A Chemist's Interstellar Saga

Chapter 65: The Insectoid’s Peculiarity
Chapter 65: The Insectoid’s Peculiarity

While the students were enjoying their weekend, the air in a certain room at the Fifth Legion Hospital was getting awkward.

”You mean it came to you on its own, and Arix didn’t attack you on purpose?!” Rhea stared wide-eyed, a bit exasperated as she pointed at Cantet in shock.

”Yeah? Who told you that Arix attacked me on purpose?” Cantet asked, confused.

He wondered if someone was trying to harm his sister by misleading her into confronting Arix.

Rhea was speechless and accused, ”Every time I asked you, you were dodging the question, so I thought you were scared of the Kering family and didn’t dare to say it.”

”Come on, if I were really afraid of the Kering family, would I have competed with Kellan for so long?” Cantet felt a bit guilty at first but then puffed out his chest and retorted.

But then his gaze started to avoid hers again.

Afraid his sister would misunderstand further, Cantet decided to explain, ”I tried to hypnotize Arix to see if I could get some dirt on Kellan. Who knew her psychic power level was higher than mine? If my psychic power hadn’t escaped quickly, I’d be in worse shape than just lying in bed for half a month.”

”Hah! Now you’re proud of it?” Rhea rolled her eyes and then glared at Cantet, gritting her teeth, ”Why didn’t you just explain this from the beginning?”

Hearing his sister’s accusation, Cantet’s eyes looked a bit pitiful, ”How could I just tell everyone about such an embarrassing failure? It’s so humiliating.”

”So, to save your face, now I’m in the hospital too. Are you happy now?” Rhea glared at Cantet, who was in the bed next to her.

Cantet turned over, showing his back to Rhea, pulled the blanket over his head, and muttered, ”Fine, fine, I’ll tell you next time, okay?”

”You’re still hiding? Does it help? Now think about how to apologize to Arix.” Rhea looked at the hiding Cantet, annoyed.

”But we’re the ones injured and in the hospital. Why should we apologize?” Cantet peeked out from under the blanket, looking defiant.

Rhea laughed angrily. She grabbed a pillow and threw it at Cantet, scolding, ”Oh, you’ve got guts, Cantet. Blaming the victim now? If you weren’t my brother, I’d smack you.”

”Fine, fine, I’ll apologize, okay?” Cantet caught the thrown pillow and reluctantly agreed.

Then he carefully handed the pillow back to his sister.

”Hmph! That’s more like it,” Rhea said with a satisfied grunt.

Rhea placed the pillow back and lay on the bed in a comfortable position. She casually asked, ”How should we apologize? Should we buy a gift?”

”Seriously, does an apology need a ceremony? Girl, keep it simple, please,” Cantet was almost breaking down.

No one knew who put his sister and him in the same hospital room. He felt like he was being pranked.

At the legion hospital, Arix sneezed several times. Rubbing her nose, she thought, ’It’s getting colder; maybe I should wear an extra layer tomorrow.’

Meanwhile, at the border where the Fifth Legion was located...

The insectoids launched another swarm, attempting to invade the Alliance’s planets.

Facing the fierce and relentless attack from the insectoids, Kellan led a mothership and twelve warships. They floated firm at the border, like a barrier, keeping the terrifying swarm outside the Alliance territory.

In the mothership’s main control room, Kellan observed the large virtual map and commanded the battle mechas on the carrier deck. He coordinated their attacks and retreats based on real-time battlefield information.

”501 Mecha Team, support 601 Mecha Team, over.”

”503 Mecha Team, retreat from the battlefield, 603 Mecha Team, fill in, over.”

”505 Mecha Team, watch out, another batch of insectoids incoming, over.”

”505 received, over.”Kellan finished directing the mecha teams and then began commanding the twelve warships.

”All warships, increase firepower! Activate particle beams, activate particle beams!”

”Ship 1, received, over.”

”Ship 2, received, over.”

”Ship 3, received, over.”

The power of the particle beams was equivalent to modern nuclear bombs. Following the commander’s orders, all warships activated their particle beams.

Accelerators on the warships generated high-energy particles, which then gathered into dense beams. These beams were launched consecutively, hitting large areas of insectoids.

Time passed minute by minute, and by late afternoon, the swarm started to retreat from the Fifth Legion border.

As the insectoids fully withdrew, everyone finally relaxed, breathing a collective sigh of relief.

In the mothership’s main control room, Kellan handed over command to other officers. Then, exhausted, he left to rest in their quarters with his deputy, Basell.

Walking down the corridor of the mothership, Kellan suddenly asked, ”Basell, have there been any unusual activities from the insectoids recently?”

”Sir, the insectoids have been persistently trying to invade the Alliance. Just today’s attack is the third this week. I’m afraid they’ll keep attacking,” Basell reported the current situation.

”What about the other legions?” Kellan asked after a moment of thought.

”Though they also face insectoid swarms, they aren’t nearly as frequent as what the we’re experiencing,” Basell replied, still somewhat puzzled.

Hearing this, Kellan rubbed his temples, forming a suspicion in his mind.

It seemed likely that the insectoids had learned about the Alliance having a Supergiant+ psychic power user—his sister, Arix. For now, they were launching open swarm attacks. But if these direct assaults failed, Kellan feared the insectoids might resort to more covert tactics next.

After all, it was much easier to eliminate a major threat before it fully matured.

In contrast to the gunfire and explosions at the border, the training base was peaceful and calm.

Arix yawned as she got out of bed, stretched lazily, and went to the sink to freshen up.

After washing, she felt much more awake and carried the basin back to her dormitory. Just as she was about to put the basin down, her opticomputer on her left wrist suddenly rang.

”Hmm?” Arix was puzzled for a moment. She put the basin into the cupboard and then opened the virtual screen of the opticomputer.