Chapter 58

Weird Old Man

Chu Shen sighed as he leaned back in his chair. “Ahh. Finally finished. I can’t believe how complicated it is.” Seven months. This was how long Chu Shen spent learning.

He not only learned math but also scientific theory, physics, robotics, engineering, and other such things, All of it entwined together to create a categorized and defined perception of the universe.

Honestly it was really amazing. As far as utilizing their surroundings they were geniuses. Unfortunately they lacked understanding of other factors. They couldn’t detect certain forms of energy such as elemental Qi.

Compared to his own universe this one lacked some basic types of Qi. Water, earth, and air Qi was really lacking. Fire, lightning, and ice Qi were found though. Pure examples of these types of Qi would be the sun, plasma, and absolute zero.

Honestly it was because of the vast amounts of Yang Qi that lead to such a thing. The concentration of Yang was multiple times more than his own. Of course he knew that Yin and Yang were the basic buildings block of the universe but that was only when it was balanced.

Here there were vast amounts of Yang Qi, but Yin Qi seemed to be barely there. Solitary Yang leads to death as everyone knows. It might explain the reason why all the life here was found only on planets that shielded themselves from Qi.

By blocking Yang Qi the small amounts of Yin and Yang Qi that still managed to get through were able to create a sort of balance on the planet. Thus leading to life being formed where Qi was so thin that it barely passed the ability to make life.

Of course that was his only his theorization based on his understanding of Qi in his realm. It could just be different realms rules as Master Ti Wu had told him.

Knock Knock

Chu Shen looked up with cheese and tomato sauce dripping down his face. He was in the middle of eating some pizza, another one of his favorite foods since he discovered it.

‘Eh, it’s probably Leonard. Kinda weird though, he usually calls.’ He got up and walked to the door with the intention to open it. Previously Leonard had visited him a couple times though he always called him.

He started to open the door but just as it cracked open it was shoved open with gusto, causing him to fall backwards. Rushing into his home was a person who could only be described with one word.

Weird!

It was an old man with white hair that stuck up everywhere. He had on blue jeans, a red polo, and a lab coat on as well. Splotches of color, food stains, and encrusted objects decorated all of his clothes and some of his hair was discolored as well.

Chu Shen wasn’t as surprised at this as he was the fact that he had been pushed backwards. Even if he was caught by surprise he was still very strong! But this person still pushed him backwards! He was most definitely wary of his uninvited guest.

The weird old man had a tablet clutched in his left hand. He was staring at the tablet without even looking at Chu Shen. He tapped it with his right hand. “Come one, come on. I know you’re here…..yes! There it is.”

Immediately he walked down the hallway towards Chu Shen’s office. Chu Shen stared at the man flabbergasted. This was completely unexpected! Who barged into someone’s home looking for something and didn’t even say hello?

Helplessly he followed the weird old man to his office. Once the weird old man was inside he completely ignored the desk and the holo-projector. Instead he went over to a side of his office and stopped there. He tapped his tablet for a second and waited.

Suddenly a small panel on the wall popped off shocking Chu Shen. Inside the panel was a black cube. The weird old man pulled a cable out of his pocket. Plugging the cable into his tablet and then the black cube, he sat down in front of Chu Shen’s desk.

The weird old man cracked his fingers as he stared at the tablet’s screen.“It’s been a minute but here goes.” His fingers turned into a blur that Chu Shen could barely see. He was astonished.

This old man was just too weird. First he actually pushed Chu Shen backwards. Now he was able to move so fast that his hands were a blur even to him. A strange sense of danger came over him, similar to when he fought the bugs.

Ding

“Aha! I knew a low-level AI couldn’t stand up to me!” The weird old man exclaimed excitedly at the sound. “Alright, let’s see just what it is that d*mned calculator dragged me out here for.”

“Started seven months ago. Trigonometry done, hyperphysics calculation done, basic engineering module done with no physical examples completed, advanced engineering module the same, spatial physics with simulations done, bla bla bla bla bla. Basically everything related to physical tech or cybernetics completed within seven months from a basic elementary skill level.”

Chu Shen listened to the old man with a blank expression. He was just too numb after everything that happened to be surprised at him hacking into his personal records.

The weird old man looked up from the tablet and right at him. “Hmm? Oh, didn’t see you there. Hey do you know where I can find the person who completed this learning module? You see, this learning module is one that I personally designed so I want to know who finished it in such a short time.”

Chu Shen looked at him for a couple seconds before slowly raising his hand. “What? Why are you doing that, you’re not in school boy. Just tell me where the person that completed the module is.”

He shook his head and pointed at himself. “You, you’re the one that completed the module?” Chu Shen nodded. The old man looked at him for a second before suddenly darting forward. Chu Shen only saw a blur before he felt a prick on his arm.

There was another blur and suddenly the old man was holding a small cylindrical tube. Looking at his arm there was a small spot of blood where the old man had taken his blood.

He looked up at the man who had put the needle in his arm, for that was indeed what the tube was. “What the heck was that!?” He yelled at the old man. Who knew what he had put in him.

The old man had switched the cable from the black box to the tube. He waved dismissively at Chu Shen as he studied the tablet’s display. “Oh quit whining, it wasn’t that bad. I only took a couple drops of blood, nothing to get worked up about. Hmm. Seems you really are young.”

“Nothing to get worked up about? You come into my home, you hack into my personal datafiles, and then you take a blood sample. What do you think this is!” Chu Shen knew this person was dangerous but he couldn’t stand his presumptuous attitude.

“It’s not like I did anything illegal. I mean you did sign the terms and conditions didn’t you? All I’m doing is checking the learning module and the effect it has on your health, all of which was stipulated in the document.” The old man generously explained as he looked at Chu Shen.

“Anyways kid. You have enormous talent so how about my offer? I want to give you a once in a lifetime opportunity. What do you say?”

1. N/a

Chapter 57

A Warrior’s Soul

They went through the legal procedure at the visitors center where he was vouched for by Leonard and had to sign a waiver stating they were aware of the risks the planet imposed. Afterwards they left inside a small skimmer.

Apparently all of those black dots Chu Shen had seen weren’t cities. Those were just research facilities and defense platforms that were scattered all over the planet.

Surprisingly enough for a planet that was supposed to be most technologically advanced in the known galaxy, there was very little technology on display. Instead they tried to preserve most of the planet as a natural habitat.

Most of the cities were spread on the large oceans, deserts, or even floating above the ground. The biggest facilities however were on the three moons of Sparta. Located there was most of the factories they used to make their specialized products. There was also many off world companies.

The city Chu Shen wanted to go to was a fairly large town over the ocean. There he planned on using the rest of his credits to buy a small house and live there while studying the technology.

Previously he had looked at some of it onboard the ship but that was honestly just a glance. He only knew what they were and what they did. Nothing more, nothing less.

He had informed Leonard of his plan and he agreed to it. Leonard decided to help him get everything set up before they parted ways. After all, he lived here before and had some catching up to do with old friends and family.

The skimmer landed at the large town of Thermoplyae. It was a large metal disk over a couple hundred meters in diameter filled to the brim with large towers. Some of those towers were 30-40 stories tall! Normally the disk would sink under the weight but the antimatter fueled gravity repulsors kept them afloat.

After they arrived Leonard kept his word and helped him find a person willing to sell their apartment. Apparently there were no individual houses within this dense urban floating landscape. Instead many of the tall buildings were in fact apartment buildings.

Chu Shen bought a small one person apartment. Of course, he couldn’t buy an apartment legally so he had Leonard buy it for him and then paid him back. It wasn’t technically illegal for him to live there by himself so long as there was an AI program.

The apartment though came complete with its own environment system. It included a small fusion bottle, water, and waste recycling along with a food processor, all state of the art.

He bought it for 800 credits which was actually a little expensive according to Leonard. For comparison a single meal is usually 10 micro-credits. Each credit is worth 100 micro-credits, meaning Chu Shen bought the small apartment for exactly 80,000 micro-credits.

The average cost for such an apartment was 70,000, meaning there was a difference of 100 credits, an incredible difference really since a small interstellar spaceship cost 1000 credits.

Ignoring the price, Chu Shen was happy with his new home. It was on the very top floor, apartment number 2049, floor 20. His house consisted of a small kitchen/dining room combo, a living room, small bedroom, and an office.

After they inspected the house and bought it, Leonard helped Chu Shen buy a couple of things. A tablet, house AI, biomass used for the food processor, recipes, holo-projector, furniture, and some decorations were most of the things they bought.

Afterwards Leonard helped him set up a series of learning programs which he uploaded to the AI. He stayed for another week until he confirmed Chu Shen was able to live by himself. After leaving behind his contact number he left to visit his family.

Chu Shen waved goodbye as the skimmer took off, silent but the sound of air being cut through by the aerodynamic car. After he left Chu Shen sighed in relief.

“Finally I can get to work!” This entire time he had been repressing himself so as to appear like a normal kid, or at least, mostly normal. Chu Shen walked back to the office and opened up the learning programs.

Immediately he started flipping pages and looking at mathematical formulas as he began to learn in earnest. The pages were displayed for only a couple seconds before they flipped. In that couple of seconds Chu Shen saw everything that was on the page, memorized it, and then completed any problems on it.

Within an hour he immediately completed all the math up to a high schoolers level. After that he slowed down slightly. It might seem outrageous but actually it was quite normal. A martial artist was extremely fast upon breaking through to the Martial Realms. It wasn’t just their bodies though.

Their perception of the world around them shifted as well. Their brains abilities such as memory and computing was multiple times better than before. Mostly due to the soul. The soul was the lifeblood of martial artists and everything was directly or indirectly related to it.

The soul was what allowed a cultivator to control Qi and manipulate. A genius was someone whose soul grew at a faster rate than others. As a result of the soul growing a person would be able to control more Qi than before.

