Chapter 70: From Now On Whenever I Meet People, I'll Say This Punk Went Around On The Ant Queen

"What the f*ck happened?!"

This was the question on everyone's minds. Only one general who had been attentively watching the light screen situation all along now had his cup slip from his hand and crash to the floor.

Seeing all the gazes looking his way, he dumbly pointed at the light screen in front.

"Is that light screen broken?"

The light screen's broken? This was a privilege granted by Heaven's Dao to career holders. As long as you had vision, you could project images like this. How could it possibly break!

Yet when everyone looked at the scene on the light screen, the same doubt emerged in their minds.

"The light screen can't really be damaged right?"

The dense insect hordes in the image had vanished. In their place, a horrifying sandy dust storm dozens of meters high now completely shrouded the region.

Elder Li was still steadily seated there, but his grip on his cane involuntarily tightened somewhat. He recalled what Qin Zhi had said regarding his plan during their call.

It seemed Zheng Mu's side had made a move now. However, even having seen all kinds of storms, he still couldn't believe the terrifying scene before him had been accomplished by a new awakened less than two to three months ago.

[You have killed the Bloodthirsty Mantis (lv27), gained 388 exp, Azure Blood Drinking Blade]

[You have killed the Explosive Venom Bug (lv25), gained 261 exp]

[You have killed the Shield Carapace Beetle (lv29), gained 450 exp]

[You have killed the Plague Housefly (lv18), gained 23 exp]

[You have killed...]

[...]

[You have leveled up, current level: lv21]

[You have leveled up, current level: lv22]

[You have leveled up, current level: lv23]

[You have new skills available to learn]

Everyone atop the base rooftop watched those sand clouds billowing exceptionally high into the clouds dumbly, seemingly frozen by a hold person spell.

But although excitement showed on Red Queen's face, she hadn't forgotten her original duties either.

"Initiating Patrol Eagle scans, beginning reconfirmation of target numbers."

"Updated remaining strike target tally - 22,187. Annihilation ratio: 45.46%"

"Deploying second Torrential barrage sequence..."

The mechanical arms began reloading ammunition. At this time, the few people by Zheng Mu's side finally regained their senses.

Cai Shengkun's face was flushed red as if he had lost the ability to breathe, puffing his cheeks.

"I, I, I, motherf*cker!"

"Boss, you're amazing, too amazing!"

Behind, Sang Luo and Gu Ming's gazes looking at Zheng Mu already held the reverence of looking at a deity. They had completely discarded notions of mechanics being useless.

What useless? Unless your goddamned chickens are Tyrannosaurs!

"Schoolmate Zheng Mu, no, Big Bro Zheng Mu, from now on I'll be sticking with you. Screw Holy Clear University, I'm going to Southwest Martial Academy!" Sang Luo directly knelt, hugging one of Zheng Mu's legs.

Hearing the excited voices, the distracted Qin Zhi was also pumped up, hands waving about.

Zheng Mu smiled as he looked over.

"General Qin, what do you think? Is my firepower level barely passable?"

Qin Zhi's old face reddened, but he was already beyond caring about anything else. He had been completely convinced by Zheng Mu's methods. Eyeing the artillery shells loaded once more, he excitedly swallowed.

"How many barrages can you fire?"

Zheng Mu faintly smiled. "Whether I can fire many barrages isn't important. What's important is how many rounds these insects can withstand."

Qin Zhi excitedly nodded. But just as Zheng Mu was about to order another wave of firing, an ear-piercing shriek suddenly came from the sandy dust clouds.

The next moment, a formless wave of qi erupted out, instantly dispersing it. From afar, Zheng Mu and company could already make out the bloated Golden Ant Queen. Only now, its body was fully decorated in all sorts of colors.

And after the Patrol Eagles zoomed in the image, a few hideous wounds could even be seen. It was currently furiously, yet also painfully, shrieking towards them. Surprisingly, it had discovered them from such a distance!

What a pity... you can't reach us.

As Zheng Mu taunted back with the air of a bully here, amidst the insect legions, the Golden Ant Queen let out another shriek. Next, the blasted sands churned as it seemed about to summon again!

Red Queen reported: "New strike targets detected and locked on, updated tally - 28,700."

Seeing it was summoning again, Zheng Mu disdainfully sneered instead. "Out of tricks?"

Red Queen's voice immediately followed.

"Firing trajectory calculations complete, initiating second Torrential barrage!"

Next, another visually impactful artillery barrage scene unfolded of hundreds of parabolic white contrails tearing through the skies.

