Monster Cub Live Stream – CH76

Chapter 76

The three split into two groups.

For some reason, there was no one guarding the energy chamber on this starship. After confirming there was no danger outside, Feng Wu made a quick hand signal over his shoulder to the two behind him.

Feng Wu headed for the rendezvous point he had agreed on with the others, while Xiong Yingjun took Lin An’an down a different route.

Their mission was to locate every room on the ship that was storing Kailuo Stone.

Lin An’an followed behind Xiong Yingjun. A faint trace of Kailuo Stone radiation lingered in the air. He suddenly tugged on Xiong Yingjun’s clothes and whispered, “Going room by room is too slow.”

Xiong Yingjun stopped and asked, “Got a better idea?”

Lin An’an nodded and pressed a hand lightly against the wall beside him. A moment later, he said, “Go straight, then turn left. There should be Kailuo Stone in one of the rooms along that corridor.”

As he spoke, he was about to step forward, but Xiong Yingjun blocked him. “I’ll go first.”

Lin An’an did not argue over who should lead. His combat ability was nowhere near Xiong Yingjun’s, so having the other man take point was clearly the better choice.

When they reached the corner, Xiong Yingjun released a mini detector and quietly sent it into the corridor beyond.

A moment later, his brows drew tightly together.

“What is it?” Lin An’an didn’t make a sound, asking only with his lips.

Xiong Yingjun pointed toward the corridor and mouthed two words. Lin An’an read them clearly.

Zerg.

After the initial surprise, Lin An’an did not actually find it that strange that there were Zerg aboard the ship.

Since the Zerg were already under the control of the X-System, there was no way they would waste such a powerful military force.

Xiong Yingjun’s expression turned grave. He signed that there were a lot of them.

At the same time, low voices came through the comms from the others. “Detected a large number of Zerg…”

Lin An’an’s brows immediately knit together.

“Have you seen any humans—or humanoid lifeforms?” he asked.

Xiong Yingjun shook his head, and from the other end of the comms came similar replies of denial.

No humans in sight, but a huge number of Zerg…

Feng Wu’s voice suddenly came through. “I’m in the main control room. There’s no one here—only a Zerg. The ship is running on autopilot.”

A single Zerg?

Before Lin An’an could sort through his thoughts, Feng Wu spoke again. “No, this isn’t an ordinary Zerg… the one in the main control room is the broodmother!”

The broodmother?!

Before Lin An’an could even finish being shocked, someone else spoke urgently. “I found people—probably X-System cyborgs—but they…” He paused, then said, “They all seem to be dead.”

Lin An’an’s heart jumped, all the pieces suddenly connecting. “If X-System cyborgs come into close-range contact with this much Kailuo Stone, they could also be affected by the radiation.”

Xiong Yingjun looked at him. “But isn’t the Gata metal they use for modifications supposed to block Kailuo Stone radiation?”

Lin An’an lowered his voice as he explained, “Their method is basically fighting poison with poison. Once the Kailuo Stone radiation inside their bodies reaches a balance with the Gata radiation, the effects cancel each other out and keep their bodies stable. That’s why they aren’t normally affected.”

“But that balance is actually very unstable. Coming into close contact with a massive amount of Kailuo Stone radiation is the same as breaking that balance. Once the Kailuo Stone radiation spikes in a short time, the Gata radiation can no longer suppress it, and their bodies will inevitably contract radiation sickness again. And…”

Lin An’an narrowed his eyes. “Judging by the other data, when radiation sickness is triggered this way, it’ll be much more severe than under normal circumstances.”

The comms went silent. After a moment, Xiong Yingjun muttered, “So those dead X-System people… they died because of that, right?”

Lin An’an nodded. “Very likely.”

Those people had most likely taken part in the mining and transport of the Kailuo Stone from start to finish. Before the mission had even begun, they probably already knew they were doomed.

They were the ones chosen to be sacrificed.

Lin An’an had no way of knowing whether they had volunteered for that fate, but he simply could not understand how the people of the X-System, in pursuit of becoming “the rulers of the world,” could commit such utterly inhuman acts.

Feng Wu suddenly said, “Teams Two and Four, do not head for the main control room. Join Teams One, Three, and Five in confirming the rooms carrying Kailuo Stone and support His Highness’s purification operation.”

“No.” Lin An’an’s tone turned firm. “The broodmother is in the main control room. You can’t handle it alone.”

“The broodmother has been modified. Ninety percent of its body is Gata metal,” Feng Wu said calmly. “If it were an unmodified broodmother, maybe I couldn’t deal with it alone. But a mechanical broodmother after modification—I can try.”

Lin An’an understood what he meant. Feng Wu’s ability naturally countered all metal, and no matter how powerful the modified broodmother was, it would still be restrained by Feng Wu’s power.

But—

“Going alone is too dangerous,” Lin An’an said.

Feng Wu replied, “If other people are there, they’ll only interfere with me.”

The two held their ground for a moment. In the end, Feng Wu gave a slight concession. “Give me half an hour. If I haven’t dealt with the mechanical broodmother by then, Teams Two and Four can head to the main control room.”

Lin An’an said, “Fine.” Then, after a moment’s thought, he added, “Don’t leave the team channel.”

Feng Wu fell silent for two seconds. “Alright.”

Their brief exchange ended there, and Feng Wu said no more. But soon enough, the sound of the broodmother’s shrieks came through Lin An’an’s earpiece, along with the huge, heavy clang of metal crashing against metal.

