Astral Gods

Chapter 99 The Insects' Struggle for Breath

Chapter 99 A Fight for Suspicion

The giant-winged red dragonfly warrior quickly distanced himself from the situation to avoid the yew tree threatening to report him to the white-headed beetle king: "You said it yourself. If we really can't beat the other insects and our food gets stolen, it's not my problem."

Zishan sneered, "This world is a dog-eat-dog world. If we don't have the ability, then we deserve to eat rotten fruit."

But if any insects weaker than us are eating better than us, then don't blame me for reporting this to the higher-ups and letting the White-headed Beetle King deal with you.

In reality, a little food is nothing. What's valuable in this world is Force food; as for ordinary food—

Because most Zerg warriors plant trees to cultivate forests, producing countless food resources every year, a single Originium can easily buy thousands of kilograms, making it practically worthless.

The reason it competes with the other for these foods is not for the food itself; otherwise, even if it doesn't want a single food grain, how many Origin Stones would it spend to buy them?

What it cared more about was the attitude of the Zerg warriors in the Thousand Star Islands towards them. From the moment they entered Lotus Island, these guys showed a disdain for country bugs and looked down on them at every turn. How could it tolerate that?

This is a perfect opportunity to show them who's stronger, the Rhinoceros Tortoise Warrior or them? It'll be a chance to thoroughly humiliate them.

Otherwise, judging from the attitude of the insects in the Thousand Star Islands, even if they migrate to the Thousand Star Islands in the future, the other insects will not respect them.

Hearing their argument, the other Zerg warriors in the side hall also came to watch out of curiosity. Zerg that could find a job here were either from large tribes or had powerful backgrounds. Hearing that there was going to be a fight, they immediately excitedly called their friends to come and watch.

The giant red dragonfly warrior also let other insects take its place, while it quickly went to find reinforcements.

Seeing that all the insects were calling to their friends, Yew was not in a hurry. It simply walked out of the food storage warehouse and came to the open space outside to wait for the other insect warriors to arrive.

Seeing that Yew had come out empty-handed, Zi Ai and the others immediately surrounded her: "Yew, how did it go? Didn't you get any food?"

"Are they giving you trouble again?"

"These insects in the Thousand Star Islands are truly despicable. Should we go and complain to the Green Bamboo King?"

The yew tree gently swayed its antennae. What's the use of complaining? The food here is only provided once a month. If they can complain now, will they complain next month too? And the month after that?

Tattling can only solve the problem temporarily, and it will also make other insects think that they are petty and insecure.

Only absolute strength can subdue these insects and prevent them from underestimating their tribe.

"It originally said it would give us all fruit as our food, but I refused, so it changed it to half fruit and half nuts."

I wanted them all to become nuts, but it said the other Zerg warriors would object, so I told it to find the other Zerg warriors who might object and have them fight. Whoever loses has to obediently eat fruit as food.

"Shall we have a fight?" Upon hearing Zishan's words, all the Rhinoceros Tortoise warriors were extremely excited.

The Rhinoceros Tortoise Warriors are exceptionally combative, and they frequently fight each other from the very beginning.

Now that they've arrived at the Thousand Star Islands, they were already feeling incredibly frustrated. Hearing that the quality of food could be determined by fighting made them even more excited, and they wanted to take the opportunity to vent their pent-up anger.

"Zishan, if we're fighting other Zerg warriors, I absolutely have to go!"

"Yes, yes, I want to go too!"

Count me in!

Everyone eagerly signed up.

Yew swayed its antennae but did not respond to the insects' request for battle: "This is the Thousand Star Islands, which are countless times larger than our Banana Island. The number of insect warriors here is countless times greater than that of our tribe, and their wealth is incomparable to that of our tribe."

Some of you are not new to this island, so you should know the strength of some of the insectoid warriors. I estimate that there are more than three or five insectoid warriors with awakened elemental talents.

The reason I challenged these Zerg warriors to a duel was not for a little food, nor was it a matter of pride. Rather, it was to deter other Zerg warriors from looking down on us.

Therefore, in battles against them, we can only win, not lose. If we don't have an absolute guarantee of victory, we should be patient for now.

Upon hearing Zishan's words, the Zerg warriors who had visited last year echoed, "That's right. The Thousand Star Islands already have a large number of Zerg warriors, and those who can come to the coastal defense training ground for combat training are all the best of their kind. Every combat Zerg here is highly skilled."

As far as I know, there are no fewer than 50 Zerg warriors who have awakened elemental talents at the advanced stage. Some of these Zerg warriors are evenly matched with some Mountain Lord-level Zerg warriors at the advanced stage, demonstrating their terrifying strength.

