Chapter 117: Devouring the Beast, Defeating the Late-Stage lv28 Tiger Bug

Under the barrage of hundreds of lv19 shotguns, a formidable firepower was unleashed. Even the fierce insect swarm suffered severe casualties.

As replicas of lv19 grenade launchers, these shotguns, despite lacking additional attributes, boasted a terrifying 190 damage, enough to annihilate any sub-Tier 2 life forms.

Especially at a close range of two hundred meters, the explosion's ten-meter diameter flames, along with the heat waves and shockwaves, were immensely impactful, brushing against everyone's faces.

Just one salvo instantly killed over two hundred Black Spinal Bugs and severely injured four to five hundred more.

The Black Spinal Bug swarm was halted five hundred meters away.

Before they could react, another wave of firepower followed.

The 5,000-round space reserve, combined with a one-round-per-second recharge rate, gave everyone the confidence to pull the trigger without restraint, limited only by the trigger speed.

Consecutive shelling struck the swarm, covering these clustered, disordered Black Spinal Bugs...

The death and injury count kept rising.

Lin Feng stood at the bow, holding his newly upgraded lv22 Armor-Piercing Cannon, watching the distant city.

Vigilant for potential Tier 2 insects.

The upgraded cannon's base attributes slightly increased, enhancing its lethality against Tier 2 insects:

"Armor-Piercing Cannon lv22/29, Orange Quality"

"Upgrade Points 0/4, Damage 350, Effective Range 10 km, Remaining Ammo 8000/8000"

"Extra Attributes: Bullet Regen 1/s, Space Magazine 8000 Rounds, Death's Eye 0/50, Fire Coverage Damage 50+50/s, Coverage Area 10,000 Square Meters, Bullet Time 10s, Cooldown One Minute"

The base damage increased by 50 points to 350, allowing it to severely injure or kill lv26+ late-stage Tier 2 insects with a headshot critical using Death's Eye.

Bullet time cooldown was reduced to one minute.

Armed with such a powerful weapon, Lin Feng's confidence soared.

Soldiers wielding the replica shotguns felt similarly.

The intense shooting and explosions lasted about a minute, each soldier firing roughly thirty shells. On average, each could severely injure or kill two to three Black Spinal Bugs.

Rough estimates showed six to seven thousand Black Spinal Bugs lay dead across the two to three kilometers before them.

A Tier 3 early-stage queen could control three to four thousand, up to ten thousand, soldier bugs at most, with one to two percent directly dead or injured.

Lin Feng could handle a Tier 3 early-stage queen's ground assault.

The Jia City queen, underestimating the enemy, wouldn't let this defeat go unpunished.

Especially since the Black Spinal Bugs were killed by equipment replicas, their internal evolutionary energy was absorbed, reducing their recycling value...

Letting the enemy escape would be a huge loss for the queen.

This was why the Haicheng queen sought to consume the first line's forces: devouring these ten thousand enhancers and awakeners would offset her losses.

Recycling ensured no loss.

But Lin Feng sought not just insect extermination and leveling, but live bugs and corpses.

Once the queen realized something was amiss and withdrew thousands of Black Spinal Bugs, Shen Jie wanted to pursue with the team.

Lin Feng waved him off:

"Stay on the highway; rushing into the city risks Tier 2 insect ambushes."

"Collect the wounded Black Spinal Bugs and dump them in the battleship's storage."

Shen Jie nodded, gathering subordinates into ten three-vehicle squads.

They ventured into the two-kilometer insect-littered field.

Experienced in collecting live bugs and cleaning the battlefield, Shen Jie knew what to watch for.

Fortunately, the Black Spinal Bugs were densely packed, concentrating casualties. Any surviving bugs were singled out, their limbs removed with machine guns, leaving the torso and jaws, then thrown into the Land Cruiser Battleship following them.

Lin Feng watched the data panel, smiling at the rising live bug count.

From a dozen to over a hundred.

After a dozen minutes of battlefield clearing, the team collected 184 live Black Spinal Bugs.

A lucrative haul.

Enough to trade with needed resources.

