Chapter 61: Battleship

“Fuck this shit! Where the hell did all the fish go?!”

A rough curse slammed onto the greasy tabletop of the tavern.

A female white-tiger demi-human with a face full of stubble and skin darkened by sea wind slammed the table hard.

Wine sloshed over the rim of the cup and spread a small wet stain across the wood.

The tavern was already dim and noisy.

The moment the words left her mouth, several people immediately sighed and chimed in.

“No idea, bro. These past few days the small fish are still around, but you can’t find a single big one.”

“Yeah. Used to have to be careful not to get swallowed by big fish when you went out to sea. These past few days if you go out and actually run into a big one, count yourself lucky.”

Someone lowered their voice, carrying a mix of lingering fear and dissatisfaction.

“Tch… These Alliance bastards didn’t come here to wipe out any swarm at all, did they? Where the hell have we seen any swarm?!”

“They’re just bandits! They stole my ship! Now all I can do is fish!” another tall, thin man cursed along, his tone full of frustration and anger.

“A perfectly good transfer station, and they’ve turned it into a complete mess. Now we can’t even go down to the sea.”

“What are we supposed to do next…”

A blank sigh made the entire corner fall into brief silence.

The Black Market at the lowest level of Transfer Station No. 29 was hidden in the cracks between countless pipes and abandoned cabins.

Dragons and snakes mixed together. Order was chaotic.

It was a gathering place for fugitives, refugees, down-and-out sailors, and gray-market traders.

In a deep corner of the tavern, Ella sat quietly on a worn leather chair with her eyes closed, resting her mind.

Only one person sat beside her—Zhuluo.

The reason for choosing Zhuluo over Dieyi and Yiwen was simple.

In Ella’s eyes, those two were nowhere near as reliable as Zhuluo.

Yiwen was still relatively steady and dependable, but Dieyi…

The moment Ella remembered the scene of that one mercilessly stepping on her and freely humiliating her, her chest tightened uncontrollably.

She absolutely did not want to be alone with that one again.

A full day had already passed since the battle in the alley where they had killed the angel and the demon.

The deaths of two Alliance elite soldiers had stirred up a huge storm throughout the entire transfer station.

The Alliance side was clearly enraged.

There were now almost no safe areas left in Transfer Station No. 29.

Fully armed Alliance soldiers could be seen patrolling the streets and alleys everywhere.

The cold sound of armor and weapons colliding rang out as they checked every suspicious person.

Everyone could see it clearly.

Those soldiers were not searching for so-called swarm remnants, nor were they maintaining order.

They were frantically packing up every useful resource—energy ore, food stores, precision parts, even the slightly valuable belongings in the hands of ordinary civilians.

Once they finished scraping everything clean, Ella absolutely did not believe this group would show mercy and spare the transfer station.

Most likely they would set the whole place on fire and bury every trace and every living person together.

“Uh…”

An extremely soft grunt escaped Ella’s throat.

Her brows furrowed slightly, and her face instantly turned several shades paler.

“Your Majesty? What’s wrong?”

Zhuluo’s concern sounded somewhat strange under her robotic tone.

Ella slowly opened her eyes.

Those eyes that should have been clear were now filled with abnormal crimson.

Not only were the pupils a deep red, the whites were also crawling with dense blood vessels.

She looked as if she had not closed her eyes for three days and three nights and was on the verge of mental collapse.

“Zhuluo, do you know what neural connection is?”

She spoke softly, her voice already turning hoarse.

“Neural connection?”

Zhuluo thought for a moment and immediately understood.

“Is it to bypass the nest network and directly control the Pathstrider?”

“That’s right.”

Ella lightly nodded, her fingertips trembling slightly.

“The larger the target of the connection, the greater the neural pressure I have to bear.”

Just now while her eyes were closed, she had already risked attempting a direct neural connection once.

Without using the nest network as a relay, relying solely on her own will, she had forcibly established a mental link with the Pathstrider far out at sea.

In only an instant, an unimaginably massive stream of information and neural load had crashed into her consciousness.