That was the reason why using beast cores and pills to advance was dangerous. If their soul wasn’t strong enough to control the Qi then it might become unstable and destroy their internal organs. Instead it was mostly used to replenish lost energy or to heal wounds.

Of course those with special constitutions like our dear Chu Shen here was an exception. Qi was a foreign substance to the body and had to be forced into it. But those with special constitutions did not have to forcefully control Qi, instead it willingly did as it was guided to do.

This meant that unlike other people who had to worry about foundations and having absolute control over their Qi, Chu Shen only had to worry whether his body could handle the amount of energy.

The ways to cultivate the soul were simple. Enduring through hardship, learning, being pressured by outside means, or life and death situations. It was also found that the period the soul grows the most is during the first 8-30% of the warriors lifespan.

It normally would be ages 8-30 but as a warrior became more accomplished in the martial path then their lifespan would become longer. As a result, the period of soul growth also expanded. While no one knows why this happened, it was widely accepted and taken advantage of.

Chu Shen studied day in and day out. Taking breaks every now and then to eat and rest. One couldn’t be busy all the time or they would eventually break down. He couldn’t cultivate though.

It made sense, especially when Qi was lethal to humans in this realm. Every time he thought of this he sighed, he was missing out on a lot of cultivation time. ‘Oh well, everything comes at a price’. Such was Chu Shen’s thoughts on the matter.

What was really odd was the fact that Master Ti Wu did not talk to him at all. Not even a peep was heard from him in the period that he used studying. Unbeknownst to him was the fact that it wasn’t that Master Ti Wu didn’t want to talk to him, but rather he couldn’t.

Master Ti Wu had not saved up a lot of energy so as to not hold his disciple back. Unfortunately he was not aware that Chu Shen couldn’t cultivate here. While he was researching a couple of things inside the Voids Hand’s library the entire library flickered.

Realizing that the power was starting to run out, Master Ti Wu tried to find out the problem. After he realized it he started to immediately curse himself and his foolish disciple.

Normally using the library wasn’t a drain on the power stored because the Voids Hand used surrounding Qi. Since there was no Qi surrounding it, it started using up the stored power.
Now there was barely enough to keep him alive since he was like a leech inside the library. There wasn’t even enough energy to send a message to Chu Shen! Otherwise he could have him give some energy. So with great reluctance he went into a deep slumber, cursing his foolishness all the while.

1. N/a

Chapter 56

Sparta

Chu Shen had only one word to describe the sight in front of him. Boring. There was nothing here but lines! After they emerged from the portal they were in a line on the other side.

They waited for almost an hour in the little skimmer with nothing to do but wait. Sparta was indeed a very advanced place but it was also very sensitive as well. If one of their enemies got ahold of some of their secrets it could spell disaster for the galaxies future.

Because of this, security was very tight. Everyone was scanned several times by specialized equipment. They were even put through truth scanners and asked if they meant to steal, spy, or otherwise harm anyone on Sparta.

Chu Shen didn’t have any problems with the security. Even the truth scanners wasn’t a problem. After all, he was here to simply learn about their technology. And that didn’t include their most advanced technology that they kept secret either.

Rather, he merely wanted to experiment with a couple things. At heart he wasn’t a martial artist. Instead he was an artificer. His dao, his path of cultivation, wasn’t centered upon fighting but rather construction.

After they finally got out of the security, Leonard led him to a shuttle where they flew down to the planet. As they approached Chu Shen felt an enormous pressure. He sensed a source of power so immense that he could barely stand up.

He looked outside the shuttles windows for the source of power. Then he saw it.

It was a large jewel. It hung there, just floating in the void of space. It had splotches of blue and vast swathes of green, white, and orange. Black dots speckled the landscape.

Chu Shen knew what it was. It was Sparta, in all its glory. Sparta was a vast planet with gravity over 10 times that of earth. It was a huge planet. Contained within was many different climates, all of them harsher than the norm.

There was the scorching deserts, the freezing tundra, and the tropical forests were all inhospitable to humans. Or rather regular humans. The enhanced Spartans were able to easily handle the various climates and tremendous gravity.

Despite how big it was, because of the colonization effort, the atmospheric pressure was equal to Earth’s. Disregarding this, the gravity itself was enough to reduce a normal human to a bloody pulp.

The black dots Chu Shen could see was cities and training facilities. All of these together made up the huge planet called Sparta. However, none of these things captured his attention.

Oh no, what really captured his gaze was the shimmering yellow field that surrounded the planet. It was hazy and almost completely transparent. He gaped in astonishment.

This. This was. AMAZING!!!

A formation that actually used the universal laws! Qi, when circulated in certain ways or interacting with certain materials could interact with the universal laws. These laws made the Qi not only stronger and more powerful, it could even have some mysterious effects and allow the manipulation of the universe itself.

Chu Shen had previously considered these people as barely having any great accomplishments. Their personal strength was horrendous and their machines barely let them have any combat capabilities. Of course they had some powerful machines but they weren’t in abundance. But this changed everything!

As an Artificer he was experienced in arrays and inscriptions. There was barely any difference between the two though. The difference being an inscription affected a weapon, while an array effected the surrounding area and people.

Using his experience in arrays he instantly knew that what was being used to set up the array. It was the hundreds of large black balls hanging in the space between the planet and the array. As Chu Shen marveled at the huge and powerful array Leonard saw his amazement.

Coming over Leonard looked out the shuttle window. “It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it?” Chu Shen nodded, though what he was admiring was the complex array and not the tinted shield.

“It’s one of a kind. Sparta was made over 500 years ago by the early wave of human settlers. Honestly they were scientists who were fleeing persecution by religious zealots. They landed here and successfully colonized the planet. They adapted themselves to be able to live here.”

“All they really wanted was to be able to research in peace but they knew they had to protect themselves after what happened earlier.Knowing their fate if they were found by the Islamic Empire they created an army of clones, training them to be the best. “

“Of course, after they found out the Pure Ones was destroyed they established trade routes with the rest of the galaxy. They still have the clone army, though the size has been said to have been reduced.”

“They made many of the technological breakthroughs we use today and still lead humanity in science. This forcefield is the only Class 9 planetary shield to date. It can even make the entire planet intangible.”

“There’s nothing anyone can do to destroy it. They even made the shield modulate the sun’s rays to be yellow instead of red, so they can remember how the sun looked on Earth.”

Chu Shen had an astonished look on his face when he heard this. Intangible? This effect could be accomplished through ghost or spatial laws, both of which were rare.

This shield, if it could be replicated, was undoubtedly a great treasure!! Estimating by the strength of it, it was as powerful as a barrier made by a Nature Stage Cultivator!

Chu Shen sighed and shook his head. There was no way he could ever discover how this array worked. Obviously it was a well kept secret otherwise it would not be ‘one of a kind’. If they wouldn’t let him, then Chu Shen wouldn’t snatch it. Even if he wanted to he didn’t have the capability.

It was best to dismiss such idle thoughts. Instead he focused on the beautiful sight in front of him. He stared at it as they gradually approached the array, sighing at the grandeur of it.

Eventually they reached the array. The shuttle came to a stop before a hazy blue glow appeared around it, much like the yellow one around the planet. The hazy glow was the signature of a forcefield. The shuttle slowly moved forward, merging with the forcefield.

It went through the forcefield. After it did the view of Sparta was unblocked. The shuttle swiftly accelerated towards the planet. It approached a section of the planet that was covered in dense forest and was right by the sea.

The shuttle slowed to halt above a large black building. The entire thing was just like a giant black brick. There were no decorations, just a large square building.

One end of the building opened up to receive the shuttle. Soon after the shuttle descended, landing inside a fairly large hangar that was brightly lit. After it landed the occupants, including Chu Shen and Leonard, were escorted off the shuttle.

The reason why it landed here instead of on the planet or one of its cities was simple really. Safety. Everywhere else the cities were not protected. The gravity would kill anyone who was not protected.
Here they were asked whether they could cope with the gravity or they would give them personal anti-gravity devices. With it they could survive the planet’s harsh gravity.

1. N/a

Chapter 55

Civilization

Chu Shen looked at the general for a second before shaking his head. “What is an ancient race?” He asked with a puzzled look.

The general had a disappointed look. “Sigh. It’s nothing. Just some wild rumors really. Supposedly there are ancient beings that can accomplish anything. They can manipulate time and space, the very fabric of reality. They’re supposed to be nearly immortal and capable of controlling the energy around them.”

After the general explained what he meant Chu Shen nodded. “Thank you general for the explanation but I am truly not one of the ancient race. So, what’s going to happen to me. Everyone seemed concerned that I was on the ship so I guess I am not going back there.”

It seemed that he may not be the only cultivator in this realm. It was best to stay low and try to not provoke anyone, lest they turn out be an expert.

“It’s true that bringing you here to the frontlines was not the best idea but it was the only option your ship’s captain had. If you agree we will provide you with transport to the closest civilized station around here. Along with the transport we can give you a couple thousand credits, enough to live comfortably for a long time.”

“Okay, is it alright to join the party outside then if we are done then?” Chu Shen’s eager face gave him away.

The general laughed at the kids expression. “Haha. Of course of course. Who am I to defy a kid’s chance of fun? Go on then, enjoy the celebration!” He shooed him towards the door with a large smile.

Chu Shen quickly left and ran down the street. The guard on the bench and the hovercar were long gone. He joined the crowd and enjoyed himself. He tasted the wonderful food and listed to the strange, yet beautiful, music they had. Life was good.

…………………………………………………………

Two days later he was reclining in a chair when he felt a small jolt. Just as he was wondering what it was a blue screen popped up in front of him along with a short beep. He read the message.

