must be hidden among these people."
Lin Muci, however, didn't see this as a problem.
"If Ling Qianhe can expose these people's pasts, just as he did with the first shadow-legged insect, then the insectoids – they will have nowhere to hide!"
But when she went to find Ling Qianhe, he said something that surprised her.
"It would be better to investigate the whereabouts of the shadow-legged insect after we return to the central planet."
Lin Muci was shocked.
"Why?"
"Why not deal with the potential shadow-legged insect directly, instead of giving it a chance to board the spacecraft..."
Ling Qianhe's subsequent words completely convinced Lin Muci.
"Because the military council has never seen a living shadow-legged insect with their own eyes. Given their suspicion, even if I claim credit for slaying a shadow-legged insect, they will raise doubts and even steal my merit."
"Don't doubt it, I've dealt with them too many times, I know their personalities too well."
"Moreover, the people of the central planet have no idea of the terror of the shadow-legged insect. They are arrogant. Until the knife truly falls upon them, they won't know pain."
"No matter how great the threat of the shadow-legged insect is to them, if they don't see it with their own eyes, they will still be indifferent. This is human's inherent weakness!"
Lin Muci immediately thought of the term "fishing for evidence."
But—
wasn't Ling Qianhe afraid of things getting out of hand? If a shadow-legged insect truly infiltrated human society, who knew what chaos it would cause.
In her opinion, it was better to slay the shadow-legged insect as soon as possible for peace of mind.
Besides, here, it had nowhere to hide.
And if the shadow-legged insect found an opportunity, it might not be so easy then. This damned bug was highly intelligent; who knew if it had any backup plans.
So Lin Muci did not agree with his approach.
"If there really is a second shadow-legged insect here – and you can't control it?"
She looked into Ling Qianhe's eyes, but the depths of his pupils were as cold as water. He said,
"There is no such possibility."
"And humans who have not seen the shadow-legged insect with their own eyes will never believe that the insectoids have truly returned."
"They will remain immersed in their revelry, lulled by brief peace. They will think that some people are alarmist, and that the real threat is still far away from them."
Lin Muci suddenly found herself speechless. Reason told her that perhaps Ling Qianhe was right. It was precisely for this reason that the council wanted to destroy the main system entirely; without the threat of insectoids, they felt the main system's power had become a constraint.
And Ling Qianhe intended to reveal all these facts, bloody and raw, back at the central planet, so that everyone could see clearly whether the threat of insectoids was far away or right in front of them!
A surge of emotions swept through Lin Muci like waves. She controlled her emotions and asked the question she was curious about.
"Then—"
"Tell me, does a second shadow-legged insect truly exist?"
Ling Qianhe looked into her eyes.
He could have chosen not to answer her question, but he met her gaze and then nodded.
"Yes."
"It truly exists."
He actually admitted it directly!