395: Chapter 395: Difficulty Increases, the King Appears!

Sand and the ashes of the insect corpses were kicked high into the air, creating quite a spectacular sight.

However, as the dust and smoke gradually dispersed, Little Red's body was visibly smaller, and the number of red Insect Swarm around it was also decreasing.

But the Black Scarab were fighting with increasing ferocity; their rate of division had even begun to outpace their rate of death.

Lin Xiao couldn't help but ask through their mental link: "Little Red, aren't these bugs all your offspring? Why is the combat power of the black ones stronger?"

Little Red's voice echoed in his mind, carrying a trace of undisguised exhaustion.

"The red ones were hatched from the first-generation egg sac and are my closest children. Those black ones… they all came out of that bronze tripod.

They count as second-generation offspring. They also possess the [Division] and [Regeneration] traits, but their base constitution is stronger than the first generation, so the effects of each trait are naturally stronger as well."

Truly, each generation is stronger than the last.

Lin Xiao looked at the swarms of insects filling the sky and sighed helplessly.

The two Insect Swarms were now locked in an inextricable battle.

The red Scarab Beetle were the offspring hatched from the first-generation egg sac and obeyed the Insect Emperor's will directly.

The Black Scarab came from that bronze tripod; they were larger, had thicker carapaces, and every instance of division and regeneration was faster and more ferocious.

Lin Xiao directed the passengers to continue their attacks from inside the light barrier.

The ashes accumulating on the ground quickly formed a thick layer, soft to step on, like a layer of gray-black snow.

At the same time, the light barrier was visibly fading.

The life force provided by the four elderly ministers of Heze was limited to begin with, and the defensive strength of the light barrier was far inferior to what it had been at the start.

"Brother Lin, I'm afraid this light barrier won't last much longer."

Fan Sinian lifted his head from the edge of his shield, took a look at the light barrier thinning above his head, and spoke with concern in his voice.

"Once the light barrier breaks and the Insect Swarms pour in, the sandbags and baffles on the lower levels won't hold for more than a few minutes."

Chen Pingan was standing a short distance away, gripping his horizontal blade, with black insect fluid still dripping from the blade.

He was silent for a moment, then looked up towards the direction where Lin Xiao was:

"Brother Lin, I can lead a team out to tear open a gap from the flank, lure away a portion of the swarm, and disperse their offensive!"

"No need to take risks for now," Lin Xiao shook his head. "Let the Insect Emperor serve as the main force to deplete the Black Scarab's vital strength head-on while we look for an opportunity to strike. Besides…"

He paused, then continued, "We still have the Astral Express's main cannons for support."

During this time, the main cannons had been executing automatic volleys at five-minute intervals, securing a large number of kills with each round.

Lin Xiao switched to the core control panel.

The continuous bombardment just now had accumulated a considerable reserve of stardust for him.

Not only had everything consumed over the past two days been earned back, but there was even a surplus.

He immediately took out 7.5 million stardust to upgrade both the main cannon level and the ammunition level by five levels each.

The upgrade completion notification bar lit up in the center of his vision.

[Main Cannon Level: 15 (Each level increases attack power by 10%, consumes 1,000,000 stardust to upgrade)]

[Ammunition Level: 15 (Each level increases penetration and explosion radius by 10%, consumes 500,000 stardust to upgrade)]

Immediately afterwards, he took out 10 million stardust to build five new turrets, and the number of turrets on the panel jumped from 19 to 24.

After this series of operations, the ammunition consumption reached 3,000 stardust per shot.

Each round of bombardment burned through the entire income of an average passenger for one stage.

But with high investment comes high return; Lin Xiao didn't fret over these numbers.

Killing bugs converted into stardust, and re-investing that stardust into main cannon upgrades and ammunition consumption was effectively an indirect investment.

Lin Xiao adjusted the bombardment interval, compressing it from five minutes to three minutes.

Ninety-six main cannons on the roof turned simultaneously, calculating new ballistic trajectories towards the rear area of the Black Scarab swarm.

