Monster Paradise

“Yi Li, tell me exactly what happened at the time.”

A golden message appeared in the Bug Tribe’s chat group.

“Just now, I saw the Titan Bug pouncing at the city wall, and suddenly there was a flash of golden light that completely enveloped its entire body. After that, it rapidly became smaller. It seemed to try and struggle a little, trying to break out of the golden light, but it never managed to. Finally, it became so small that it just disappeared…”

“Are there any other details? The rest of you, add on if you saw anything else,” the golden words continued to say.

“It went more or less as Yi Li said. We were even closer to the Titan Bug, and though we didn’t see exactly where that golden light came from, we can tell a general direction. It came from underneath the Titan Bug’s body, so there’s a high chance it was emitted from the Tough City walls,” replied the ninth-rank True God, Polypod King.

“There’s one more weird thing, but I don’t know if I should say it.” The other ninth-rank True God, Mantis King, chimed in as well.

“You can tell me everything, including your guesses and suspicions,” replied the golden words.

“Although I saw the golden light envelop the Titan Bug with my own eyes, I did not feel any energy waves from that golden light. I didn’t sense a threat, either.” The Mantis King shared his feelings.

“Now that you mention it, I don’t think I felt any energy then either.” Yi Li hurriedly nodded and supported the statement.

“There’s nothing odd about that. Logically speaking, if it were a beginner-stage god sequence-level (heavenly god-level) powerhouse, we should be able to clearly feel its energy and the threat it poses. If we can’t feel it, that must mean it’s very likely an intermediate-stage, or even be a high-level god sequence-level, trying to conceal its energy waves.” The Polypod King said nonchalantly, “In order to prevent us from sensing its actual combat level, it’s possible that the enemy purposely hid their energy waves.

“Of course, there’s another possibility. The Titan Bug could have turned traitor, and perhaps it’s putting on a show for us. The golden light that enveloped it could be nothing more than some illumination effect with no practical purpose. However, I feel like the probability of this is close to zero.

“Firstly, the Titan Bug isn’t that smart. Secondly, it’s not good enough to shrink its body that far. Thirdly, the Titan Bug was born from the Mistress Queen Mother herself, not a second- or third-generation Queen Mother. Its loyalty is undeniable.”

The Polypod King sent a whole string of messages, and soon the Queen Mother sent another line of golden words.

“That Titan Bug has cut off communications with me.”

The Queen Mother who spoke this time was clearly the heavenly god-level Queen Mother that had given birth to the Titan Bug. Her reason for saying that was also perfectly clear. Only dead Bug Tribes could cut off their connection with their birth Queen Mother.

“I’ve already reported this incident to the seniors, and Sir Braintipede will be going there shortly to investigate the matter. I’ve also asked the Bug Kings from the other battlefields to move their Titans over to that one after they take down their respective cities. If that god sequence-level powerhouse is still there, I expect they would attack the other Titans too. When that happens, Sir Braintipede will personally determine how strong our opponent really is.

“The rest of you, stay put for now and wait for Sir Braintipede to arrive before making the necessary arrangements. If there’s anything out of place, inform me immediately.”

“Understood, Mistress Queen Mother.”

The heavenly god-level Queen Mother’s words finally put the Bug Kings’ hearts at ease.

It did not matter if the enemy had a Heavenly God on their side. Their own Heavenly God would soon arrive there too.

Tough City was now a hubbub of activity.

The Titan Bug’s mysterious demise and the Bug Tribe army’s sudden retreat was undoubtedly great news.

As for the humans, they had retreated back into the city as well.

Lin Huang mingled in the crowd and successfully slipped inside too.

Inside the city, there was a cacophony of noises. Everyone fancied this a hard-earned victory.

At the same time, Nangong Wei and the other True Gods were gathered in the castellan’s residence.

“Old Lightning, how’s Sword11?” Nangong Wei asked at the first opportunity he had.

“Old Li said it’s nothing to worry too much about. He’s mostly exhausted and out of Divine Power, and he suffered some burns, but he didn’t sustain any critical damage.” The lightning man addressed as Old Lightning said with a laugh, “The kickback from that attack wasn’t as serious as he made it sound. He’ll be more or less fine after a day of rest or two. Old Li said medicine probably won’t work on his burns, though, so he’ll have to let that heal slowly on its own.”

