Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies-Chapter 1192: King Insect

Chapter 1192: King Insect

After the combined efforts of the four, they finally managed to completely slay the Broodmother.

Though it was called slaying, when Li Changgong flew over and sliced open that mass of flesh, he actually saw a massive, vigorously beating heart, still desperately pulsating as if unwilling to accept such a fate of death.

From the heart, the four could sense a powerful life force, but having lost its body, it was also rapidly perishing. Great streams of green blood gushed from the blood vessels, forming a small pond.

Zong Yue walked over. He took out a metal box from his person, pressed a button, and it transformed into a sealing device, encapsulating that heart taller than a man to prevent energy loss.

"After the operation concludes, we'll discuss how to divide it. I trust everyone has no objections?"

Zhang Yi and the other two were naturally very tempted; 16,000 points of origin from an exotic beast were extremely rare.

But they also knew it would be difficult for any of them to give it up, and arguing here might lead to a fight.

It was better to decide the division after leaving. After all, even if they couldn't get the origin, they could still obtain a valuable share of the Elemental Stone Vein.

And Zong Yue had declared from the start that he was relinquishing any claim to the origin, so having him handle it put the others most at ease.

"But, what about that King Worm? Where did it go?"

Zhang Yi furrowed his brow, voicing his doubt.

The battle here had already lasted over ten minutes, with massive energy fluctuations. If the King Worm was nearby, it couldn't possibly have failed to sense it.

Yet, even with the Broodmother dead, the King Worm still hadn't appeared. This was undoubtedly very strange.

Han Shanzuo rubbed his chin. "Could it be it knew we were coming and got scared off?"

Zhang Yi, however, said, "That's unlikely! If the King Worm were here, we might not have been able to slay the Broodmother so easily. As a king, fleeing without a fight doesn't match the conduct style of the insectoid race."

Zong Yue also fell into deep thought.

"Indeed. Unless there was something more important than its own colony."

Li Changgong flicked the blood clean from his Long Sword, looking at the massive corpse of the Ground Centipede Broodmother before him, his face full of the pride of having slain a powerful foe.

"Regardless, this is a good thing!"

"If that King Worm shows up, I can slay it just the same!"

But just as his words fell, the entire underground cavern suddenly began to tremble violently.

The earth shook. The rock ceiling overhead cracked and crumbled with a crashing sound, raining down large chunks of stone mixed with fragments of the Elemental Stone Vein that shimmered with blue light.

"BOOM!"

A deafening roar erupted from behind, flames shooting skyward. The dazzling crimson glare was almost blinding, accompanied by an unbearably scorching heat.

Even though the combat suits could regulate temperature, this heat clearly exceeded their limits.

Fortunately, Zong Yue had used [Steadfast Armor] on all four of them, providing mountain-like shields that protected them from the effects of this extreme heat.

"What... what's going on?"

The four cautiously looked behind them. They saw the mountain peak where the Broodmother had originally coiled trembling violently, then a dense, spiderweb-like network of cracks appeared on the mountainside.

Blazing flames mixed with ash erupted violently skyward. Magma bubbled and surged out, shooting in all directions like cannonballs!

"Underground volcano!"

Zong Yue stated.

Zhang Yi raised a hand, and [Manifold Phenomena] formed a barrier around the four.

All falling rocks and flying magma were perfectly absorbed into the Dimensional Space upon impact.

If it were just an underground volcanic eruption, it wouldn't be a major issue for four Epsilons.

But what followed was a deafening, terrifying shriek!

"WHOOSH!"

A massive crimson head suddenly shot out from the volcanic vent. Magma coated its body, yet it showed no sign of damage.

Just the small portion of its body emerging from the vent was nearly as long as the Broodmother. Its thick, long limbs gripped the vent's edge as it slowly crawled out. The two front limbs were huge and sharp, like a crab's pincers!

The moment he saw the thing, Zong Yue's expression changed.

"King Worm! But... how did it become like this?"

"That's the King Worm you mentioned?"

The expressions of the other three also turned extremely grave.

"Is this still the same creature we saw before?"

They had seen the King Worm's appearance in the footage provided by the Shengjing Region.

Although the King Worm was much larger than the Broodmother, its body length was only around 200 meters.

But the colossal being before them now, its body wrapped in scorching magma, was at least over 500 meters long!

The most terrifying thing was the sense of danger it exuded, far surpassing that of the Broodmother.

Zhang Yi took a deep breath and said coldly, "Is this still an 18,000-point King Worm?"

The King Worm crawled out of the volcanic vent. Its body, soaked in magma, glowed red like raging fire.

The magma rapidly flowed out, spreading across the floor of the entire cavern.

Like a demon crawling out of hell, it brought immense pressure upon the four human Epsilons.

Especially when it discovered its mate had been sliced into centipede pieces, it let out a roar of unparalleled fury.

"HISSSSS!"

It raised its head high, then opened its massive maw towards the four. A crimson energy rapidly condensed within its mouth.

The next moment, a thin, concentrated beam shot towards the four.

Without hesitation, Zhang Yi, being the fastest, directly dodged aside. Li Changgong, though half a beat slower in reaction, used his [No Distance Within the Six Realms] ability to put a kilometer of distance between himself and the beam.

Han Shanzuo and Zong Yue were somewhat slower. Though they tried desperately to evade, they were still grazed.

Their bodies were covered by Zong Yue's shields. Just from a graze, large sections of the shield were shattered, nearly severing Han Shanzuo's arm!

The thin beam instantly pierced through the thick rock layers. With just one strike, it blasted a channel several thousand meters long deep within the earth!

"BOOM! RUMBLE!"

The entire cavern trembled violently, as if unable to withstand such terrifying power.

This single strike made everyone's expressions turn incomparably grave.

"Destructive power like this... this is no 18,000-point exotic beast! It's at least 20,000 points!"

Zhang Yi looked at Zong Yue. "Is this how your Shengjing Region gathers intelligence?"

Zong Yue's expression was also extremely grave, his eyes dark and inscrutable.

"One month ago, it definitely wasn't like this!"

Zong Yue wasn't lying about this, because the four of them had seen the combat footage from that time, which couldn't have been fake.

That left only one explanation—the King Worm's power had skyrocketed in this one month!

No wonder the Broodmother had stubbornly guarded that mountain vent. It wasn't just to incubate larvae; it was also protecting the King Worm.

A question flashed through Zhang Yi's mind.

What on earth did this thing obtain underground to progress so astonishingly fast?

Could it be... the mysterious substance beneath the Qinling Mountains?

Something like the Divine Source, or source sprites?

Author's Note