Including the state guard's live bug condition for official officer status.

With live bugs sorted, Lin Feng directed Chen Yanyan to activate the battleship's Land and Sea Navigator bonus, deploying the two folding push bars at the bow, with the lower opening forming a funnel-like resource collection system.

As the engine roared, the Land Cruiser Battleship, under thousands of horsepower, began sweeping the battlefield at 60 km/h.

Countless Black Spinal Bug remains, along with half-meter soaked soil, were consumed by the battleship's maw.

Burned in the central furnace, waste was expelled from the stern.

With the battlefield cleared, Lin Feng's data updated:

"Storage Space: Black Spinal Bug Live 184/200, Black Spinal Bug Mandibles 123/200, Red Quality"

"Note: Storage space insufficient, high-value late-stage Black Spinal Bug mandibles retained, early-stage corpses burned for Land Cruiser Battleship energy, stored."

"Land Cruiser Battleship lv20/29, Orange Quality"

"Upgrade Points 0/10, Defense 180, Damage 150, Average Speed 200 km/h, Endurance Limit 1640 km"

Lin Feng calculated: five Black Spinal Bug corpses powered the battleship for one kilometer. It seemed costly, but insect bodies were essentially free energy. Aside from the mandibles, the rest was expendable.

Space was still limited, as was the level.

Upgrading the Land Cruiser Battleship to lv29, expanding storage to thousands of cubic meters, would let Lin Feng devour endless live bugs and materials.

Even install production lines for on-site synthesis of needed items.

Like lv10 Red Xuan Armor from lv9 Red Armor Shield, equipping his forces for a mobile power rivaling the queen.

The battleship as a fortress base, unchallenged!

Seeing the data, Lin Feng envisioned the future with excitement.

But reaching that step required a long journey and harvesting most Tier 2 Tiger Bugs from the queen for equipment upgrades.

Surface skirmishes wouldn't suffice.

Lin Feng could handle a dozen Tier 2 Tiger Bugs, but lacked the opportunity.

To speed up leveling, he had one option.

Proactively attack, delve into the insect lair.

Seek Tiger Bugs in subterranean caverns.

Achieving this meant arming his team to withstand a queen's full assault, holding the frontline to give Lin Feng a chance to approach the lair!

That would be the turning point!

This was Lin Feng's strategy.

First, he needed a reliable melee weapon, bound for upgrade to orange quality, preparing for close combat in the caverns.

As Lin Feng pondered future plans, the battleship's machine guns and autocannons fired skyward.

Gunfire spewed flames, and a metallic rain swept the sky.

Chen Yanyan's voice came from behind:

"I see Cyan Wing Bugs!"

Lin Feng's eyes narrowed, raising his gun, switching to lv9 divine pistol mode while using telepathy to scan hidden aerial threats.

He quickly spotted several Cyan Wing Bugs hiding three to four kilometers away, using buildings as cover to observe the human army.

Lin Feng didn't ignore them. Seeing machine guns were insufficient, he switched to lv19 grenade launcher mode, targeting their position and firing.

The 220 mm howitzer-like blast severed buildings, the explosion's heatwave killing the fragile creatures.

With the queen's "eyes" down, the city outskirts held no value...

Confirming underground safety, Lin Feng ordered a continued advance.

The queen avoided battle, so he'd force her hand.

The Land Cruiser Battleship led the way, followed by Li Ran's thirty vehicles.

As they entered the city...

They saw many Red Beetles and Black Spinal Bugs hidden in street corners.

Unconcerned with the remnants, Lin Feng instructed his men to handle them with shotguns, avoiding building collapse. If needed, use machine guns.

Shen Jie, with six vehicles, left the main force.

Capable of close combat, he and two squads could handle urban Black Spinal Bug encounters.

Soon, Shen Jie returned with twenty Cyan Wing Bug corpses.

The dead bugs were loaded into a pickup bed, wings cut and dumped into the battleship's tail entrance.

Stored automatically in the storage space.

Lin Feng reserved fifty cubic meters for other materials.

Especially rare Cyan Wing Bugs and Tier 2 insect corpses.

