Reincarnated as a Mosquito, I Sucked the Reborn Empress to Tears

Chapter 242: Chapter 240: Adaptive Battle Armor? Who Says a Mosquito Can’t Wear Battle Armor?

The number of Star Source Crystal Cores is the key to winning the Three Kingdoms Grand Competition!

Based on previous competitions, the total number collected by all the teams combined usually only ends up being around ten.

Therefore, every single Star Source Crystal Core is crucial and could potentially be the key to victory.

Under everyone’s gaze, Nangong Sheng clenched his fists and shook his head.

“I… don’t have any.”

Nangong Sheng lowered his head as he spoke.

Suddenly, he spoke up again.

“But, some of our other members did collect Star Source Crystal Cores. By the time I was chased out, the Great Xia Team had already collected five of them!”

’Five?’

It’s been less than an hour. Five is indeed a pretty good result!

Everyone’s mood eased a little.

Ye Qingzhou nodded and said,

“What about Gu Yuexi? Did she collect all five of those Star Source Crystal Cores?”

Stunned by the question, Nangong Sheng shook his head and said,

“Gu Yuexi… she, along with that mosquito, was Taming one at the beginning, but then she split off from us.”

“She said she had her own things to do…”

The moment he finished speaking, everyone frowned, their dissatisfaction showing.

“What does that mean? What could she possibly have to do that’s more important than Great Xia’s victory?”

“Exactly. Leaving the team on her own, that’s such a display of disunity. Does she really think she’s the Empress?”

“You can’t say that. What if Gu Yuexi has another way? Don’t forget, in the academy competition, she practically won single-handedly.”

Chen Shouzheng spoke up, defending Gu Yuexi.

“Hmph, this is the Three Kingdoms Grand Competition, not some child’s play like your academy competition!”

“I’m telling you, this Gu Yuexi can’t be relied on. In the end, we have to count on the scions of our Ten Great Clans.”

Just as everyone was grumbling in discontent,

Suddenly, atop the mountain, the spatial Wormhole began to fluctuate again.

Everyone froze, stopped arguing, and looked toward the Secret Realm Exit once more.

’This time?’

’Whose members would it be now?’

At the Secret Realm Exit, a figure materialized out of thin air once again!

It was another member from Great Xia…

Wait, it’s not over!

The spatial fluctuations at the Secret Realm Exit continued. Following right behind that figure, two more emerged from the Wormhole.

They were also Great Xia’s contestants.

And the spatial fluctuations were *still* going!

Just like that!

Figure after figure teleported out of the Secret Realm Exit.

Without exception, all of them were contestants from Great Xia. Each one looked utterly wretched, and some were even significantly injured.

Finally, the spatial fluctuations stopped.

At the Secret Realm Exit, a total of 17 more figures had emerged!

The Great Xia Team had 20 contestants in total. It had been less than an hour… Counting Nangong Sheng from before, that meant 18 people were already out.

Inside the Secret Realm, only 2 contestants from Great Xia remained!

Everyone’s expression changed.

Drastically!

The atmosphere seemed to drop to a freezing point in an instant.

The same was true for Ye Qingzhou. However, he quickly sent people to bring those on the mountaintop back to the Great Xia camp.

Soon, the situation became clear.

It was much like Nangong Sheng’s situation.

The teams from the Philippines and Yue Country had joined forces to hunt down the Great Xia Team. Among them, two foreign aids from the Island Country and the Goryeo Kingdom had actually reached the Sixth-Grade Early Stage.

And one foreign aid from the White Eagle Empire had even reached the Sixth-Grade Late Stage!

Combined with the numerical superiority from the two countries’ alliance, the Great Xia Team was simply no match.

All they could do was run!

The good news was that although many of these eighteen contestants were significantly injured, none had died.

The bad news was, the number of Star Source Crystal Cores these eighteen contestants brought out was… zero!

That’s right, not even the five that Nangong Sheng had mentioned earlier!

The Great Xia Team had its geniuses too, and they had indeed managed to collect five Star Source Crystal Cores in a short time. But all five of those fucking Crystal Cores were stolen!

If they hadn’t handed over those five Star Source Crystal Cores, these contestants might not have made it out of the Secret Realm at all!

