492: Chapter 492 What is this?

"'That' is what?! Speak clearly! Is there still time?!" The Eastern Federation squad leader was almost driven mad with anxiety; why play riddles at a time like this!

Just then, the Cloud Knight Decurion seemed to receive a short message.

Immediately after, his tone changed abruptly, filled with a hurried reverence as he shouted into the communication channel and to the other visible Cloud Knight soldiers.

"Everyone! Eyes on me! Shrink the defensive line! Fast!"

At the same time, he roared toward the Eastern Federation's Third Squad: "Brothers of the Eastern Federation! Forget the formation! Abandon the outer perimeter! Everyone! Rally to us immediately! Quick! No time to explain!"

Although the surviving Eastern Federation soldiers were confused, seeing the neighboring Cloud Knights suddenly abandon their original formation, quickly shrink toward them, and prop up energy barriers, they realized a massive change might be occurring.

Survival instinct made them subconsciously follow the orders, desperately rallying toward the Cloud Knights.

The struggling Eastern Federation Pathstrider also felt a heavy energy fluctuation rising from the Cloud Knights' side that far exceeded his understanding. Gritting his teeth, he used his last bit of physical strength to reinforce his shield, protecting his comrades as they moved toward them.

Thirty seconds ago...

Just as the Eastern Federation's Third Squad was being besieged, in the sky behind the battlefield, on the open deck of an elegantly styled command ship, General Feixiao, who had been quietly observing the entire battle, tilted her head slightly.

There was no expression on her face as she simply said, "Bow."

Her Fox People adjutant, who had been standing behind her, immediately stepped forward, holding up an ancient-looking and seemingly unremarkable longbow with both hands.

General Feixiao took the longbow and stepped out, her figure instantly vanishing from the deck.

The next moment, she appeared at the highest point of the command ship, standing in mid-air.

The fierce wind blew at the hem of her clothes, yet she remained as steady as a rock.

She calmly drew the bow; there was no arrow. But with her movement, the wind within a radius of dozens of miles seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, gathering frantically toward the bow in her hand.

In the blink of an eye, a cyan-blue arrow refined to the extreme by the gale naturally appeared on the bowstring. Around the arrow, visible flowing winds swirled, letting out a low howl.

The arrowhead tilted up slightly, and General Feixiao released her fingers.

"Swoosh—"

There was no deafening roar, only a sound so slight it was almost negligible, as if tearing through silk.

The cyan-blue arrow shot from the string and instantly vanished into the air.

...

Just as the two squads barely merged into a cluster, the Cloud Knight Decurion let out a loud shout and, along with several other Cloud Knight soldiers, slammed his weapon into the ground!

A pale gold energy shield, far more solid and heavy than the one propped up by the Eastern Federation Pathstrider, instantly expanded, enveloping everyone.

The surface of the shield shimmered with flowing light, exuding an indestructible aura.

"This... this is?" The Eastern Federation Pathstrider felt the reassuring power of "Preservation" within that shield, its intensity several times stronger than when he exerted his full strength. He looked at the Cloud Knight Decurion in shock.

The swarm of insects wouldn't give them a chance to breathe, instantly drowning this newly formed, more tempting target.

Acid, bone spurs, and sharp claws frantically slammed against the pale gold shield, causing ripples, but the shield remained unmoved.

The Cloud Knight Decurion looked through the shield at the densely packed, frantically attacking swarm outside. Not only was there no tension on his face, but a hint of anticipation appeared instead.

He turned to the shaken Eastern Federation soldiers beside him, grinned, and spoke with clear excitement.

"Didn't you just ask what 'that' was? Actually, I thought it would be an axe strike at most, but I didn't expect the General to be in such high spirits today!"

"Don't panic, steady your mind. Watch closely—"

He raised a finger and pointed to the sky outside the shield, though nothing could be seen as it was obscured by the swarm.

"This next arrow is going to be fucking cool."

