Norton slowly sheathed his sword as he watched Ye Muo turn back.
A puddle of dark blood spread out from under the king insect.
A little had splattered on Ye Muo’s boots as well. The trail of tiny footprints he left in the grand arena almost appeared lively.
Ye Muo soon disappeared from view.
Then the soldiers stationed around began to move. They leapt down below and surrounded the king insect carcass as they cleaned up the scene.
Lais and the adjutant exchanged a glance. They could see each other’s shock. Then they turned back to the king insect down below.
Norton and Ye Muo were long gone by the time whispers erupted in the venue.
“Just as swift as I remember it all those years ago. How nostalgic.”
“Alas, there are no more Grantz in this generation…”
“Yes, but the number of active members has reached an all-time high. I wonder if His Little Highness will also be considered a combatant when the time comes.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Even if he’s a Grantz, it’s Prince Xavier we’re talking about.”
The baby faced Eureka was closer to the king insect. He watched it all go down with a serious expression and only seemed to snap out of it once people started talking again. He turned to Lais and quietly told him, “It had no external injuries.”
He seemed to doubt his own conclusion. “It was a fully intact, matured king insect.”
Lais’ expression was ugly. “I know! I saw it too! It was at least a Level A specimen.”
And a very large specimen at that. It would be marked red on publicly available maps. Even if manpower was strained to its very limits, a team of elites would need to be dispatched to deal with it.
A single soldier? Don’t be ridiculous. Even the best mech would eventually have its cockpit pierced and pried open like a scallop.
The adjutant spoke at this point, “Then have you two given thought to how they captured it yet?”
The group fell silent. It wasn’t impossible to capture such a king insect, but it would be a bit difficult even for them to keep it completely unharmed.
The adjutant made his decision first, “I’ll find an opportunity to contact Sir Cartabelli and revise the plan. Such a nation would never agree to the previous proposal.”
They stood with the others and filed out of the booth.
They arrived in a hall with long tables covered in piping hot food.
The guests began whispering again as they waited.
But Lais’ companions, who were carefree enough to complain about hunger before, were no longer in the mood for food.
Lais undid the first button of his collar and casually took a glass of wine as those brief seconds replayed endlessly in his mind.
The scene was almost his comprehension. How did they determine the king insect’s weakpoint? How did they pierce its carapace? Was it their weapons?
If weapons alone could achieve such results… They would be easier to mass produce compared to mecha.
Even so, to face off against such a behemoth without any protection is ludicrous.
He closed his eyes as he reviewed Ye Muo’s movements in his mind. No, it was impossible even for him. Even the most skilled fighter in his legion could not replicate such a feat.
It might have been possible with extended combat training and physical conditioning, but at this moment they were specialized in piloting mecha. Any physical conditioning they did was only to further that goal.
How much training would it take to match that child’s exquisite technique? He danced with ease out of the range of the king insect’s mouthpiece and ended the battle with a few spinning strikes.
Lais knew that the slightest mistake would have seen the child bisected.
The adjutant was quietly reprimanding his subordinates beside him, “…This is the coming-of-age ceremony of the nation you previously described as a ‘backwards, country bumpkin place’. Even a child not yet in his teens is more capable than any of you. If he was in your position, he might have accumulated enough merits to already…”
The recruits from privileged backgrounds bowed their heads and remained silent.
Lais clenched his glass. He too was contemptuous like them once.
The contempt wasn’t entirely baseless. This was a remote planet with outdated technology. They didn’t even possess any large starships. A journey that would take Lais’ people a day would take them an entire week. They even used cold weaponry that had long been left behind by Lais’ people.
Lais came here out of boredom and curiosity, and he was not alone. There were plenty of historians taking up spots in first and second batch to arrive in this part of the galaxy.
Yet in this place that they considered backwards, the locals used their outdated cold weapons to slaughter king insects.
If that was the case, they only needed to clear a way to the hive or lure the king insect out. Then they could use mecha or warship bombardment to kill it and end the battle.
Lais down his wine. “I’m going to get some air.”
Eureka followed him. The baby faced man wasn’t smiling for once.
They came to the terrace and surveyed the greenery around them. Something suddenly caught Eureka’s eyes. “Look over there, Your Highness.”