Then, they fired in two alternating batches, with each volley spreading out a dense barrage of coverage.

Light projectiles, trailing dazzling wakes, flew in from a hundred kilometers away and smashed into the oasis grassland.

The shockwaves from the explosions kicked the dirt and the ashes of the insect corpses into the air, only for them to scatter down again.

The not-so-large oasis grassland had been plowed over and over again countless times.

The once lush vegetation had long since turned to dust, and the water pool had been completely evaporated, leaving only shocking, scorched craters embedded in the dried-up mud bed.

Although the Insect Swarms possessed the [Division] and [Regeneration] traits, they were not immortal monsters in the absolute sense.

These two major traits ultimately had limits; after being triggered a certain number of times, they would fail.

Therefore, under such high-intensity artillery coverage, after being repeatedly killed several times, the Black Scarab turned completely into ashes and could no longer give birth to new individuals.

Those killed bugs all turned into warm stardust and supplies, continuously pouring into Lin Xiao's backpack.

The backpack had a storage limit.

Therefore, they could only be transferred out through trading.

At this moment on the Astral Express, Wen Yiran was leading a group of newly recruited members of the Logistics Department, sorting equipment in Room 07-01 without a moment's pause.

Every few minutes, Lin Xiao would send over a batch of new supplies through the trading system.

There were weapons and equipment dropped from insect corpses, jewelry with various bonuses, and piles upon piles of materials and formula blueprints.

The quantity of these supplies was so large that they were all piled on the floor; when the first floor was full, they were piled on the second.

Wen Yiran, wearing her hair in twin tails with dust on her cheeks, held the supply list and pointed around at the team members moving things back and forth, her voice already sounding a bit hoarse from shouting.

"Don't put these white-tier items into storage yet; list them directly on the trading house. Price them at 70% of the pricing sheet from this morning… This batch is of too poor quality; they can't be sold at the normal price for level 4 equipment. Process them all at a discount!"

On the battlefield outside, under the dual pressure of the Insect Emperor and the alternating bombardment of the main cannons, the density of the Black Scarab swarm had begun to visibly decrease.

The passengers were just about to heave a sigh of relief, but the public event icon in the bottom left corner of their vision suddenly jumped.

The next second.

A notification update popped up in everyone's vision simultaneously, and a voice broadcast appeared in their ears at the same time:

[Insect Swarm has entered Berserk Mode]

The Desert Temple's defensive light barrier was getting weaker and weaker, and the air was filled with a large amount of ash.

Lin Xiao sensed something was wrong.

The thick layer of insect corpse ashes on the ground suddenly began to undergo an abnormal reaction.

Countless grayish-white mycelia sprouted from the places where the ashes were piled thickest.

The four statues began to rotate without any warning.

They slowly turned from their guard stance facing the four cardinal directions to face the Desert Temple.

As the pedestals rotated, they crushed the surrounding grass and mycelia, emitting a dull, grinding sound.

The broadcast sounded again:

[Public Event Difficulty Increased]

[Current Difficulty Level: Legendary]

As the voice spoke, the light sphere at the top of the Desert Temple, which had long since dimmed, suddenly burst.

A black shadow darted out from within.

It first burrowed into the ruins on the top floor, then broke through the collapsed walls and landed with a boom on the ground directly in front of the Desert Temple.

Everyone cast suspicious and surprised glances at it.

Lin Xiao also frowned as he observed, showing an expression of surprise.

Because on the ground not far away, an elderly man with a vigorous spirit was slowly standing up.

He was wearing a tattered brocade robe and a crown on his head.

Judging solely by his appearance, the man looked very kind.

However, he was holding the not-yet-dead Second Prince, which made the scene suddenly become extremely bizarre.

"Second Prince Xuan Ye, I've troubled you all."

"Who are you…" Lin Xiao walked forward, flipping his hand to take out his battle axe.

"The ruler of the Kingdom of Heze, Sikong Lie."

The old man looked up.

He revealed a kind smile to the crowd watching from above the steps.