Chapter 687 - 443: Legion Layout

Chapter 687: Chapter 443: Legion Layout

The Phase Spider scuttled backward on its four remaining legs...

Space was locked down.

Its mandibles rustled. "Humans."

"What is it you want?"

Lu Cang pressed forward.

"You can communicate, can’t you."

The Phase Spider continued to retreat, its emotions radiating something beyond mere confusion and fear.

’This Demon is still trying to figure out a way to deal with me.’

’Its intelligence is far greater than most Demons.’

’But then again, the number of highly intelligent Demons I’ve encountered has been increasing as I delve deeper into the Nests.’

’Luo Mo, at least, was one of them.’

The spider made a rustling noise but didn’t respond directly.

It seemed wary of something.

VMMMM—

Space hummed violently!

With a casual lift of her hand, Iz instantly severed the spider’s remaining four legs.

[Tier Six Spatial Magic—Misaligned Spatial Slash (Level: 601)]

Two planes of Space shifted out of alignment, and the spider’s four legs twisted and snapped—

"So it moves by creating a Resonance between its legs and Space..."

Iz held up one of the spider legs with a single hand, observing it intently.

The leg was smooth and gleaming.

Unlike a real spider, it had no fine hairs.

With all its legs severed, the Phase Spider was now like a ball.

Even with its legs cut off, it showed no rage. Instead, it questioned, "Aren’t you afraid of the Insect Nest’s retaliation?"

"If we were, we wouldn’t be doing this, would we?"

A War Spear materialized in Lu Cang’s right hand.

WHOOSH—

The War Spear pointed directly at the Phase Spider’s compound eyes.

"I know you can communicate with me. Playing dumb is useless."

"Tell me what I want to know. If you’re clear about it, I’ll let you go."

"If you lie to me or choose not to answer... you die."

This routine set of threats was meant for humans. He had no idea if it would work on the Demon before him.

PFFT—

From the Phase Spider’s severed wounds, which looked like fractured mirrors of Space, new legs began to regenerate.

But its regeneration speed, compared to Lu Cang’s own Rebirth, was like the difference between heaven and earth.

’Then again, it’s possible the Phase Spider can recover much faster but is faking it to lower our guard.’

"What do you want to know?" it finally asked.

"What is this place?"

"How many more places like this are there?"

"What are you doing?"

Lu Cang fired off three questions in one breath.

As he asked, Lu Cang had already invaded its mind, planting a suggestion to relax.

This would make it answer his questions more cooperatively and readily.

The Phase Spider seemed unaware of this emotional anomaly.

It answered Lu Cang’s questions directly. "This is a War Nest."

"I don’t know how many War Nests like this one exist, but there must be at least a hundred, right?"

’At least a hundred.’ Lu Cang could detect lies, and he could tell it wasn’t being deceitful.

This colossal Nest was so massive it acted as a Heaven’s Cover, blotting out the sky even from tens of billions of kilometers away. And yet, it was not the complete Insect Nest.

It was just a tiny fraction, known as a War Nest.

"This place is responsible for war. My duty is to construct the war channels required by the Insect Lord."

It was a battle Nest where rifts were constantly opening, allowing the Insect Swarm to pour through and fight.

Lu Cang continued, "Where are you from?"

"I was born from the Mother Nest."

’Mother Nest...’

’The place where the Phase Grandmother resides.’

"Besides the Phase Legion, what other legions do you have? What are their respective functions? And how many Demons with sapience like yours are there?"

Lu Cang’s gaze bore into the spider’s compound eyes.

Unconsciously, the influence of his Mind Magic had intensified.

Watching Lu Cang, Iz couldn’t help but click her tongue in amazement.

’Lu Cang’s use of Mind Magic is quite impressive...’

The spider seemed to have fallen into a daze, now completely compliant as it answered Lu Cang’s questions.

"The First Legion: The Honor Guard. One hundred of the strongest are selected from the Insect Swarm to serve as the Insect Lord’s personal guards."

"The Second Legion: The Phase Legion. Responsible for linking the Insect Swarm’s Nests and for teleportation to various planes and different regions of the world."

"The Third Legion: The Architects. Responsible for converting all conquered and invaded territories into Nests."

"The Fourth Legion: The Furnace. Responsible for forging suitable equipment for the powerhouses within the Insect Swarm."

"The Fifth Legion: The Brood. Responsible for hatching vast numbers of our kin."

"The Sixth Legion: The Vanguard. Our kin who are responsible for primary combat."

"A total of six different legions, responsible for every aspect of warfare."

Though not as detailed as human military divisions, for a Demon Insect Swarm to have such a clear division of labor was already quite remarkable.

"As for kin with sapience like mine... I don’t know how many there are."

"But the Insect Lord’s Spirituality is rising."

"More and more of my kin are becoming capable of independent thought like me. I believe that in the near future, perhaps in a hundred or a thousand years... everyone will be able to think as I do."

Lu Cang paused, then asked, "Your Spirituality comes from the Insect Lord?"

"Perhaps... That mysterious great one is beyond my knowledge."

"But we must have been granted a sliver of its wisdom."

’So the Demons of the Insect Swarm possess Spirituality because of the Insect Lord’s own Spirituality?’

’A hundred, a thousand years from now.’

’Every single insect will be capable of independent thought...’

’That’s too terrifying.’

Lu Cang couldn’t help but recall the Future that Luo Yan had described back in the Secret Sea.

A day would come when the entire world would be ruled by Demons, and the only way to survive in that world was to become one of them.

At first, he hadn’t seen many signs of it.

But now, having truly reached the Insect Nest, he felt... that such a day was not impossible.

If the Nests were to fully invade the mortal world, the mortal world might not be able to withstand it.

In a single sea region, there might not even be ten Level 8 Reincarnators.

But in a single Insect Nest like this, there were likely far more than ten Tier Eight Demons...

If a true war broke out, the sheer number of high-end combatants would be overwhelming. Not to mention, intelligent beings were not united, and not everyone would be willing to fight the Demons.

The Nests, however, were completely unified in their hostility toward intelligent life.

And what’s more, this was just the Insect Nest.

Besides the Insect Nest, there was also the Mutated Nest, the Evil’s Nest, the Twin Nest, the Fallen Nest...

If so many Nests all invaded the mortal world...

Unless the gods and all the Level 9 Reincarnators decided to side with humanity, he really couldn’t see any hope of victory.

Moreover...

...judging from the incident in the Secret Sea, the gods and the Level 9 Reincarnators were hardly a united front.