The Thorn Snake King’s movements were so fast that ordinary people couldn’t even see them clearly. If it had already raised its blade, even if you fired first at close range, you wouldn’t be able to stop it from striking.

However, at this moment, the Snake King’s sharp blade was only halfway through its swing when the invisible concentrated shockwave slammed into its face.

With a muffled thud, the Snake King was sent flying backward, just like a lizard swatted on the face by a fly swatter.

“Psionic impact… So, I’m also a Sensitive? That means the Xenomorphs’ target isn’t Ina, but the two of us?”

Yu Lian felt that many things had happened in that brief instant, but to others, it truly was just a fleeting moment. In the blink of an eye, they vaguely saw a black shadow dart out from the churning earth, and then with a “thwack,” the black shadow was flung away, landing among the crowd. Only then did everyone finally get a clear look at what it was.

It looked like an oversized lizard, over two meters long including its tail, with an armored back covered in bone spurs, like a row of sharp thorns. Two thin, bat-like membrane wings were half-open, half-closed, glowing faintly.

The monster lay on the ground, its upper body half-raised, revealing its chest and abdomen, and another ferocious, gaping maw filled with dense, hooked barbs. Both giant mouths let out a threatening howl.

It was indeed a bit stunned by the sudden psionic impact, but it wasn't dead. To put it simply, psionic impact was one of the most basic and common abilities, its power entirely dependent on the user.

Lieutenant Mondeson raised his chainsword and, with a shout of “Monster!”, charged forward. He hadn't clearly seen what had just happened, only that an enemy had appeared. At this moment, the greasy middle-aged man who had been scrambling for a living vanished once more, and the persona of a space-age swordsman came back online.

His sword strike was like thunder, yet his sword path was remarkably steady, precisely targeting the Snake King’s waist and abdomen. However, it lacked the satisfying cleaving sensation of cutting through monsters like vegetables he’d felt before. This creature, possessing low-level intelligence, had recovered a bit of its senses and knew to use the force to dodge. At the last moment, it forcefully contracted its body, causing itself to spring up. Even so, a large gash was still opened in its vulnerable waist and abdomen, and it was also sent flying backward by the chainsword's kinetic energy, then landed with a splat among the crowd.

“Bear’s Strength!” Sergeant Baka yelled a phrase in the Bearmen dialect that no one understood, and swung his axe onto the Snake King’s face.

“Awoo!” The black Sergeant Youyou also let out an unintelligible roar, raising her power hammer and smashing it down forcefully.

Well, this time it was the familiar scene of pounding sticky rice cakes again, and it wasn’t just the two of them; several other soldiers also came up with their weapons. Swords and blades rained down, blood and flesh flying.

Yu Lian let out a ragged sigh of lingering fear, then his gaze naturally met Ina’s. This girl, being the closest, had naturally seen the entire process, including the fleeting air ripples just now. She still felt as if her cheek had been scraped by a knife, burning with pain. Thus, in addition to being shaken, there was also clear curiosity in her eyes.

“Don’t guess. I should be a Sensitive now… But I really don’t want to go down this stupid idealist path of no return!”

The Sergeant Major immediately showed a look of disdain, probably similar to how we disdain those who say, “Why are my parents so rich? I want to struggle on my own and live a normal life.”

“I’m serious. Also, actually… never mind.” Yu Lian looked at the cigar he had instinctively crushed, aching in a dual sense, and then shouted to the group still pounding the sticky rice cake: “Stop hitting it! That guy might have something inside its belly.”

Lieutenant Mondeson paused for a moment, then, as if wound up, rushed over and pushed aside the crowd, pulled out his dagger, and with practiced movements, cut open the Snake King’s corpse, which had already been widened by several circles, rummaging through it. His hand stopped, and his movements became cautious.

The Lieutenant slowly stood up, opening his palm. Inside lay three thumb-sized, translucent crystals, black, green, and orange-yellow respectively.

“This, this, this… Luminous Crystals, and of such high purity?” The Lieutenant’s face flashed with ecstasy, then he seemed to remember something and looked at Yu Lian in confusion: “But how did you know?”

“I’d also like to know why you’re so skilled? Why does a military officer have to max out his appraisal skills?”

“Well, this, this, it’s all just to make a living, you know.” The Lieutenant smiled in a simple and worldly manner; his swordsman persona went offline once more. But he was still eagerly waiting for an explanation.

“Just now, this thing glowed; it had an energy shield-like ability. This indicates that there’s something inside its body, very likely naturally occurring Zero Element. And so far, among all known Zero Element crystals, the one that combines best with living organisms is the Luminous Crystal. Besides being an energy source, it’s also very popular as jewelry after a little processing, and it sells very well.” Yu Lian had, of course, already thought of an explanation.

The Lieutenant suddenly understood, then asked suspiciously, “You learned this at school too?”

