Chapter 422: Chapter 422: Exposed

"No, sir. If there was any signal, I would have notified you immediately."

Woperi couldn’t help but shake his head.

"I can’t believe this. Normally, even if a ship is destroyed, its built-in CSW emergency pulse black box should still be sending out intermittent signals."

Hopka was starting to doubt if they were even searching in the right direction.

Just then, an operator suddenly shouted in excitement.

"Officer Hopka, we’ve found an object suspected to be ship debris."

"Bring it up on screen! Now!"

Hopka’s expression lit up as he yelled.

Instantly, a holographic image materialized.

Long Ming and the others crowded around to look at the image on display.

A piece of brown, damaged armor plating floated in the void of space.

"Magnify!"

Hopka said excitedly.

"Yes, sir!"

The operator immediately complied.

As the holographic image zoomed in, everyone could clearly see the texture on its surface.

Hopka immediately entered a command on the virtual interface to run a data comparison.

"Similarity: 99%! High probability!"

"That’s it! That armor plate is from the *Ocean*. The ship really did escape to this area. Push forward, deeper in!"

Hopka gave the order, his expression filled with excitement.

"Are you sure you want to go deeper?"

Antilo asked gloomily.

"Why wouldn’t we? We’ve found a lead now."

"We found a lead, yes, but this basically confirms the *Ocean* has been sunk. It might have already been dragged back to the Insect Race’s main nest."

"So what? Even if it’s inside an Insect Nest, we’ll get it back!"

Hopka’s attitude was unyielding.

"I’m curious, what exactly is on that ship? Who is our primary rescue target?"

Long Ming asked, looking at Hopka.

"Exactly. We still don’t know anything. If you’re going to ask us to risk our lives, you at least owe us a reason!"

Chen Hong and the others were also extremely curious. What could possibly be on that ship to make a colonel like Hopka willing to risk his life venturing deep into Insect Race territory to find it?

Hopka’s expression shifted, but he finally spoke.

"Since you want to know, I’ll tell you. We have two objectives: rescue a person, and retrieve a classified container."

"Rescue a person? Who?"

"We’re mainly rescuing two people. One is the captain of the *Ocean*, Major Dimru. He’s the son of the Twelfth Legion’s commander, Faenlute. The other is Dr. Anus!"

"And the classified container?"

"I don’t know what’s inside the container. I only know that the safe box is in Dr. Anus’s possession."

"So if Dr. Anus is dead, and the item is still in his safe box, doesn’t that mean we’ll never be able to retrieve it?"

Long Ming asked, looking at Hopka.

"Can you not jinx it?! Dr. Anus wouldn’t be that foolish. In any case, we have to find them, and fast!"

Hopka retorted, his face dark.

"Whatever you say."

Chen Hong and the others didn’t say anything more.

In the void of space, the Level 4 battleship *Azure Blue* continued to navigate deeper into enemy territory.

Along the way, they would occasionally see floating fragments of shattered armor plating.

From this wreckage, it was clear that the *Ocean* had been under constant attack by the Insect Race, and its hull had sustained severe damage.

Just then, a Type IV General-class Blue Illusion Butterfly flew in from the distance. It was fifty meters long, glowed with an eerie blue light, and had a pair of wings covered in swirling insect-like patterns.

BEEP BEEP~

The *Azure Blue’s* scanners instantly blared a warning.

"Type IV General-class Insect Race—Blue Illusion Butterfly—detected ahead,"

the operator reported nervously.

"Steady. It might not have seen us. Veer starboard, positive 0.3, and avoid it!"

Colonel Hopka’s nerves tensed up in an instant.

"Yes, sir!"

The *Azure Blue* continued on its course.

The two vessels drew closer and closer.

Long Ming stared at the Blue Illusion Butterfly, instinctively sensing danger. The feeling of unease grew stronger as the distance between them shrank.

Just then, he noticed red dots on the scanner slowly closing in. He snapped his head toward Colonel Hopka and yelled.

"This is bad! We’ve been exposed! It’s trying to lull us into a false sense of security! We’re about to be surrounded!"

Startled by Long Ming’s words, Hopka immediately shouted.

"Full speed! Break through!"

"Yes, sir!"

The operator immediately shoved the throttle to maximum, disregarding all else.

The *Azure Blue’s* thrusters spewed scorching flames as the entire ship suddenly accelerated and veered off course.

The Blue Illusion Butterfly dropped its act instantly, opening its maw to unleash a piercing sonic wave.

A dark, crushing swarm of insects surged forward.

The Blue Illusion Butterfly then flapped its massive wings and accelerated straight for the *Azure Blue*.

A shrill alarm suddenly blared.

"Sir, the Blue Illusion Butterfly is coming right for us!"

the operator yelled nervously.

"Open starboard launch ports 1 through 1000 and the interception cannons! Full barrage!"

Hopka ordered decisively.

KLAK, KLAK, KLAK!

A row of concealed launch ports opened on the *Azure Blue’s* starboard side, and numerous interception cannons rose into position.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

A dense volley of missiles and energy beams shot toward the Blue Illusion Butterfly.

The Blue Illusion Butterfly reacted instantly, deploying its AT Barrier.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Countless explosions erupted, engulfing it.

"Target hit!"

the operator shouted excitedly.

Just then, a streak of blue light shot out from the explosion, heading straight for the *Azure Blue*.

BANG!

The Blue Illusion Butterfly’s sharp appendage struck the side of the Energy Barrier head-on.

The entire *Azure Blue* shuddered violently.

"Alert: Energy Barrier strength down 17%!"

"Damn it! Full speed ahead, push through!"

Hopka commanded, his face grim.

The *Azure Blue* forced itself to accelerate, putting distance between it and the Blue Illusion Butterfly.

The Blue Illusion Butterfly flapped its wings and led the attacking swarm in pursuit of the *Azure Blue*. It then opened its mouth and began to gather energy.

"Sir, we’re locked on!"

the operator cried out in terror.

"Evasive maneuvers! Now!"

Hopka shouted, a mix of shock and anger in his voice.

WHOOSH!

A dazzling beam of light shot from behind, grazing the edge of the *Azure Blue’s* Energy Barrier.

"We dodged it."

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Don’t celebrate too soon. The swarm is here!"

Long Ming said, his brow furrowed.

Everyone’s expressions froze. In addition to the swarm pursuing them from behind, scattered insects from all directions were now descending upon them like a plague.

They fired streams of Pollock Beams at the *Azure Blue*.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The *Azure Blue’s* Energy Barrier fluctuated violently, its strength dropping rapidly.

"Energy Barrier strength is down to 30%!"

the operator shouted in terror.

"What? But it’s only been a moment!"

Hopka’s face turned pale.

At that moment, insects began ramming straight into the *Azure Blue’s* Energy Barrier from the front, splattering into gore.

Soon, the *Azure Blue’s* Energy Barrier reached its limit and shattered.

"Captain, the Energy Barrier is shattered,"

Woperi yelled, his voice filled with anxiety.

"Damn it!"

Hopka had barely finished cursing.

A dazzling Pollock Beam shot down from above and behind, striking the *Azure Blue’s* hull dead-center.

BOOM!

A massive explosion swept over the ship.

The *Azure Blue* jolted violently, and Long Ming and the others nearly lost their footing.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.