Individual Dragon Hornets were the size of wolfhounds. Lightweight-tier in isolation — but their paper-thin wings beat at extraordinary speed, their eyesight was razor-sharp, and the venom in their tail stingers could suppress and decay Activity. Like ordinary bees, they rarely used the stinger offensively; deploying it meant death for the Dragon Hornet itself. Their developed mandibles were lethal enough on their own, capable of severing metal.

One Dragon Hornet was already a serious threat.

As a species, they had retained their social colony structure. They lived in the Huoshan Oasis and were one of the three known Super-Heavyweight forces there, existing in rough parity with the Disaster Locust swarm and the Iron-Eater.

Above Dayu Town.

Seeing the Antgod surrounded by Dragon Hornets, Shen Cong’s scalp crawled.

One of the three known Super-Heavyweight species in the Oasis. The pinnacle of his personal combat record was a solo engagement against a critically wounded Golden Jiao — and at nine-bull strength when he’d done it. He was at ten-bull now, genuinely stronger, but still had no confidence he could take on the Golden Jiao at full health, let alone a Dragon Hornet colony.

Under normal circumstances, even a single Dragon Hornet was worth running from. He didn’t take those risks.

Six Dragon Hornets had the Antgod surrounded. None of them had deployed their stingers — which was why the Antgod was still alive despite visible injuries, its flight becoming unstable, its movements degrading.

Rescue, or run?

Sweat at his temples.

The fear of Super-Heavyweight creatures and the worry for the Antgod were both there — but what actually made his chest tighten was the larger implication. Dragon Hornets were supposed to be in the Huoshan Oasis. Huoshan was a hundred kilometers away. If Dragon Hornets were ranging a hundred kilometers out to hunt, that meant the Mingfa Camp fell within their foraging radius.

His thoughts spiraled.

Blackhead came up from the cargo hold into the cab, transmitting frantic distress through the perceptual link. She could feel the Antgod’s situation too.

“Blackhead. Do I rescue it or run?”

He said it aloud, not quite asking her, not quite asking himself.

Blackhead’s emotional response was immediate and uncomplicated: rescue. Not an answer to his question — just her most instinctive impulse, unfiltered. Her intelligence had grown, but she was still an insect. Complex communication had its limits.

Time was burning.

In the drone feed, the Antgod was losing.

Shen Cong’s mind moved through the options at speed. Don’t intervene: the Antgod dies. Intervene: every Dragon Hornet has to be killed. The Huoxue was clear on the point — Dragon Hornets were highly intelligent, with long memories for grievances. Let even one escape and it would return with reinforcements, and the retaliation would be methodical. The garrison’s prior encounters with Dragon Hornets had ended with every soldier who made contact being hunted down and killed.

One survivor meant infinite future problems.

But Dragon Hornets were fast. Winged. There was no realistic way to chase one down.

How many vials of Super-2 Ant Acid do I have?

Three seconds. A dim shape of a plan formed in his mind.

He ran through his available weapons. The Ape King series — war hammer, long blade, arrows, pellets — were the top tier. The Ape King Javelins had been lost with the scouting team. Below that, the lower-grade bone-gold weapons the camp had compensated him. Below that, a diminishing stock of conventional firearms ammunition, detonators, and grenades — increasingly useless against evolved beasts at this level.

And then: the Super-2 Ant Acid vials, accumulated gradually from Blackhead’s production over weeks.

Eight small vials.

You raise soldiers for a thousand days to use them in a single moment.

Shen Cong pocketed all eight vials inside his armor, set his jaw, and floored the accelerator. Great Vajra roared toward Dayu Town.

That’s my creature. My property. Anyone who touches my property is asking to die.

The Antgod, barely holding on, felt Shen Cong’s presence through the link.

And received his instruction: Follow the main road below you. Fly away from the sun.

The road below was Huayuan Avenue.

Something shifted in the Antgod — a new resolve. It kicked away a Dragon Hornet that had closed in to bite, spread its four damaged wings as fully as it could manage, and flew.

Shen Cong swung Great Vajra onto Baohe Avenue and ran it hard.

Six tires gripping the broken surface. Shattered stone spraying from under the wheels over the rough stretches. Three uprated engines screaming loud enough to feel in the chest.

Baohe Avenue terminated at an intersection with Huayuan Avenue.

The Antgod’s shape appeared in the distance.

Come to me. Now.

Shen Cong hit the brakes hard at the intersection — the air brakes locked all six wheels, dragging long dark lines across the road surface. He was out of the cab and into the cargo hold in the same motion, opening one of the armor panels to create a combat window.

He loaded the sling and fired at the six Dragon Hornets. Standard steel shot.

Crack crack crack crack crack crack.

Six fast shots. One for each Dragon Hornet.

No damage. Didn’t need damage. He needed them angry.

Four of the six broke off from the Antgod and came for Great Vajra.

Only four. Not enough.

He sent the instruction through the link to the Antgod: Fly to the window. Come to me.

The Antgod didn’t know what he was planning. But the bond built from the egg onward meant it didn’t resist — it dragged its damaged body through the air toward him.

The remaining two Dragon Hornets followed the Antgod.

Twenty meters.

Ten.

Five.

Three.

The four in front were two meters from the combat window. The two behind were at five meters.

Shen Cong had already put the sling away.

He threw all eight vials.

Four at the front group. Four at the two in the rear — further away, harder target.

Crack.

The vials weren’t built to survive impact. They shattered on contact. One of the four aimed at the rear group missed entirely. The other seven detonated across six Dragon Hornets.

Super-2 Ant Acid — specifically formulated to corrode Activity — hit all six Dragon Hornets simultaneously. The acid ate into their Activity coating. All six spasmed in the air, thrashing with pain.

Shen Cong moved the instant the acid landed.

He threw the Ape King War Hammer — one Dragon Hornet hit, driven down.

He drew the Ape King Long Blade, jumped out of the vehicle, and bisected the nearest Dragon Hornet with a single stroke.

He hit the ground in a roll, came up with the hand crossbow, and put two Ape King Arrows through two more Dragon Hornets before either had recovered.

Two still airborne. He produced a throwing knife — channeling something of Li Xunhuan’s legendary precision — and released it.

The blade found one target. One remained.

The last Dragon Hornet had fought through the acid’s effect — evidence of the species’ resilience. It recovered faster than expected, wings snapping open, body orienting for escape.

Shen Cong had prepared for this.

Blackhead — who had received her instructions earlier and positioned herself on Great Vajra’s roof at some point during the fight — launched herself off the vehicle and landed squarely on the fleeing Dragon Hornet. In the same motion, she drove her stinger home.

The Dragon Hornet responded immediately, biting into Blackhead’s carapace and crushing it.

Blackhead shrieked through the link — pain, sharp and urgent — and released her grip.

The Dragon Hornet felt the mortal danger in its body. It curled its abdomen, preparing to deploy its own stinger.

The Antgod, energy recovered just enough, came in from the side and slammed into it.

Shen Cong, Ape King Long Blade back in hand, was already in the air.

He came down on the last Dragon Hornet and finished it.

Total engagement time: under one minute.

Six Dragon Hornets. None escaped.

(End of Chapter 168)