“There are records in the library, of course,” Yu Lian said.

“You Moon People really are monsters!” Lieutenant Mondeson muttered, casually stuffing the Luminous Crystals into his storage compartment.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your share once they’re sold.”

I'm not worried about that. I feel like you're quite scrupulous in this regard. Besides, if it really comes to selling them, I might have far more connections than you, for example, there's one already entrenched in Tulon Port... Ugh, Tulon, hiss!

Yu Lian pressed his temples, feeling as if his massive head was about to explode. Earlier, in the urgent fight for survival against the Xenomorphs, he hadn't noticed, but now, all the accumulated pain seemed to erupt at once. Added to that, the red, black, green, purple, and yellow flashes, though they hadn't manifested outwardly, had indeed caused a physical burden. Yu Lian felt various pains and dizziness surge like an avalanche from all directions towards his soul, threatening to bury the last vestiges of his remaining sanity.

He retched, his eyes unfocused, swaying precariously.

“Warrant Officer? Belinda!” Ina shouted loudly for the little nurse.

Not again, right? Lieutenant Mondeson still felt it was his fault, standing there at a loss.

“Pain, painkiller shot!” The little nurse rushed over, fumbling to pull out that arm-thick syringe again.

“Don’t…” Yu Lian stopped Belinda.

This stuff had side effects, and he really didn't trust the girl's skill.

“Sir, Lieutenant Mondeson, I have something to say!” Painful and dizzy as he was, it was precisely because the memories of two people overlapped that his thoughts were clearer than ever.

He said in a deep voice, “This is no place to linger!”

How many times had he said that today? The Lieutenant quickly stepped forward to comfort him: “Warrant Officer, don’t rush. You need to rest first! Yes, we’re safe now, you rest and recover your strength. Leave everything else to me! Sleep, our Moon Child. Don’t worry, as soon as you wake up, we’ll be at the base.”

“We cannot return to base! Don’t worry, the base won’t be attacked while we’re outside! We’ve already covered more than half the distance, and we’re less than a day’s journey from Tulon Port. Immediately, immediately go to Tulon, absolutely do not return to the outpost…”

“Um, Warrant Officer, everyone is very tired, and our ammunition supplies are largely depleted. And you’re in this condition now…”

“Shut up! Listen to me! Shut up, and then listen to me!”

“...I, I’m listening.” The Lieutenant wore a helpless expression, as if thinking, “Here we go, here we go, it’s finally starting. It would be strange if you Moon People didn’t try to seize power. I’ve been waiting for so long.” He forced out a slightly stiff, almost doting, apologetic smile.

“Don’t you understand? Why was our convoy attacked? Why was each wave of Xenomorphs that attacked us different? Crucially, why did they come one by one instead of all at once? This was a test! Sir, a test of biological weapons, a test!”

Yes, in the later Tulon Port incident, there was indeed no mention of Xenomorph movements, and the future celebrity Miss Ina never brought it up. In reality, the Bug Swarm only truly landed on the desks of various galactic governments two years later.

Yu Lian didn’t know if his butterfly effect had caused the Bug Swarm, which shouldn't have come, to appear, or if it had changed their original attack target, but this wasn’t important, at least not now. What was important was that, based on later history, the earliest Bug Swarm appeared in this small-batch manner. Caravans, pedestrians, patrol soldiers, and even farms and small towns were their targets, yet there seemed to be no system to it, as if they were just a group of aimless, mindless beasts.

No, even beasts were smarter than them. At least they attacked to fill their stomachs, not simply for slaughter.

It wasn’t until the Bug Swarm had become a natural disaster that everyone finally realized. Their purpose had actually always been clear: First, to collect genetic diversity. The flesh and blood consumed and killed by each Xenomorph individual could upload its genetic information to the Bug Swarm’s shared life database. This was truly the “one for all, all for one” of a hive mind.

Second, it was to test the combat effectiveness of new Bug Swarm types.

Engaging in combat with different types of opponents of varying combat strengths, analyzing the enemy’s and their own weaknesses and strengths. Of course, more importantly, they needed to develop stealthily and not be reckless. Therefore, before the time was ripe, they absolutely could not attack densely populated cities with complete defenses.

Furthermore, most importantly, if they were going to do something, they had to go all out!

So, they would continue to attack this twenty-person squad; there was no reason they would spare an outpost with twice the personnel. The safest place right now, ironically, seemed to be Tulon, which was about to be besieged by the Sand People army.

“This is a trap!” he roared. However, this exhausted his last bit of strength, his hand went limp, releasing the Lieutenant’s collar he had been gripping tightly, and he immediately lost consciousness.

Everyone exchanged glances, at a loss.

“Sir, we…” Miss Belinda looked at Lieutenant Mondeson for help.

The Lieutenant hesitated for a few seconds, then still too forcefully waved his hand: “Go back! Back to base!”