Charging Into the Hive

The arrival of the Qingjun students injected a powerful surge of energy into the ground battle between humans and the Zerg. A few heavy artillery rounds bought the defenders precious breathing room against the swarm, blasting open several gaps in the ceiling of writhing chitin so that five fighters could seize their chance to dash toward the hive.

The sight before them plunged both Empire and Federation spectators into a brief silence. Decades of entrenched hostility had left their peoples mired in a zero-sum mentality, and now, watching cadets from the two academies fight side by side, no one quite knew how to react.

Senior Colonel Ren, the Empire's commentator, chose her words carefully. "When faced with a shared crisis that threatens humanity's very existence, cooperation is necessary."

As her words faded, the five fighters in Xiji City roared to life, streaking into the sky and punching through the gaps torn open by the heavy artillery to break past the living ceiling of Zerg.

What greeted them was not the hive itself, but over a dozen hulking, ferocious Zerg Warlords. They fixed their hungry gaze on the five fighters, mandibles twitching, and surged forward in a terrifying wave.

All five pilots were battle-hardened veterans. They engaged the Warlords in aerial combat at once. The Zerg's carapaces were like reinforced armor—shellfire couldn't punch through them. Only precision strikes against their weak points could bring them down.

Xu Lingqu banked sharply to evade a Warlord that lunged straight at her, then blew it apart with a single precision shell to its vulnerable spot. Just then, a message came in from Shen Shouli, whom she'd left on the ground as the temporary battlefield commander.

"Ground forces can hold out for fifty more minutes, max. After that, our firepower runs dry."

"Understood." Xu Lingqu disengaged from the Warlords and pushed to full throttle. This time, she finally reached the Zerg hive—but the guards here were even more numerous. Combined with the Warlords still trailing her, the five fighters were quickly encircled from all sides.

Five fighters simply weren't enough.

Xu Xiqin's cockpit blared with system warnings.

"Warning. Warning. Return to base. Hull integrity at seventy percent. Warning. Warning. Right wing damaged. Return to base."

The alarms came one after another, but not a shred of fear rose in Xu Xiqin's heart. Instead, determination hardened within her. She reported to Xu Lingqu.

"Sis, I'll break a path for you."

She armed the fighter's self-destruct sequence, then sent her craft screaming at full throttle straight into the cluster of Warlords blocking the entrance.

"Die, you disgusting bugs! Victory belongs to humanity!"

A violent explosion tore through the sky as Xu Xiqin took down four Warlords with her, rending a gaping hole in the swarm's defenses and carving a path straight to the Zerg hive.

Xu Lingqu didn't hesitate for a single heartbeat. She drove straight through the opening. The hive itself seemed to sense the threat—the remaining Warlords swarmed her fighter all at once, desperate to keep her out.

Cheng Xing stared at the scene, eyes wide in disbelief. Then, trembling, he armed the self-destruct sequence on his own fighter. Like Xu Xiqin before him, he blasted headlong at the Warlords blocking Xu Lingqu's path with reckless abandon.

The scene had grown so brutally real that he'd forgotten this was only a match, a virtual battleground. Adrenaline surged through his body, and he screamed at the monstrous Warlords.

"This is a human city! You're the ones who should die! Get lost!"

Another explosion. Cheng Xing's fighter shattered into fragments against the sky.

His vision went black. Gasping for breath, he woke in his combat pod, back in the real world. Only then did the weight of what he'd done crash over him.

As a student of the Federation's Qingjun, he had willingly laid down his life to clear a path for Xu Lingqu. To the hardliners, his actions would amount to treason—consorting with the enemy.

He couldn't bear to imagine the ridicule waiting for him outside. But no matter what came, he would never regret it.

Fighting for humanity's survival—that was a righteous war.

Trembling, he opened the combat pod and stepped out.

In the Federation arena, the crowd watched the young cadet in silence.

Then someone started clapping. At first, a single pair of hands. The sound rippled outward, growing louder, until the entire Federation arena thundered with applause and cheers.

The people of the Federation offered their approval and praise to this fearless young soldier.

They weren't blind. They'd seen everything. Cheng Xing was a soldier who fought and died for humanity—how could they ever spit on him?

Staring in disbelief at the acclaim washing over him, Cheng Xing blinked back the tears threatening to spill, then turned and fixed his gaze on the giant screen.

One pilot after another had thrown away their lives to clear the way for Xu Lingqu. She repaid them with one single act—

Her fighter twisted through the sky, cannonfire blazing, as the last two Warlords clinging to her tail were blasted out of existence. Then her warship, like an unbreakable blade, plunged straight into the heart of the Zerg hive.

"Xu Lingqu, beautifully done!"

The Empire's broadcast room was practically shaking itself apart. The four commentators—all seemingly possessed by Lieutenant Quan's spirit—leapt to their feet and roared with approval.

And they weren't alone. In the VIP section, Jinfang Taibai got so carried away that he toppled the massive support banner he'd made for Moye—Li Muyi had to steady it with one hand while tears streamed down her face for Xu Lingqu.

Hei Yingzhi was no better. The man looked ready to launch himself like a rocket into the sky to fight alongside Xu Lingqu. Jia Xiangying stomped hard on his foot, but even that didn't cool him down. Wincing through the pain, he grinned at her and said, "Young miss, now I've got one more regret about not making the finals!"

God, he wished he could be fighting side by side with Moye Military Academy on this finals map!

Gu Tingzhi rose to his feet as well. So close—so close that Dragon Yuan could have been down there with Moye, saving Xiji City together…

He'd never let another moment of mercy cost him that chance again, he vowed silently.

Everyone was caught up in the frenzy. But even so, they hadn't lost their heads. Xu Lingqu had only made it inside the hive. What awaited her in there was far more dangerous. Alone, she had to kill the Zerg Broodmother—the queen of them all.

Could she really do it? Everyone held their breath and asked the same question.

It was a fair question. By any measure, the task was impossible. The reason they still dared to hope was simple: Xu Lingqu never disappointed.