On a certain hillside, Boles, who had already mutated into something resembling a hybrid of human and Insect Race, stood tall against the wind. His huge nostrils flared slightly, and he quickly picked up the scent of Ma Shuwen and his companions. He turned to look at the people fleeing the battlefield and noticed the gigantic Energy Gathering Mechanical Species. He was clearly somewhat tempted.

But in the end, he turned his head back, facing the endless sea of insect creatures before him. These insects are a bigger prize, he thought.

Sacrificing dozens of Mutant Skyrocketing Insects was the price paid to ensure the starships' downfall. With the starships present, the swarms would relentlessly try to seize them, effectively pinning them down and preventing their escape.

As for whether there were any victors inside those starships, the Insect Race didn't know.

「...」

Some thirteen hours later, Chen Gu and the others received a message from Bai Yunpeng: "The aircraft coming to your aid will arrive soon."

After exchanging information with Bai Yunpeng, Chen Gu learned that the Insect Race had begun their retreat after losing all their victors.

They initially aimed to retrieve as many Insect Race members from the planet's surface as possible, but they encountered fierce resistance from the human military forces and the Mutant insect swarms.

The Mutant insect swarm, in particular, grew stronger as they fought, becoming a force on the planet that could not be ignored.

The main swarm gave up, and their fleets in the Star Sea withdrew. The space around the planet was now under the control of human fleets.

After the aircraft picked up Chen Gu and his group, they were taken to a mothership in the Star Sea.

However, the warriors who came to welcome him were horrified at the sight of the enormous Combat Rooster.

This creature had grown to twenty-five meters after devouring the last victor!

Chen Gu assured them he would control the Combat Rooster. The warriors knew Chen Gu was a hero of this battle and held him in high respect and trust, so they agreed not to lock the Combat Rooster in a cage.

Chen Gu requested a separate, massive chamber to share with the Combat Rooster.

But soon after, Gong Shuxu came knocking on his door, carrying the highest-level security shackles.

Chen Gu rolled his eyes helplessly but cooperated and put them on. Gong Shuxu sat down beside him with an indifferent expression. "From now on, I'll be with you until you have completed all the tests at the agency," he stated.

"If you truly have mutated, I will kill you myself. But until then, any action against you is an action against me. This is the promise of a Sixth Energy Level Psychological Spy!"

Chen Gu looked at him in surprise. Of course, Chen Gu knew of the animosity between Psychological Spies and Brain Domain Hackers; it was all clear in Isabella Wu's memories.

Moreover, Chen Gu could also sense that Gong Shuxu had clearly been somewhat distant towards him when they were working together on the planet.

Yet, he never expected that Gong Shuxu, while now detaining him, would also vow to protect him.

Gong Shuxu turned his head away, intentionally presenting his cold back to Chen Gu. Chen Gu couldn't help but smile.

This mothership was part of the first wave to withdraw from the battle, taking Chen Gu and his companions back to the rear command base.

Half a day later, Chen Gu received a video call from Bai Yunpeng. "We've mostly figured it out," Bai Yunpeng reported. "Those extraterrestrial Energy Gathering Mechanical Species originated from Planet 62N-41."

This was the primary option for retreat and establishing a defensive position after the transport ship Chen Gu had been on was attacked.

The planet housed a military reserve fulcrum base, fully equipped with weapons and supplies. If Chen Gu hadn't firmly believed that the Insect Race's actions were highly unusual and that they shouldn't proceed according to the enemy's apparent intentions, the transport ship would have "safely" retreated to that fulcrum base.

Chen Gu was quite surprised. "Didn't the military conduct a thorough survey of the entire planet when they established the fulcrum base?" he asked.

Bai Yunpeng replied, "Of course, we conducted a comprehensive survey back then, but nothing was discovered.

"Only after this battle did we discover a very well-hidden underground base on Planet 62N-41. We don't know which civilization's ruins it is, but all its equipment is operating perfectly. Its technological level is extremely high, which is how it evaded our detection.

"Those Energy Gathering Mechanical Species, on the other hand, were hidden even deeper underground and almost never appeared on the surface."

Chen Gu fell into deep thought. This feeling... it's as if a powerful force is orchestrating everything from behind the scenes, he mused.

The Energy Gathering Mechanical Species on Planet 62N-41 continuously multiplied, then used the mysterious base's "ferry" to travel to the super-lifeform's planet. Victors of the "Grand Examination" would then receive rewards from this super-lifeform. The existence of the mechanical species on both planets seemed to be entirely for this plan. They operated with such secrecy, they wouldn't even emerge on the planets' surfaces. If it weren't for this battle, humanity would still be unaware of them. Therefore, the powerful force dictating all this was almost without a doubt... that super-lifeform!

Bai Yunpeng continued, "We currently speculate that the Insect Race wanted to obtain the genetic chains of that super-lifeform. However, they only found clues on Planet 62N-41 and didn't know the super-lifeform's actual location.

"So, they planned to attack Planet 62N-41 but discovered our fulcrum base was already established there. To avoid attracting our attention, they attacked the transport ship you were on at a critical time and location."

Chen Gu added, "After pursuing the transport ship and landing on Planet 62N-41, they only needed to dispatch a small number of Insect Race to besiege the fulcrum base. The remainder could then search for that hidden base, take the ferry to the super-lifeform's planet, and once the Grand Examination concluded, harvest these victors to obtain the genetic chains."

The Insect Race were no fools; they knew that directly attacking the super-lifeform would likely result in a devastating defeat with nothing gained. As for how the Insect Race obtained information about the super-lifeform, that remained a mystery.

Bai Yunpeng nodded. "That appears to be the case."

After a pause, he added, "We've already started withdrawing our troops from the planet's surface. Once all our personnel are clear, we'll use starships to bombard the planet from the Star Sea, eliminating the remaining Insect Race and those Mutant insect swarms."

Under normal circumstances, the most straightforward solution would be to use a planet-destroying weapon to annihilate the planet. However, with a super-lifeform hidden within, such an action would undoubtedly enrage it, leading to catastrophic losses.

However, both Bai Yunpeng and Chen Gu knew that news of a super-lifeform on this planet would soon spread. Ambitious individuals within humanity would inevitably organize "hunting fleets" and return.

Humanity's historical encounters with super-lifeforms, however, have always been marked by horrific casualties. Even successful hunting fleets ultimately paid an extremely heavy price.

It was simply because super-lifeforms were so incredibly valuable that people were continually willing to take such risks.

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