Chapter 627: Chapter 627 Bee
To be honest, sotis I am really curious about the male-to-female ratio issue among the Xyrin Apostles. Whether it’s a race with more females or more males, I always see it as a sociological conundrum. Strictly speaking, the gender ratio doesn’t an much to a race like the Xyrin Apostles, who can replenish their populace from the production line at critical monts, but as a nut-cracking Earthling, I still want to delve into it.
Looking purely at population ratios, the Xyrin Apostles under my command are definitely a case of more males than females. Those Imperial Soldiers strong as tigers and bears were almost entirely big fellas, while the delicate female Xyrin Soldiers were few and far between, mostly consisting of specialties like Xyrin Agents, Fire Control Nodes, Battlefield Computation Cores, and the like. And as everyone knows, in the Xyrin Empire, eighty percent of the population are Soldiers…
So to put it that way, the Xyrin Empire really does have more males than females.
But then, why do I feel like the Xyrin Apostles hopping around before my eyes are mostly girls? Let’s not talk about several top leaders of the Empire and a few others doing chores at ho; those are our own girls, sticking a guy in there would require him to be softened and trained to be cute before he’s allowed to pass, just like Lady Shining, who has already beco the children’s nanny. Then, moving down, all the Armored Scorpions in the Heroic Combat Soldiers are big sisters and all the Ravens are soft girls. It could be explained by peculiar racial traits or physical restrictions, but…
Why is it that from the Heroic Combat Soldiers upward, the Xyrin Apostles left are all young ladies? Why do all the combat-powerful, highly prominent Xyrin Apostles appear to be girls? Is this Empire a terrifying place where twenty percent of the won lead the eighty percent of n, with fewer and fewer n’s positions the higher you go—a matriarchal empire?
At this mont, I am confused.
And thinking that at the very top of this bizarre system stood myself and this Glutton sister beside makes even more confused—am I going to be feminized soday to fit in with local customs?
“Ah Jun, are you hungry?”
Seeing my instantly frozen expression undergo rapid changes, Sandora imdiately leaned in with concern and took a guess using her own logic.
Darling, strictly speaking, a normal organism can feel discomfort in ways other than being hungry. Don’t apply your super-strong physique that only feels hunger and is forever healthy to , you silly goose!
“It’s nothing, I just exclaid in surprise to see another young lady appear.”
I muttered under my breath and then braced myself for the enemy quietly floating in the air in front of .
Indeed, those Guardians floating several ters above were all female. Their slender, fragile figures were clad in so kind of close-fitting war armor that I had never seen, with simple blue and white light patterns running along the body’s lines, constantly moving. It was unclear whether these were external energy pathways or just decorative items, but they did accentuate the body quite well. Their features were indistinguishable; each Guardian had a pale blue crystal face shield covering three-fifths of her face from top to bottom, revealing only a delicate nose and lips. The shields were engraved with strange red symbols, and with my limited understanding of the Xyrin Language, I could barely make out that they were numbers, probably their codes.
But what drew the most attention were the “wings” floating behind them.
They were the sa kind of “Floating Cannons” that we had just destroyed by the dozens. It turns out these were part of their equipnt; each Guardian had three pairs of elongated, diamond-shaped “wings” symtrically distributed behind her. When spread out, there was about a thirty-degree angle between them. These wings were not attached to their bodies but floated at a certain distance, quivering slightly in midair, giving these frail female Guardians an insect-like feel from afar—don’t say it’s weird; that’s just how it feels to right now.
Perhaps that’s where the na “Leader Bee” cos from?
“Intruders, the outermost last defense line of the Literature Hall, surrender imdiately. The librarian will protect the Literature Hall. Sisters, fight for the Literature Hall!”
With a voice devoid of any organic quality and a tallic trembling sensation, the leader of the guardians, marked with the number one on her faceplate, pointed in our direction and suddenly spoke. She had pale blue hair that nearly reached her ankles, which had been particularly eye-catching from the start. As she issued what seed to be a slightly grammatically incorrect command, the other Leader Bees imdiately sprang into action. Their “wings” vanished into space rifts behind them and then reappeared all around us!
Leader Bees in the style of the Wang Zhicaibao!
