Chapter 915: A Bold Guess

After the end of the battle against the bug king, the Zenith Dojo began to clean up the battlefield.

The full-fledged battle between Zhang Lie and the bug king had shocked the rest of the humanoid bugs. The disciples of the Zenith Dojo, who had retreated from the battlefield, were too far away to be able to block the bugs from fleeing.

"The most important threat has been dealt with, and the danger on Mars is over."

Zhang Lie's sensory perception allowed him to identify that there were no large swarms of bugs remaining on Mars, only a few fleeing humanoid bugs.

"We've done enough, and Mars can handle the rest on its own. The revival of Mars will have to depend on the Martians' own strength."

Yang Ze bowed. "Thank you, Captain."

He knew very well that, if Zhang Lie hadn't come along with him, Mars could very well have been destroyed. If Yang Ze had shown up on Mars himself, he might not have been able to defeat the bug king that had appeared. Furthermore, if he were alone, the bugs would have swiftly devoured all the resources on Mars—and who knew what would happen then?

There might well have appeared seven- or eight-star bugs, which would have utterly decimated the remaining Martian population. No hunters would have been able to make it out alive, and Mars would be drained of life.

This was no exaggeration. Before the arrival of the Zenith Dojo, the space in the vicinity of Mars had been surrounded by bugs, and there was no way any human on Mars could have escaped. The Martians would have had no choice but to await death.

The Martians only had two options available to them: commit suicide, or die in battle against the bugs. Regardless of which option they chose, their death was unavoidable.

If Yang Ze had shown up on his own, he would either have failed to even make it into Mars, or he would perish fighting for his homeland. Neither option was appealing; Zhang Lie's arrival had prevented an impending tragedy.

As a result, Yang Ze was overwhelmingly grateful to Zhang Lie. Without Zhang Lie, there would be no Yang Ze; without Zhang Lie, even Yang Ze's hometown would be gone.

The members of Team Zenith and the disciples of the Zenith Dojo, seeing Yang Ze's grateful expression, were touched by the scene. Zhang Lie's actions had gained him the approval and respect of all the disciples who had participated in the rescue effort; actions spoke louder than words.

"Any problem with Mars is a problem that extends to the rest of the solar system. If these bugs were to gain a foothold on Mars, their next target would surely be Earth. Protecting your homeland is the same as protecting my homeland."

Even so, Yang Ze was still touched.

Zhang Lie continued, "Have the disciples of the Zenith Dojo help clean up the rest of the bugs. Hong Xi, I'll leave you in charge of supervising the clean-up efforts."

Hong Xi drummed up her courage. "Captain, I intend to advance to the third realm after we're finished with Mars. I've already finished accumulating my disaster gene fragments."

"Very well. I'll leave the ascension to you. Make sure to hand off your duties and responsibilities before you do so—don't leave a mess behind."

Hong Xi smiled in excitement. "Yes, Captain! I intend to delegate my responsibilities in the kingdom of Limit to my brother."

Zhang Lie clasped both hands behind his back. "A trial is in order, then—I'd like to confirm that Hong Xiao has the administrative ability to handle the affairs of an entire kingdom."

He turned to Hong Xiao. "In that case, I'll have you tabulate the point and reward distribution for killing bugs. No disciple should receive less rewards than they were promised, but they shouldn't get anything extra, either."

Hong Xiao had heard Hong Xi mention that she would be handing over her responsibilities to him, but he had expected that there would be some sort of adjustment period during which he could learn how to take on those tasks. He hadn't expected that his sister would be departing so quickly.

Hong Xiao didn't mind taking over the reins—or rather, he didn't realize just how heavy the burden he had to shoulder was. He had focused on his personal advancement in the second realm, leaving the duties of managing the kingdom to his sister. He had never undertaken his sister's role in any capacity.

Hong Xiao asked with some trepidation, "Will I be able to handle everything?"

Hong Xi nodded. "Don't worry. I'll help you adjust to my duties and get started with them before I leave."

"I'll leave the specifics to the two of you to handle, then."

Zhang Lie and the members of Team Zenith returned to the military encampment, at which point Yang Ze immediately made an announcement.

"Friends of Mars, Martians one and all, I have an important announcement to make! After the mess these last few days, I think this will be welcome news." Yang Ze's voice spread far and wide with an infusion of genetic energy, and he could be heard all over the encampment.

"What's going on?"

The civilians and hunters of the encampment gathered quickly.

"Have the bugs in the vicinity been dealt with?"

"Did the reinforcements from the Zenith Dojo hold off the bug invasion?"

"Were you able to establish communications with those from other settlements? Have you found more sources of food?"

The civilians and hunters each began to guess as to what the good news could be.

Yang Ze shook his head. "No, you're all mistaken."

The mood instantly fell. "I suppose not. If the bugs were so easy to deal with, Mars wouldn't be in such a sorry state."

"I thought the Zenith Dojo was supposed tot be impressive, but it looks like it's still no match for the bugs..."

"There's no need to be so disappointed, disciples of the Zenith Dojo. We appreciate that you've come, at least."

"...be more positive," Yang Ze urged.

"Are there more reinforcements?"

"Has Earth sent more aid?"

"Or perhaps other races from the Milky Way?"

The civilians' eyes lit up.

"More reinforcements is always a good sign. We'll be able to handle the bugs together!"

"Right, the more people there are, the more hope we have of defeating the bug invasion."

"As long as the rest of the galaxy is willing to help, we'll surely make it through this crisis!"

Yang Ze shook his head. "There are no reinforcements."

"No reinforcements? What could the good news be, then?"

"I knew it! Who would send reinforcements so easily? The reason the Zenith Dojo was willing to come has to be because of Mr. Yang. The other races of the Milky Way hardly care about us!"

"Mr. Yang, won't you tell us the news?"

"Right, we don't want to get our hopes up for nothing!"

Yang Ze, overjoyed with relief that the crisis on Mars was finally over, called out, "Guess more boldly! You might just get the right answer that way."

"You couldn't have exterminated all the bugs, could you?"

Another hunter suggested, "You've destroyed the main bug nest and sent the bugs scattering. The disciples of the Zenith Dojo are chasing them down right now!"

Everyone else in the settlement began to laugh at the joke—not maliciously, but rather with delight at the possibility that such a thing could be true, even if it were just a daydream...