They had arrived.

It was just like the general promised. First he gave Chu Shen a genetic scan and registered him with the Galactic Bank. It was a company that was founded by the alien races that were already amongst the stars. It had deep roots and used credits, the common currency of the galaxy.

Now all he had to do was wave his hand above a gene reader to pay, or withdraw credits from the bank. Because it was based on his genetics, it was impossible to fake or steal his money.

They paid him well for his services. 4,851 credits worth to be precise. It was originally going to be 3,000 but the townspeople heard of him and gave him a pleasant surprise.

Now he was on his way to civilization. Chu Shen was absolutely fascinated with technology, as they called it here. On his world everyone was obsessed with cultivation related crafts. But here they focused on building without using anything related to Qi at all.

No formations, no heavenly material, beast cores, none of it. Instead they found a way to build things capable of harnessing Qi all by itself in various forms. As an artificer he was naturally curious.

So he was going to the most technologically advanced place possible. Sparta. There they had the best in medical, entertainment, and war technology. Their entire society was based off of war. Defensive war, but war nonetheless.

There was a knock on the door. “Hey kid, we’ve arrived. Get ready because we’re going to be leaving in about ten minutes.”

“Thanks, I’ll be ready.” Chu Shen called back. It was Leonard Maximus. After hearing that he was leaving for Sparta he decided to travel with him. He said he was going back to his homeworld anyways so taking him along wasn’t a problem.

Chu Shen grabbed his small bag of clothes. He didn’t need to carry it but if he showed up in different clothes then questions would be asked. No one needed to know all his secrets.

He stepped outside and closed the door. Leonard stood there in a red polo with blue jeans on. He himself was dressed in a a T-Shirt with the words PWN’ED in bright green lettering with frayed blue jeans on. He looked like an average kid.

“Ready, Shen?” Leonard had taken to calling him that. He explained that he felt awkward saying his full name all the time.

He nodded. “I am. Let’s go.”

It had been easy. The ship Chu Shen had been on took them to a nearby station within 5 hours. Afterwards they went to a transfer station. These huge stations opened up portals to a corresponding station somewhere else.

Unfortunately each station used up vast amounts of energy to be opened even once. It was expensive and the UBF couldn’t afford the cost to transport their ships en-mass, plus the fact that they weren’t very far off anyways.

Leonard rented a two person skimmer, a personal transport that looked like a hovercar only good for low distance travels. It was common practice to rent skimmers for trips through transfer stations where there was a corresponding skimmer lot.

The skimmer business was owned by a single man named Henry Jehosha, making him one of the richest men in the humans galaxy. They got on the skimmer and rode towards the portal. It was a fairly small ring only meant for the skimmers.

There was a much larger ring available for cargo transports but they were much more expensive than the one they were going through. Chu Shen watched out the window in amazement at the sights.

Ahead of them the ring lit up with a blue glow as a small blue vortex appeared in the very center. Soon it spread to fill the entire ring, the very outsides appeared turbulent and chaotic. The skimmer shot through the portal and immediately the blue vortex disappeared without a trace.

This happened five times before it was their turn. One skimmer behind the one crossing tried to move forward but was bounced backwards by a barrier that shimmered red. Obviously a forcefield was keeping them from crossing illegally.

The machine started up. As Chu Shen observed the opening of the whirlpool he started comparing it to the Thousand Miles Formation that he knew of. They were both different and alike.
They crossed through the vortex. A cold sensation ran across his spine, causing him to have goosebumps. Then they were through.

1. N/a

Chapter 54

Ancient Race

Chu Shen wasn’t able to help with any of the cleanup. The general found out about a civilian running into the fray, especially a kid, and threw a fit. Of course, he was soothed by the fact that he could more than hold his own.

The general had a lot of questions about how this kid was able to do what he did. Curious didn’t even begin to describe it. This kid picked up from a backwards colony world was able to destroy thousands of bugs, more than even his own unit could.

The more the thought about it the more the general wanted to meet this weird kid. Chu Shen had gone back to his room after the reinforcements had arrived and was inside for two hours.

He mostly spent the time meditating, reflecting upon the battles. He was definitely not happy with himself. His Qi control was sloppy and leaked everywhere. Some leakage was impossible to avoid but he was using almost twice the Qi it normally required.

He was too slow and didn’t have enough awareness. Several times he barely dodged death at the last second. Especially with the plasma blasts. He frowned. Chu Shen had truly underestimated them this time.

The main reason he underestimated them was because he had never taken one of the blasts head on. For some reason they never fired the huge plasma bombs. If they had Chu Shen would have been more prepared than before.

As he kept reflecting off of those mistakes a chime sounded. It was coming from a wall on his cabin. “Computer, what was that noise?”

“That was the room’s messaging system. Would you like me to read the message out loud?”

Chu Shen nodded. “Yes please.”

“Acknowledged. Message as follows.” The computer changed voices. Now it was a deep but smooth voice. “ I am General Irving of the UBF. I have seen the recordings of your exploits on the field and would like to… Hold on. He’s just a kid. He won’t understand that. Okay now how do you delete it? I can never really figure these things out. Uhhh… Here it is.”

“End of message.” The computer’s voice was back to normal. Chu Shen was really confused now. What was that all about? After about ten minutes there was a knock on the door.

He went over and opened it. Standing there was a broad shouldered man in a military uniform and a buzzcut. The man nodded at him. “Hey kid. The general wants to have some lunch with you. Nothing fancy just a little thank you for what you’ve done. Do you want to come?”

Chu Shen figured this was what the man that had messaged him was going to ask him. He nodded. “Yeah. I’m feeling kinda hungry.”

“Great. Follow me.” The guard left and headed towards the roof. Once there they arrived next to a hovercar. It was similar to a hovercraft but was built for luxury and was decorated. Clearly it was ornamental.

They got in and flew towards the center of the compound. Inside the compound there was huge celebrations going on. The miners were all out celebrating for all they were worth. And why wouldn’t they?

It looked like they were all going to die but here they were, not a single one of them dead. Their mining operations weren’t even damaged. Once the bugs were completely gone they could start mining immediately.

Of course they were saddened by the soldiers passing and honored their sacrifice. But that was it. They didn’t know them and wouldn’t grieve too much.

Chu Shen flew over the celebration. Looking down on all the happy faces, he wished he could be down there as well. He sighed. Sometimes being a martial artist was just too awful.

Soon they reached a small out of the way restaurant. Outside the restaurant there was three soldiers in a parade uniform and inside there was only a middle aged man in non-descript casual clothes with a buzzcut eating a cheeseburger. (Chu Shen didn’t know what it was until he picked up a menu.)

The hovercar landed in front of the store and Chu Shen and the soldier got out. The soldier saluted towards the middle aged man, who he assumed was the general, before taking up position on a bench across from the restaurant.

Chu Shen came in and walked to the generals table. The general smiled at him and put down his cheeseburger. “Hi, I’m General Irving of the UBF. Go ahead and sit down I just wanted to discuss with you a couple things.”

“Okay.” Chu Shen replied simply and sat down. He picked up a menu and ordered a cheeseburger, the same as the general. As he waited for his order to arrive the general just looked at him.

After his cheeseburger arrived a second one arrived for the general. They both sat down and ate their burgers. Chu Shen was startled at the flavor of the cheeseburger.

It was salty, and juicy. It was beyond what he had ever tasted. Nothing he had even thought of tasted this good. He took a second bite and just savored it with a sort of childish glee. The general saw his look and smiled.

It couldn’t be helped. When such an innocent looking kid smiled in such a cute way it was like an angel descending from heaven. Chu Shen eventually ate the rest of the Cheeseburger and then looked at his plate in disappointment. He licked his fingers in sadness, trying to get another taste.

Chuckling, the general ordered Chu Shen another hamburger while he sipped some water. After he finished the burger off they waited in a kind of unbreakable silence.

Finally the general’s curiosity got the best off him. “So. You’re name is Chu Shen right?”

Chu Shen nodded. “Yes, my name is Chu Shen general. Thank you for the cheeseburgers.”
“Your welcome. Anyways Chu Shen, I just wanted to ask you one question. Are you one of the ancient races?”

1. N/a

Chapter 53

The End Game

Chu Shen wiped out thousands of bugs. He was actually able to kill more bugs with one move than the tanks in the back. But he couldn’t be everywhere at once. Soon his group was the only ones that could still hold their position.

After another three hours, the retreat came to a stop. This was their last line of defense. If they didn’t hold out then the entire population, along with them, would be wiped out. Chu Shen and his fort stayed where they were, to be the vanguard for the defense.

They tried their best but it wasn’t going to be enough. Chu Shen’s fort was attacked by a wave of tanker bugs. This time instead of rushing forward they spurted plasma at the group.

Chu Shen saw this and reacted immediately. Because of his null Qi he was able to absorb Qi from the atmosphere so his energy was at about 97 percent. He circulated his Qi, activating the <Universe Shield>.

A circular gray shield appeared in front of the fort. It was a wavery, almost waterlike gray and chinese characters were inscribed on it in a darker shade of gray. The whole thing was basically transparent. Chu Shen had studied the skill but never practiced it, resulting in him having a weak grasp on it. He could barely use it to block an attack equal to himself otherwise he could fight above his level depending upon just this shield.

The bright blue plasma balls hit the shield. Three hit the shield in a row before five impacted it together. At first the shield only flashed as it became more opaque. But when the five plasma balls hit it immediately shattered as a large hole was burned through it.

The plasma balls were not quite as bright as they were before but they were still headed for the ship. As it did Chu Shen had a panicked expression on his face. He had truly underestimated these bugs.

The plasma balls combined attack was similar to a fire-attribute Martial General warrior. There was no way he could block that.

