CHAPTER 545: CHAPTER 337: BIRTH OF THE BEE KING, EMERGENCE OF THE BLACK COCOON

In the midst of dead silence, Qiao slowly walked out from the ruins of the hive, entering Gu Qiye’s line of sight.

A deep crimson exoskeleton, a pitch-black body, with a gloomy dark red glimmer in his golden pupils, a slender tail turning into a sharp blade, its deadly tip protruding outward, and two pairs of hexagonal wings unfurled behind him.

The moment those immense wings spread open, they cast a shadow over the land.

"Is that really the Great Bee Lord?" Fan Dongqing raised an eyebrow, curiously asking, "Why does he look quite different compared to earlier?"

"I thought the Father of Puppets had taken him out. That bandaged man is really useless; the commander might as well let me handle this," Jiushijiu said coldly.

Qiao’s oppressive aura swept across the area at that instant, filled with a killing intent as profound as an abyss.

The members of Rainbow Wings were momentarily stunned, even if each of them was battle-hardened, they had never felt such a terrifying presence. This thought of confronting a monster like never before echoed in their minds.

"Bee King..." Gu Qiye rasped, "The Four Bee Lords told us that only when a Bee Lord devours another Bee Lord’s corpse can they possibly evolve into the Bee King."

"How come I haven’t heard of this?" Fan Dongqing frowned.

"Because it’s something we’ve only recently learned, I can testify to it," You Ruirui said softly, "His appearance has changed significantly in such a short time, it’s very likely that during his plummet from the hive, he devoured the corpse of Four Bee Lord Malvite."

Qiao raised his hand, and at that moment, a sphere composed of gathered phosphor suddenly floated from his palm, shooting straight into the sky, reaching the peak in an instant before shattering.

Soon after, countless crystalline particles rained down fiercely, faster than arrows, like a downpour from which no one could escape.

Upon contact with the dust, Gu Qiye’s body immediately became numb and sluggishly collapsed to the ground, powerless.

He was all too familiar with this sensation; when he first encountered the Great Bee Lord Qiao during a reconnaissance mission on the Deserted Island, his body succumbed to this nerve toxin, leaving him immobile for half a day.

And the sense of helplessness this time was the same.

"How is this possible..." Gu Qiye thought, "Wasn’t his original ability to inflict nerve toxins upon contact with an opponent? Now it has evolved to the point where it can instantaneously engulf an entire island with toxins?" With this thought, he forced his eyelids open and looked to the side.

Next to him, You Ruirui, Jiushijiu, Fan Dongqing all lay paralyzed on the ground.

Meanwhile, nearby, Kalina, Oda Ehgo, and the Father of Puppets, who were rushing toward them, also fell motionless onto the barren sand.

Looking up into the sky, Alexandra now sat limply atop the "Miniature Moon" she had created, her body having lost consciousness under the effect of the nerve toxin.

The nerve toxin gradually spread to every corner of the island, robbing all humans of control over their bodies, their nerves plunged into a state of pure numbness.

Qiao opened his eyes and in the silence, looked at the incapacitated Gu Qiye on the ground.

"It was you... who killed Malvite."

He spoke as he approached Gu Qiye, his footsteps loud and grim in the deathly silence, like the Grim Reaper himself stepping down the final path before a judgment begins.

At that moment, a gigantic blue and white humanoid machine abruptly descended from the sky, its immense light wings vibrating violently.

Gu Qiye kneeled on the ground, staring blankly at the metallic figure guarding his front. Yes, it was Garfield returning from the island’s edge.

Garfield had left earlier to search for the suddenly vanished Urushibara Ryuri and now only just returned.

Perhaps because Garfield had stayed within the cockpit all along, he wasn’t affected by the nerve toxin engulfing the island.

As a result, Garfield became the only person on the entire island whose body could still move.

Gu Qiye wanted to tell Garfield to run, but under the effect of the nerve toxin, even opening his mouth was beyond him, let alone speaking.

"Get out of the way..." Qiao lowered his face, coldly staring at the massive mech.

"Are you joking?" Garfield’s voice emanated from inside the mech, as he lifted his collar and slightly furrowed his brow, pushing the power lever to its lowest point.

With the light wings behind Garfield’s mech flashing brightly, the metal hands tightly gripped the light saber, and then, with the wings vibrating, drew a red-and-blue intertwined trajectory through the air, shooting straight in front of Qiao.

The blinding light saber exploded with intense heat like the bright midday sun, aimed to slash at Qiao’s head.

Qiao raised both arms, his claws crossed, effortlessly blocking the light saber. The deep crimson exoskeleton was only slightly chipped. Immediately afterward, with a slight exertion of his right arm, the light saber was knocked a hundred meters away, leaving the gigantic metal mech before him defenseless.

"I said, get out of the way."

Qiao vibrated his wings, shooting instantaneously to the mech’s head, reaching out to casually flip its head over, then kicked at its chest.

