I was going to bring him anyway.
If he was going to take his revenge, it was better to do it personally.
“I’ll allow it.”
“Passive Voice. Overwhelmingly grateful, Master.”
The fellow slowly stood up. The Queen was already cowering in the corner.
She probably knew how dangerous the Small-head tribe was.
Why keep something so dangerous as a slave?
Simple. Because they were strong. She likely intended to raise him until he was ripe for harvesting. Her only mistake was missing the right timing.
“Everyone, leave the room.”
The space was cramped. Even if I provided support troops, they would only get in the way. It was better to pull back than to have my forces caught in the crossfire and sustain casualties.
*Clang!*
The door shut. I had to make sure nothing suddenly burst out.
*Fidget, fidget.*
Everyone tilted their heads, looking curious. I stood firm.
“Five minutes. Just five minutes. While my bodyguard finishes off the Queen, we will hold this position tightly.”
I would keep my promise. Perhaps it wouldn’t even take five minutes.
“Form up before the enemies swarm us!”
The sectors were divided by ship. Shield bearers were placed at the front, with melee troops supporting them from behind. Non-combatants armed themselves with long-range weapons.
*Screeeech!*
A sharp cry echoed through the passage.
“They’re coming! The enemies are swarming!”
Those who sensed the Queen was in danger were rushing in. Their eyes were stained a deep red.
“Hold the line! Don’t let them into the Queen’s chamber!”
The battle began. An endless quantity of ants poured out. Nevertheless, we had the advantage. We had already secured our positions.
“I, Passive Voice, can finally avenge my tribe! I will pay you back for what you did to my brothers!”
It seemed the revenge had begun inside the room as well. His voice was so loud that the conversation could be heard through the thick door.
“N— No! Save me!”
“Please, not there! Anything but that! Noooo!”
“Gaaah! Just kill me. Kill me instead!”
“Aaaagh! You’re too rough. It hurts! It hurts, I said!”
“If you’re going to humiliate me like this… Aaaaagh!”
“Uwaaaah. Stop. Stop it.”
Everyone glanced toward the room at the sounds leaking out.
‘What on earth is he doing in there?’
Even my face felt hot. The crowbar in my hand felt warm. My lower body felt a bit… endangered, so to speak. It was a problem since I was wearing a skin-tight combat suit.
*Thump!*
Just then, an ant dropped from the ceiling in front of me. I wasn’t sure if I should call that lucky or not. The ants were pushing through the walls and ceilings as well.
“It’s dangerous, Captain!”
Vice-Captain Ciela rushed forward. Her sword flashed like a bolt of lightning.
*Slash!*
The ant’s antennae were cleanly severed. It creaked like a broken robot. Panicked, it snapped its mandibles at nothing. No matter how much I wanted to blow off steam, I couldn’t let myself get bitten by something like that.
“Who are you trying to bite!”
I let out a shout of rage. At the same time, I brought the crowbar down on its head.
*Crack!*
The exoskeleton shattered, and fluid sprayed everywhere. Even so, it didn’t stop moving.
*Crack! Crack! Cra-crack!*
So, I struck it several more times. My anger seemed to subside slightly. More importantly, why was I even angry?
*Thud!*
The creature’s body couldn’t hold out and collapsed.
‘Crowbar-chan! Aren’t you amazing?’
I was genuinely impressed by the crowbar’s attack power. The disappointment I felt when the holy relic I obtained as a weapon turned out to be a blunt tool instead of a blade completely vanished. Blunt weapons had their own unique advantages.
*Clang! Clang! Cla-clang!*
Look at them. The others were struggling because their blades weren’t effective against the outer armor.
“In here, I am the Lionheart King! I am Lu Bu!”
I began to run wild with excitement. I jumped around, smashing the skulls of the ants.
*Waaaaah!*
My performance was outstanding. The army’s morale skyrocketed.
“Oops.”
I didn’t just act recklessly, though. I wandered around like a jackal, beating down only the ones who showed an opening. What if a one-on-one situation arose?
“Vice-Captain, take care of it!”
I knew my own athletic nerves were trash. There was no need to overdo it.
*Slash!*
The Vice-Captain following behind me severed the antennae. The ant panicked.
*Crack!*
Then, I finished it off with the crowbar. I kept repeating this process.
“Vice-Captain, don’t we make a pretty good team?”
“Haa… huff… Yes. It’s not bad.”
The Vice-Captain’s breathing was heavy. The enemy swept in like a tsunami, and five minutes felt much longer than expected. Everyone except me looked exhausted. Since there were so many enemies, they couldn’t rest for even a single second.
“I should work harder then.”
I moved around diligently. My sense of exhilaration rose endlessly. Both I and the crowbar were excited. From now on, call me the Ant Slayer!
However.
Despite my efforts, we were being pushed back little by little. The enemy’s offensive was more fierce than expected. Quite a few of my troops were injured.
“H— Help me!”
Everywhere I looked, people were screaming with their waists sliced open. Medics were running around taking action, but most would likely die.
‘Is it not time yet?’
I glanced toward the Queen’s room. Five minutes was proving to be a long time. On one side, the formation had completely collapsed and was being slaughtered. Just as my heart was beginning to grow anxious.
*Boom!*
A thunderous sound erupted from the Queen’s room.
*Screeeech!*
The ants began to lose their minds and go wild. The absurd part was that they started biting each other in a frenzy. The Queen was dead.
*Waaaaaah!*
The subordinates mustered their last bit of strength. The ants attacked without distinguishing between friend and foe. The area needed to be cleared.
*Clank!*
The massive door opened. Passive Voice walked out with a satisfied face, his footsteps heavy.
‘Wait, why are you pulling up your pants!’
Regardless, we had won.