It was as if countless torrents had flooded into her mind at the same time, instantly swallowing her in extreme exhaustion.

Even so, unrestrained ecstasy surged deep in Ella’s eyes.

Combined with the complaints of those sailors in the tavern just now, all the fragments pieced together and pointed to one single answer that left her thrilled.

The Pathstrider—her personally created top-tier biological weapon.

In the short time since entering this stretch of sea, it had already, with an unmatched posture, easily torn apart the original marine food chain, devoured every large marine creature, and with absolute power climbed to the top, becoming the new apex predator of these waters.

The large fish that had disappeared from the sailors’ mouths had naturally all become nourishment for the Pathstrider.

This meant the Pathstrider was not only safe and sound, but was continuously growing stronger.

“Your Majesty? You’re having a nosebleed.”

Zhuluo’s voice sounded again, reminding her of her current terrible physical condition.

Ella raised a hand and wiped.

Sure enough, her fingertips came away stained with warm, sticky blood.

She calmly picked up a rough paper napkin from the table and lightly wiped away the bloodstains under her nose, then actively severed the neural connection with the Pathstrider.

The enormous pressure suddenly receded, yet the accompanying dizziness remained intense, making her lightly rub her swelling temples.

At that exact moment.

Boom boom boom—!!!

A series of violent explosions suddenly came from the distance.

The entire tavern trembled slightly.

Dust sifted down from the ceiling.

Cups and dishes collided with clear, strange sounds.

The noisy tavern fell dead silent for an instant.

Everyone panicked and raised their heads, looking at one another.

“What was that sound?”

Someone subconsciously blurted out, carrying panic.

Ella also snapped her eyes open and forced herself through the dizziness, trying to look toward the tavern entrance.

But before her movement could fully complete, a blinding flash of fire light suddenly smashed through the tavern’s heavy metal door.

The iron door was instantly twisted and deformed by the blast.

Fragments flew in every direction.

Heat waves and gunpowder smoke surged in, flipping tables and chairs.

Screams and cries exploded at once.

In the fire light, Ella clearly saw the pitch-black, ice-cold giant gun muzzle outside that was aimed directly here.

The barrel was enormous, engraved with the Alliance’s signature patterns.

It was an Alliance battleship.

It had already approached the transfer station.

The gun muzzle had turned and, without any warning, begun bombarding this Black Market area.

To avoid the direct bombardment of the cannon fire, Zhuluo grabbed Ella and tore open a hole in the tavern floor, diving straight into the sea.

Ella looked at the completely destroyed tavern.

This was the bottom level of the transfer station.

Although no one liked coming here, it was the supporting pillar of the entire station.

Just as she had thought, the Alliance had never intended to hold back.

Once they finished taking everything useful, they would begin destroying the evidence.

The great Alliance was about to win another war against the swarm.

Even if the cost was heavy, no one in Transfer Station No. 29 would survive.

The cannon fire just now was the sound of them already beginning to fire on the supporting pillars of the bottom level.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

Ella choked on several mouthfuls of water.

Only then did Zhuluo climb up the already ruined pillar wreckage using her spider silk.

The spider limbs on her back grabbed Ella and hauled her out of the water.

“Your Majesty, what should we do now?”

Ella stared at the people who had just been complaining about the Alliance’s evil deeds.

They had already become corpses here and there, hanging in every direction among the ruins like pork in a slaughterhouse.

There was no smell of blood—only the stench of burning…

She clenched her teeth and could not speak for a long time.

She was not grieving or pitying them.

She was only subconsciously imagining herself becoming one of those corpses.

“Your Majesty, Yiwen and the others have news. That angel sent a message before she died. The Alliance people already know there really is a swarm here. They’re looking for us.”

“Your Majesty?”

The high temperature in the air turned into hot wind that lifted the silver hair on Ella’s forehead.

The corners of her mouth trembled.

She was afraid.

But because of that, the ferocity in her eyes grew even denser.

“Go join up with them… and then…”