Chapter 444

The Phase Spider retreated step by step on its remaining four legs...

But the space around it was already sealed.

Its mouthparts scraped together, producing a dry, chittering sound.

"Humans..."

"What exactly do you want?"

Kanzaki Rei advanced slowly.

"You can communicate, can’t you?"

The spider kept backing away. Alongside its fear and confusion, another thought leaked through its emotions—

It was still trying to figure out how to deal with him.

Its intelligence...

Was far higher than that of most monsters.

Then again, as Kanzaki Rei delved deeper into the Hive, he had indeed encountered more and more high-intelligence creatures.

Lomo had been one of them.

The spider let out another rasping hiss, but didn’t answer directly.

It seemed... wary of something.

—Buzz!

Space trembled.

Iz casually lifted a hand—

And in an instant, the spider’s remaining four legs were severed.

[Sixth-Tier Spatial Magic — Misaligned Cleave (LV: 601)]

Two layers of space shifted against each other.

The spider’s legs twisted and snapped apart within the distortion—

"So it uses resonance between its legs and space to move..." Iz murmured.

She raised one severed leg in her hand, studying it carefully.

The surface was smooth and glossy.

Unlike a normal spider, there were no fine hairs.

Meanwhile, stripped of all its limbs, the Phase Spider was reduced to a spherical form.

Despite having all its legs cut off—

It showed no rage.

Instead, it questioned coldly:

"Aren’t you afraid of the Hive’s retaliation?"

"If we were afraid, we wouldn’t be doing this," Kanzaki Rei replied.

A war spear manifested in his right hand.

—Whoosh!

The spear’s tip pointed directly at the spider’s compound eyes.

"I know you can communicate. Playing dumb won’t help you."

"Tell me what I want to know, clearly—and I’ll let you go."

"If you lie... or refuse to answer..."

"You die."

This kind of threat—

Was meant for humans.

Whether it worked on monsters...

Remained to be seen.

—Drip...

From the spider’s severed wounds—like fractured mirrors of space—

New legs slowly began to regenerate.

But compared to Kanzaki Rei’s regeneration—

It was incomparably slow.

Of course, it was also possible the spider was deliberately suppressing its recovery speed to lower their guard.

"...What do you want to know?"

At last, it asked.

"What is this place?"

"How many places like this exist?"

"What are you trying to do?"

Kanzaki Rei fired off three questions in rapid succession.

At the same time—

His mental power had already invaded the creature’s mind, subtly planting a sense of ease.

Toward his questions—

It would respond more openly, more willingly.

The Phase Spider showed no sign of noticing the manipulation.

It answered directly:

"This... is a War Nest."

"As for how many War Nests like this exist... I don’t know. But there are definitely at least a hundred."

At least a hundred.

Kanzaki Rei could detect lies—

And this wasn’t one.

This colossal Hive—

Spanning hundreds of billions of kilometers, blotting out the sky—

Was not the complete structure.

It was merely...

A fragment.

A segment known as a War Nest.

"This place is responsible for warfare. My role is to construct the war channels required by the Broodlord."

A nest constantly opening rifts—

Constantly sending swarms into battle.

Kanzaki Rei continued.

"Where do you come from?"

"I was born in the Mother Nest."

The Mother Nest...

That was where the Phase Grandmother resided.

"Besides the Phase Legion, what other legions are there? What are their functions? And how many monsters like you possess intelligence?"

Kanzaki Rei’s gaze locked onto the spider’s eyes.

Unnoticed—

The mental influence deepened.

Watching from the side, Iz couldn’t help but click her tongue softly.

Kanzaki Rei’s mental magic...

Was remarkably refined.

The spider seemed to drift into a dazed state, responding almost automatically:

"First Legion: Royal Guard. One hundred of the strongest are selected from the swarm to serve as the Broodlord’s personal guard."

"Second Legion: Phase. Responsible for connecting Hive structures and opening pathways to different regions and planes."

"Third Legion: Construction. Converts all conquered territory into Hive structures."

"Fourth Legion: Forge. Crafts equipment suited to powerful members of the swarm."

"Fifth Legion: Brood. Responsible for spawning large numbers of our kind."

"Sixth Legion: Combat. The primary fighting force."

"Six legions in total... each responsible for different aspects of war."

Compared to human military structures, it lacked refinement—

But for monsters to have such clear division of roles...

Was already extraordinary.

"As for how many of us possess independent thought... I do not know."

"But the Broodlord’s intelligence is increasing."

"More and more of our kind are becoming capable of independent thought like me."

"In the future... perhaps in a hundred years... or a thousand..."

"All of us may think as I do."

Kanzaki Rei paused briefly before asking:

"Your intelligence... comes from the Broodlord?"

"...Perhaps. Or from that mysterious one above it. That is not something I can know."

"But we must have inherited a fragment of its wisdom."

So the swarm’s intelligence—

Came from the Broodlord?

In a hundred... a thousand years—

Every insect would be capable of independent thought?

That was...

Terrifying.

Kanzaki Rei couldn’t help but recall what Luo Yan had described in the Secret Sea—

A future where the entire world would be ruled by monsters.

Where the only way to survive...

Was to become one of them.

At first, there hadn’t been many signs of such a future.

But now—

Standing within the Hive—

It no longer seemed impossible.

If the Hive fully invaded the real world...

There was no guarantee humanity could withstand it.

In a single sea region, there might not even be ten Level 8 Class Advancers.

But within a single Hive like this—

There were certainly more than ten Eighth-Tier monsters.

If war truly broke out—

Even in terms of high-end combat power alone, the numbers were already overwhelming.

And intelligent beings were divided.

Not everyone would be willing to fight monsters.

But on the Hive’s side—

There was absolute unity.

A singular purpose: oppose all intelligent life.

And this—

Was only the Insect Hive.

There were also Aberrant Nests.

Corruption Nests.

Twinborn Nests.

Fallen Nests...

If all of them invaded the real world simultaneously—

Unless the gods—

And the Level 9 Class Advancers—

Chose to stand with humanity...

There was no visible path to victory.

And even then—

From what had happened in the Secret Sea—

Those gods, and those Level 9 beings...

Were far from united.