“Do you know who’s behind that Titan Bug’s disappearance?” Nangong Wei asked once he was sure that Sword11 was fine.

“I don’t, but I know it has to be a god sequence-level (heavenly god-level) powerhouse.” Old Lightning raised an eyebrow.

“It wasn’t the two lords,” said the woman in the black dress, Xiao Di with certainty.

“Could it be the reinforcements the two lords called in?” Old Lightning turned his head to look at Xiao Di.

“I’ll ask.” With that, Xiao Di continued, “It doesn’t matter if they’re the lords’ reinforcements or not. Either way, we shouldn’t dig into this any further. They helped us but refused to reveal themselves, so there must be a reason for that.”

“Yeah.” Nangong Wei hurriedly nodded. “Let’s discuss the retreat.

“The Bug Tribe army has retreated and is now three hundred kilometers away, so this is the best chance for us to retreat. The other four cities aren’t as lucky as we are. They still have Titan Bugs around, so they’re sure to fall within another twenty minutes or so. Once that happens, we’ll be the only city left standing on the entire planet.

“Besides, a Heavenly God joined the battlefield earlier, so the Bug Tribe’s Heavenly God would definitely be heading here by now. We don’t even know if that unknown Heavenly God will fight again, and even if they will, the Bug Tribe’s Heavenly God will just have to stall for time, and Tough City will eventually fall anyway. We can’t even hold up against one Bug Tribe army, so don’t even think about facing five at once.”

“How should we arrange the retreat?” Old Lightning asked without raising any objections.

None of the other True Gods present objected either.

“Old Lightning, Xiao Di, you two lead Sword11 and the other True Gods away as part of the first batch. Once we’re certain we’re going to retreat, there’s no need to fight anymore, so the stronger fighters should leave first. As for those of us here in Tough City, I’ll take the rear. After all, I am the castellan.”

“Nangong…” Old Lightning wanted to say something, but Nangong Wei cut him off.

“It’s decided. The True Gods will leave in the first wave, the high-level Virtual Gods will go second, followed by the mid-level Virtual Gods in the third wave, and lastly the low-level Virtual Gods. Even if we don’t make it in time, we should minimize the losses however much we can.” After he decided on the retreat order, Nangong Wei looked at Old Lightning and Xiao Di. “I have to stay behind. If I don’t, Tough City will descend into chaos.”

At those words, Old Lightning went forth and patted Nangong Wei on the shoulder. “You better make it out alive!”

“I’ll try my best,” Nangong Wei said with a smile.

In the castellan’s residence, the True Gods managed to decide on their retreat strategy within minutes, and it was executed just as quickly.

There were not that many True Gods. Old Lightning and the others brought Sword11 with them, leaving via the dimensional portal first.

Once they announced the retreat order, many low-level Virtual Gods immediately felt unhappy. It made them feel like sacrificial lambs.

A few of them even started yelling at the city gates.

Nangong Wei did not silence them by force either, letting them yell as they pleased. All he did was secretly watch them, ensuring that no one was purposely inciting chaos.

On the other hand, Lin Huang could definitely understand why Nangong Wei arranged things this way. Letting the higher-level combatants leave first was the best way to maintain the combat level of humanity as a whole.

Lin Huang wanted to leave this dangerous place as quickly as possible, but after some consideration, he decided not to camouflage his combat level.

He knew very well that Nangong Wei’s Telekinesis was spread across the entire city right now, watching over everything in case anything went wrong. If Lin Huang tried anything funny, he would definitely be found out.

All he could do was stay patient and keep waiting.

Time passed, and soon another half an hour had passed. The retreat had reached its third wave, and the mid-level Virtual Gods were leaving, one after another.

At the same time, however, the four Titan Bugs attacking the other four cities had also arrived at the Bug Tribe camp outside Tough City.

At around the same time, someone else arrived at the planet. It was the heavenly god-level Bug Tribe powerhouse— the Braintipede!