Chapter 109: The Familiar Scent of Rosemary
The escape tunnel was fireproof and insulated. After the door closed, three heavy iron gates dropped down in sequence based on personnel movement.
It would take at least an hour to drive from Bai Meng to the Royal Palace.
Just as Shen Zhuo was thinking about how to get to the palace, they exited the tunnel.
It was the back mountain on the other side of the sea area behind Bai Meng.
The moment the escape tunnel door opened, Shen Zhuo heard the roar of propellers from above.
Looking up, he saw a helicopter hovering in the air.
Fu Qi Shang was hanging outside the helicopter, throwing down a rope.
Ai Li checked the time and gave him a thumbs up.
“On time.”
Fu Qi Shang pulled the group onto the helicopter and looked at Shen Zhuo:
“Let’s discuss the action plan.”
Shen Zhuo frowned slightly, and after a moment said, “I’m going alone.”
“No.”
“Not allowed!”
“That’s not good, Madam.”
Even from the pilot’s seat came a voice:
“Disagree.”
Shen Zhuo looked up to see Liang Ye Ta turning around:
“This place belongs to humanity; the responsibility is something we need to bear together.”
“But…” Shen Zhuo shook his head. “It would be better for you all to protect yourselves and stay out of this.”
Shen Zhuo suddenly understood the headache Du Xun felt back when Du Xun tried to keep him away from these matters, and he insisted on participating.
The more he didn’t want them to join, the more they refused.
Liang Ye Ta turned back around: “Later, we’ll land on the roof of my company building. There’s a car waiting. I know some programming; I can help you hack into the surveillance.”
Fu Qi Shang added: “I can help you suppress the pursuing soldiers.”
Ai Li went without saying.
He looked at the sniper rifle on An’s back, itching to touch it:
“Shen Zhuo-Zhuo, you brought this along. Wouldn’t it be unkind if you didn’t give it to me?”
Everyone stared at the boy.
Shen Zhuo felt only a trace of helplessness.
“But this isn’t a joke.”
Shen Zhuo spoke slowly: “What I’m about to do might destroy a country.”
The scene Shen Zhuo imagined did not appear.
“So what?” This was Ai Li’s disdain.
“I know.” This was Liang Ye Ta’s strategic calm.
“I obey Madam’s arrangements.” This was An’s unshakeable loyalty.
Fu Qi Shang: “…”
The blonde Omega lowered his eyes, thinking about something.
Not until Ai Li nudged him with an elbow.
Only then did Fu Qi Shang look up, his conflicted expression relaxing into seriousness:
“I believe the Royal Family is wrong.”
From childhood to adulthood, Fu Qi Shang had been indoctrinated to obey his father and the Royal Family.
This was the first time, and perhaps the last, that he admitted the object of his faith all along was wrong.
Since even Fu Qi Shang said so, Shen Zhuo really had no other moves.
He opened the map he brought in front of everyone:
“I need to find the Insect Mother and kill her. She is likely just returning to the palace now; location unknown.”
Shen Zhuo pointed to various locations on the map, assigning tasks:
“Liang Ye Ta, try to destroy all surveillance equipment. Ai Li, go to a high vantage point for sniping and listen to my command. Fu Qi Shang, split up with me to find the Insect Mother. An, provide support from the outside and secure our retreat.”
The boy thought of several backup plans, designated A, B, and C.
The helicopter arrived earlier than expected.
They put on the internal communicators newly developed by Jing Yue and special glasses.
An drove them toward the nearby palace.
When Shen Zhuo arrived at the palace perimeter, he checked his watch.
It wasn’t even twelve o’clock yet.
Hundreds of soldiers were lined up in the massive square at the palace entrance.
“Ai Li, look at their necks.”
Ai Li activated his ability, switched places with Shen Zhuo to sit by the window, and observed.
After a while, he made a “yes” hand gesture to Shen Zhuo.
“Those are all humanoid insectoids.” Shen Zhuo’s expression darkened.
The skin of humanoid insectoids feared fire.
But even if the exterior was burned away, the insect body itself could still regenerate rapidly. It would recover to its original state in at most half an hour.
“Cut off their heads or avoid them. Those are the only two ways.”
But only mech cold weapon materials were strong enough to sever their heads.
So, in a situation where all weapons and ranks were useless, self-preservation was the priority.
Shen Zhuo gave a final warning to be safe, then he and Fu Qi Shang sneaked towards the rear of the palace.
Luckily, within ten minutes, Shen Zhuo saw the Insect Mother rushing back.
Queen Minya, clad in a cloak, walked briskly into the court through a path parted by the insect army.
Shen Zhuo tapped his earpiece: “Ai Li, keep an eye on her.”
“Received.”
“I can transmit the feed to your lenses.”
In the Jing Yue office, Liang Ye Ta watched the last bit of the progress bar break through.
Real-time footage of every floor appeared on the computer screen.
“Surveillance hacked? That was fast.” Ai Li hummed in affirmation.
The Insect Mother was heading toward the Queen’s room. To take down the Insect Mother, they had to wait for a moment when she was alone.
The Insect Mother stayed in the Queen’s room for nearly half an hour. When she came out, her footsteps were noticeably unsteady.
As she put on her hood, she wiped blood from the corner of her mouth.
“She… doesn’t seem like a living person.”
The sound of Ai Li sucking in a breath came through the earpiece.
Shen Zhuo suddenly remembered that, apart from An, the others knew nothing about the Insect Mother.
Only Ai Li had caught a rough glimpse of her at the top of the Beach Building.
“The Insect Mother is Queen Minya, Tiya.”
