Chapter 11: Is This an Illusion?

They were entirely dark in color, with multifaceted eyes on their heads flashing red light. Their mandibles opened and closed as they emitted human voices—voices familiar to them, those of Sana and Selvan.

The female voice said, “These two children are both very suitable for our reproduction. They have no parents and are in good health. The girl’s physical strength is impressive, and her genes are impossible to replicate.”

The male voice replied, “I don’t want the boy. Children born with genetic defects won’t have good qualities.”

The female voice said, “But the girl cares deeply for her brother. She might not be willing to come with us...”

The two insects’ mandibles clicked and snapped, producing eerie human sounds.

Such a powerful visual shock petrified everyone in the square.

“Insect race? How can there be insectoids!”

A scream rose from the crowd.

“That’s impossible! Didn’t the rift only appear ten years ago? This is more than twenty years ago!”

Panic swept through the entire square.

The Commander took the megaphone from his assistant, about to quiet the crowd.

But a sneer came from the side.

“Tch, this is absurd.”

Jiang Chen sneered coldly, “This must be Xurui’s hallucination. Didn’t you see her eyes acting up? She’s been uncomfortable since last night.”

“I suspect she may have awakened some genetic memory, which caused her to misinterpret what she saw.”

Liu Han calmly added, “According to the timeline, we first discovered the wormhole rift twelve years ago, when Xurui was about twenty.”

“Before that, the insect race was completely isolated from our world; it was impossible for them to appear.”

His tone was resolute, the confidence of a top interstellar technological genius.

He had developed the third-generation star network that covered the entire galaxy, leaving no trace of wormholes undetected.

That was why he was so confident.

Tang Feng nodded. “Exactly. From what I know about the insect race, their intelligence isn’t enough to disguise themselves as humans and blend into crowds.”

From the age of eighteen until now, well into his forties, Tang Feng had been dedicated to researching and eradicating the insect race for many years.

He prided himself on having greater knowledge of the insect race than anyone else.

Bu Xingye said, “Xuchu, you’re the only one among us who has had contact with the Bailey couple. Can you sense any differences between them and humans?”

Xuchu’s eyes glazed over as he shook his head, “No.”

Jiang Chen laughed with disdain.

“That woman is completely insane. Her brain has been corrupted by genetic memory. Why didn’t we discover this earlier and throw her into prison?”

Their conversation silenced the scene completely.

Perhaps it was just a hallucination?

Could it really be?

The Commander, having just taken the megaphone, shook his head slightly at his assistant, then sat back down and resumed watching the large screen.

...

The scenes before Xurui left her deeply shocked.

She couldn’t help but gasp.

In an instant, the two insectoids simultaneously turned their heads toward her.

At that moment, everyone in the square felt their scalps tingle with fear.

The two massive mantis-like bodies were covered in smooth, hard, obsidian-like armor.

Their heads were triangular, with enormous compound eyes flashing an icy, sinister red in the dim light.

An overwhelming terror engulfed her.

Xurui turned to flee.

The airlock was right there; she was fast and could escape in three seconds if she gave her all.

She shifted her feet lightly, ready to move.

Suddenly, she froze.

No! Xuchu was still asleep in the room!

The two insects advanced toward her.

Xurui stood rigid, motionless, pupils contracting and breathing growing rapid.

“Heh heh.” The female insect leaned in close, seeing her own reflection in Xurui’s pupils, grinning.

“This human seems able to see through us?”

The male’s serrated bone scythes clicked and clattered, producing an ear-piercing sound.

“Kill her.”

Before the words had finished, the male dashed with incredible speed; his sharp scythe, like a snake striking, darted toward Xurui.

Without thinking, she rolled backward violently, the scythe grazing just past her nose.

“Damn it!” the male snarled. “This human is surprisingly agile.”

It gave a low hiss, and several small holes opened in the armor on its body.

Whoosh!

Several grape-sized corrosive liquid bullets, emitting green smoke, shot out like bullets.

Xurui dodged again.

The liquid hit the metal floor, immediately hissing and melting several small holes, releasing pungent white smoke.

...

After all this, could it still be a hallucination?

The screeching corrosive sound filled everyone’s ears from the screen.

“It’s really the insect race! Such an attack method, such corrosive liquid! This is definitely the real insect race!”

“Xurui’s vision was true!”

...

“How is this possible? Did the insect race invade more than twenty years ago? And disguise themselves as humans, blending into the population?”

For a moment, the audience was in an uproar, filled with unease.

Even the few people on stage looked grave.

They had fought the insect race for so many years, never knowing the insect race had the ability to disguise themselves as humans.

The insect race typically fought collectively under the queen’s command, rarely employing solo disguise tactics.

If this was true...

then the problem was severe!

It meant that anyone around them could be an insectoid in disguise!

“Everyone, don’t worry,” Jiang Chen’s steady voice echoed from the megaphone.

“Over the years, humanity has developed many new technologies targeting the insect race.”

“We have a vast Sky Net, various detectors, and weapons specifically designed for the insect race. These two disguised stragglers found on a remote barren planet are nothing to fear.”

“Moreover, if the insect race were truly so forward-thinking as to have infiltrated humans over twenty years ago, our current final battle wouldn’t have succeeded. Don’t forget, just a few days ago, I eliminated the queen—the insect race was defeated.”

The War God’s calm words instantly dispelled everyone’s fear.

That’s right, they had already won; this was the awards ceremony, and the insect race had been defeated!

“There haven’t been reports of insect race sightings these years. Could this really be an isolated incident?”

“The insect race probably chose to disguise themselves as the Bailey couple because they often roamed remote, barren planets—they wouldn’t dare approach technologically advanced worlds.”

“Exactly. If they were truly skilled at disguise, we wouldn’t have won this war.”

With that reassurance, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Xuchu stared at the screen, frowning.

Why was this different from his memories?

He had never seen the Bailey couple as insectoids.

Had he not witnessed this memory firsthand, he wouldn’t have believed such a truth.

Bu Xingye frowned. “Boss Chu, are you sure Xuchu finally went with them? Judging by this, Xurui couldn’t have survived.”

Xuchu nodded firmly. “I’m sure I’m not mistaken. Xuchu pushed me off the ship to go with them.”

Jiang Chen sneered. “She probably willingly followed the couple. She was close to the insect race, wasn’t she?”

“If I hadn’t chased after her in time, the queen would have gotten our deployment maps.”

Did Xurui truly surrender?

So no one realized the couple were insectoids?

They all looked at the screen in silent dread.