Hundreds of such “Floating Cannons” sealed off the already narrow corridor junctions, firing energy beams at us from every direction. As they shot at us, they also kept making short-range jumps, their positions in space elusive and unpredictable. Occasionally, they would seize the mont to lunge forward for a close-range slash. The sharp edges of these “wings” were certainly no less lethal than Vega’s twin blades. Such flexible, varied, and skillfully odd attack thods would undoubtedly have the upper hand in a battle of equals.
But in reality, they were not much of a threat to a group of Leader-level Apostles. My energy shield could easily withstand all their attacks, and the defenses of the “wings” themselves were not much to speak of either. A single energy rebound could burn them up. However, I soon noticed from the corner of my eye that simply destroying these crystal wings was futile; new wings would always manifest behind the Leader Bees.
Their true form was undying; their weapons, infinite.
“Pick off the true forms of the Leader Bees and leave that leader; I’ll soon have her under control,” Sandora seed to understand this type of Xyrin unit very well and imdiately alerted us. Pandora and Visca stopped bothering with the annoying wings and began sniping at the true forms of the Leader Bees in the distance.
“Boom—Boom boom—”
The Sniper Guns, designed to take down lightweight spaceships, thudded consecutively. The weapons in the hands of the two junior generals could even pierce the armor of warships, let alone the “Bees” whose armor seed barely thicker than a bodysuit. The latter, when hit, often only had ti for their Ghost Energy Shields to flash before being instant-killed. Surprisingly, the Leader Bees didn’t leave bodies after their “death”; the mont they were destroyed, they turned into a ssy cluster of lights and then slowly dissipated into the air.
Despite the enemy’s troubleso combat style, due to the level gap, there was really no difficulty in this fight at all. In just a few minutes, Pandora and Visca had picked off all the guardians, except for the long-haired Leader Bee, who had been singled out by Sandora and was now floating in space, dazed.
She had already been mind-controlled by Sandora.
“Her mind is full of gibberish; she’s really troubleso to control,” Sandora curled her lip and beckoned to the now harmless forr guardian, who obediently flew over like a marionette on strings.
“Alaya, use your spirit assimilation to enter her soul world, which should now be in idle mode. Since you are a pure energy body, just do sothing random inside, and you can reactivate her.”
The Dull Cat Angel nodded, transforming into a white light, and instantaneously rged into the body of the Leader Bee. It looked like she was possessed by a ghost…
Three minutes passed, and there was no movent.
Curious, I asked what the idle angel was up to. Her groggy response nearly made choke with frustration, and I couldn’t help but lash out, “Alaya! ‘Do sothing random’ doesn’t include going in for a nap! Is sleeping all that’s left of your daily activities?”
Everyone: “…”
Who knows what that dumb Angel did afterward in the Soul World, but the Leader Bee controlled by Sandora suddenly trembled slightly, followed by a strange noise that sounded throughout the area, like a radio with an intercepted signal. Was this supposed to be a reboot?
That strange noise lasted for about ten seconds before Alaya left the guard’s body and continued to act as our flashlight. Then, an inorganic voice again emitted from the Leader Bee’s mouth, “Core Leader Bee mode ended, returning to standby status. Three seconds, two seconds, one second, reawakening, reloading personality mories, recovering damaged data… Recovery at thirty percent, discarding other data, Energy System functioning well, Weapon System functioning well, Auxiliary System functioning well, checking offline equipnt… Friend-or-foe identification module successfully back online, confirming current mission: Guard Literature Hall, the mission has failed, Literature Hall’s surface defenses breached, the breaching party… major system contradiction, breaching party identified as the Empire’s Supre Authority, original mission terminated due to logical error, automatically awaiting the latest command from the current Supre Authority.”
After reporting on her self-diagnostic progress like a robot, this Leader Bee finally lifted her head and directed a Xyrin Army salute towards Sandora’s direction, “Emperor! The Librarian is back to normal and awaiting commands!”
Uh, what about ?
No sooner had this thought crossed my mind than the Leader Bee, who claid to be the Librarian, turned towards , saluting in the sa manner, “Emperor, the Librarian is back to normal and awaiting commands!”
Really now… Imperial Soldiers with such high average combat power have such low AI? Doesn’t that seem problematic? How co this one seems even more rigid than your average Xyrin Soldier?
