Major General Alpha (16): I didn’t expect that the Zerg Queen thinks you smell as good as I do.

Zhou Qinghao suspected that Gu Jun­tian had a split personality, while those watching the livestream were momentarily speechless.

Five high-level Zergs—five in total—and at a time like this, the Crown Prince still had the mind to fool around!

What was going on in his head?

After bringing Zhou Qinghao to the desolate planet, Gu Juntian hadn’t run away; instead, he charged off to fight the Zergs.

Back then, many viewers thought that Gu Juntian had no intention of getting Zhou Qinghao killed, and that he had been framed before.

But some viewers still refused to trust him, believing he had colluded with the Zergs and was deliberately putting on a show for Zhou Qinghao.

Now, though, with five Zergs out at once, Gu Juntian still hadn’t run away but kept fighting.

It seemed he had no connection with the Zergs— but his thought process was questionable.

“Your Highness, be careful!”

“Stop talking, save your strength!”

“Don’t let anything happen!”

“Gu Juntian, I was wrong, I shouldn’t have cursed you before. I’ll delete my comments right away—just don’t die!”

…

People prayed for both Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao to stay safe, but they were also puzzled: “My god, five high-level Zergs—are there really that many?”

“Are high-level Zergs not rare anymore?”

“The Second and Third Legions can boast for months over killing just one high-level Zerg, and here the First Legion keeps running into them like it’s nothing?”

“They just killed four, and now five more show up!”

“Did Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao stumble into a Zerg nest?”

…

Among Zergs, high-level ones were not many in number and usually acted alone, not in groups.

For five high-level Zergs to appear at once was truly shocking.

But this should be the limit—there wouldn’t be more.

The Human Empire had been studying Zergs for years.

The Zerg queen was their absolute center; every Zerg carried her genes.

The queen only birthed high-level and some mid-level Zergs; the rest of the mid-level and all low-level Zergs were actually bred by mid- and low-level Zergs themselves.

Most of the time, the queen gave birth to mid-level Zergs; producing a high-level Zerg required tremendous energy.

Thus, the number of high-level Zergs was limited, far fewer than the S-level Alphas of the Human Empire.

Of course, the vast majority of S-level Alphas in the empire, even with the best mecha, couldn’t take on a high-level Zerg one-on-one.

Even someone like Zhou Qinghao, an ultra-S-level powerhouse, might not win against two at once.

Now, for five high-level Zergs to appear on this desolate planet was extraordinary.

If the reinforcements Gu Juntian mentioned didn’t arrive soon, the odds for him and Zhou Qinghao were grim.

People thought this—then noticed Gu Juntian had stopped shouting.

His eyes were focused, hands moving rapidly to control his mecha, fully concentrated on fighting.

Earlier, when fighting a single Zerg, Gu Juntian’s mecha maneuvers had included many flashy but pointless moves—mainly for show.

To the untrained eye, they looked dazzling, but experts saw them as mere tricks wasting time.

When the Zerg numbers increased, Marshal Lei and others broke into a sweat—at this rate, Gu Juntian would be caught and eaten in no time!

Yet his fighting style changed.

Now, not a single wasted move!

He darted among the Zergs, dodging attacks while striking at their weak points whenever possible.

Every movement was precise and effective.

It turned out his earlier flashy maneuvers were just to get used to the mecha’s controls.

Now he could handle it smoothly, and with five opponents, he had to be cautious—no wasted moves, no unnecessary words.

He couldn’t risk Zhou Qinghao getting hurt because of him.

High-level Zergs looked somewhat like octopuses, with strong, flexible tentacles capable of grabbing and tearing apart enemies.

Though mecha were small compared to them, their tentacles were so agile that catching one was easy.

Only S-level experts could pilot mecha well enough to evade their attacks.

High-level Zergs were formidable—Zhou Qinghao had struggled against just two working together before.

Now, they faced five!

Five Zergs crowding together to attack two small mecha made dodging difficult, but it also meant they might hit each other.

Both Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao knew this.

They mostly dodged, attacking less often, but when they did dodge, they tried to lure the tentacles into hitting each other.

At one point, a tentacle aimed at Zhou Qinghao clashed with one aimed at Gu Juntian.

The two met briefly in mid-air, then split apart to continue fighting.

Working in perfect sync, they darted among the five high-level Zergs, never once being hit. The Zergs, on the other hand, kept hitting their own kind and occasionally getting struck in their weak spots, leaving them all injured.

The viewers were stunned.

“My head is spinning—can someone explain what’s going on?”