Amidst the sea of targets below, the Golden Ant Queen's dozen-plus disgusting eyeballs now held clear anger and fear. In an instant, hundreds of nearby ants swarmed, using their bodies to erect a living barricade around it.

"Boom boom boom boom...."

As the deafening bombing noises resounded once more, everyone reveled in this staggering scene of explosive carnage delivered by the mecha master.

But Zheng Mu was looking at his nearly maxed out experience bar about to trigger another level up. He hurriedly clicked to upgrade the skills needing leveling up on his status.

He probably wouldn't easily chance upon such opportunities to bomb monsters en masse for a period of time. And the main experience point consumers on his panel were from skills.

He feared that if his experience bar reached max, the rules would automatically level him up.

Zheng Mu hurriedly poured the experience into upgrading[Module Carving], the sole S-rank skill mecha masters possessed. This thing had the highest experience point cost. Just from lv1->lv2 needed a full 100,000 exp!

As the experience disappeared, when Zheng Mu was about to click again to upgrade it from lv2->lv3, he nearly fainted seeing the shocking new number.

1 million!

So upgrading skills couldn't be paid in installments! That meant he would have to at least hit 1 million max experience before he could level this skill up again!

Next were [Mechanical Cell Remodeling], with 1,000 exp to go from lv1->lv2, and 10,000 exp from lv2->lv3.

[Biological Cell Remodeling] worked the same way.

"F*ck, at higher levels, practically all my experience will be used on upgrading skills?!"

Zheng Mu even felt some toothache. Too brutal!

Over 300,000 exp that could've given him another level boost had all been smashed into upgrading skills. But leveling up skills had indeed been extremely necessary.

Let alone the fact that just Unique rank [Module Carving]...

[Module Carving (lv3): S-rank unique mecha master skill. Use this skill to apply known skill books onto mechanical creations to grant them corresponding skill use abilities. Cooldown: 12 hours. Calculation occupation: 100 (50% reduction from Calculation Enhancement)]

[Note: Chance of failure when using this skill. Higher carving level skills have higher failure rates.]

The 7 day cooldown had directly plummeted down to 12 hours! This was an enormous breakthrough!

Moreover, the Module Carving success rate had also increased substantially after reaching skill level 3.

As for [Biological Cell Remodeling] and [Mechanical Cell Remodeling], it was because only at level 3 did subsequent skills become unlocked.

Just as Zheng Mu finished this brief bit of handling, the second artillery barrage had also ended.

The Golden Ant Queen's shriek immediately resounded, making Zheng Mu faintly frown. Is this thing provoking me?

"Initiating Patrol Eagle scans, beginning reconfirmation of target numbers."

"Updated remaining tally - 20,861. Annihilation ratio: 28.32%"

"Deploying third Torrential barrage sequence..."

Watching the gold sands churn as more insects emerged, the initially elated Bear General and others aboard the aerial command ship all froze seeing the Golden Ant Queen summon so many ants again.

"This disgusting beast is clearly provoking us. I'd love to see how long it thinks such attacks can keep going on! Damned..."

"Elder Li, shall we ask Qin Zhi's side to see how many more barrages Zheng Mu can organize?"

Everyone knitted their brows. The reinforcements were already en route, but if Zheng Mu couldn't stall this thing, they could only sacrifice lives to pin it here as long as possible.

Elder Li also fell silent.

With the advent of such firepower, his appraisal of Zheng Mu in his heart had reached another new level. One not only worth heavily nurturing, but even assigning powerful secret battle strength to protect. His future value surpassed even an Imperial Guardian.

After all... Zheng Mu's fighting had never been 1v1 duels. Him growing stronger would only mean mightier mechanical creations under his command!

"Attacks of such power, no need to ask, there definitely aren't many left. I estimate one more barrage at best before he's done."

Elder Li deeply inhaled, solemn gaze looking to Bear General Xiong beside him. The latter seemed to realize something as he instantly stood ramrod straight.

"I'll leave this matter to you all."

Bear General Xiong promptly nodded, giving a crisp military salute before leaving. Despite his slightly stumbling gait, each step still carried exceptional resolve.

The Golden Ant Queen, seeing no movements for a while at Zheng Mu's side, assumed the attacks over. It immediately let out mocking, triumphant cries.

But Zheng Mu was watching the amplified image of it trying to shakily head back to the dug tunnels supported by the other ants again. The corners of his lips curved up evilly.

"Since this guest isn't satisfied with our service quality, Red Queen, blow them away!"

The next moment, as Bear General Xiong landed, icy vapor swirling around the iron hammer in his hands, the sharp whistling from before resounded overhead once more.