Upon hearing the analysis from the yew tree, and with another insect sharing its own experience, the other insects fell silent.

Even if they were extremely confident, they could never believe that they, who had not yet awakened their elemental talents, could defeat a mountain lord-level Zerg warrior.

Even Zi Ai was a little unsure: "Then, Zi Shan, are you confident?"

Yew gently swayed its antennae: "The Zerg warriors in the Astral Plane are diverse, with all sorts of strange abilities awakened. Who dares to say they have a sure chance of victory in battle? We can only do our best."

Since they're already disliked anyway, things can't get much worse.

Zi Ai volunteered: "Then I'll lead the charge for you."

Zishan thought for a moment and said, "No need. You will have a more important task at that time. If there are too many of those Zerg warriors, I may have to fight more than one. If my Force is too depleted, you can serve as a backup to replenish my Force."

Zi Ai thought about it and felt that Zi Shan made sense. She couldn't help but sigh, "It's a pity that Zi Huai didn't come. Otherwise, if the primal forces of the three of us insects were combined, we would be fearless even if we encountered a mountain lord-level insect warrior."

The yews did not respond; they had not expected the rhinoceros beetle warriors to encounter such a fate at the coastal defense training ground.

Moreover, the life-seeds in the territory do indeed need to be managed by Zerg warriors, and it's impossible for all three brothers to come at once.

At this moment, Qing Yulan volunteered, "Since Zi Ai is not in a position to lead the charge, let me do it. I've been wanting to assess the capabilities of the Zerg warriors from the Thousand Star Islands."

Qingyulan is a junior of Qingmang Lord. It obtained a seed of the Rain Orchid God at the intermediate stage. Although it was only a herbaceous seed of the God, Qingmang Lord still placed high hopes on it.

The Qing lineage was originally the wealthiest of the four lineages, and the food was the best. Lord Qingmang also invested a lot of extra resources in Qing Yulan. It can be said that the Force food that Qing Yulan ate when she was a child was not much worse than what Zishan and the others ate. Her physical condition was also basically top-notch.

Yew also thought it was quite suitable: "Then we'll see how they plan to fight. If the situation is right, you can lead the charge!"

It assigned tasks one by one: "If we don't encounter any Zerg warriors with awakened elemental talents, Qing Yulan and Haidai will go. If we do encounter any Zerg warriors with awakened elemental talents, I will deal with them."

"Alright," the insects chimed in, showing they were never afraid of anyone when it came to fighting.

After arranging the Zerg warriors who might go into battle, they didn't keep Zishan and the others waiting for long. Soon after, a dark, ominous cloud appeared on the horizon.

The dark cloud, obscuring the sky, drifted towards the direction where the yews were. Before it even reached them, the Zerg warriors could feel the buzzing sound of its wings.

The yews and the Zerg warriors who had gathered there to watch the spectacle stared intently, only to discover that the dark cloud in the distance was actually formed by a dense swarm of Zerg warriors.

These Zerg warriors varied in size, with the smaller ones only one or two meters in diameter and the larger ones reaching three or four meters in diameter. They were menacing and looked quite terrifying.

Yew tree warned, "They're here."

Actually, it didn't need to remind us; everyone has already seen it.

The horde of Zerg warriors that arrived numbered two to three hundred, and included various species. They flew to the food storage warehouse and landed with a series of thuds, creating an extremely impressive spectacle.

As soon as they landed, a Zerg warrior scanned the Zerg warriors present and shouted rudely, "I heard some Zerg want to fight us, and said they'll beat us all into submission. Who's so arrogant?"

Although it scanned all the Zerg warriors present, its gaze was focused on the large group of Rhinoceros Tortoise warriors, clearly indicating that some Zerg had informed it in advance, allowing it to identify its opponent.

As they looked at the rhinoceros beetle warriors, Yew also looked at the dark mass of descending Zerg warriors and silently acknowledged their species.

"Spotted tiger beetle, jewel beetle, gill beetle, ground beetle, yellow-spotted deer beetle, beautiful click beetle ————"

It must be said that there are indeed many types of Zerg warriors on the Thousand Star Islands. Just by glancing over them, it could see seventy or eighty different types of Zerg warriors.

Furthermore, one can detect the immense life force and profound primal energy emanating from them through their life imprints, making it clear at a glance that they have grown and evolved by consuming many good things.

The numerous Zerg warriors of the Thousand Star Islands pressed down on the Zishan with their powerful aura, but the Rhinoceros Tortoises, though usually vegetarian, were not weak in strength. They glared back, showing no weakness in terms of aura, and were even more confident due to their size.