“I’m sorry… City Lord Ye. We did our best. I desperately tried to protect the Crystal Cores, but they still took them.”

One of the heavily injured students said through gritted teeth, his eyes red.

The rest all lowered their heads in shame.

Judging by their wretched appearances, they had clearly been through a brutal battle and had indeed done their best. With such a disparity in strength and numbers, it would have been useless even if they had been willing to risk their lives to protect the Crystal Cores.

Silence fell over the Great Xia camp.

In less than an hour, only two contestants were left inside the Secret Realm, and the current count of Star Source Crystal Cores was zero.

In any of the previous competitions, this would have meant a 100% certain loss!

Ye Qingzhou sighed and spoke.

“It’s alright. Rest well and tend to your wounds.”

“We still have two contestants left. It’s not a certain loss yet.”

Who were the two remaining contestants?

One was Gu Yuexi, and the other was a scion of the Mu Family, Mu Linyuan.

According to those who came out, Mu Linyuan was with them at the start, but then he disappeared somewhere.

…

“Heh heh, City Lord Ye is certainly broad-minded. With only two contestants left, he’s still saying it’s not a certain loss.”

“As expected of a major power’s mentality. I’m truly impressed, truly.”

“Haha, indeed. Eighteen contestants, and not a single Crystal Core brought out. That’s hilarious. Is this the best Great Xia’s geniuses can do?”

Nearby, the leaders from the Philippines and Yue Country, having learned of Great Xia’s situation, began to jeer and mock them from across the way.

「Meanwhile.」

「Inside the Ancient Sunken Star Secret Realm.」

Chu Sheng was still scratching at the Barrier on that suit of Battle Armor.

And it wasn’t just one Chu Sheng, but two!

To save time, Chu Sheng had directly used [Celestial Thunder Illusion] to summon a clone. The clone possessed most of the original body’s abilities, so it also had the [Realm-Breaking Claw] Passive Skill.

Two mosquitoes, a total of 12 claws, scratching at lightning speed—double the defense-breaking power!

Not only that, but Chu Sheng also increased his Speed. A normal ten scratches per second? He went straight to twenty scratches per second!

With this double acceleration, the speed of breaking the defense increased dramatically.

[Ding! Current defense-break progress: 10.28653%]

[Ding! Current defense-break progress: 30.09527%]

[Ding! Current defense-break progress: 52.73289%]

[…]

With the dual enhancement, the time required to break the defense was reduced from about 5 hours to just around one hour!

Finally, thanks to Chu Sheng’s tireless efforts, the cracks on the Battle Armor’s Barrier grew deeper, and the humming from the runes on it grew more and more intense.

The entire Barrier trembled, as if in fear of the Decryption Claw’s power.

The person who set up this Barrier in the first place probably never imagined that such a bug-like ability could exist.

At last, after Chu Sheng had scratched a full one million times, the Barrier let out a BUZZ and shattered violently.

’Success!’

Overjoyed, Chu Sheng immediately extended a leg, reaching for this most powerful suit of nameless armor.

The instant he touched the armor, the Battle Armor seemed to activate. With a soft BUZZ, it actually disassembled itself, transforming into hundreds of black components of varying sizes that floated in the air as if they were alive.

The next second, these components shot toward Chu Sheng’s mosquito body like black meteors!

’What’s going on?’

Startled, Chu Sheng had no time to react before one of the armor components slammed into him.

“CLANK!”

Then came the hundreds of other components for different body parts, flying toward him at extreme speed!

“CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK…”

The shoulder armor components rapidly transformed and shrank in mid-air, fitting snugly onto his slender shoulder joints.

The chestplate parts split into countless pieces, becoming a streamlined insectoid carapace that conformed to the structure of his insect thorax and abdomen.

His six mosquito legs were each fitted with jet-black greaves lined with sharp barbs… Even his wings were covered in a layer of black membrane-like armor that glinted with a metallic sheen.

“CLANK!”

Finally.

A small helmet with menacing spikes, leaving only his compound eyes exposed, perfectly enclosed his head.

In a flash, Chu Sheng’s body was completely covered by a suit of miniature insectoid Battle Armor that emanated a terrifying aura of annihilation.

’Holy shit, this Battle Armor automatically transforms?!’

’Tsk tsk tsk, this is just too damn… awesome!!’