Honestly it was a miracle that Chu Shen had weakened it and that was only possible because the plasma did not arrive all at once. With that his null Qi could absorb the energy and strengthen it before the others arrived.

He now only had 57 percent of his strength left. The took about forty percent of his energy to activate. Gritting his teeth Chu Shen once again activated the shield. This time he also deactivated the energy blade and focused all his attention on the incoming plasma ball.

The shield once again appeared before him, but this time it was smaller and its form was more solid. Chu Shen manipulated his shield so that he could concentrate its energy on a smaller spot.

Once again the plasma balls hit the shield. It flared and became gradually more and more solid as the plasma impacted the martial art. After a couple seconds it was no longer like a translucent outline but rather like a giant was holding a shield in front of them.

The plasma was eventually absorbed. The shield stayed there as Chu Shen collapsed in exhaustion. He managed to forcefully keep himself awake and stared at the incoming bugs.

The tanker bugs fired another salvo after they were joined by twenty more tanker bugs. The combined attack made the shield flicker but it stayed put. Leonard along with the nanite squad went out and attacked the tanker bugs. The cyborg ran to Chu Shen and grabbed him.

He was placed over the cyborgs shoulders as he ran away. Leonard and the nanite squad suddenly ran back towards them. The ship unearthed itself and troops started boarding, just like Chu Shen had before with Leonard.

The cyborg jumped inside a hovercraft that flew down. The pilot flew the hovercraft backwards towards the defense line. They had lost the support of the tanks some time ago since they could have been flanked from the sides once their line collapsed.

Fortunately they had Chu Shen who replaced the tanks and thinned the horde considerably. Chu Shen and they cyborg flew over hordes of bugs. The hovercraft banked left as it avoided a plasma ball. They flew over their defensive line and landed behind it.

Chu Shen had recovered enough to stand and walk after the short flight. Shrugging off the help of the cyborg he got out of the hovercraft and jumped on top of the ship’s defensive structure.

The comm attached to his shoulder automatically switched him to the local soldiers channel. “WOOOHOOO” “YEAH, BLOW THOSE BUGS TO KINGDOM COME.” “COME ON, ROAST THOSE COCKROACHES.”

He was taken aback by all the sudden screaming on the channel. Normally it was the officers giving orders, or people asking for help. Now it was full of joyous yells. But he soon saw the reason why.

BOOM BWOOM ZZZZT

Explosions sounded off in the distance. Turning he saw large explosions and lights plow through the remaining bugs. The sky was ripped apart as missiles and energy beams flew to the ground from orbit.

Chu Shen was finally able to get an answer as to where the fire was coming from. Space. It was finally here. The reinforcements.

They rained fire down upon the bug swarms, eliminating them in vast swathes. When they arrived they immediately destroyed the various anti-space bugs first. Then they rained down death on the birthing bugs, destroying their hope for swarming the planet.

Of course, it didn’t end things there. Afterwards they destroyed the bugs in the open and the troops were sent to scout for hidden bugs. The colonists knew they were saved and that it was only time until they could return to their normal lives.
Everything was looking up.

1. N/a

Chapter 52

How Is That Possible?

“Of course. Let us fight!”

As Chu Shen eagerly said these words, Leonard smiled. “Of course.” He replied and immediately shot off into the air.

Chu Shen grinned himself and took off towards the bugs. He started hitting the warrior bugs with his hammer. The warrior bugs were big and their armored exoskeleton was incomparable to the drone bugs from earlier. However with Chu Shen’s increased power, they were smashed to bits.

He smashed left and right, left and right. Chu Shen was even faster than before. Where as earlier Leonard could tell what he was doing, now it was all a blur. Chu Shen once again withdrew the pistols and started using them to great effect.

All of a sudden a red beam of energy shot out, drawing his attention. Sure there had been energy beams before, but they were all directed towards the ever encroaching army of bugs. The energy beam lanced out, piercing through several bugs before disappearing into the distance.

Looking over he saw a man with skin made of metal. His right arm was a metal cylinder and his back had a slight bulge to it. It was the cyborg. Chu Shen nodded to the cyborg, grateful for the support.

He ran forward towards a tanker bug. Swinging his hammer he hit it on the side. Before, Chu Shen only cracked the outer shell. Now he could do way more than that. His weapon could now increase its weight by over 100 times now, and he had over 30,000 pounds of force in his hands.

The hammer hit the tanker bug’s shell. It passed through the shell, cracks spread out over the large exoskeleton where the hammer had impacted it. The hammer passed through the inside of the bug and the handle ripped a line through the shell as he swung.

The hammer completed its swing and blew a second hole through its exoskeleton as it exited its body. As blood along with various pieces of the exoskeleton and its organs gushed out of the hole, the tanker bug let out a loud screech.

Chu Shen leapt back the second his hammer was freed from the tanker bug. Leaping sideways he swung with his hammer as he passed the bugs head. His hammer blew right through it as he soared past, on his way to fight some different bug.

He fought for a while with various warrior bugs before he suddenly stopped. Running forward towards the front of the fort he faced the horde of bugs. It wasn’t just a small group of ten or so like he fought on the honeycomb styled fort. It was a swarm of a couple hundred.

Chu Shen grinned as he started circulating his Qi. Willing his Qi out of his body, he released a large surge of energy. Qi could come in all sorts of shapes and type. There was a basic form of Qi called blade Qi. This Qi is thin and sharp, able to cut through various things.

However, compared to a real sword wielders Qi it was incomparable. Using his Qi he released a surge of sharp blade Qi. It surged forward in a crescent wave. Honestly if he was facing a fellow cultivator on the same level as him, he would have never done so.

Such an attack was too easily blocked and wasted far too much energy. However these were not cultivators and could be considered normal animals. Against such things, an attack like this was the best since it took out large swathes of them at once.

The Qi shot outwards, slicing practically all of them in half. Leonards instruments picked up a large surge of energy. Expecting it to be some sort of new bug he quickly flew towards the front of the fort. The fort had a huge pile of corpses laid out in front of it.

Every single one was cut in half. The top half slid off a couple tanker bugs as he watched. Standing in front of the fort was a single kid. It was Chu Shen. Leonard had thought that nothing this kid could do would stun him.

He was wrong.

The best thing he could think of that could do this kind of damage was an energy blade. But it couldn’t be. Those were expensive for one thing. For another they were short range, maybe a couple feet but most definitely not how far he was seeing.

He thought of another possibility. Maybe an energy wave cannon. Most of the time it was just a surge of energy that burned or knocked down everything in its path.

It was of course possible to modulate it so that it would become a large blade but that kind of modification, along with the gun itself, was as expensive as buying a house! How could the kid of a colonist have that kind of money. Then again, what about the pocket dimension. Those thing were really expensive too, expensive enough to buy some asteroids or a minor planet!

As he was thinking of this the bugs continued marching forward. It looked like a solid carpet of bugs. Except for the large holes where the tanks had blown holes in the formation.

Leonard started killing them immediately. Suddenly there was a massive energy release. Looking down he saw a surge of gray colored energy shooting forward. The bugs were sliced in half as soon as that energy passed through them.

Leonard couldn’t believe it. This energy, it was just like the energy wave cannon. He had speculated but most definitely thought he was just making wild speculations.

Chu Shen frowned as the energy shot outwards. This was too costly. A single energy wave cost him five percent of his energy. While this didn’t seem to be a lot, if he used it just 20 times he would be out of energy. The bugs were endless.

He started recreating that blade wave. But this time instead of releasing it like a blast of energy he held it in front of him. Of course, the energy would still dissipate but not as rapidly as if he just let it loose. It also tired him mentally as he had to use his soul to carefully control the Qi so it didn’t just dissipate the second he released it. As the energy created a crescent wave in front of him he started running forward.

As he did his null Qi started to absorb the Qi from the air. As he ran the crescent blade in front of him grew stronger. Any bug that came in contact with that wave of energy was sliced to bits.

Chu Shen ran and ran, killing over a thousand bugs easily. As he did he thought to himself. ‘Truly, a peak Dragon Stage warrior cannot compete with even the weakest Martial Student cultivator.’

Leonard was once again confused beyond belief. The energy wave gun wasn’t acting normal at all. Now the energy wave was suspended in front of Chu Shen. And he was using it to just run the bugs over?!

This was impossible!!

1. N/a

Chapter 51

Fight!

Chu Shen was in the middle of an important process. Each person has 8 major meridians. However the 1st major meridian was different. Rather than it being a single large meridian it was a collection of smaller meridians. This network together was called the first major meridian.

Until the outer meridians were unblocked the other 7 major meridians could not be sensed. The meridians were located in these locations.

One on each leg, one on each arm, one on the head, two in the chest, and a collection of minor meridians below the skin, The meridians could be unblocked in any order however the minor meridians below the skin had to be unblocked first.

Each meridian had 10 blockages  in it, resulting in the 10 levels. The outer meridians were the same in that each minor meridian had 10 blockages in it and breaking through those blockages advanced another level.

Chu Shen could feel he was getting closer to a breakthrough. His Qi was seething and boiling in his meridians. It was like a river that was trying to overflow its banks.

As he meditated Ti Wu came out of the Voids Hand. As he observed Chu Shen he knew it was time. Raising his hands he absorbed some of the Void Qi in his outer meridians.

After he did Chu Shen was able to feel the existence of meridians besides his current ones. Manipulating the Qi in his body it flowed towards these new meridians

As it did his Qi came across something blocking it’s path. No matter what he did he couldn’t break through. Trying a new approach Chu Shen gathered all his Qi onto only one meridian and pushed forward. After he did he broke through the barrier. When he did the sudden surge of Qi caught him off guard.

Utilizing this surge of Qi he pushed onwards towards the other branches. Eventually all the outer meridians were broken through. As he did a black smelling funk was pushed out of his body. This was impurities found in the body.