A bewildering scene took place, as the massive mech was forcibly kicked a kilometer away by a figure ten times smaller, smashing through numerous rocky mountains, with the outer shell of the cockpit caving inward.

Garfield was momentarily stunned, but then quickly pressed the emergency escape button inside the cockpit, his seat ejecting upwards, soaring above the island.

The parachute deployed, he raised his sweater collar to cover his mouth and nose, but upon leaving the cockpit, he inevitably inhaled the nerve toxin permeating the air, causing his body to immediately go limp.

The parachute swayed as it descended, gently placing Garfield’s seat upon the barren sand.

At this moment, no one else on the entire island could stand in front of Gu Qiye anymore.

Qiao’s pace remained leisurely, advancing step by step towards him from above, his dark golden eyes reflecting Gu Qiye’s pale face.

Am I... going to die just like this? Can Dad come to save me? No, even if Dad and Grandpa were here, after inhaling the nerve toxin, they must also be unable to move, right? Yes, there’s nothing that can be done...

As Gu Qiye thought of this, he suddenly froze slightly, realizing there was a girl watching him. He slowly shifted his gaze to meet the eyes of You Ruirui beside him.

The Icelandic girl lay limp on the ground, her face expressionless, yet her ice-blue eyes stared at him unblinkingly.

She knew they were about to die.

Not only them, but everyone present also knew this.

Yet she remained expressionless, her gaze so calm it was devoid of any ripples. As Gu Qiye looked into her eyes, his mood seemed to gradually settle down.

Gu Qiye stared dumbly at her face for a long time, a sudden hint of a smile flickering in his eyes. Although he couldn’t speak, his gaze seemed to say, "Looks like we’re going to die together. Aren’t you afraid?"

The girl’s eyes lowered slightly, as if she was saying, "Not afraid."

Qiao’s footsteps drew nearer and nearer.

In the air, a faint murderous intent fluctuated, and the Bee King’s golden eyes narrowed slightly, the gloomy dark red deepening further.

However, at that moment, a long cry of reindeer suddenly echoed from the sky.

Qiao turned aside, slowly looking up, only to see two reindeer dragging a bright red sled, wrapped in a massive snowstorm, shooting down at him from mid-air.

With each step of the reindeer’s hooves, the snow swirling around them grew denser, until finally, in their rush, the Christmas sled almost formed a gigantic white serpent, descending straight down to crash into Qiao’s body!

In Qiao’s eyes, it seemed like an avalanche was overwhelming him.

So he folded his two pairs of hexagonal giant wings forward, blocking them in front of his head.

"Boom——!"

The Christmas sled collided violently with the giant wings, snowstorms howling and roaring furiously. Under such a fierce charge, the Bee King’s body actually lurched slightly back, his feet carving a deep groove in the ground.

Moments later, as if losing interest in the play, Qiao flapped his wings sharply, flinging the sled more than ten meters away, silencing the previously raging snowstorm in an instant.

The Christmas sled hurtled back for a moment before halting on the barren sand. Then the two reindeer reared up and began marching in place again, accumulating a thick layer of snowstorm beneath their hooves.

"Why struggle?"

Qiao frowned, lifting his dark golden eyes, his gaze penetrating the blizzard ahead.

At this moment, a white-haired boy with a topknot sat on the sled, frowning his snowy brows, his blue eyes shining in the dark night.

"Why can this human boy move?" Qiao pondered, eyebrows furrowing with confusion.

Even after inhaling the nerve toxin, Cezar’s body still moved freely and lively, a scene clearly contrary to logic, considering the Rainbow Wing Members lay incapacitated all around.

Cezar stared fearlessly into Qiao’s eyes, his left hand gripping the edge of the sled tightly, while his right hand held two mysterious generational artifacts, their orange patterns glowing vividly.

"King’s Protection," a blessing exclusive to the Whale Royal Court’s throne heir.

It was precisely because years ago, Cezar inherited the King’s Protection from the old King, that he became a thorn in the side of his two brothers.

One effect of the "King’s Protection" was to render the bearer "Immune to Hundred Poisons."

At the same time, a figure entirely covered with a black restraint belt flipped and whirled down from the sky, stopping beside the Christmas sled.

The newcomer was clearly the Restraint Incarnation of Black Cocoon.

As the name implies, the Restraint Incarnation was entirely composed of Black Cocoon’s restraint belt, lacking a normal human structure, rendering Qiao’s nerve toxin almost completely ineffective against this non-human incarnation.

Thus, at this moment, the only entities remaining on the Deserted Island able to move autonomously were the Black Cocoon’s "Restraint Incarnation" and Cezar with the "King’s Protection."

Even so, Gu Qiye still couldn’t see any chance of victory; he knew of no creature that could defeat the evolved Bee King.

But the Restraint Incarnation seemed unfazed, even grinning widely at the Bee King.

"So, Bee King... a good show is about to begin." The Restraint Incarnation said slowly, "I have prepared a special gift for you in advance."