The Lich of Glory Knight Spirit: Moving towards Krimasha!-Chapter 676 - 5: Insect Clan

The Insect Clan, created by demons in the Second Era, is the purest war machine ever known. Capable of surviving under the harshest conditions, it boasts a reproduction speed unmatched by any other race.

If other races live, it might be for better living, for progress, for exploring the world. But the Insect Clan lives purely for the sake of living, for fighting, for devouring.

Almost all races have overtly or covertly expressed their disdain for the Insect Clan, yet no one can deny their strength.

Yes, that’s exactly what is considered a species that should be thrown in the dumpster. Even the Abyss believes that there is only slaughter in them, that the potential to invoke "evil" is very limited, lacking a sense of art.

In a certain sense, the Insect Clan is more like the undead rather than other life-bearing races.

The core of the Undead Army is the Lich, the summoner, while the core of the Insect Clan Army is the queen insect, the mother of the entire clan.

The Undead Army has no thoughts, fears no pain, fears no death, and possesses extreme discipline. The Insect Clan is similarly thoughtless, fearless of pain, fearless of death, and fiercely disciplined.

Building the Undead Army requires corpses, the more, the better. Building the Insect Clan Army... requires food.

Of course, there are also significant differences in some aspects. The Undead, with the Lich as the core, are keen on magic, while the Insect Clan has no magic perception at all. Liches are extremely curious, avidly engaging in experiments and exploration. The Insect Clan would not change their original lifestyle unless absolutely necessary—they are only interested in land and food.

At the end of the Second Era, the Insect Clan was driven into the underground by allied forces. From that time on, they never saw sunlight again, completely abandoning the lush surface world, retreating from the stage of history.

As for when exactly the Abyss abandoned the Insect Clan entirely... who knows?

Twenty thousand years is indeed too long, so long that nothing is too surprising to happen.

...

In the vast underground space, the cliff faces are riddled with burrows. As far as the eye can see, there are incessant comings and goings of insects, both in the air and on the ground.

Among them, there are some insects with glowing abdomens like fireflies, serving as light sources for this underground world.

Standing on the back of a giant beetle, Richie sees vast mushroom forests, with white stalks and black caps. Each one stands like a giant tree, each arranged in a hexagonal honeycomb pattern, even the cliff faces and the dome of the subterranean space are no exception.

The constant coming and going of insects have carved rivers formed by molten rock in the mushroom forest, sprinkling collected sulfur around the mushroom bases.

Naturally, there is also water.

Water drips into the lava pools, converting into steam that wafts away, then gets absorbed by the mushroom caps.

The roar of the Insect Clan fills the ears. Some of the roars are like beasts, but most are high-pitched like birds, extremely piercing.

"This is..."

"A plantation." Attila, standing beside Richie, looking like a giant, peers down at Richie and says, "In the underground, these mushrooms are our main source of food. The subterranean world is barren, but we, the Insect Clan, have still managed to survive here tenaciously."

Richie jumps down from the giant beetle’s back and steps forward over the rubble of the underground mountains until he reaches the edge of a rock wall, extending a hand to touch it.

On the rock wall is a layer of slippery, viscous black liquid.

Rubbing it in his hand twice, then shaking it off clean, Richie turns back to look at Attila, still standing on the beetle’s back.

"Let’s go visit the hatchery," Attila says with a smile.

Richie climbs back onto the giant beetle’s back.

The back armor plates open, revealing enormous cicada wings that vibrate, lifting the beetle carrying Richie and Attila into the air.

Attila’s massive lower body, like Bofran’s, is covered with delicate tendrils. On the back of the giant beetle are small holes, like the dragonfly-like creature that brought Richie and Bofran earlier. At all times, Attila keeps at least one tendril inserted in a hole, seemingly guiding the beetle’s flight.

In the blink of an eye, they have passed the plantation. In front of them appears another vast underground space.

This time, the beetle does not stop but hovers in midair.

Unlike the plantation, the underground space ahead is a world filled with green fluorescence. Here, Richie feels as if he is inside a gigantic hive, with all he sees being hexagonal structures emitting fluorescence, creating an enchanting scene.

Each individual hive houses a chirping larva eagerly waiting to be fed. In the air, flitting back and forth, is an insect resembling a bee with a pair of small wings. They are busy, feeding the larvae in the hives mouth to mouth.

"This is our hatchery. This hatchery can hatch up to three thousand larvae per week, and as needed, we can transform them into the kind we desire, including those with strong combat capabilities. So long as food and water are sufficient, they can become any kind of species." Gazing around, Attila softly says, "A larva takes about a month from entering here as an egg to completing the first stage of hatching and leaving. In Attila’s territory, there are a total of six such hives, and more can be constructed if necessary. However, due to water scarcity, the current hatching speed has actually been reduced to a minimum."