That was what he felt was blocking his meridians. As the surge of Qi rushed into him his dantian was filled. After it was filled the Qi started filling up his meridians.

As it did some of it inevitably overflowed and spilled into Chu Shen’s body, strengthening it. His strength went from 16,550 pounds to 30,000. In comparison to a normal cultivator it was insane! Their strength would normally reach 20,000 pounds! His body’s defense also reached new heights.

After a couple seconds his body seemed to hit a breaking point before suddenly his dantian grew over twice as big as before. With its increase the overflowing Qi found a place to rest in. All of the Qi flowed into his dantian and settled down.

Chu Shen immediately controlled his Qi and made it leave his body. A clump of gray colored energy appeared before him in the palm of his hand. He just stared at it.

“Ha…Haha…hahahaha.” The Qi disappeared as Chu Shen started laughing. Images flashed by in his mind. Faces filled with pity, envy, and shame. Voices that told him why he was never going to reach his full potential. He laughed in the face of it all.

As he kept laughing he dashed out of the house.

“Hahahaha! I did it! I finally did it! They said I couldn’t do it but I did! I even did it faster than they did! Ha! To all those who said I couldn’t advance take that! I have finally stepped into the Martial Realm! I might just be a Martial Student but just wait! I will surpass you all!”

Beep. Beep.

His comm set started going off. Most likely it was the bugs since Chu Shen had instructed the A.I. to contact him once they got within two kilometers of the small village he was in.

He smiled. Now that he had broken through, the bugs provided the perfect chance to hone his skills.

Of course he couldn’t fight in this condition. He needed to stabilize his cultivation. Sitting down he focused on calming the still unstable Qi. After an hour the Qi in his body stopped seething, becoming as calm as a lake.

Now that that was settled he could get started. Using his enhanced vision, Chu Shen immediately set off towards the bugs.

…………..

Leonard Maximus was flying above the bugs. Hopper and winged insects flew towards him only to be shot out of the sky by his pistols. A tanker bug walked steadily towards the ship only for a bright red beam to slice it in half.

A half robot, half human man pointed his metallic arm towards another tanker bug. As it did another brilliant red beam to shoot out, slicing it in half.

Leonard shot out a black disk at a warrior bug. It looked like the drone bugs but were half the size of the tanker bug and as fast as the hoppers. It exploded, cracking it’s thick shell and knocking it backwards. A quick shot to it’s brain ended its life.

Explosions went off in the distance as the artillery in the back supported them. Truly this was one of the last great efforts they could make. Until backup arrived, they had to holdout.

Suddenly there was a large explosion of dirt and bug parts as something smashed into the ground right in front of the fortress. It couldn’t have been the machines in the back since they were most definitely busy thinning their ranks.

Emerging from that crater was a smiling twelve year old kid holding an archaic black hammer.

……………………..

Chu Shen couldn’t, of course, just run the entire way. In fact he found a much faster and efficient method. Using his greatly increased muscles he jumped upwards, covering over 300 meters in a single jump. Taking the fall with his body he would once again jump.

As he approached the bug horde he saw new species of bugs were attacking. These ones were big, fast, and apparently a little smarter since they were actively attacking threats instead of attacking everything. Timing his jump just right Chu Shen jumped towards the middle of a group of the warrior bugs.

Using the momentum of his landing he withdrew his hammer from his ring. The [Earth Shattering Inscription] had grown much stronger with his increase of Qi. Swinging his weapon downward the massive blow shook the ground.

The shock-wave alone killed the closest warrior bugs while the rest were blown backwards. Standing up Chu Shen surveyed their situation. The bugs were coming closer, not even hesitating. Some interesting people such as the ones with silver skin or the one with a metal arm were close by.

Jumping upwards he landed near the abnormal scout, Leonard Maximus, who swooped down next to him. “Hello senior brother Leonard.” Chu Shen said respectfully and bowed.

Leonard smiled ruefully, truly this kid was an enigma. “Hey Chu Shen. It looked like you abandoned us when you up and left like that.”

Chu Shen shook his head. “No. I would never. It is the duty of every human to ensure that normal people are kept safe from primordial beasts. I was merely having a breakthrough to become stronger, that is what kept me from joining you.”

Leonard just shook his head. ‘I think the translator botched that one up.’ “Anyways, these bugs need to be put down. Think you can help?” He asked while raising an eyebrow.
“Of course. Let us fight!” Chu Shen brandished his hammer as he spoke.

1. N/a

Chapter 50

Breakthrough

Chu Shen had on his scout armor and was currently inside of a small maintenance airlock leading out of the city. Why? Well because of the radiation shielding. With it in place he couldn’t possibly cultivate so he had to go outside.

After Leonard Maximus, the abnormal scout from Sparta, had brought him into the infirmary there had been a lot of questions. The hammer and where he got it from was one of them. Of course since Leonard had mentioned a pocket dimension Chu Shen went with that explanation though they were skeptical.

Hugh had scanned him for radiation but found nothing. He of course couldn’t explain it but Chu Shen knew why. With his null Qi’s properties of course the doctor found nothing. Afterwards he was told to get some rest and left alone.

Afterwards he snuck out of his room which was easy considering the fact that there was no guards. There was too many things to do to be a guard. Then he left to go outside leading to his current situation.

Chu Shen reached the end of the airlock and opened the door. Stepping outside he immediately closed the door and started running. He had looked at a map the A.I. had provided so he wasn’t running aimlessly.

After a while Chu Shen came across a deserted town. Unlike before where the town had a large dome around it this one had a small force field. Luckily it was shut down to divert power to where it was needed.

Chu Shen went into one of the houses and activated his comm device. He had asked the A.I. to contact him if the bug horde came close to the small town he had chosen.

With all that settled Chu Shen went into one of the abandoned houses and found a comfortable bed. Sitting down on it he started cultivating.

The danger of fighting and the knowledge of the vast hordes and powerful bugs that he had yet to fight put enormous pressure on him. That pressure brought out hidden potential in him. His soul started to grow, increasing his chances of breaking through.

Everyone knew that fighting was the best way to temper techniques since only by fighting could you adapt those techniques to combat. However it was also true that when your life was on the line the body brought out everything it could to grow stronger. It was a rule of nature.

Life and death struggles not only honed techniques but also let the soul grow stronger and more mature.

As he cultivated he also went over what he had done in the fight mentally. Recalling the sensation of using the pistols he also pondered over the strange weaponry here.

At heart he was still an artificer and since he saw the blueprint for it on the computer Chu Shen was fascinated with it. He started thinking of the applications using Qi instead which lead him on interesting paths.

For two days he stayed there, cultivating and meditating in peace. Outside though it was becoming more and more desperate.

After the captain had landed the General in charge had told him to keep the civilian onboard. After a day went by the captain decided to check on the kid. Unfortunately he was gone. A quick query revealed that the kid had left the ship and headed into the town.

Sighing the captain resigned himself to more important things. It was better to use available manpower to hold off the bugs then to hunt down a civilian that didn’t want protection.

Over the past two days the bugs had advanced closer and closer. Various elite soldiers had shown up on different ship’s. One had a cyborg powered by a fusion reactor. With it he could use heavy equipment like the laser cannon he had for an arm.

Another had a group of soldiers that had nanite injections. Using the nanites to construct various tools and to enhance themselves this elite unit killed many bugs. The best of all though was the ammo fabber two ship’s had brought.

With how many bugs there was, there was absolutely not enough ammo to deal with them. However the fabbers produced ammo out of any material fed to it.

Using the waste products from the mining the colonists did they were able to provide enough ammo to hold off the bugs. Unfortunately there was still not enough. They were pushed back by the vast hordes.

Closer and closer the bugs came to the lone bastion of human civilization on the planet. Soon there wasn’t going to be a human civilization if something didn’t change. Then it did.

A frigate dropped out of hyperspace. Apparently the attack fleet had been attacked by pirates. As soon as they saw them they immediately sent a frigate ahead. The frigates had a faster hyperspace charge time and were able to enter before the pirates disrupted hyperspace.

To avoid the pirates the frigate had to make a detour in the hyperspace jump resulting in lost time. The frigate brought the news that the extra ship’s should be here in another day since the pirate group was not that big.

This was the reason for the delay. The frigate was capable of space to ground combat and readily bombarded the surface with lasers and plasma cannons. Unfortunately since the Weapons of Mass Destruction Ban, nukes and other large scale destructive devices were not available.

The weapons on the frigate made up for it though. Using the weapons the bugs were pushed back. Until the shield bugs and sniper bugs came out. The sniper bugs were not genetically bred but were cybernetic constructs.

They launched pieces of rock and metal at speeds that boggled the mind. The frigate could withstand that kind of blow but not with the numbers present. The shield bugs were another cybernetic construct that used force fields. They were rarely seen on the battlefield since the nanites were expensive to the K’ateesh.

This delay was crucial to the defenders. The bugs were now less than 3 kilometers away from the main city. They were also only 2 kilometers away from where Chu Shen was.

Suddenly a large fluctuation of energy surged from where Chu Shen was at. He was laughing as he ran out of the house.

“Hahahaha! I did it! I finally did it! They said I couldn’t do it but I did! I even did it faster than they did! Ha! To all those who said I couldn’t advance take that! I have finally stepped into the Martial Realm! I might just be a Martial Student but just wait! I will surpass you all!”

1. N/a

Chapter 49

Retreat!

Chu Shen and the abnormal scout kept destroying tanker bugs as they went. He used various methods, besides the hammer. Using one of the grenades he picked up from a fallen scout, he copied the abnormal scouts method of destruction.

