311: Chapter 311 Fierce Battle Against the Zerg Swarm: A Great Victory in the First Battle!

In the field of vision.

Six thick, pillar-like appendages pressed down onto the ruins, the weight of each one causing the relics to tremble incessantly.

Chen Pingan's hand, gripping his blade, stiffened for a moment, but then erupted with even more intense killing intent.

The red light on Liu Bi dimmed slightly in the face of this sound wave; he gritted his teeth, reignited his domain, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

The passengers who had just entered the battlefield looked up at the giant Scarab Beetle that almost obscured half the starry sky, the fanaticism on their faces finally replaced by an instinctive fear.

"Don't just stand there!"

Lin Xiao's voice came from the front of the crowd, his battle axe pointing diagonally toward the sky. "Can mere bugs make you fearful?"

As he spoke, he activated the Maximum Output Mode of his battle axe [terminator], then stacked it with the [Blood Rage] status.

Under the bonus of high movement speed, his entire figure turned into an afterimage and rushed forward.

Red light blossomed one after another in the insect swarm.

Although the passengers could not perceive the depth of Lin Xiao's combat power, the constantly soaring numbers on the leaderboard allowed them to witness with their own eyes the terrifying nature of this Train Conductor.

The other ten captains also rushed to the front following Lin Xiao's footsteps and began to fight fiercely.

Those who had been frightened by the Insect Emperor gripped their weapons again, their eyes glowing with a faint green light once more.

Thousands of Scarab Beetles and over eight hundred passengers tangled on these palace ruins for more than two hours.

When the last Scarab Beetle that lunged from the side was slashed down by Chen Pingan, the sky full of insect shadows finally disappeared.

The battlefield quieted down.

The ruins were covered with shattered insect corpses.

The sporadic Scarab Beetles that were still alive lay in piles of broken bricks, their elytra broken and appendages twitching, and were quickly finished off by a few bold passengers.

Thus, with everyone's concerted efforts.

The Astral Express repelled the first wave of the insect swarm at the cost of zero deaths and over a hundred injuries, clearing out a large area of the palace ruins.

Ruan Li was busy behind the front lines, green halos flickering on the wounded, helping them quickly recover their state.

"Count the battle damage!"

Lin Xiao withdrew his battle axe, scanned the battlefield, and then looked toward the shadows deep in the palace; that Insect Emperor had already retreated into the darkness, with no sign of pursuit.

He breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and at the same time, a thought arose.

The ruins that had been cleared with such difficulty might be able to serve as a base!

Because in the more distant palace relics, there were still a large number of unhatched egg sacs.

Therefore, there would definitely be a few more waves of insect swarms later.

If a base could be established here, and by going back and forth through the portal, wouldn't it be possible to enjoy a wave of stardust and resources?

"Old Fan, take some people to clean up the battlefield. Don't waste those insect corpses, especially the intact elytra; bring them all back to Yimu."

Lin Xiao looked back at Fan Sinian, who was wiping his shield, and while giving the order, he also sent him a trade request and transferred a sum of stardust to him.

"You got it, Brother Lin!" Fan Sinian replied with a beaming smile and called over a dozen familiar old brothers to start cleaning the battlefield.

Lin Xiao turned around, his gaze sweeping over the faces that were somewhat exhausted from the previous high-intensity battle.

Then, he raised his right hand and pressed it down, signaling everyone to quiet down.

"Everyone, these palace ruins are the location of the capital of the Heze Kingdom. The insect swarm has temporarily retreated, but there are still large areas here that have not been explored."

His voice was high and clear, appearing exceptionally distinct under the empty dome of the ruins.

"Next, this area will serve as our temporary base. Everyone is free to explore, and the portal will remain open. Of course..."

"This place requires a group of people to be stationed here. Anyone who volunteers to be stationed here will also receive an additional stardust subsidy!"

As soon as this was said, the crowd, who had been somewhat exhausted, began to get excited again.

"The insect swarm has temporarily retreated? Does that mean... there are still monsters to grind later?"

"That's great. My buddy only spent five thousand stardust and got a whole pile of materials. I earned a fortune!"

"Yeah, although these bugs don't drop legendary equipment like in the Rift Space, they have the advantage of quantity. The materials you can get from one battle are richer than brushing several floors. We won't have to worry about crafting equipment in the future!"

Lin Xiao looked at the excited passengers and waited a few seconds before speaking, his tone returning to his usual steadiness: "As long as the portal is there, you can travel back and forth between the Astral Express and the Cloud Palace."

He paused, a very faint smile appearing on the corner of his mouth,

"But if the Astral Express moves away from the desert area and the teleportation distance exceeds the limit, the connection will have to be broken. So, the window of opportunity is limited. Those who want to make a fortune, don't miss it."

Everyone nodded one after another.

Quite a few people raised their hands, volunteering to join the garrison team, and the newly promoted Captain Xie Yun was among them.

"Captain Xie Yun, your performance this time was very eye-catching."

Lin Xiao looked at her, his tone carrying a hint of appreciation, "The passengers you brought are all solid in strength, and their cooperation is tacit. It is truly admirable."

"The Train Conductor is too kind." Xie Yun responded with a smile, "We just tried our best, thinking that we shouldn't hold everyone back."

"The battle lasted for one or two hours, not going back to rest?" Lin Xiao asked.

Xie Yun shook her head: "I didn't sign up for the relic exploration team before, and this is a good opportunity, so I want to take my team members to see this magical place."

"Good." Lin Xiao pointed to the portal in the distance, "Keep the teleportation anchor activated. If there is any abnormality, contact me at any time."

After saying that, he took two more teleportation anchors from his backpack and handed them to her as backups.

Xie Yun nodded and agreed.

Leaving dozens of people to guard the base, the others returned to the Astral Express through the portal.

At the same time, the cleanup team that remained at the Qitian Temple ruins also returned to the Astral Express in batches through the portal.

Coming back with them were more than thirty military off-road vehicles and off-road pickups.

These vehicles were not like flying shuttles and could not be stored in a backpack.

So, under Lin Xiao's arrangement, the roofs of Car 03, 04, and 05 were used as a temporary parking lot, and all the vehicles were settled in batches.

"Train Conductor, are these cars all ours?"

In Captain Lu Gongda's engineering team, a young team member looked at these weather-beaten off-road vehicles, his tone full of excitement that he couldn't quite believe.

"They are the Astral Express's, not yours." The old team member next to him slapped him on the back of the head.

"The number of these vehicles is limited, and they cannot be made available for passengers to use at will." Lin Xiao smiled and continued, "If there are any long-distance combat missions in the future, I will allocate them to you according to your needs."

Today was a fruitful day.

Not only Lin Xiao, but the passengers were also very happy.

Especially the new passengers who got on the Astral Express on the eve of the third stage, hearing the news that Lin Xiao had severely damaged the Silver-White Train and seized a large number of firearms and protective gear, they were extremely excited.

So, at the suggestion of that guy Fan Sinian, everyone set up a banquet that was not quite a banquet on the roofs of Car 06 and 07.