"This is a bit troublesome. It seems that as long as there are still insect eggs, new Insect Queens will continue to appear... I just don't know if only one can exist at a time, or if they can all be Insect Queens..."
Penglaiji Ryn wiped away her sweat, sensing the remaining power within her. There were at least five hundred insect eggs here, and her stamina was already hitting its limit.
"Hmm, looks like I'll have to annihilate them all at once before they hatch... I'll use a big one to bring this whole building down. You go and evacuate with Seele and Bronya first."
Ryn grabbed a newborn Insect Queen and pinned her to the ground, restraining her. As long as an Insect Queen doesn't die, no new one will be born into the swarm.
After receiving her orders, Penglaiji Ryn didn't waste any time, charging directly into the mass of insect eggs to find Seele and Bronya.
"Bzz—"
*Squelch.*
The Insect Queen pinned by Ryn had just tried to howl when Ryn grabbed her throat and ripped out her vocal cords.
The corrosive venom in the Insect Queen's mouth flowed back down her esophagus, causing her upper body to sizzle as it corroded.
Perhaps she felt pain, too. The pain caused the Insect Queen to struggle violently. The spider-like claws on her back sliced through the air, striking Ryn's body again and again.
"Settle down. I'm not going to kill you."
Ryn looked at his clothes with a pained expression. This was a limited edition Fire Moth uniform; each person only got two sets. If this one was ruined, he wondered if the skillful Emisha would be willing to mend it.
As if she understood Ryn's words, or perhaps after realizing her struggles were futile, the Insect Queen gradually calmed down.
However, within her wide skirt, her lower body began to stir restlessly.
——————————————
Meanwhile, Seele had tackled Bronya onto the insect eggs. Although their combined weight was less than a hundred kilograms, it was still a bit too heavy for the eggs.
The moment they made contact, the honeycomb-like structure of the eggs instantly collapsed, and the two of them fell into the interior of the egg cluster.
"These bugs have hollowed out the entire underground..."
Seele climbed up from the ground. Fortunately, the eggs had cushioned their fall; otherwise, they would have had a very intimate encounter with the floor.
"While I'm grateful you saved my life, you're disgusting..."
Seele, with a look of disgust, pulled off some of the sticky mucus from the burst eggs that was stuck to her body. But before she could get much off, Bronya placed a hand on hers, stopping her.
"Don't take it off yet. Look... because of this mucus, these bugs seem to think we're one of them."
Bronya tentatively walked over to a few bugs that had hatched prematurely from broken eggs. Just as Bronya had said, the bugs did not attack her, covered as she was in the mucus.
"I wonder how things are up there. We don't know how strong that Insect Queen is. I've already heard the explosions from Penglaiji Ryn's heavy cannons and the roar of the air caused by Ryn's Heat Vision several times."
"Then let's hurry back and tell them what we've discovered. I just don't know if the Insect Queen also identifies things by smell."
"It's a bit hard to get up. The pit these bugs dug is pretty deep..."
Seele looked around. There were no handholds, and being covered in sticky mucus, there wasn't enough friction to climb up.
"There's always a way... I'll have to trouble an old friend... Come out, Project Bunny."
Bronya opened her hands, calling out to an important part of her life. The next moment, the damaged and creaking Project Bunny appeared behind her.
During the Great Honkai Eruption, Project Bunny had been shattered by Kiana with a single blow and had completely lost its combat capabilities. Even supporting its own frame was now an overload.
"Come on, let Project Bunny throw us up..."
"Sigh, if only Project Bunny could still fly... Hey, don't just grab me like that!"
Amidst Seele's cry of surprise, Project Bunny grabbed Seele's scythe and flung her upwards.
*Thud—*
But a few seconds later, two figures fell from above again, stunning Bronya who was just about to be launched.
"Uh, Penglaiji Ryn, how did you get down here?"
Bronya helped Seele and Penglaiji Ryn up. Luckily, they had both landed on the bugs. With the soft insects as cushions, neither was seriously injured, apart from being a bit dazed.
Penglaiji Ryn blinked her large, confused eyes, then clutched her stomach where she had just been hit by Seele's Super Headbutt.
"I was up there looking for traces of you two when Seele suddenly slammed into me with a headbutt and knocked me down..."
"Hahaha, my bad, my bad... How's the situation up there?" Seele chuckled and rubbed her head, starting to ask about the battle above.
Penglaiji Ryn succinctly explained the Insect Queen's characteristics and exchanged the intelligence they had each gathered with Bronya.
After hearing Bronya's discovery, Penglaiji Ryn also smeared the insect mucus on herself, and the three of them prepared to be thrown up by Project Bunny in turns.
Seele, going first, once again used her Super Headbutt, breaking through the barrier of insect eggs above and successfully reaching the ground.
Just as it was Penglaiji Ryn's turn, another howl from an Insect Queen echoed out, and this time, all the insect eggs began to hatch.
The path above was now covered by a dense swarm of insects, making the method of being thrown up by Project Bunny useless. Bronya and Penglaiji Ryn had to find another way, continuing to explore and fight their way through the underground.
——————————————
Ryn opened his hand and flicked away some unknown liquid in disgust. The Insect Queen he had been straddling was now lifeless, but even in death, a human-like smile graced her lips.
While Ryn had been restraining her, preventing her from making a sound or dying, she had secretly engaged in selective reproduction, giving birth to a new Insect Queen.
The new queen didn't have the same adult form; she was chibi-sized with a three-to-one head-to-body ratio. Shielded by the old queen's skirt, she had quietly developed in a spot Ryn hadn't noticed, then let out a howl to awaken all the eggs.
Although the successful growth of the new queen meant the old one had to die, this was the purpose of an Insect Queen: to control the swarm, nurture the swarm, and even become food for the swarm when necessary.
"Bzz—Bzz—!" (You cannot kill us. As long as one of our kin escapes, our swarm will never disappear!)
"...? Have I been infected? I actually understood what an insect was saying?" Seele, who had just walked over, muttered to herself in disbelief.
"The Insect Queen probably learned and evolved to understand our language during our brief confrontation..." Ryn said as he turned to look at Seele.
Then he witnessed an astonishing scene. Seele was walking among the swarm, yet not a single insect attacked or even showed any intention of attacking her. Instead, they surrounded her as if escorting her.
Around him, however, countless insects were relentlessly launching suicide attacks.
"Holy crap, have you actually mutated?!"