Chapter 157 Haha, It's Over

No matter what Lu Xiaoyao said, even to the point of shamelessly blurting out, "Just treat me like a fart and let me go," the other side seemed unmoved.

The insect mother on the other side continued its self-detonation sequence.

Lu Xiaoyao was both panicked and angry; it couldn't understand human speech!

Mingmei and Mu Chen in the rear were momentarily caught between laughter and tears.

Was it wrong to laugh at such a critical moment?

"We have to think of something!"

Mingmei mentally discussed with Gui Gui: [If, if I were to reactivate the energy within the insect mother's crystal nucleus, could I interrupt the self-detonation?]

But Gui Gui immediately refused, saying, [Host, your mental strength is insufficient to fully activate an insect mother's crystal nucleus. The Thousand-Eyed Insect Mother possesses extremely high mental power among all insectoids.

Even if you exerted all your strength, you might not be able to interrupt it. Not to mention your current mental strength isn't enough; you've only just begun to recover!]

Gui Gui's meaning was clear: don't mess around.

But Mingmei didn't want to mess around either.

[But given the current situation, if I don't interrupt it and let it explode, will Qilan Star still exist? What about everyone on the planet? What about me? Once this insect mother's crystal nucleus detonates, the effect... don't even mention a single planet; the surrounding star systems near Qilan Star, including the reinforcements on their way, will be affected.

All those insectoids are willing to be buried alongside the Thousand-Eyed Insect Mother's self-detonation, but I'm not!

If we all perish together, the casualties won't just be the insectoids, but also us. This is a lose-lose situation, and I can't accept it!]

Mingmei didn't think that the lives of billions of star citizens should end like this!

The most chilling thing was that the energy field emanating from the insect mother's self-detonation had severed their communication with those below.

They had no idea what plans were being made down there.

After hearing Mingmei's words, Gui Gui fell silent, caught in a dilemma.

[Host, you want to stop it, but your mental strength isn't enough. What if you become an idiot?]

Mingmei: [Can you wish me a little bit of good fortune, please?]

Mingmei sighed softly and glanced at Qilan Star behind her through the mecha's viewport.

Qilan Star behind her seemed to realize what the insect mother was about to do.

Once again, the entire planet activated its global defense, as if regardless of energy expenditure.

And it was increasing the power output.

But even so, Mingmei felt that if the insect mother self-detonated, perhaps less than half of Qilan Star would survive.

[How long until the insect mother self-detonates?]

Mingmei suddenly asked this question.

[Do you think... is it possible for the people on Qilan Star to evacuate?]

[Host, even though the insect mother's self-detonation is slow, it's not as slow as you imagine.]

Gui Gui, of course, knew what Mingmei was thinking, so he mercilessly shattered Mingmei's fantasy.

Mingmei originally thought she was being targeted by the insect mother, but in an instant, Mingmei recalled the actions of these insectoids just now.

A series of oddities flashed through her mind.

Why would the insect mother choose to lead a large army to attack Qilan Star?

Just because it was nearby?

Or to destroy the economic standing of the Canglan Star Region?

This reason was a bit far-fetched.

Especially with the insectoids' relentless pursuit earlier, and the insect mother's willingness to self-detonate in the end, this reason seemed even more absurd.

And previously, they suspected it was aimed at their three S-class mechs.

Not that Mingmei wanted to flatter the insect mother, but from the insectoids' perspective, their three S-class mechs were not worth the life of a Thousand-Eyed Insect Mother.

If the insect mother really just wanted to kill them three, there was really no need to resort to mutual destruction.

For example, if someone told Mingmei that her self-detonation could kill three insect mothers, she wouldn't do it.

Mingmei vaguely guessed that killing them three was just a secondary objective of the insect mother, and the ultimate goal...

"A'Chen."

Understanding this, Mingmei called out to Mu Chen, the most intelligent person present.

"What is it?"

"Why do you think the insectoids suddenly targeted Qilan Star? Aside from the reasons mentioned earlier, is there a more sinister but truthful possibility?"

Mu Chen fell silent after Mingmei asked this.

In fact, Mu Chen had been thinking about this question since the battle began.

On the other hand, Lu Xiaoyao had been cursing at the insect mother until her mouth was dry, but the other side was impervious to persuasion and continued its self-detonation behavior.

Now she heard Mingmei and Mu Chen talking about it in the channel.

Lu Xiaoyao was speechless at the time, and directly interjected, "What's there to argue about? Isn't it just to destroy Qilan Star and affect the development of the entire Canglan Star Region?"

"Besides, it's so far away from the Sixth Legion's base that support is not timely; isn't that the reason?"

Lu Xiaoyao thought very simply; even the audience in the live broadcast felt it was logical.

"That's true, but do you think the insect mother needs to drag us down with it?"

Lu Xiaoyao suddenly paused after hearing Mingmei.

She had cursed and belittled herself earlier, but that wasn't what she really thought in her heart.

But listening to what Mingmei said, Lu Xiaoyao put herself in the insectoids' perspective and felt that their three weren't worth it.

You're an insect mother, after all!

The kind that's surrounded by stars and moons; why are you self-detonating?

Even if the army fails, no insect would tell you to leave.

But the key is that the other side hasn't left; instead, it's forcing them three to retreat step by step.

This behavior is wrong!

Listening to this, Lu Xiaoyao also realized the problem.

Mingmei's voice was also heard by the audience through Lu Xiaoyao's live broadcast, and the audience was puzzled.

[Yeah, what she said. Although I'm not discriminating against our empire's S-class mechs, there's no need to drag an insect mother, or even the entire insectoid army, down with them, right? The insectoids aren't stupid.]

[Right? I think the insectoids' target might not just be those three people.]

[Maybe the insect mother's goal is to blow up the entire Qilan Star.]

[Oh my god! It would rather self-detonate and perish with Qilan Star than retreat! What's with its brain? Aren't these insect mothers supposed to be very intelligent? Aren't they normal commanders? At this time, any clear-headed person would know to retreat and preserve strength. What's the point of dragging everyone to die here together?]

Discussions were everywhere on the Star Network.

Everyone didn't understand why the insect mother wanted to self-detonate.

[Hey, aren't you guys discussing whether to self-detonate or not? It's about to self-detonate!]

The poor netizens suddenly realized that they seemed to have nothing to do except gossip. They couldn't take any substantial action.

And the emperor of the empire, who was billions of light-years away and whose old secrets were about to be exposed.

The emperor, who had always presented himself as a refined and scholarly middle-aged man, was now staring at the screen with gloomy eyes.

The ground was littered with debris, obviously after a major fire.

"I knew it, I knew it! You heartless bastards are all liars!"

He roared explosively, then neurotically threw the optical brain on the ground and stomped on it several times.

He didn't believe that the live broadcast across the entire Star Network was just the beginning.

"Hahahaha, it's okay, it's going to explode. Once it explodes, everything will be gone. Hahahaha..."