“All Leader Bees are like that,” explained Sandora, noticing the puzzlent on my face. She smiled as she elaborated, “They’re actually quite smart. This way of speaking and thinking is characteristic of their Race, Ah Jun. Let introduce you to the third Heroic Combat Soldier of the Empire, the most enigmatic battlefield Raven and Commander, the Leader Bee. They are not universally used across the Empire, so it’s probably Pandora and Visca’s first ti seeing one in person as well.”
Both Qianqian and I were stunned.
“Hero… Combat Soldier?” I looked skeptically at the statuesque, long-haired Leader Bee who seed to be successfully subdued and now in standby mode. This intelligence was indeed sudden, “This is the Empire’s third Heroic Combat Soldier?”
The three great Heroic Combatants of the Empire were the Scorpion, the Raven, and the Bee… Don’t tell there’s soone nad Zhao Zhongxiang among the ancient ancestors of the Empire? What the hell, this is like an Animal Kingdom!
Alright, I shouldn’t be nitpicking about that, but you have to understand. Just dealing with Raven and Armored Scorpion bickering and squabbling is enough to drive nuts, let alone adding this extrely peculiar, almost unbelievably characterless Bee to the mix. Is Shadow City going to turn into a wildlife park? Won’s argunts are scarier than n hurling Bricks, you know? After filtering through my hands, all three of these great Heroic Combatant types have turned into ladies. If Shadow City really does get turned over to Lin Xue, that crazy girl, and rebranded as the Won’s Federation, who am I supposed to reason with?!
The above rant was just one aspect, but more importantly, if this type of unit is considered a Heroic Combat Soldier, aren’t they too weak?
Despite their tricky tactics and being far stronger than the average Xyrin Soldier, their strength compared to the Armored Scorpion and the Raven was pitiful. If you count the Shadow Soldiers they initially released using their special skills as combat power, once they entered the fray themselves, they were like lambs to the slaughter. How could the third Heroic Combat Soldier be such an unreliable unit? Were they just there for show?
“Ah Jun? Are you hungry again?” Sandora imdiately ca over to , her logic that “any bad mood ant definite hunger” firmly ingrained in her mind.
“No, it’s a stomachache… Alright, fine. Leader Bee, Heroic Combat Soldier, understood. But, those Bees’ combat power… uh, speaking of which, since these guards can have their senses restored, then the ones we just took down…”
I was suddenly struck by this thought, and my expression darkened imdiately. I had assud that these Library Guardians were just mindless Combat Robots, but it turned out that they were rely trapped in a logical loop, like the Leader Bee here who had regained her senses. Then the ones we had killed just now…they were all her sisters from this silent individual’s line!
I still couldn’t achieve the so-called ruler’s heartlessness, so the thought filled with guilt and regret. Given our extra-normal strength, it would have been possible to capture all Leader Bees alive, but…
“Ah Jun, stop worrying,” Sandora imdiately guessed my thoughts and turned to the long-haired girl who was silently on standby, “Your soldiers have already been eliminated, now let them reappear.”
Leader Bee understood and started reconstructing the Librarian unit.
The latter nodded, stretched out her arms, and six slender crystal wings imdiately detached from her body, opening several Teleportation Gates in the open space before us.
And just like that, the Library Guardians that had been destroyed earlier walked out one by one!
Sandora explained to us on the side, “This is why I told you to feel free to kill the other Guardians. Leader Bee, as a Heroic Combat Soldier, is quite special. They are not a unit ant for front-line combat, and as you may have noticed, Ah Jun, their attack and defense capabilities are not strong. Their versatile thod of fighting is only a ans of self-protection. In close combat, the weak Blade Cannons are no match for Armored Scorpions; in terms of range, Leader Bee’s Floating Cannons are nothing compared to a single Chain Lightning from a Raven; for defense, they can barely compete with Raven Mages. These special units’ true purpose is support, all kinds of support. Through a Crystal Technology that sits between mystic and scientific, their ‘wings’ can produce various effects, such as projecting the Shadow Soldiers we just eliminated, simulating the armants of Warships they’ve been loaded onto, creating Isolation Zones, producing mirror images of friendly units, or coordinating the firepower of allies on the battlefield, amplifying the power of the Storm Commander’s halo. Warships linked to Leader Bee can also receive optimization to their fire control and Energy Systems. Yet their most miraculous ability is this—resurrecting allies.