"If by some fluke I live past this, I really must properly chat with you!"

Bear General Xiong sighed feelingly. Then the violent blasts came, forcing him to instantly erect an ice barrier wall.

"Motherf*ckers! Isn't this firepower a bit too crazy?!"

The sands trembled, obscuring all sight. Yet the Golden Ant Queen's shrill cries emerged again, instantly stoking Bear General Xiong's fury.

"You really think nobody can deal with you anymore huh, you beast?! Here comes grandpa!"

Roaring furiously, without waiting for the gusts to subside, sharp mental senses instantly locked onto its position. Like a fierce tiger plunging into a sandstorm, he charged straight in!

And after Bear General Xiong had raced ahead some distance, instantly turning quite a few struggling to stand ants into ice sculptures on the way, sudden sharp whistles came again from the skies above, making his expression change in a flash.

The anxious yells from the command room emerged through his communicator on his shoulder.

"General Xiong, retreat quickly, another attack coming!"

Bear General Xiong: By the time I get your notice, I'll have been blasted into meat paste!

His speed rushing at the Ant Queen was fast, but his speed exiting out was double that. He had just fled the blast radius when the deafening eruptions came again, sweeping air currents lifting him up.

"Waaaah!"

His entire body spun overhead before heavily driving half his figure straight into the sands. By the time he wretchedly pulled himself back out, covered in sand, his mind was a complete blank.

"G-General Xiong! General Xiong!"

Over ten stalwart military officers, none below lv60 elites, now all had somewhat constipated red faces seeing Bear General Xiong's state.

The scene angered Bear General Xiong into a streak of curses.

"Enough giggling over there! Go inquire clearly whether there's still attacks coming!"

Seeing his men hurriedly comm over, Bear General Xiong indignantly wiped his sandy face, watching the sand clouds billow even higher. He completely couldn't restrain his mumbled words.

"Able to launch four rounds of such attacks each time, if this punk wanted, wouldn't he be able to raze cities down?"

But his voice had barely faded when more sharp whistling came from above. This time, he didn't wait for the Golden Ant Queen's cries before the rumbles swiftly followed.

Bear General Xiong was stunned before cursing lowly.

"Motherf*ckers, five rounds now?! Kid, are you trying to ascend to the heavens?! You've only been awakened less than three damned months!"

Bear General Xiong admitted he was sour right now.

...

"Initiating Patrol Eagle scans, beginning reconfirmation of target numbers."

"Updated remaining tally - 2,671. Annihilation ratio: 67.33%"

"Torrential artillery system ammunition depleted..."

Atop the base rooftop, seeing the mechanical arms fail to reload like before after this barrage finished, accompanied by Red Queen's report, Qin Zhi hurriedly responded on his communicator:

"Attacks have concluded here! Repeat, attacks concluded!"

Zheng Mu was somewhat confused, looking at Qin Zhi. His own status hadn't received any notification of the Golden Ant Queen perishing. That meant the thing had actually withstood everything again? Target undisposed of yet he was declaring attacks stopped?

Zheng Mu didn't speak, only carelessly snapping his fingers. He indifferently said:

"Red Queen, continue."

[Torrential Reset (lv3)] was used. The [Torrential System] which had just exhausted five rounds of ammo instantly whirred back to life, mechanical arms operating away once more.

Seeing the announced concluded artillery fire suddenly resume loading ammunition a second later, Qin Zhi's expression drastically changed.

"Didn't Zheng Mu say attacks finished and he was out of ammo?!"

Zheng Mu blinked confusedly. "I did run out of ammo, that's why I'm resupplying ammunition now. Skills... Can't you guys use skills too? Why can't I?"

Zheng Mu's "what nonsense are you spouting" expression frightened Qin Zhi white. Seeing the launch sequence had already been issued under Zheng Mu's command, he desperately raised the communicator in his hand, hysterically yelling at the other side:

"G-General Xiong, retreat quickly! Attacks incoming! Retreat!"

Zheng Mu watched on cluelessly. Behind him, Cai Shengkun and the others had already lost their ability to think amidst this grand scene, wooden poles planted motionlessly there.

After receiving news of concluded attacks from Qin Zhi's side earlier, Bear General Xiong and company had finally relaxed, exchanging looks. Over ten lv60+ military elites promptly charged towards the center.

"Even if that bastard kills me later, don't mind me, focus fire on eliminating the target!"

Speaking, Bear General Xiong involuntarily glanced in Zheng Mu's direction, an admiring smile on his face.

"If I somehow live past this, from now on whenever I meet people, I'll say this punk went around on the Ant Queen!"