Lais followed his gaze to the right and saw a circular space. Much like the one from earlier, there were tall walls surrounding it. However, at their current elevation, they could even see inside.
“Say, do you think there’s something inside?”
“There are soldiers stationed at the entrance.”
Lais and Eureka exchanged a glance. They headed to a terrace with a better view.
Other people gradually noticed as well. Some gathered on the terrace to discuss that building.
……
Ye Muo sped up a bit as soon as he was out of view. He hugged Ano, who was at the head of the group, and admitted with some chagrin, “I got distracted looking up at Dad and didn’t do that good.”
Ano comforted him, “It’s fine. You did a good job. When Helene and Dylan had their ceremony, they were fighting the whole way into the arena. You’ll notice the red marks on Dylan’s cheek once you watch the footage.”
Ye Muo looked up at Ano. “That really happened?”
Ano didn’t need to look back to know that Dylan was glaring at him. He grit his teeth and nodded. “Yep. Just ask Big Sis Helene if you don’t believe me.”
Helene couldn’t help but burst into maniacal laughter. “That’s right. He lost to me that day.”
Ye Muo nervously tugged on her sleeve and whispered, “Let’s keep our voices down. Uncle Dylan is looking this way.”
Norton and Adlet approached.
Adlet bent down and said, “I doubt Prince Dylan is looking at you, Your Little Highness. Would you like to come and see your gifts?”
Ye Muo’s attention was immediately diverted. His hand shot into the air. “Yes!”
He paused a few steps later. “There are still spare king insects in storage. I’ll go once I take care of them.”
The spare king insects were quite large as well and were temporarily being kept in the back mountains. They had gone mad after being starved for several days and would definitely pose a risk to the guard should they break free.
At least, Ye Muo was worried about the possibility.
Ye Muo also recalled that Pangzhua and the other lions were roaming about the gardens nearby. It wouldn’t be good if Pangzhua accidentally wandered in.
“Wait, Your Little Highness–”
Ye Muo was already gone before Adlet could finish his sentence. Adlet could only inform Norton and the others over comms.
Norton paused on his way to the auditorium to check Adlet’s message. Everyone else stopped as well. Norton turned back slightly. “Xavier went to the back mountains.”
There were five king insects being held there temporarily.
Dylan volunteered at once, “I’ll go keep an eye on him.”
As soon as Norton nodded, Dylan flipped out of the nearest window.
He quickly caught up with Ye Muo, who was heading to the mountains through the gardens.
Ye Muo paused for a moment. He stood properly and obediently greeted Dylan.
Dylan nodded in response.
There was a similar circular area in the mountains. It was a temporary enclosure dedicated to containing king insects. This one didn’t have an audience booth like the one Ye Muo attended his coming-of-age ceremony in.
When they arrived, Dylan had the soldiers stay well away before looking down at Ye Muo. “Wait until I get on top of the wall. I’ll have them released once you enter.”
Ye Muo nodded earnestly. Dylan hesitated before asking, “One at a time or all at once?”
“All at once is fine.”
Ye Muo couldn’t stop thinking about all those unopened presents.
Dylan nodded without saying much. He scaled the high walls. Ye Muo ran inside once Dylan glanced down at him.
The passage leading inside measured only about 2m across. This was to prevent the king insects from getting out through here.
Dylan glanced to the side before returning his attention to Ye Muo.
Ye Muo was already in the arena. Dylan gestured after Ye Muo glanced at him, and the soldiers released the king insects.
The five king insects of different variants slowly rose and instantly started advancing towards Ye Muo. This was probably the first time they had gathered to work together instead of fighting one another.
Ye Muo jogged towards them, still thinking about his gifts. He wanted to take care of them quickly. Disregarding the aesthetic value of his moves, he nimbly jumped onto the king insects’ bodies and heads. His sword flashed under the light. In under 20 seconds, Ye Muo landed on the other side and immediately headed back to the passage. “Let’s go open presents, Uncle Dylan!”
More guests gathered outside when Ye Muo made his appearance. The row of terraces soon became rather cramped.
“Thank goodness I didn’t miss it.”
“Goodness! I didn’t even get a clear look.”
“I got it on video. You have to play it back in slow motion.”
“Why were there more king insects over there? And so close to us at that!”
“What are you panicking over? The Grantz are here. They probably prepared some spares to use for the ceremony.”