Each Leader Bee is a mobile Soul Furnace; their crystal power can collect the souls of high-level Apostles who have fallen on the battlefield, rapidly uploading them to the nearest Glory Starship to evacuate from combat, or even resurrect them on the spot. This is almost the most appreciated among their various abilities. The only limitation is the fragility of the soul—each high-level Apostle can only be resurrected by a Leader Bee once every seven days, and Leader Bees can only resurrect high-level Apostles. They are powerless against weaker Xyrin Soldiers or the too powerful Leader-level Apostles—unless a Leader Bee evolves to an Emperor Level.
That is why Leader Bees, who are only sowhat stronger than ordinary soldiers and have no remarkable attack or defense, are referred to as Heroic Combat Soldiers. Under normal circumstances, they are even considered to be the foremost among the three Heroic Combat Soldiers—speaking purely in terms of versatility.
As I earnestly absorbed Sandora’s introduction to Leader Bees, I grew more and more amazed by this long-haired, stoic Bee beside who always wore a mask. I finally concluded, “You’re a tri-role Priest, huh!”
Leader Bee: “…”
Regardless, I now understood Leader Bee’s position on the battlefield. They might lack impressive attack and defense abilities, but they possess nurous practical support skills. Within a limited range, they can use Crystal Technology to adjust the status of allies, enhance weapon precision, optimize energy systems, and even serve as temporary communication towers or fire control nodes. In crucial monts, they can even resurrect important units like frontline Commanders, offering a second chance to combat squads that suffered catastrophic losses. They are the perfect frontline Nanny and Halo Warrior—the team can lack DPS—we’ll make do with Tanks; it can lack crowd control—we’ll make do with Tanks; it might not have enough scouting units—we’ll make do with Tanks; but it absolutely cannot do without this type of profession that bundles buffs, resurrection, and communication—allowing the Tanks to endure more punishnt.
Thus, having a Tank in the team is crucial… Okay, I digress, let start over…
This mass-produced unit was probably created to compensate for the shortcomings of Storm Commanders, as many of their abilities are reflections of those Commanders, only in a more limited and simplified form, like fire control optimization and energy enhancent. However, precious units like Storm Commanders are rare, and it’s impossible to have such elite units personally charge into minor landing operations. Therefore, the relatively weaker but more versatile Leader Bees were created for the front lines, capable of resurrecting others—that’s my guess, anyway.
During our conversation, we also learned the na of this silent long-haired soldier—OLLA, or simply transliterated as Ola. She claid to be the Guardian of the outer areas of the Literature Hall, but now we understand that relying on the Leader Bees’ own combat abilities and the few Shadow Soldiers they create, these girls, who are more like Battlefield Priests than warriors, simply cannot bear the burden of guarding. Aside from the universe’s endless Autonomous Spaceships, the Big Nebula’s multi-layered Energy Barriers, and the Indestructible Structure of the Big Nebula Core, there were simply no more powerful defensive forces inside the Literature Hall because if the enemy can shatter the previous three barriers, placing more Guards in the Literature Hall would already be aningless. Ola’s role as “Librarian,” the archive organizer that she really is, adopted the Guardian identity based on her ultimate responsibilities.
Now, it was clear that she was very unsuited for this role…
The Literature Hall didn’t have additional Guardians, which should count as expected good news, confird only after learning it from Ola. There were a few hundred Leader Bees left in the outer areas, like Ola, who had developed logic errors during the tens to hundreds of millions of years trapped in this ruin, and like the Autonomous Spaceships outside, treated every lifeform entering here as an invader. But unlike the Autonomous Spaceships, they could recover. Ola gathered all the Leader Bees while I let Dull Cat Angel do a full warm-up. About half an hour later, these Leader Bees had been successfully recruited.
An unexpected gain—no matter what else we might find in this ruin, acquiring material on the Third Heroic Combat Soldier was enough to make Taville ecstatic. It was just that Sandora’s expression when looking at Ola seed a bit odd—not suspicious or hostile, but sowhat… embarrassed. It made curious, but since Sandora didn’t seem inclined to say much more about it, I might as well wait for another opportunity to ask.
(It’s already the 24th today, should I start asking for the last batch of monthly tickets for this month—previously, I’d only rember at the end of the month and then end up regretting it.)(
Reviews
All reviews (0)