Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"Help me get out of this mess!"

Rose, who kept an eye on the situation behind them from time to time, felt a surge of joy when she saw Bai E block the Grim Reaper but then was immediately consumed by deep worry.

By himself... he likely wouldn't be able to stop this terrifying creature.

I must go help him!

Once the option to entangle the beast with one's life was discarded, only elite combat strategy could possibly lead to victory.

And who else among the 2,000 new recruits could coordinate with him and lend a hand? Your story continues with m-vl-em|p-yr

While fighting with worker bugs and wasp bugs was certainly important, it was clear that it was no longer the core of this current battle.

Whether or not they could kill the mantis bug would determine the outcome of this defense battle!

Rose's orders were perfectly executed by the surrounding soldiers, not only could the bugs be controlled, but the human soldiers could equally respond.

...

Bai E gasped for air, the cold airflow of twilight filled his lungs, taking away the heat generated by his intense movements.

Three strikes, he had only blocked three strikes, and his hands felt as useless as limp noodles.

Fortunately, although his "Fast Recovery" talent hadn't been unlocked yet, it still had some effect, and the extreme training over the last three days had made Bai E all too familiar with combat under these extreme conditions.

The biggest problem was that as the light grew dimmer, in the darkness, the humans' vision was most likely not as sharp as the bugs' senses!

"I'm on my way!"

A figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

Rose was breathing heavily, speaking in a slightly fluctuating tone.

"Help me take a strike," Bai E said, his spirit lightening slightly as the pressure of hovering on the edge of death eased somewhat.

But his gaze was still firmly fixed on the mantis bug, which also seemed to be looking for an opportunity, its pair of dark, onyx-like eyes seemingly flickering with cunning intelligence.

Rose concentrated, "Mhm!"

"We must fight quickly and decisively."

"I know, any ideas?"

Rose, who had observed the battle here beforehand, was utterly clueless, even with the information obtained from the data she had no clue how to defeat the enemy.

Just drag it out?

But as twilight deepened, Bai E was right, they must fight quickly and decisively.

"Yes," Bai E bit his lip lightly.

...

"What are they talking about?"

As twilight fell, the footage from the cameras became increasingly blurry.

In this world, the night falls early, with the frequent black clouds often blocking the light diffusing through the atmosphere, making the night even darker.

Moreover, the noisy chaos of the battlefield completely covered the not-so-loud conversation between the two, leaving the curious officers only able to vaguely see the two of them apparently discussing something.

Could it be that these two new recruits really plan to work together to take down that mantis bug?

"However, if it's those two new recruits, there might actually be a chance."

Their performance on the battlefield just now inevitably gave rise to hopes for their coordination.

"But why isn't the mantis bug moving either?"

"It's also looking for an opportunity. That new recruit called 95B27 is doing very well, not giving it any openings. Together with the firing support from the other recruits, it's hard for the bug that just recovered from a weakened state to act. Moreover, as time goes by, its chances of winning get bigger...

These bugs are not stupid," said a neutral party, simply commenting based on what they observed.

The chitinous exoskeleton of the Bug Race indeed has strong defensive power, but like human combat suits, at joints and other areas where flexibility is needed, overly thick and heavy armor would clearly impede movement. The mantis bug's shell, which couldn't withstand bullets all over, had weak spots vulnerable to gunfire.

That was the basis on which the other new recruits could restrain it with their guns.

"Maybe we should end this..." the Dean was somewhat averse to seeing too many casualties, "The night is the bugs' turf."

Weslin pondered for a moment, "Let's wait and see."

If these new recruits could overcome this wave of invading bugs on their own, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance their combat effectiveness and confidence, which would be a good thing for tomorrow's decisive battle.

Among the officers, Dewa and Carlos were undoubtedly the most tense, both staring at the screen, fearing that their most valued new recruits would fall under the mantis bug's blade.

"Damn!"

Dewa's nerves spasmed abruptly.

Rose was caught off guard!

It seemed that in the process of consulting with Bai E, Rose's concentration had lapsed slightly and her attention had shifted a little, giving the mantis bug a sliver of opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

In the somewhat blurry screen, the massive body of the mantis bug erupted instantly, and what was more terrifying was its bone blade.

The bone blade was retracted beforehand, which looked like a prelude to a spring launch!

The spring-launched bone blade of the mantis bug could exceed the speed of sound, with astonishing lethal power.

"Rose!"

"Bang!"

In the nick of time, Rose seemed to come to her senses at the last moment, placing the blade horizontally, ready to take the hit head-on.

As the bone blade sliced into the combat knife, shards flew, and with the speed magnifying its force, the attack power of the bone blade was unimaginable.

After shattering the combat knife, the sickle-shaped bone blade lost much of its momentum but still struck Rose precisely in the chest.

"Pff!"

The wild force instantly flipped Rose's body over, and the crack of her breaking ribs was so sudden it made no sound, as the blood spurting from her mouth while she was flying backward painted the sky red.

"It's over!"

Although Rose had reacted in time, the blow had clearly inflicted serious injury, and the so-called coordination...

In the screen, Bai E seemed to lose his reason due to his teammate's severe injury. He actually dropped the combat knife and rushed forward with his gun in an embrace.

"Has he gone mad? Is he seeking revenge for Rose?"

"Without the knife, how is he going to withstand the mantis bug's bone blade?"

In the corner, Yue Ying's expression did not change at all. Her gaze had been fixed on the recruit referred to as 95B27 all along.

The decision to drop the combat knife was not made after Rose got injured, but rather... at the very moment the mantis bug launched its attack!

They were prepared; this was the trap he had set!

But how is he planning to execute it?

...

As Bai E advanced holding the gun, his eyes were cold.

The bugs were smart, their wild and fierce appearance hid an unimaginably cunning mind.

The bone blade of the mantis bug was indeed sharp, but it couldn't easily cut through the standard-issue combat suits of humans. The slash attacks it had used on other recruits earlier had proven this...

And this did not match the performance it had shown when it first appeared.

The severed combat suits of the recruits were cut cleanly, not torn or stretched apart.

This meant the bug had deliberately created panic to establish a sense of terror.

Walking into a human military camp alone with a group of lower-class bugs, it also did not have absolute confidence that it could win this battle that was unexpected for both sides.

It needed to establish dominance from the beginning! And it used its trump card to do so!

If it could use the spring-loaded blade bit indefinitely, he certainly couldn't withstand three strikes from it.

Clearly, the spring-launched bone blade was not an ability that could be used continually. It wasn't confident it could take him down with one strike, so it had been waiting for the right moment.

Similarly, the existence of the spring-launched bone blade was also a huge deterrent to him.

To truly defeat this terrifying beast, with the equipment he currently had, only the Gun Fighting Skill had the potential.

Gun Fighting Skill could only be executed when holding a gun, but while he could ward off the attack holding a rifle, he wasn't confident he could dodge a strike that exceeded the speed of sound; while holding the combat knife could block, but it couldn't inflict lethal damage on it.

The situation had reached a stalemate.

Until the arrival of Rose... through the perspective of other bugs, the mantis bug realized that Rose also had the potential to injure it, and the balance that the two people had achieved together was broken.

The opportunity had been bought with Rose's severe injury—this was the only chance!

[Gun Fighting Skill, activate!]

Bai E's form weaved and swerved, narrowly avoiding the sweeping bone blade of the mantis bug.

As he neared, he executed the Flying Swallow step, climbing the twisting body of the mantis bug by leveraging its momentum, unfurling his rifle as if a great roc spread its wings!