Seele put a hand on her hip. "Then let Seele go with you! Seele feels the same way as Big Sis about finding Big Sis Mei. Besides, how could I let Big Sis go alone in such a dangerous place!"
"Seele…" Bronya's stubborn expression softened a little. She then turned to look at Ryn and Penglaiji Ryn.
"I'm sorry, please forgive my selfishness. I'll have to trouble you two to take the test tubes back first. Seele and I will return after we finish our investigation…"
Ryn waved his hand, interrupting Bronya, then put an arm around the somewhat anxious Penglaiji Ryn and said with a smile.
"How could we let you two run wild in such a dangerous place! Besides, we finally found a clue related to Penglaiji Ryn's memories. How could we give up just like that! Right?"
"Mhm." Penglaiji Ryn nodded firmly. Whether it was finding Mei, searching for clues about her memories, or the safety of Seele and Bronya, she couldn't bring herself to leave first with a clear conscience.
Bronya frowned. "But everyone at the base is waiting for our news, and the safety of the reagents…"
Ryn smiled and winked at Bronya, then he and Penglaiji Ryn tacitly touched their greatswords together.
Ryn & Penglaiji Ryn: "If we just exterminate the entire insect species, we won't have to worry about the reagents, right?"
Seele: "…"
Bronya: "… ? …"
Just as the group was preparing to go search for clues together, a sharp screech came from behind a wall.
Then, the insect eggs that covered the entire Homu Castle burst one after another, and from within crawled out insect-type new species.
And the area that was previously covered by the eggs was now revealed to have a hidden door, as all the eggs had hatched.
"That bloodcurdling screech came from behind the wall, which is inside this hidden door. It seems this place was blocked by the eggs before, which caused us to look in the wrong direction from the start."
Ryn used his Heat Vision to melt all the insects that had hatched from the eggs.
"The King Insect Yiselian mentioned might be behind the door. Should we go in?"
"Yes. Now that we've confirmed the possible existence of a King Insect, this matter has become serious. Seele and I will go open the door. You two cover us."
Bronya's expression became serious. She cautiously approached with her rifle, and together with Seele who had run over, they pushed the large door open.
Ryn and Penglaiji Ryn had their Heat Vision and heavy cannon ready to provide support, in case anything attacked the moment the door opened.
"It's so dark… I can't see anything."
After the large door opened, it revealed what was perhaps a spacious, enclosed room. There was not a sliver of light inside; the entire room was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.
"Proceed with caution. Judging from the sound just now, it came from the depths of the room."
"Wait a moment, I have a flashlight here. Let's observe the room's structure before moving forward."
Seele took a flashlight out of her backpack and illuminated the room.
The beam of the flashlight swept across every corner, but apart from numerous insect eggs, there were only some messy Homu dolls. And in the center of the hall, a little further back, stood a tall Homu throne.
When Ryn saw the throne and the murals on the wall next to it, he understood that this hall was likely the 'King's' location within Homu Castle, a place specifically for children to take pictures.
But no matter how he looked at it, this place was very strange, especially the familiar yet strange aura coming from the throne.
In this spacious hall, there was also the dripping sound of liquid.
Bronya and Seele returned from investigating behind the throne, both looking very solemn. Bronya pointed to the area behind the throne, gesturing for Ryn and Penglaiji Ryn to look.
"Look, behind the throne is completely filled with insect eggs, far more numerous than what we've seen elsewhere. Once these hatch, grow, and reproduce, their numbers will quickly reach the scale of the last insect swarm."
"Yeah, it's as dense as a beehive… This should be the place Yiselian mentioned where the insects' King Insect is located. Prepare for battle. The King Insect should be hiding in some corner of the room."
As soon as Seele finished speaking, a puddle of liquid fell from above and landed beside her.
"What is this? So disgusting…" Seele touched the liquid in front of her with her scythe. It wasn't corrosive, but it was sticky.
Bronya followed the direction the liquid dripped from and looked up. She saw a large, blurry human figure.
"Seele, watch out above you!"
Seele subconsciously raised her flashlight, and the beam clearly illuminated the human figure Bronya had seen.
A voluptuous, maternal spider lady…
Bronya's loud shout completely startled the King Insect that occupied this castle—the Insect Queen.
Perched on the ceiling, with liquid from freshly laid eggs dripping from her lower body, the Insect Queen opened her eyes and lunged towards Seele below.
"Buzzz—!"
Ryn also took flight at the opportune moment, charging up a punch and striking the lunging Insect Queen, sending it flying. The Insect Queen lost control and landed in the pile of eggs behind the throne, crushing many of them into a pulpy mess…
"So this is the King Insect of these bugs… It's better to call it an Insect Queen. Even though it's an insect, its body is about the size of a human's, and just as soft…"
Ryn shook the hand he had just used to punch the Insect Queen, then fired another blast of Heat Vision at the Insect Queen as it tried to get back up, directly blowing its head off.
"Tsk, this Insect Queen doesn't seem as strong as I thought…"
"Don't let your guard down. These eggs are the most troublesome part…"
Penglaiji Ryn raised her heavy cannon and fired a few more shots in the Insect Queen's direction. When it came to finishing a job, you couldn't feel safe until the target was blown to bits.
"According to Yiselian's speculation, once the King Insect dies, the insects it has given birth to will also perish. Let's wait here for a while to verify this. If the eggs don't die naturally, we'll need to go back and assemble a team to clean up Homu Park."
As soon as Bronya finished speaking, an egg next to her suddenly burst open, and a mouthful of sizzling venom sprayed towards her.
"Big Sis!"
Seele lunged at Bronya, tackling her. The two of them landed together in the pile of eggs, dodging the venomous spit.
And in the egg that had just burst, a larva grew at a visible rate, quickly transforming into a new Insect Queen…
Penglaiji Ryn raised her heavy cannon and blasted the newly born Insect Queen away with one shot. Then she quickly followed up with another shot, blowing it to pieces.
But then, another egg immediately hatched a new Insect Queen.
The newly born Insect Queen had just extended its sharp, spider-like legs, tearing through the egg sac, when Ryn incinerated it, along with a circle of surrounding eggs, with a blast of Heat Vision.