Then he used the vibro-sword for a while. It cut through the bugs exoskeleton swiftly but unfortunately it broke from Chu Shen’s massive strength. As Chu Shen fought he realized that this was not where most of the action was.

He was on the small fortress they had built around the ship, that was true. However, most of the killing was taking place before the bugs even reached the fortification.

It was honestly an interesting strategy. A single soldier could kill a hundred bugs with their guns. A single blast from a tank could kill fifty bugs. So it was set up to in a three layered formation.

First there was the fortress with the soldiers on it. Then there was the ship. After that was the various types of machinery like the tanks. The flying vehicles like the hovercraft and scooters were scattered everywhere.

Because the bugs went by instinct, they only attacked what was in front of them. This way while the bugs attacked the fortress the heavy machines at the back would thin their numbers before they even reached the fortress. Then until they could break through the ship, the machines could again pound the enemy lines.

Once the ship took off or the bugs started looking for other prey though, the vehicles would take off, outrunning the bugs to reach another ship farther down the line and reinforce them.

This way there was a minimum amount of firepower lost and instead as the bugs came closer and closer to the city they would face more and more resistance. Truly it was an ingenious way of conserving firepower but it was also clearly ruthless. The ground soldiers were being used as a distraction.

Chu Shen and the abnormal scout continued fighting for another hour. A total of three hours had passed since Chu Shen had started fighting with them.

Soon however there was very few troops left. At most there was a handful or two. Suddenly the ship opened the hovercrafts launch platform along with some hatches on the top of the ship opened.

Radios belched out a command. “Retreat. We won’t do any more good here. Command has ordered a general retreat for the front lines. We are to fall back to the rear for resupplies before being redeployed. All hovercraft are to do a bombing run close to the ship in order to cover our retreat. All mechanized units are to cover our retreat before going at top speed to the closest fortified spot. There you will be sent to the rear to rest while someone else will take over your vehicle.”

There was a general cheer from the troops at that order. Explosions which had so far only been seen faintly in the distance suddenly came a whole lot closer.

Chu Shen had heard the command because of his precise hearing however he suddenly became deafened. This was an unfortunate price to pay for his ability to absorb Qi again. The helmet no longer blocked sound, leaving him vulnerable to the explosions sound.

The abnormal scout saw Chu Shen stumble and became dazed. He was puzzled at first before quickly realizing the reason. Shaking his head he flew down on his gravity boots and grabbed him, hauling him to the ship.

Five minutes after going to the hanger bay through the airlock, the ship started rumbling. They were taking off.

After a couple seconds the ship took off. The fortress they had built around them was made of self-replicating nanites. Unfortunately after they took a shape, they couldn’t be disassembled making them a one use item.

It shattered to pieces from the ship’s take off. Various bugs were blown back by the force of the take off. The heavy machinery fled backwards towards another position.

The ship flew as swiftly as possible but was hit by three small plasma balls anyway. A blue energy shield flared to life as the plasma hit. It’s bright glare dimmed noticeably after blocking the plasma balls but the ship was undamaged.

The ship got out of range of the tanker bugs. It flew for about half an hour before landing at a large city. They flew over various smaller cities and other areas but they were all evacuated. This large city was where all the citizens of the planet.

If the line broke then all these people would die.

……………………………….

Back on the ship.

The abnormal scout helped Chu Shen to the medical bay. As they walked down the hallways many of the soldiers who saw both of them started clapping.

Chu Shen’s face glowed red with pride and embarrassment. He had never been admired like this before. Of course at the academy most of the students acted like this but Chu Shen didn’t feel like he had earned praise. Now however he took pride in his accomplishments.

When they got to the medical bay there was no one else. If their suit had been punctured they were killed by the radiation. The suits protected them from everything else though.

Officer Hugh was waiting for them. He had of course heard reports on this miracle dwarf that was able to kill over a thousand bugs in hand to hand combat.

Upon seeing each other they both exclaimed out loud. “You!”

The abnormal scout set down Chu Shen on a bed, ignoring them. Then he took off his helmet, revealing a handsome young man with blonde hair.

The scout looked at the doctor. “Okay doc. Let’s hear this guy’s story. He seems kind of young to be on a military ship.”

Hugh sighed. “You know that heavy worlder kid we picked up some time ago.”

“Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?”

“That’s him.”

“What!?”

1. N/a

Chapter 48

Qi is deadly?

Normally even though the hopper bug was fast, Chu Shen could have definitely avoided it. After all it was maybe half as fast he himself was. However it was truly unfortunate that the bug was behind Chu Shen when it climbed onto the platform.

Chu Shen once again sensed there was a bug behind him as the hopper leaped towards him. Forcing his body to move sideways he dodged most of the blow, but unfortunately the hopper bug was truly too fast. Instead his helmet was cut at the seams, barely avoiding his neck.

Radiation poured into his suit, alarms started blaring. However Chu Shen didn’t hesitate. He ran towards the hopper bug, firing his pistols as he went. The hopper bug landed on the edge of the platform but fell due to the repeated shots of the pistols, dying from the neurotoxin.

The abnormal scout flew down and landed next to Chu Shen. His radio activated and a deep gruff voice came on. “Soldier, you’re suits integrity has been compromised. If you have anything inside the pocket dimension to fix your suit up, act quickly otherwise the radiation will fry you alive.”

Chu Shen meanwhile was basking in something completely unexpected. Qi! It was Qi! Ever since he arrived in this realm for some reason he had not been able to absorb Qi and now he could!

Upon hearing the radio though he suddenly thought of a possibility. He had read on the ship that radiation was various forms of energy transmitted through space but now that he thought of it, wasn’t this also the definition of Qi?

Of course! Radiation was deadly to normal people! So of course their armor and spaceships would block radiation or rather, Qi. This was why Chu Shen couldn’t gather Qi even when he could sense it. It was indeed being blocked.

Instead of pulling out a suit patch as the abnormal scout had suggested, Chu Shen instead unsealed his helmet completely. The scout was taken back by the young face that confronted.

Then he started yelling. “WHAT THE H*LL ARE YOU DOING! YOU’LL DIE IF YOU DO THAT!”

Chu Shen didn’t say a word but rather shook his head. Then he started circulating his Qi. The Qi in the area started gathering towards him. The energy circulated through his internal meridians.

With the fresh surge of Qi it was like basking in a hot shower. A soothing feeling came over him as the Qi penetrated his body. Feeling refreshed Chu Shen immediately took off, ignoring the abnormal scouts astonished look. He started looking for more hoppers, shooting them the second he saw them.

Circulating his Qi, Chu Shen was able to keep gathering Qi as he fought. Honestly the Qi expended wasn’t a whole lot. Most of what he was using to fight the bugs was his physical body.

Chu Shen fought with the abnormal scout, who looked on him with awe. They fought the bugs continuously for two hours. Now the horde of bugs had thinned a lot however now it was rare to encounter a drone bug. Hopper bugs were exceedingly more common now.

The floaters were tasked with thinning the horde out before they reached the fortified positions. They were doing a good job too but most were starting to fall back due to return fire.

The plasma bugs weren’t so good at hitting small agile targets like the floaters but the tanker bugs were finally starting to slowly crawl up. They were huge cockroaches. There was a large tube sticking out of the bugs neck, pointing straight forward along with a bunch of smaller tubes sticking out of its back.

A floater flew past, dropping bombs as it went by. The tanker bug looked up. The small tubes on its back started glowing blue. Then over twenty basketball size plasma balls flew upwards.

The floater dodged most of them but one burned a hole through the back of the floater. With smoke billowing out of it the floater fell down into a swarm of bugs before exploding. It left a huge crater from all the bombs it held inside it exploding as well.

Chu Shen saw the sight and immediately focused on the tanker bugs. These he knew were going to be tough. The biological armor was thick, almost ten times as thick as the drone bugs were. Not to mention the large plasma tube on the front.

While he was puzzling over how to kill such a creature, a large explosion went off. It was a one of the one-man scooters. There were five of them in a small group floating in the air. They were out of reach of most bugs and so far had stayed out of the fight.

Their explosives were best for penetrating a tanker bugs skin, not for large explosives like the floaters. Firing in unison the group of scooters launched small, baseball size mortars towards the tanker bug.

The explosives hit the creature. The shaped charges unleashed a blast that sent metal shrapnel cutting into the creature’s hard outer shell before reaching the inside of it. The flammable material used to create the plasma balls ignited in the explosion. With a loud WHOOOSH, the tanker bug went up in flames.

Because of the nature of plasma, it was not explosive however it was extremely flammable. Chu Shen looked around for a little bit before finding an appropriate tanker bug. Once he did he took off for it.

Meanwhile the abnormal scout had taken off towards a tanker bug himself. Flying down he landed next to one of the plasma tubes. Because of the hard exoskeleton and the way the scout had flew in, the tanker bug didn’t notice him.

The scout waited until after the tube had fired off a plasma ball before dropping one of the explosive disks from his right arm into the tube.

The disk fell downwards until it reached the inside of the beast. Three seconds later the disk exploded, making the bug burst into flames. Of course the scout was long gone by then.

Chu Shen though, dashed forward at breakneck speeds. Reaching the side of the tanker bug, he swung the hammer with all his might. The hammer hit its side, cracks appeared in the armor where it was hit.

Unfortunately, that was all that happened. The tanker bug slid sideways a couple inches while Chu Shen used the force of the blow to flip backwards, landing on the dusty ground. He frowned. So one blow wasn’t going to cut it.

He got an idea though. Turning his hammer around he reversed it so that the spike end was now where the blunted end usually was. He leapt upwards onto the creature’s back. Using the spiked end as a pick axe he swung it downwards, penetrating the exoskeleton.

Using the spiked end he pulled a hunk of the armor off with brute force. With the proper leverage it was easy. Then Chu Shen had a problem. What did he do now?