Silence fell simultaneously over the earpieces. Beside Shen Zhuo, Fu Qi Shang’s eyes went wide, his jaw dropping.
“W-What?” Fu Qi Shang shook his head and laughed. “Don’t joke. Queen Minya died over twenty years ago.”
Shen Zhuo said flatly: “When did the humanoid insectoids appear?”
Fu Qi Shang was very familiar with this kind of theoretical knowledge.
“August, twenty years ago…”
Before he could finish, Fu Qi Shang went silent.
He drew a sharp breath.
“But why did the humanoid insectoids only start evolving crazily in recent years?”
It was Liang Ye Ta’s question.
Shen Zhuo had a guess.
The Queen had to wait for the next S5 to be born, grow, and mature.
Wait for him to reach his current age.
Capable enough to become the next Insect Mother.
But Shen Zhuo didn’t voice this guess to the group.
Such things would cause too much panic.
Once they knew, they would do whatever it took to keep him away from this operation.
Coincidentally, a lone soldier walked toward Shen Zhuo. He seemed to sense something and was pushing aside the grass to approach Shen Zhuo.
But in the next second, the soldier collapsed silently.
“Target neutralized.” The sound of Ai Li cocking his rifle came through the earpiece. After a moment, he said:
“The Insect Mother is heading to the basement. Line of sight blocked.”
“There is no full-area surveillance in the basement; there are blind spots,” Liang Ye Ta said. “Looks like you guys have to go down.”
Shen Zhuo intended to do just that.
He signaled Fu Qi Shang with his eyes: “Go.”
.
The palace basement, to put it simply, was a hatchery.
The growth cycle of humanoid insectoids was extremely short.
They could grow into a complete form in about half a month.
Passing through the first and second basement levels, Shen Zhuo saw countless, densely packed eggs.
They were being arranged in the greenhouse by specialized personnel.
The first level contained those just laid, no bigger than a fingernail.
The second level contained those about to hatch. For some reason, they could grow on their own and were already half the height of a human.
Shen Zhuo didn’t have time to count, but he estimated the total number on the first and second levels combined.
It wouldn’t be less than fifty thousand.
“Fu Qi Shang.” Shen Zhuo and Fu Qi Shang hid in a surveillance blind spot.
“Hm?” Fu Qi Shang was ready to use his ability at any time.
“Here. Set it on fire.”
The personnel in the basement were divided into researchers and assemblers.
The light was too dim to see if they had tattoos on their necks.
Shen Zhuo used [Listening Heart] and found he could even capture the thoughts of the life inside the eggs.
Consequently, all the inner voices were chaotic, as noisy as two thousand cicadas chirping at once.
Shen Zhuo couldn’t make out anything and got a headache from listening.
He had to stop using the ability.
Turning his head, he saw Fu Qi Shang’s mouth gaping wide.
“Grandpa, do you have a death wish?!”
Fu Qi Shang had learned an exaggerated tone from someone—most likely Ai Li.
“If you don’t burn this place, do you want to see an insect tide launch from the palace toward the city in fifteen days?” Shen Zhuo looked at the route to the lower floor marked by Liang Ye Ta appearing before his eyes.
Fu Qi Shang thought about it. True.
“Alright.”
“I’ll go downstairs first. You find a way to start a fire here. Wait for the command via communicator for the timing.”
The boy didn’t wait for the blonde Omega to agree or disagree. Pressing his body low, agile as a cat, he vanished into the shadows of the corner.
As soon as he descended the stairs to the third basement level, Shen Zhuo immediately felt a chill.
The temperature here was lower than above.
Autumn nights were already cool, but this place exuded the gloominess of a morgue.
The lights on the second floor were dim, probably because the Zerg needed darkness to grow.
But on the third floor, there were no lights at all.
There were only red and blue lights emitted from unknown instruments.
Vaguely, one could see this was a living space.
A very large living space, fully equipped with various items.
But mostly, there were all kinds of medical equipment, syringes, reagents, and so on.
Mixed with the smell of disinfectant.
But he didn’t see Queen Minya.
He wanted to take another step inward, but his body didn’t move.
This was his subconscious telling him that his body had detected something.
But his brain hadn’t yet.
Shen Zhuo immediately pulled his foot back.
Liang Ye Ta was mapping the room’s structure based on what Shen Zhuo saw, but it wasn’t that fast.
“The Queen seems to be going downstairs,” Ai Li’s voice came through the earpiece. “Feng Mu Ya is also entering from outside the door.”
Shen Zhuo responded calmly. He didn’t have much time to hesitate.
Before the Queen arrived on the third floor, he had only two options: kill the Insect Mother or flee.
Delay was not an option.
Just then, the 3D map of the room unfolded on his lens, and Liang Ye Ta’s voice sounded:
“Only a rough outline for now. There might be traps, be careful.”
Shen Zhuo was vigilant, but some things were impossible to guard against.
Something tiny fell on the floor, indistinguishable in the dark.
When the boy stepped on it, his heart skipped a beat.
Not good!
But before Shen Zhuo could react quickly to dodge, two hands suddenly reached out from behind him.
One grabbed his collar, the other wrapped around his waist, pulling him backward simultaneously.
At the same time, the familiar scent of rosemary revealed a faint presence in the air.
In the next second, Shen Zhuo felt himself being pulled away from his spot, his back pressed tightly against a burning body heat.
And on the spot where Shen Zhuo had just been, a long blade pierced up from the ground.
If he had been a second later, he would have been impaled.
But now, Shen Zhuo’s attention was diverted by the man behind him.
He opened his mouth and heard his own suppressed, aggrieved, and unbelieving voice:
“Du Xun…?”
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