That afternoon, in the office area of the Alliance garrison at Transfer Station No. 29, a suppressed cry of alarm and chaos finally shattered the surface calm.
Major Ogre, the merfolk official, was discovered by logistics personnel lying dead in the private meeting room.
His corpse lay on the cold floor. A hideous penetrating wound ran through his chest, flesh and blood mangled, the heart completely destroyed.
Clear strangulation marks marked his neck where the windpipe had been fully severed.
Forensic examiners and on-site investigators arrived in haste and delivered a concise, icy conclusion.
Death by pierced heart. The killer had deliberately crushed the windpipe to prevent any cry for help.
It was a meticulously planned, clean, and decisive assassination.
The news rapidly spread through every Alliance outpost in the transfer station.
One of their own proper majors had been assassinated right under their noses. This was no simple accident—it was a naked provocation.
The entire Alliance could no longer sit still.
The small team that had been stationed here only symbolically now mobilized in full force.
Squad after squad of well-trained elven soldiers, angels, and even demons surged onto Transfer Station No. 29 with imposing momentum.
Metal boots struck the corridor floors, producing orderly and heavy thuds. Wherever they passed, the air itself seemed to solidify under the pressure.
The transfer station’s original local law enforcement team did not even dare raise their heads before this fully armed Alliance regular army radiating pressure.
They all shrank to the side, obediently tucking their tails between their legs. Forget about stepping forward to stop or question them—they did not dare utter a single extra word.
A large-scale search covering the entire transfer station officially began.
Soldiers kicked in doors street by street, forced their way in, and ransacked everything. Rebukes, collisions, and cries mixed together.
The publicly stated reason for the search was exactly the order previously issued by the higher-ups: to search for “possible swarm remnants lurking within the station.”
***
Deep in a dark, damp alley, several figures crowded into a corner of an abandoned warehouse, barely avoiding the footsteps of patrols outside.
The air was thick with dust and mildew. The light was dim.
Only a few thin beams leaking through holes faintly illuminated everyone’s faces.
Yiwen folded her arms, brows slightly furrowed, her gaze falling on Ella who sat nearby with her head bowed.
“You killed someone? Your Majesty?”
Ella’s fingertips curled slightly. Her shoulders instinctively tightened as she sat on a pile of old junk, looking exactly like a child who had caused a major disaster in front of a teacher and did not know what to do.
She remained silent for a few seconds. Her voice was so light it was almost covered by the wind outside.
“Mm… I guess… I guess I did kill him…”
The order had been given by her own mouth.
Shuang Ling had acted in accordance with her will. From the result, Ogre’s death truly rested on her head.
She did not regret it.
The moment she thought of that man’s face treating her as merchandise to be wantonly played with, and of Sereya’s cold smile of successful conspiracy, she felt not the slightest remorse.
Yet right now, Ella had to sober up and admit it.
That momentary surge of rage, the choice to break free of rationality’s restraints, had completely belonged to her own immature and irrational human thinking—and it had finally brought consequences.
It was precisely because of this murder that the Alliance now had a legitimate reason to smash all their attention onto Transfer Station No. 29.
The rental house they had been hiding in, that entire block, had already been thoroughly searched several times and was no longer safe.
One could even say that at this moment, for these few insect-kin, Transfer Station No. 29 no longer contained even a single square meter of truly safe space.
They could only hide like rats in the depths of alleys, in the interlayers of abandoned buildings, or even be forced to consider crawling into the stinking sewers.
“Everyone, there’s one question I still haven’t figured out.”
Ella raised her head. Her scarlet eyes swept across the insect maidens in front of her, her tone carrying a trace of suppressed confusion.
“I know the old nest did a lot of things and acted like a tyrant in that stretch of sea. But our reach only extended to the waters around the nest at most. How could such a vast Alliance treat a swarm that at best dominated one stretch of sea as their number-one enemy?”
It didn’t make sense.
It wasn’t worth mobilizing on this scale.
The moment the words fell, Zhuluo, who had been standing quietly in the corner, lightly raised her hand.
“Your Majesty, I have an idea.”
Ella looked at her.
“Speak.”
“These past few days while I was outside looking for a ship to leave, I flipped through quite a few newspapers publicly issued by the Alliance. Almost every few months they publish a piece of news about some transfer station or player gathering place being infiltrated and attacked by a swarm, and then the wise and mighty Alliance sends troops to suppress it, wipe out the swarm, and protect the peace of the region.”
She paused, then continued.
“The news always says the battle came at a heavy cost, but the Alliance ultimately held the homeland and repelled the terrifying insect tide.”
“This…”
Ella’s pupils contracted slightly.
In the next instant, every clue connected in her mind.
So that was it.
She completely understood.
Among the Alliance’s upper ranks, someone must have truly seen her nest at its peak and witnessed the swarm’s terrifying expansion capability.
But they had not chosen to eradicate it at the first opportunity. Instead they had seized the name “swarm” and made a big deal out of it.
They actively painted the swarm as a player public enemy that spanned the Abyssal Sea and committed every evil, as a terrifying monster that everyone had the right to kill.
Then, under the banner of “exterminating the swarm,” they wantonly burned, killed, and plundered every transfer station, looting resources, seizing wealth, and annexing territory.
Finally they pinned every atrocity on the head of the swarm that no longer even existed.
And they themselves transformed into the righteous enforcers and saviors who protected all living beings.
They both grabbed enough benefits and stood on the moral high ground.
“Tch—”
Ella’s teeth clenched tightly. Her jaw locked, even producing a faint grinding sound.
A nausea she could barely suppress surged from the bottom of her heart straight up to her throat.
This so-called Alliance, full of talk about justice, order, and protection, was rotten and filthy inside—more pirate than any pirate.
Disgusting.
Nauseating.
“The Alliance’s main force will arrive here in full tomorrow,” Yiwen spoke from the side.
“When that time comes, the number of searchers, the scope, and the intensity will all rise another level.”
Ella closed her eyes and drew a deep breath.
She knew Yiwen was stating facts.
Moreover, whether the Alliance actually found the swarm or not no longer mattered to them.
They were pirates wearing the skin of justice to begin with. The purpose of this trip was plunder. With or without a swarm, they could casually grab a few people to take the blame and then publicly declare a great victory.
People at other transfer stations would only see the news fabricated by the Alliance, believe the swarm had once again been defeated, and believe the Alliance had once again saved the world.
“What do we do now, little one?”
Dieyi moved closer to her side. Her tone still carried a bit of carelessness, but the fingers that brushed her pink hair also revealed her unease and tension.
Ella slowly opened her eyes.
Her scarlet pupils faintly glowed in the dimness.
“Dieyi, no.”
“Everyone.”
“We no longer have time to run.”
“The Alliance’s warships are blocking the harbor and have sealed every sea route. At a time like this, they will not let a single ship leave Transfer Station No. 29.”
Wanting to leave was already impossible.
Hiding was also impossible—there was nowhere left to hide.
Either they would be searched out, publicly executed as swarm remnants, and take the blame for everything.
Or…
Ella closed her eyes deeply once more. When she opened them again, a layer of cold, resolute cruelty slowly rose from the depths of that scarlet.
This cruelty did not come from the inherited Insect Mother instinct. It belonged entirely to herself.
“We no longer have a choice.”
She spoke word by word, her voice clear, carrying through the narrow corner.
“We have only one path left to take.”
“And that is—”
“To fight.”
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