He put back the hammer and instead pulled out the pistols. Firing them rapidly into the hole in its armor, Chu Shen fired towards where he guessed the heart and plasma chamber was. The beast shuddered in agony as the needles went through its body, delivering their deadly payload.

Plasma fired out randomly from its tubes as it started jerking around. It started twitching and jerking its legs as Chu Shen kept firing. After a couple rounds the thing started to slow down. Then it fell to the ground and the plasma balls stopped shooting.

Chu Shen hopped off the tank bug and nodded in appreciation. ‘Heh. That thing was pretty big.’
With that Chu Shen turned around and promptly started off towards another tanker bug. It seemed these things were most definitely the bigger threat.

1. N/a

Chapter 47

This. Is. Sparta!

Chu Shen flew through the air. He landed on one of the platforms. A couple soldiers were there fighting for their lives. As Chu Shen went towards them he saw one of them deploying vibroblades and cutting a bug in half.

He smiled. The power of vibration was truly wondrous. When he could master the <Song of The Stars> then this kind of attack would be child’s play. Looking down at his hands he stored the vibro-sword in his storage ring.

He landed on the platform. While it was true that advancing in cultivation led to greater strength, the true benefits were more subtle.

The best benefit was speed. There was a saying in the martial world. Defense can be broken, attacks can be blocked, but speed is king. What good is an attack that can’t land on the opponent? How can you defend against an attack you can’t see? Only speed can have advantages while also having no disadvantages.

It can be used for both attack and defense while to focus on merely attack or defense can lead to a crucial lack of strength.

Chu Shen dashed around the platform. Each bug on the platform received a single blow from his hammer before exploding in a huge spray of gore. The soldiers could only see a blur as Chu Shen attacked. He picked up a gun from one of the dead soldiers. Storing his hammer away he grabbed the rifle with both hands.

He fired a couple rounds to get a feel for the accuracy. With that Chu Shen turned around and pointed it at the bugs. Recalling the models of the drone bugs Chu Shen aimed at the bugs heart and brain. Firing a single needle at each drone the needles flew accurately, unerringly finding their targets.

Chu Shen frowned. He wasn’t truly happy with this kind of weapon. Bending down he instead grabbed two pistols from the dead bodies. When the Needle Gun runs out of ammo these pistols would be used until they could reload.

Suddenly someone flew through the air two platforms over, a streak of blue appearing under their shoes. They were dressed in a scout armor, though it was clearly different.

Instead of the armor being pure black it had skull marks on both shoulders. The helmet looked like a white spartans helmet instead of a pure black dome like everyone else had. The armor was thicker than every other scouts armor. The arm guards and the leg guards bulged outwards slightly. In the leg guards case it was obviously because of the gravity boots.

Wielding two pistols the abnormal scout flew in above the bugs, his dual pistols firing. Because of his superior position in the air, the bugs couldn’t hurt the scout. All of the bugs died without a fight.

Chu Shen started using the two pistols he started firing at more bugs. The bugs went down just as easily as before. With his Qi enhanced reflexes and senses, it was no wonder he could outshoot even those with an implant.

The soldiers that Chu Shen had saved could see him standing on the platform. They were all stunned by what they saw. His hands were a blur, such was his firing speed. Everytime he fired a bug fell down. This was an unbelievable example of accuracy.

While they were all stunned at what they saw, a bug climbed up the edge of the platform. As the bug rushed at Chu Shen’s back he sensed something was wrong. Leaping into the air he dodged the bugs charge.

Storing the pistols inside his ring he withdrew the vibro-sword. With a push of a button the nuclear battery inside the vibro-sword activated. As it started vibrating Chu Shen landed on the ground. Pushing off the platform he sliced the bug in half with a spray of gore.

Withdrawing the sword, Chu Shen took off from the platform, leaving behind him a small group of soldiers.

“Did you see what I saw?”

“Yeah, that scout was unbelievable.”

“You know, I heard that some mercenary joined us, a friend of the captain. Supposedly he’s extremely fast because of some enhancements he has.”

“I heard that too. It’s said he had a military-grade enhancement.”

“But we have military-grade enhancements too, how come his is so different.”

“Dumba**. It’s because he didn’t get a UBF enhancement. Supposedly he came from Sparta. They say he’s one of those clone soldiers.”

“What! No way!”

“It’s no wonder he’s so good at fighting. Everyone from Sparta is a monster. I thought he’d be taller though.”

…………………………………………….

One hundred, two hundred, three hundred, within twenty minutes almost five hundred drone bugs lost their lives to Chu Shen. He also personally saved almost ninety soldiers while protecting over two hundred

No one could keep up with him on the battlefield. Chu Shen thought before looking over his shoulder. Well, almost no-one. Surprisingly there was one person that actually was as strong as him, or even slightly stronger.

It was the abnormal scout that Chu Shen had glimpsed back then. The scout became exceedingly more strange as Chu Shen saw more of him. Not only did he have a modified scout armor, but he also had extremely expensive equipment, with the gravity boots being one of a long list.

Shooting grappling cables out of his suits arms, the abnormal scout used the bug he had caught as a battering ram. He twirled it around him, knocking back the bugs that were trying to surround him.

Then a bright beam of energy shot out as he used an energy beam on the underside of his right arm. Miniature explosive disks shot out from the left arm.

He was like a one man army.

Chu Shen smiled. Both of them were clearly an example of skills from both worlds. Chu Shen with his Qi enhanced body and antiquated hammer, and the abnormal scout with his advanced weapons and enhancements.

He frowned. The Qi was thick in the air, but again Chu Shen couldn’t absorb it. It was like something was preventing the Qi from reaching him.

Although they couldn’t know, most of the other ships in the area had been over run. With the ship’s guns still working though, most of the ship’s decided to stay until a Tank or Warrior bug showed up. Besides, with the plasma bugs instincts to fire on anything flying, most ship captains wouldn’t risk being blown up.

Suddenly an abnormality appeared. A bug appeared but it was different from the other bugs. If it could be described it would be like a flea with blades for its front limbs. With this new bug it meant that the second wave had reached the front lines.
With a sudden burst of speed the Hopper Bug, as it was called, shot forward, slicing Chu Shen’s helmet!

1. N/a

Chapter 46

Chu Shen Joins The Fight

Chu Shen was still thinking about how exactly to help in the upcoming fight whenever he started hearing things. Tap tap tap. It sounded like rain was hitting the roof of a building. Other sounds came faintly to Chu Shen but he couldn’t identify most of them. The best he could come up with was a muffled drum.

“Computer, what is the noise i’m hearing?” Chu Shen looked up at the ceiling.

“There is no noise registering in human hearing range.”

“I can hear a tapping noise, like rain. Please identify that.”

“That is machine gun fire from the troopers outside.”

“What! You mean they’ve actually started fighting already? Why didn’t they tell me!?”

“It was because they didn’t wish to worry you. Because we are one of the late arrivals we were put on the front lines. The first massive wave of bug drones are attacking now. While this first wave is the biggest what follows is waves of tougher bugs.”

Chu Shen went up to the door and opened it. Outside was the guard that was assigned to watch him. Unlike before where the guard was in a black uniform he was now in a heavy infantrymen suit.

The guard turned towards Chu Shen as he walked out. “Hey, hey kid! You can’t be out here, there’s a war going on.”

Chu Shen looked at the guard’s helmet. Because of his studying he knew exactly what this was. An outdated exo-suit designed to protect against blunt projectiles and radiation. It increased the wearer’s strength by over 50 times along with having a deployable vibroblade.

It was extremely out of date but the UBF was also underfunded since it was on the very fringes of known space. It was the cheapest and best suit to get.

He looked at where he figured the guard’s eyes were. “That’s why I’m here. Since I’m a heavy worlder I figured I might be able to help a little with the bugs. They attacked my town so I want some payback.”

Chu Shen had of course looked up what the captain and medic had labeled him as.

The guard was stunned for a couple seconds but he called up the captain. “Sir. The civilian kid says he want’s to fight. He is a heavy worlder sir so he might be able to help some.”

The captain was startled. He had actually completely forgot about the kid, he was a distraction he could ill afford. He started to consider the guards suggestion. Eventually the war would get to them. While the drones couldn’t break through the ship’s armor the warrior and tank bugs after certainly could.

“Alright. Give him a suit then get him to a hovercraft. We need to evacuate this kid now. The floater can take him farther down the line. Escort him to one of the hovercraft. Go now.”

The guard was surprised. “Okay kid you got your wish. Come on, we’ll fix you up some scout armor.”

They walked down some hallways, up elevators till they reached the part of the ship where the floaters were launched at. There was some armored scout outfits that the pilots wore. Luckily some of the pilots were dwarfs, children that were not genetically engineered for heavy gravity, resulting in the stagnation of growth along with heavy muscle density.

“Here kid, put this on.” The guard threw one of the outfits towards Chu Shen. Then the guard grabbed a heavy needle gun and a vibro-sword. Only high ranking officers had clearance for them because of how expensive they were but because of his mission clearance he could have one.

Silently Chu Shen put it on. The guard turned around after he grabbed his sword, expecting to have to help Chu Shen into the outfit. Unexpectedly Chu Shen was waiting for him completely dressed. The guard checked his helmet seal before walking towards the closed blast doors.

The reason Chu Shen was dressed so fast was both studying and because of how fast his Qi enhanced body was. The guard opened the door. He closed the first door after they were both in and then opened the next door. The airlock helped keep the radiation out of the ship.

As soon as they stepped out Chu Shen’s face lit up. There was Qi all around them! The ship looked like a giant turtle shell. Walls built in a honeycomb structure with platforms suspended between them every now and then spread outwards for close to 300 meters. Drone bugs were fighting and killing soldiers all over the place.

