Chapter 895: The Renowned Yang Ze

To a malicious person, the entire world was filled with malice; to a kind person, the world was far more beautiful. Those filled with malice found malice reflected in lies and deception, in the masks that people wore.

As the swarm of bugs approached the settlement, the soldiers grouped up and prepared to break through their lines.

Suddenly, the ground shook. A huge rumble portended the arrival of another five-star bug from underground, a snakelike worm that was the twin of the five-star bug that Li Pu was currently fighting against.

The humongous worm surrounded the encampment, causing the soldiers, civilians, and Martian clans to let out identical looks of despair.

"We're dead now..."

"Won't heaven even give us a chance?"

Unless a miracle occurred, there was no hope of escape. No one else had the strength to prevent the bugs' one-sided slaughter. Civilians scattered and fled, children and babies cried, men howled—and the bugs devoured them all.

While in the middle of combat, Li Pu found himself distracted by the appearance of a second five-star bug. That distraction left an opening for his enemy, which slammed its tail against Li Pu's body and sent him falling to the ground like a meteor.

He smashed into the ground and formed a crater upon impact. Blood seeped out of his mouth as he tried to stand back up, but the bones all throughout his body had been broken. Though he was a fearsome genetic hunter, it would take his body quite some time to regenerate. He wouldn't be able to regain his mobility in the short term.

Li Pu had already been fighting with serious wounds that had yet to heal fully. The one devastating blow from the five-star bug completely crippled his ability to fight.

He lay in the crater, his eyes staring glassily at the sky. He murmured to himself, "We're doomed."

He couldn't have imagined that there was still another five-star bug present at the scene. His body was so badly wounded that he couldn't even move. None of his soldiers or even the Martian clans had the firepower to overwhelm such bugs on their own.

The worm that had taken down Li Pu opened its bloodthirsty maw, revealing sharp, spiky teeth all the way down its throat.

Meanwhile, the soldiers were suffering huge casualties against the other five-star bug blocking their way. At the height of despair, Li Pu suddenly noticed a shadow appearing in the sky. It appeared behind the swarm of bugs that filled the earth and sky, something metallic that seemed to shine behind the swarm of bugs.

Li Pu's face widened into a half-crazed smile. "Am I dreaming...?"

.

A pillar of light pierced through the bugs in the sky, lighting them aflame. It shot straight through the five-star bug's head, causing it to burst in an explosion of blue ichor.

Everyone looked up at the sky, at the burning bugs and the sudden flash of light.

A titanic shuttle could be seen in the distance, with a sleek metal exterior covered in rays of streaking light. They were shocked by its sudden appearance when all hope seemed to be lost.

Even the bugs seemed surprised by this sudden foe. Those in the sky began to fly haphazardly, and those on the ground scurried aimlessly.

The five-star bug that was attacking the soldiers twisted its head to the sky and let out a ghastly screech.

"Yang Ze, go!"

A small dot burst out of the shuttle, surrounded by pale blue ripples of genetic energy. When the soldiers squinted, they could barely make out that the dot was a hunter with his head held high. "[The Boundless Blade: Shark Frenzy]!"

Huge sharks manifested in the air and formed a shark horde about a fifth the size of the shuttle—as though the shuttle were releasing a swarm of cruisers to combat the bugs. Spatial ripples swamped the bugs in the sky like the rising tide, allowing sunlight to be visible once more.

The pale blue sharks careened toward the five-star bug, smashing into its body and destroying it in an instant.

The hunter's demonstration of power shocked the soldiers and civilians. The bugs that they were unable to do anything about were killed in one strike by this man who had leapt down from the heavens.

He alone had reversed the calamitous fate that was about to befall the Martians, who had slaughtered a foe that would have stymied the Marshal of Flame Li Pu himself. Just who could this hunter be?

The Yang clan head was gobsmacked. He squinted, then called out with some hesitation, "Yang Ze?"

Yang Ze landed on the ground and turned toward the Yang clan head. It was clear that Yang Ze recognized him, but then he turned away.

Yang Ze glanced all around him, at the bugs that were swarming all over. He sent his water-attuned genetic energy into the air, causing the white mists of [Mirrored Refraction] to emanate from him.

"That's Yang Ze?!" the Gu clan head asked uncertainly.

Another clan head queried, "Clan Head Yang, Clan Head Gu, it seems like both of you are familiar with this hero?"

The Yang clan head nodded with a complicated expression on his face.

"Do you remember the Yang hunter who helped win the Void Cup?" the Gu clan head replied, with a mocking smile directed at the Yang clan head.

"What?! This hero who fell from the heavens—he's one of the hunters who won us the Void Cup?" Upon learning of his identity, the soldiers and civilians present began to cheer.

"He must be here to save us!"

"Our savior..."

"They're true heroes!"

The atmosphere of despair was washed away with Yang Ze's mists. The soldiers and civilians present smiled with relief.

Although the sudden appearance of the titan-class shuttle had shocked the space bugs, they quickly rallied in a matter of moments. The bugs in the sky furiously struck at the shuttle, while those on the ground swarmed toward the humans.

As the white mist continued to spread, Yang Ze sent his genetic energy swirling around him. Crystalline lotuses condensed in the vicinity of his body.

The Gu clan head continued, "The Yang clan head is intimately familiar with this hero. Isn't that so?"

The Yang clan head's face turned ugly with regret. The mocking tone in the Gu clan head's voice was evident; Yang Ze had originally come from the Yang clan, but the Yang clan had spurned him and pushed him away.

Who would have expected that a nameless bastard like him would undergo such a dramatic metamorphosis after becoming one of Zhang Lie's followers? Not only that, he had even helped win the humans the Void Cup!