Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Insect Cannon

In the brief moment when Commander Rhett stood in stunned silence, a myriad of blue beams engulfed his air fleet completely. More and more goblin air carriers erupted in explosions, breaking apart in the sky and plummeting to the ground in shattered pieces. Amid the sea of fire, the flapping aircraft fell like ignited moths, raining down like a torrential storm.

Beneath Sun Licheng’s feet, a plasma bug swelled its belly to the utmost, its skin stretched so thin it turned translucent, the glowing orb within shining with blinding brilliance. Suddenly, the bug contracted its abdomen sharply, compressing the energy orb inside, which shot out from the petal-like opening at its tail, forming an enormous beam of light that struck a distant goblin air carrier with deadly precision. In no time, that unfortunate ship was blown apart, scattered in all directions.

“Heh, taste my power! You little fools, you think you can fight me? Watch me finish you off!” Sun Licheng exclaimed, waving his fist with relish.

In the film “Starship Troopers,” these colossal plasma bugs were formidable, their beams capable of piercing the atmosphere and shattering human space battleships in parallel orbit. Though the goblin empire’s air carriers were sizable, they paled in comparison to those space vessels. Using plasma bugs to bombard the goblin carriers was a pleasure beyond words.

As the goblin warships dropped from the sky like dumplings into a pot, the dark sacred fighters behind Sun Licheng burst into hearty laughter. Seeing the enemy formation thrown into chaos, Sun Licheng nodded toward Red Riding Hood.

Understanding his signal, Dark Aquila Red Riding Hood beat her steel wings and soared into the sky. With a sweeping gesture toward the battlefield, countless giant flower-backed beetles took flight, rushing forward in a surging wave. On the ground, innumerable flower-backed wolf bugs surged forward like a flood, racing in the direction she pointed, their massive pincers and razor-sharp claws glinting coldly under the sunlight.

Behind the swarming insects, thousands of imps stood in formation. Clad in dark sacred armor, they were the main force of the army, poised to deliver a fatal blow to the goblin empire’s legion.

Watching the dark sacred fighters with iron wings flying past, Sun Licheng was delighted to discover something remarkable: his monster minions were growing stronger with every battle. At first, he had not possessed so many sacred fighters, but now, almost all his imps had been transformed into sacred fighters. Though the dark sacred armor lacked souls and was inferior to true sacred armor, anything is dangerous when it reaches critical mass. Even if the dark sacred armor was crude, it was still far superior to bronze or silver sacred armor.

The key was that these suits could fly, completely freeing his troops from the constraints of terrain. Their might was truly overwhelming.

“Thank goodness these rascals can upgrade, or I’d be in real trouble in this war,” he thought, watching Red Riding Hood and Granny Wolf—those two shameless scoundrels—soar toward the battlefield. With a sigh, Sun Licheng beat his wings and joined the main force.

The plasma bugs’ bombardment inflicted devastating losses on the goblin air fleet. The falling wreckage of warships and flapping aircraft became a catastrophic meteor shower, crashing down upon the ground forces, crushing countless war puppets and magical beasts into pulp. In his command cabin, Commander Rhett watched helplessly as his subordinates writhed in agony amid the flames, his heart bleeding with grief. He could not fathom what had happened.

Before he could make sense of it, a thunderous buzzing filled the world as the screen became crowded with swarms of beetles. These gigantic flower-backed beetles surged over from a distance like storm clouds. A glance at their massive mandibles and sharp claws was enough to know they were not to be trifled with. Rhett barely had time to issue defensive orders before the beetles swooped down, turning the war puppets and magical beasts below into a feast.

“No!” Rhett’s despairing howl echoed.

But his nightmare was just beginning. On the far horizon, a black line appeared and swiftly approached; countless wolf-like bugs charged into the fray, and the goblin empire’s ground forces—once a mighty dam—were soon smashed to pieces by the tidal wave of insects.

For most creatures, no race could match the insects in numbers, nor could they rival the overwhelming combat power insects possessed in equal volume. Faced with such a swarm, the goblin empire’s war puppet and magical beast legions—once renowned for their numbers—were reduced to helpless maidens, mercilessly pinned and ground down by the insect tide.

Commander Rhett could not bear Sun Licheng’s rampage—after all, he was the man destined to trample this world underfoot!

“Flagship, advance!” At Rhett’s command, the core of the goblin air fleet—the five first-class battleship carriers—pushed their fuel reactors to the maximum and charged into the bloody maelstrom.

The fighting power of a first-class battleship carrier was beyond doubt. In wars ten millennia ago, a single vessel could easily destroy two dragons. Lights flashed incessantly along their hulls, countless beams lancing into sky and ground, vaporizing swathes of insects in an instant.

With the first-class battleship carriers joining the battle, the goblin empire’s legion finally steadied its footing and mounted an effective counterattack.

Seeing his command had taken effect, a faint smile crept over Rhett’s face as he sat at the helm. At the same time, a mocking smirk appeared at the corner of Sun Licheng’s lips. “Heh, that fool has finally fallen for it.”

Once the conditions were ripe, Sun Licheng beat his wings more forcefully, soaring even higher. His sacred armor, under the sunlight, blazed with dazzling golden light, making him seem like a god suspended midair.

Staring at Sun Licheng on the screen, Rhett felt a chill in his heart—an ominous premonition seized him.

“Retreat! Full retreat!” Rhett was terrified; he screamed the order hysterically to his troops.

But it was too late. Sun Licheng slowly raised both arms to his sides, then suddenly swung them upward when they reached shoulder height.

“Galactic Crush Fist!”

With his shout, Sun Licheng unleashed the most powerful technique of the Gemini: space itself twisted where the first-class battleship carriers hovered, hard steel writhing like dough under the immense force, then being torn apart piece by piece.

The warships shattered and exploded in a series of cataclysmic blasts, and the flapping aircraft were annihilated to the last.

“What magic is this? Is it a forbidden spell of the gods?” Rhett was dumbstruck.