Just as he finished speaking, all the Eastern Federation soldiers squeezed inside the shield, including the Pathstrider, felt an indescribable pressure descending from the heavens, as if coming from the world itself!

A cyan-blue arrow fell from the high sky above the battlefield, appearing directly above the rampaging swarm.

As the arrow fell, no explosion occurred.

Instead, a cyan tornado connecting heaven and earth appeared out of thin air!

The range of the tornado precisely covered the entire area where the swarm was emerging, as well as the insects that had already rushed out of the hole.

Inside the wind pillar, countless incredibly fine and sharp energy wind blades were surging, cutting, and rotating at a terrifying speed!

At this moment, the members of the Eastern Federation's Third Squad inside the shield only felt their surroundings brighten, and the suffocating screeching and attacks of the insect tide instantly vanished.

They looked up in terror, witnessing a scene they would never forget.

Centered on them, a radius of over a hundred meters was completely enveloped by a massive cyan wind pillar.

Within the wind pillar, those massive numbers of insects that were still baring their fangs and claws just seconds ago—whether crawling on the ground or flying in the sky, whether fragile worker bees or thick-shelled bugs—were being decomposed and stripped away at a visible rate!

Shells, limbs, organs, acid...

Everything was shredded and obliterated by the ubiquitous and razor-sharp wind blades, then swept into the high sky by the violent airflow.

The inside of the wind pillar seemed to have become a giant, high-speed blender, and the insects were the raw materials inside.

This process lasted for less than five seconds.

Five seconds later, the cyan tornado dissipated as abruptly as it had appeared.

All was calm.

The area that was previously a mountain of insects had become empty.

The ground looked as if it had been repeatedly polished with the finest sandpaper by the most violent sandstorm, becoming exceptionally clean, with only bare, smooth rock remaining.

Forget insect corpses; not even a drop of insect blood or a trace of acid could be found, as if the terrifying swarm from just now was merely a hallucination.

Only the huge hole, still spitting out a few stray insects, proved what had happened here.

Except for the dozens of people in the center who were a bit unsteady on their feet from the wind and had their armor covered in dust, they were completely unharmed. The destructive power of the tornado was precisely controlled to within an inch of them, without causing the slightest injury.

Of course, there was still a tiny bit of damage within the eye of the storm, but the power of Preservation would withstand everything.

The members of the Eastern Federation squad finally snapped out of it after a long while. After a few incoherent sounds, the leader turned to look at the Cloud Knight and took a deep breath.

"Indeed, it's explosively cool."

All the Eastern Federation soldiers who saw this scene through observation equipment—whether frontline soldiers or personnel in the rear command center—collectively lost their voices.

The warriors wearing Chi Xiao armor stopped their weapons for a moment, staring blankly at that excessively clean area.

On the artillery positions of the Heavy Combined Arms Brigade, the soldiers forgot to initiate a new round of fire support.

The soldiers who were fighting the insects moments ago all froze in their movements.

Their minds suffered an unprecedented impact and shock.

All previous doubts—such as why a Centurion was just a Centurion? What did a Xianzhou "General" mean? To what extent could individual martial power reach in interstellar warfare...

Under this one arrow, there were now crystal-clear answers.

This was no longer within the realm of what human power could achieve.

This was heavenly might.

General Feixiao's figure had long since disappeared from the high sky and returned to the command ship, handing the longbow back to her adjutant as if she had only done a trivial little thing.

Her calm voice rang out in the communication channel: "Crisis averted. All units proceed with the cleanup as planned."

Her voice startled the dazed Eastern Federation officers and soldiers.

But the trembling and awe coming from the depths of their Souls were deeply etched into everyone's hearts.

They finally understood that fighting alongside such an existence—or rather, in the eyes of such an existence—the military power, technology, and even the bit of firepower freedom they had just obtained and relied upon were somewhat infantile.

Their worldview was completely refreshed at this moment.