Lin An’an drew in a deep breath and nodded to Xiong Yingjun. “Let’s move too.”

Xiong Yingjun pressed on his earpiece. “All teams, regroup at my location. Clear out the Zerg on the ship and provide cover for His Highness’s purification operation.”

“Yes, sir!”

Teams One, Three, and Five were not far from them and arrived at the meeting point quickly.

Xiong Yingjun had been keeping a close watch on the Zerg movements down the corridor. Once the others arrived, he signaled sharply, summoned his mech Giant Overlord Bear, and charged in first.

The other six followed right behind him.

The Zerg outside the first room were dealt with in no time. Without waiting for Xiong Yingjun to say anything, Lin An’an immediately ran to the room’s entrance.

The room was locked. With a flick of his wrist, Lin An’an pulled out a nano bomb, stuck it onto the lock, and stepped back two paces.

A muffled blast sounded, and the lock was blown straight open.

Lin An’an entered the room smoothly and, sure enough, found it packed wall-to-wall with Kailuo Stone, piled high in all shapes and sizes.

Xiong Yingjun’s voice came from behind him. “Your Highness, just focus on purifying the Kailuo Stone. Leave the Zerg outside to us.”

Lin An’an nodded at them, placed both hands on the Kailuo Stone, and the green light in his palms flared brightly.

Meanwhile, on Feng Wu’s side—

The moment he entered the main control room, he was locked in battle with the mechanical broodmother.

Most of the broodmother’s body had been rebuilt with Gata metal. Gata metal was extraordinarily hard—if they relied on brute force alone, even Silver Armor, made from special alloys, would not be able to leave marks on it easily.

But Feng Wu’s goal was not to defeat the broodmother by smashing it apart with Silver Armor.

The silver mech and the black-and-silver mechanical broodmother fought so fiercely that for a while the battle seemed evenly matched.

Yet inside Silver Armor’s cockpit, Feng Wu’s expression remained calm, as though the stalemate did not trouble him in the least.

Suddenly, the huge screen at the front of the control room lit up. A blond man with a metallic sheen gleaming around his neck appeared on it.

“The great Commander Feng Wu of the Silver River Empire, correct?”

He spoke casually, in a tone so relaxed it sounded like friendly small talk.

Inside the cockpit, Feng Wu glanced at him. Once he confirmed it was only a projection, not the man’s real body—and that he would not directly interfere in the fight—he did not spare him another look, much less answer him.

The blond man gave a soft chuckle, his voice carrying that lofty, unpleasant condescension that made one instinctively dislike him. “I know of you. From the very first day we came to this galaxy, I knew about you. You are the most perfect experimental subject we’ve ever seen.”

Feng Wu said nothing. He continued controlling Silver Armor as it tangled with the massive mechanical broodmother.

The blond man showed no displeasure. His icy blue eyes were fixed on Feng Wu’s every move, full of obvious admiration and fascination.

“Even coming from a lower star system, your combat strength still amazes me,” the projection said, generous with his praise. “So I’m giving you a chance. Before this ship reaches the Silver River Empire, the X-System welcomes you to join us.”

At last, Feng Wu gave him a proper glance.

The silver mech ducked low to avoid one of the broodmother’s savage limb strikes, then slid toward the front of the control room. Whether by intention or by accident, Silver Armor’s raised right arm cut through the projection of the blond man and scattered it.

But in the blink of an eye, the image re-formed.

“I know who you are,” Feng Wu said flatly. “You’re Lan Ersite.”

Blond hair, blue eyes, and a body faintly radiating an eerie metallic luster—he had seen this appearance before in the records they took from Xia Yuanhan.

This man was the X-System figure who had worked with Xia Yuanhan.

Lan Ersite smiled. “Then that makes things easier. There are still eight hours left before this ship reaches the Silver River Empire. Commander Feng Wu, I hope you’ll spend those eight hours carefully considering what I just said.”

Feng Wu replied, “It won’t take eight hours.”

Lan Ersite’s tone stayed light and cheerful. “Oh? Could it be that Commander Feng Wu has already made up his mind? If that’s the case, I can have the broodmother stop attacking right now, and we can sit down for a friendly conversation.”

A faint, almost inaudible scoff slipped out, drowned beneath the violent crashing of the battle.

The silver mech leapt high into the air, evading the broodmother’s vicious scything limb. At the exact moment the mech was directly above the broodmother, the cockpit hatch suddenly opened, and Feng Wu shot out of it, landing with perfect precision on top of the broodmother’s head.

The broodmother roared and thrashed its head, trying to fling the reckless human off.

Feng Wu crouched low to steady himself. Silver-white, icy power gathered in both his palms, and he drove them straight into the seam where the broodmother’s head joined its body.

The silver light exploded, so blinding it nearly illuminated the entire main control room.

His metal-manipulating power spread instantly through the broodmother’s entire body, shredding every metallic component inside and out. The agony was so intense that the broodmother’s shrieks were enough to shake the metal walls of the control room.

Under Lan Ersite’s stunned gaze, the broodmother’s violent thrashing gradually weakened, and before long, it went completely still.

The broodmother was dead.

Lan Ersite realized that.

Feng Wu rose unhurriedly to his feet and said coldly, “It won’t take eight hours. We’ll wipe all of you out in far less time than that.”

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