“They’re moving so fast I can only see afterimages!”

“I slowed the footage down ten times to watch.”

“So this is what S-level combat looks like? I suddenly feel like such a noob.”

…

Ordinary people couldn’t follow the battle; only the legion’s elite could.

In the First Legion, an S-level veteran general started livestream commentary.

Not so much commentary as pure praise: “Their combat awareness is incredible!”

“Their coordination is flawless!”

“That dodge was razor-thin—can’t believe Gu Juntian pulled it off!”

“That Zerg’s attack went astray—must’ve been hit by a psychic attack!”

…

After a while, the general said, “Gu Juntian’s mental power must be close to Zhou Qinghao’s—he’s also an ultra-S-level powerhouse. What happened with the military academy’s mental power test? Why didn’t they detect it? And Marshal Lei, have you even paid attention to the Crown Prince? How do you not know he’s ultra-S-level? With this level of combat awareness and performance, how has no one noticed? What exactly have you been doing?!”

The general was genuinely angry, thinking Lei had hidden Gu Juntian’s abilities for too long.

Marshal Lei, faced with his old subordinate, was speechless.

He hadn’t known his grandson was this strong either!

Meanwhile, viewers focused on something else: “The Crown Prince looks really handsome when he’s not talking.”

“With how well he and Zhou Qinghao coordinate, it’s obviously true love.”

“Those earlier videos must’ve been fake!”

“I think they might actually kill all five high-level Zergs!”

“Killing high-level Zergs earns loads of military merit, right? Could this get them both promoted to general?”

…

While people debated, on the desolate planet, Gu Juntian’s reinforcements had already arrived.

The five S-level experts were gathered together on a ship.

Also cut off from the net, they didn’t know about the online drama; they were just impressed by Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao’s strength.

“That’s the Crown Prince and Zhou Qinghao, right? Zhou is really strong, but the Crown Prince’s power is beyond my expectations.”

“Seems he’s been hiding his strength all along.”

“Those rumors about him being useless were clearly false!”

…

They’d arrived but didn’t rush to join the battle.

The Crown Prince and Zhou Qinghao were so dazzling right now that stepping in might disrupt their rhythm—or look like they were stealing credit.

Knowing many of his men were loyal to the Second Prince, Gu Juntian had brought almost no one this time to avoid leaks.

But these five S-level experts had brought plenty, even other S-level fighters.

Five A-level juniors followed them too.

The A-level warriors couldn’t even see the fight clearly, so the S-level veterans explained it to them.

After hearing, the A-level fighters were awestruck by Gu Juntian.

Then suddenly, everyone felt a wave of discomfort.

A terrifying pressure weighed down on them.

What was happening? Whose mental power was this?

The five S-level experts’ faces changed.

Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao also went on high alert.

Gu Juntian finally spoke: “It’s the Zerg queen!”

Indeed, it was.

The ground trembled; far away, sand and soil sank deeply, and then a round head emerged.

The Zerg queen looked like an oversized caterpillar.

Its body stayed underground, only its head visible, gazing at Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao: “Didn’t expect to find two… how delicious.”

Zergs and humans had been in a stalemate for a long time.

The universe was vast; in theory, if blocked by the Human Empire, the queen could lead its swarm elsewhere.

But it had persisted in clashing with humans.

The reason was simple—it saw in humans a chance to evolve.

By consuming more humans, especially human powerhouses, it could complete its evolution.

Zhou Qinghao was its target—and a threat it couldn’t allow to grow further.

It had to eat him.

Once the queen appeared, the high-level Zergs stopped attacking, and Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao rose into the air.

Gu Juntian couldn’t help saying, “Qinghao, didn’t think the queen and I would agree that you’re delicious.”

“Shut up,” Zhou Qinghao snapped. “I’ll hold it off—get to the ship and escape!”

Gu Juntian bristled. “Don’t you love me anymore? You’re telling me to shut up and trying to send me away! I’m not leaving—I’ll stick with you for life!”

Zhou Qinghao was anxious. “Stop talking nonsense—go!”

“I’m not going, I’m just not!”

…

The queen’s mental power was immense—it could hear their conversation.

“You’re not going anywhere. I’m going to eat you both,” it said, swallowing audibly. “You smell delicious.”

Zhou Qinghao stared at it tensely, trying to get Gu Juntian to leave.

But Gu Juntian said, “Qinghao, release your pheromones— the more, the better.”

When he smelled Zhou Qinghao’s pheromones, his blood boiled, and he was itching for a fight.

The rush from before had worn off, so now it was time for another boost.