This expedition highlighted storage importance.

Sadly, he hadn't foreseen such opportunity before upgrading, or the Thirteenth Division could easily defeat this inexperienced queen.

But its territory lacked strategic value, so it was overlooked.

Seeing the wasted materials burned for energy or discarded, Lin Feng's urge to duplicate the Land Cruiser Battleship intensified.

Duplicating eight lv19 Flying Wing Vehicles would add three to four hundred cubic meters of storage from their trunks alone.

Alleviating current space issues.

Without recruiting his team, five hundred cubic meters sufficed.

With Cyan Wing Bug wings returned, Lin Feng upgraded Chen Yanyan's lv19 Red Xuan Armor, granting absolute defense, explosive scales, and an escape method: flight mode.

Eighteen wings remained, some for vehicle duplication, the rest as rewards for Red Xuan Armor upgrades.

Flight mode was a rare ability, one armor equaled a rare awakener.

This envy and desire motivated the team to fight for achievements.

As Lin Feng finished, they reached Jia City's vicinity, two to three kilometers from the outskirts.

Surveying the insect-occupied desolate streets, Lin Feng noticed Red Beetles and occasional Black Spinal Bugs retreating.

Even those emerging from neighborhoods vanished quickly.

Lin Feng frowned, ordering everyone to conceal and disperse to avoid encirclement.

The ground trembled slightly.

Nearby, behind city center skyscrapers, a swarm of yellow giants emerged.

Tiger Bugs!

Ranging from early to mid-Tier 2, led by a late-stage lv28 beast.

The swarm, over ten strong, was four kilometers from the Land Cruiser Battleship.

Lin Feng detected the Tiger Bug surge via telepathy and the lv22 Armor-Piercing Cannon's scope.

The lv28 Tiger Bug, standing over twenty meters, filled the six-lane main street!

Its data was quickly identified:

"Tiger Bug, lv28/29"

"Health 880, Physique 850, Spirit 50"

"Mid-Tier Insect Unit, upgraded from Tier 1 Black Spinal Bug, with formidable body functions, highly aggressive. Jaw strength exceeds eighty tons, speed over 150 km/h, an insect siege weapon."

Upgraded identification provided detailed Tiger Bug data.

Lin Feng's heart trembled!

Simultaneously, the recently vanished Red and Black Spinal Bugs resurfaced, gathering en masse...

Encircling the human invaders.

Lin Feng's expression changed, shouting:

"Abandon vehicles! Take cover in buildings!"

"Hide inside structures!!!"

Li Ran reacted first.

Danger approached, detected by Lin Feng.

He ordered everyone to form twelve-man teams, blocking Black Spinal Bug attacks while retreating to nearby buildings.

Choose wide structures, harder to destroy.

Indoor Red Beetles died under machine gun fire, posing no threat.

The real danger was Black Spinal Bugs and the far stronger Tier 2 Tiger Bugs!

With jaw forces of ten to dozens of tons, fortifications crumbled under their assault, let alone fragile buildings.

Dispersing into buildings avoided annihilation by Tiger Bugs.

Their size limited movement.

If needed, retreat to basements, blocking Black Spinal Bug entry.

Compared to scattering soldiers, Lin Feng faced greater pressure.

He had to eliminate the lv28 Tiger Bug fast, or its approach would breach the Land Cruiser Battleship's armor.

With 850 physique and eighty-ton strength, it could penetrate the battleship's defense.

Fortunately, the Tier 2 insects remained foolish.

The strongest late-stage Tiger Bug, relying on size and strength, charged ahead.

Without escort, it gave Lin Feng a clear shot at its head!

Timing the jaw's opening, a 350-damage shell would obliterate its brain.

Lin Feng focused, activating Death's Eye, entering a trance-like aim.

Chen Yanyan steadied the battleship, assisting Lin Feng's sniping.

Only one chance.

A miss meant no second shot!

Lin Feng squinted...

When ready, he pulled the trigger.

"Boom!"

The lv28 Tiger Bug's jaws erupted in a massive explosion!

BOOM!!!

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