“Come on kid! The floater should meet with us soon. Just stand here and they’ll pick us ughh!”

The guard pointed to a platform near them when all of a sudden a bug that had been climbing the wall appeared. As the bug charged towards the guard Chu Shen immediately sprang into action.

He activated his spatial ring, the 1 ½ meter long hammer appearing in his hand. Chu Shen pushed off the ground with the tip of his foot, moving at mind boggling speed. He shoved the guard to the side out of the bug’s way as he flew past. Swinging his hammer so fast that a small sonic boom echoed out he hit the bug in the side of its carapace.

The hammer changed from being only 20 pounds to being over 3,000 pounds and crashed into the bugs side. If it could be seen in slow motion this is how it would be described.

The hammer first hit the bug’s legs, snapping them like dry wood. Then the exoskeleton of the bug was hit. The exoskeleton cracked as soon as it was hit. The hammer didn’t stop though and went completely through the bug. To be more accurate, it exploded outwards like someone hit it with a grenade as the kinetic force was transferred throughout the bug.

It looked similar to a baseball bat hitting a water balloon. The guard that Chu Shen had shoved hadn’t even hit the ground yet when the bug was killed. Chu Shen turned around and ran towards the guard, grabbing him before he hit the ground.

The guard had no idea what was going on. The kid moved so fast that he couldn’t even keep track of him.

Chu Shen set the guard down. Looking around there were more bugs than he could count. He smiled. They could be counted as a Man Stage Level 8-10 primordial beast. Compared to a peak Dragon Stage cultivator, they could be killed by the droves.

The Qi in the air was actually thicker than even the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion’s. Chu Shen gripped his hammer tight in preparation, then he leapt towards the closest platform.

He was ready to kill some bugs. After all.
This was war.

1. N/a

Chapter 45

Private Viradne

Chu Shen was asking the computer questions left and right. The hologram displayed a 3-d image of a ship. It had no scale but it was tear drop shaped. The top was round and bulging but the bottom was flat. All over the ship was hatches of various sizes though at the bottom under the pointed front was three large hatches and the top had a single oversized hatch.

This ship was what Chu Shen was currently on. The hatches on the flat bottom held mining tools to dig the ship into the ground for fortification. The large hatches were used to release the troops and the rest was for guns and anti-fighter missiles. The ship itself was faster than anything but a fighter so it was only equipped for anti-fighter and anti-personnel duty as the compute had explained to Chu Shen.

The hologram switched to a display of a rifle. In a couple minutes it switched to other handheld weapons. Chu Shen was just starting to study the automated suits used for combat when all of a sudden he felt a strong sense of dizziness. He fell down on the ground. Inside the Voids Hand Ti Wu sensed this and stood up from his meditation.

The sensation passed after a couple seconds. He looked up at the ceiling. “Computer, why did I feel dizzy?”

“The cause of dizziness was from the exit of hyperspace. Upon exiting various side effects such as nausea, dizziness, vomiting and other symptoms may appear. Studies show that after ten or more hyperspace exits and or entrances the side effects will have a diminished or no effect.”

Upon hearing this Chu Shen and Ti Wu was relieved. It was a temporary effect and not intentional.

“Warning. We are entering Getrin’s atmosphere to confront the bugs. ETA until bugs touchdown on planet is fifteen minutes. ETA until landing on Getrin will be updated when the information is available.”

Chu Shen sat down on his bed. He looked up at the ceiling. “Computer can you explain what exactly the bugs are?”

“The bugs are a series of genetically engineered soldiers that resemble insects made by the K’ateesh. These soldiers come in various forms and have been repeatedly sent to try and destroy humanities grip on various star systems. The conflict arose whenever the K’ateesh were discovered by a colony group.”

“The K’ateesh believe they should be the only intelligent beings in the universe and have aggressively wiped out any other species they find. Because of the fact that both species live on the same type of planets and value most of the same resources, both try to engage on the ground instead of commencing orbital bombardment to preserve those resources.”

“However. The K’ateesh have been deemed a class 6 threat since they cannot threaten humanity as a whole. On the edges of civilized space such as this technology is very poor. Because of this the K’ateesh and the bugs are at a stalemate with humanity however if the decision to wipe out the K’ateesh makes it through Human Space Council board then it could be accomplished in a matter of days.”

Chu Shen nodded. So the bugs were just puppets and they were the aggressors. Politics was the only thing slowing down the annihilation of the bugs. “How do the bugs act, what do they look like, and what are their weapon capabilities.”

“The bugs are mindless creatures. The K’ateesh won’t make an intelligent soldier since it is against their belief so instead they program them to instinctively attack anything not like the K’ateesh or themselves. Certain bugs such as the plasma bugs specifically target only airborne targets while the drone bugs attack anything on the ground.”

“The bugs have various looks based upon their function. Drones are six legged creatures with a hard exoskeleton. Their front two claws are extremely sharp and as hard as steel. The plasma bugs use an organic process to create balls of plasma and launch them into the air. Some plasma bugs are as big as this ship and are capable of launching plasma into orbit. Warrior bugs are the same as drones but have enhanced capabilities. The scout bugs are…”

Chu Shen paid attention to the various different types of bugs as their image popped on screen while the computer explained their capabilities. After all he would soon have to fight them.Halfway through the list there had been a thud and then a series of scraping and grinding noises. The computer told him they had landed on the planet and was fortifying themselves.

The computer finished the explanation eventually after 20 minutes. The list of bugs was extensive. Most of them though Chu Shen felt confident in handling.

While Chu Shen was contemplating the future battle, unknown to him it had already started.

………………………………………………….

HISS PSEEW PSEEW BANG SCREE CLACK CLACK WHOOSH

The battleground was a mess of noises. Energy beams shot out with a pseew while the needles hissed through the air. Mortars were launched landing with loud bangs. The bugs screamed out in anger and pain as they were shot, burned, blown up, and burned again.

The floaters whooshed through the air and explosions rocked the ground where they flew over. They were purely atmospheric bombers and were far more nimble than the space fighters were planetside.

The bugs so far were drone bugs. They were a blue green mottled color. The bugs were as tall as a man and twice as long. They looked similar to a giant cockroach but the head was raised up and looking towards them. In front of the head was two black arms that ended in blades. The reach of the blades was almost 1 meter.

Private Viradne was a heavy infantryman. The bugs came in a huge wave. At first they were dark colored blurs in the horizon. He, along with his entire squad had fired the second they were in range. The cockroaches required several rounds to kill each one and it was almost impossible to target a single one in such a huge horde.

The bugs left mounds of bodies piled up as they ran towards the barricaded ground troops. Explosions sent up huge amounts of bugs flying through the air. Private Viradne confirmed killing at least 200 bugs by himself. Bits of antennae and exoskeletons flew upwards, green blood splattered everywhere. But the bugs kept coming.

They could afford the losses. The breeder bugs just kept making more. It was like a swarm of rats. The landscape was like a desert previously. Only red sand and orange rocks popped up out of the plains. Now it was more like a horror film.

Private Viradne fired his needle gun. His implant synced with his targeting system. HISS HISS. The needles shot outwards and buried themselves into the exoskeleton of the bugs.

The ship’s guns were firing behind him. The noises from all the heavy fire and explosions would have been deafening if his suit didn’t isolate the noise. The bugs got closer and closer. Soon they were no longer 800 meters (half a mile) away but now 100. The bugs were reaching the edges of the barriers.

“AAAAAAAGH” “GET IT OFF ME!!!” “EAT THIS YOU F*CKERS”

Shouts came from the soldiers as they were swarmed by the bugs. Private Viradne saw a bug running towards him, less than two meters away. He fired his gun and the bug fell backwards from the impact. Three more climbed up to join them.

He kept firing killing two but the third got close enough to swing its bladed appendage at him. He ducked underneath it but was hit by the bug’s body. It hadn’t stopped running at him. He flew backwards losing his gun. The bug landed on top of him.

“AHHH” Private Viradne screamed in rage. He deployed his suits vibroblades. The half a meter long blades came out of his forearms. The blades hummed as it vibrated over 10,000 times a second. He swung upwards at the bug’s body. It came apart in a shower of green blood and guts. The bug squirmed around as it tried to kill him. Using the vibroblade he cut the thing in half, emerging from its bloody body.

Standing up he saw that there were another thirty bugs on the platform with him. His four squadmates were fighting with them, barely holding them off with their vibroblades.

Another five of his squadmates were on the ground. One had a chunk of his suit missing. He was shaking and having a seizure. The radiation was frying his brain. Unseen to Private Viradne was the boils that appeared on his skin as the radiation attacked him. The others were either in the same condition or they were being eaten by the bugs.

Private Viradne was shaken at the sight of his teammates being eaten. He withdrew his vibroblades, reached down, grabbed his needle gun and started firing. He drew the attention of five drone bugs. The ran towards him. He sprayed them with needles slowing them down. Suddenly his gun stopped firing. Warning. Ammo has been depleted. His implant toned in his head.

The bugs were getting closer. Only one had died. Two simultaneously swung their blades at him. Knowing he couldn’t dodge he deployed his vibroblade and blocked their blades with it. Another two bug blades buried themselves in his chest and leg. Refusing to give up he leaped forward, cutting off one of the insects head. He cut off all the legs on the side of the other bug. More and more blades stabbed into him.

He laughed. “HAHAHA. You’ll NEVER eat my you D*MN bugs!” With that he activated his suits self-destruction option. The nuclear battery in his suit overloaded. It exploded, destroying all 30 bugs on the platform, his squadmates, and another 20 bugs in the surrounding area.

Amidst the incinerated section of the fortification and the sundered, bloody bits of metal, bug parts, and human limbs came another 100 bugs.

This was war.

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