Free Web NovelChapter 285: Chapter 285: Even in Ruin, My Husbands Protect Me
The vast, ruined plane was no longer silent. The air was filled with the rhythmic clack-clack-clack of countless legs hitting the dry earth. Yue Yue stood frozen, her heart drumming against her ribs like a trapped bird.
From the shadows of a collapsed building, a small Zerg scout emerged. It wasn’t the size of a mountain, but it was terrifying enough...the size of a large dog, with glowing red eyes and a strong jaw that dripped with a corrosive, yellowish slime. It hissed, its wings vibrating with a sound that made Yue Yue’s skin crawl.
"Stay back..." she whispered, her hand trembling as she reached into her spatial ring. freewёbnoνel.com
She pulled out a small, unassuming silver hilt. It looked like a simple decorative dagger, but as her fingers gripped it, she felt a burst of powerful energy.
This was a peak-tier artifact gifted to her by Han Soi. He had spent trillions of star coins and used the rarest materials of the Winged Serpent Clan to forge it, specifically because he knew Yue Yue hated the sight of blood and lacked formal combat training.
[Host! It’s lunging!] the system screamed.
The Zerg scout coiled its powerful back legs and launched itself through the air, its sharp claws extended to tear into her.
Yue Yue didn’t know how to parry. She didn’t know how to stand. In a moment of pure panic, she simply thrust the silver hilt forward and closed her eyes tight.
"Go away!"
The moment the artifact sensed her intent and the proximity of an enemy, it came to life. The silver hilt didn’t just grow a blade but completely evolved.
With a mechanical whirring sound, the metal liquefied and reshaped itself into a long, flexible whip-blade that glowed with a blue light. Without Yue Yue moving a muscle, the artifact calculated the Zerg’s trajectory with terrifying precision.
Swish!
The whip-blade lashed out like a living serpent. It didn’t just strike the Zerg; it danced around the creature’s defenses. It sliced through the hard shell as if it were soft butter. Before the Zerg could even land, the artifact had already retracted and shifted its shape again, becoming a heavy broad blade that delivered a final, crushing blow.
Thud!
The Zerg fell to the ground, split perfectly down the middle. Not a single drop of the foul, green blood touched Yue Yue’s clothes. The artifact had created a small kinetic shield at the moment of impact to blow the splatter away.
Yue Yue opened one eye, then the other. She looked at the dead monster, then at the silver hilt in her hand, which had already returned to its harmless, small shape.
"I... I killed it?" she breathed, her chest heaving.
[Host, that was incredible!] the system chirped, sounding relieved.
[The combat logic in that artifact is SSS-rank. It’s a semi-autonomous weapon. As long as you hold it, it will move for you!]
Yue Yue looked at the hilt with a mix of awe and sadness. Han Soi had prepared this for her because he loved her, because he wanted her to be safe even when he wasn’t there.
"Thank you, Soi," she murmured, clutching the silver hilt harder in her palm.
But there was no time to rest. From the darkness of the ruins, more red eyes began to flicker. One scout was dead, but the swarm had noticed the light.
Yue Yue straightened her back. She was still scared, and her legs were still shaking, but she wasn’t defenseless anymore. She had the love and protection of her husbands manifested in the weapons she carried.
"Come on then," she said to the buzzing Zergs. "I have to get back to them. And none of you are going to stop me."
She stepped forward into the gray dust, the silver artifact glowing in her hand, ready to carve a path through the chaos.
***
The gray horizon never changed.
Yue Yue sat on a piece of rusted metal, staring out at the endless, desolate plains. She didn’t know how many days had passed. Time here felt like a thick, suffocating fog. One day bled into the next, and the silence of the wasteland was only broken by the occasional hiss of a distant Zerg or the howling of the dry wind.
She felt like a wilted cabbage...caged, drained of life, and losing her spark. Her gemstone blue eyes that are always full of life were radiating dejection and sadness.
"System," she whispered, her voice sounding raspy even to her own ears. "Is there really no way out? Can’t I just walk in one direction until I find a city? I’m going crazy here."
[Host,] the system replied with a sigh that sounded almost pitying. [I understand your frustration. But you must realize that being ’lost’ is currently your best protection.]
"What do you mean?" Yue Yue frowned.
[According to the scans I can manage with the distorted signal, the four main empires of the Interstellar Beast World are currently being overrun. The Zerg haven’t just invaded; they are crawling through the streets of the capital cities. It is a bloodbath out there. Because this place is so remote and ruined, the Zerg interest is low. For the time being, you are safe from the main swarm.]
Yue Yue’s heart sank. "So I’m just supposed to sit here? In the dirt? Waiting for a husband to fall from the sky?"
[Precisely, Host. It is better to survive in this silence than to be consumed in the chaos outside. Please try to be patient.]
"Patient," Yue Yue muttered; her stomach let out a loud, miserable growl. "I’m patient, but I’m also starving."
She reached into her spatial storage and pulled out a small shimmering glass tube. It was a high-grade nutritional solution.
In the past, back in the luxury of the palace, Yue Yue had hated these things with all her might. They tasted like chalky, flavorless slime. She used to throw tantrums whenever her husbands tried to make her drink them, demanding real food...braised meat, sweet fruits, and fresh vegetables.
She could almost see Feng Yanshen’s nagging face right now.
"Yue’er, don’t be stubborn," he would say, his expression stern but his eyes full of worry. "I know you don’t like the taste, but your spatial ring must be stocked with these. If there is ever an emergency, if I am not there to cook for you, you must promise to drink them."
At the time, she had puffed out her cheeks and refused, but Feng Yanshen had been unyielding. He had personally packed hundreds of these tubes into her spatial space, ignoring her protests.
"You’re such a busybody, Feng Yanshen," she whispered, a stray tear sliding against her pale cheeks. "You always think you’re right..."
She looked at the tube with disgust. But she was desperate. Her body was weak, and her head was spinning from hunger.
She took a deep breath, pinched her nose shut with one hand, and squeezed the cold, gray slime into her mouth. She gulped it down in one go, her face twisting into pure agony as the unappetizing sludge slid down her throat.
"Ugh... it’s still so gross," she gagged, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
But as the nutrients hit her system, the lightheadedness began to fade. She felt a tiny bit of her strength returning. Even though he wasn’t here, Feng Yanshen was still taking care of her through his "nagging" preparations.
