When Bassaf saw the *Kunpeng* fall, his eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and he charged forward in a rage.

Just then, the level-5 Insect Ship locked onto Deputy Legion Commander Bassaf. On its surface, objects resembling green insect eyes began to light up.

SHWISH! SHWISH!

A rain of Pollock Beams shot toward him.

Bassaf dodged hastily but was still struck by a Pollock Beam.

BOOM—

“Dammit!”

Bassaf and his men were thrown into a chaotic frenzy by the Insect Race ship.

「*Kunpeng* Central Control Room.」

Violent tremors sent the operators stumbling. A piercing alarm blared continuously.

Warning boxes popped up one after another on the operation screens.

“Warning: C3 sector damaged!”

“Warning: Power line 3 damaged!”

“Warning: Ship in stall and freefall!”

…

“Major Du Mei’er, the ship is out of control! We’re falling!”

An operator shouted in terror.

“Quick, activate the emergency backup anti-gravity system!”

Du Mei’er shrieked hysterically at her subordinates.

A subordinate immediately slammed the emergency button.

The falling *Kunpeng* instantly activated its emergency backup anti-gravity system.

The entire vessel jolted violently, its descent rapidly slowing.

However, the *Kunpeng* was near full capacity, and the emergency anti-gravity system’s power was insufficient. The ship continued to fall.

Red warning boxes popped up.

“Altitude: 3,000 meters!”

“Altitude: 2,000 meters!”

…

“It’s not working! We can’t stabilize the hull!”

An operator yelled in panic, staring at the data on the console.

“Quick, restart the main thrusters!”

Du Mei’er was drenched in cold sweat, frantic like an ant on a hot pan.

“Restart successful, but we can’t get the power up!”

“Altitude is only 500 meters! We’re going to crash!”

…

An operator reported, voice filled with absolute terror.

“No!”

Du Mei’er cried out in despair.

BOOM—

The *Kunpeng* slammed into a massive basin, the immense impact sweeping outwards.

Fortunately, because the *Kunpeng*’s fall wasn’t completely uncontrolled, it didn’t explode. However, the colossal ship’s hull was now cracked and deformed.

In the central control room.

Du Mei’er climbed up from the floor, shaking her head with difficulty.

On the virtual operations screens, red warning boxes popped up ceaselessly.

“Propulsion system damaged. Switching to backup power.”

“T2 armor layer damaged!”

“CLD-07 circuit assembly destroyed.”

…

“At least we saved the *Kunpeng*,” Du Mei’er said, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Just then, the piercing alarm blared again, and a panicked operator shouted.

“Ma’am, a massive swarm of insects is heading for us!”

Du Mei’er looked up at the optical image. A black mass of insects was descending upon them from the sky.

“Quick, activate all defensive weapons!”

“We can’t, Ma’am! Backup power is insufficient!”

“Then shut down all auxiliary systems on the ship! Divert all power to weapons!”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

The soldiers immediately activated the *Kunpeng*’s remaining functional interceptor cannons.

SHWISH! SHWISH!

Beams of light shot toward the approaching swarm.

Insects were pierced one by one, but an attack of this magnitude was useless.

Swarms of insects broke through the barrage and landed on the *Kunpeng*, crawling inside through the various breaches.

“This is bad, the swarm is inside!”

An operator yelled anxiously to Du Mei’er.

“Quick, seal all corridor blast doors! Order all soldiers to defend the supplies at all costs!”

Du Mei’er tried desperately to calm herself.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“And send out a distress call immediately!”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

…

Meanwhile, Bassaf, who was pinned down by the Insect Ship, saw that the *Kunpeng* had crashed without exploding but was now being overrun by the swarm. He immediately used his authority to issue a rescue order to all members of the Forty-Second Legion.

“This is Deputy Legion Commander Bassaf. The *Kunpeng* has crashed at coordinates 4111, 2563, 5222. I am now issuing a rescue order. All nearby personnel are requisitioned. Suspend all current missions and proceed to provide aid.”

After issuing the order, Bassaf led his subordinates in a charge toward the level-5 Insect Ship and the massive swarm.

…

「Elsewhere.」

Long Ming, piloting the *Gale*, swung its Light Saber and fiercely cut down an approaching Type-II Black-Shell Insect.

Viscous fluid splattered everywhere.

The small transport ship continued to climb.

Long Ming turned his head and surveyed the area. The situation wasn’t too bad. Although the scanner showed quite a few red dots, most of the enemies weren’t attacking them but were instead converging in one direction.

Just then, Deputy Legion Commander Bassaf’s voice came over the public channel, issuing an emergency rescue order to everyone.

The Forty-Second Legion system linked to Long Ming’s wristband immediately displayed a series of mission alerts.

“Rescue Mission 1: Salvage special transport cargo designated ‘0’. Reward: To be determined!”

“Rescue Mission 2: Rescue the trapped Major Du Mei’er. Reward: To be determined!”

“Rescue Mission 3: Rescue the trapped Supervisor Dikaya. Reward: To be determined!”

…

At that moment, Luoxue’s voice sounded over the communication channel.

“Long Ming, we’ve been forcibly requisitioned to support the *Kunpeng*.”

“I see it. But we can’t go. That’s the main battlefield, crawling with insects. If we go, we’ll probably all die there. Besides, if we don’t get out of here now, we’re toast once the swarm surrounds the entire planet.”

Long Ming said to Luoxue with a grave expression.

“The problem is, this is disobeying a direct order. Desertion is a serious offense.”

Luoxue replied, her brow furrowed.

“We’ll just pretend we never received the order and continue with our original mission. If they try to blame us later, we can argue our way out of it!”

Long Ming saw it for what it was.

‘This order was just sending everyone to their deaths to draw fire. If we really go, we’ll just be cannon fodder.’

“Alright. Turn around, let’s go!”

Luoxue gave the order to Fu Qing in a low voice.

‘In truth, she wasn’t keen on going to the rescue either. After all, when the *Kunpeng* was trying to break out on its own, they hadn’t cared if her team lived or died.’

Just as Long Ming and his team turned around and prepared to accelerate away…

…three small transport ships suddenly flew over from the distance.

At that moment, Second Lieutenant Olette’s voice came over the comms channel.

“Huh, isn’t that Luoxue and Qian Wei?”

“Olette?”

Qian Wei was also taken aback.

“Did you guys get the support order?”

Olette asked with a chuckle.

Hearing Olette’s words, the expressions of Qian Wei and Luoxue immediately turned ugly.

“No!”

Seeing that Qian Wei hadn’t received the order, Olette said with a smile.

“Deputy Legion Commander Bassaf has ordered all of us to support the fallen *Kunpeng* at all costs. If we’re late, we’ll miss out on the merits. I’m heading off, don’t thank me.”

“Okay.”

Luoxue replied coolly.

Olette just chuckled and said nothing more as his ships accelerated away.

“Dammit, that guy did it on purpose, didn’t he?”

Fu Fuqing couldn’t help but curse.

“Stop it. There’s no point in saying anything now. He’s officially notified us. If we don’t go now, it’ll be insubordination on the battlefield—outright desertion.”

Although Luoxue was furious, there was nothing she could do.

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