Among the many Zerg warriors of the Thousand Star Islands, one with a powerful and dense aura of primal energy spoke up: "So, it's you few Zerg warriors who wanted to challenge our coastal defense training camp?"

"That's right." Even in this situation, Zishan didn't mince words: "We're new here. When we came to collect our food, that giant-winged red dragonfly warrior said that the best food is only for powerful Zerg warriors. We've heard that the Zerg warriors on the Thousand Star Islands are incredibly strong, and we'd like to see just how powerful the Zerg warriors who eat the best food really are."

Upon hearing Zishan's words, some Zerg warriors showed arrogance in their eyes, some were somewhat disdainful, and others felt something was amiss, as Hongjiao hadn't said that earlier.

The giant red dragonfly warriors that brought them here quietly flapped their wings and retreated into the swarm of insects.

Although it had never fought against the Rhinoceros Tortoise Warriors, the inherited memories recorded that the Rhinoceros Tortoises were extremely powerful among Zerg warriors of the same level. Before many Zerg warriors had awakened their abilities, few Zerg warriors could withstand their attacks.

"How do you want to compete? One-on-one or a group battle?"

What combat methods are available at your Lotus Island training grounds?

"There are one-on-one duels, but most of them are duels between Zerg warriors of the same type, comparing their strengths, such as speed, strength, and combat ability. These are mainly contests between advanced warriors whose abilities have not yet been awakened."

"There are also group battles, which mainly involve various Zerg warriors cooperating with each other. Most of them are small teams composed of Zerg warriors at the Mountain Lord level who have awakened their talents and abilities."

"Of course, you can also choose the gauntlet battle method, where regardless of ability or race, each side selects three or five Zerg warriors to take turns fighting until all warriors on one side are defeated!"

After listening, Zishan thought for a moment and understood that all three combat methods had their advantages and disadvantages. The first one was just a normal competition, which was relatively mild. However, even if she won, she would not convince the other insects.

Moreover, while these rhinoceros tortoise warriors possess ample strength, they lack speed, and in a direct confrontation, they might not necessarily gain the upper hand.

As for group battles, that's not even in its consideration. There are many types of Zerg warriors in the Thousand Star Islands, and quite a few of them have awakened their talents.

These rhinoceros beetles are now challenging all the Zerg warriors in the training ground. The opposing side can easily pull out three to five Zerg warriors with awakened talents, and with their cooperation, they can even put up a fight against a Zerg warrior at the Mountain Lord level.

It is the only one in the Rhinoceros Tortoise tribe to have awakened elemental talent. Once a battle breaks out, its teammates will not be able to provide much help. It may end up in a situation where it is fighting against four opponents. Even if it is made of iron, it will still have to have a few nails removed by the opponent.

Therefore, the third method seems to be the safest. Even if it's a war of attrition, as long as your teammates can find a way to wear down one or two Zerg warriors, you will have a great chance of winning with Zi Ai's Force support.

"How about a series of attacks?"

"Okay!" Both sides were extremely confident in themselves.

"Should we just fight here?"

"There are too many Zerg warriors moving goods around here. If something happens, it will be difficult to handle. Why don't we head to the Thousand Star Arena?"

"The Thousand Star Arena?" Although he didn't know what kind of place this was, he could roughly guess from the name that it was a place where Zerg warriors fought: "Let's go then, who's afraid of who?"

Seeing that Zishan had agreed, a hint of pride appeared in the eyes of many Zerg warriors from the Thousand Star Islands. There were a large number of Zerg warriors in the Thousand Star Arena, and if two or three Zerg warriors with awakened elemental talents came to help, they would be invincible.

These insects from a small place dare to challenge them? They're delusional.

They led the way, and a large swarm of Zerg warriors flew out of the island in the middle of the lake.

The Thousand Star Arena is a training ground located on the outer edge of Lotus Island. The land here has been reinforced by insectoid warriors with earth-type talents, making it difficult for even high-level warriors to damage.

Here, a series of circular battlegrounds with diameters of up to one kilometer have been specially marked out. These battlegrounds are of various shapes and sizes, some are piled with rocks and craggy stones, some are densely wooded and lush, and some are water battlegrounds built on the lake.

Besides the typical astral landscape, there are also metal mines filled with metal and raging volcanoes; this is the so-called Thousand Stars Arena.

When they arrived, the news that the Rhinoceros Beetle tribe was going to challenge the Zerg warriors on the Thousand Star Islands had already spread like wildfire among busybodies.

At this moment, the Thousand Star Arena was already packed with Zerg warriors who had come after hearing the news. The buzzing of discussions and the sound of flapping wings intertwined, and the atmosphere was so enthusiastic that it was almost boiling.