***
I sat down anywhere I could find a spot. My mood was refreshed after moving my body.
However, my nose was paralyzed by the fishy scent of death drifting from all directions. I wanted to return to the ship and take a shower as soon as possible. My stomach didn’t feel great either.
“Captain. Reporting the situation.”
I nodded.
“33% of the hired mercenaries are dead. 24% are heavily wounded, and 43% have minor injuries.”
This meant that among those who fought in hand-to-hand combat on the front lines, no one was unscathed. Fortunately, my own subordinates were in slightly better shape. I had placed the mercenaries in the most dangerous spots.
“Over here! We need Dolphin!”
“Inject it and move them to the ship, quickly!”
The medics ran around busily to save even one more life.
“We have secured 120 Ant ships and 170 general alien ships. The rest have fled.”
The Ant ships were unusable. They had to be melted down into scrap metal to build new ships. The alien ships didn’t need to be dismantled; they could just be modified and used.
“We salvaged more than I thought.”
I was fairly satisfied. It seemed the noble class of the Ant tribe had gathered their soldiers and fled. The brainwashed aliens surrendered immediately once the Queen died.
They had no other choice. If they fled like this, what could they do other than become pirates? But with such heavy losses, even that would be difficult. Their best bet was to surrender to me and beg for mercy.
“What shall we do with the treatment of the aliens?”
“Incorporate them into my unit. Until we arrive, keep the captains of those ships in custody.”
“Understood.”
I brushed myself off and stood up. I gave a final instruction to the Vice-Captain.
“Pay special attention to the eggs. We obtained them at the cost of blood.”
“Yes, sir!”
This was the reason I could boldly spend my entire fortune to come here. Ant eggs were traded at a very high price.
What were they used for? Wealthy people often used them when they wanted to have children.
First, a special liquid was injected into the egg to kill the ant. Then, a fertilized human egg was placed inside.
Why go to such lengths? It was to obtain a purebred of the tribe.
To explain it simply. Imagine that when you had a child, there was a 99% chance a lizard would be born. To give birth to a human baby, one would have to give birth 100 times, and even for people in this world who lived for 500 years, that was not easy.
“And put all the sunken ships and those in need of repair into the nest. The rest should hurry and prepare for departure.”
“I will relay that immediately.”
I went to find So-jin. His left leg was nowhere to be seen.
“Young Master!”
“No, you don’t need to get up. Also, from now on, hand-to-hand combat is forbidden for you.”
“Oh, no. I’m actually quite good with a blade.”
So-jin swung his rapier this way and that.
“It’s still forbidden. You are the core of our army.”
I couldn’t afford to lose my first mate in such a futile way. Moreover, So-jin was the head of a household. And not just any head, but the honey pot leading the Butterfly tribe.
“Thank you for your concern. I will be as careful as possible from now on.”
I nodded.
“I plan to drag this Ant Palace all the way to the Lucifell Star, do you think it’s possible?”
“It’s possible if we mobilize all the functional ships to tow it. But…”
So-jin tilted his head.
“This Ant Palace is capable of independent navigation. Can’t we just lead the troops and go to Lucifell first?”
“I need to sell it off as quickly as possible.”
I still had no intention of keeping the Lucifell Star Cluster. Anything that could be liquidated should be turned into cash.
The Lucifell Star Cluster was in such a terrible location that even Dangun the Ancestor would have wept.
However, I knew someone who was interested in the Lucifell Star System. I was going to sell it to him for a high price.
***
The people of the Lucifell Star Cluster were now growing weary. It was said that it was better to be hit first. Waiting in tension for the enemy to arrive was no way to live.
“Governor! It’s the enemy. The scout ship patrolling the Darkel Star System has reported discovering an Ant Nest.”
“An Ant Nest? What on earth… what are they thinking?”
The Ant tribe strictly hid their Queen. Even if they lost everything, as long as the Queen lived, they could start over.
“It seems they are determined.”
The size of the palace was as large as a moon. In other words, its storage capacity was incredibly vast. It looked like they intended to strip them down to their last pair of underwear.
“But didn’t Yu lead an army to catch the Queen?”
At those words, the expressions of the vassals darkened. The Queen’s nest had come this close? That meant they either failed to find an opening to attack or had already been annihilated.
“Ah — !”
The weight of the situation leaned more toward the latter. Until the Queen’s nest arrived here, there had been no word from Pak Yu. He could have at least sent a single light corvette to report the situation.
“M— Master!”
The vassals hurriedly caught the staggering Master Pak.
“What are we to do about this?”
The delinquent heir had been very difficult to obtain. It was doubtful if he could ever have another child. In fact, Pak Yu was also born from an ant egg.
But then.
“Governor. Five light corvettes have entered the Lucifell Center Star System.”
“Did they come to declare war?”
“No. The one who sent the communication is… the Young Master?”
Everyone’s heads turned at those words.
“What?! Yu is here? He led 105 ships and only five barely managed to return.”
“Still, it’s a relief. Master!”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. However, their expressions weren’t bright. The threat of the enemy remained.
“Five ships are nowhere near enough to stop 1,000 warships.”
“Especially the Ant army. They do not fear sacrifice.”
A normal army wouldn’t attack the center of the Lucifell Star Cluster with only 1,000 ships. They had quite a sturdy fortress. It could be captured if they were determined, but they would have to face massive damage.
But the Ant tribe was different. The Queen’s orders were absolute, so they would not hesitate.
‘Still, nothing changes.’
Had he not already prepared to die? He would send Yu to safety elsewhere and meet his end here with the Lucifell Star Cluster.
However.
“Governor. It’s a request for assistance from the Young Master. He’s asking for a large scale of transport ships to tow the Ant Nest he obtained as loot.”
“What…?”
What on earth was he talking about?